Year: 2011

by site editor Rick McCharles

When the International Gymnastics Federation moved from the perfect 10 to an open ended Code of Points in 2006, I feared it would be a complete disaster.

I was wrong.

But everyone agrees that the new system could be far better. Here’s my assessment of how it’s working as of February 2011. … As compared with the regulations used at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. (10.0 maximum)

I’m liking Rings, Parallel Bars and especially Pommel Horse even better than I did under the last perfect 10 system. (In fact, the only way I can see to improve Pommels would be to eliminate the Scissors, requiring instead some counting value part with the legs straddled. … i.e. Scissors, straddle to handstand, Flair Flare.)

Women’s Vault, Bars and Men’s Vault are about equally good as in 2004. I would rate Bars as even better … except that today gymnasts tend to overuse the families of skills they do best. (El-grip, pirouettes, etc.)

The choppy Beam routines we see today are worse than the more elegant routines of the past, but I’m less critical than most pundits.

My least favourite apparatus for women in 2004 was Floor. It’s worse today. Choreography has been nearly completely abandoned. Many of the most valuable leaps and jumps are ugly.

Men’s Floor is a disaster in 2011. Amazing tumbling. The rest is crap.

Compare Shewfelt in 2004 (VIDEO) vs Jake Dalton 2011 (VIDEO) to see what the rules changes have done. (I pick on Jake only because his is the hot routine of the moment. And because there’s so obviously no effort spared for connections.)

Worst of all is Horizontal Bar. In 2004 we had Hamm and Nemov (VIDEO). Wonderful routines. Today we have mostly reckless Kovacs variations and Rybalkos. … I did only go as low as 4 / 10 because we’re starting to see some improvement on pipe. Finally.

Will the rules (and gymnastics) be improved in the future?

Certainly. But how soon?

I don’t know anyone with much confidence in our current Technical committees under Adrian Stoica and Nellie Kim.

If YOU know how to fix the code, leave a comment. I’ll try to forward whatever feedback we get to the committees.

It’s statistically unlikely you agree with my assessment. I may do follow up posts on the most controversial events if we get good feedback.

Gymnastics Examiner linked to the video of Mykayla from last weekend at Fiesta Bowl:

The Amanar Club just keeps getting bigger.

It’s newest member is Arizona’s MyKayla Skinner, who successfully landed the 2.5 twisting Yurchenko vaultt …

She’s 14 (born Dec. 9, 1996, making her just barely old enough to be eligible for the 2012 Olympics), and trains at Desert Lights in Arizona. …

Continue reading on Examiner.com – Mykayla Skinner’s Amanar, and why it matters

Click PLAY or watch all 4 apparatus on YouTube.

Another slight, light girl doing Amanar. That’s impressive. Komova impressive.

She competes an easy standing 1/1 on Beam and double double on Floor, too. … She’s competed the double double in 2010. (VIDEO)

Unfortunately her Bars are not at the international level. And active flexibility is lacking.

Blythe points out that if Mykayla can do Amanar on a concrete floor, how much easier is it going to be on podium?

Who will be the first to successfully compete triple?

Couch Gymnast is all about personality.

Here’s another must read post by Brigid reminding us of great Soviet gymnasts past:

Irina Baraksanova, for example:

While many remember Olga Mostepanova being pulled from the all-around competition in 1985, they often forget talented Irina Baraksanova was also unceremoniously yanked from the AA finals.

Despite placing third behind Yurchenko and Mostepanova, Irina was pulled alongside Mostepanova in order for both Shushunova and Omeliantchik to be included in the three-per-country AA competition. ….

Click PLAY or watch her Floor on YouTube.

Discussion point: Had the coaches not interfered, could Mostepanova and Baraksanova achieved the same as their team mates and gone 1-2 in the AA?

I was there at World Championships in Montreal. We were outraged that the USSR declared Mostepanova and Baraksanova “injured”, replacing them with the next 2 girls in their lineup.

… When the two replacements tied for the AA title, Shushanova and Omeliantchik, the Soviet coaches seemed vindicated.

But I suspect Mostepanova and Baraksanova would have finished Gold and Silver, as well.

At the time I felt Omeliantchik was easily the weakest on the powerhouse team. But she was the darling of the meet for her Floor routine (VIDEO).

Click over to Couch Gymnast for photos and videos of these other greats:

Aleftina Priakhina
Olga Strazheva
Armine Barutian
Svetlana Baitova
Irina Baraksanova
Elena Gurova
Elena Naimushina
Svetlana Zasyspkina
Natalia Frolova
Svetlana Grosdova

related Couch Gymnast post – From the archive… the tale of the two broken dolls.

Svetlana Zasypkina and Maria Zasypkina

IG2 – What are your plans for the 2012 Olympics?

Paul – Well the plan is to be there and be healthy.

IG2 – Do you have any steps you are going to take to make sure that happens and make sure you don’t have any more injuries?

Paul – Well this recovery is about 6 months, so probably by the fall I’ll be back in top shape. Injury is always a concern with a gymnast, and especially as you’re aging, so the only thing I can do is really design routines that I think are doable as far as getting through them on a regular basis, without too much wear and tear on my body. Maybe not pushing that extra little bit to get a tenth or two in start value, but focusing more on a solid routine that I can perform well and limit the execution errors. …

Inside Gymnastics has an interview detailing the injuries he’s had since a broken hand took him out of the 2008 Olympics.

GymNiceTic has an update on the (still confusing) new FIG World Cup Gymnastics meets:

… invited are the eight finalists on each apparatus from Rotterdam and the four best gymnasts from the 2010 World Cup Ranking List.

