2011 – Page 133 – Gymnastics Coaching.com

Alex McMurtry – J.O. Nationals

There are hundreds of fantastic gymnasts competing in the Junior Olympic Championships 2011.

John Carney of Oregon State calls this a “mini NCAA Championships“.

College girls are better in performance, choreography and stability on Beam, … but otherwise these younger girls are just as good.

Alex McMurtry wowed the crowd last session with double twisting Yurchenko. (9.95)

Click PLAY or watch her vault from earlier this season on YouTube.

Alex seems to be competing her Elite routines here, in preparation for the future.

… She trains at the Olympiad under the longtime husband-and-wife coaching team of Boris and Larissa Choutkin, who previously coached in Russia. Boris Choutkin is effusive in his praise of McMurtry.

“She has extraordinary talent. It’s like God kissed her,” he said, citing what he called an old Russian saying. “She’s a very, very smart girl. She loves gymnastics, and she has phenomenal athletic ability.” …

Her Floor (9.65) was astounding too. … Bars a strong Level 10 routine, but not at international standard yet.

LIVE tweets @sixmaxwells

paralyzed gymnast Kathryn Mahoney

Very touching.

We all wish you the very best, Kathryn.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnast to Coach.

http://www.WLNS.com/global/video/videoplayer.js?rnd=635390;hostDomain=www.WLNS.com;playerWidth=630;playerHeight=355;isShowIcon=true;clipId=5847291;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=overlay

Her injury mechanism was very similar to Sang Lan.

Multiple forward somersault skills (e.g. Toe Front dismount, Double Fronts, etc.) are the most dangerous in terms of catastrophic injury.

Kathryn had done this vault successfully for many years. It only takes one mistake …

Zeng Siqi – Vault

Tiny, light Zeng Siqi can do Yurchenko double twist.

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

China, Canada want more Artistry

Gymnastics Canada:

China, a world superpower in gymnastics, is sharing the stage this week with a small but determined Canadian team in Kunshan City, marking the first time a foreign country has been invited to compete at the Chinese national championships.

The two countries also share a common desire to alter the growing and potentially dangerous emphasis on increasingly difficult skills at the expense of the artistry that once was a defining characteristic of the sport.

“We’ve been training with China for many years we share many common beliefs about competitive gymnastics,” says Jeff Thomson, the program director for the Canadian men’s gymnastics team.

“We both fear that the scoring system in men’s gymnastics is putting too much pressure on athletes to go for ever more difficult moves which in turn increases the risk of injuries and takes away from the artistic side of the sport.” …

read more – China and Canada want to put the “artistry” back into gymnastics

Zhang Zhongbo wins Vault with a fall

Two amazing vaults. … But you’ve got to call that “a fall” on Dragalescu.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (second vault does not start until 2min 10sec)

(via The All Around Gymnastics News on Facebook)

Chinese Championships end

Tan Sixin won the women’s all-around title.

IG has a nice wrap-up on the apparatus finals:

Asian Games champion Sui Lu topped junior Zeng Siqi in both women’s events Thursday as the Chinese national championships concluded in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. …

Sui Wins Twice as Chinese Championships End

That link has day 2 finals results for both men and women.

podium training J.O. Nationals

Wow. The girls looked great today during training. Happy. Enthusiastic. And on their best behaviour under the watchful eyes of dozens and dozens of College coaches.

The women’s Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals are this weekend in Long Beach, California.

In addition, USA Gymnastics is holding the JO National Invitational Tournament, an event intended to give broader exposure to athletes who missed qualifying to Nationals. This is a massive recruiting opportunity, as the vast plurality of college-bound athletes come from the Level 10 ranks. College recruiters will be lined up to watch how the athletes handle the pressure of a National-level, high stakes competition. …

That’s Nebraska Head Coach, Dan Kendig, front and centre.

Two of Dan’s assistants have recently departed:

• Tim Garrison – new Head Coach at Kentucky
• Danna Durante – new Head Coach at Cal

I take that as a sign of how respected the Nebraska program is across the NCAA.

SCHEDULE (all times are Pacific Time Zone):

Friday, May 13th, 2011
Session 1, 11:30 am: Senior As and Junior As — many of the Senior As are in the 2012 high school graduating class
Session 2: 5:00 pm: Senior Bs and Junior Bs — nearly all of the Senior Bs are in the 2012 high school graduating class

Saturday, May 14th, 2011
Session 3, 11:30 am: Senior Cs and Junior Cs — most of the Senior Cs are in the 2011 high school graduating class
Session 4, 5:00 pm: Senior Ds and Junior Ds — nearly all of the Senior Ds will graduate in 2011; a few Junior Ds will graduate in 2012

Sunday, May 15th, 2011
The NIT meet will be held in four sessions with two age groups each, all day long.

College Gym Fans – Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals: Weekend Ahead

Parents v coach Chrystal Hinchliffe

Here’s an odd story.

This is Chrystal Hinchliffe, 27, who’s charged with taking fees just days before shutting down her gym in Florida. She’s posted $20,000 bail on a charge of organized scheme to defraud.