Gymnastics Learns a New Trick: Athletes Talk and Coaches Listen

Changes in the sport, which is still struggling to recover from a sexual abuse scandal, were evident at a championship event in Texas.

FORT WORTH — Sarah Jantzi, an elite gymnastics coach and the whistle-blower in the biggest sexual abuse scandal in sports history, trains her athletes using an approach that for years some fellow coaches considered unconventional. When her current national team gymnast, Grace McCallum, is too tired to train in a productive way, Jantzi sends her home to rest. When she is injured, including when McCallum broke a bone in her hand in January needed a plate and seven screws to stabilize it, Jantzi tells her to return when she feels healthy. If McCallum is frustrated for any reason, like her recent three-inch growth spurt or even Jantzi’s coaching, Jantzi encourages her to discuss it. And when McCallum, 18, makes mistakes, which athletes are apt to do in such a demanding and dangerous sport, Jantzi reminds her that no one is perfect. That includes Simone Biles, who on Sunday easily won her seventh national championship in the all-around.