Category: Gymnastics

8 teams to Men’s European Final

1. Russia 259.427
2. Great Britain 252.496
3. Germany 246.094
4. Switzerland 245.092
5. Turkey 243.259
6. France 242.996
7. Spain 242.761
8. Italy 241.128

Missing out…

9. Netherlands 239.393

Full results. (Official PDF)

Though the LIVE scoring worked most of the day, it was still confusing. And wrong in a few cases.  Organizers were forced to use ATOS software, … a company that clearly does not understand the nuances of scoring Artistic Gymnastics. Their servers couldn’t keep up with demand either.

Russia bombed their first apparatus — Horizontal Bar — to finish 9th as a team. Then WON every other apparatus. It reminded me of the dominance of some of the great Soviet teams.

Host Great Britain was definitely the second best team. Fans cheered every step. They are beloved at home.

 

As predicted by MAGnastics, Germany was the next strongest team. Led by now 30-year-old Marcel NGUYEN, they impressed. My guess is Deutschland will be even better in the team final.

All the respect in the world for Switzerland. Despite being the most injury depleted squad, they pulled together many clean, elegant routines. Young Henji Mboyo is a superstar in the works. His potential reminds me of when I first saw Manrique.

Many were cheering Turkey to reach top 8. They deserved it. Congratulations to everyone there who has worked so long to make this happen.

France, Spain and Italy. Whew. Live to fight another day.

As is so often the case with MAG, today’s competition was a thriller. There are so many strong gymnasts from so many different nations, it’s difficult to track.

As is so often the case, the guys were far better than they showed in podium training. Performances were better than I expected, overall.  There were fewer injuries than I feared. Perhaps 3-up, 3-count results in less risk taking.

Rhys McCleneghan 15.266 Pommels

6.500 + 8.766 = 15.266

It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.

You could call him the favourite over the Olympic Champion. I won’t argue. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

Eleftherios Petrounias 15.133 Rings

#Legend Olympic champ went 6.300 + 8.833 during the first rotation, first subdivision. He’ll qualify to the Final easily, likely in 1st ranks.

I had his E-score at about 9.20. He’s tough to deduct aside from the landing.

Two judges have SmartRings screens right in front of their faces. GREEN means you met minimum requirements for holding strength in an isometric position.

Petrounias holds as long and as steadily as anyone.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

Marios Georgiou – accidental Cassina to mixed-grip

Or something. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

Marios is a fan favourite for his clean, stylish Gymnastics. But coming back from a hand injury, he had a terrible day in the qualification round at Europeans.

Thanks Craig.

Katelyn Ohashi’s new video

Happy at UCLA, Katelyn hopes to see a day when Elite is less brutal.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Or Facebook.

Sunisa’s Nabieva combo

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

She’ll be competing for Auburn one day.

Sam Pezsek interviews Jordyn Wieber

Former roommates at UCLA.

Both felt they were the type of kid who wanted to work HARD every practice. Self-motivated. They feel that’s what you need to try Elite.

Jordyn’s been dating Chris Brooks for a year and a half. She’s coaching UCLA. He’s coaching men at Oklahoma next season. Long distance relationship for much of the year.

Neither Sam nor Jordyn speak in this episode about their personal coaches Marvin Sharp nor John Geddert. Sam does recall her first coach Peter Zhao fondly.

Listen online.

It’s International Cat Day

Meow.

GymCastic 316: CATS – European Championship Edition has the best commentary on Celine van Gerner’s historic routine in the Floor final at Europeans.

It includes a phone interview with Celine’s choreographer Daymon Jones. He’s an American dancer turned coach who worked on the CATS show for years.

I agree with their conclusions. It worked for this gymnast at this meet.

Still, FIG WTC should define what is allowed in terms of theatrics. (FIG Acro has already done so.)

What Celine did should be allowed, IMHO. But I’d disallow leotards with lights, for example. No props. Any kind of make-up or hair should be OK.

straight arm pull to Victorian – Courtney Tulloch

I could see him trying this in the final.

Click PLAY or watch it on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/UEGymnastics/status/1027132014674227200