Now let me just assure you that her mount is super hard to do - among the hardest in the competition. I used to do it myself. First, you have to run hard towards a long beam of wood that is sitting at about the same height as your chest. Then you jump onto a slanted board filled with springs, which will send you careening forward and up if you hit it right. Next you reach up and pull your knees up to your chin and rotate your body forward doing an entire somersault in the air. Then you are suppose to open up and land on the beam.
When you are flipping forward, you can't see the beam where you're suppose to land. You only have 4 inches on which to make that blind landing. Look down at your right foot. It is probably 4" wide or more by itself. So you have to land with one foot slightly in front of the other, nesting the ball of your left foot in the inside arch of your right foot to fit them both side-by-side on the beam. You also must keep your hips and your shoulders level and square because if one drops or twists, you will miss and fall. That happened to Alicia.
The sad thing is - not that she fell, but - that she really let it rattle her. She never mentally or emotionally recovered. She never forgave herself. She never let it go so she could move on unencumbered by that mistake. And therefore it negatively impacted the rest of her beam routine, and her floor routine, and many of her teammates. And now it threatens to haunt her Olympic memories with regret forever more, if she lets it.
I can so relate to Alicia. Not just because I too did the same mount. Not just because I too have fallen on it in competition. But because in my gymnastics career (which was not as stellar as Alicia's), I too had a very hard time mentally moving on after a mistake like that. The result being my poor ability to forgive myself and move forward so often wound up overriding my talent.
I've since learned that not letting go of mistakes so I can move forward well is an even bigger mistake. So I pray for Alicia to be able to let this go, and to have a positive experience in the all-around competition that will be broadcast tonight.
And I thank God that we can be forgiven and delivered from our mistakes. Our sins need not haunt us.
Is there some mistake in your life you're letting hold you back? Does some memory regularly fill you with regret? Lay it down in prayer, and let it go. Then you can run free.
For everyone that Jesus sets free, is free indeed.
I'll be watching the competition tonight ... Go, Alicia, go!
