Author: Rick Mc

The best I’ve seen.

Team Gym athletes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

UPDATE – Check the comments on this post. Very interesting. Ono is flying from California to watch Minnesota v Illinois. To see the format in person.

Men’s NCAA is failing. I’m keen to try anything to improve chances of survival. A similar format to this has worked in Germany.

The experiment reminds me of Snowboard cross (boardercross), first tried 1991. Now in the Olympics.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Ski racing for time was boring to me. But I love boardercross.

_____ original post:

An experiment this weekend. Sounds GREAT to me.

… both teams will be on the same event and will strategically select five athletes to battle, one on one against the other team. …

Winning routine gains 1-point.

Click PLAY or listen to Justin explain it on YouTube.

First team to 16 points, wins.

The trailing team competes second. Nice touch.

Tie-breaker sounds pretty goofy, however.

via @StickItMedia

UPDATE from USA FIG Judge in the comments:

… The idea (officially referred to as the “bracket system” by the NCAA Rules Committee) …

Cliff Gauthier at William & Mary has been proposing this (and an alternative) head-to-head scoring system since the early 1980s. The NCAA Rules Committee adopted it this year because a critical mass of NCAA coaches (including Justin Spring and others) signed onto the concept. The bracket system is available only in dual meets in which both coaches agree to use it.

Dave, in the comments, has some concerns.

Year after year, the main story of the ScAmerican Cup has been fans complaining about the format.

For example, DVORA MEYERS (2012) – The “Scam Cup”: How A Very American TV Event Gives U.S. Gymnasts A Leg Up On The Olympic Competition

Yet Dvora and the rest of the crew at GymCastic (episode 32) were filled with praise for the event this year. Especially for the online coverage.

USAG on YouTube:

• Podium Training Playlist
• NBC Broadcast
• Non-Broadcast Routines

With full scores on each routine.

The LIVE streaming was much appreciated too.

CONGRATS to USAG and FIG. And AT&T. This was a legitimate FIG World Cup competition. No more scammy for the home team than any other World Cup.

There’s nothing I don’t admire about this young Italian gymnast. She’s now one of my favourites.

Looking forward to her staying healthy and happy this quad.

Click PLAY or watch her Bars on YouTube.

On uneven bars you had a few errors. Could you explain to us what happened?

“The routine is new with very hard combinations, and I don’t have it down a hundred percent, but with my coaches (Massimo Gallina and Federica Gatti) and the technical director (Enrico Casella) we have decided to start competing it in meets anyway.”

Elisa Emanuelli on Gymnewstic – Translated Interview with Italy’s Enus Mariani

Enrico Casella, coach of Vanessa Ferarri, is back directing the Italian women’s National Team program for Rio. There were rumours he might move to Australia this cycle. But that didn’t happen.

Dvora Meyers was at American Cup again in 2013.

…. the lesson of competition in a post-Olympic year: results don’t really matter. There isn’t even a full world championships scheduled for this year—there will be individual events, but no team competition.

Gymnastics is a sport oriented towards the Olympics. Winning the year after the Games is like winning every preseason baseball game: This is only the first stretch of what amounts to a four-year marathon, but Biles and Ohashi may have a head start.

Deadspin

Nothing the matter with this method. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… The biggest stars in Canadian gymnastics will be coming to town for the 2013 national championships from May 21-26. …

Ottawa hosted a highly successful provincial men’s and women’s artistic championships last season at the CE Centre, which will again act as the venue for men’s and women’s artistic, plus trampoline and tumbling, while Carleton University will welcome the rhythmic event, and host participants in its residences. …

Sports Ottawa

There’s a very early DRAFT of the competition schedule (PDF) on Gymnastics Canada.

For the first time in a few years, I’m not on the organizing committee.

The happy-to-go-Italy friendly competitors have been named. Competition March 23rd.

U.S.A:

Alexie Priessman, Simone Biles, Peyton Ernst, Katelyn Ohashi, Kyla Ross, Margaret Nichols, Amelia Hundley, Bailie Key

via Giulia Holzer on Couch Gymnast

Click through to see the rest of the long list. Switzerland, Japan, Italy. No Russia. No Romania.

Bailie Key

VAULT
1 Maria Paseka 13.475
2 Kristina Kruglikova 13.4
3 Anna Pavlova 13.05

BARS
1. Anastasia Grishina 15.10
2. Tatiana Nabieva 14.625
3. Aliya Mustafina 14.55

Click PLAY or watch Aliya’s Bars cover-up on YouTube.

WOGymnastike links to Grishina’s Bars.

FLOOR
1. Denis Ablyazin 15.35
2. David Belyavski 15.1
3. Daniil Kazachkov 14.65

POMMELS
1. Matvei Petrov 15.68
2. Andrei Perevoznikov 15.33
3. Emin Garibov 15.3

RINGS
1. Denis Ablyazin 15.88
2. Nikolai Kuksenkov 15.3
3. Nikita Ignatyev 15.00

full results on IG – Ablyazin Wins Twice at Russian Championships

Men are on the way up this cycle. Women’s team needs some vaulters. Could Elena Prudnova please come out of retirement. 🙂

TCO sends an article regarding a 59-yr-old gymnastics coach.

… Six months ago, on Aug. 10, Unger was coasting — on his bicycle, headed downhill to get his gymnastics school ready for fall classes. He and his wife, Shannon, had returned that day from scouting retirement homes in Phoenix. He had played a round of golf and planned to play in a tournament in the morning.

But then he was in the air, pitched off his bike by potholes …

Journal Star

Jim Unger’s Gymnastics stayed open.