Category: Olympics

Jim Thorpe’s shoes at the Olympics

Associated Press named him the “greatest athlete” from the first 50 years of the 20th century.

Here’s a great story – triumphing over racism and adversity.

James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as “Bright Path” … was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist.

A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States.

Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball.

He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals. …

cannabis STILL banned in sport

… Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) would like to remind athletes that cannabis remains banned in sport, and a positive test for cannabis may still result in a sanction after October 17, 2018.

Cannabis will remain banned in sport in Canada because the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) follows the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Prohibited List, an international standard that is not affected by changes in Canadian law. Once legal, cannabis will be just one of many substances that is legal in Canada, yet prohibited in sport. …

CCES Reminds Athletes that Cannabis Will Remain Banned in Sport After October 17

YOG Apparatus finals

YOG Men’s Apparatus finals

The competition that never ends has ended. I certainly didn’t like the lengthy format. Olympic events should be getting shorter and more cost efficient.

team qualification Tokyo Olympics

My man Joel Gagnon caught a mistake I’d made in an earlier post.

SO …

2018 Worlds – Top 3 teams from the team final.
2019 Worlds – Top 9 teams from the team qualifying round.

#simple 😀

U.S. Men underdogs at Worlds

Anyone with money to wager would pick CHN, JAP, RUS (not necessarily in that order) as the likely teams to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics from Worlds.

After listening to an interview with new Oklahoma assistant coach Chris Brooks (and others), I’m even more convinced USA could upset. If they hit. … If they hit H Bar.

The Americans will have lower difficulty potential but could finish top 3 by hitting more routines. The guys all have NCAA team experience and might benefit from past meets where they had to hit no matter what. They are very familiar with that pressure.

Note – the top 3 qualification is from prelims, not the Team final.

Update – Joel Gagnon corrected this.

Top 3 from the 2018 Worlds team final will qualify to Tokyo. 

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook.

related – Yul Moldauer, Allan Bower Ready for World Championships

Yul Moldauer, Allan Bower Ready for World Championships

YOG Dakar 2022 – can Senegal pull off this event?

I hope so. Having been there twice for FIG Gymnastics events, I really like the small, peaceful, friendly west African nation.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Hopefully the Olympic movement can rally enough sponsorship so the citizens of Senegal are not paying for this circus.

The world will finally learn of the astonishing statue 49m tall statue close to Dakar airport.

Alexander Dityatin interview

Aleksandr Dityatin won eight medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Gymnovosti translated a new interview where he reflects on his career, judging and prospects for the current Russian teams.

ALEXANDER DITYATIN: THE EXPERTS SAID I’D NEVER BECOME A GYMNAST

He was a tall, elegant and consistent competitor.

Click PLAY or watch some Rings on YouTube. (1980)

Takeru Kitazono – all 6 routines

Super potential. Looks tough and consistent, despite the fall on P Bars dismount.

Yet it seems near impossible he could contend for the 2020 Olympic team. Japan is simply too deep.

Click PLAY or watch it on Facebook. (1 fall on P Bars)

YOG Champion Giorgia Villa

1. Giorgia Villa ITA 54.066
2. Amelie Morgan GBR 53.432
3. Anastasiia Bachynska UKR 52.332
4. Tang Xijing CHN 52.264
5. Ksenia Klimenko RUS 51.199
6. Emma Slevin IRL 50.499

It’s another fantastic result for Amelie Morgan.

But the biggest shout out has to go to Ireland’s Emma Slevin. Congratulations.