197: Betty Okino
GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast
GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast
4.6 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2016
⏱️ 90 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW
Betty Okino escaped an assassination attempt as a child, has two skills named after her in the Code of Points, won an Olympic medal just six years after her very first gymnastics class, was 5' 1" tall during the Barcelona Games, danced for Destiny's Child with Beyonce, acted in movies and televsion, is a polyglot, was the first black female gymnast to win an Olympic medal along with Dominque Dawes in 1992. Betty was one of the famed "Karolyi's Six-Pack" (nickname for his elite training squad in the 90's) era gymnasts who dominated US gymnastics after the Mary Lou Retton years. As an Afro-Romanian-refugee-dancer turned Olympian, and now as a gymnastics choreographer she has a uniquely-positioned perspective on the sport. We chatted on March 21st and discussed:
- Her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show where she defended the training methods of Bela Karyoli after the expose Little Girls in Pretty Boxes came out.
- Her thoughts on the issues around athlete welfare that McKayla Maroney brought up in her interview with us.
- Her refugee story: Why her family had to escape Uganda
- Romanian speaker: What she overheard in those days when Bela and Marta didn't know she could speak Romanian
- Examples of the technical genius we hear so much about in Marta Karolyi.
- Advantages and disadvantages of being part of the famous Karyolyi Six-Pack.
- Injuries: Did the doctors ever warn her about what could happen from competing with a fractured back?
- The state of artistry in gymnastics, judging and what can be done to encourage artistry in the code.
GUEST LINKS
Betty can choreograph your routine or give specific skill feedback. Contact her via Precision Choreography. Follow her official Instagram here or find her on Facebook.
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RELATED ARTICLES
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | They were always testing us just in training and in all circumstances and situations to see how strong are you really. |
| 0:09.0 | And to see, and his whole goal and their whole goal both of them was because of the |
| 0:16.3 | intensity of an Olympic Games or world championships in which you have to be at the |
| 0:19.9 | height of your performance for four days, not just one, not just two, for several days. |
| 0:25.6 | And it's much more intense because of the amount of pressure that ends up being put on you. |
| 0:31.6 | So if you can train and handle this here day and day out, when you get |
| 0:37.0 | there, that's not going to be that big of a deal for you. Today we're talking to Olympic medalist Betty Aquino. |
| 0:49.0 | This is episode 197 from May 18th, 2016. |
| 0:53.0 | Welcome to the Greatest Gymnastics Podcast ever, bringing you all the most fascinating people |
| 0:58.7 | from around the Jimternet. |
| 1:00.3 | Today I'm super excited because Betty Aquino is here and she's someone who I just absolutely absolutely love and |
| 1:07.8 | She's someone that as an Afro-Romanian refugee dancer turned Olympian and now a gymnastics choreographer has a really unique perspective on the sport. |
| 1:20.0 | Just to put her in context, like after Mary Lou Retton in the US, there was the |
| 1:24.4 | Corley's six-pack, which is basically the nickname for the Bellad Corley's |
| 1:28.1 | Training Squad, and it was like a rotating list of elites who all had rippling ab muscles and among them was Betty |
| 1:34.8 | Aquino and she won the American Cup in 1991 and she went on to win a medal with |
| 1:39.2 | a team in the Barcelona Olympics she she made Beam Finals. |
| 1:43.0 | She just really stood out because she had a really different look |
| 1:46.2 | and a really different background. |
| 1:47.9 | She had like ballet lines from doing dance. |
| 1:51.0 | She did every single plan imaginable on beam, like every |
| 1:54.8 | handstand variation so beautifully. She was 5-1 during the Olympics in Barcelona. She's |
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