Author: Rick Mc

Marcus pointed to a video from podium training shot by Gymdish:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Not quite a full routine — but the “cleanest” I’ve ever seen her swing.

OK, the dismount is still very deductible. Perhaps she should go back to double layout.

ESPN

With Valeri as coach, she could add even more difficulty before Beijing. I expect he’s already got a plan on how to beat the Chinese in their own house. A great champion himself, Valeri thrives on this kind of challenge.

Related posts:

He Kexin – Olympic Champion on Bars

Nastia v He Kexin – bars

The other day I got a little bit of grief for calling Semanova’s bars “stock”.

By that I mean “GOOD”, but … where’s the WOW?

The WOW is what we used to give BONUS for in the good old days: VIRTUOSITY. He Kexin gets VIRTUOSITY. Nastia gets VIRTUOSITY.

NewNewNastiaFan101 likes the WOW.

Click PLAY or watch his Speed of Sound edit on YouTube.

Now that would be FUN.

The pororoca is a tidal bore, with waves up to 4 meters high that travel as much as 13 kilometers inland upstream on the Amazon River. Its name comes from the indigenous Tupi language, where it translates into “great destructive noise”. It occurs at the mouth of the river where river water meets the Atlantic Ocean. The phenomenon is best seen in February and March.

The wave has become popular with surfers. Since 1999, an annual championship has been held in São Domingos do Capim. However, surfing the Pororoca is especially dangerous, as the water contains a significant amount of debris from the shores of the river (often entire trees). In 2003 the Brazilian Picuruta Salazar won the event with a record ride of 12.5 kilometers during 37 minutes.

Wikipedia

To see a sample, click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Recently watched again the epic surfing documentary Riding Giants (2004). Highly recommended!

The favourite on Floor, Zou Kai from China, fell on his dismount. Local boy made good Fabian took the Gold in his place.

Men’s Floor Exercise
1. Fabian Hambüchen GER 15.300
2. Yevgeny Bogonosyuk UKR 15.200
3. Nathan Gaifuk CAN 15.075
4. Sascha Palgen LUX 15.000
5. Zou Kai CHN 14.750
6. Sasha Yakubovsky UKR 14.374
7. Tomas Gonzales CHI 14.300
8. Filip Ude CRO 14.250

And just to irk, once again, gymnastics fans everywhere, the winners of both Pommels and Rings are two stars who will NOT be competing in Beijing.

Pommel Horse
1. Krisztian Berki HUN 16.225
2. Louis Smith GBR 15.875
3. Robert Seligman CRO15.650
4. Alexander Tsarevich BLR 15.200
5. Donna-Donny Truyens BEL 15.175
6. Daniel Keatings GBR 15.150
7. Nikolai Kuksenkov UKR 14.950
8. Ruslan Nigmadzyanov RUS 14.175

Still Rings
1. Yuri van Gelder NED 16.625
2. Kevin Tan USA 16.075
3. Alexander Vorobyov UKR 15.925
4. Mateo Angioletti ITA 15.525
5. Ruslan Nigmadzyanov RUS 15.325
5. Timur Kurbanayev KAZ 15.325
7. Irodotos Giorgallas CYP 15.275
8. Isaac Botella ESP 15.025

International Gymnast

Finals Day 1 – World Cup, Cottbus, Germany

The 32-year-old Oksana Tchusovitina (GER) takes the gold at vaulting table with impressive vaults and dominates her contestants. With a brilliant flight show the 16-year-old He, Kexin (CHN) performs in a league of her own on the Uneven Bars. …

Okasana is only twice as old, they say.

