Andy Thornton did an analysis of Kyla Ross vis-a-vis past U.S. Jr. National Champions. He compared Kyla against Carly Patterson, Shawn Johnson, Kim Zmeskal and all the rest.
A couple of interesting points jumped out at me:
… for American female gymnasts, the average time lapse between winning a first junior national title and reaching peak competitive form is about 2.3 years. So we can expect Rebecca Bross to be in peak form this year, Jordyn Wieber to reach her peak in 2010, and Kyla Ross to reach her peak in 2011. …
Critically important:
… The average peak age … has been 15.7. Hmmm…. that’s younger than the required age of 16 to compete at world or Olympic competition. Great! The gymnasts can go to their first world championships or Olympic Games while they’re on the way down from their peak. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? …
I know many elite coaches who project their gymnasts to peak at age-16.
Andy also posted all 4 of Kyla’s routines if you want to see how she compares as a Jr. against the past greats.
USA Gymnastics linked to full results, posting the best write-up on the meet, so far.
Most critical for the participating nations is qualifying for the first ever Youth Olympic Games.
… The Junior Pan American Championships was the continental qualifier for North, South and Central America for the Youth Olympic Games. Six women and five men, with a maximum of one spot per country, will qualify from the event for the Youth Olympics. …
… montage made by my sister & I about elite gymnastics. The footage is all from the 2008 Olympic trials (this was made before they announced the Olympic team) but it applies to all gymnastics. This montage is a huge inspiration to me, and I hope it does the same for all of you I wasn’t going to post this for a while, but Happy Halloween
if you all haven’t heard JAN 19 is not only my big 18th but also the day i become an Olympic TORCHBEARER in Calgary =D
ShawneyJ
The torch run has begun for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Olympic triathalete gold medalist Simon Whitfield and speed skating gold medalist Catriona Le May Doan light the Olympic torches as the first people to carry the Olympic torch from the Legislature as part of the Olympic torch relay.
… Why is it that men’s gymnastics is thriving, while women’s appears to be on a downward spiral? Some people here (myself included) noted that the men’s competition at Worlds was far more exciting than the women’s. Was this an isolated incident or is it the beginning of a trend? Even going back every single event after the olympics, the men have given us better execution, more difficulty, and a lot more to cheer for.
In my honest opinion, WAG has been stagnant for awhile now, and recently has reached an all time low. Girls are doing the same skills they did 20 years ago, most of them with far worse execution. …
medstudent24 is basically right. The Men have handled the demands of the open ended code much better than have the young women.
The code of points is most to blame if you feel as I do that the depth and quality of the best gymnasts in the world is in decline. The only good news is that World’s were much less horrendous and dangerous than I feared.
I weary of the comments we hear every time I bring up the issue of underage Chinese gymnasts:
They are innocent until proven guilty!
You bash the Chinese because you wanted the American gymnasts to rank higher!
Not true. I bring up the issue because it is so unfair to those gymnasts disallowed to compete at the Olympics due to their age. It’s a big competitive disadvantage for those majority of nations that abide by the age rules.
I’m certain that Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun were both underage at the 2000 Olympics. Both admitted it.
I’ve emailed a link to this newspaper article to that Committee. In it, Dong’s husband admits she was underage at the Sydney Olympics.
One of the gymnasts at the centre of an Olympic controversy is now in New Zealand and is looking to further her coaching career in Waikato.
Dong Fangxiao, who was part of China’s bronze medal-winning team in 2000 in Sydney, isn’t assured of keeping her Olympic medal but is keen to help New Zealand gymnastics. She is now living in Hamilton after moving in June this year to study English at Wintec, following her husband Li Te, who studies at Waikato University.
But the International Gymnastics Federation is still investigating the eligibility of Dong and fellow Chinese gymnast Yang Yun at the 2000 Games, where they were thought to be underage.
Gymnasts must be at least 16 by the end of an Olympic year. Dong’s official birthdate is listed as January 23, 1983, but the federation said accreditation information for the Beijing Olympics, where Dong worked as a national technical official, listed her birthdate as January 23, 1986, which would have made her 14 in 2000. …
Li, whose English is much better than Dong’s, told the Waikato Times that Dong was born in 1986 and turned 23 in January this year, making her underage at Sydney. But he said she was cleared of any wrongdoing and the “investigation has already passed”. …
No, Rebecca is not my favourite gymnast. But this code of points favours girls who are tough and consistent. Gymnasts like Shawn Johnson and Rebecca Bross.
Organisers of the London Olympics may be forced to rethink plans to move rhythmic gymnastics and badminton to Wembley after receiving a frosty response from the world governing body of gymnastics.
… London 2012 organisers said that the 38 official pictograms unveiled today were a key staging post in their attempts to engage the British public with every Olympic sport. …
VANCOUVER – Round, undulating medals featuring the stylized eye and fin of an orca whale will be the prize for athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. …
I wasn’t going to post this for a while, but Happy Halloween 
A gymnast who had her sights set on competing in the 2012 Olympics has been forced to give up full-time training after her funding was withdrawn.
