Ahead of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team’s tryouts this week, one eager worker flew into the host city of Minneapolis with protein shakes, a collection of colorful bandanas and stuffed turtles. Upon arrival, he was given a USA Gymnastics badge to wear around his neck, identifying himself as “Best Kid.”
His name is Beacon, and he’s a 4-year-old golden retriever therapy dog ​​with fluffy blond fur that smells like champagne and raspberry shampoo. His job is to destroy American gymnastics in major events, including the trials, the competition that will determine the United States team for the Paris Olympics next month.
“Beacon, I just love you!” national team gymnast Joscelyn Roberson said when she laid down next to him for 30 minutes after a training session at the recent national championship in Fort Worth. “He’s so cute! I’ve told people that this is the best thing that USA Gymnastics could do for us.
Beacon, handled by his human, Tracey Callahan Molnar – who is a former rhythmic gymnast and long coach – plays a warm and clear role in the effort by USA Gymnastics to promote a culture that protects well-the athletes.
For decades, the culture has been just the opposite: At every level of the sport, tyrannical coaches intimidate young athletes into submission and silence as they — or other adults — abuse the gymnasts physically, emotionally, or both.
In 2016, the sexual harassment scandal involving the former national team doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar, shed a bright and harsh light on the incident, which caused the sponsor to drop USA Gymnastics. Nassar is currently in prison for abusing hundreds of girls and women.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast in history, withdrew from many events due to mental breakdowns – a move that made her famous for what she didn’t do at the Games as much as what she did. as the most decorated athlete in her sport.
“There is no question that there are lessons learned from Tokyo about mental health that are very important,” said Li Li Leung, chief executive of USA Gymnastics. “But if we just launch a therapy dog ​​program, OK, great, you have a cute fuzzy dog. But that doesn’t mean anything unless you have everything else in place.
Since taking over in 2019, Leung, a former elite gymnast and former NBA executive, has focused on making his sport a better place for athletes, in body and mind. They have made strides, but the process is never-ending, he said.
At nationals, sports psychologists from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee offer mindfulness sessions in a dark, quiet room at the arena. Carly Patterson, the 2004 Olympic champion, was brought in to offer advice and counsel to the female gymnasts. Local doctors and mental health professionals are now on call during USA Gymnastics events as part of a mental health emergency plan implemented two years ago.
Sponsors have returned, including Nike, Xfinity, Samsonite and Skippy, and Leung said all the federation’s sponsors should acknowledge that some of the money will go to mental health programs, including therapy visits for coaches and athletes.
“They have changed everything and now they think clearly, ‘What do athletes need?’ and it’s great,'” said three-time Olympian Sam Mikulak, who struggled with anxiety and depression when the Tokyo Olympics were postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes, it’s just being there for everyone to get through the tough times,” said Mikulak, who is now a coach. “And the dog brought the triple-fold.”
When it comes to mental health initiatives in gymnastics, Beacon is the star of the show.
He is Callahan Molnar’s service dog and is inseparable. At home in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, he volunteers at a hospital and also goes to the nearby California Institute of Technology, where students keep Beacon animals to relax.
“I always feel like it’s selfish of me to keep him alone,” she said.
Callahan Molnar, who turns 65 next week, experienced the power of a therapy dog ​​while her husband, David Molnar, was undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. He told me that his own dog, Tulsa, should be a therapy dog.
“The dog at the hospital helped distract him, you know, the hard stuff,” Callahan Molnar said, adding that Tulsa began working as a therapy dog ​​six months after David died in 2013. He didn’t live to see it happen. This is my way of honoring him.”
After Tulsa died, Callahan Molnar got Beacon as a puppy and eventually enrolled him in therapy dog ​​training. A few years ago, she and Caroline Hunter, the head of USA Gymnastics’ rhythmic gymnastics program, began discussing the idea of ​​bringing her to events.
