Many felt that Kristina should have been one of the two Olympians from Canada. That debate is ended with this bad news sent by Jeremy Mosier.
VACULIK OUT WITH INJURED ELBOW; BROWN NAMED FIRST ALTERNATE
Kristina Vaculik of Gemini gymnastics is reportedly suffering from an elbow injury that will require several weeks to heal. As a result, Alyssa Brown has been named the first reserve (alternate) for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
But Kristina is young, talented and has great coaches. Most feel she will be one of the international superstars of the next quadrennial.
WAG Olympic Ranking Process Decoded
The following overview circulated by the GCG Program Director-WAG provides the final ranking for the WAG Olympic Selection Process and some information about the process.
Gymnastics Canada is aware that the outcome of this process has created a public debate (internet & e-mails). Hopefully, this brief overview will assist in better understanding the process and the outcome.
Ranking
The ranking of the athletes at the end of Step 1 of the Olympic Games selection process for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics is as follows:
Nansy Damianova from Gymnix in Montreal: 43.3
Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs from Sport Seneca in Toronto 41.3
Kristina Vaculik from Gemini Gymnastics in Oshawa 37.1
Alyssa Brown from Gymnastics Mississauga 15.8
Aisha Gerber from the Oakville Gymnastics Club 13.8
Sydney Sawa from the Calgary Gymnastics Centre 11.6
Stephanie Pacitto from Gymnastics Mississauga (injured) 6.0About the process
As stated in the process, the emphasis was on performing very well on two apparatus. Some athletes who were strong on four apparatus had an advantage since they had more apparatus to choose from.
The process put the emphasis on meeting the standards at international competitions rather than at the domestic ones. A maximum of two of the six performances counting on an apparatus could be from Elite Canada 2007 or the Canadian Championships 2008.
The assignments to the international competitions were done periodically between November 2007 and May 2008. The top three ranked athletes had a similar number of competitions at which points could be earned: 10 for Kristina Vaculik and 9 each for Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs and Nansy Damianova.
Athletes were assigned to a maximum of one world cup competition before January 1, 2008. Some athletes declined attendance. Elyse and Nansy competed at the Glasgow World Cup in November whose weight was 0.7. Kristina was not age eligible for world cup competitions in 2007. She was assigned to the Olympic Test Event (OTE) in November where WAG could send only one athlete. The weight of the OTE was 1.0 (maximum weight).
There were three competitions with a weight of 1.0: the Olympic Test Event, the Pacific Championships and the Senior Apparatus Finals at the Canadian Championships. Nansy and Elyse competed at two of them and Kristina at all three. The top three ranked athletes competed at one international competition each with a weight factor of 0.80 and one with 0.7.
My opinion is that regulations in Canada are deliberately obtuse obfuscated and confusing — as is obvious above — so that only a few people at the top understand them.
There was no need to force the contenders and coaches through so many high pressure meets over the past 6 or 8 months in order to chose two athletes. That was simply crazy. The administrators of the Women’s program have been getting roasted on the Gymn.ca forum and elsewhere online. They deserve it.
If you can’t get enough Canadian Olympic Gymnastics drama, watch part 1 of this TV special from Nationals on YouTube (men and women interviewed).
The rest of the program is posted on Gymbrooke Sports News.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 