Some enterprising cybersquatter has set up ashleypriess.com. A few pictures of Ashley are on the site. I wonder if permission was obtained to use them. This person has a lot of sites set up for other female athletes too. Including three rhythmic gymnasts, Alexandra Orlando, Vera Sessina, and Olga Kapranova.
Ashley’s sudden retirement is a hot topic. Somebody dropping out of the race a few weeks before the end is bound to attract curiosity. Everybody loves a train wreck. I was doing a search to see if there were any new articles when I stumbled upon the above domain. And no, I didn’t find anything new. There is only the article from Inside Gymnastics where Mary Lee Tracy claims she had no idea this was coming. Does MLT not know her athlete very well? I just find it hard to believe that this young lady after having already made a world team and battled back from a back injury would not have let any hints at all drop that she might not wish to continue.
As far as quitting goes. Ashley Priess vs. Blaine Wilson. I found Ashley’s retirement to be shocking. I totally respect her decision though. I just can’t muster the same feelings for Blaine Wilson. I still think it would’ve been better for him to retire before the meet or afterwards. Retiring in the middle of the meet, especially when you are not doing well is just poor form. Then to say you retired because you didn’t want to risk injury instead of being truthful. He retired because he wasn’t doing well. It’s obvious. If he was so worried about risking getting hurt, he wouldn’t have come back in the first place.
I know some people might say, “Hey you can’t read the guy’s mind!” No I can’t. But I have a lifetime of experience with lies and liars. Push comes to shove, I can tell a pretty phat fib myself. ‘I quit because I didn’t accurately predict the level of competition and found myself doing poorly’ is exactly the kind of thing you would try to spin into, ‘Yeah. It’s just not worth getting injured.’
Tags: Ashley Priess, Blaine Wilson, cybersquatting, gymnastics
Shergymrag 
June 19, 2008 at 6:59 am |
My daughter takes gymnastics at Cinci Gym. Acad, and we were there this evening. I asked someone who works there what happened to Ashley, and they said that they didn’t know why she quit, that she didn’t give a reason. Everyone at the gym is disappointed of course. However, Ashley did accept a college scholarship to Univ. of Alabama, so maybe that is enough for her.
June 19, 2008 at 1:09 pm |
Ashley did an interview with International Gymnast a little while ago. She quit because of her back. She didn’t want to reinjure it. Her sister had to give up college gymnastics because of a back injury. Ashley is, wisely I think, trying to make sure her back heals completely rather than pushing and pushing until it gets hurt worse.