I remember watching a youtube video with my mom when I was young. I must have been in third grade, since this was 2011. We were in our old apartment, watching on my mom’s old white laptop. My mom’s old friend from gymnastics had sent her the video. There were no words or background noises in the video, only anonymous gymnasts performing daring and original balance beam mounts, all accompanied by the haunting strains of Ravel's Bolero. This video, titled “The Mount That Dare Not Speak Its Name”, went on to be one of the most well-known and captivating videos ever posted. As the years passed and I began doing gymnastics myself, the once-anonymous gymnasts gradually became recognizable.
I could write a column on each of the gymnasts from this video, but I’ll focus on just one – Jackie Bender. Bender was a Canadian gymnast from the 1990s who could do spectacular handstands. She was most famous for her mount on beam, which featured a one-arm press to handstand, then held it into a one arm flag, finally pivoting into a sit at the end of the beam. At some competitions, she would swap the flag for a one-arm planche and then drop to her elbow into a crocodile position. These mounts are spectacularly difficult – and they’re not even in the Code of Points because she never competed at a World Championship (until recently, a new skill had to be performed at a World Championship or Olympic Games to have it named, and Bender was the Canadian alternate in 1991 World Championships). Years later, when I was able to find the video with her full routine, it was equally as spectacular as her mount, featuring a flic-flac swingdown connected to back extension roll to a free headstand, and also a handstand forward roll to cantilever off the end of the beam. She also threw in another one arm handstand in the middle of the beam, and then transitioned into one of the best planches I’ve ever seen in women’s gymnastics. What’s interesting is she tended to struggle with what are considered the “easy” skills in her routine, like her first acrobatic combination of back handspring to back layout stepout. I get the impression that she was more comfortable on her hands (or even her head) than her feet!
Bender came out of Winstonette Gymnastics in Ontario. Bender would perform other events, but beam was clearly her specialty. I came across a video of her demonstrating at a coaching clinic, and it’s somehow even more original and difficult than the skills she actually competed. The highlights are her literally bouncing on her head down the balance beam with no hands. She could also perform a “bouncing” handstand pirouette on one arm on the beam. Honestly, she could bounce on her hands the way most people bounce on their legs. Complex handstands on the beam seem to have been a big trend in Canada in the late 1980s to early 1990s, as Canadian gymnast Janine Rankin competed her eponymous jump to one-arm handstand mount and Luisa Portocarrero (who competed for Guatemala but trained in Canada) showcased a sideways-facing front walkover.
I think the video sums up my feelings about originality in gymnastics. There’s no point in doing the same thing as everyone else, only slightly worse. The best gymnasts are technically perfect and original. But, to twist Machiavelli’s beliefs, it’s better to be original than technically perfect if you can’t be both.
