Author: Rick Mc

She finished online her studies at Oak Park High School in California.

See her grad selfie on instagram.

https://instagram.com/p/301GtDt5tX/

Silvia Vatteroni:

The President of the International Gymnastics Federation, Bruno Grandi, has kindly agreed to meet us to answer, in an exclusive interview, to our questions about the publication of the new qualification system for the 2020 Olympics. …

… we should start from the calendar, that is the key to the whole system of Olympic qualification. The international calendar, substantially, is based on a single competition every year. Newspapers are only interested in the World Championships …

… there are the European Championships for which there’s a television contract, but everything lasts little more than a week, after which the media attention disappears again. …

Sponsors constantly ask us more visibility …

Grandi points out that FIG has problems getting bids for World Championships in some disciplines. There’s not enough sponsorship money to cover the cost.

He wants more of the best gymnasts from smaller nations to qualify for the Olympics.

… Aljaž Pegan, famous Slovenian gymnast, twice world champion on HB (high bar), has never participated at the Olympic Games. Why? Because his country didn’t have a team. …

… The IOC saves one place for the host country and the other one is assigned, following the universality principle, to an Olympic committee of the continent which is not represented. The universality principle states that at the Olympic Games all the five continents should be represented in every sport. …

… The number of places assigned to every discipline is established by the IOC, and only the IOC has the authority to change them. Of course I tried to ask for more athletes. If the IOC had granted us 110 gymnasts I would have maintained the format of 5 team members. 110 women and 110 men would have been enough … but the IOC never agreed. …

The new rules give more importance to the World Cups, that will become qualifying and so will certainly raise more attention from the media.

These new rules, that I strongly wanted, gained an approval of the 83%, certainly not modest if we consider that countries like Russia, China, Japan and Germany endorsed it …

BRUNO GRANDI, FIG PRESIDENT: “THE NEW QUALIFICATION SYSTEM? I MADE IT TO SAVE THE GYMNASTICS”

I like the new system slightly better than what was used in London. There are pros and cons, of course. And there will be unintended consequences.

It sounds terrific that a wonderful specialist from one of the top nations could get there, despite not competing the AA. But, for example, let’s say China qualifies a team of four. And a Bars specialist for Tokyo. In the Bars Final there is still a maximum of two / nation. In prelims we’ll enjoy seeing all 5 Bars routines. But only a maximum of two will make the apparatus final.

An even smaller ‘team’ size.

The format of this competition is extremely unique. The team final will be 3-up, 2-count, and only one gymnast per country will be allowed to compete in the individual finals.

This rule sparks a major question: which Russian gymnast will make the all-around? …

Inside Gymnastics

Click PLAY or watch them on twitter.

via Nico on GymFever2012

Junior National Coach Markos Baikas and the young Canucks are guests of USA Gymnastics. 🙂

Like the photo on Facebook.

Wow!

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

Sam Mikulak throws down a STICK CONTEST challenge.

Click PLAY or watch it on instagram.

That’s the claim by Rebound. I’d have to agree. The quality of materials is much better than anything else I’ve seen. Lifespan should be longer than any other brand. It’s much heavier than anything else, however.

With the new Mini-Tramp, Dave Ross set out to create a powerhouse: engineer a low flex frame that can safely handle our legendary Bed and Springs. That meant re-designing the frame to be saddle shaped and allow for optimal transfer of athlete speed into height. …

The Dave Ross 2 String Bed is the longest lasting trampoline bed in the world. They are hand crafted and have no stitching in the bed. …

Rebound Products $1300 CAD ($1060 US)

Dave Ross was inspired by the mini-tramp acrobatics of TeamGym. He engineered a mini-tramp that could handle that kind of power yet still be used by regular kids.

Manjak’s Gymnastics is successfully using one with all their Artistic kids. Manjak’s has a number of different mini-tramps.

They use all of them for different Vault drills, for example.

Air-O-Board is closest to a competition Spring Board. You can use it for Yurchenko approach.

The new Rebound produces by far the most power.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on using mini-tramps for Vault.

Gymnasts we wished had longer careers. 😦

Chatty Gymnast did some research on these fan favourites – THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY: PART TWO

Click PLAY or watch Shantessa’s 2004 Bars triple back on YouTube.

related – Triple Twist – Shantessa Pama- We miss you! (2012)

Canadian trampolinist Rosie MacLennan emerged from teammate Karen Cockburn’s shadow four years ago when she captured gold at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. …

Cockburn, a four-time Olympian, was the defending champion at the 2011 Games and led after the preliminary round, but illness prevented her from competing in the final.

MacLennan stepped up, and a year later she would be celebrating an Olympic title in London. …

Rosie MacLennan, Olympic champion, to defend Pan Am title

Rosie’s in good shape. Karen is back. And Jason Burnett should be there too. All former Olympic medalists.