gymnastics – Def on Bars

When I was a young coach we sent a team from Canada to compete in the Netherlands. The top AA gymnast was 16-year-old Jacques Def from France. An incredible prodigy, now remembered for the skill named after him, the Def, or full twisting Gienger.

Andrew Thornton on Gymnast supposes that Snejana Hristakieva was the first female gymnast to do the skill, in 1992.

And he posted videos of some of the Defs that had been competed since that time.

I first wanted to show you a Korean gymnast (Cha Yong Hwa) from last year’s world championships whom you may not have even heard of. She had an INCREDIBLE bar routine in prelims but unfortunately just missed making the finals with a 15.525 (you’ll see the mistake that kept her out):

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click through to Gymnast to see 5 more Def videos. I left a comment to mention that Canadian Amélie Plante (video) had been missed.

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Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

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