VAULT
1. Chusovitina, Oksana (GER) – 15,150
2. Barbosa, Jade (BRA) – 14,512
3. Kaeslin, Areilla (SUI) – 14,265
4. Marachkouskaya, Nastassia (BLR) – 14,100
5. Korcsmaros, Enikö (HUN) – 13,975
6. Gerber, Aisha (CAN) – 13,900
7. Brown, Alyssa (CAN) – 13,475
8. Myzdrikova, Anna (RUS) – 13,475

BARS
1. He, Kexin (CHN) – 16,850
2. Downie , Rebecca (GBR) – 14,975
3. Abel, Katja (GER) – 14,425
4. Brunner, Jenny (GER) – 14,400
5. Koval, Anastasiya (UKR) – 13,700
6. Jade Barbosa (BRA) – 13,650
7. Goryunova, Kristina (RUS) – 12,975
7. De Simone, Lenika (ESP) – 12,975

Details and commentary on GYMmedia.

Congratulations Becky Downie.

wallpaper

That’s my prediction.

Her most recent record breaking (16.85) routine was just posted.

Click PLAY or watch her on bars at the Cottbus World Cup on YouTube.

She did not “stick”. And has potential to increase A-score. The routine looks “easy” for her.

This is the girl to beat.

He Kexin of China performs at the uneven bars during the international gymnastics challenge “Turnier der Meister” in Cottbus, eastern Germany, Friday.

AP Foto

The only real issue, I think, is her age. Is He Kexin actually older than Rebecca Bross and Peng Peng Lee?

How will we ever know?

She looks much older than Kim Gwang Suk, underage world Bars champion in 1991.

I have no concerns whatsoever about drugs in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics. But the injustice of having some underage girls compete, some not … that is REALLY unfair.

Understand that I have no information that He Kexin is underage.

Certainly I’m looking forward to that Olympic Bars final. It’s going to be outrageously exciting.

Related posts:

14yr-old diver to compete at Olympics

13yr-old Thomas Daley European diving champion

Nastia v He Kexin – bars

Audi launched its new RS 6 Avant car with a TV ad that features Hungarian gymnasts.

No doubt they are hoping for a viral video. And they’ve got one.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The £4m campaign for the RS 6, which Audi says is the most powerful road car in its history, links the physical perfection of the gymnasts with the premium car and uses the slogan: “Performance from every part”. …

Guardian

The ad, created by the British advertising agency BBH, will also screen in cinemas and was filmed in Budapest by Los Angeles-based director Paul Hunter.

Will they recoup their costs? I expect so — the RS 6 costs £78,000 ($123,400)

(via Gymblog)

FUNNY post from Scott Bird on Straight to the Bar.

Team YogaSlackers at work.

Slackline Yoga. Very, very strange.
– Wall Street Journal

Related posts:

Yoga is better than nothing

extreme fitness – Yoga

The Chinese State Circus is a touring circus which aims to present the Chinese circus arts to European audiences. … All the performers come from China and are trained in the Chinese Tradition of horse theatre or Ma Xi.

It combines Kung-Fu martial arts from the Shaolin Temple, artists from the Peking Opera and other Chinese speciality acts brought together to produce a single show. …

The circus has toured … since 1992.

This video (seen by 1.9 million people) includes 2 acts:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The BBC produced a critical report revealing that the members of the circus are poorly paid and have been mistreated when injured.

Wikipedia

At this moment the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, is wishing the Games were going to Toronto.

… The president … called on the authorities in Beijing to respect their “moral engagement” to improve human rights in the months leading up to the Games and to provide the news media with greater access to the country. He also described the protests that have dogged the international Olympics torch relay as a “crisis” for the organization. …

Olympic Official Calls Protests a ‘Crisis’ – NYT

I still don’t believe any athletes will boycott the Games. I certainly hope not.

Long predicting that the world attention of the Olympics will precipitate major changes in China, I see this media pressure on their aged overlords as a positive thing. It will be good for the people of China, long term.

So long as protests are non-violent, and involve no athlete boycott, I am for them.

The Journey of Harmony has been the biggest disaster for IOC so far.

original from London – flickr – Kaustav Bhattacharya

Don’t expect China to instantly become a shining Democracy. (Some hope for another South Korea, positively influenced by hosting the Seoul Olympics.) But everyone in Beijing now knows that change is coming. They’ll deny, deny, deny — all the while frantically making plans to manage that change.

Leave a comment if you have an opinion.