The Ranch: Home of an American Sports Dynasty

[Music] NBC sports all of the 2016 Rio [Music] the Nazca trying times number one show Sunday Night Football only on NBC deep in the heart of Southeast Texas in the middle of the Sam Houston National Forest there's a place that's known around the world simply as the ranch it welcomes dreams desire and dedication and it birds some of the greatest stories you'll ever hear in Olympic sports [Music] [Applause] if you come here you're coming for a reason and the reason is to be better and better nobody comes here to fool around no everybody will concede as a goal to get an improvement that will be smarter and better at it working so that's very very important you know that I'm looking back a sick baby Lu when I seen him sit all the great shampoos cally you know that may seem very very happy very pleased and very proud of those moments [Music] good is the place I created you from nowhere who naughty this place is my loud this place is by law and I'm very proud [Music] it's a little past eight most mornings when Marta Karolyi leaves her house and begins the familiar walk down a dirt path to work in one sense at least an end is near this is the last time Marta will be overseeing the United States gymnastics team for an Olympic Games but before she follows her husband Bela into retirement there's one more team to coach one more group of five gymnasts to select one more story to craft here at the ranch [Laughter] there will be nine young women waiting for Marta when she arrives at the gym here they know only five gymnasts will be named to the American team in Rio most here are new faces to the Olympic stage but two are familiar Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman members of the celebrated fierce five who took home gold in London four years ago entering first is Team USA last time the world gathered in this port they were the champions of the world this is the women's team final the best I've ever seen Gabby Douglas look Team USA [Applause] it all comes down it took almost a year for it to sink in that I competed at the Olympics you know it's still I'm still working on it come on judges make it official there's nothing better than winning the team both men get the gold medal ready [Applause] [Applause] a few days later there was even more dream success the best we've seen finale race a gold medal for alley on the floor exercise which followed a goal for Gabby in all-around together finishing a tremendous showing for the United States it just felt amazing just to be on top and say wow like everything finally paid off I was just session on and it was just such a good good memory for me the fierce five were the first American women to win the team gold since the legendary Magnificent Seven in 1996 and the London made stars in Gabi and Ali their road to gold began here at the ranch I'm sure all of you very interested that we will make the little Corrections so we absolutely do be as good as possible of the time and the staff on those official training facilities okay and this process thoughts from today's workout hope you had a little bit of relaxed time especially mentally put a good effort and your best interest and and interest of having the best team for us let's do good warm-up and conditioning all right okay let's go stage rock gymnastics is extremely hard sport the only reason you come to the ranch is to do the hard world to be successful they are the latest in a long line of elite gymnasts to come to one of the most distinct training centers in all of sports a facility in the middle of a 2,000 acre ranch in the forest but there's no disputing the results that have turned Bella and Marta Karolyi into legends it all began in Romania in the 1960s and 70s where their efforts culminated in Nadia Comaneci Olympic success when the Corollas came to america they guided to more Olympic stars Mary Lou Retton and later Kerri Strug to gold since they took over the national program the US has reached unprecedented heights on the world and olympic stage and now with Bella retired and Marta in her final games one more group of young Americans are aiming to be a part of their own history starting right here at the ranch when I first came here I was just touching and I was like oh this is where like the Olympians train and I was just like it's what Bella and Mara it's the curly camp and I was just so excited and I'm making that team at 18 I've been to this ranch you know a million times it every time I walk in you can just stop and take a deep breath and you take everything in think about how many girls have have walked through that door that have been Olympic champions that I've watched on TV it's just it's really really special there's a hallway with legends on the wall and every time we walk through it we should be thankful and we should just kind of look up to them because they are the ones that build this road and paved it and so every time we walk through it we have to thank them go right up to the ceiling okay and castigated the anticipation for Rio is already growing even with months to go before the games with the biggest excitement surrounding a talent who's emerged as the most dominating force in the sport her name is Simone biles here's the get girl in