Chellsie: “It’s a comeback”

#official

The 2005 world all-around champion, mother of two, age-32, says she wants to compete.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

related – THIS CHELLSIE MEMMEL COMEBACK IS LOOKING MORE AND MORE REAL

whip to Shirai 3

Yulo. Great ‘set’.

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

following the #GymnastAlliance allegations

If you are having trouble keeping up with the ongoing series of gymnasts brave enough to come forward with incidents of past abuse, catch up on the GymCastic podcast.

432: #GymnastAlliance

434: Svetlana Khorcanceled

Svetlana Khorkina was a fantastic gymnast. But she’s clearly an egomaniac with no empathy. Literally the last person in the Gymnastics world who should be commenting on safety and ethics.

Gymnastics Achilles NCAA injury survey

Dave Tilley and  Dr. Ellen Casey have an online survey.

They ask that former NCAA gymnasts and coaches fill it out.

 

 

New Aliya interview

Russia’s seven-time Olympic medallist in artistic gymnastics, Aliyá Mustáfina calls herself “unbreakable”.

Why? “Because I absolutely don’t care who thinks what about me,” she told Olympic Channel in an exclusive interview.

Since her country’s COVID-19 quarantine was lifted, Mustáfina is back to full-time training during the week and spending her weekends with her three-year-old daughter Alisa. …

The 25-year-old is the subject of an Olympic Channel film entitled ‘Life in the Day of Aliyá Mustáfina’ where she talks about how she always enjoyed competing against Aly Raisman and now Simone Biles. …

EXCLUSIVE! ALIYÁ MUSTÁFINA: “I’M PROBABLY THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO MYSELF.”

Dutch team enjoys a ‘healthy sports climate’?

UPDATE

The Dutch Federation has taken allegations very seriously.  And especially the admissions of Gerrit Beltman, now coaching in Singapore. 

Last week, the KNGU announced an independent investigation into all Gym Sports.  And urged athletes to report abuses to the Center for Safe Sports in the Netherlands. 

And now they’ve stopped the coaches of the current National Team from working with those athletes while the investigation is underway.  Gymnasts can still train, but not with their personal coaches. 

‘The stories are coming from all sides,’ KNGU chairwoman Monique Kempff told a news conference. ‘And if you want to make a cultural shift, you cannot take half measures.’

Read more at DutchNews.nl

___ original post from July 28, 2020 below:

Good news.  Things have changed for the better.

The current Team Netherlands supports their coaching system.

The statement can be read on the Instagram pages of Sanne Wevers, Lieke Wevers, Eythora Thorsdottir, Vera van Pol, Laura de Witt, Tisha Volleman, Sara van Disseldorp, Naomi Visser, Kirsten Polderman and Sanna Veerman. Céline van Gerner, who stopped last August, also shared the statement. …

“The past period has been an accumulation of sad news from the world of gymnastics. First internationally, but now also nationally. Our condolences go to everyone who has had negative experiences in our sport.”

“We do not recognize ourselves in the image that is now sketched of Dutch gymnastics with regard to the stories of the past. Where in the past there was room for physical and mental flogging, this is a thing of the past … 

National gymnastics team responds: ‘We do not recognize ourselves in the sketched image’

Netherlands at Doha 2018

Kin Gymnastics, Calgary

On invitation of Judy Howard-Holmes, I dropped by to see the Kin Gymnastics facility, Calgary’s newest club.

Judy coached 1992 Canadian Olympian Jennifer Wood.

Training re-started at Kin June 15th.  The top girls had worked back up to 4 hours / day summer training by the end of July.

The Gym itself is being redesigned post the COVID-19 break for more advanced kids, fewer Recreation.   That’s likely to be membership reality in the near term.

KIN.
(noun)    clan. tribe. family.

Click PLAY or watch a 2018 promotion video on YouTube.

Female FIG MAG judges

KENSLEY BEHEL:

… Where are all the female judges in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG)?

With 852 MAG Brevet level judges worldwide, only 13 are female. …

… It wasn’t until 2013 when Great Britian’s Nikki Hanley became the first woman to judge men’s gymnastics at the World Championships …

While Nikki was the first female MAG Brevet judge to judge at a world championships, Australia’s Kath Graham was the first known woman to pass the MAG Brevet exam. After passing the exam in 1989, and each successive 4 years after that, she was repeatedly denied accreditation by the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG). The FIG was contacted for comment and noted that they had no records regarding the first female Brevet judges.

Finally, in 2001, Kath was approved to begin judging, however, it wasn’t until 2005 that she became the first Brevet-level female to judge MAG internationally. Kath’s first assignment was the University Games in Izmir. The following year, she became the first female to judge the Commonwealth Games. …

History of Female Brevet Judges in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

In my experience in Canada, females have always been welcome to judge boys.

I recall writing the FIG exam with Joanie Fortin from Quebec, one of the best judges in the room. Joanie got lots of respect from the old boys club there, most of whom scored lower.

Nikki Hanley