Year: 2011

China – 275.161
Japan – 273.093
United States – 273.083

Russia – 269.045
Ukraine – 264.102
Germany – 263.926
Korea – 260.393

Romania – 245.175

World Champions 2011 are team China. Congratulations.

Zhang is my favourite guy on the Chinese team. Longine’s prize?

They’re very happy right now they moved Zou Kai from the alternate spot on to the competitive team. He’s been brilliant.

As we suspected at the time, Mihai took out the punch front after Arabian in her first pass during Team Finals Floor. Playing it safe.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

On that springy floor it’s not all that easy not to punch. Raisman is the most powerful tumbler in the women’s competition, I’d say.

Highest score on the apparatus in Team Finals. (14.900)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Sadly, Lauren did not qualify for the Floor final so cannot defend her title.

Did you notice that the coach touched Vika Komova on Jaeger in Team Finals?

I could see it even from the bad angle of the Press gallery.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

No deduction. Lucky this time.

FIG Official – The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) donates 10’000.- Swiss Francs to tsunami victims.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Recall that FIG could have moved this meet to Russia. I’m happy they didn’t. We should support the Japanese people.

@ASac3

They slapped this sucker on me when I was under anesthesia…

I’m (so far) going to vote for Sui Lu (China) and David Belyavskiy (Russia).

Watch her Floor (VIDEO) from Team Finals.

Click PLAY or watch David Belyavskiy’s Floor on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/OTc2NTA5Nzg2?related=1

It’s not easy being elegant in men’s gymnastics in 2011.

Longines Prize for Elegance is actually selected by a “special Jury”, not journalists or general media. But it’s nice to be able to nominate your own choice.

Leave a comment if you have favourites.

When Viktoria Komova made errors in the Team competition, I immediately pictured her as Olympic Champion.

She’s trained lousy, in the recent Russian tradition, yet looked excellent in preliminary competition. That’s frustrating for coaches.

Click PLAY or watch her mistakes on Beam & Floor on YouTube.

I’m hoping these errors motivate her to prepare more methodically for London. She needs decide to win — then avoid injury. Vika’s likely still growing, too, so time is needed to adjust to longer body proportions.

Her principal competitors in London, I think, will be American (Wieber, etc.) and from her own team, hopefully Moustafina. She’s one of 4-5 favourites to win it all.

This was my favourite routine of the Team Final.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (15.666)

Sui Lu should win the Longine’s Elegance award.

The “hardest” routine in the world got the top score in Team Finals. Great to see.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (15.666)

Sadly she didn’t make the apparatus final so this is the last time we’ll see it until Olympics.