From The Olympic Games on Facebook …

From The Olympic Games on Facebook …

I’ve linked to Chinese dancers Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei before.
But I’m inspired, yet again.
Click PLAY or watch them on YouTube.
Thanks Dana.
Congratulations to coach Kurt Golder and all supporters of the Wolverines.
… WEST POINT, N.Y. — The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men’s gymnastics team upset the field at the NCAA Championships on Friday night (April 16), taking home the first NCAA title for the program since 1999 and the fourth in its history inside Army’s Christl Arena.
Michigan posted a 360.500, while defending champion Stanford recorded a 359.800 and Oklahoma rounded out the top three with a 357.050. …
… we will be talking about this meet for a long, long time to come.
Bizarre problem at the Men’s NCAA Gymnastics Championships …
Quickest fix was to bring in a new Ring tower. That resulted in a half hour delay.
I’ve only ever seen two broken rings in my life. Both were busted (worse than this) by Rick Pegararo.
Rick was O.K. both times. Tyler Williamson from Illinois who broke this one at Championships seems to be hurt.

The meet is in progress as I write.
Michigan has a great live blog with commenters.
UPDATE: This is bad. … 2000 Olympic WAG Vault BAD.
To add to the drama, the first three gymnasts on the new set of rings — Illinois’s Paul Ruggeri and Oklahoma’s Steven Legendre, both the stars of their respective teams — peeled away on their dismounts, likely because the new set of rings hadn’t been chalked, leaving Oklahoma coach Mark Williams furious …
UPDATE: OMG. This might be worse than the 2000 Olympics. You can’t fix this to everyone’s satisfaction.
Apparently, they are switching the rings, AGAIN?!? Meet ref, Brian Meeker, is talking to the Illinois team about an additional rotation for the rings following the conclusion of the 7th event. This is getting scary.
WAG judges have probably seen this program in the past.
It’s been offering Code of Points help for over 10 years. Especially good for memorizing FIG shorthand script.
Browse every skill in the Code.
Whenever you have a few spare minutes, review using the QUIZ feature.
Right now the app is only available on IOS.
It’s a one-time purchase (about U.S. $6.99) with no in-app-purchases and no subscription. It’s ad-free.
But the website gymsymbol.com links to additional free resources and videos.
When I was a kid the Japanese were the top gymnasts in the world. And I had a Japanese coach.
But in the 50 countries I’ve traveled, the greatest “culture shock” I’ve ever experienced was in Japan. This video strikes me as very Japanese.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (3:38) … It gets better and better through ’til the end.
I have no idea why the eyes are blacked out.
Update: Commenters are saying this footage was for a music video. Cool.
This was linked on Facebook by gymnastics and circus coach Tom Bertrand.
Stanford, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma and California advance. Congratulations.
Gymnastics Examiner hits the highlights:
Michigan, one of the most talented and least heralded of the four teams in contention for the NCAA title, overtook Stanford for the lead heading into tomorrow night’s Super Six team final at the U.S. Military Academy in New York. …
read the details – Michigan flies through NCAA qualifying round to lead going into team finals
Don’t assume this means Michigan will win. The team competition in Men’s gymnastics is near impossible to forecast. There are far more variables than in the Women’s competition. And counting a “missed” routine in MAG (11.20, for example) hurts the team more than a 9.30 in WAG.
Cal’s Kyle Bunthuwong, a junior, was the top all-around gymnast (89.65) of both sessions, finishing almost two full points ahead of sophomore teammate Glen Ishino (87.7).
Several teams entered no gymnast in the all-around.
There’s more on the Inside Gymnastics Ticker:
A super-psyched Michigan team surged to the top of the field in tonight’s second qualifying session at the 2010 NCAA National Championships in West Point, N.Y.
The No. 3 Wolverines started with meet-high scores for near-perfect performances on both parallel bars (59.7) and high bar (59.25), ending with a season-high vault performance to clinch a 359.8, the day’s highest total. …
by site editor Rick McCharles
Locked and loaded for a trip out to sunny Florida. I’ll arrive early enough for the training day.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Practice Session I: 10:30 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
Practice Session II: 12:20 – 2 p.m.
Practice Session III (Event Specialists): 3:20 – 4:20 p.m.
Practice Session IV: 4:30 – 6:10 p.m.
The past 3 WAG Championships I’ve represented Cirque du Soleil. But this time I’m just a cheering spectator. It’ll be thrilling.
Close to the event I’ll post details on a meet-up, or two, close to the O’Connell Center. Let’s get together to talk about the competition, if you are going to be there.
Congratulations.
First 3 teams advance to Men’s NCAA Team Finals – Stanford (357.850), Illinois (354.050) and Ohio State (346.800). Session 2 starts at 7PM
UPDATE:
The men’s competition at the European Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham, England will be delayed by 24 hours …
==== original post:
Kyle Shewfelt wants to know.
Are any gymnasts caught up in the thousands of cancelled flights in Europe?
Competition starts April 21st.