Author: Rick Mc

His brother tells that Bboy Pablo was first to do air flares continuously — Aug. 1st, 1998 — with the Climax Soul Control crew.

One of the pioneers of modern “Airmoves”.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Leave a comment if you know otherwise.

And who’s first on YouTube to show a single air flare?

Morgan Hamm was the first Artistic gymnast I saw do it in competition.

related – petition on Change.org asking that USAG “credit” the invention of two air flares in series to Pablo.

I’m happy to credit him. But didn’t sign the petition as it makes no sense. Naming conventions in Artistic Gymnastics (FIG and/or USAG JO) normally have no relation to what similar skills are named in other sports: snowboard, skateboard, tricking, dance, etc.

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1413173

Gabby gives a high five after seeing a photo of the First Lady’s headstand.

Louis Smith sings.

The London Olympics are over and the success of the Host Nation has been celebrated in a video for Adidas UK where a handful of the country’s star athletes got together to lip sync to Queen’s smash hit “Don’t Stop Me Now“. …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

GymRep is one of the best and most important Summer Camps in North America.

“GymRep” is Artistic Gymnastics for girls and boys. (The number of weeks for Men will be expanded next year.)

“Cheer-Rep” are weeks dedicated to competitive Cheer. About 30hrs of work-out during a week are scheduled.

This Camp experience is finely tuned. Tightly scripted. Every minute planned.

The facility is gorgeous, equipped with new Gymnova equipment.

I brought with me some Tumbl Trak “demonstration equipment”. The new Fitness Wheel made a nice addition. 🙂

David Altmeyer, originally from France, now Head Coach at Viagym in Montreal, was Head Coach 2012 for GymRep Camp.

Frank Legras, from Marseilles France, was, the week I was there,”Top Gun” ~ visiting guest coach working with all coaches.

I’d heard the stories of GymRep, but had to see it with my own eyes to believe it.

It’s in a gorgeous lakeside location, but still conveniently close to Montreal.

On arrival, you’d swear you are looking at a Circus Camp. They had 10 bungie spotting belts on Trampoline devices (6 Tramps, 4 snap down Mini-tramps) and 12 bungie spotting belts on Beam. (one for dismounts, one for mounts)

Every girl, every skill, is spotted by either belt or TWO coaches. It’s amazingly safe.

And FUN. A DJ blasts loud music and directs traffic with a PA. One of the coaches on the gym floor also has a wireless mic, directing traffic.

Anglophones like me are unsure of whether to go to GymRep for fear of not understanding French. In fact, they had one week this summer with near 50% Anglophones.

One new innovation is a BIG SCREEN showing translation into English.

A Gibbon slackline set-up was the best I’ve ever seen. Very safe.

More of my photos …

More GymRep facility photos on Facebook

More GymRep photos and videos

Check out GymRep.com (English)

I argue Kohei Uchimura is the greatest gymnast in the history of the sport. If you had him, Scherbo, Kato, _______ all training together, in their prime, their consensus would be that Kohei’s the greatest.

Yet he made more mistakes in London, had more problems, than in his entire career up to that point. Here are a couple.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Has Kohei peaked in terms of his ability to hit routines? … Was something wrong in London?

Leave a comment if you have a theory.

Here’s something different.

Full Twist linked to a video clip of Epke’s reactions while watching the Horizontal Bar Final. (Dutch)

OR …

Click PLAY or watch his CRAZY winning routine on YouTube.

A supercut from the 2012 Olympics coverage proving once and for all that these NBC announcers are indeed gold-medal-caliber A-Holes.

Click PLAY or watch it on Jest.

http://www.jest.com/e/186273/olympic-commentators-are-dicks

Actually, I don’t mind sport commentators being critical. So long as they are accurate. 🙂

Thanks Claudine.

Celebrating their hometown girl.

Mural of Gabby Douglas on the side of AJ Gators in Virginia Beach.

Photo linked via Korbut Flip.

Best case scenario?

… I’d love to see Gabby go back to her old club — Excalibur in Virginia Beach — and make a BIG DONATION. A thank-you for getting her started on the right track.

A big donation after the big buck$ start rolling in, that is. 🙂

The family left that gym owing fees. It would be good karma to make good on that debt. And more.

NBC truly, truly couldn’t care less about criticism from YOU.

Ad Age:

Total viewership topped the 215 million that tuned in to the Beijing broadcast, according to a statement yesterday from Comcast’s NBC Universal division citing Nielsen ratings. NBC sold about $1.25 billion in advertising, beating the $850 million for the 2008 Olympics.

Though NBC drew criticism for not airing more of the games live, showcasing taped events in prime time “undeniably” helped ratings, NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus said. He said he wondered if NBC should have tape-delayed more events, such as the U.S. men’s gold-medal basketball game …

NBC Wonders if It Should Have Actually Tape-Delayed the Olympics More

Games Drew 219.4 Million Viewers, Becoming Most-Watched TV Event

Rio de Janeiro is just an hour ahead of Eastern time. …

NBC could improve its digital coverage, which brought in only about 5% of NBC’s London Olympic ad revenue. NBC could more often supplement the Olympic TV feed with its own commentators and graphics. …

But if NBC wants to really lay the foundation for future Olympic ratings, it should contribute tons of money — and Comcast (NBC’s parent company) had $55.8 billion in revenue last year — to help train U.S. athletes for the Games. And convince Phelps he needs to swim in Rio to leave a real Olympic legacy. …

USA Today – Examining NBC’s lessons learned in London

… Gabby Douglas was the most-clicked athlete on NBC’s Olympics website, garnering 23.4 million mouse vaults (Michael Phelps had under 8 million).

Vulture – NBC to Olympics Haters: #Fail This, Our Ratings Were Bloody Amazing

related – Guardian – The last word on NBC’s Olympics coverage

In the big picture, a successful Olympics for London and NBC is good for everyone in the sport. 🙂