Year: 2010

Calgary Gymnastics Centre did an excellent job hosting the final “mock meet” for two teams:

World Championships: Nathan Gafuik, Calgary, Hugh Smith, Halifax, Kevin Lytwyn, Stoney Creek, Ont., Casey Sandy, Brampton, Ont., Ken Ikeda, Abbotsford, B.C., Jayd Lukenchuk, Saskatoon, Jackson Payne, Edmonton.

Commonwealth Games: Ian Galvan, Cagary, Tariq Dowers, Mississauga, Ont., Robert Watson, Coquitlam, B.C., Anderson Loran, Saskatoon, Jason Scott, Richmond, B.C.

That’s Kyle Shewfelt doing colour commentary for TV.

I thought the guys looked surprisingly good. The Canadian Men’s program is rebuilding from the best ever team we had in 2008. Despite many young competitors, they hit over 80% of routines. Jayd Lukenchuk, for example, looked right at home on the Senior team.

The Commonwealth team is young. It will be a fantastic experience for them … if they survive the rats and sleeping dogs in the Delhi Athlete’s Village.

Liang Cheng and Tony Smith will be the coaches on the Floor at World Championships, Rotterdam.

But with Edouard Iarov on the FIG Technical Committee, the Canadian National Team Coordinator is none other than esteemed Masaki Naosaki. This should help. Nao is a great influence. A philosopher coach with a wealth of experience.

Check some of Nao’s coaching career highlights. He was Canadian Men’s Olympic Head Coach in 1988 and 1992.

A blast from the past. In fact, a couple of other coaching legends are headed to Rotterdam too: Mitz Ikeda and Tak Kikuchi.

… I’ll post some routines over the next few days.

How bad could it be? …

OMG

more photos on BBC

Thanks for the update, MostepanovaFan.

Yes.

At least that’s the position of everyone I spoke to at the final MAG “mock meet” last night.

… In Calgary, the Canadian men’s gymnastics team on Wednesday was gearing up for the Games, and for the upcoming world championships. They had planned to travel to India today, but now will fly to Toronto to wait for further developments.

“To be honest, I’ve heard there are some delays. We keep hearing all sorts of information, but basically our focus is just on training and competing well,” said Chris Foo, head coach of the Commonwealth Games team. “I’m sure they’ll be able to get everything sorted out. The guys are really fired up. They want to go. I don’t think anything else is fazing them.” …

Retired Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold-medal-winning gymnast Kyle Shewfelt was assisting the team at the competition Wednesday. The 28-year-old Calgarian, who won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said it was business as usual.

“They’re training as if they are going to the Games,” Shewfelt said. “I mean, there’s no thoughts of not going. And they’re not just training to be there. They’re training to excel there.” …

Calgary Herald

Full Twist has been following this story – Latest from the CWG’s

England and Wales are still going.

I loved his detailed projection for the Georgia Gymdogs 2011.

But his Florida preview is even better. Snarky, hilarious and … insightful.

Click through to read it for yourself – Gator Outlook

In my mind, two teams will contend for the Championship in 2011: UCLA and Florida.

If Florida finally cuts back on difficulty, even slightly, they will win. Simple. … But the Gator coaches have not seen the wisdom of this strategy for the past number of years. I don’t know why I’m so convinced they will this season.

Rhonda, why did Stanford finish 3rd last championship?

Stanford can’t be the only team that smart. Can they?

Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias competes on the rings for the Bronze medal, during the Gymnastics World Cup in Ghent, Belgium on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010.

source – ESPN

Paul Carr of Tech Crunch was frustrated that his WordPress blog is “lousy for maintaining a conversation“.

But after researching the alternatives, especially Tumblr, he’s sticking with WordPress.

If you want a conversation, go to a forum. If you have something to say, post it on WordPress. Simple.

Get your free blog at WordPress.com … or leave a comment if you have an option you like better. (Yes, I recognize the irony of that last sentence.)

TrampGuy and others are currently updating a Google map of some of the T&T gyms in the USA.

I’d have bet the mortgage against this ever happening.

How is USAG going to guarantee that American girls will dominate? … They’ll have to bring in real judges. 🙂

… As the USA’s most prestigious international invitational, this event will return to Jacksonville, Fla., for the 2011 AT&T American Cup on March 5 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. …

For only the second time in the event’s history, the AT&T American Cup will be part of the FIG’s World Cup series and is one of four all-around World Cup events in 2011. ….

The other three World Cup all-around events are in Glasgow, Scotland; Stuttgart, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan. …

USAG – 2011 AT&T American Cup awarded to Jacksonville, Fla.

Many pundits refer to the American Cup as the (ScAm)erican Cup on the women’s side as historically it’s been staged as a TV promotion where everyone knows that the American girls are supposed to win. A small field of competititors helped ensure that would happen.

Now that it’s a serious international WAG meet, I’ll have to add it to my calendar – March 5, 2011.

related – IG forum thread – Scam cup. Is it really a fair nickname for the American Cup?

(via Sacramonious on IG forum)

The Waikato Times in New Zealand:

… The 24-year-old was part of China’s Sydney 2000 team which had their bronze medals stripped about five months ago because Dong falsified her age and was found to be too young to compete.

A long-running International Gymnastics Federation investigation took place after she registered a different birthdate for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she worked as a national technical official.

But that is now in the past for Dong, and she and her husband Li Te, 26, are now focused on starting afresh. …

read more – Gymnast eyes coaching job

Dong is coaching at two clubs now, hoping to stay in New Zealand after she and her husband finish their schooling.

I wonder how she feels about taking the blame for the medal scandal, while Mrs. Yang Wei, Yang Yun, was found innocent.

Of course I blame neither of these two underage kids in Sydney. The adult leadership in China was never directly made to account.

Chris Burdette of Texas Dreams Gymnastics has a lecture called “Raw Ambition”. This is the 3rd of 4 videos in the series. It features a young, eloquent Chelsea Davis talking about overcoming injuries.

It’s part of the sport.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike. (And see the previous vids.)

http://videoplayer.flocasts.org/player.swf

Since the filming of this video 4 years ago, Chelsea has successfully made a name for herself amongst the elite of the USA National team and is currently in the running for the 2010 USA World Championships team. She has also committed to compete for the University of Georgia.

official website – Chelsea Davis