On the Olympic qualifying rules 2028

Hardy Fink again encourages Federations to vote for a return to the system used 2005 to 2021.

He details why the current system is not working in this document.

Parents: “I love to watch you play.”

A video from True Sport shows how terrible it can be for some kids who play sport on the ride home after a game or practice. It’s part of a new campaign called, “The Ride Home“.

… a father berates his son for wanting to have fun during a practice. …

The ride home is easy, actually. You just have to remember to say six words:

I love to watch you play.

Active for Life

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

using A.I. to reduce online abuse

I’m looking forward to the day when I can have my personal Apple Intelligence system shielding me from abusive online comments — AND any mention of NFL football. 😀

That should soon be possible.

I believe in freedom of speech. And personal freedom from speech.

Here’s what the IOC did in Paris to protect Olympians.

Shannon Guay sentenced up to 50 years

A former Michigan gymnastics coach will serve a life sentence for sexually assaulting more than a dozen young girls.

Shannon Guay was sentenced Wednesday for 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct plus one count of kidnapping.

Guay, who went by “Coach Jake” while working in Kent County, was arrested last year while living in Florida. …

The crimes reportedly occurred in the ‘90s and 2000s. The victims were all under 16 at the time.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Safeguarding Policy – Pain, Injury & Illness

British Gymnastics has a number of Safeguarding VIDEOS.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Flipping LONG JUMP

I’m old enough that I competed the Western Roll on High Jump in Jr. High School.  (Dive roll was already banned.)

Technique changed to the Fosbury Flop before I finished High School.

The evolution of technique.


In the Long Jump, Kiwi Tuariki Delamere competed a new technique at the Pacific 8 Track and Field Championships 1974. Front flip.

He was no gymnast.  😀 

That jump was not far off the sea level World Record at the time. 

Flipping was quickly banned. 

Click PLAY or watch an interview with Tuariki on YouTube.

Others had tried that flip.  I heard future Olympic gymnast, Sid Freudenstein, tried it High School competition for Triple Jump in 1968.

Related – How Tuariki Delamere’s somersault turned the sport of long jump on its head

Sports Psychology Has an Evidence Problem

Of course every coach uses methods from sport psychology to improve ultimate performances.

But we don’t really know how or why methodology works: self-talkmental focus, attention, etc.

The brain is complex. Each athlete is different from the next.

A mental training plan for one might well be quite difficult for the teammate training beside them.

Sports Psychology Has an Evidence Problem

The benefits of training your mental skills are, by definition, all in your head. So how do we prove that it works?

Gymnastics in Gaza

Wassim Naqqar, 11, snagged first place in gymnastics in the Palestinian territories before the war began.

But after being forced to flee northern Gaza in April as fighting escalated in the area, he left Palestine Club in Sheikh Redwan, where he would train in gymnastics, yoga and parkour, a sport that involves running, swinging and vaulting in urban spaces.

His favourite sport of the three? Gymnastics. But because the region is war-torn, he says he often winds up practising it on the rubble. …

WaPo (paywall) – This 11-year-old does gymnastics atop the rubble of Gaza as the war rages on

Father-son duo helping train around 60 kids in war-torn region, teaching them gymnastics and parkour

Diver Matthew Mitcham fights for equality

Matthew Mitcham is the 2008 Olympic champion in the 10m platform, and he is the 2nd highest single-dive score in Olympic history (at the time it was the highest scoring dive ever). This made him the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.