Year: 2010

My favourite gymnastics photographer is in Singapore. She’s posting a few pics on Facebook. Eventually all will go up on her site GraceClick.ca

WAG Podium Training Subdivision 2: TAN Sixin, CHN — … Podium Training Champion

If you are on Facebook, you can follow the Canadian gymnast in Singapore: Maddie Gardiner’s Youth Olympic Games Experience (:

A Dutch zoo called in the services of an Olympic gymnast to re-teach orangutans how to climb trees in their enclosure.

The zoo Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen, located in the centre of the country, said it had renovated the enclosure to allow the orangutans to swing from tree to tree in an outdoor setting above the public — but they’ve forgotten the skill of climbing.

Olympian Epke Zonderland showed the orangutans his skills in the hope of re-teaching them how to swing.

‘It was very funny to teach the monkeys today, I didn’t have any experience with those animals to train, and I was very curious if they would copy me, but I think they did their best,’ Zonderland said. …

Big Pond

From the looks of the video, it seems Epke has more to learn from the beasts.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… qualifying round at the Youth Olympics in Singapore …

1. Yuya Kamoto JPN 87.200
2. Sam Oldham GBR 86.850
3. Oleg Stepko UKR 86.800
4. Xiaodong Zhu CHN 86.100
5. Danill Kazakhov RUS 85.400
6. Andrei Muntean ROU 83.800

Going For Gold

full results

Shout out to Canadian Robert Watson (fan favourite) who hit 6 for 6 to finish 11th. American Jesse Glenn was 20th, an alternate for AA Finals.

Grace Chiu is posting a few pics on Facebook. Eventually all will go up on her site GraceClick.ca

Commentary on Gymnastics Examiner – Japanese newcomer Yuya Kamoto leads men’s qualifying at Youth Olympic Games

And more commentary on the official FIG site – Artistic boys heat things up in Singapore

From Lise Gosselin-Simard by email:

Canadian Team for the 2010 World Championships:

Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto, Gym-Richelieu, St-Hubert
Coralie Leblond-Chartrand, Gymnix, Montréal, QC
Charlotte Mackie, Aviva, Coquitlam, BC
Dominique Pegg, Bluewater, Sarnia, ON
Jessica Savona, Oakville Gymnastics, ON
Kristina Vaculik, Gemini, Oshawa, ON

The coaching team is composed of Kyna Fletcher, Dave Brubaker, Elena Davydova, David Kenwright, Galina Larchina, Kelly Manjak and one coach from Gymnix to be named. Additional members are judges Hélen Laliberté and Liz Armitage, Team Leader Lise G. Simard and one doctor/therapist to be named later.

… Commonwealth Games in Delhi:

Catherine Dion, Gymélites, Gatineau, QC
Kristin Klarenbach, Champions, Edmonton, AB
Cynthia Lemieux-Guillemette, Gym-Richelieu, St-Hubert, QC
Gabrielle May, Panthers, Winnipeg, MB
Emma Willis, Bluewater, Sarnia, ON

The coaching team is composed of Michel Charron, Valérie Oudin and Elizabeth Brubaker who is also WAG Team Leader. The judges are Lois Laquerre, Andrée Montreuil and Gord Bennett.

It’s nice to see a male judge (Gord) being assigned such a big international meet.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js
photo Kristina Vaculik

Thanks Jeremy Mosier.

full RESULTS WAG, MAG, Rhythmic, Trampoline Sports

Rebecca Bross

For American coaches ….

From Judge Judy of JustGymnastics.com by email. (I’m quoting just a few of the highlights. Confirm these changes in your region.)

JO rule changes and clarifications to come out of the annual May meetings effective as of August 1, 2010.

COMPULSORIES
– The “air-o-board,” a cross between a mini-tramp and a vaulting board, has been approved for use at Leve1-3 and Prep Optional. Tiny gymnasts formerly unable to get anything out of a stiff board will be able vault without that drawback.

OPTIONALS
Bars
– climbing onto the LB after a fall, then jump to HB is no longer considered a “bar change” fulfilling a Special Requirement. A listed value part element must be performed on the LB.

– Level 7 and 8 may do the “C” skills Back Stalder Circle and Back Pike Sole Circle to Handstand (also with 1/2 turn)in addition to the already permitted Clear Hip Circle to Handstand (also with 1/2 turn). No other “C” skills are permitted.

– Level 7 only may perform a counter swing without an extra swing penalty (0.30) prior to a front (salto forward) flyaway dismount.

– The maximum deduction for multiple extra swings after an element is 0.60, i.e., stop deducting after 2 extra swings per element. (Applies to all levels.)

Balance Beam
– Continuous but slow connections on all series receive the same deduction – Up to 0.20. (Exception remains unchanged: Backward acro series with at least 1 flight element does not receive Special Requirement [0.50] if performed “continuously but slowly.”)

Floor Exercise
– C+C dance elements may be the SAME element and receive +0.10 Bonus e.g., Popa + Popa = +0.10 Bonus

– Definition of dance passage Special Requirement has been expanded to allow any kind of turn on 1 or 2 feet to be performed between the 2 dance Value Parts, and it doesn’t matter if a jump used as the first element lands on 1 or 2 feet as long as the passage keeps moving.

– Balks on the final salto Special Requirement or falls with failure to initiate the salto receive an additional 0.30 deduction resembling the “no dismount” deduction on bars and beam.

– Coach on the FX mat deduction has been reduced to 0.50 (Levels 7-10).
(There is no deduction for Coach on the FX mat for Compulsories or PREP Opt.)

The winning Bar routines in L7 and L8 will be using more Stalder and, especially, toe-on, toe-off. It’s the easiest of the 3 allowed C-parts.

