Year: 2010

Just a few days age we posted a feature on gymnastics coach Barb Gibson of UW-La Crosse, an NCAA Division III program.

Some great news!

Barbara Gibson was honored Jan. 29 for her 25th season as the Eagles’ gymastics coach. …

UW-L Foundation President Al Trapp presented her with the Barbara Gibson Endowment Fund for UW-L Gymnastics. Gibson’s assistant coaches and family members had been working since October to establish an endowment fund for the gymnastics program in Gibson’s name. Over $20,000 has been donated to the fund so far. …

link

It’s great to see a Division III school gain some financial stability. $20k/yr is a drop in the bucket for Georgia, but it’s a lot of money for UW-La Crosse.

Boosters are trying to increase that fund.

1. Donate Online … Click on “Other” and Write Gymnastics Endowment Fund.

2. To Mail In A Check: Write checks out to: “UWL Foundation” and write gymnastics endowment fund in the “For” section. PO Box 1148 La Crosse, WI 54602-1148

Congratulations.

related: Supporters present UW-L’s Barb Gibson with endowment fund

I never miss a post from The Couch Gymnast in Australia. It’s one of the best blogs.

Just released is an associated online magazine. From the editor:

… I was inspired to do this project by my readers and their comments. … I wanted to make a space where people who don’t have time to make their own blogs… could contribute to this ongoing discussion about our favorite sport. …

NEW COUCH GYMNAST PROJECT!

And who are these contributors?

Greg Marsden, Nicola Cairns, Amy Kleefisch, munchthesilivasfan, Nastiafan101, Sing Hon Lo, Nicole Langevin … and many more.

It’s a huge project! Here’s the table of contents:

YOUR SAY: what would you change about elite gymnastics if you could?

Q&A: with Utah coach Greg Marsden

ARTICLE: Rare Birds- a look at Romanian’s best ‘performers’

OPINION: Why don’t gymnasts get enough support?

AMY’S GYM DIARY: What it’s like to go back to the Gym after a looong break!

FEATURE: Ceresela Patrascu, not going home empty handed- not if she can help it!!

NCAA PROFILE: UCLA’s Lone Senior, Anna Li

PROFILE: Making British Gymnastics History- Avril Lennox

TECHNICALITIES: Decoding the Code of Points with Marcus

THE ITALY UPDATE: Giulyx16 tells us what is new in the world of Italian gymnastics

PROFILE: Gymnastics photographer, Sing Hon Lo

INTERVIEW: Precision Choreography’s Nicole Langevin

THE LIST- TCG’s favorite gymnasts without medals

FROM THE VAULT: “It’s not the Olympics”

Random Photo Fun!

QUIZ: How much do you know about gymnastics?

Contributions for future issues are welcomed.

I’ve just started digging into it.

See for yourself by clicking over to The Couch Gymnast Magazine issue #1.

On the Men’s side I really shouldn’t refer to this meet as most bloggers do: The Scam Cup.

It’s a bloody impressive field, assuming all these great gymnasts make it:

Colombia, Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez
France, Benoit Caranobe
Germany, Fabian Hambuechen
Great Britain, Daniel Keatings
Japan, Koji Yamamuro
Romania, Flavius Koczi
Russia, Maxim Devyatovskiy
United States, Jonathan Horton
United States, Tim McNeill

I’d happily pay $35 for entry. That’s a bargain.

Reigning Tyson American Cup champion and 2008 Olympic horizontal bar bronze-medalist Fabian Hambuechen of Germany highlights the international list of participants that includes seven 2008 Olympians and four 2009 World medalists for the 2010 Tyson American Cup on March 6 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. …

USAG

One reason this meet is oft ridiculed, however, is that the number of competitors is so small. It’s near certain that medals will be awarded to gymnasts with falls. And that’s a shame.

Another reason it’s called a “Scam” is that the U.S.A. can enter two gymnasts, all other invited nations only one. The results tend to look good for the host, though that’s far from guaranteed on the Men’s results sheet.

Yet, on the women’s side, there’s one thing I’m really looking forward to … the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, a new competition held the day prior to American Cup. It’s intended to be a a competitive opportunity for the country’s top Junior Olympic gymnasts, though some Elites will be in the field too.

That’s going to be a fantastic event.

Women’s American Cup?

As usual, I’m personally disinterested. Everyone knows the American girls are supposed to win. That will boost TV ratings.

No use listing the female competitors either as the list always changes in the weeks and days leading up to the meet.

It is a great experience for a young up-and-coming gymnast. Canadian Dominique Pegg, for example, is a good choice for this event.

Leave a comment if you disagree. Many enjoyed the Scam Cup last year.

Read some less cynical commentary on Gymnastics Examiner – Analysis: 2010 American Cup will be exciting, especially for men’s gymnastics fans

UPDATE: A thread on IG forum discussing ideas to improve the Scam.

The first time I ever noticed Vanessa was her perfect 10 vault last season. She was a rookie.

I like her vault from January 31, 2010 even better. She only scored 9.85, but this was only the first time she competed Yurchenko half-on front layout half.

