The host Rhythmic team made the minimum FIG standard, but not the (higher) British Gymnastics qualifying score. They’ve appealed to be allowed to compete in the Olympics.
I agree with Nadia:
… the host nation should have a rhythmic gymnastic presence at the Olympics to inspire the next generation of young women.
“It is important,” said Comaneci, noting that this was a rare opportunity for the sport to promote rhythmic gymnastics at the highest competitive level.
“How many times are the Games in your home country …
Alabama gymnastics sophomore Diandra Milliner (from Folger’s) scores a 10.0 on the vault against Florida on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 in Coleman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide beat the Gators 197.725-196.900.
(it) became the group’s second number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States …
Thanks Jessica.
On a serious note, the Egyptian revolution has not done much yet to remedy gender discrimination. Of 508 seats in the first ‘free’ election, only about 2% will be filled by women.
Three words I’d not expected to see in the same sentence.
Paul Hamm wants to be remembered as a great Olympic champion, not the guy in the YouTube video.
More than six months after his embarrassing arrest on assault and two other misdemeanor charges, Hamm spoke out Tuesday, saying he regretted what happened and hoped to regain his reputation. …
I really like Mackenzie and have followed her progress for years. Her Bars have elite potential.
… but who are these judges?
International elite gymnast Mackenzie Brannan earned a perfect 10.0 for this jam-packed uneven bar routine during the exciting event finals session of the 2012 Alamo Classic in San Antonio. Watch for Brannan as she makes her senior international debut this year and works to achieve her dream of qualifying to the 2012 Olympic Trials.
… You know what you can do? Stop sharing things you don’t want tracked. …
Before and after March 1st best advice is not to do anything online you’ll regret in future. Somebody, somewhere could be tracking it. And it probably won’t be Google. They’re one of the least evil players.
If you want to dig into this deeper, the best authority is Jeff Jarvis. He’s the author of:
On Gymnastike, Anne commented on some NCAA schools using a 3rd party service called Varsity Monitor to follow their team online.
They flag “questionable conduct“.
That’s a bit scary. But I suspect Universities are mainly worried about what their high profile basketball and football players say. Gymnasts are probably the least of their worries.
Though the Hamm blog is down, 2004 Olympic Champion Paul Hamm is still hoping to contend for 2012.
… Hamm has kept a low profile since being arrested in Upper Arlington, Ohio, last summer on charges of kicking a cab driver, damaging a cab window and refusing to pay a $23 fare.
Andy Thornton has compiled Paul’s potential routines based mostly on Facebook video clips. Andy thinks he’s still in the mix for the USA team, especially for Pommel Horse.
He’s a long shot, I’d say. But don’t count Paul out. Not yet.
There’s a chance that he might even make an appearance at Winter Cup in February. I’d love to see him compete a couple of apparatus there.
Here’s Paul’s Facebook Wall. Not everyone is able to watch those video clips, be warned.
Even if FIG approves your athlete for Olympics, most nations have additional requirements. “Evidence that the athlete will finish top half of the field”, for example.
In the case of GBR Rhythmic, it’s British Gymnastics that is refusing to nominate the team to the British Olympic Association.
I was involved in one of these dramas in 1999, the Canadian Olympic Committee initially unwilling to approve Kyle Shewfelt for the 2000 Olympics. (He was the youngest competitor.)
Kyle nearly qualified for Finals in Sydney and went on to be the most successful Canadian in history. It’s examples like this that coaches should cite as a reason to approve athletes / teams for Olympics.
It’s crazy that the host nation won’t approve their Rhythmics Team. Imagine what kind of boost the sport would have in the U.K. with all that Olympic exposure, regardless of result.
Leave a comment if you know of other athletes who made the Olympic qualification standard, but were denied participation by their own nation.
The Youth Olympics feature many of the same sports as the regular Olympics, but often with a mixed-gender and/or team twist. Some of those variations could find their way onto the Olympic program, as sports try to widen their appeal and offer more medal opportunities to participating athletes. …
The Winter Youth Olympics include mixed-gender events in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, luge, short-track speedskating and ski jumping. …
The U.S. curling team, comprised of Massachusetts resident Korey Dropkin, New Jersey resident Thomas Howell and twins Sarah and Taylor Anderson from Pennsylvania, was the only team to go undefeated in round-robin play this week …
The Rhythmic Gymnastics Finals concluded the Visa International Gymnastics, which as part of the London Prepares series functioned as Test Event for the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as the final Olympic qualifier. …
Individual All-around
Gold KONDAKOVA Daria RUS 110.450
Silver RIZATDINOVA Ganna UKR 108.750
Bronze ALYABYEVA Anna KAZ 108.075
Group All-around
Gold ESP – Spain 53.250
Silver ISR – Israel 50.525
Bronze FRA – France 50.400
Bronze GRE – Greece 50.400
… “I am pleased that our gymnasts now have a second chance at participation in the Games, an initiative that aims to bring greater justice to the sport. But as with all new concepts, we will need to revisit certain criteria, details, that some feel are still too complicated. …”
… the Finals in Artistic and Trampoline enjoyed spectacular audience success from a media standpoint. “This is the first time that the FIG has independently produced the signal of a Final. We have chosen to embrace a modern philosophy by live broadcasting on our “Gymnastics” You Tube channel. We have integrated social networks into our global communication package, which has proven very successful. …
I’d agree. Overall the event was excellent, especially for the YouTube Finals feed and videos.
Dwight Normile was more critical of the new system:
… The biggest losers were the Canadian men and Spanish women, both of whom would have qualified under the old rules with their 12th-place finishes in Tokyo.
It would make a lot more sense to use the test event specifically for individual qualification. And if the FIG really wants to raise the level of competition at the Olympics, then it should reduce the number of all-around berths and add more top specialists via the previous worlds apparatus finals. …
THE ALL AROUND is my go to source for clarification of the bizarrely complicated FIG Olympic selection process. Albert Minguillón i Colomer is more up-to-speed on the rules than MTC, so far as I can see.
Elizabeth Long, TAA Publisher / Executive Editor, has a valuable post clarifying the dirty details on who qualifies to London.
Here’s the speculation on a question on my mind:
… Q. Who is eligible for the Tripartite Commission Invitation?
A. MAG and WAG will each have one available space for a Tripartite Commission invitation. According to the Information Papers of the Tripartite Commission, invitations are given to NOCs with “an average of six (6) or less athletes at the last two editions of the Olympic Games. Only eligible NOCs are permitted to make a request for their best athletes in the sports offering Invitation places.”
To be considered, gymnasts from eligible NOCs must have participated at the 2011 World Championships and/or the Test Event. From information found, Bangladesh (Syque Caesar) and Monaco (Kevin Crovetto) appear to be the only NOCs in Tokyo meeting the six-or-less average requirement …
nations under the new scheme are:
