Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

Aliya, Vika and Valentina Rodionenko

Aliya Mustafina Online has an entertaining interview from August 15th, newly posted in English. It features Aliya, Viktoria and Valentina Rodionenko. Enjoying some fun & celebrity.

On the Olympics, their new cars, and friendship of the two Olympic AA medalists.

read it here

Thanks Alan.

Maroney – broken tibia

USA Gymnastics on Facebook:

An update on McKayla Maroney:

On Sept. 9, 2012 Olympic gold-medalist McKayla Maroney was injured on her uneven bars dismount (single flyaway) at the Ontario, Calif., performance of the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions. Maroney’s MRI showed a fractured tibia on her left leg, and she is currently in a brace to keep the leg stabilized. …

Fierce 3 on Ellen

(Former gymnast Pink) was a big fan of the Women’s Gymnastics Team throughout the Summer Olympics, so they came to the show to surprise her

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Fierce Five Mania

Grandi on London

FIG President, Bruno Grandi, shares “a few thoughts and impressions from the London 2012 Olympic Games”:


I was particularly impressed by the Rhythmic Gymnastics judging panels. …

The judging in the Trampoline Gymnastics is worthy of special praise …

Turning to Artistic Gymnastics, I must, by contrast, express my regret and disappointment at the incident relating to the score awarded to Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura in the Team Pommel Horse. This disagreeable situation unfolded right before the eyes of the IOC President, who was present in the arena.

We urgently need to undertake a comprehensive review of the way we handle appeals. … so that the spectacle of coaches crossing the competition area, waving banknotes in the air, is not something that is ever repeated. …

Recall in that embarrassing incident that Uchimura’s score on Pommels was raised and — as a result — Japan took the Silver medal as a Team, over host GBR.

I’ve since spoken to a number of experts convinced that Kohei’s score should not have been raised. Japan should not have won Silver.

I’m less than incensed over that, however. Considering how many times Kohei has been under-rewarded for Execution, over the years.

I would also like to touch on the appeal by Team USA over the score awarded to Alexandra Raisman in the final of the Beam. The Jury accepted the appeal, which meant that Raisman ousted Romania’s Catalina Ponor from the bronze medal position on the podium. …

It’s easy to argue that Ponor should have won that medal.

I’d like to know exactly what happened there. 😦

… the rules applied in tie-break situations. Do we really need to separate two gymnasts who are locked together on identical scores, down to a thousandth of a point?

Take, for example, Mustafina and Raisman in the final of the All-around competition, who were locked together on 59.566 after the four pieces of apparatus. There was a similar situation with Mustafina and Ferrari in the final of the women’s Floor exercise; then there was the case I referred to above involving Raisman and Ponor in the Beam, not to mention the situations involving Berki/Smith and Uchimura/Ablyazin.

The issue of how to resolve ‘dead-heat’ situations has long given risen to debate, but the FIG has taken a firm position, and chosen to adhere to the principle of equal ranking. …

I’m confused on that. Who is stopping the FIG from awarding ties. The IOC?

If so, leave a comment with link explaining that rule.

Personally I’d like to see it made more mathematically difficult for ties to arise. Tie breaks wouldn’t be needed so often.

I thought the Artistic judging MAG and WAG was lousy. The D-panels giving credit for almost anything. And the E-panels boxing the scores, penalizing those with good execution (e.g. Uchimura) and rewarding those with poor form & extension.

If the Execution judges had a wider range from best to worst, it would help. A lot.

It was a relief to get through — for Grandi — with no worse scandals in the mainstream media. Of course those reflect badly on him. And he’s running for reelection in October.

Read the entire open letter.

Georgia, LSU, Lindenwood

Three College Gymnastics teams I’ll be following closely this season:

1) Georgia … with new coaches
2) LSU … with former Georgia Head Coach Jay Clark new assistant. And momentum.
3) Lindenwood University … the first NEW NCAA WAG team in 10yrs

Good luck to Head Coach Gretchen Goerlitz and assistants Ashley Lawson and Jen Kesler.

… No stranger to NCAA gymnastics, Goerlitz competed for a successful Denver program from 2005-07, advancing to the NCAA Championships with the Pioneers in her senior year. After graduation, she went on to coach as a graduate assistant at Texas Woman’s University for two years. From there, Goerlitz made the impressive jump to head coach at Centenary, a position she held for another two years, before being named Lindenwood’s first gymnastics coach.

“What I loved about it was starting from zero with no real standards,” she said. “I’d have to set those standards and really get to make it what I wanted it to be.” …

read more = Danny Sierra‘s comprehensive article on Gymnastike

can Louis Smith dance?

Rumours were true.

Louis Smith will be one of the favourite contestants, I would think, on the British TV reality show Strictly Come Dancing.

BBC – Our celebrity line up so far …

We need to see Shawn and Louis dance together. 🙂

@nrarmour:

This isn’t first go at reality TV for @louissmith1989. He tried out for “X Factor” after Beijing.

McKayla Maroney – FLY

McKayla and Aly Raisman were both injured on Bars, the second night of the Kellogg’s tour.

It sounds like Aly is going to be alright. But we’re still waiting on official prognosis of McKayla’s knee injury as I post.

Here’s a new tribute video from Chris.

McKayla Maroney – FLY from CSaccullo

If Vimeo streams too slowly on your connection, try watching it on YouTube. Far more reliable.

Aussie squad for 2016

Brigid linked to a far more informative than usual Gymnastics Australia report:

GA Women’s Junior Camp, Canberra, August 31 – September 4, 2012:

Last weekend, at the AIS in Canberra, Gymnastics Australia held the first training camp for the 2013-2016 Olympic Cycle.

Jo Richards, Gymnastics Australia’s Women’s National Junior Development Co-ordinator, provides a review …

24 of our best, keen, young female gymnasts and their coaches flew into Canberra for 5 days of everything gymnastics. It was a great few days filled with plenty of skill development, video education, mentoring, hot and cold spas, … everyone enthusiastically working together with a common goal – improving the standard of Australian Gymnastics.

There were plenty of great D dismounts off beam and bars – all forms of double backs were seen with all programs embracing the National direction of double rotations off beam and backwards landing dismounts off bars.

… they were all challenged but enjoyed working with choreographer Stacey Umeh on their beam and floor dance bonus.

A highlight of the camp was the exquisite quality and skill direction demonstrated by Peter Abbott and his young WAIS crew – many Adlers, Double layouts, Hindorfs and Shaps were on display. Way to go Pete! Brooke Callcott’s inside stalder and ‘L’ grip endos along with Molly McKenzie’s excellent bar form, including her sky high Hindorf and ‘true’ double layout bars dismount were great. Georgia Godwin (MBC) showed some new Weiler kips on bars – another great skill choice. Maddi Leydin’s (VWHPC) Markelov was huge! …

During the camp all girls participated in the Physical testing. Congratulations to:

• The ‘most physically prepared athlete’ Emma Curry (MLC/Waverley) – full credit to Emma’s long term coach Michelle De Highden. Emma also won the Press to handstands and Cast to handstands (13 each);

• Eden Tarvit (QAS) was best on the chin-ups with 19 performed under test conditions in 30 seconds. She also had the longest standing broad jump – 74.5 cm longer than her standing height;

• Emily Conran (QAS) won the leg lifts with 23 in 30 seconds;

• Karla Danelutti (Balance) was the fastest at the rope climb and can also jump a whopping 2m 32cm;

• Emma, Brooke Callcott and Darcy Norman (both WAIS) were the most proficient at the kip to handstands (11 good ones in a row);

read more on gymnastics.org.au