Author: Rick Mc

Ono recommended a summing up on ShoNakamori.com:

… I never believed it when retired gymnasts told me that they had to stop training because their bodies just couldn’t handle the beating of training anymore. It takes a lot of physical stress to be able to prepare and compete at the highest level. As I was preparing for the US Championships, I finally started to understand this. From being an all-arounder, I had to cut floor and vault to just focus on 4 events because my knee just couldn’t keep up with the stress anymore. Sadly, it never fully recovered from the ACL tear a couple of years ago. …

… it’s easy to categorize success and failure based on whether you make it all the way to the Olympics or not. For every athlete who prevails on the highest stage, many thousands fall short. Sometimes the difference between them is not a matter of talent or effort. It’s a given that the best athletes train hard…we all want “it”. Sometimes it just depends on the vagaries of time and circumstance. …

To The Beginning of the Rest of My Life

That’s a great read. A great truth.

Sho is one of our most eloquent gymnasts. And a class guy all around.

There is a long, long list of wonderful athletes who will retire this summer. A sad reality of the Olympic quadrennial.

Dominique Moceanu is an important yet controversial persona in the gymnastics world. Many dismiss her commentary as sensationalist and self-serving.

She’s on the road promoting her newest book. And is all over Twitter & Facebook.

If you’re too young to remember Dominique as an astonishing gymnast, Aunt Joyce has a recap of her career.

Here’s Aunt Joyce himself at Dominique’s signing last night.

… He’s nearly finished reading her newest book. A review is imminent.

(via @AuntJoyce)

A big success. Everyone on the team made it to the house party. And all had a great time.

Click PLAY or watch Tumbl Trak Air Mat belly flops on YouTube.

That’s ALL we did with the Air Mats in the pool. To do more would risk voiding our warranty. 🙂

Gymnastics Adventure, Regina

Thanks Tammy.

I’ve known Andrew his entire career. Great Power Tumbler. Excellent coach.

Now ‘retired’ (so far) he put together a mixed edit. Some competition. Some FUN clips.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

FunEgyed (a) hotmail.com

Another great montage from Chris. Does that guy ever sleep?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She’ll be a fan favourite in London.

Epke Zonderland (NED) – 2012

Very cool.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Not 5/4 Diamidov – 3/4 Healy. Thanks yourdacedude2008.

The 2004 Olympic Beam Champion, Catalina Ponor, won Beam in Ghent (15.025)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She’s fascinating. 🙂

Interview with Bea Gheorghisor:

…on whether she was happy with what she achieved in Ghent:

“No. Well for me this was more like a friendly meet. Nonetheless I am not satisfied…” …

… She also mentioned that she has other things that she wants to add to her BB routine to make it more difficult for the Olympics more difficult compared to what she showed both in Ghent and in Euros. …

… …on why are some people surprised that she might be a contender for the beam medals in London

“You know, not many people believed in my comeback” she said… she also added that she felt like at first no one had faith, except for herself and her mother… not even the coaches

read more on Couch Gymnast

Actually, she’s wondering about the deductions on that finals routine, a bit surprised that judges only gave her pike instead of layout on the two foot.

New twitter account = @CPonor

by Director Steve Harries

… Nathan Bailey, Kat Driscoll, Bryony Page, Emma Smith and Steven Williams’s bodies were broken up into fragmented forms and motions by a bank of six mirrors. …

http://www.nowness.com/media/embedvideo?itemid=1908&issueid=1903

Gymnast: In Motion on Nowness.com.

(via British Gymnastics on Facebook)

Cool.

Dr. Jeni McNeal is researching sport applications of thermal imaging technology. AKA thermography.

… An exercise science professor at Eastern Washington University, McNeal is working on new ways to detect injuries in athletes, and to help them recover from the rigorous training …

… in research she chronicled in a new paper this year, McNeal and a colleague from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs used thermal imaging to see weak spots that naked eyes and X-rays could never detect.

“It’s something that’s been used in trying to early-detect breast cancer,” McNeal says. …

… Of course, there’s still more work to be done. So far, McNeal’s work has been mostly qualitative. What she needs now, she says, are quantitative surveys of injuries — showing, say, what a sprained ankle looks like in the thermal camera on Day One, Day Two, Day Three — so that they can better track and diagnose injuries as they happen. …

read more – We Can See Injuries Before They Happen

Jeni, from Artistic Gymnastics, works with the American National Diving Team. Amongst others.

“No effects… Just parallel bars in the woods. Thanks IGC and Dave Black!”

larger original on Instagram

Thanks Dana.