It’s instantly my favourite College vault. (… OK, tied with Daria’s Handspring front layout.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gem wants to see it in super slow motion. Look at that “block”. Totally extended. Very unusual. And very cool.

If Vanessa can qualify to Vault Finals at NCAA Championships, she’d be the favourite. She’s got 2 different superb vaults.

By far the worst of NCAA regulations is that gymnasts qualify to Championships Finals with one vault, then must compete two. It’s stupid, even dangerous.

Vanessa Zamarripa – Gymnastike interview.

Update: Valorie Kondos Field interview after that meet

Romance is in the air at The Rock for the gymnasts and the parents as Valentine’s Day arrives.

The adults are bigger drama queens than the teenagers.

more photos from this episode

Episode 15, Loves Me, Loves Me Not, is online free if you live in the USA at ABCfamily.com. And online here if you live outside the States.

Them’s fighting words in Canada. Figure skating is super popular where I live.

… When Dick Pound called out the sport just a month from the opening of the Vancouver Olympics, claiming figure skating hadn’t yet cleaned up its potential for corruption, his words struck a nerve with fans and athletes.

Some said the former boss of the World Anti-Doping Agency doesn’t understand the new judging system. Most agreed it was lousy timing. …

Pound, a Montreal lawyer and a member of the International Olympic Committee, blasted the sport, saying there was no guarantee the new judging system has removed the potential for controversy in Vancouver. …

News Talk 610

I pay very little attention to figure skating, myself. It seems to me that controversies are more entertaining to fans than the athletics.

Besides … once you’ve seen the Iron Lotus in competition, you’ve already seen the ultimate the sport has to offer.

Click PLAY or watch the IRON LOTUS on YouTube.

North Koreans invented this combination … It resulted in a decapitation.

Olympic Rhythmic gold medalist Yevgeniya Kanayeva and her team crushed the Rhythmic World Cup in Montreal.

… She swept the competition in Montreal with the All-round and 4 apparatus! On her heels, Russians Daria Kondakova, Daria Dimitrieva and Yana Lukonina; a line-up that is merely the tip of a formidable iceberg lying in wait to climb every podium there is. …

ROPE
Gold – KANAEVA Evgenia (RUS) 28.275
Silver – DIMITRIEVA Daria (RUS) 27.850
Bronze – KONDAKOVA Daria (RUS) 27.750

HOOP
Gold – KANAEVA Evgenia (RUS) 28.300
Silver – KONDAKOVA Daria (RUS) 28.125
Bronze – DIMITRIEVA Daria (RUS) 26.800

BALL
Gold – KANAEVA Evgenia (RUS 28.200
Silver – DIMITRIEVA Daria (RUS) 27.675
Bronze – LUKONINA Daria (RUS) 27.450

RIBBON
Gold – KANAEVA Evgenia (RUS) 28.650
Silver – LUKONINA Yanna (RUS) and STANIOUTA Melitina (BLR) 26.900

FIG

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

Wikipedia says she’s 1.68m (5’6″) tall and weighs 42 kg (93 lbs).

Gymbits posted an update on that Japanese robot that swings on a bar.

Uchimura watch out. Japanese robot enthusiast Hinamitetu has a mechanical competitor improving rapidly.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I saved this video to use as an example of the biomechanics of swing and release.

Long term goal of this project? A Cylon gymnast?

… The intermediate step would be a robot assisted gymnast?

(via Gymnastics Examiner)

Gymnastics Examiner posted an overview of NCAA women’s rankings, week four. It includes videos of the apparatus leaders, so far.

Gymnastike has links to even more videos from the past weekend.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

photo – Jamie Deetscreek

by site editor Rick McCharles

Every two years the Paralympics get some media attention. Sadly, hard working athletes with physical disabilities are much ignored the rest of the time.

The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially known as the X Paralympic Winter Games, will be celebrated in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia between March 12 to March 21, 2010. …

Five sports will be on the 2010 program:

Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Cross-country skiing
Wheelchair curling
Sledge hockey

The big story of this meet I expect will be blind skier Brian McKeever, who will compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics.

Likely this is the best time to talk about opportunities for improving the plight of disabled athletes.

I’m looking for a study abroad program for my friend Barkat Ullah from Bangladesh.

A full-time gymnast who had competed internationally in Asian regional competitions, Barkat was partially paralyzed on a fluke pommel horse fall.

Today he is a University student playing able bodied table tennis, the only sport left he could do with limited lower body mobility. But he aspires to help build Paralympic sport in his fast developing nation.

If you have any advice or information that might help Barak’s cause, please leave a comment.

Everyone in the gymnastics community worldwide needs rally around any of our athletes catastrophically injured.

Although the name was originally coined as a portmanteau combining ‘paraplegic’ (due to its origins as games for people with spinal injuries) and ‘Olympic‘ the inclusion of other disability groups meant that this was no longer considered appropriate. The present formal explanation for the name is therefore that it derives from the Greek preposition ????, pará (“beside” or “alongside”) and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games.

Wikipedia

Paralympics 2010 – official home page