Gymnastics Coaching

Our T&T program is thriving at my club in Calgary, Canada.

I’ve been very impressed with the progress of our kids over the Fall.

Tryouts are scheduled the next 2 Sundays (Jan. 11th & 18th at 4PM) for boys and girls interested in competitive. Experience in gymnastics and acrobatics an advantage, but not essential.

Email Rick_McCharles@hotmail.com for more information.

We have an excellent facility with new Rod Floor, new Double-mini and our unique Powertrack.

related post - great tumbling facility for gymnasts

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IG has upgraded their website using new software called Vivvo 4.

It’s up right now after having been down for the last number of days.

screenshot

International Gymnast

The Inside Gymnastics magazine website falls even further behind. They’ve made small improvements, but a complete overhaul of the Inside Gymnastics site is what’s really needed.

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Utah Head Coach Greg Marsden posted a Facebook training video of one of my favourite College gymnasts.

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This looks potentially even more interesting than Gymnastrada.

In 2009 the first ever Gym for Life Challenge will take place during July 15-19 in Dornbirn, Austria. There is now a time constraint of five minutes for each routine. Groups are separated by age: 16 or younger, 17 or older, and mixed age groups; then sub-separated by amount of gymnasts: 20 or less, and 21 or more. The criteria for evaluation will be overall impression; entertainment value; innovation, originality, and variety; and technique (quality and skill safety). …

All Gymnastics, All the time - 2009 Preview: The Gym for Life Challenge

I’ll recommend that Cirque du Soleil attend.

Click PLAY or watch the FIG promo video on YouTube.

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The man who many rank as one of the greatest coaches ever is 98-years-old.

I’ve heard so more inspiring stories about John Wooden than anyone else in sport history.

His 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years while at UCLA are unmatched by any other college basketball coach.

He still lives at home.

And his mind is still sharp as you can tell from a recent interview:

… I’m ready. I wish it would happen now. But I’m not going to try to hurry it. I’m not afraid of death. I’m not going to intentionally hurry it up, but I’m not afraid. I’ve been so blessed in my life. I’m thankful for so many things. My children, my 13 great-grandchildren, all live within an hour or less, and I see them all regularly. How many times does that happen? Within an hour or two, I can see the ocean, I can be in the mountains, I can be in the desert, I can be at Disneyland, I can be at an athletic event. There are so many things. I have been so blessed. And out yonder, I’ll be with Nellie again.

Sporting News

Nellie was his wife. She died in 1985. But Coach Wooden has not moved her nightgown from her side of the bed in the intervening 24-years.

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The Salta Gymnastics Club Competitive Blog (Chalk Bowl) posted two videos showing how the Gym-Action club — to save space — suspended bars from the roof, rather than from the floor.

related post - Funtastics Gymnastics - gymnastics bar suspended from ceiling

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Elena Lehniuc was born in Cernauti (in the later Republic of Moldova) in 1935.

It seems she has passed on.

That according to FanGymnastics - Romanian gymnastics blog.

Elena was one of the Bronze medal winning Team at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (1956), the first Romanian Olympic medal in gymnastics.

Read a long, rambling article on FanGymnastics - Elena Leusteanu – The First Lady of Romanian Gymnastics

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Gymnastike linked to a near perfect routine from the 2001 East Asian Games.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Whatever happened to the Chinese inquiry into Dong Fangxiao being underage at the 2000 Olympics?

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In the second of two NCAA competitions down in sunny Mexico …

Stanford, which ranked No. 5 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, finished first with a score of 195.6, No. 9 Oregon State came next at 194.575, No. 14 Denver University scored 193.825 to place third and BYU scored 189.125 to take fourth.

All-around:

1. Carly Janiga (Stanford) 39.275
2. Jami Lanz (OSU) 39.125
3. Shelley Alexander (Stanford) 38.975.

Stanford Scores Sweep in Gymnastics Opener

Stephanie McGregor of Oregon State competed Vault and Floor in her first NCAA meet, by the way. Congrats, Steph.

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Every time we see a “world’s best” sport performance it’s tempting to think it will never be bettered.

Not so.

Bolt is an outlier.

The World’s fastest man will not be the fastest ever.

As astonishing as Usain Bolt’s record-breaking 100-meter sprint was, his time of 9.69 seconds is nowhere near what biostatisticians predict is the natural limit for the human body. …

Wired Science - Bolt Is Freaky Fast, But Nowhere Near Human Limits

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I’m not a gamer. But this may be of interest to those who are. And who own the Nintendo DS console.

… In Ener-G Gym Rockets players take on the role of a young female gymnast making her way through successive levels of competition that will eventually lead to the Olympic games. This road to the medal round is full of training, choreography, fashion and fun as players familiarize themselves with the various elements that make up a winning performance in each of the five events, which include, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercises, vault and freestyle performance.. …

Five events?

OK, it may not be all that realistic.

Amazon.com - $28

Leave a comment if you know of a better gymnastics video game.

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In the first of two NCAA competitions in Mexico, the Tigers were victorious.

… LSU posted a 194.900 team score which was nearly a point higher than No. 19 Boise State’s 193.700 total. No. 8 Michigan finished third with a 192.700 score while North Carolina placed fourth with a score of 190.325. …

Individually, LSU swept the all-around as senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney captured the all-around crown for the second straight year at the Cancun Classic by finishing the meet with a 39.350 total while junior Sabrina Franceschelli finished second with a score of 38.775 and junior Susan Jackson took third with an all-around score of 38.650. …

LSU Sports Net

larger version

The second meet: University of Denver, Stanford University, Oregon State University, Brigham Young University is underway.

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The man I picked for the Gold on Floor in Beijing has found a sponsor.

Congratulations.

Brandon was forced to limp off the competition Floor at the 2008 Olympics after being injured in podium training. Like many others, Brandon was considering retirement.

Gymnast gets second chance at medal

Thanks to the generosity of a city businessman, local Olympian can revisit his dream in 2012

An Olympic medal wasn’t to be in his future — but then he met Shawn Dolan.

Dolan had watched O’Neill’s agony as he tried to compete in the Olympics a week after suffering ligament damage to one ankle. The Edmonton businessman almost felt the young gymnast’s disappointment as the ankle gave out.

“You’re cheering for him and suddenly you’re friggin’ disappointed when he comes in sixth,” Dolan said. “Well, know what? We were talking about it and I did something about it.”

The owner of ECM Electronics founded the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group and will provide O’Neill with the financial resources to continue competing through the 2012 Games.

Dolan and a small group of investors will give O’Neill $4,000 a month for the next four years to keep alive his Olympic medal dream and to “prove to the rest of Canada that if our athletes are funded properly and are able to train as in other countries, they’ll succeed in winning medals.”

Dolan chose O’Neill as the first recipient of the group’s funding, partly because Dolan didn’t want to see him quit, and partly because his own daughter is a member of the same Capital City Gymnastics Club as O’Neill.

…

He’s looking for more investors — private or corporate — to join his group so more Alberta athletes can be helped. He said the athletes have to be carded, have a good competitive record and be able to quality for the Olympics. He hopes to add a winter athlete after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a second athlete after the 2012 Summer Games. …

Edmonton Journal

Shawn Dolan, left, founder of the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group, persuaded Olympic gymnast Brandon O’Neill to come out of retirement and train for the 2012 Games.

Photograph by: Larry Wong, The Journal

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