… The host country may nominate one gymnast (one male & one female) who competes with a ‘Wild Card’ ….

For example, here’s the start list on Bars for the World Cup in Paris, March 19-20th.

From prelims, only 4 go to Finals. The winner pockets 3000 CHF, about $3160.

There’s much more on that GymNiceTic post – FIG World Cup 2011 / Paris

Surprise surprise …

An announcement on whether the five sports teams slated to be cut by the end of this academic year will be reinstated has been put on hold indefinitely, despite initial campus reports that an announcement would be issued Thursday by noon. …

Campus Decision on Athletic Teams Reinstatement Delayed

linked by University of California, Berkeley Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook

Hang in there, Cal.

UPDATE: Ono links to a more recent article saying a decision will come Friday.

Hurry up and wait.

by site editor Rick McCharles

Eileen Langsley from Great Britain was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2010, the first photographer to be so honoured.

Left to right – Eileen Langsley (UK, AAI International Order of Merit Recipient), Henrietta Onodi (Hungary) and Cathy Rigby (USA) – IGHOF

I follow her blog Where Sport Meets Art but don’t often any more see her photos. Not since she left as the position of official photographer for FIG in 2002.

The best account of her amazing career is on her site:

About my life in sport:

… in 1980 I set up my agency Supersport Photographs and embarked on a career at a time when there were few if any women working full time in this profession.

My specialist areas became Gymnastics, Figure Skating and all sports for women and girls. …

During my time with the FIG I had the great challenge and thrill of producing two photographic books – ‘Gymnastics – The Art of Sport’ and ‘Gymnastics in Perspective’ – and it was a great learning experience for me to work with Dwight Normile (editor of International Gymnast magazine) who designed and structured these publications. …

I have had a truly wonderful career, full of challenges and new experiences during which I have been present at some great sporting events. I have travelled extensively, worked in many countries and cultures and am blessed with great friends and colleagues all over the world …

read more – Where Sport Meets Art

Eileen is very eloquent. That’s a great read.

You can support Eileen’s work by purchasing photo calendars and greeting cards. Or by purchasing photos from her website.

LangsleySports.com

_____

I write this post because some felt my disagreement with one point in her recent article in the International Sports Press Association magazine was disrespectful. Even a personal attack.

That’s not the case. I’m old enough to have appreciated her work since 1980. Thanks so much, Eileen, for everything you’ve done to promote gymnastics and women in sport.

For international gymnasts spending big bucks to compete in the States, the best bang for your buck is probably registering for both of these blockbuster meets:

• 2011 Nadia Comaneci Invitational in Oklahoma (Feb 11-13th)

• 2011 WOGA Classic in Texas (Feb. 19-20)

Isis Lowery of Jets Gymnastics in Australia is competing both.

I was speaking to one international coach who’s attended both in recent years. He told me that both are excellent experiences. But that Nadia treats her international guests even better than does WOGA.

GymNiceTic has a link to the gymnasts from Romania, Australia, Canada, Venezuela and Mexico competing at Nadia. … Good luck Emily Lennon.

… Personally, I’d recommend the Great West Gym Fest in Idaho.

Click PLAY or watch a WOGA preview on YouTube.

The February 2011 issue of Inside Gymnastics magazine, featuring Shawn Johnson on the cover, is in the mail to subscribers.

IG2

I’m impressed with Shawn’s commitment to training. While Nastia is still constantly on the road, Shawn’s been in the gym.

Chow cautions fans not get too excited:

… Though Shawn Johnson was added to the U.S. national team, the 2008 Olympic balance beam champion is still protecting the knee she injured during a ski trip in January 2010. Johnson recently had minor surgery to clean out her left knee, but the 19-year-old Iowan is still cautious about pushing too hard, according to her coach, Chow Liang.

“Shawn still has her challenges ahead of her,” Chow told IG. “And I think one of the bigger challenges is … her knee. At this point, we don’t have a clear picture of how much she handle yet.” …

IG

Getting your knee scoped is normally no big deal. But don’t expect to see her compete before August at earliest.

Eileen Langsley has been a sports photographer for 12 Olympics Games, a legend.

Amanda Turner quoting Eileen:

…She writes that she is disillusioned by the state of the profession, and that she was horrified by the unprofessional and even dangerous behavior of amateur photographers given credentials at the 2010 Worlds in Rotterdam.

“I even saw some of these happy snappers poking gymnasts in the back and asking them to turn round and pose for a picture – incredible…” Langsley writes. “…I was pushed and thumped in Rotterdam and I know of another colleague who was hit on the head.” …

IG – Lansgley Sounds Off on ‘Happy Snappers’

Eileen exaggerates regarding Rotterdam. It was hectic, but not dangerous. Almost everyone felt that to be the best World Championships ever for media.

Tokyo and London World Championships will need to be more closely policed, however. Those meets could be dangerous.

Her quote is from the latest magazine of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS):

… My comments come more from a sense of disillusionment and concern than anything else and are written more in sorrow than anger, though I realise that in some ways the profession is past the point of no return and it is not now possible to return to the standards and mores of what was a golden age – a time when it was a challenging and satisfying profession. Having worked at recent major and world class events in a variety of sports I find more and more that professionalism and the standards of skill, behaviour and respect that go along with it are rapidly diminishing. …

read more (PDF)

Search for Langsley on that document.

Eileen’s probably right. It’s time for her to retire.

There’s no going back to the era of only a few paid elite photographers getting access.

I’d love to link to one of Eileen’s photos and her website from this post. But I’m afraid she’d invoice me for using it.

related posts

• in praise of Eileen Langsley
• Eileen Langsley – Rotterdam Worlds
• Eileen Langsley Photography