Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

provided by

This clip shows primary-school-aged female gymnasts at the elite Western Australian and Victorian Institutes of Sport as they train, motivated by the chance to compete in the 2000 Olympic Games. The clip is filmed over the course of two years, 1994 and 1996, and documents the changing attitudes of two of the young gymnasts to their sport. Interviews with Emily and Brooke, Emily’s trainer and Brooke’s mother are included.

Educational value points

• The clip explores the effect of intense pressure from trainers and families on aspiring athletes. It shows young girls being required to undergo a 30-hour weekly exercise regime for 50 weeks a year at a critical stage of their lives, when they are still developing physically, emotionally and psychologically.

• The clip prompts discussion about the special physical and mental qualities that define a 'champion’. Coach Joanne Mitchell says that exceptional physical ability is required, but suggests that it takes much more to reach the top in the sport, such as mental attitude and sacrifice.

• The mother of young gymnast Brooke O’Brien describes her daughter’s decision to quit gymnastics as a kind of 'death’, suggesting the extent of the investment and influence family members may have in sustaining or driving their children’s ambitions.

• The high media profile of successful Olympians makes them role models for younger athletes as indicated by ten-year-old Emily Fondyke who explains that she wants to be like Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast who scored a perfect ten in the 1976 Olympics. Athletes who are selected for the Olympics not only represent their country, they also compete for individual recognition. Those who achieve medals, especially gold, are often treated as celebrities or heroes, gaining sponsorships and contracts with the media.

• Brooke’s comments suggest that success is not just about 'winning’, but about participating. Her attitude echoes the Olympic creed that, 'The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well’.

• The clip features two young gymnasts, Brooke and Emily, who decided to leave the sport. Statistics from the USA suggest that 80 per cent of 6 to 18-year-olds who enrol in sport drop out by the time they are 12. Reasons given for this are various, but include the increased pressure to perform and consequent loss of fun associated with playing their sport, a growing interest in other activities, financial considerations, and the investment in time required to compete at higher levels. Potential top gymnasts must take up the sport at a particularly early age.

• The documentary Spirit 2000: Countdown to Sydney tracked the development of its subjects over a number of years and was thus able to reveal the personal journeys of those following the Olympic dream, not only their determination and hard work, but also their courage to keep going when things got tough, and for some, the courage to quit. Filmmaker David Goldie followed 100 potential Olympic athletes across six years (1994–2000). After the Sydney Olympics, he continued to document Australian athletes heading for the 2004 Athens Olympics, making this series a unique ten-year film study on the subject.

• David Goldie is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker who has been making award-winning documentaries for more than 20 years. Goldie’s work is principally about complex social issues such as the invisibility of old age, sexual violence towards women, the prison system, and homeless children. His credits include Out of Sight, Out of Mind, 3 Seconds from Glory, Australians at War, Without Consent, The Time of Your Life, Burden of Proof and Swapping Lives. Embracing new media, Goldie collaborated with producer Sohail Dahdal to make Long Journey, Young Lives, an interactive online documentary about child refugees that won Best Online Feature at the 2002 National Youth Media Awards.

1994 Western Australian Institute of Sport. A large group of girls in leotards walk around the gym in a circle, limbering up. Interviews in this clip are often intercut with footage of the girls training.
David Goldie, filmmaker (in voice-over) The pressure to perform is something that the gymnasts have grown up with. It’s Perth, 1994. These 10- and 11-year-olds loosen up for a 30-hour training week, 50 weeks of the year, their dreams of success helping them through the slog of a long training day.

David interviews Emily.
Emily Fondyke, gymnast Every time when I don’t get things right and I don’t want to do them, I think of Sydney and I want to be there so I’d better do it.
David And how much does that help you to try a bit harder?
Emily It helps quite a lot, actually, because I just want to be the same as Nadia Comaneci.

David interviews Emily two years later.
David (in voice-over) It’s now 1996. When I catch up with Emily Fondyke again, the grind of training is taking the shine from her dreams.
Emily As you get older, it gets harder ‘cause they expect more from you than they did when you were younger, so it’s gonna be a bit tough.

David (in voice-over) Emily has now left gymnastics and, of course, she’s not alone, but when the reluctant decision to leave is made, there’s sadness for all concerned.

David interviews Joanne at the gym.
Joanne Marshall, coach Western Australian Institute of Sport We know everybody gives it their best shot so we try not to make their finishing in the sport like a problem, like they’ve done any mistakes. They haven’t done anything wrong and they’ve had some good physical abilities but it takes a lot to be a champion and to be at the very highest level, that’s a very special person.

1994 Victorian Institute of Sport. David interviews Brooke.
David What are you hoping to achieve?
Brooke O’Brien, gymnast The Olympics.
David You can see that far ahead?
Brooke Yeah. Even if I don’t win anything, I’d just like to be there. I think it would be really great.

David interviews Brooke two years later.
David (in voice-over) Brooke O’Brien has always had the talent to take it through to 2000 but two years ago she decided, as well, to quit.

1996
Brooke It was really quick, it was strange. I just made my decision. My coach was really, really shocked.

David interviews Vicky.
Vicky O’Brien, Brooke’s mother It was like a death, in fact. It was the same sorts of feelings as I would imagine you would go through grieving for something or someone.
David Would you be surprised if suddenly she said that she wanted to return?
Vicky No, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. But I don’t know – I’ve often thought about that but I think maybe that’s just my – my little secret wish. I don’t think it’s what she wants at all. No, I don’t think she’d ever … ever go back.