Gymnast Spotlight: Syque Caesar (Part 3)

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow drew to a close at the weekend; Usain Bolt picked up his expected gold medal, England topped the medal table, the Royals were out in force, and Glasgow even got some sun. In the final installment of our 3 part blog, Syque Caesar reflects on his experience in Glasgow and what his plans are in the future.

Part 3: Post-Meet

Turn: Can you give us a quick recap of your competition and the meet as a whole? 

Syque: Overall I did very poorly and I’m very disappointed with my performance. The first day of qualifications went by too quickly and I was unable to perform at my best because there wasn’t any recovery time after each rotation – we competed on three events in less than 30 minutes; so definitely not an ideal format. I was happy to make it through pommel horse without falling off, but then had to compete rings within about five minutes afterwards and I had to take a skill out and struggled through the majority of it; although I didn’t fall, per se, I had a very rough routine. Floor started off awesome, but then I ran out of gas and put my hand down on the dismount.

The next day, the competition was run a lot better and it was time for redemption. Unfortunately I did not redeem myself. Parallel bars went okay, and I finished up in 9th overall (first reserve for event finals). High bar was especially bad as I had two falls. As for vault, I did a clean Kasamatsu 1/1, but I put my hands down. So overall, it was a bad day for me. I’ve thought about the competition and talked to my coach quite a bit and my performance was not a reflection of my preparedness or skill level, but just one of those competitions that every gymnast has – mine was just terrible timing considering my potential, expectations, and goals for this competition. But that’s just the nature of our crazy sport – you can be at the top of your game, and one bad meet can leave you beating yourself up over it for a while. I’m just trying to move on past this competition and not let it define my entire gymnastics career thus far (which has been much better than I had shown here).

Besides the first day of competition, the overall meet was great – the arena was awesome, the crowd was electric, and the atmosphere was great. The level of competition was very high at the top of the scoreboard with a great variety of gymnasts from many different countries as well.

Turn: Could you compare your experience from this event to that of your collegiate competitions, or even your time at the Olympics?

Syque: This competition is most comparable to the Olympics, just at a smaller scale. This year’s Commonwealth Games had 17 different sports from 71 different participating countries. Athletes stayed in the Athletes’ Village and there were even many para-sports as well just like the Paralympics. The team competition in gymnastics was split in two days, so in that respect, it was unlike any other team competition I’ve ever experienced. It is an interesting format, and I’ve heard mostly positive things about it.

Turn: What's it like to represent your country?

Syque: Competing for Bangladesh is a great honor for me. I was born and raised in the U.S. by Bangladeshi parents. I feel that I am able to give back to Bangladesh through athletics. I was able to win the first international gold medal in gymnastics for Bangladesh back at the end of 2011 and received a lot support and encouragement to continue competing for Bangladesh.

Turn: What are your plans and goals following your return to the US?

Syque: When I get back to the U.S., I plan on continuing to train as I have a possibility of competing at the Asian Games and maybe the World Championships. I will most likely keep the same routines with minor changes and/or upgrades just so I can be as consistent as possible. I am slated to graduate with a master’s degree in sport management at the University of Michigan in December and I have recently just taken a position as program assistant for the Michigan Men’s Gymnastics team earlier in July. I will be sticking around in Ann Arbor until at least April 2015.

We hope you've enjoyed our mini series following Syque at the Games. To Syque, a big thanks for giving us your insight and inspiring others to seek such great experiences our sport has to offer. Best of luck with your future training and new position with the Michigan Men’s Gymnastics team. 

Stay tuned for more athlete spotlights in the future.

- Team Turn

PS. Thank you to Eileen Langsley for providing the photograph, you can view more of her epic work by clicking here.