America Japan stands right now Simone biles she's remarkable just crazy how I kind of dissing this scene it's just it's really weird it took a really long time for me to figure out that I was actually good and everyone used to tell me but I was just this little bouncy 12 year old and I didn't really care I just threw myself up in there and hope that I landed you would have never picked me and be like she is gonna be a world champion files is 19 years old and from Spring Texas in 2013 in 2014 she won back-to-back all-around world titles now in the last World Championship before Rio a few weeks from now she'll be competing to become the first woman ever to win three consecutive titles for the rest of the team meanwhile the world championships in Glasgow will be an exciting opportunity to prove themselves on a big stage and then when they get back to the ranch the most difficult challenge of their lives will continue when more young stars join a battle not quite like any other for the only five spots on the toughest team to make in the world [Music] every year the world's greatest gymnasts convene at the world championships an unforgiving test of the very best it's the coolest thing you could say you are the best of the world here in Glasgow in October 2015 every country is chasing the Americans in the team event and every competitor is chasing Simone biles in the all-around difficult bulk right here she's at a different level no woman has ever won three world all-around titles in a row but biles is competing to become the first it's important to go out there and make a statement because yes we are Team USA but you've worked so hard after all of this and we wouldn't want to let any of it go we're very well prepared for this and we're gonna go out there and make the statement and then hopefully we'll see what happens the week is ultimately full of statements with biles winning that historic all-around title that's history right there for Simone biles and the team taking the gold as well in dominating fashion step back USA sets the bar very very high if the sport of gymnastics is about dedication commitment and repetition even in retirement béla károlyi maintains a similar routine this is the ritual starting in the morning and then they got what they taking care of them one of those things I love it I love it I did love it the expansive karoli ranch isn't only an Olympic Training Center but also a home for Bella's diverse collection of animals the biggest bull what I have is right there his name is Joe here's their privilege to save you the ladies sella and marta bought the ranch in 1983 it was only 40 acres then but they expanded rapidly with Bella building everything from the ground up with his own hand there is something that I only wanted to have a zoo with different kind of animals and the kids can have an opportunity to come out and to see these beautiful animals I think is something beautiful so this is how Bela Karolyi spends his days in retirement but across his ranch other paths are just resuming for the first time since the world championships in October the country's top gymnasts come here multiple times a year four camps today is the start of the first one of 2016 and the collection of young women who were here in October has expanded now over a dozen girls are descending on the ranch every one of them has the same dream to become one of the five chosen for the Olympic team in Rio for the moment though reconnecting is the priority [Music] I'll give it I the camp will be a mixture of veterans and newcomers for fifteen-year-old Regan Smith it's her first camp at the senior level four years ago she was idolizing Gabi and Ali now she's working alongside them I was like well I never knew I could meet them or train by their side I was so excited I was like don't freak out we're going to scream or die just stay calm so I stayed calm I was like hi Gabi and I got a picture with her Knights like I had to call my mom right after house she's like my mom I got I got a picture of Gabi she's like oh my gosh so cool yeah but now I'm just like she's just a friend of mine out I was like do you see Galya care for my cash she's like they're like that is so calm like yeah it's cool yeah it's pretty cool another first-timer is us junior champion lori hernandez by this summer both will be 16 years old making them eligible to compete at the Olympics and adding their names to an already crowded field trying to make the team I know that at the senior level things are a lot more serious and the difficulty level has to be a little bit higher so I'm willing to work hard keep it the ultimate goal is to go to Rio 2016 Olympics it would be amazing I would love to go 16 Olympic year I almost can't believe it be right yeah here we are we have only six months left to get ready for the Olympics everything what you do from this moment it cuts the group of gymnasts may always be changing but every camp has a familiar feel USA gymnastics operates under a semi centralised system meaning athletes split their training time between their home gyms and the karoli ranch personal coaches are invited to accompany their gymnasts for these camps for some of them the experience is novel edge body film okay that's good but Regan Smith has a mentor who