Rio Olympics: Final Five

The U.S. women's gymnastics team gave their national team coordinator a fitting send off before retirement. In the Rio Olympics, Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman won the team gold. And deciding to call themselves the Final Five was significant and personal. In tribute, they chose this nickname because they are the final team to train under the watchful eye of Marta Karolyi.

Who says that Boomers and Millennials can’t get along? Preparing for the Olympic competition, the stern Karolyi helped create a deep sense of cohesion, collaboration and camaraderie. She’s from the old school - tough, straight forward, and no nonsense. And during training, She led with blunt directives for maximum impact. The practice was often followed by a nod of approval, and a reminder that their work was not yet finished: "I always tell the girls, we're competing against ourselves…. We want to come as close as possible to perfection."

And theseamazing gymnasts sing her praises. They see Marta’s meticulous planning, technical support and words of wisdom as a winning combination. They feel she pushes hard because she wants the best for them. And without her they know they wouldn’t have been able to do this.

These genuine good women care a lot about each other. They’re grateful for their families and say they couldn’t have gotten here without their love and support. These daughters applaud their parents, whose sacrifices have helped them achieve their goals. But it wasn’t always this way for women.

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin spearheaded the first modern Olympics in 1896 he excluded women, thinking it would be “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect.” In 1900, when they first competed in Paris, women athletes comprised only 22 of the 997 competitors. But things are changing. This year the U.S. has more women than men competing for the first time in history.

This week, with a total team effort, five Olympic gymnasts wrote their place in history, made their families proud and brought Marta Karolyi to tears. But that’s not all. Through their successes, they’ll continue to open doors for other aspiring female athletes. In gymnastics, between 1948 and 1984, American women did not win any Olympic medals. Although this is only the third team gold win since 1996, with this kind of enthusiasm, there are many more to come.

Let’s hope theFinal Five continue to inspire and be role models for all the lively little girls tumbling around and climbing on the furniture. This victory will give those who copy them, and pretend to be on the podium, the courage and hope that someday they too can make their dreams come true.