Author: Rick Mc

IG updates us on Aliya Mustafina’s impending knee surgery:

Accompanied by the Russian team’s interpreter, Mustafina went to Munich for surgery at one of the top clinics in Germany.

“Aliya could have had surgery in Berlin,” Rodionenko said. “But local experts themselves insisted that it’s better to contact one of the clinics in Munich that specializes in knee joints. This is where the great German tennis player Boris Becker had surgery and where the German national football team goes.”

But this is the most interesting part of that article:

Chusovitina, who has competed for Germany since 2006, went to the same expert for knee surgery after the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Chusovitina, who turns 36 in June, won the silver medal on vault at the 2008 Olympics and in Berlin.

“If she does surgery at the right place and has proper rehabilitation, trust me, she can vault,” Chusovitina told newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets.” “The doctor the Russians are going to operated on me. Same knee, but I had another problem. After Athens I could not vault, nor even really do anything. After eight months of looking for the cause, only this doctor figured out what was wrong. I had the surgery, and after two weeks I was walking without pain. Believe me, he’s really a professional of the highest class. For 30 years he’s been operating only on knees.” …

read more – Mustafina Heads to Munich for Knee Surgery

Oksana Chusovitina, legend.

She’s training to break her own record of 5 Olympics, still competing at the highest level. And it looks to me she’s still ticked when she doesn’t WIN.

In 1991 there was Lavinia Milosovici. She won the World title on vault. Today (in 2011) we have another Romanian who won the European Title on vault – Sandra Izbasa. 20 Years, but the silver medalist is the same…and her name is: Oksana Chusovitina. Impressive!!! …

Fangymnastics – From Lavinia Milosovici to Sandra Izbasa…20 years with Oksana Chusovitina

I did a little better on day 2 of Finals, predicting 2 of the 5 gold medals: Gymnastics Examiner – Pick a podium: Europeans event finals, predictions and realities II

My biggest mistake in forecasting Europeans, however, was counting out our beautiful Olympic Floor Champion Sandra Izbasa.

VAULT
1 IZBASA Sandra ROU 14.675
2 CHUSOVITINA Oksana GER 14.537
3 KAESLIN Ariella SUI 14.475

FLOOR
1 IZBASA Sandra Raluca ROU 14.500
2 CHELARU Diana Maria ROU 14.475
3 BELOKOBYLSKAYA Yulia RUS 14.450

Click PLAY or watch her Vaults on YouTube.

With Izbasa on the team, Romania could win the Olympics … if you don’t count Bars. She’s yet another wonderful Romanian gymnast … who they can’t compete on Bars.

MissEducated is looking to raise cash quickly so her small club can replace their broken double mini-tramp in the U.K.

Trials and Nationals are coming up FAST.

The long and short of it is that the club needs raise about $4000 fast.

… We are looking at bag-packing at one of the big local supermarkets. We are running our annual tariff competition at the end of May and will be running a tombola there, but any other ideas that would work at a small competition would be great. …

I know how they can raise an easy $500 on a Saturday morning. …

But leave a comment if you’ve any brilliant, fast fund-raising ideas. Thanks.

A tribute video … showing the injury.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There are a lot of people world wide thinking of Aliya today.

Here’s a sweet deal for a coach who wants to upgrade their skills and experience.

The Professional Coaching Diploma (PCD) program is held at International Gymnastics Camp (IGC) in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and offers an intensive instructional coaching curriculum for gymnastics professionals.

As one of the premier training facilities in the world, IGC has offered gymnasts and coaches the best training facilities and educational opportunities for over 39 years. This collective knowledge is the foundation of the PCD program designed to teach a full range of technical skill development, coaching methods, and spotting techniques in a safe and applied manner.

The time and effort commitment at the entry-level is 260 teaching and classroom hours spanning a four-week period.

Daily lecture demonstrations, written and practical tests, as well as observational and critical coaching reviews build throughout the second, third and fourth years.

This challenging program is designed for the career-minded individual intent on becoming a top-tier gymnastics coach.

You will graduate from the PCD program with a gymnastics portfolio documenting your personal progress and comprehensive understanding of beginner through elite gymnastics.

Whether you have just started your coaching career or have been coaching for years, it is our mission to help you build on your knowledge and continue your professional growth.

Professional Coaching Diploma

Check the GREAT INTRO VIDEO on the IGC Coaches Program page.

The sweet deal is that there is NO COST for that 260hrs of training, … aside from your slave labour at camp.

I highly recommend this opportunity.

PROFESSIONAL COACHING DIPLOMA PROGRAM APPLICATION (PDF)

The best contact at IGC is Nick Blanton.

If you’re planning to come to join us in lovely Prince Edward Island in June, know that the preferred hotels, and early booking rates are expiring SOON.

Here’s the LINK. (PDF)

Actually, there’s no shortage of accommodation. But you may end up outside the city if you wait too long.

(via CAN Championships 2011 blog)

FIG posted a summary – Medallists triumph as Europeans close in Berlin (results)

… Russia leads the overall medal table of the championships with three Gold, two Silver and three Bronze medals, followed by Romania (three Gold, two Silver, one Bronze) and Germany (two Gold, three Silver, two Bronze) …

Anna Dementyeva was the surprise AA winner after World Champion Mustafina injured out.

… Russia’s chief coach Andrei Rodionenko is pleased with the overall display, considering the team’s first place in the medal count with eight.

“Such is gymnastics, anything can happen,” Rodionenko said of Mustafina’s injury.

“And the rest conducted their business as they should, as we expected. Who prepares – wins. The new generation must announce itself. Dementyeva has already been through the World Championships too. Here, in Berlin we tried [young gymnasts] for future battles.”

The coach announced that Dementyeva should become the team’s leader while Mustafina is injured.

“She did everything she could in all-round finals. And even more,” Rodionenko said. …

The Moscow News

Winning the AA win only a full twisting Yurchenko vault. That is impressive.

One more good sound bite from that article:

… Anton Golotsutskov won two bronze medals – in vault and floor.

“To be honest, I am sick of bronze,” Golotsutskov complained. …

The next European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics are scheduled to take place in Brussels (BEL), May 8-13, 2012, for women; and in Montpellier (FRA), May 21 – 27, 2012, for men. Team and Individual competitions for seniors and Team as well as an All-around competition will be the format for these championships.

The All Around Gymnastics News on Facebook linked to a very interesting page.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation is now posting translations of some articles in English.

Bookmark this page.

For many years the SEC (Southeastern Conference) has been dominant. Especially with Georgia and Alabama filling their arenas every meet.

That’s changing.

World Gymnastics:

In July of this year, the Pac-10 will officially become the Pac-12, welcoming the addition of the University of Colorado and the University of Utah to the current members of the Pac-10 Conference: UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Southern California and Washington State. …

Utah will host the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Championship next March in the Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah. All eight Pac-12 gymnastics teams will be there.

In my excitement (and related GymNerd-iness), I created a video in anticipation of the Pac-12. …

read more

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This workout was filmed on February 25th as the guys had a podium training style workout in their competition arena the day before their dual meet with Stanford.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NTI3NDgyOTE4

Watch more video of University of Michigan 2011 on gymnastike.org

… the defending NCAA National Champions, the University of Michigan men.

Michigan got off to a slow start this season but seems to be peaking at the right time. Freshman Sam Mikulak won the Big 10 Conference all around title last weekend while Ian Makowske won the title on high bar and Syque Caesar the title on parallel bars.

Michigan will compete next weekend at the 2011 NCAA National Championships hosted at Ohio State in hopes of defending their title.