… refused to link Ohashi’s name with the 2016 Olympics, saying instead that he prefers to take things one year at a time. …
“Of course Katelyn is a very talented gymnast. She’s not little anymore — next year she’ll be eligible for the World Championships,” Liukin said when asked to evaluate her talent. “Her senior career will start next year, so we’ll be getting ready for Worlds.” …
Friends who visited WOGA recently tell that Nastia looks in great shape. Still, qualifying for the American team is a long shot. I’d say she’d need to be top 3 Bars and Beam to be selected.
At his recent clinic at GAGE, Al explained his elaborate “trench” pit. This it the 5th version and he’s finally happy with how it works.
Note the free standing elevated chalk box.
Those segments are 8ft long, wide enough to leave a 2ft channel.
The white base spotting box is the minimum height you’d possibly ever want to use. The yellow pieces can be stacked as high as needed for the height of the gymnast. This day it was set so the tallest girl in the gym could swing.
The blue mat in-between is custom made to fit.
Construction is layers of rigid foam, glued together. Then topped with carpet bonded ethafoam from an old roll strip.
Al’s gym makes their own covers having purchased a $1600 industrial sewing machine.
A contractor friend of mine priced out one of the yellow sections at less than $200 including handles and perhaps even a zipper closure. GAGE has dozens. Each is light enough to easily be moved by two small kids.
Al finds this system far superior to the below ground channel pits.
Leave a comment if you’ve an opinion. Or any alternative this useful.
Israeli requires that their gymnasts confirm readiness to be sent to the Olympics by finishing top 12 AA at the European Championships 2012. Or top 6 in any apparatus final.
That’s confirmed by Valeria on this post:
… A bit about me
I’m Valeria Mksiota, 24 years old and I’m Artistic Gymnastic athlete. I started training when I was 5, and has been training for 20 years. I have dedicated my life to this sport and today I found myself only one small step from my biggest dream – the possibility to join Israel’s Olympic team and represent the country in London …
… In 2011, I won 27 medals in international competitions, 13 of them gold medals. …
According to the coach, if Yao did the new shapo1/2 tomorrow at the Zibo World Cup, then it will be named after her right away instead of waiting for Olympic/World championship. …
