|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 22, 2020 19:32:24 GMT
Defying Gravity is a 6- part docuseries that explores the untold story of Women's Gymnastics through its greatest champions. Watch free weekly with ads or watch all episodes uninterrupted with YouTube Premium. A new docuseries is taking a behind-the-scenes look at the road to becoming an elite gymnast, with the insight of some of the most incredible athletes ever to compete for Team USA. In the first trailer for YouTube Originals' new series, Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women's Gymnastics, one of the young gymnasts featured admits, "Gymnastics is my whole life." The six-part docuseries — from Main Event Media and Five All in the Fifth Entertainment (LANCE) — features 2021 Team USA Olympics hopefuls, as well as gymnasts including Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Weiber, and more. Defying Gravity profiles the risks, rewards, sacrifices, and dedication required to be successful in a constantly competitive field. "You have to be so focused on yourself," Olympian Raisman explains in the trailer.  Adds Hernandez of herself and her fellow athletes: "Gymnasts bodies, we have like little superpowers everywhere." The show will also explore the body image issues and ageism often associated with the sport, and will delve into the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal in episode five. “It has been one of the greatest privileges of my directing career to be able to share the stories of so many incredible women in the sport of gymnastics,” series director Bess Kargman said in a statement. “Defying Gravity spotlights the fierce passion, courage and tenacity of so many inspiring athletes – including Nadia Comaneci, Laurie Hernandez, Katelyn Ohashi, Aly Raisman and so many more. I am elated the world will soon get to learn more about their powerful stories.” The first episode of Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women's Gymnastics premieres on September 21 at 12 p.m. EST on Glamour's official YouTube channel. The episodes will premiere free with ads each week, while YouTube Premium subscribers will be able to access all six episodes on the premiere date. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 29, 2020 22:18:03 GMT
For the past few years, gymnastics has sparked two simultaneous reactions: total awe over athletes like Simone Biles who are practically rewriting the laws of physics, and total horror over claims of widespread abuse in gymnastics organizations around the world. Both are valid, and both should have room to exist, according to Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and Laurie Hernandez, part of the “Final Five” gymnastics team that brought home gold at the 2016 Olympics.
That’s something Raisman, 26, and Hernandez, 20, hope people take away from the new docuseries Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women’s Gymnastics, now streaming on Glamour's YouTube channel. “There are so many gymnasts that I looked up to that I watched, or that my mom looked up to, or even my grandmother looked up to, that are in this project,” Raisman says over Zoom after the show’s premiere.
Along with being a highlight reel sure to get you pumped for the Tokyo Olympics (postponed due to the coronavirus and rescheduled for July 23, 2021), the docuseries was also a chance for gymnasts to finally tell their own stories—“I loved having the opportunity to do that in a way that was creative and exciting and entertaining but also truthful and authentic to me,” says Hernandez—especially after headlines of abuse so dominated the news about the sport..
The 2017 reports of allegations that USA Gymnastics had been covering up reports of sexual assault unleashed a wave of gymnasts’ stories. An army of women came forward with testimonies. Sports officials were investigated. Gymnasts got a voice. (Hernandez spoke out about emotional abuse by a former coach in May.)
“The media is a huge part of allowing for change to happen in the gymnastics world and in our society. I’m extremely grateful for that,” Raisman says. But the headlines have also made it hard to talk about the joy in gymnastics—like the kind that made Kaitlin Ohashi’s light-up-the-room floor routine go viral in 2019, or that makes jaws drop every time Biles sets a new record. “I was really excited about having the opportunity to talk about my love for gymnastics,” Riasman says. “Because at the end of the day, it’s a very tough sport and a lot of us have been through a lot, but we still love gymnastics.”
|
|