Bitang and Belu are back competing internationally.

British Gymnastics:

The 2008 Olympian and 2010 British Champion Hannah Whelan won the All-around competition of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Friendly International GB vs. Romania at Pipers Vale Gymnastics Centre with a total of 55.650pts. Second was Daniela Andrei (ROM), 55.600 and third, Raluca Haidu (ROM), 54.900. …

“We have started our preparation for the World Championships in Rotterdam (NED) in June under the new Head coaches Mariana Bitang and Octavian Belu. We have been invited to come here with 7 gymnasts, but arrived with 5, because some of our strong gymnasts are recovering from injuries and others are not ready to compete as yet,” said the Romanian Head of Delegation Mircea Apolzan.

“In fact, the results are not very important for us! What is important at this moment of our preparation for Rotterdam – is the content of the routines; what are the new elements, which our gymnasts have added to their exercise and how consistent they are”. …

Imogen Cairns dominates the Finals in Ipswich

It must have been very friendly. Despite not competing in the Team meet, Imogen was put directly into Finals.

(via Couch Gymnast)

… By the way, I love Amanda Turner’s coverage for International Gymnast. But the criticism I’ve often heard that her reporting is deceptive is true in case of this post – Romanian Women Top British Hosts

At first glance you would assume that she got the Romanian quotes herself. … She didn’t.

The external link takes you to the home page of British Gymnastics, not where she got the quote.

If old media are going to “blog”, they need to follow ethical blogging conventions. Fairly and clearly attributing where they got the information.

2010 Visa Championships
Junior Women’s Day 2 Final Results

… Kyla Ross won her second consecutive U.S. junior national all-around title at the 2010 Visa Championships at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

Ross scored a two-day all-around total of 116.450, clinching the beam title at 29.90 …

Women’s All-Around
1. Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif., 116.450
2. Katelyn Ohashi, Plano, Texas, 114.300
3. McKayla Maroney, Laguna Niguel, Calif., 113.250
4. Gabrielle Douglas, Virginia Beach, Va., 112.750
5. Madison Kocian, Dallas, Texas, 112.100
6. Sarah Finnegan, Lake Latawanna, Mo., 111.350
7. Sabrina Vega, Carmel, N.Y., 110.600
8. McKenzie Wofford, McKinney, Texas, 110.300

Women’s Vault
1. McKayla Maroney, Laguna Niguel, Calif., 32.000
2. Lexie Priessman, Cincinnati, Ohio, 31.200
3. Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif., 30.450

Women’s Uneven Bars
1. Katelyn Ohashi, Plano, Texas, 28.550
2. McKenzie Wofford, McKinney, Texas, 27.950
3. Madison Kocian, Dallas, Texas, 27.900

Women’s Balance Beam
1. Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif., 29.900
2. Gabrielle Douglas, Virginia Beach, Va., 28.550
3. Ericha Fassbender, Katy, Texas, 28.450

Women’s Floor Exercise
1. Sarah Finnegan, Lake Latawanna, Mo., 29.200
2. Sabrina Vega, Carmel, N.Y., 28.900
3. Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif., 28.500

USAG – Ross repeats as Junior U.S. National Champion at the 2010 Visa Championships

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js

Rebecca Bross earned the 2010 U.S. all-around title gradually, but the emotion came all at once.

After eight solid performances over two nights of competition at the U.S. Championships, Bross finally broke down after sticking her dismount on uneven bars, her final event of the night, Saturday at the XL Center in Connecticut.

After a year filled with high expectations and near misses, Bross had the national title, and all the history and prestige that goes with it. She won it the way she would have preferred to, without falling on any apparatus or committing a major error. …

read more on Gymnastics Examiner – With determination and focus, Rebecca Bross captures U.S. all-around title

… With world and defending champion Bridget Sloan not entered in the all-around, first-day leader Rebecca Bross (WOGA) faced little challenge in claiming her first senior national title. And winning in Hartford should be a fitting test-run for Bross with regard to a bigger meet in October, the world championships in Rotterdam. …

IG – Dwight Normile – Bross Claims First Senior U.S. Title

1. Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, 120.300
2. Mattie Larson, Los Angeles, Calif., 117.000
3. Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass., 115.650
4. Kytra Hunter, Frederick, Md., 114.350
5. Mackenzie Caquatto, Naperville, Ill., 113.350
5. Chelsea Davis, Lakeway, Texas, 113.350
7. Samantha Shapiro, Los Angeles, Calif., 112.000
8. Vanessa Zamarripa, Shiloh, Ill., 111.400

U.S. senior national team: Rebecca Bross, Mattie Larson, Bridget Sloan, Alexandra Raisman, Amanda Jetter, Alicia Sacramone, Cassie Whitcomb, Morgan Smith, Vanessa Zamarripa, Samantha Shapiro, Chelsea Davis, Mackenzie Caquatto, Kytra Hunter, Rebecca Bross.

USA Gymnastics Athlete of the Year: Rebecca Bross
USA Gymnastics Sportsperson of the Year: Alicia Sacramone (as chosen by the athletes)

Women’s Vault
1. Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass., 30.675
2. Vanessa Zamarripa, Shiloh, Ill., 28.675
3. Brandie Jay, Ft Collins, Colo., 28.150

Uneven bars
1. Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, 30.050
2. Cassandra Whitcomb, Cincinnati, Ohio, 29.400
3. Mattie Larson, Los Angeles, Calif., 29.000

Balance beam
1. Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, 30.900
2. Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass., 29.800
3. Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass., 28.300

Floor exercise
1. Mattie Larson, Los Angeles, Calif., 30.350
2. Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, 29.700
3. Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass., 29.500

full results