tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
The #1 TV show American Idol saw a saw a “worrisome drop in audience figures” during sweeps week.
This should help pump ratings now that they are down to their own “fab 4” contestants. UPDATE: Dreadlocked Jason Castro is out. Now only 3 contestants.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Andrew, brother of former International gymnast Jay Thornton, is posting the best pre-Olympic analysis of Artistic Gymnastics … ever.
(Note to self — ask Andrew to fill in the empty spots in my own Olympic predictions.)
A few samples of the many, many gymnasts and routines Andrew’s evaluated already:
A look at Justin Spring’s high bar. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
… from the second day of the U.S. Championships last year, where he scored a very strong 15.4 (6.6 A-score). This was the last high bar routine he competed before his ACL injury, which happened later that same night on the vault. His recent routine at the U.S. Qualifier scored just a 14.55 (6.4 A-score), but was rumored to be underscored. Spring will need to demonstrate routines like the one (above) in order to make the team this summer; mid 15’s or higher is what the selection committee will be looking for.
A look at Shayla Worley’s Balance Beam. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
… I would definitely consider beam her strongest event, but the U.S. actually needs her more on bars. Her beam routine, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting and beautiful to watch in the world. Her Onodi to two feet is absolutely awesome, and this year she also added a unique Onodi to immediate scale. …
More than on any other event, the Chinese DOMINATE parallel bars. This one apparatus could seal a team win in Beijing.
Andrew asks, The best parallel bars routine in the world? Click PLAY or watch Li Xiaopeng on Parallel Bars on YouTube.
… the Chinese men’s team has showed no signs of slowing down as they’re preparing to win Olympic gold in their own back yard this summer. If these guys hit, the battle will most likely be for the silver and bronze. After winning last year’s worlds by almost five points over the Japanese, the Chinese have recently added a new secret weapon to their arsenal…multiple world and Olympic champion Li Xiaopeng, who disappeared for a couple of years due to injuries and recently made a spectacular appearance at the Cottbus Cup. Below is a video of Xiaopeng’s gold medal routine on the parallel bars from that competition. …
The new editor of Gymnast is former Olympian Steve McCain. (He’s down at Bela’s ranch right now, gathering even more original video content for the site.)
Though still in beta, with features yet to be added, it’s well worth exploring the new Gymnast site now.
It’s also linked from the right hand navigation under Magazines On-line.
A really superb article with photos by Ayako Murao on International Gymnast names names.
With over 90 days left until the Olympics, that seems very early to me. Especially for the Women’s Team.
2008 Japanese Women’s Olympic team: Kyoko Oshima, Miki Uemura, Yu Minobe, Koko Tsurumi, Yuko Shintake, Mayu Kuroda
Kyoko Oshima
Only two of the Gold medal men’s team from the 2004 Olympics qualified again for 2008.
2008 Japanese Men’s Olympic team: Hiroyuki Tomita, Kohei Uchimura, Koki Sakamoto, Takehiro Kashima, Makoto Okiguchi, Takuya Nakase
Scores look good for the men. And judging in Japan is traditionally very severe.
read the article on International Gymnast
(via Gymblog)
Surprisingly, the Olympic flame was carried to the top of the highest elevation with very little problem. Quite a technical accomplishment. Weather cooperated.
… Chinese officials did not publicize the flame’s travel to the Everest base camp, apparently to avoid protests.
Beijing has also exercised its diplomatic clout, persuading Nepal to bar climbers from border-straddling Everest’s southern face to keep potential protesters from reaching the peak and spoiling the torch’s moment.
… While it may face some protests when it is run through Hong Kong and neighboring Macau (Friday) and Saturday, the torch then moves to less-contested territory for a three-month journey across China. …
That’s the title of a guest post on International Gymnast magazine, the most venerable in the industry.
All sorts of nonsense gets posted on “blogs” — but when the best known publication in the industry questions the veracity of your book, you know the game is up. There’s no way Jennifer Sey is getting on Oprah now.
Sey memoir not all it’s chalked up to be
By Lisa Lazar
Perception is not always the same as reality, writes former Parkettes gymnast Lisa Lazar after reading Jennifer Sey’s new memoir, “Chalked Up.”
…
I grew up within the Parkettes organization, was an elite level gymnast and two-time U.S. junior national team member in the mid-’80s. I trained with Jennifer Sey and was coached by the same people she writes about in “Chalked Up.” I find myself admiring Jen for letting people see the depth of her childhood trials and tribulations, which she reveals as having begun long before she ever went to the Parkettes gym. I struggle, however, to understand how some of her detailed recollections are so very different from mine.
…
… read the entire article on International Gymnast
Lisa Lazar is a former elite gymnast who trained at the Parkettes from 1977 to 1990. She now resides in Baltimore.
Related post: is ex-gymnast author Jennifer Sey a liar?
Wow.
The internet is buzzing with these videos just posted from China. (How hard could the government be clamping down on the internet?)
fanbutterfly tried to film both He Kexin (17.300 bars) and Li Shanshan (16.950 beam) simultaneously.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
more from the competition – fanbutterfly’s Videos on YouTube
They’ll definitely be watching these routines at Karoli Ranch with the new WiFi provided by AT&T.
More commentary:
Chinese Women Hit New Heights – IG Chinese Nationals – Gymnastics and stuff Jiang Yuyuan’s Amânar, etc. – difficulty plus execution Jiang Yuyuan’s Amanar and Chinese Nationals – Gymblog
Game on. This is getting fun.
Hilarious.
Stephen Colbert complained that Korean pop star Rain bested him on the Time.com poll of the world’s most influential people (Rain was #2 while Colbert came in third). So at the end of the show, they did what most movers and shakers do to settle the score: they staged a dance-off.
Huffington Post
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Try this link, instead.
I’ve got no complaints with this one: Are U.S. Gymnasts Pushed too Hard? – ABC News video
In the U.S. every year 11,000 people suffer spinal cord injuries and are paralyzed to some degree. …
Last year one of those was Arizona Desert Devils coach Garrett Tanner.
From his website:
I had just finished teaching my last group of students at the gym. A couple of other coaches and I decided to practice some variations of double front flips off the trampoline onto the mat. This was something I had been doing since I was nine years old and that night I had already done like ten double front flips. Well, on about the 11th one I just didn’t get all the way around on the second rotation and landed right on my forehead. …
Read the details — and check out the fundraising events — on GoGarrett.org
I know Garrett would want coaches everywhere to know about his accident. To remind others that double fronts are dangerous, even for experts.
Actually, Garrett is making good progress and is optimistic about the future. He plans to travel. And have a family.
I only wish he could make a miraculous recovery like Dutch gymnast Imke Glas. Doctors are astonished at her progress. Imke plans to go back to sport, but likely not elite gymnastics.
Related posts:
coach killed landing in pit (forward somersaulting) update – Drew’s life after paralysis (forward somersaulting)
(via College Gymnastics Board)
You have to feel a little badly for Utah, finishing second — again — at NCAA Championships. The 3rd year in a row. To Georgia.
This team and Head Coach Greg Marsden invented the success story that is modern NCAA gymnastics. Utah did everything right this year. And, incredibly, did not not count a single fall in any competition.
Congratulations. Best of luck in 2009.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Related post: unique gymnastics slideshow – Georgia Gym Dogs
Gymnastics Coaching.com 