S3 Trailer: American Prodigies: The Rise of Black Girls in Gymnastics

American Prodigy: Becoming Great

Blue Wire

Sports

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2022

⏱️ ? minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This season of American Prodigies is the story of how Black girls moved from the margins of gymnastics to the core. You’ll hear from trailblazers and viral sensations – coaches and mentors and trainers – journalists and academics – and athletes themselves – as we unpack what it means to be a Black girl in gymnastics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My favorite part of gymnastics is just like feeling free in the air.
0:13.1	You know, doing floor exercise, doing those double backflips.
0:17.4	Just like being suspended in the air for a long time and knowing that my body did that.
0:25.4	When you talk to a gymnast about why they love gymnastics,
0:29.1	this is pretty much the answer you'll get.
0:32.0	When I look back on my fondest memories,
0:34.5	it's just like very plainly just being in the air that I loved. But the thing
0:40.1	about flying is, you always have to land. And when you're a black prodigy in this sport, some
0:50.0	mess is waiting for you when you do. My white coaches like pulled me aside and just said like you know
0:58.0	some of these meets were going to you may not get the scores that you deserve because you're black.
1:04.4	They didn't like for this black girl to win. But black girls mal maligned and overlooked in society,
1:12.6	and who few wanted in the sport in the first place,
1:15.6	they're now at the top.
1:17.6	Gabby Douglas.
1:19.6	Nea Dennis.
1:20.6	Wait, no, Jordan Chavez.
1:21.6	And then I saw this girl named Simone Ballo.
1:24.6	I was like, oh my god, she's so good.
1:26.6	I want to be exactly like her.
1:28.2	And on the way there, they ended up changing the game. But then once I kind of got, got like a little
1:34.8	bit older, I'm like, nah, never mind. I don't want to be like Simone Bowles. I want to be as good
1:39.3	or better. I'm Amir Rose Davis. This season of American Prodigies is the story of how we got here.
	...

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