Author: Rick Mc

Click PLAY or watch it on Vimeo.

(via Wend – Sumo Snowboarding… Because They Can)

MostepanovaFan has updated her history of this skill.

… all the gymnasts who have successfully performed the Amanar Vault (2.5 Twisting Yurchenko) in competition in chronological order of their first successful performance of it (as far as I know)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I saw this linked by International Gymnast Magazine on Facebook.

Leave a comment if you have a favourite.

Nice drill from Scott Burns …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Check the Gymnastics Minute YouTube channel for more. And GymSmarts for DVDs.

Cameron was at the meet an posted a detailed blow by blow.

I just got home from the AMAZING atmosphere created by fans, athletes and coaches inside the Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah …

On n the Uneven Bars, freshman stronghold Corrie Lothrop competed two release skills in her routine for first time this season, adding a nice Tkatchev after her usual Jaeger and sticking her double-layout dismount to bring in a massive 9.900.

Stephanie McAllister continued to shine on the Uneven Bars, scoring a 9.925 for a routine that includes a Weiler-kip with 1/2 pirouette into overshoot and a stuck tucked full-in dismount. Canadian Olympian Gael Mackie was strong on the Bars as well, bringing a 9.900 …

read more – World Gymnastics – Utah Strong, Washington Shaky.

Like Alabama, Utah knows how to bring in the fans. Their house is electrifying.

There hasn’t been this much excitement in Salt Lake City since the last time they hosted Championships.

… The Utes earned a season high for the fifth consecutive week Friday, living up to what Utah coach Greg Marsden calls an ‘ideal season.’

“We haven’t counted a miss …

Sounds like a great night to host potential recruit Bridget Sloan.

The former world champion is still undecided if and when to make the jump to College gymnastics. Though Bridget’s touring some of the top schools, Aunt Joyce predicts she’ll end up at Alabama Georgia.

Alabama defeated Auburn. Again.

This was their 101st victory in a row against the SEC rival dating back to March 13, 1979.

… Who says the NCAA is boring and predictable?

… Coaches Sarah and David Patterson notched their 400th regular-season victory Friday night as the No. 7 ranked Alabama gymnastics team beat No. 21 Auburn 197.075-194.850 in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,075 fans in Coleman Coliseum Friday night.

… going 24-for-24 for the first time this season, and posting its high score of 2011. …

This is impressive since the team self destructed a week earlier vs #1 Florida.

… Friday marked the eighth time in program history that Alabama has sold out the Coliseum ….

Prior to the meet the A-Club, the UA athletic department’s letter-winners organization, announced the donation of $50,000 to establish the Sarah Patterson A-Club Scholarship. …

Roll Tide

We don’t have to worry about Alabama terminating this team. They know how to bring in the fans and dollars.

Kayla Hoffman won the AA with 39.525

@samanthapeszek: Tonight was so much Fun! First time competing in a college meet! Can’t wait for more of this!

Click PLAY or watch her Bars on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/MzY3NDU2NzI0

Watch more video of 2011 Chicago Style College Session: UCLA, Stanford, and OSU on gymnastike.org

9.90 with a big step. Welcome to the NCAA.

Tight competition.

Stanford 196.475
Oregon State 196.35
UCLA 196.3

… Four Bruins took home first-place finishes, with Frattone winning vault (9.9), Peszek and Hopfner-Hibbs tying with three others for first on bars (9.9), and Courtney tying for first on floor (9.9). UCLA claimed the highest team totals on vault (49.2), bars (49.275) and beam (48.975, tied with Stanford). …

UCLA Bruins

Oklahoma went 197.225 away at Iowa State.

The season is building nicely. Teams are improving, counting very few falls.

But – as Aunt Joyce keeps pointing out – there is a lack of ‘star’ power this year.

All times are PST

Gymnastics Online

Sunday, February 13; 5:40am – 4:30pm (Women’s Team Event)
Monday, February 14; 7:40am – 4:40pm (Men’s Team Event)
Tuesday, February 15; 1:30pm – 4:45pm (Women’s All Around)
Wednesday, February 16; 2:10pm – 5:25pm (Men’s All Around)
Thursday, February 17; 7:40am – 5:10pm (Event Finals)

Online Coverage

Thanks @GlacierGym and Gymnastics BC

This looks official. And devastating for the guys.

Women’s Gymnastics is being kept. The Men’s team dropped after this season.

… Three athletic teams at the University of California, Berkeley, slated to cease intercollegiate competition at the end of this academic year – women’s lacrosse, women’s gymnastics and rugby – will be preserved, campus officials announced today (Friday, Feb. 11).

New philanthropic commitments will support the teams’ expenses while plans are implemented for long-term financial self-sufficiency. …

… it was determined that the pledges for baseball and men’s gymnastics fell short of the criteria provided to potential donors: sufficient funding to support team expenses for the next seven to 10 years and the presentation of a feasible plan for sustained financial independence. …

UC Berkeley

Of course the real reason the women’s teams were saved is Title IX.

… Is there any chance to appeal?

by site editor Rick McCharles

When the International Gymnastics Federation moved from the perfect 10 to an open ended Code of Points in 2006, I feared it would be a complete disaster.

I was wrong.

But everyone agrees that the new system could be far better. Here’s my assessment of how it’s working as of February 2011. … As compared with the regulations used at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. (10.0 maximum)

I’m liking Rings, Parallel Bars and especially Pommel Horse even better than I did under the last perfect 10 system. (In fact, the only way I can see to improve Pommels would be to eliminate the Scissors, requiring instead some counting value part with the legs straddled. … i.e. Scissors, straddle to handstand, Flair Flare.)

Women’s Vault, Bars and Men’s Vault are about equally good as in 2004. I would rate Bars as even better … except that today gymnasts tend to overuse the families of skills they do best. (El-grip, pirouettes, etc.)

The choppy Beam routines we see today are worse than the more elegant routines of the past, but I’m less critical than most pundits.

My least favourite apparatus for women in 2004 was Floor. It’s worse today. Choreography has been nearly completely abandoned. Many of the most valuable leaps and jumps are ugly.

Men’s Floor is a disaster in 2011. Amazing tumbling. The rest is crap.

Compare Shewfelt in 2004 (VIDEO) vs Jake Dalton 2011 (VIDEO) to see what the rules changes have done. (I pick on Jake only because his is the hot routine of the moment. And because there’s so obviously no effort spared for connections.)

Worst of all is Horizontal Bar. In 2004 we had Hamm and Nemov (VIDEO). Wonderful routines. Today we have mostly reckless Kovacs variations and Rybalkos. … I did only go as low as 4 / 10 because we’re starting to see some improvement on pipe. Finally.

Will the rules (and gymnastics) be improved in the future?

Certainly. But how soon?

I don’t know anyone with much confidence in our current Technical committees under Adrian Stoica and Nellie Kim.

If YOU know how to fix the code, leave a comment. I’ll try to forward whatever feedback we get to the committees.

It’s statistically unlikely you agree with my assessment. I may do follow up posts on the most controversial events if we get good feedback.