knows the ranch as well as anyone former world champion Kim zamesca I've been coming out here since I was 13 years old when they built the place and I trained for my world championships and Olympic Games on draygon that's right it would be magical to have Regan on the team it's you know it's a goal of a lifetime Rob good we are ready to see it should be a good year [Applause] they are for that right right her coach could offer an important balance to Reagan's inexperience but ultimately in this arena it's the athletes performances that determine their fate it's very intense working here but I love it like go give the world for the sport I'm here to do this and that's my only focus right now and it's like really important because it's just the Olympics like the one place is a big deal today is the start of a long process for some a spot in Rio is all but assured but for everyone else even those who have risen the highest before the tests on the road ahead will only get harder and they won't be able to be certain of anything along the way [Music] [Music] it's March 2016 and the first major International gymnastics competition of the year the American cut the event is only an all-around competition and with reigning world champion Simone biles not in attendance it's a chance for the two Americans in the field to make an early statement on the path to Rio for Maggie Nichols it's a first step into the spotlight for Gabby Douglas it's another stage of her comeback following a two-year hiatus from the sport after the Olympics I wanted to take a little bit of a break and then like come back to the swing of things like I never really wanted to attire because I was so young I don't want to look back and say ah man I wish I would have done 2016 and you know could I have made it cuz I'm nine at the end of the day I just want to look back and you know give it given my hog in the 100's [Music] [Applause] winning the all-around gold medal in London instantly turned Gabby Douglas into a superstar have you had any chance to kind of just catch your breath Gabby's victory led to a whirlwind tour that took her everywhere from red carpets to baseball fields now even if the mania surrounding one of the most popular gymnasts ever has faded her own desire has increased still at age 20 returning is a massive challenge no female gymnast has won back-to-back all-around gold medals since 1968 in fact no American has even made consecutive Olympic teams since 2000 [Music] okay alright as it went you became more confident because the whole thing is about confidence right Gabby like gets into it a little slower yeah so we just have to bear with it the whole third routine was normal aggressive and the other was even if you make a mistake is okay but be aggressive in it don't be tentative that's the main thing the majority of the girls after they reached the highest result they said my goal accomplished I'm turning the page and I'm going in a different direction but in some cases you see the ambition of proving themselves and Gaby want to put an exclamation mark over the results what she had while Gabby Douglas is looking to add a final chapter to her story Maggie Nichols has her sights set on writing her first the American Cup is the perfect chance for the 18-year old to put herself in the Olympic conversation but she also knows it's important to take everything one step at a time I think it's pretty cool that the first mean that I got chosen with Gabby so it's very cool I don't really feel like it's like my moment but I just want to show her what I've been working on and just start the season off at the bangs [Music] okay Maggie but second one should be more people right I've always wanted to be an American Pope like when I was young I watched like Jordyn Wieber and everyone so I mean it's very cool that I'm following in their footsteps I just wanna do very well after the afternoon practice the Americans get a visit from two of the sports legends Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin it's a remarkable sight the last three Olympic all-around champions standing side by side but for the most recent there's still a desire to return to the world's biggest stage one more time more difficult decide to come back when you know what it takes you've been through definitely tough you know the whole comeback thing was a little challenging because you like know what to expect and you know and you're like oh man I know I'm gonna have to do like a lot of numbers lot of routines a lot of conditioning and it was really important for me to show that you know hey I am back in the serious and just that from the bottom of my heart I can do this and not like oh this is you know fake I just really wanted to prove to myself but you don't I can do this and I have the ability to do it again Saturday morning the anticipation is building at Newark's Prudential Center there's Maggie shinin in the Sun yes and for one group every moment is a new experience to savour Maggie Nichols parents and grandmother came East to watch her compete with the hope that there will be many more days like this including five months from now in Rio making all the sacrifice for sit look at free shoes she's missing out on all about baseball stuff you know she left school