Author: Rick Mc

You’ve seen the fantastic man-made islands in Dubai.

In May, Cirque announced the project was a go:

… Nakheel, the world’s largest privately held developer, is bringing the world famous Cirque du Soleil to Dubai after announcing a major partnership to develop a permanent show on The Palm Jumeirah.

… The two companies have signed an initial 15-year deal with the new show expected to open during the last quarter of 2010. …

“Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and as with any city experiencing such a rapid growth curve, major cultural and civic facilities are required for a city establishing itself as a global 21st century destination. As the home of more than 30 five star hotels and 14,000 hotel rooms, The Palm Jumeirah was the natural choice to locate Cirque du Soleil and is not only a great coup for Nakheel, but the whole of Dubai.”

Cirque du Soleil Press Room

Now on the official Palm website they’ve posted a video about the project.

Looks like a winner to me. More future jobs for acrobats.

Just received an email from a group in support of granting a wild card spot to Aljaz Pegan on Horizontal Bar for the 2008 Olympics.

Obviously, he should be there.

But because he finished only 2nd on his best event at the last World’s, he did not qualify. You must finish 1st at Worlds to be guaranteed a spot.

Dear gymnastics friends

We are appealing to you to support our application for the Olympic games wild card nomination for Slovenian gymnast Aljaz Pegan.

His first participation at the World Championships reach back to Stutgart in 1989 and since then he has won more than fifty medals at the biggest international competitions. He is the top ranked gymnast on the FIG Ranking List (Horizontal bar). He also has an element, pegan, named after him.

In the last three World Championships he has won one gold and two silver medals,
yet he is denied the participation at the Olympic Games.

The support and demands of Slovenian public regarding his Olympic qualification have reached immense proportion and in this light we are obliged to turn also to international community to extend its help to country with a long-standing gymnastics tradition.

We are appealing to you to support our quest for his participation at the Olympic Games by replying to this email.

Yours faithfully,

Klemen Bedenik, President of Slovenian Gymnastics Federation
Janez Kocijancic, President of Slovenian Olympic Commitee
Miroslav Cerar, President of Slovenian Olympic Academy

GLAS PODPORE :: za Aljaža Pegana (not in English)

FIG has to change regulations so that the stars of the sport can qualify for our showcase event.

FIG made the same mistake in Athens 2004, not qualifying Leszek Blanik from Poland on vault though everyone knew he was one of the top 2 vaulters. (Blanik has qualified for Beijing.)

The real problem, in my opinion, is that we still have too much priority on “team”.

All gymnasts are individual athletes. Summing their scores and awarding medals to the group is living a lie.

That said, I love watching team competition. There is spectator appeal.

In future we need get our superstars on television at the big meet. (As they do in the X Games.) If that means even fewer teams. Or fewer individuals on teams, so be it.

Whatever system leaves Pegan out of the Olympics, has priorities wrong.

I don’t think you or I have any input on this appeal. Leave a comment if there is a way to support this athlete who certainly will one day be in a Hall of Fame.

Simply email the group to show your support of this appeal: admin@pegan.si

I know you NEED more gymnastics t-shirts …

OK, you don’t, … BUT you MIGHT need Christmas presents.

CafePress has over 2000 designs to choose from. A couple of samples:

I love conditioning T : gymnastics : CafePress.com

Gymnast Ringer T : gymnastics : CafePress.com

See them all on CafePress – Gymnastics T-shirts and Gifts

(via I-Heart-Beam on Chalk Bucket)

Full results available after the link.

Great Britain, Romania and the The Netherlands topped the medal table at the 11th Glasgow Grand Prix of artistic gymnastics, which was held at the Kelvin Hall this weekend.

This three nations claimed two Gold, at his last world cup event of this year.

For Britain Beth Tweddle was victorious on floor and Marissa King on vault. Louis Smith claimed pommel horse silver, and Kristian Thomas bronze on floor. For Romania Steliana Nistor won on uneven bars and Daniel Popescu the pommel horse decision.

But also the Dutch men were happy about the high bar success of Epke Zonderland and about – once again – Yuri van Gelder on rings.

GYMmedia.com
This Year’s last World Cup Event

Coach Dana Brass and I put together a new website for her husband Fred. Dana now works in casting with Cirque du Soleil.

Fred competed the 1996 Olympics for France and then went on to expand his repertoire. He’s done stunt work, dance, and coaching. He has a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.

You can find Fred listed in the Guiness World Records under Rope Climb

Currently Fred is performing in Le Reve, at Wynn Las Vegas. He’s has a tremendously physical role.

Check out the new site:

FrederickNicolas.com
(Adjusting the wide of your window changes the layout.)

If you like it, and want a quote on a site for yourself, email Rick McCharles.

Parkour great Daniel Ilabaca, the Urban Monkey.

Flickr

See the entire set of photos by BombDog.

Kyle literally grew up at Altadore Gymnastics, spending most of his life there from 1989 to 2004 when he won the Olympics on Floor. (Currently he trains at University of Calgary.)

The highlight of our 40th anniversary was an informal speech by Kyle. He’s a remarkably eloquent and likable speaker. The story of his start in gymnastics at age-6 though to Olympic breakthrough for Canadian gymnastics is heartwarming.

Though girlfriend Melissa, and his Mom and Dad had heard Kyle speak at events like this hundreds of times, they still appreciated this one.

Thanks Stephen Neal for the photos.

If you’ve been following the recovery from an injury at World’s on his personal blog, let me confirm Kyle is walking very well. (But did not jump up on the Power Track to do any tumbling.)

