Author: Rick Mc

The Final from Madrid, Spain.

The best summary online is on International Gymnast.

International Gymnast is posting from Madrid, Spain.

Diego Hypolito won Floor with 16.125, A Score 6.8.

Cheng Fei, as expected, easily won Vault with 15.050.

My man Prashanth Sellathurai from Australia is leading Pommels as I post, but the new Chinese superstar Zhang Hongtao is yet to compete.

Click through for more – International Gymnast

UPDATE: Hongtao did win Pommels with an impressive 16.375. Krisztian Berki, HUN was second 16.100. Sellathurai third.

The FIG commentary on the official competition website is also being posted live.

I’m not getting any live video on the host site. I’m seeing some time delayed coverage now. Actually, it’s only Hypolito‘s Floor, the best routine I’ve seen him do. But do we really want routines that long?

He Kexin: 16.250 on Bars, first competitor. She’ll likely win as JIANG Yuyan fell … or did she, IG does not mention it.

UPDATE – Final Results for Bars:

3. Koko Tsurumi JPN 15.250
2. Jiang Yuyan CHN 15.700
1. He Kexin CHN 16.250

From IG on He Kexin:

A big range in B-scores – Australian judge gave her 7.5, while Chilean a 9.0

Australian judges must be VERY careful not to overscore He Kexin after the Olympics, I guess. No doubt the discrepancy is all about the stupid pirouetting in handstand angles.

Final event today: RINGS

3. VAN GELDER Yuri, NED 16.075
2. JOVTCHEV Jordan, BUL 16.150
1 VOROBYOV Olexander, UKR 16.275

Beam, Floor for Women. Vault, P Bars, H Bar for Men go tomorrow.

Posted on the site.

Elite Canada – home page

Surprisingly, I never found an independent blogger posting them live.

Though the official competition website still has no information, some results are available.

ALYMER, Que. — In the first major competition for Canadian gymnasts since the Beijing Olympics, 15-year-old Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C., showed why she’s already considered a strong contender for the 2012 Summer Games.

Rogers placed first on vault, bars and beam and was third on floor to claim her first Elite Canada title in the senior women’s all around competition on Friday with a score of 56.35 points.

Calgary’s Sydney Sawa was second with 55.40 points and Charlotte Mackie, who trains with Rogers at the Omega Gymnastics Club in Coquitlam, was third at 54.90.

“I was bang on with everything,” said Rogers. “All the hard work I’ve been doing in training really paid off. To win like this at the first meet of the season really gives me a confidence boost.”…

In the novice competition, Sabrina Gill of Oakville, Ont., took the lead after the first day of competition with a score of 54.85. Kasondra Lepik of Oshawa is ranked second with 54.45 points and Stephanie Merkle of Waterloo, Ont., is third at 54.10.

Canadian Press

The Juniors compete Saturday.

More information on The C Score and Gymblog.

I’m looking at building one of these excellent bar training stations at my gym.

Woodward West

But what’s the easiest, cheapest way to build those spotting decks?

I’d love to use Gordon’s Action mats.

Leave a comment if you have any other suggestions.

Starts today.

It’s a Men’s Invitational for Level 4 – Elite and will include athletes from the US, Ukraine, Canada, Russia, Latvia, Kazakstan, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, and more!

Gymnastike

A new web address — NastiaCanDo.com — redirects to a DGS Gym Supply page with videos promoting the Nastia Liukin line of products. Like this one promoting her bar grips:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Cute marketing approach.

Recognize our Olympic Champion immediately?

WOW.

WWD Beauty magazine fashion photographer Guy Aroch took these shots and more linked below.

So, in the course of her many appearances and interviews and suchnot since the Olympics, Nastia has mentioned modeling amongst things that she wanted to dip her toe into on the side. I always smiled to myself and tittered a little, good-naturedly. …

perfection is possible – New Nastia Article [w/ pictures]

… BTW, that’s the newly launched blog by Rawles. Subscribe to it instantly.

related: International Gymnast – Liukin “So Ready” for New Goals

UPDATE: more commentary on The C Score

Yesterday Andrew Thornton posted a summary of the International Gymnastics Federation Men’s rules changes through until the 2012 Olympics.

Today he’s posted a summary and plenty of commentary on the DRAFT Women’s Code of Points.

… where to start?

The biggest problems with the last code, in my opinion, were that routines were too long. And that judges could not agree consistently how to deduct pirouettes on Bars.

The Bars assessment in the new code is more confusing and less objective than before.

And there is some doubt as to whether the WAG rules will be successful in making routines shorter and more Artistic.

Seems to me there is no clear vision as to where FIG wants to go with Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. Andrew points out many contradictions and even errors in the new Code.

I expect fewer and fewer gymnasts, from fewer and fewer nations, will be able to stay competitive with the top nations over 4yrs. We will have even more injuries trying to train all-around in a sport that mainly rewards who can do the most E, F and G parts.

Click through to Gymnast to read more – Code of Points Changes…Women

You can download your own copy of the Codes for free from the FIG Rules page.

GymSmarts has a new video clinician.

Tony Retrosi, since 1994, is the owner, Head Coach and Program director of Atlantic Gymnastics Centers. He is a highly respected and popular National and Regional speaker on the technical aspects of gymnastics, safety and risk management.

Five Bar Skills Every Gymnast Needs, covers everything a coach or gymnastic program needs to develop a strong bar program. The skills covered are: the kip, casting to handstand, clear hip to handstand, flyaways and giants. He also includes a tremendous amount of information on pirouettes. Tony explains how to teach these skills, how he integrates them into war-up sequences, floor bar work out and how he creates a year long bar training plan. His explanations are clear and the DVD contains excellent demonstrations from his gymnasts. This is an excellent video for any club or program.

This video and more are linked from the GymSmarts home page. (A Gymsmarts DVD would make a great stocking stuffer Christmas gift for any coach.)