early so she's not going out and you know to parties or hanging out with friends ever never and it's all about focusing on this so she's missing out on a lot of stuff too [Applause] we are on the road to Rio today the next step the 2016 American high-pressure competitions are critical in the evaluation of gymnasts and from this point on as the stages will only get bigger the pressure only higher excellent Marta Karolyi watching every single fool she misses of nothing very nice say is having a good day that's a while right Gabby Douglas ad one two everybody heads to the final rotation [Applause] if today was a first test for both gymnasts both past and then zone for Maggie Nichols a second place finished show she belongs at the elite level while for Gabby Douglas it's her first win in competition since the London Games but both know the path to Rio is still just beginning while the camps of the karoli ranch are the foundation of the United States women's gymnastics program the athletes actually spend the majority of their time three weeks every month training on their own the work zone never stops for any of them and in Morganville new jersey Lauri Hernandez looks at these intervals as opportunities to improve better rights of the bend the main focus when training at home is just to get better consistency you know clean up a little bit and just make progress little steps or big steps any steps at the ranch they tell you what they want you to be prepared for it every camp we're usually training for that at our gym and then we go to show what they want us to the structure of the program with short term stays at the ranch is designed specifically so the gymnasts don't have to move away from home it's all part of a system the Corollas have been developing and adapting since they came to the u.s. in the 1980s realizing that the Romanian system didn't translate to American culture they made the u.s. prog semi centralized and not really turning them into overseers and ensuring the relationships between the gymnasts and their personal coaches would continue to be crucial fortunately for lorry Hernandez but coach Maggie Haney has been guiding her since the very beginning when she was little I knew she was good and I grabbed her right away and she has been with me since then this is when she was really little this is her holding the state plaque oh here she was right here so I guess she was 2011 so she was 11 well this is funny too her goal is to go to 2016 I guess she's always known she told me all the time she's going you have to work hard Ross the talents not gonna go anywhere so we really just come in and like work every day it's not always fun it's not always glamorous we just put him to work I mean there's no magic potion you know that's enough see you at 3 o'clock morning's like this are spent training for the next visit to the ranch then in the afternoons schools in session I've been homeschooling since third grade and I'm nine now I try to still give us some sort of the public school feel I usually try to make them do some sort of project where they have to get up and present to get the feeling of being in actual school because I need to a class which is funny because they all still get nervous even though they are together all day every day today I'm gonna be working on writing over for it for Julius Caesar Julius Caesar was a Roman pretty cool dude who was stabbed like ten thousand times by Brutus in 44 BC yeah after two hours of school it's straight back to the gym for the afternoon session this is life as an Olympic hopeful just keep all of us clean please by no measure easy and filled with sacrifice and the ability and willingness to adapt there should be absolutely quality right here the idea is that the objective makes it all worth it but they know the only way to get there is to focus on turning weaknesses into strengths I'm pushing Laurie on bars a lot right now her consistency is just not there even if the cast is bad you need to go earlier you never go earlier I think she's really good on bars and she has a nice line about her and she has all the skills so it's just trying to get everything together into a routine and that's what we're working on right now slow down it's not an easy routine get out there's all this discussion or we can have a bar specialist on the Olympic team are we gonna go more with all-around errs I'm hoping that we can stick with all-around errs like her and not have to go with the specialist bars is definitely an area that I want to improve I really just want to add those upgrades and I want to clean up and I know that that could be a key event for me way to stay with it you made it work three weeks of every month these are the scenes that play out in places like Morganville New Jersey Olympic hopefuls like Laurie Hernandez doing everything they can to return to the Karolyi ranch with clean routines everything they can to put themselves in position to get to Rio this summer [Music] the karoli ranch is known around the world for developing many of the greatest gymnasts of all time but after decades of tireless work spent in the gym at age 73 Bela Karolyi has moved on to a different kind of nurturing [Music] profession but this little garden provides us all the tomatoes and pepper