Leung has entered everything. He had brought his own dog – a Siberian husky named Suma – to the federation office during the pandemic and staff members dropped to the floor to follow him. “He just disappeared,” she said, adding that Suma is now a therapy dog, working in trials.
Dr. Maggie O’Haire, associate dean for research at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, remains fascinated that humans can have strong reactions to dogs they’ve never met before. An expert in human-dog interactions, he says petting a dog reduces a person’s perception of a non-stressful situation, and also lowers blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. Bonding with your dog offers even more benefits.
“It’s a signal of support and comfort and something very important in that environment when you’re away from home,” said Dr. O’Haire.
Therapy dogs are often called upon to work in high-stress settings, such as cities after mass shootings, colleges during exams, airports and, more recently, sporting events.
Just this month, at the request of the athletes, more than 60 local therapy dog ​​teams worked at the USA Swimming Olympic trials in Indianapolis. Swimmers stand in line to pet dogs, allowing them to have a “moment of normalcy” during high-pressure times, said Ashleigh Coster, executive director of Paws & Think, Inc., a group that provides therapy teams.
Beacon was slated to be the only therapy dog ​​in the first event, an elite qualifier for rhythmic gymnastics in Indianapolis last year. But when Callahan Molnar learned that 300 athletes would be there, he asked three local therapy dog ​​organizations to help. Eleven additional dogs, from a tiny Pomeranian to a 100-pound Great Pyrenees, volunteered.
At nationals, Callahan Molnar oversees a team of 19 fine handlers and dogs, including Gus the Cavalier King Charles spaniel; Gilly the Scottish terrier; Twiggy the mini beagle; and many golden retrievers.
Luna, a white and wiggly American Staffordshire terrier, wore a huge pink bow and wagged tail like a windshield wiper in the highest setting. An over-enthusiastic yellow labrador named Molly suddenly fell over to treat her stomach, and licked the chalk off her gymnastic hands and feet. Beacon works from morning till night.
“Not every dog ​​is cut out for this, but it turns out they’re good and they’re very happy, which is the important part for me,” said Callahan Molnar. “Even though he’s tired, even though he’s been working 12 hours, the second he hears his name, he’s like, ‘I’m ready and I want to say hi. Who wants to be near me?'”
As it turned out, many gymnasts, who shouted his name when they saw him. Judges, coaches and security workers, too, can’t resist a pat on the head or a drive-by belly rub.
Brody Malone, a normally stoic gymnast competing in Tokyo, is a giggling fan around Beacon. She said, “I love this dog! Who wouldn’t want to take a break from all this stress to fall in love with a dog for a few minutes?
Shilese Jones, the favorite to make the team for the Paris Games, traded the bathroom for time with Beacon at last year’s nationals.
“I said, forget the bathroom, is Beacon there?” she said. “I feel like he’s blocking reality and sometimes it’s good for us not to overthink things.”
At this year’s nationals, they reunited like old friends. He jumped when he saw her, licked her face and rested his big head on her open palm.
“Oh, he remembers me!” Jones said, laughing.
Jones, who suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to withdraw from nationals, said Beacon made him better mentally — and physically, too.
“He distracts me from the reality of pain,” he said while scratching Beacon behind his ear.
Beacon and Chester, another golden retriever, provided the same support as the gymnasts when the new national team was announced earlier this month. The gymnasts who made the team wore the new Team USA sweatsuits. Those who are not equal just walk away. Someone was trying to control their breathing to keep from crying. Others were crying.
Beacon licked a tear from one gymnast’s cheek and she smiled as she grabbed one of her sandals and tried to walk away with it.
A similar scenario will play out at the Olympic trials, where just five men and five women will make the U.S. team for this summer’s Paris Olympics. USA Gymnastics plans to have a psychologist on site for athletes whose names have not been released and there will be a private room for gymnasts and their families.
Beacon will also be in the arena, happy to see the gymnasts, whether they make the team or not.
