Year: 2010

I’m surprised.

Susan Jackson has been atop this list all season. By what mathematics has Sarah overtaken her?

Susan’s not missed a routine all season, so far as I know. This seems an error.

top 25 all-around gymnasts

Update – Quentin explains:

… She seems to have peaked in the RQS time frame climbing up the list rapidly the last month or so. Sarah’s RQS for individual events has her ahead of Susan on BB and FX, tied on UB with Susan being ahead in Vault. The total season average has Susan in the lead 39.525 to 39.358 for Sarah. Vanessa Zamarippa actually has a higher season average than both but is tied for second RQSwise with Susan.

The RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) results in some surprising rankings. Here’s how it’s explained by GymInfo:

… Qualification for regional competition is based on a team’s and an all-around competitor’s six best regular-season-meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the regional qualifying score (RQS), the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged. …

Therefore, if you have 3 meets away in which you got high scores, your ranking may be higher than if all your highest scores were at home meets.

Pole Vault coaches lurk around gymnastics gyms, eyeing the tallest gymnasts. Awaiting the day those gymnasts want to move on to another sport.

Her former gymnastics coach, Dana Brass, got the good news. Kelsie just finished 6th at World Championships in her new style of vaulting.

Congratulations.

Gold medalists:

Floor – VACULIK, Kristina (CAN) – (5.3) = 13,950
Floor – PIHAN, Marta (POL) = 13,950
Beam – SOLOVYEVA, Tatiana (RUS) – (5.8) = 14,775

Vault – Fahrig, Matthias (GER) – (7.2/6.6) = 16,112
Parallels – HOSHI, Yosuke (JPN) – (6.2) = 15,425
H Bar – Zonderland, Epke (NED) – (6.9) = 15,825

More results, video links and commentary:

• GYMmedia – World Cup Cottbus: 2nd Final Day Men

• GYMmedia – Canadian Kristina Vaculik – most successful gymnast in Cottbus!

• Gymnastics Examiner – Kristina Vaculik wins two more medals as Cottbus competition concludes

• Couch Gymnast – YEP, I WAS RIGHT….VACULIK ROCKS!!!

Kristina Vaculik is getting much love for finishing in the top 3 on all four apparatus. Many, including me, were disappointed she was injured in 2008, unable to be selected for the Olympics. It’s nice to see her continue with international success.

Click PLAY or watch Kristina’s Floor on YouTube.

Simple tumbling. But very pretty gymnastics. As Couch Gymnast says, she’s going to be a wonderful College competitor.

Dennis Hack from Eurotramp, used in Beijing at the Olympic Games 2008, claims:

“Our tramponline “Premium 4 x 4” is, at the moment the most high-performance certified competition trampoline in the world!

… In the past, the bands were 6 and 4 mm wide; today they are 4 x 4 mm wide, which displays clearly less air resistance.

read details on GYMmedia – Trampoline Know-how: ‘4 x 4 is not for anyone with weak nerves!’

Now that “Flight time” (total time of the 10 skills) has been added as a judging criteria, trampolinists will want the hottest bed possible.

But will this make trampoline competition more dangerous?

Peter Korman contacted us. He was the first American gymnast to win an Olympic medal in modern times, Bronze on Floor in 1976. (video)

For a trial 3 month period, Peter’s put up an ad in our right hand navigation. Thanks for the support!

Driven to improving the lives of developmentally challenged children, UCS’ Soft Play line was born. Through continued research, one product quickly became a complete line featuring mats to modular play environments. UCS’ primary concern when designing gymnastics , cheerleading and soft play equipment is for the child or gymnast’s ability to develop skills in a safe environment.

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The big story of this meet is Oksana Chusovitina, returned to competition at age-34. Will she ever retire?

What an amazing physical specimen. … Unfortunately her form hasn’t improved after the injury layoff.

Gold medalists:

Vault – Oksana Chusovitina (with a fall – video)
Bars – Kristina Vaculik

Rings – Marcel Nguyen
Pommel – Saso Bertoncelj
Rings – Samir Ait Said

full results on International Gymnast

Anysia Unick – Silver on Bars

commentary on Gymnastics Examiner – Cottbus World Cup: Oksana Chusovitina, Marcel Nguyen golden for Germany

The 2010 Winter Paralympics are underway.

Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Cross-country skiing
Wheelchair curling
Sledge hockey

Though the Opening ceremonies were sold out, CTV in Canada opted not to broadcast them live.

One of the big stories of these Games will be how Paralympic athletes “get no respect”.

Good luck to everyone there.

El-grip giant to front-half-in, back out.

Cool.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Not the strongest routine, but good enough to win Bars at the Houston Invitational.

(via Aunt Joyce)

Learn from Sasha on Make it or Break It.

Or learn from Hollywood.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Actors. Is there anything they don’t know?

So says one official from China.

His name: Luo Chaoyi, director of the Gymnastics Center of the General Administration of Sport.

AP Sports Columnist John Leicester has a mainstream article getting wide circulation with the general public:

Lies and damned lies: China abandons gymnast who competed under age at Olympics

Does this 14yr-old look like a forger to you?

Here’s the translation from Manderin used in the Leicester article:

… The state-run newspaper China Youth Daily quoted Luo Chaoyi as saying that Dong was eligible in Sydney but then shaved three years off her age after retirement in 2001, and that “this must have been an act by her and her family.”

Such an explanation is barely credible — unless, of course, Dong is a master forger of official documents, which is even less believable. In China, as elsewhere, passports are government-issued. Coaches — and not just in China — have also long falsified ages for girls whose small and supple bodies give them a competitive advantage over larger and older young women. The reverse scenario — that a retired gymnast would pass herself off as a kid — makes no sense.

It also hard to believe Chinese officials didn’t know Dong was underage in 2000. Most of Dong’s childhood was spent within the state-run sports system that churns out medalists for China. Her CV shows she joined a sports school at age 4, a provincial team at 7 and the national team at 10. …

SF Gate

Here’s another perhaps more accurate translation:

… the age of Dong Fangxiao is her personal matter and the fact that Dong’s age had been shifted 3 yrs younger after her retirement was Dong and her family’s personal practice. …

China Sports Review

Related: China Media Project – Chinese media tackle the national sports system

There’s not the slightest doubt that Dong was underage. Her personal resume today says she was born Jan. 23, 1986 making her two years below the minimum age requirement of 16 at Sydney.

The FIG is hoping for an April IOC decision on the Olympic 2000 medals.

… One worrisome new fact. She’s apparently returned to China for a visit. I’m slightly worried for her safety.