Covergirl Gymnastics links

7 comments ↓

#1 kew121 on 07.24.10 at 12:49 pm

@intlgymforum and @gymnastike are tweeting live updates. Gymnastike live updates are also here: http://www.gymnastike.org/articles/view/1082-live-updates-page

#2 coach Rick on 07.24.10 at 1:04 pm

THANKS kew. I updated the original post.

#3 Kennedy on 07.25.10 at 10:08 am

Huge congrats to Alicia who won both her events last night…and it was well deserved, too. Definitely impressed with her and can’t wait until she takes over nationals in a few weeks.

#4 PolyisTCOandbanned on 07.25.10 at 2:03 pm

Two important things that people should understand looking at Alicia:

-NO TAPE on either ankle. Remember Beijing? Would anyone have been surprised by a rupture at Olys? Weren’t we all holding our breath?

-She is leaner. And I don’t think she was unattractive at Olys…she was better than a lot of fat college girls like that one from GA. But she’s taken the body fat down. She’s got less mass on the hoof and you can see more muscle tone.

Both of these have a direct effect on her performance on beam and vault. And even floor, I think, was impacted by her weight (where she had a tendancy to go out of bounds on the first pass.)

In all seriousness, the body is a vital part of gym. It’s not just technigue or nerves. If your body has a little resever of strength or is lighter, you are more likely to pull moves off, to control tiny issues on takeoffs or landings.

Look for example to Chelsie Memmel. She was BETTER lighter. And I honestly think Jana taking 5 pounds off would have helped her. And I’m not talking about the figure skating “artistry” loverz and Russian-score cheaters who rate gymnasts based on “international appearance” (read waif supermodel, boyish figure).

Leave that aside. It’s just that athletic performance is BETTER with less pounds. Of COURSE we need to be careful, especially with growing athletes and/or non-elites and just in general with women who need more fat.

But there really, really, really IS an effect of body composition on performance. A scientific method of working on this to make sure the athlete has the best chance of success without endangering themselves is the path forward. honest assessments with DEXA scans and calipers. Programmed diets with lots of veggie mass for bulk and satiation and making sure enough protein, vitamins, essential fatty acids, etc. are obtained.

And the same thing applies to male gymnasts, to female runners and field athletes, etc. etc.

This is NOT a screed to put down any athletes or a desire to harm any of them. Just a desire to see them train smart. And puh…leeze let’s skip the obvious head-in-the-sand attitudes of saying Shawn DITS was “not fat”.

#5 Kathryn in NZ on 07.25.10 at 3:52 pm

Go A-Sac!
I thought she looked really fab and more “springy fit” than she did in ’08
Is it just me, or are artistic leos getting more and more glittery lately???

#6 Kennedy on 07.25.10 at 6:59 pm

Poly you are absolutely right. And the best part about Alicia’s comeback is that she is older and is training smarter now because of it. She put herself (or allowed herself to be put) in situations where her body was being beaten down. I don’t think she will allow that to happen again.

And I think I read somewhere that Alicia won’t make 2012 with just beam and vault..she’d have to do floor. I’m almost positive Alicia will get floor back eventually. Now is not the right time, but by next year I imagine we’ll be seeing her going strong on all 3 events.

#7 Ono No Komachi on 07.26.10 at 8:52 am

Far better to stay quiet and be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it. You know who you are.

Now it can be told! A giant wall of text cannot hide the truth. Alicia Sacramone is gorgeous.

“She is leaner. And I don’t think she was UNATTRACTIVE at the Olys”…

Sacramone does not look that different that she did in 2008. Luck as much as poundage hurt her in Beijing. Did the judges give Cheng Fei the vault bronze because she was thinner than Sacarmone?

The advantage Sacramone has over Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson is that the body she had when she learned her skills is essentially the same one she has now.

There is no denying that body weight and shape affect athletic performance. In fact, I’d go as far to say that of any of the girls shown in the Cover Girl Broadcast, the only one with a body type appropriate for a top elite distance runner is Sam Shapiro. She might actually want to give this a thought considering her luck so far with gymnastics.

Does anyone know of a website where I can find out what Marian Dragulescu’s lipid panel looks like? I’d really like to study his labs. It’s all about health, I tell you.

Leave a Comment