and all necessary food the kitchen despises mortar it takes time to keep them alive but at the same time when you are through with the whole crowd or you see the floors and you see everything flooring everything is prospering yeah is a good feeling even as it keeps busy in retirement gymnastics is never far from the coach's mind and with spring here he knows training is augmenting and only the strongest at the ranch will blossom into Olympians these are the intense period of time of training people are considering us unbeatable era I do consider us unbeatable but this particular time we never had a more power or the gymnastic ability and the genetic internationally talking ever before okay so that's the goal guys I'm ready to see it there will only be five gymnasts chosen for a team many like Bella expect to be unbeatable in Rio every performance matters and as the calendars turned the next chance to make an impact is the upcoming Pacific Rim championships at this time in April that's kind of when things start to get crazy and that's when you really start to realize that the Olympics are coming up really soon so you definitely kind of have those butterflies [Music] you know they're picking the team starting now at every single competition leading up so it's really you know it's crazy how close everything is I think the closer you get to the Olympics the more intense it becomes because you know it's just right there and you can taste it the like little time that you get is all that you have and so you just want to be perfect everything that we do it's like the next step towards your goal the months go by so quickly you don't really have any time to breathe and like relax [Music] you cannot waste a day here even a minute whiten you're in the gym like right when you walk in it start to graduate only five girls make a spot every is like pushing as hard as they can or it's like really intense in its every four years so you may get that chance once or maybe twice [Music] we always have to be very honest with the girls we have to be very objective sometimes it's very hard they were occasions when I have to announce the team and tears came in my eyes Marta Karolyi will be watching every one of her gymnasts at this weekend's meat including Simone biles back for her first competition of the year but Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols won't be in the field with Gabby resting and Maggie forced to withdraw after a knee injury in practice her status for the future now suddenly unclear everytime is a challenge and every time we deal with some areas what we have to overcome some difficulties she is a girl who very determined and she I'm very convinced that we are do all the honors efforts to do the rehab and we are do everything her power to come back to the shape where she was before that injury [Music] as the team leaves for Washington Maggie Nichols injury is a reminder how in gymnastics everything can change in an instant and how important it is to stay focused on the present for the sake of the future every day is very important I think every turn is very important the way you warm up is important it all matters there's really just one word that I think motivates all of us and it's the Olympics every camp every day every routine brings with it new opportunity and a new turn in their story they'll return to the ranch one more time in May and then their final chance to launch their bid for history will be all the more pivotal and all the more urgent [Music] [Applause] [Music] coming up the best female gymnasts in America try to show off when they've been working on at the ranch Simone biles goes for a fourth straight national title Gabby Douglas looks to return to the Olympics and she has company it's all coming up in st. Louis top of the hour welcome to the 2016 Pacific Rim Championships although the Americans arrived in Everett Washington as firm favorites there are nonetheless a multitude of storylines with the battle for the five spots on the Olympic team as tight as ever Sally Reisman had the Olympics for poetry right now at Laurie Hernandez big new face Regan Smith so tiny but boy she's got a little bit of vivid bigger in her with so many strong gymnasts today's competition presents one of the last precious opportunities to impress Marta six-one baby fly high and stick the landing Simone biles just continues to amaze Aly Raisman we're used to seeing that was fantastic just so much power the quality isn't so much the issue as quantity the body language Pettis that dreams out I've got this considering alongside the domination of soon Aly Raisman Laurie Hernandez and Regan Smith each makes strong states these young ladies have been dangerous today it's all a reminder of the unenviable task facing Marta Karolyi picking just five of them for the Olympic team if Marta Karolyi doesn't want you on the team in my opinion you are not on the team [Music] retirement was a welcome sight to Bella [Music] has free time to take advantage of all the ranch has to offer but that's not the case for another group across the property where the last camp before Olympic selection has begun it's a precarious time but you wouldn't know it as the good vibes from Washington continue [Music] in stressful situations laughter