As reported by International Gymnast:
The final remaining berths for the 2008 Olympic Games have been awarded to a female from Vietnam and a male from Yemen.
Vietnam’s Thuong Di Thi Ngan and Yemen’s Nashwan Al-Hazari are the reported recipients of the Wild Card berths selected by a tripartite commission.
The commission consists of the International Olympic Committee, the International Gymnastics Federation and the Association of National Olympic Committees. Geographic representation at the Olympics is one of the factors for designating Wild Card berths.
Thuong, 19, finished 110th at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart. She competed three events at the 2007 World Cup in Ghent, Belgium.
Al-Harazi competed five events at the 2007 Worlds, finishing 176th in preliminaries. …
Congratulations to both. Certainly this will be a big boost for gymnastics in their nations and regions.
There are some disappointed athletes today including Aljaz Pegan (Slovenia) and Elsa Garcia (Mexico).
Yuri van Gelder (Netherlands) and Krisztian Berki (Hungary) are two other superstars who will be missed in Beijing.
larger photo of Krisztian Berki – BERKI2.JPG – Gymnastics Australia
As a coach I always told my athletes not to let some committee decide whether or not they would be selected. An “appeal” is always a gamble. The goal must be to qualify automatically.
Regardless of the “wildcard” system used by FIG, someone deserving will be excluded. In 2004 the best athlete excluded was Leszek Blanik (Poland), 2000 Olympic Bronze medallist on Vault. Leszek did qualify for 2008.
Should “wildcard” spots be eliminated?
Should the selection system be revamped?
I don’t know. Leave a comment if you have an opinion.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 
