stupid Karolyi training

The most severe, the most stupid Gymnastics training was in the 1980s. Here’s a case study. Other coaches tried to emulate.

Retton has undergone 19 surgeries, including having both hips replaced, partially because of all the pounding as a gymnast. She needs back and shoulder surgery, which won’t be scheduled until after the Rio Games.

“When I say we did 60 to 70 vaults a day, we did — and that was landing on that hard surface,” Retton said. …

Catching up with Mary Lou Retton, Olympic darling of 1984

Mary-Lou

Click PLAY or watch part of that interview on Facebook.

Mary Lou Retton: Ignore your critics, do what you love

(via GymCastic)

Pommels – Max v Louis

Click PLAY or watch Max on YouTube. (7.4 difficulty)

Click PLAY or watch Louis on YouTube. (7.2 difficulty)

Tough call for the judges. In the end it was 16.325 for Max and 16.100 for Louis. Both scores a little too high, in my opinion. Neither hit their best set. But as for ranking, I can’t decide.

Louis later complained about the judging in social media. Then apologized.

via @GymCastic

Bridget Sloan talks about Marvin Sharp

Bridget Sloan does not recall bad moments with her former coach. Only good.

The Pittsboro gymnast has had nearly seven months to process events surrounding Marvin Sharp, who was held on four counts of child molesting and three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was found dead in his Marion County Jail cell Sept. 19, 2015 in what was ruled a suicide. Sharp was 49.

β€œI definitely had a few rough weeks. It was a very big shock,” Sloan said. …

β€œI told my parents, ‘I want to be kept out of it,’ ” Sloan said. β€œThere was nothing I could do in Florida to help or fix anything.”

She added:Β β€œMarvin was a very, very important person in my life. He will always be an important person in my life. No one will ever be able to take away what we went through and what we accomplished together.” …

β€œWhen we were in the gym, it was strictly coach and athlete,” she said. β€œNothing else.” …

Olympic gymnast Bridget Sloan opens up on coach’s death, final meet

(via papaliukin)

mixed ability level at #PacRim2016

Yes it’s stupid that Panama (population 3.9 million) competes against USA (population 320 million).

But that’s the format of the Pacific Rim competition. If you don’t like it, don’t watch.

Personally I like this format. It’s interesting seeing Juniors compete at the same time as Seniors.

Anthony Tawfik, for example, competing alongside John Orozco.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BD9TU-UDFw1/
 

It’s one of the few meets where gymnasts from smaller nations get a lot of media attention.

Louise Lopez (MEX) 51.450 leads the Junior competition after session 1 of 2. A very impressive talent I wouldn’t know if it were not for this competition. πŸ™‚

Russian Men’s Olympic training squad

Denis Ablyazin
David Belyavski
Nikita Ignatyev
Emin Garibov
Nikita Nagorny
Artur Dalolyan
Ivan Stretovich
Vladislav Polyashov
Dmitri Lankin
Nikolai Kuksenkov

Denis
Denis

Head coach Valery Alfosov has unreservedly supported Russian AA champion Nikolai Kuksenkov, naming him to a group of ten gymnasts eligible for participation in Rio even though the gymnast’s selection for international competition is currently impossible due to a positive drugs test.

The RGF is employing Swiss lawyers to defend Kuksenkov’s ‘honour and innocence’. …

RRG

It really does sound like Nikolai is innocent.

love your Gymnastics Coach

Many coaches are feeling rotten a couple of weeks out of the Gym.

We’re worried our gymnasts are starting to forget about us. πŸ˜•

1. We work strange hours.

3. Yes we go to work in sweat pants.

10. We aren’t going to be rich

18 THINGS ANYONE WHO LOVES A GYMNASTICS COACH SHOULD KNOW

coaching

judging Artistry is impossible

That’s my opinion.

Therefore Artistry should not be part of ranking gymnasts in any Code of Points.

Science of Gymnastics Journal 2014:

Due to its nature and relatively poor definitions in the Code of points, judging of artistry may suffer from serious flaws in reliability and validity.

We have used the balance beam artistry evaluation forms given by 5 execution judges at World Championship in Tokyo 2011 to analyze reliability and validity. Data on 194 competitors was gathered.

Deductions were received by a highly variable number of competitors from separate judges in the same components of artistry. The variability of average total artistry deduction was relatively large …

We conclude that neither reliability nor validity of artistry judging was satisfactory in this analysis. …

THE JUDGING OF ARTISTRY COMPONENTS IN FEMALE GYMNASTICS: A CAUSE FOR CONCERN?

We can evaluate Execution and Difficulty in reliable ways. And come up with a score that would be consistent meet to meet, panel to panel.

Artistry could be rewarded by a separate (subjective) panel. Something like the Longines Elegance Award, but with a much better panel of evaluators.

Give this guy an award. 😊

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - Photo by Andrew Eccles
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Photo by Andrew Eccles

Taylor Lindsay-Noel audiocast

Canadian gymnast Taylor Lindsay-Noel was paralyzed in 2008 training a toe-on double front dismount from Bars. No pit. No spot.

She’s very eloquent. Very active online.

And now she’s launched a podcast called Tea Time with Tay.

In her first podcast Taylor details the day of her life-changing accident.

Here’s her website.

Jing Wu – the same Vault twice

Jing Wu finished in 2nd place in Cottbus.

Her first was supposed to be a Kasamatsu. (Left hand contacting first, left twist.)

Handspring

But NO JUDGE should call this a Tsukahara approach. It’s a Handspring with staggered hand position.

Click PLAY or watch both vaults on YouTube.

This is the same cheat the Chinese men were doing in the past. 😦

Kuksenkov tests positive for Meldonium

Amanda Turner:

New national champion Nikolai Kuksenkov has withdrawn from the Russian men’s championships in Penza after it was revealed he tested positive for the banned substance meldonium. …

According to Russian coach and spokeswoman Valentina Rodionenko, Kuksenkov’s test was conducted two weeks ago but the results were only just discovered. …

I can say that on the Russian national team in gymnastics we stopped using the drug even in August 2015! Then the representatives of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency consulted with our doctors, and then withdrew all the supplies of Mildronate from our first-aid kits. …

IG

Nikolai Kuksenkov