Author: Rick Mc

Less mass to lift. And no psychological problems.

See more headless photos on Bread Zeppelin.

All “USA Gymnastics clinics, workshops, tours and exhibitions” must be “sanctioned“?

As well as competitions.

But why?

I’ve heard some coaches say it’s more of a cash grab by the governing monopoly of the sport than any thing else.

For events in which foreign athletes and coaches participate, a foreign sanction fee of $300.00 is paid in lieu of the regular sanction fee.

NY State Sanction Fees

Leave a comment if you have an opinion on sanctioning.

In Canada we have event sanctioning too. (The documentation is even more confusing than in the USA.)

The Couch Gymnast hosted a poll: Favorite Apparatus?

Floor was the winner, narrowly over Beam.
(I voted for Bars.)

Ning He – original – ESPN (AP Photo/Keystone/Steffen Schmidt)

… a list of gymnasts I love for their contribution to making beam such an awesome and beautiful event.

Li Shanshan …

Henrietta Onodi …

Ludmilla Ezhova …

The Romanians … standouts like Ponor and Dobre and Comaneci but even as a general rule, you could always count on them to pull of a beam rotation.

Svetlana Khorkina

Yang Bo

Carly Patterson

Elyse Hopfner-Hibb

Lauren Mitchell

Grace Taylor (Georgia)

Iryna Krasnyanskaya

click through for photos and details – The Couch Gymnasts Beam Awards…

As a follow-up to the how Nastia won the Olympics post, here’s another video dedicated to the all-around victory of Nastia Liukin in Beijing.

The song is the main theme from the movie The Island and it fits her perfectly. She is a gorgeous gymnast and deserves all the credit she has gotten.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’d still be happy to give that vault a “perfect 10” B-score.

(via ClayBabe6 on YouTube, Live.Breath.Love Gymnastics)

My buddy Derek has edited his club website for years: Funtastics.org

Now he’s added a “blog”.

screen shot

Check it out for yourself:
Funtastics “the blog”

While you are there, check out the great team photos linked from the right hand navigation.

Why add a blog?

That’s the page on your site that lets people know “what’s new”. The most recent posts are on the top. The content is frequently updated.

Fact is that 99.9% of gymnastics club websites are BORING. Static pages, often out-of-date.

The blog is where the interesting and entertaining stuff is found.

I’m always recommending the gymnastics photos of Amanda Manfredi from Arizona.

On flickr she goes by inspir8tion.

But the best place to see her work is on AmandaManfredi.com

It’s true.

I.G. confirms.

Not such a surprise given that she blew the other Achilles about 10yrs ago. Oksana has competed explosive tumbling and vault at the highest international level through 5 Olympics.

related posts:

Entries are being accepted for what in my experience is the best meet in Canada.

Former Canadian Olympic coach David Kenwright:

“… The event is highly organized, very athlete-centered, coaches are treated with dignity and respect, and the judges are very well taken care of. These events made huge impacts on my athletes, as the very best teams, countries and gymnasts were right there. … I am a supporter and also a fan of this event and will always bring my athletes to it for inspiration, excellent training and competition environments, and because you can experience the very best close to home.”

It was last held in 2002. And I’m thrilled to see it back on my calendar.

Wild Rose will fill very quickly. Get your registration in yesterday if you want to compete there. American coaches are inevitably disappointed with Canadian competitions, so inferior to their own. This is the exception.

This prestigious international gymnastics event will be held in Edmonton from April 2-5, 2009.

This event caters to female gymnasts from L.E.A.P. (Alberta Pre-competitive testing program) to F.I.G. International levels and will attract some of the world’s best gymnasts. The purpose of the event is to expose Canadian female gymnasts, coaches and judges to some of the highest caliber of gymnastics the world has to offer.

It’s hosted by Champions Gymnastics in Edmonton, Alberta.

WildRoseGymnastics.com

Schedule an extra day at the West Edmonton Mall.

Coach Mihai Stoica sets up this station to remind the gymnasts to keep the centre of gravity over the base of support.

I’m not sure.

Very little seems to slow the worldwide juggernaut that is Cirque du Soleil. They’re expanding faster than at any time in history.

world page

I did hear a forum rumour that the planned
Circus Mcgurkus (Dr. Seuss show) is postponing creation due to the uncertain economy. It’s being developed by former Cirque Artistic Director FRANCO DRAGONE.