Entries from October 2010 ↓

He’s impressed with the globalization of gymnastics.

GYMmedia exclusive interview with the former and again current Rumanian national coach Octavian BELU, one day before the beginning of the team competition of the 2010 World Championships …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

20 girls!

… Now that’s a tough line-up to make.

UCLA – roster

Expect to see one or two disappear before the start of season.

She’s stolen Nathan Gafuik’s jacket. … And his high heels?

Am I the first to notice that this girl has attitude?

From the Facebook album: … 2010 by Tanya Nabieva

Alexandrov warned her to be in shape for training after the post-worlds break. Good luck to him.

The old man of Soviet Gymnastics looks great. Has never been more verbose.

And at 5min 30sec he looks at the prototype J&F beam with a flaired end to facilitate dismounts.

GYMmedia exclusive interview with one of the worldwide most successful coach, the former Soviet and Russian men’s and women’s chief coach and long-time President of the Russian Gymnastics Federation Leonid Arkayev.

Of course Arkayev IS the world’s most successful coach, having won more World and Olympic medals than any other. But he hasn’t been at Worlds since 2003.

Click PLAY or watch a lengthy interview on GymMEDIA’s YouTube channel.

LADMMI, l’école de danse contemporaine, in Montreal, is making a Canadian tour, looking for students wanting to become professional dancers. The equivalent of a a 3-year college level education.

Vancouver, BC – October 30th
Toronto – November 2nd
Halifax – November 7th

details

Did the World Vault Champion land …

… in the Corridor, but close to the corridor line.

If so, that’s a 0.1 deduction.

Screen grab from this video of her Rudi in Finals.

Personally, I think not. That 0.1 penalty has not often been taken in the past. Was not taken for other gymnasts in Rotterdam much more off line.

And the wording in English is vague. It should say “one foot on the line”, or something specific.

In that Final that Alicia Sacramone was easily best.

I’m sure we’ll hear other opinions.

related posts – … 0.1 penalty on Vault (compare Nabieva and Mustafina)

Remember the days when gymnasts from only a handful of nations would qualify to the Finals at the World Gymnastics Championships.

No more.

EIGHT different countries were represented in the men’s pommel horse final, and NONE of them were China or Japan?

In fact, none of the top four teams from the team final were represented in the pommel horse final, and this created a very unique and diversified field that included Hungary, Great Britain, Australia, France, Croatia, Armenia, Belgium, and Slovenia! All non-powerhouse countries, and what’s even better…it was one of the best pommel horse finals ever! Six guys scored above a 15, and we’re seeing some of the coolest and most stylish pommel horse routines ever done. …

Andrew Thornton – American Gymnast – Top Three Highlights of Event Finals Day 1

How are gymnasts from Venezuela and Armenia finishing top 10 in the world?

The main reason, I feel, is the diaspora of coaches from the former Soviet Union. Skillful coaches find talent wherever they end up.

On the Men’s side, the emergence of specialists has really helped smaller nations compete.

It’s a great trend, in any case.

Young coaches get sick and tired of us dinosaurs always talking about the Golden Age of women’s gymnastics, the late 1980s Soviet Teams.

One of those dinosaurs, Queen Elisabeth, has started a new blog called Russian gymnastics – risk, originality, virtuosity:

… For the past 17 years, since the break up of the Soviet Union, gymnastics has stagnated somewhat. If you are a fan of British or American gymnastics, or any of the other states who have benefitted hugely from the ‘retirement’ of the Soviet Union from big-time sport …

I agree.

Especially since so many of those Russian gymnasts and coaches migrated around the world. (See a partial list of former Soviets at Rotterdam.)

… I’ll give you a link to a routine that I consider to represent the epitome of ROV….

I’ve chosen beam as an example of the degradation of ROV in the sport because to me it’s where the changes in the sport have become most obvious. The gymnast is Tatiana Groshkova, who rested on the margins of the Soviet team around the late 1980s and early 1990s. …

Click PLAY or watch Tatiana Groshkova Beam on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Deng LinLin‘s 2009 World’s Gold medal routine on Youtube.

Deng’s form is obviously beautiful, the somersaults are high, the exercise is technically correct. However, where is the ‘routine’? What makes this exercise more than an assemblage of difficulties out of the pages of the Code of Points? …

read more – What is this about? Gymnastics at a turning point?

Agree?

Check that blog for yourself – Russian gymnastics – risk, originality, virtuosity

(via Full Twist)

Groshkova was first to compete double full-in on Floor (VIDEO), in an era when it wasn’t needed to have the maximum 10.0 start.

She was simply trying to earn a spot on the Soviet A team.

Update: Canadian gymnast Anysia Unick does the Groshkova sideways backspring (Tousek). Who else is using it in 2010?

Everyone was happy that this German gymnast made the Final. We all wanted to see the Def.

Unfortunately, she missed.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Remind me never to spot that skill.

The French had a good World Championships, despite the injury (snapped Achilles tendon) to Carnobe.

Here’s some video footage from MTC member Edouard Iarov coaching boys from France in the 1990s. That nation has had strong gymnasts for a long time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related videos

The World Champion has arrived back home in Moscow. Catching up on school work.

Is she a super confident, fierce competitor?

Or a shy little girl still in shock to find herself the centre of all this attention and speculation? … One who runs away from the media, every chance she gets.

I’m not sure.

Aliya talks tough in an excellent, likely controversial, interview on Sportbox.ru, translated by Senor Nico on IG forum:

Anton Golotsutskov, who won the silver medal on vault, said that the judges are prejudiced against Russian athletes.

-I repeat, athletes shouldn’t interfere with the judging. Our small matter is to compete. But in part I agree with Anton. To some extent I think the judges were against me.

-What do you think about being called the next Khorkina?

-Nothing. It’s all the same to me. Svetlana was, of course, an amazing gymnast. But I have no idols and never have.

read the full interview

Like the American girls, the Russians saw very little other than the hotel and Ahoy arena. The Romanians were in the shopping mall every day, even before the competition finished.

Ortona Gymnastics Club (Edmonton, AB) is now accepting applications for WAG competitive gymnastics coaches.

Full and part time availability … Benefits available to full time staff. Requirements: Women NCCP Level 2 minimum, national experience, international experience an asset. Fluent English (spoken & written) is required.

Ortona Gymnastics (780) 465-8973
businessmanager AT ortonagymnastics.com

The club’s been housed in the “Wonder Bubble” for years. But are moving in June to a shiney new facility called the Go Center.

more photos

Successful applicants are required to cheer for the woeful professional sports teams from that city.

The former Romanian Women’s National coach, dissatisfied with a lesser role, is packing up and moving to Milan.

Sounds like he will do a talent search on arrival. Start from scratch.

Click for a Google Translate gobbledygook version of the original article linked by THE ALL AROUND on Facebook.

Romania did extermely well, I thought, without Forminte at Worlds. Perhaps it is time for a fresh start.