[originaltext]W: Hey John, do you know that my cousin was just selected as a me

W: Hey John, do you know that my cousin was just selected as a member of the US Olympic Gymnastics team to Athens?
M: No way! That’s awesome!
W: Yeah. She finally made it, and she certainly deserves it. She has been taking gymnastics classes seriously since she was a little girl, like since she was only 5 or 6 years old.
M: Congratulations! She must be one of the best gymnasts in your country.
W: No question about it.
M: I have heard that ancient Greek gymnastics training programs were designed for children too. And the programs were considered to be an integral part of the children’s education.
W: I know. The ancient Greek people believed that gymnastics exercises were good for children. The type of exercises would facilitate unity of mind and body, and also harmonize the body’s movements.
M: I am not surprised. Are the current gymnastics exercises the same as the ancient forms?
W: No, I don’t think so. The ancient gymnastics was modernized in the 1800s. The modem format was developed by German and Czechoslovak educators. They invented gymnastics apparatus to develop self-discipline and strength of the body.
M: No wonder the German and Czechoslovak teams, had dominated the entire event in earlier days at the Olympic Games. Their gymnasts pretty much had swept every single medal at the Olympic competition. When was this sport first introduced to the United States?
W: Gymnastics was not introduced to the U.S. until the early 1830s. And in 1883, the Amateur Athletic Union, also abbreviated as AAU, was established. Since then the Union became very active and took over the control of all gymnastics activities in the U. S.