Year: 2011

Great news for Acrobatic Gymnastics in North America.

USA Gymnastics and the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced today that the 2012 World Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships, along with the World Age-Group Competition, will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex’s HP Field House at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla. More than 600 gymnasts total are expected to participate in the World Championships, scheduled for April 16-18, and the World Age-Group Competition, set for April 20-22.

“USA Gymnastics is honored to host this prestigious event for the first time in the United States,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics …

FIG – USA Gymnastics to host 2012 ACRO worlds

photo via ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS IN ONTARIO

The latest from spannytampson is a bit of a serious mashup.

Talents such as Sacramone and Memmel… they’re rare.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Many of the most exciting WAG competitors for Worlds are gymnasts who had retired … and make comebacks. Catalina Ponor, for example.

THIS weekend South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius will set his carbon-fibre prostheses into the starting blocks alongside able-bodied sprinters at the World Athletics Championships which begin on August 27th in Daegu, South Korea.

The 24-year-old Mr Pistorius holds the double-amputee world records for all the sprint distances (100, 200 and 400 metres) and has been competing against non-handicapped athletes in international races since 2008. Last month he ran the 400 metres in 45.07 seconds, quick enough to qualify for Daegu, as well as for the 2012 Olympics in London. …

… the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the sport’s governing body (in) March 2007 … intervened to prevent Mr Pistorius from racing against able-bodied athletes, introducing a rule banning devices incorporating springs. He appealed, submitting to tests comparing his gait and physiology to those of other athletes, to no avail; the IAAF upheld its decision. A year later, however, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a tribunal deal with all manner of sporting controversies, overturned the ban, rebuking the IAAF for its handling of the matter. …

Economist – Running foul?

I don’t know whether or not it’s unfair that Oscar Pistorius runs against (disadvantaged) able bodied competitors. But the precedent of letting him compete opens the door for even more mechanically enhanced athletes in future.

Thanks Casual Sharpie for the link.

I took Jacky Boisset and Mimi Guillot of Team Thule to gymnastics in Idaho right after they had won dominated a grueling 6-day race.

How did ultra-fit endurance athletes do at activities requiring strength/power.

Check out Jacky’s form on the Ring machine.

Mimi was laughing too hard to get up to handstand.

The French couple are two of the best expedition Adventure Racers in the world, training full-time with the goal of winning World Championships in Tasmania this November.

They billeted in Coeur d’Alene for the week with Dave & Lisa Adlard and with a family who had an underground climbing wall!

Here’s the only review — mixed — I’ve yet seen on the NEW innovative competition hosted in Bethlehem, PA.

Paul Reinhard, Special to The Morning Call:

“We know we have a good product, but can we get some sponsors to go along with us?” meet executive director Brent Klaus said. “This was a huge loss for us, but we knew that coming in — bringing in all these athletes, taking care of them for a week, the staging, the lights, the production. But now we have something to show people.”

Klaus promised he’d have some WWE-type entertainment, and he delivered with music that was way too loud, a couple of announcers who could be every bit as abrasive as former WWE head Vince McMahon and some controversy that seemed to be trumped up.

At 3 hours and 55 minutes, it was much too long. Klaus said earlier in the week it would probably last 21/2, which would have been about right. …

… For the record, the “winner” of the team competition was Team Ice, led by 2008 Olympian Jonathan Horton and Steve Legendre. …

‘Evolution’ not for purists, perhaps, but it was fun

Skill-for-skill competition entertains with lights, music and strong performances.

I’d love to see something like this succeed.

As expected, Shao Bin’s appeal was denied. From FIG:

On August 19, 2011, the FIG Disciplinary Commission announced its decision with regard to Chinese judge Mr Shao Bin, found guilty of fraud at the 2010 Asian Games. Shao Bin has seen his judging brevet downgraded to a category four, and will be responsible for covering the CHF 7,200 in legal costs.

The events date back to the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou (CHN) in November 2010. During the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Final, Chinese Difficulty judge Mr Shao Bin altered an Execution score prior to posting without notifying either the judge in charge of Execution or the Superior Jury. His action made it possible for Chinese gymnast Zhang Chenglong to step into first, rather than his rightful second, place, and ultimately tie for first with Kim Soo Myun of Korea. …

The tie may have been correct. But difficulty judges cannot alter execution scores.

The sanction is minimal, however. … I’m still baffled at what happened.

Adrian Stoica, FIG Men’s Technical Committee President and President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, served as FIG technical representative during the 2010 Asian Games. He was responsible for signing off on the results of that meet. Why wasn’t this error caught at the time?

Leave a comment if you know the entire story.

Note: Shao Bin judged Chinese Nationals / Trials for Worlds.

related posts:

• gymnastics judge Shao Bin responds
• gymnastics judge CHEAT update
• gymnastics judge Shao Bin sanctioned

Grace Chiu posted Canadian Women’s Artistic Gymnastics team selection highlights on Facebook. (VIDEO)

It cannot be embedded here. Yet one more reason I dislike Facebook video.

2011 Canada WAG World Trials – day 2

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

(via Grace Chiu GraceClick on Facebook)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Footage comes from Japan Cup.

(via The All Around Gymnastics News on Facebook)

Clinician Tony Retrosi just started a new personal blog called tonyatlantic.

One of his first posts:

… I have just returned from USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade show that was held with the VISA Championships.

As a coach of women’s (girls) gymnastics, I don’t often get a chance to see a men’s competition. After watching the first day of competition I was so impressed. What a GREAT PRODUCT on the floor. The sad part was- there were very few spectators to see it …

read more – The Marketing of Men’s Gymnastics

The Men’s NCAA Championships are normally even more exciting than the Women’s, yet get far less attention.

We need some genius to find a way to market Men’s Gymnastics.

Related – Ron Noe’s rant about the lack of televised coverage of men’s club gymnastics.