I believe that is how she would have wanted to be remembered; she would not want to be remembered simply by a list (although it would be a very long one) of contest wins, groundbreaking halfpipe tricks and “firsts” by a woman. Those are details. Sarah’s life was about the bigger moments, about so much more than being the best woman in the sport of freeskiing. …
… To Sarah, injuries were footnotes.
It was the fight that mattered most. So when the International Olympic Committee announced last year it would add halfpipe and slopestyle skiing to the 2014 Winter Games, no one was prouder to have the opportunity to represent her country than Burke. And not simply because she would be the odds-on favorite to win in the halfpipe, but because she knew how hard a fight it had been to get there. When athletes from around the world, many of them her friends, compete in those inaugural competitions, they will do so knowing Sarah had much to do with winning that fight. …
Workout: A Documentary … examines the formation of the Blue Mound Gymnastics Club in the early 1960’s in Blue Mound, Illinois.
The back bone of the film is the exceptional gymnastic career of the filmmaker’s sister, Hali Sheriff and the dynamic driving force of his mother/ gymnastics coach, Ginny Sheriff.
… While returning from a gymnastics exhibition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1966, both Hali and her mother were killed in a tragic plane crashalong with Hali’s father, the Reverend Harold Sheriff, who was piloting the plane. Paul was ten years old.
Juxtaposed with this will be the filmmaker’s current life 42 years later. Through video diary, archive footage, and location interviews, the film will explore the effects and influence of this traumatic event on the filmmaker and immediate surviving members of the family, teammates and friends. Within this framework, the film also thematically treats and critically examines loss, and the changing roles and relationships within the family unit. The documentary also addresses athletic competition as a philosophy of life, with its effects on the individual athlete. …
To find out more, go to the YouTube page comments. Or to the official website. Paul is still trying to raise funds to complete the planned documentary.
The Youth Olympics feature many of the same sports as the regular Olympics, but often with a mixed-gender and/or team twist. Some of those variations could find their way onto the Olympic program, as sports try to widen their appeal and offer more medal opportunities to participating athletes. …
The Winter Youth Olympics include mixed-gender events in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, luge, short-track speedskating and ski jumping. …
The U.S. curling team, comprised of Massachusetts resident Korey Dropkin, New Jersey resident Thomas Howell and twins Sarah and Taylor Anderson from Pennsylvania, was the only team to go undefeated in round-robin play this week …
The Senior National Team and 2011 Visa Championships Qualifier is by invite only, a who’s who of Men’s Gymnastics USA. See the list of registered athletes here. (PDF)
Thursday Feb. 2nd is prelims, Saturday Feb. 4th Finals.
Cirque du Soleil’s Lisa Jones (lisa.jones@cirquedusoleil.com) will be on hand to talk to any coaches who have questions regarding future career opportunities.
Sarah Burke (September 3, 1982 – January 19, 2012) was a Canadian freestyle skier who grew up in Midland, Ontario, Canada. She later resided in Whistler, British Columbia.
… On January 10, 2012 Burke was seriously injured while training on the Park City Mountain Resort Eagle superpipe in Park City, Utah. …
Onlookers reported that Burke had completed a trick fairly well yet fell onto her head, and the accident did not appear to be very severe. Moments later, however, she went into cardiac arrest while still on the ski slope …
Sarah Burke - four-time Winter X Games champion in halfpipe skiing
The Rhythmic Gymnastics Finals concluded the Visa International Gymnastics, which as part of the London Prepares series functioned as Test Event for the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as the final Olympic qualifier. …
Individual All-around
Gold KONDAKOVA Daria RUS 110.450
Silver RIZATDINOVA Ganna UKR 108.750
Bronze ALYABYEVA Anna KAZ 108.075
Group All-around
Gold ESP – Spain 53.250
Silver ISR – Israel 50.525
Bronze FRA – France 50.400
Bronze GRE – Greece 50.400
Lord Sebastian Coe, Bruno GrandiProf. Bruno Grandi:
… “I am pleased that our gymnasts now have a second chance at participation in the Games, an initiative that aims to bring greater justice to the sport. But as with all new concepts, we will need to revisit certain criteria, details, that some feel are still too complicated. …”
… the Finals in Artistic and Trampoline enjoyed spectacular audience success from a media standpoint. “This is the first time that the FIG has independently produced the signal of a Final. We have chosen to embrace a modern philosophy by live broadcasting on our “Gymnastics” You Tube channel. We have integrated social networks into our global communication package, which has proven very successful. …
I’d agree. Overall the event was excellent, especially for the YouTube Finals feed and videos.
Dwight Normile was more critical of the new system:
… The biggest losers were the Canadian men and Spanish women, both of whom would have qualified under the old rules with their 12th-place finishes in Tokyo.
It would make a lot more sense to use the test event specifically for individual qualification. And if the FIG really wants to raise the level of competition at the Olympics, then it should reduce the number of all-around berths and add more top specialists via the previous worlds apparatus finals. …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 