Author: Rick Mc

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

KOSMIDIS – FX – Gold Europeans

Eleftherios KOSMIDIS (GRE) EF FX – EC Montpellier 2012
European Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2012

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

CDN WAG Olympic selection

Judge Grace Chiu:

The Olympic Selection Points process is well-documented (PDF) . It needs to be read and understood.

I was tasked to make a working spreadsheet based on this document for the selection committee, which I did on the plane to Regina. It was verified as correct after AA finals.

Thus, there is no Cone-of-Silence on this, and as of now, after Canadian Championships, the Top 12 candidates with points are:

1. Kristina Vaculik 46.40
2. Victoria Moors 30.80
3. Dominique Pegg 20.10
4. Ellie Black 17.60
5. Jessica Savona 11.80
6. Brittany Rogers 9.20
6. Madeline Gardiner 9.20
8. Mikaela Gerber 5.80
9. Christine Lee 4.00
10. Talia Chiarelli 3.00
11. Jessica Dowling 2.40
11. Stefanie Merkle 2.40

I believe it’s pretty cut & dry that those 12 will be invited to the Olympic selection camp in Gatineau. There is no “petitioning”. The points system is working.

The rest with points > 0:
13. Anysia Unick 2.00
13. Briannah Tsang 2.00
15. Laura-Ann Chong 1.20
16. Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto 1.00 — having ankle surgery Tuesday …

The only subjective assignment of points will be under Criteria 3A at the selection camp. It is a maximum of 5 points assessed for performance “on demand”. This is not going to be a deal-breaker for those who already have 5 points as of now, and see, they are in the Top 8.

Trust the points system…

GCG will announce the entire Olympic team for WAG, MAG, TG, and RG on June 29.

Let’s see if Grace’s confidence in the points system carries through Camp. It certainly worked badly last Olympics.
 (Grace points out that it’s been changed since Beijing. No points for World Cup meets.)

My preference would be to select the top 2 or 3 team members on (hopefully) objective criteria. And have a National Coach — after consultation — select the last 2 or 3 who best “balance” the team.

Click PLAY or watch Tori’s DTY on YouTube.

Madison Desch – Beam

USAG on Facebook:

.. Madison Desch’s winning balance beam routine from the 2012 Secret U.S. Classic – so here it is! Check out her new layout full …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

USAG cannot upload Sr routine videos due to their contractual agreement with the Broadcaster.

best photo/video release forms?

I’m looking for the perfect release form blanks for USA and Canada. Leave a comment if you’ve got one you like. Some models would be children, of course.

Tsolakidis – PBar front uprise king

Dmitrios Tsolakidis (GRE) Parallel Bars 2012 European Championships Qualifications

Nobody, not even the Cubans, ever did front uprise skills on Parallel Bars like this.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That’s Andy’s coolest routine from Europeans (so far):

… front uprise to diamidov 1 ½, a front uprise to diamidov, and a front uprise to Makuts. …

Thanks Dave Copeland.

Sarah Finnegan – Floor

Only 3 tumbling passes.
Score: D: 6.2 E: 9.0 = 15.2

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Andy Thornton sees her as an alternate, at this point:

Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas are currently locks.

Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney currently have the remaining two spots.

Nastia Liukin is very close behind.

Rebecca Bross and Sarah Finnegan are other likely alternates at this point. …

American Gymnast – Putting The London Puzzle Together…Secret U.S. Classic Wrap-Up

Europeans – Smith vs Berki

At the 2012 Men‘s European Apparatus Finals.

Click PLAY or watch Smith on YouTube. (15.775)

Louis’ never had great extension. And he’s not got superior toe point nor split.

Click PLAY or watch Berki on YouTube. (15.958)

I much prefer Berki of those two great routines. It’s nice to see flared spindle, for one thing. He’s got the best pendular swing in the world, too.

Surprisingly, Smith took the media to complain that Berki’s start score was 0.2 too high.

Both were given start values of 6.9.

… I’m not sure whether Louis is correct. Weigh in, if you’ve an opinion on their start scores.

Update: Did Berki not complete his “full spindle in flair”? Top coaches say he didn’t. …

Louis Smith will be one of the biggest media darlings of the host team in London. This controversy is only going to generate interest in Men’s Gymnastics — and Pommels in particular. Love it.

We can use the attention even if it’s only once every 4yrs. 🙂

related – Europeans – BBC – How GB beat Russia at gymnastics