Author: Rick Mc

The campaign for Aljaz Pegan to be selected as the last competitor for the Beijing Olympics is well known. Though there are several other strong candidates.

What about the single spot available for a woman?

Dwight Normile of International Gymnast has convinced me that Elsa Garcia should be the pick. Problem is, her teammate Marisela Cantu has already qualified.

… Garcia is a worthy exception to any rule that suggests Mexico shouldn’t have two gymnasts in Beijing. She deserves to compete in the Olympics because she’s a medal contender in more than one event. Her presence would make a positive difference in the competition. …

Says Garcia: “I am supposed to get an answer between March and May. I really hope they grant me a place in the Olympics.”

So do I. Elsa Garcia deserves the chance to make the 2008 Olympics, because she’ll make them even better.

IG – Stretching Out

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull) – ESPN

One of my gymnasts from long ago, Mark A. Cordingley, decided (for some reason) he’d learn to drop from handstand on pommel horse to “stick” a handstand on the pommel mats.

I was impressed.

The fall from this similar trick is a little longer:

… An acrobat, balancing upside down, piles two parallel rows of wooden blocks on a bench while establishing various poses along the way. The performance in which the acrobat pushes away the piled blocks and drops himself onto the bench is particulary impressive …

Lost Art of Hand Balancing

Adult gymnasts in the Atlanta area.

original – flickr – brookenovak

How long can Chusovitina continue to compete at the highest level?

Indefinitely, it would seem.

She won in Doha:

It was a great competition for the veterans, with 32-year-old Oksana Chusovitina smoking the field for the vault win. Chusovitina topped second place Anna Pavlova, 13 years her junior, by more than two and a half tenths.

“It’s a great start to the season. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from here,” Chusovitina told the Gulf Times. “My aim is to win a medal for Germany at the Olympics. There has always been a keen rivalry between me and the Chinese girls and they will really test me. I have kept myself in better shape so far and will keep up the good show.” …

Inside Gymnastics

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images

The most interesting competition this weekend. Georgia without Courtney Kupets will try to fend off unexpectedly strong UM.

The Michigan women’s gymnastics team has never won a national championship in its 32 years as a varsity program.

Georgia has won eight titles in the last 21 years. …

But tonight, it’ll be a surprise if the Wolverines lose by more than a slim margin.

The fourth-ranked Wolverines (5-0 Big Ten, 14-0 overall) come into the showdown with something that’s been missing in recent years – confidence.

Michigan coach Bev Plocki said this is the first time in six years that Michigan feels confident it can compete with the nation’s top-ranked team. …

Even after recently posting a season-high 197.125 score against N.C. State on Feb. 22, Curtis said the team still hasn’t strung together its best performances on every event in the same meet. The Wolverines need to put everything together, because Georgia averages 197.075 a meet. …

Wolverines up to the task against No. 1 Bulldogs – Michigan Daily

Lindsey Bruck – wallpaper

UPDATE: OK, perhaps I’d rather be at Stanford v Nebraska v Alabama. What a show!

Georgia might “rest” some of their top competitors in Michigan. I get the feeling UM will win.

=== UPDATE – Predictable, you might say:

Michigan Wolverines a season high 197.600 – 196.950 upset win over #1 ranked University of Georgia.

Boys have no choice.

We put them into expensive horizontal bar and ring grips at quite a young age. Certainly before they start doing giants on horizontal bar.

But we’ve seen women win World and Olympic championships without grips.

Every coach must make the decision if and when to put grips on their competitive artistic gymnasts.

original – flickr – Sarah_Hawkins

original – flickr – Sarah_Hawkins

If coaches are patient and persistent, most girls can learn to use them. I typically ask the kids only to put them on near the end of the workout when first getting used to them.

For comparison, here are some advanced gymnasts swinging without grips. Including Tkachev. (She misses in the video but caught in the last competition.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related: Picking the Best Grips for You – About.com Gymnastics

There are many well-respected brands of grips. Some of the most popular are:

Ten. 0 Grips: Well-known for their durability, Ten. 0 grips are sometimes a little harder to “break in.” They last and last though, and many gymnasts are very loyal to this brand.

Bailie Grips: Similar in many ways to Ten. 0 grips, these are often characterized as long-lasting and heavier.

Reisport Grips: These grips are in the middle — they are usually softer and easier to “break in,” but don’t last as long.

U.S. Glove Grips: These grips are generally the lightest and easiest to “break in.”

i’ve raved about Beth Gardner in the past. She’s one of the preschool experts with the Gymnastics Educational Workshops team.

Beth Gardner, owner of Heart of Texas Gymnastics located in Temple, Texas has an extensive background specializing in preschool gymnastics. In addition to experience as a Preschool Director, coach and gym owner, she is a co-author and director for the Instructor Training Program (ITP) for the Gymnastics Association of Texas (GAT) and serves as a GAT board member. ..

Beth was extremely honored to received the 2003 and 2007 Distinguished Service Awards from Gymnastics Association of Texas and one of the 2005 Remarkable Woman Awards from ABC Television “The View” for her dedication and contributions to the development of the sport of gymnastics.

read the rest of Beth’s impressive bio – GymSmarts

Due to popular demand, GymSmarts has produced a BIG collection of her presentations:

Check the sample warm-up video linked from the GymSmarts home page.

Well known coach / clinician Neil Resnick is now co-Head Coach with Tina Bird in Boise, Idaho.

Several different coaches told me they were very impressed with the improvement in the Bronco Gymnastics team, now ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA.

Coming from an Elite / Club background, Neil told us at the Great West Gym Fest he was surprised how hard the girls train in College gymnastics. A “full ride” scholarship is no “free ride”.

… Neil Resnick was named co-head coach of the Boise State University gymnastics team, June 19, 2007.

Resnick comes to Boise State with a lifetime of experience and knowledge, as well as a significant amount of respect from his peers at all levels of gymnastics.

Prior to coming to Boise State, Resnick was the owner, director and head coach of Flips USA Gymnastics in Sparks, Nev., where he coached numerous high caliber competitors including various international, national, regional and state champions. Among his athletes were many Elite Level qualifiers and 27 NCAA scholarship recipients. …

He has served as both an auxiliary and a full time member of the USA Gymnastics national coaching staff, training and consulting the nation’s top gymnasts. He was also a national staff member attending the World Championships in 2003.

As a master clinician and skill evaluator for the USAG National TOPS program, Resnick tested, trained and developed the nation’s most talented young gymnasts and their coaches in the early stages of their careers. Resnick has also authored training curriculums used by both USAG coaches and the Gymnastics Association of Texas.

Neil Resnick – bio

Boise State Gymnastics

The competition is finished, the second day of Finals complete.

Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs from Canada took home 2 medals. (Bronze on Bars, Silver on Beam). I would say Elyse will be getting one of the two available spots for Canadians in Beijing.

Women’s results

Men’s results

China was the dominant nation, clearly.

I’m still waiting on commentary from the usual sources.

Matt Brinker, coach from a brand new club, Southern Ohio Gymnastics Academy (S.O.G.A.), sent us some inspiring photos.

Here’s one with this explanation:

… the little girl fell off of the beam, rolled backward and hit her head quite hard. A few tears were shed and ice was placed on the bump. And then, with little or no hesitation and no pushing from any coach, she got up and walked over to the white board where I write the list of strength and conditioning down, read what she had to do next, and the went to the floor and started working.

What good life lesson is this teaching?

A gymnastics gym is a great place for girls to grow up.

In fact, this was only the 3rd practice ever at S.O.G.A. and there was no way this gymnast was going to sit out.