Author: Rick Mc

In the Hall of Fame, Aliya will be seated with Boginskaya & Khorkina at the Head Table.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Montage Monday)

Speculations has begun.

Who — aside from Simone Biles — could beat McKayla for the rest of her career?

McKayla Maroney, 2013 vault world champion, tells @BBCSport: "I am impressed."

— Ollie Williams (@OllieW) October 5, 2013

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Some feel Simone should have won that Vault final in Antwerp.

Many, including me, doubted that the Americans would score as well as they did in Antwerp. Nor have much of a chance for medals.

Apologies.

The U.S. Men looked GREAT.

Final Worlds medal count:

JPN 7
USA 4 … NCAA trained = 3
GBR 2
GER 2
CHN 1

Floor 2nd. Jacob Dalton 6.700 + 8.900 = 15.600

Vault 2nd. Steven Legendre 15.249 Final

Click PLAY or watch Jake’s FX on YouTube.

Tamayo a little suspect that time. … What’s the value of “Biles?” 🙂

Click PLAY or watch a post-Rings interview with Brandon on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/OTQ3NzIxNjk3?related=1&autoplay=false

Watch more video of 2013 World Championships on gymnastike.org

The judging panel decided his L-cross press to inverted cross was piked in the Final. Layout in prelims. Thus the 0.1 difference in start value.

Click PLAY or watch Steve’s Vaults on YouTube.

John Orozco, who trains at the USOTC was 3rd on P Bars. (15.533)

AND for most of the competition it seemed destiny that Michigan’s Samuel Mikulak would finish 2nd AA. One mistake dropped him to 6th.

Full results.

Thank ?@OnoNoKomachi1

In fact, I can’t recall him ever being so enthusiastic and excited on the competition Floor as Antwerp.

Screen cap of the day: Uchimura's reaction to Shirai Kenzo's floor routine http://t.co/OxCt8Ub7wl

— Uncle Tim (@uncletimmensgym) October 6, 2013

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Of all apparatus at Worlds, Vault was the most troubling.

There are too many injuries.

Chantysha Netteb was injured in World Championships Finals 2013.

Chantysha has ACL and meniscus damage. She underwent surgery Oct 8th.

Ellie Black was injured at Olympic Finals.

Yamilet Pena fell at 2011 Worlds, 2012 Olympics and twice at 2013 Worlds — yet this Code of Points keeps placing her in Finals.

Arabian Punch Front:

Scarier … was Phan Thi Ha Thanh attempting the Amanar …

With the triple twisting Yurchenko on it’s way, I worry for the state of vaulting. We have gymnasts landing Produnovas to their heads (or to forward roll would be the nice way of saying it). We have gymnasts competing underrotated Amanars (think Shawn Johnson to Maria Paseka). We have gymnasts getting credit for laid out Podkopayeva’s (Yurchenko 1/2 on pike half off) when they are indeed piked. And now, joining the group of not-yet-ready-to-land Produnovas, we have gymnasts creating a new group of not-yet-ready-to-land Amanars. The same way Pena seems safer than Mahmoud, we’re entering a world where Paseka seems safer than Phan. …

The Scary State of Vaulting

Click PLAY or watch the Worlds 2013 Vault Final on YouTube.

What could be done?

Vault deductions doubled? (at least)

Improve the landing mat? (something like that used for Double Mini)

Use video analysis to award part of the score for Height & Distance? (as Trampoline does with “Air Time”)

Reward clean twisting more?

Will FIG WTC do anything this quadrennial to FIX Vault judging?

… I doubt it. They failed to fix it from last quad. Expect to see someone falling on Prudnova and someone injured in every World Final from here to Rio.

It’s going to take some accident more horrific than Mustafina or Netteb on international TV before somebody fixes the Rules.

____

It’s also the Men’s most dangerous apparatus in 2013. Changes in the WAG Code should be matched in the MAG Code.

And struck out Albert Pujols in one demo. 🙂

Jennie Lynn Finch … is a former American softball player who pitched for the USA national softball team and the Chicago Bandits. Jennie helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Time magazine described her as the most famous softball player in history. In 2010, Finch retired from softball to focus on her family. …

Finch was the most dominant and recognizable softball pitcher of her era …

This is very, very cool.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

According to Mike Candrea, her coach at Arizona and through two Olympics,

“Jennie has transformed this sport, touched millions of young kids in many different ways – whether it’s fashion, whether it’s the way she plays the game – but through it all she’s been very humble.”

A Chicago Tribune editorial commented,

“She leaves with a spotless personal reputation, an intent to keep promoting softball, and the knowledge that she has inspired other girls and women who play for the love of the game.” …

This is cool. Stop motion Men’s tumbling from World Championships.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Rosie MacLennan on YouTube. London Olympic Gold medalist.

Click PLAY or watch Karen Cockburn on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Jason Burnette on YouTube.

Thanks Brett.

41 Of The Best, Most Extravagant Leotards From The 2013 World Gymnastics Championships

@officialFIG:

The 45th Artistic World Championships will be held on October 3-12, 2014, in Nanning, China.

UPDATED: I originally had linked to Nanjing, China. Not Nanning. Apologies.

Start planning now if you might want to attend Worlds in China.

It’s not the easiest nation to travel.

… It is known as the “Green City” because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage. …

Nanning is close to scenic Guilin, with its world famous hillscape, northern and western Guangxi and its minority villages, and the border with Vietnam in the south. …

read more …