Category: Olympics

Courtney took the Bronze medal on Vault at Pac Rim.

Then directly flew to Brazil.

Courtney: ”It’s great to be here in Rio competing with some of the best athletes in the world”.

… Without a team place for New Zealand the only opportunity to gain an individual place for Rio is through the Olympic test event, but she needs to be on her game.

… the biggest hurdle is still the New Zealand Olympic Committee criteria as McGregor qualified easily through to the test event and the estimated score needed to gain that FIG quota place for Rio is approx 51.00.

McGregor has bettered this at the worlds and at the Pacific Rim championships scored 53.55, her best ever internationally. However it is not the all around score NZOC are looking for – they require a top 16 finish.

She competes on Sunday in Rio and will not know until mid May whether she has achieved her Olympic dream.

Meanwhile, a college scholarship awaits her at Boise State University in Idaho. She signed her letter of intent last year and intends to do summer school in May.

Stuff – Christchurch gymnast Courtney McGregor wins bronze before Olympic test event

So far, so good.

Coach Mary Wright yesterday reported Courtney ahead of their projected training goals after 3 sessions in Rio.

Podium training for Courtney today.

UPDATE – For you every-4-years Gymnastics fans, Courtney does not actually compete Pommels. 🙂

Thanks Avril.

Not many have predicted Australia to qualify a full team to the Olympics.

They’ve had problems. Injuries. Two competitions back-to-back.

But I doubt any team trains harder than the Aussies. They are fierce. These girls could do it.

Georgia Rose-Brown (173cm) should be nominated for some sort of Elegance award. She’s stunning.

Women’s competition starts Sunday.

Schedule.

I’ll be tweeting LIVE @GymCoaching.

FIG mini-site | Olympic site

Final places for the 2016 Olympic Games in play at the Test Event April 16-22 in Rio

The HSBC Arena was built 2007. It has capacity of 14,981 for sports, but feels smaller.

Apparatus is Spieth. But the Floor is Gymnova. They must have collaborated to get just the right shade of green. 🙂

 

This competition is a rehearsal. Responsible are the IOC and the Rio Organizing Committee. Needless to say, they have far less expertise than do the FIG when they organize a World class event.

There was confusion and some minor problems day 1. I’m assuming those will be fixed by Saturday’s first competition. Lets cut them some slack. This IS the first Olympics ever held in South America. 🙂

Eight teams are fighting for 4 spots at the Olympics: Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine

It’s Men’s Gymnastics so anything can happen: Pommels, Vault landings, H Bar release moves, Pommels, Anything.

It’s Men’s Gymnastics so podium training is absolutely no indicator as to competition performance.

If Germany doesn’t qualify, it’s a national disaster. They should have qualified at Worlds 2015.

France impressed me most of all 8 teams. Don’t bet the mortgage, but I’m putting down a sizeable bet they will qualify.

Belgium is ranked lowest of the teams here. It would be a huge happy surprise for them to get through as a team. I was impressed with their discipline and seriousness today. Respect.

As for the other 5 teams, I’d advise hitting as many routines as possible trying to save every tenth of Execution deduction.
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Individual Qualifications

The Olympics has many goals only one of which is gathering all the best athletes together to decide whom is best on the day. “Sport as a human right”, for example. A “spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play”.

It’s not easy for Cyprus to compete against the USA, for example. But it certainly helps sport in Cyprus when they do. 🙂

Marios Georgiou of Cyprus had he best over-bar salto releases on H Bar today. HUGE. Catching with extended arms. (training VIDEO)

Sun Wei CHN hit the best Pommel routine I saw today. He scored 15.033 at American Cup. Filip Ude from Coatia is here, however. And Daniel Corral from Mexico. And more.

Randy Leru of Cuba showed the best full Floor routine all day. Small hop on 3/1 twist dismt the only obvious deduction. Great height & control.

related – 7 Caribbean Gymnasts Set to Compete at Rio Test Event

A new favourite gymnast for me is Oskar Kirmes from Finland. Exquisite form. Excellent technique on just about everything.

The Olympics wants representation from many countries, not only the best. I cheer stars from nations with limited resources. Like Ukraine.

Saturday will be interesting. Anything can happen. 🙂

more Grace Chiu photos

Though media accreditation does not start until tomorrow, I dropped by the arena a day early.

It is as green as we’d heard.

Perhaps offsetting highlight colours will (later) make the venue more visually appealing.

The Gym looks ready. Outside venue construction continues.

I jogged over from my hotel about a mile away. But this room is BEST for the die hard Gymnastics fan. 🙂

more IG photos

Marcos Guerra translated a Globo Esporte article from April 12.

Daniele Hypolito:

“The test event in 2012 was very exciting, especially on beam. I was the last athlete to compete, and we could not have any more mistakes because Jade had just fallen. She came down from the podium looking at me as if saying, ‘please fix what I’ve done.’ We have those secret codes in competition, our looks at one another. As I was chalking up before my routine, I looked down at the girls and they were all praying. I was calm because I knew I could hit my routine. The decision would be up to the judges. Thank God it worked. …

The veteran believes that this time, Brazil will have no need to pray in the final rotation to earn their spot at the Games, as their outlook next Sunday is much more encouraging. The host team is among the favorites this year, with Dani, Jade, Flavia Saraiva, Lorrane Oliveira, and Rebeca Andrade set to compete (Carolyne Pedro and Milena Theodoro will vie for the final spot to be named following podium training). … “

“We are nervous because we are competing at home. It’s different. You want to show everyone in the country that we’re good as a group. We have psychologists, we have our technical staff, we practice meditation to reach the point of tranquility we’ll need during the competition.

… All teams there have the ability to fight. At the moment, we’re training, not thinking about the other teams, but Romania, Belgium, Germany, and France are all going to be very close. We just have to compete the way we did at worlds,” Dani said, noting that Brazil ranked ninth in 2015, one spot away from qualifying into the team final. …

Hypolito Hoping for Quiet Road to Rio