Author: Rick Mc

Coach Al Fong was vocal when Brenna was left off the competing team at 2013 Worlds. He — and many others — felt Brenna should have competed Bars & possibly Beam, McKayla Vault & Floor.

Gummi Brynjólfsson:

The girl was in the warm up gym doing full world class routines until Maroney left for the competition hall next door. To us sharing training time with Brenna and her coaches it seemed very strange not to use her at least on bars where she had by far the most innovative and interesting routine of the whole US team. A real medal contender whom I hope will be representing the US in future major competitions. …

The problem of too much Depth – US women

Gummi links to a good training routine video on that post.

Here’s another.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’ve loved Brenna ever since I watched her training at GAGE a few years ago.

But in the U.S. training sessions I watched in Antwerp, I saw her miss many times. Usually on straddle back.

Marta expects 100% hits in training.

I wasn’t all that surprised to see McKayla, also a bit inconsistent, get the call. Marta would love to have McKayla on the Worlds team in future as an all-arounder.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

GymCastic:

When it comes to watching college beam, elite gymnastics fans typically have one of two reactions:

Oooo! A gainer full? How nifty! No one does that in elite! I want to see more of that!

A gainer pike off the end? Seriously? Is that even a skill? It should be, like, an A. Lame.

Regardless of your love or disdain for gainer dismounts, the question remains: Why are there so many gainers in NCAA gymnastics?

To help demystify NCAA beam, we have created an infographic for you. Like … the floor infographic …

A Gym Nerd’s Guide to NCAA Beam

Iceland coach Guðmundur (Gummi) Brynjólfsson has an excellent English language blog at …

GUMnastics.blogspot.com

He just posted a shout out on how the FIG Academy 3 program helped him as a coach. Helped Iceland develop as an international Team.

Seemingly the busiest coach at Worlds 2013, he lists these highlights:

5. British girls on bars.

4. Vanessa Ferrari back on the podium.

3. Mustafina.

2. American women on vault.

… The block these girls get from the table seems impossible. In the warm up gym it was fun to see the other coaches trying to get pointers and ideas listening in on Akopian coaching Maroney. …

1. Men’s all around.

Five Favorite Antwerp moments

Check that site: GUMnastics.blogspot.com

21 coaches picked the Gators #1.

7 picked Oklahoma.

1 Florida
2 Alabama
3 Oklahoma
4 UCLA
5 L.S.U.
6 Utah
7 Michigan
8 Georgia
9 Stanford
10 Nebraska
11 Arkansas
12 Oregon State

see the rest of the top 25

//instagram.com/p/d0CNqKODYe/embed/

Marissa King has finished her eligibility, but is still in the Gym training for possible future acrobatics performance. She’ll be an assistant with the Gators this season. (VIDEO)

related:

• Oklahoma Finds Motivation in Second Place

• NCAA Preview: Golden Bears on the Horizon (highest preseason ranking ever)

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100% of proceeds go to Temple University Men’s Gymnastics.

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The FIG Appeal Tribunal has unanimously rejected the appeals of former Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee President Maria Szyszkowska (POL), current TC President Natalya Kuzmina (RUS), five other Technical Committee members and 16 rhythmic judges, confirming the cancellation of exam results, judges brevets and most sanctions initially imposed by the FIG Disciplinary Commission earlier this year.

The proceedings concern alleged irregularities at the Intercontinental Rhythmic Gymnastics Judges Courses held in Bucharest (ROU) November 19-24, 2012, as well as courses in Moscow (RUS) November 28 – December 2, 2012 and Alicante (ESP) December 5 – 9, 2012. …

FIG Appeal Tribunal rules in Rhythmic Gymnastics case

Nick Goepper (born March 14, 1994 is an American freeskier from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He was the winner of a silver medal at the 2012 Winter X Games in the slopestyle contest. …

Another of those terrific Procter & Gamble videos.

If Mom wasn’t there, they wouldn’t be here. Watch the story of Olympic hopeful Nick Goepper and his mother, Linda.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Cincinnati Gym)

British sports writer Mike Rowbottom put together an impressive overview of FIG Artistic Gymnastics.

A few snippets:

… There has been feeling in the sport that the massively technical requirements asked too much of gymnasts, male gymnasts in particular, with the demands of floor exercises – where athletes have been obliged to pack moves of extreme difficulty into a short time period – being particularly stringent, and potentially dangerous.

In January this year, the FIG duly reformed its code for the next Olympic cycle to Rio, with the emphasis swinging back to the artistic, rather than the gymnastic, element of artistic gymnastics. …

Really?

Does anyone find gymnastics more artistic in 2013 than 2012?

Perhaps. Slightly.

Bruno Grandi:

“I will not settle for the status quo, but rather commit myself to the enormous tasks that face FIG in the 2013-2016 Cycle: synchronisation and simplification of the Codes of Points, transparency in judging and its corollary sport justice, the revamping of World Championship presentation, in progress, with the excellent partnership of Cirque du Soleil. … “

The easiest improvement to make there is transparency in judging.

FIG should publish individual judges scores.

… In the course of the last four Olympics, the number of countries with medals in artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastics has risen. At the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Games, a total of 15 countries earned medals. At the Beijing 2008 Games that figure rose to 17, and at the London 2012 Games it was 18, with Olympic titles being spread around 10 nations. …

A great trend.

One of the most influential elements in this spread has been the FIG’s Coaches Academy Programme, a worldwide education for coaches in all disciplines based on extensive scientific research into how best to develop young talent in each of them.

In statistics updated on November 20 by Harvey Fink, director of the FIG Academies, a total of 158 Academies were hosted throughout 2013, involving 4,245 attending gymnasts.

Of these, 38 were in Africa, 50 in the Americas and 23 in Asia.

read more – Inside the Games …

Philippines L1 MAG-WAG participants 2013

Craig Tilley linked to this artistic gymnast from Scotland.

Her dance-in to start her routine is prettier than the actual choreography of many FIG gymnasts. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Couch Gymnast – Introducing: Louise McColgan