Category: history

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in St. Louis

After NCAA Nationals while walking in Forest Park, close to the site of the 1904 Olympics, I happened upon this statue of one of the historical founders of Gymnastics.

On either side are statues of a male and female athlete.

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (11 August 1778 – 15 October 1852) was a German gymnastics educator and nationalist. His admirers know him as Turnvater Jahn, roughly meaning “father of gymnastics” Jahn. …

The first Turnplatz, or open-air gymnasium, was opened by Jahn in Berlin in 1811, and the Turnverein (gymnastics association) movement spread rapidly. …

A man of populistic nature, rugged, eccentric and outspoken, Jahn often came into conflict with the authorities. …

Jahn promoted the use of parallel bars, rings and high bar in international competition. In honor and memory of him, some gymnastic clubs, called Turnvereine (German: Turnvereine), took up his name …

Minnesota’s celebrates NCAA Championships

… finishing second to Oklahoma at the national championships on April 21 in Chicago. In what Burns called one of his proudest moments ever, the Gophers hit all 32 routines and earned 11 All-America citations.

Freshman Shane Wiskus of Mound-Westonka, the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, was second in the all-around competition …

Burns was named the College Gymnastics Association Central Region Coach of the Year, and Wiskus was named Rookie of the Year.

Gophers men’s gymnastics figured it out at NCAA meet

Congratulations to Mike Burns, his staff and the Gophers.

GOPHERS FINISH AS NATIONAL RUNNER-UP

Kakeru Tanigawa to Worlds 2018

His win has guaranteed him a place on Japan’s 2018 World Championships team …

And of course, a big shoutout to Kenzo Shirai for another National AA medal, this time repeating the silver he won in 2016 …

Kakeru Tanigawa ends Uchimura’s 10 Year Winning Streak

1904 Summer Olympics, St. Louis MO

The 1904 Summer Olympics … was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri … from August 29 until September 3, 1904, as part of an extended sports program lasting from July 1 to November 23, 1904 …

It was the first time that the Olympic Games were held outside Europe.

European tensions caused by the Russo-Japanese War and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis kept most of the world’s top athletes away. Only 62 of the 651 athletes who competed came from outside North America, and only 12–15 nations were represented …

The St. Louis organizers treated the Games in a manner similar to the previous Olympiad, with competitions reduced to a side-show of the St. Louis World’s Fair …

The participants totalled 651 athletes – 645 men and six women representing 12 countries. …

One of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood ….

Eyser competed with a wooden prosthesis for a left leg, having lost his real leg after being run over by a train. Despite his disability, he won gold in the vault, an event which then included a jump over a long horse without aid of a springboard. …

Apparatus: Clubs, Horizontal Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse, Rings, Rope Climb, and Vault.

The AA Champ was Julius Lenhart.

Yul wins Nationals 2018

“Yul’s been amazing. He won the all-around by almost four points.

He obviously was the difference between our winning and being second.

He’s an incredible kid; humble, works hard all the time, I have to slow him down to keep him healthy at times. But when it’s go time he is a fierce competitor and I’m just so impressed when he goes out there and has days like today.”

– Mark Williams

(via Logan Bradley)

Alex McMurtry – Bars

So. Much. Amplitude.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Shockingly, Alex fell on Beam during Super 6.

Still, she’s one of the greatest College gymnast all-time. One of my favourites. What a career!

… one of 10 gymnasts in the 37-year history of NCAA Gymnastics to complete a career “gym slam,” a perfect 10 on each of the four events. …

McMurtry’s nine perfect scores eclipsed the school record of eight held by former UF All-American Bridget Sloan …

Florida Gators

new interview with Simone

Coincidentally released close to the NBC Dateline exposé. … Squirrel!

Includes Yurchenko triple twist on to pit mats, double double off Beam, front full to full-in and Moors, double double off Bars.

Laurent wants to improve Bars. He ordered 10 pairs of grips!

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

National Championships … the morning after

1. UCLA 198.0750
2. Oklahoma 198.0375
3. Florida 197.8500
4. LSU 197.8375
5. Utah 196.9000
6. Nebraska 196.8000

Here’s the moment where Peng clinched the win for UCLA.

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

 

• it was an honour to see so many superb athletes at one place, one time

• J.O. / NCAA is the best Gymnastics league in the world

if Elite was cancelled tomorrow, hardly anyone in this system would notice

• Floor is much better LIVE than on YouTube

• RESPECT for those young women who compete far more than minimum difficulty

Skinner, Lee, Nichols, etc.

• Judging rules are stupid. Goal is marketing / publicity, not accurately ranking routines. Somehow they mostly got the ranking right.

Actually, @Yarotska and friends judged online. They had OU 197.4, UCLA 197.35. But conceded that it could have gone either way.

• Oklahoma was easily the best team. Yet UCLA found a way to win despite having a poor opening Vault rotation.

Chris Waller chewed out the Bruins in the locker room. They responded.

• I feel badly for LSU. They do pretty much everything right. Yet haven’t won it all yet.

• I feel great for Nebraska. And even better for Georgia. #respect

Click PLAY or watch Nebraska coach Dan Kendig on Twitter.

• Spencer (Balance Beam Situation) is the #1 College pundit in my opinion. Yet the dinosaurs of the NCAA denied him a media credential. ☹️

I long ago gave up trying for NCAA credentials. It’s far too much hassle.

• It seems to me fewer gymnasts were taped up this year. And were there fewer season ending injuries in the NCAA in 2018?

• Byes are idiotic. I’m looking forward to the new post-season structure starting 2019.

I’m not looking forward to 4 years in Fort Worth. That’s a disincentive for me to attend.

After the horror of the Nassar crimes, having meets like this to celebrate is one way for the sport to start healing.

related – Lauren’s Live Blog | Super Six

Rachael Denhollander – 100 most influential people

Rachael Denhollander is one of Time’s 100 most influential people.

during the General Assembly at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., on Wednesday, February 22, 2018.