can be the best medicine so any moment that can mask the tension is a good thing not to mention a reminder that many of them are just teenagers once practice begins the shift returns from fun to focus because after today's final session the next group to come back and train at the ranch will be only those chosen for the Olympic team everybody's gearing up for the Olympics so we're all like pushing the best out of each other and it's just like a different vibe because like the Olympics is like right around the corner and this is like the final training camp I'm starting to feel like things are coming together I think you know in October November I was a little bit more like nervous and insecure and now I feel like you know things are slowly starting to feel more confident and better except if I don't know C Mon baby doing it all right all right the evaluation process will also continue away from the ranch giving missing members Maggie Nichols and also Laurie Hernandez who's nursing a minor injury more opportunities down the road to stake their claim but for those here now it's a last chance to make a mark in the gym that's like none other I think of the best World and Olympic gymnasts that have come through here and they've made their goals happen and I'm excited to hopefully carry that on and be a part of it I like coming here because I see all the girls like pumped and it makes me want to do even better than them so I feel a lot more confident because I think competing with these girls for a while now and I feel like I can make this team finishing this stage you know very good note now be down to the very very last stretch men part strength will be very important and desire from your heart some distractions will arise push them aside good luck with everything good bye Thank You Monica something our mistakes happens we can turn the page right there a and pizza that's the most important thing you did a very nice job are you okay proud of you thank you it's a side of the usually stoic coach that's rarely seen these girls are like her daughters and she simply wants the best for all of them okay you must be supposed to be somewhat like they saying is an art it's not only a sport is in between a combination between sport and art even for a three-time world champion Martha's validation is welcome yeah but what they all crave is a spot on the team and to be one of the five chosen a few weeks from now there will be no more gymnastics here until after the Olympics roster is set and while the process may not be complete for Marta Karolyi the knowledge that this is the last time she'll select an Olympic team after more than 30 years with USA gymnastics brings along a sense of reflection hundred percent happy with my career as a gymnastics coach I think I could not wish for anything more I feel like I'm not sad of finishing because I know that our ideas will stay there and our work the base was put down and you know I think the building will stay up this is really the one gives me something special feeling we were the very first one who ever gonna come from long congratulation great but you're gonna be the second or third never the first all right that's somewhat rude this a reality vodka okay tomorrow the gymnasts will scatter and returned to their respective gyms across the country but for now there's one more evening to spend together sharing an experience of a lifetime we all know it's almost here we all want it more than anything there's only five spots oh I mean the world to me I just been wanting to make this for so long now and I hope the dream will come true when I came back I wanted to reach my full potential and I really feel like I didn't do that in London I am ready to do it one more time I'm ready to go through it again I already feel part of the team I feel like this is where I belong and all the senior girls I feel like I'm right up to par with them it's been one of my biggest goals for I don't even know how long this for forever and so cool like I'm like I want to tear up right now to make an Olympic team for me it would just be a dream come true just because I put a lot of hard work into it and it would just be amazing to go out there and represent the United States it can't be easy when the pursuit you love more than anything in the world is also what looms is something that can break your heart then again that's what makes their stories and the path they've chosen so unforgettable so many have passed through here before now they are the latest at the ranch who will soon learn their fate the hopefuls who seemed so impossibly young who refused to give in no matter what the odds [Music] alongside those who've made it before but seemed to want it now more than ever and of course those already anointed with their eyes already set on the highest target there is nothing they all know is guaranteed anyway they all could happen here at the ranch they've tried to show how much they love the sport of gymnastics now all that's left to find out is whether they'll get a chance to tell the world that in real you

Channel: USAG Dumpster Fire

Views: 227,810

Rating: 4.730722 out of 5

Keywords: USA Gymnastics

Id: Vd70wzP4Asg

Length: 46min 0sec (2760 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 08 2018