KyleShewfelt.com

GemGemz is a quality site focused “on women’s collegiate gymnastics: from recruiting, to training, to competition.”

Check out an excellent series GemGemz is posting on the Top 5 Elite College Prospects. Their (gutsy) picks, so far:

Number 1 ~ ???
Number 2 ~ ???
Number 3 ~ Christa Tanella
Number 4 ~ Randy Stageberg
Number 5 ~ Darlene Hill

Obviously those American girls who have turned “professional” are no longer eligible.

I wonder how their picks match up with Suzanne Yoculan’s list.

GemGemz points out that collegiate gymnastics has quietly become the most highly attended form of the sport. That University of Alabama and the University of Utah average more than 11,000 fans per meet. There are professional sports teams that draw fewer fans.

GemGemz.com – focusing on NCAA Women’s Gymnastics

(via Chalk Bucket)

by Charlie Amerosa

My friends are at home warm and cozy and getting ready for bed

But I have goals and dreams to fill so I’m here in the gym instead

As they were chatting online, watching TV and eating lots of ice cream

I was flipping on the floor, swinging on bars, and trying to stay on beam

Near the end of training each night, after we are done with our routines

We have muscle burning conditioning, like little gymnastic machines

Well I hated it and I was lazy, it just seemed like punishment to me

I took shortcuts and had a bad attitude because I just couldn’t see…

We are spread out across the floor, always spaced evenly apart

It’s quiet because we have to be focused and ready for the start

He say’s “get ready for V-ups”, and that means stomach pain ahead

It’s not the first or second set of sixty, it’s the third set that I dread

On my back getting ready for the pain, I was staring up at the ceiling

When the brightest light blinded my sight and I had the strangest feeling

“Why am I here, I’m wasting my time if I’m not going to give it my all”

Wow! What just happened, was that some kind of magic wake up call?

He barks out the count, and it helps to keep up the pace

I know he cares about us, because you can see it in his face

But he’s firm and relentless about our physical condition

Every muscle, every movement, every body position

First I get the burning pain then my muscles start to feel numb

But I have to stay focused, I know there is a lot more to come

My teammates all need each other, to keep up with this brutal grind

Because we know we would have to start over, if one of us fell behind

My body is overheating, pouring sweat burns as it drips into my eye

A younger girl whimpers from the strain and it makes me want to cry

It is said that what doesn’t kill you, will always make you stronger

I’m trying as hard as I can but my body can’t take this much longer

He always seems to sense our limit, his counting slows down a bit

I dig in hard and finish the set, there’s no way I was going to quit

We all lay back when the set is done and the pain starts to fade away

No one speaks, we’ve been here before and we are all going to be ok

So that night something changed inside me, and I was finally able to see…

The effort it takes to be the gymnast and be the person I was meant to be

And although I keep this to myself, I have a six pack made of steel

I love how I look from all my hard work and I love how it makes me feel

What a great honor to march with my teammates into a gym for a competition

And hearing people whisper, “OMG look at them, they are in amazing condition”

It’s humbling to be admired by family and friends and by people we don’t even know

And I hope that soon you will see the light, just like I did, one night, not so long ago

by Charlie Amerosa (Flipr110 AT aol.com)

photo – Christchurch School of Gymnastics

More Charlie:

From a 1995 article:

Adriana Giurca, is dead — a victim of the same merciless system which turned Comaneci into probably the greatest gymnast of all time, but which makes no allowance for human frailty in its obsessive drive for perfection.

Adriana was beaten to death by her coach…because she failed.

It wasn’t a huge failure. Just a loss of concentration and balance which sent her tumbling from the wooden beam at the elite Dinamo Club in Bucharest, where she trained.

… Romanian officials have vehemently denied suggestions that the country is resorting to the same ruthless techniques used under communism to produce Olympic stars like Comaneci.

But a crime which should have shocked the nation has been largely dismissed as a one-off incident, an accident of fate.

That is, until you speak to Adriana’s parents, Maria and Emile Giurca. Maria, who visits her daughter’s grave every day, refuses to allow the brutal killing to be written off as an act of destiny.

Over and again Adriana had tried to complete the complicated beam routine under the unforgiving gaze of her trainer, Florin Gheorghe. But each time she was less than perfect.

Gheorghe, 25, couldn’t tolerate failure. Adriana, 11 by this time, was his favorite pupil and he demanded success. When the weary youngster faltered again, he snapped.

He grabbed this fragile wisp of a girl and smashed her head against the beam, lashing out with his fists and feet. She begged for mercy. “Please stop, you will kill me!” she screamed. But his attack was relentless. Finally he picked her up and threw her to the floor.

She landed on the padded mats with such force that her spine was pushed into her brain, leaving her in a coma. Two days later she died.

Today the small girl with big dreams lies under a simple white marble cross near her family home in Bucharest, while her mother lights candles and weeps.

Florin Gheorghe was jailed last month for eight years for the savage attack 15 months ago. …

Gymn Forum: The Little Girl Who Died for Gold – Adriana Giurca

source – In Memory of Adriana Giurca

Where is coach Florin Gheorghe today?

Gheorghe spent three and a half years in prison, released on parole for “good behaviour.” Three years after his release, Gheorghe granted an interview with Gazeta Sporturilor. “…I paid a price too high because I was honest and correct,” he told the Romanian newspaper. …

GymnPics.com

Here’s that interview.

But Romanian coaches of that era have told me that Gheorghe had a terrible temper. They did not believe Gheorghe was innocent.

Does it matter?

Guilty or innocent, either way Adriana Giurca is not coming back.

Gheorghe has nothing to do with gymnastics in Romania. But is a free man.

All coaches need vow this never happens again.