Author: Rick Mc

Kotkke:

I needed a little beauty this morning and this certainly fit the bill…a snowboarder covered in LED lights shreds in the dark.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… could we do that with gymnasts?

XtremeTkatchev on Feb 13, 2012

An update of my previous code of points video.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

via @StickItMedia

… Martha says she will continue in her role as long as USA Gymnastics wants her. …

As she’s hinted recently.

That quote from USA Today:

… For the past 13 years, aspiring Olympic gymnasts from all over the USA have trained at this remote ranch 50 miles north of Houston. It’s part of a semi-centralized training system implemented by Bela in 1999 and carried out by Martha, 69, in her role as women’s national team coordinator since 2001. …

Karolyis build haven for American gymnasts

Results have been good, overall, during Marta’s reign.

Some of her methods I thought idiotic back in 2002. But she’s mellowed and improved a great deal, from everything I’ve seen.

I’d love to see what would change under her successor. Valeri, I assume.

But if Marta wants to stay (after all) I’d expect 4 more years of the same. Strict. Disciplined. Smart. … But with a higher injury rate than many people will like.

via @gymnewstics

David Holcomb:

The Buckeye Classic was a huge success in every way. Over 2200 gymnasts from across the Eastern USA and Canada made for three days of gymnastics heaven.

… NIA WON THE MEET and is going to compete in Madison Square Garden on March 2, in New York City in the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup …

Nia scored 38.775 in the all-around. I think this is the all-time highest all-around score ever achieved by a Buckeye gymnast. …

more Buckeye photos on Facebook

For a full list of Supergirl qualifiers, click over to Gymnastike. USAG posted profiles on some of the girls.

Grace Williams of Twistars will attempt to defend the title she won last year and Gymnastike will be on-site for all the action.

Once again, that meet might well be more interesting and entertaining than the A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N Cup itself.

It sounds like a number of girls have competed aerial cartwheel sideways on Beam, including Rhian Pugh from Wales and the great Corey Hartung in 2002.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (1min 8sec)

After competing and coaching at Florida, Corey went on to Cirque du Soleil.

Hailey Kardos in Canada was awarded an E-part for that skill in Canada.

Thanks Marcus.

Devin Graham’s edit from Corona Arch has gone viral.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Buzzfeed. Thanks Ron.)

Here’s a trick.

Canadian gymnast Hailey Kardos.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That was linked by Brigid Couch Gymnast McCarthy on Facebook.

Easy.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Can your gymnast do this?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Looks real. Leave a comment if you know FACTS about this young man. Here’s a reversed .GIF from the same session.

(via John Howard on Facebook)

MODELING THE FINAL SCORE IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS BY DIFFERENT WEIGHTS OF DIFFICULTY AND EXECUTION

A recently published research study by Cuk I., Fink H., Leskosek B.

One of the authors is Hardy Fink, the man more than any other who birthed our current open-ended Code. He’s crunched the numbers more than any other alive, I reckon.

The goal was to …

… investigate how different calculations of the final score may change the ranking orders among gymnasts. Fourteen different calculations were taken into consideration and then compared with official results from the 2011 Men’s European Championships in Berlin. …

Results?

… In the Code of Points it is emphasized that the exercise presentation is the most important part and it should never be compromised for difficulty.

In the practice of competitions we often see exactly the opposite philosophy from gymnasts and their coaches. At this moment, the proportion between difficulty and execution is, on some apparatus, already above 70% (pommel horse, high bar).

If we look at other sports it is clear that the most risky sports (diving, aerial skiing) have very low contributions from difficulty towards the final score while the most aesthetic sports (synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics) have a more balanced proportion …

I chose that quotation because it matches my personal opinion, and the majority opinion, that current FIG rankings reward difficulty too much, execution not enough.

Gymnasts like Louis Smith (Pommels) and Ali Raisman are not penalized much compared with those who have superior body line and stretched feet.

Read the entire article (PDF). That comes from Vol. 4 Issue 1: Science of Gymnastics Journal.