“Don’t give up or you will never know what might have been. Every champion was once a beginner that didn’t quit” – Aly Raisman. This quote is very realistic because all great gymnasts never quit even when things don’t go their way. That is why all events in gymnastics can be dangerous but fun, and this is why I’m gonna be telling you about vault. Vault can be a really scary event because you are running up to a tall rounded table to do a flip off of it.
In 2001 the vault table was changed to be larger and safer for the gymnasts instead of a small narrow table. Vault can be a dangerous event because if you don’t go out away from the table far enough, you will hit your back or head on the table. Also, you can get really hurt if you are doing difficult skills and you twist or flip, then when you land if you don’t twist or flip all the way you can hurt your knees and ankles. That is why they added an extra mat around the spring board for safety. If your foot slips a little bit, it can end badly.
Vault is not my favorite event, but I do like it because it is very fun, and you can learn to do cool flips off of it. My vault right now is a front handspring over the table. I really like it because you have to have a lot of speed when you run up to it and power to keep the momentum to flip all the way over. Also, you have to be strong to be able to not fall on your head when you put your hands on the table.
Vault can be such a crazy event. Most injuries occur on floor and vault. Ankle sprains are the most common injury overall, typically occurring during landing. Knee injuries, especially ACL tears, also happen a lot. Here you can see that tiny mistakes can injure a gymnast or end a career, and that is really scary. Also, some judges are really mean, and if you fall, they will give you a really low score or just a zero. It is so easy to mess up your vault, and here you can see how many people get hurt on the vault.
In conclusion, vault can be a fun but dangerous event in gymnastics and you have to be really careful. Some gymnastics coaches really push their gymnasts, and at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug won gold with a broken ankle. This is so crazy because if a gymnast gets hurt at a gymnastics meet today they would be taken out of the competition and be given medical care. Make sure you check out all my other stories about gymnastics.
