Category: Olympics

Philippines the fastest improving Gymnastics nation?

I led a week long Olympic Solidarity coaching course in Manila in 2011.

MAG and WAG.

Gymnastics Coaching Course, Manila, Philippines
Gymnastics Coaching Course, Manila, Philippines

Gymnastics was not well developed at that time. Good facilities just being built.

BUT it was obvious that the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines was passionate and determined to build.

Not too many years later they had a World and Olympic champion in Carlos Yulo.

This is only the 36th largest economy of the world.

Both MAG and WAG Artistic programs have grown quickly. What other nation has done so much in so few years?

They are still improving.

I share my excitement and profound optimism for the Philippines’ turn on the world stage. Long dominated by gymnastics powerhouses, the hosting of a global event by this beautiful island country is a tribute to FIG’s inclusivity and to humanity’s aspirations for independence and global solidarity.

FIG President Watanabe

Men’s Jr Worlds Qualification HIGHLIGHTS

Read the FIG summing-up:

Chinese men strike gold as Junior World Championships get underway in Manila

  • Yang Lanbin, Wang Chengcheng and Zheng Ao 1st Jr. Men’s World team title
  • Arsenii Dukhno (AIN) leads in the All-Around with 82.065 despite a major error on P Bars and minor problems on H Bar.  First on Floor and Vault. 
  • Karl Eldrew Yulo (PHI), the younger brother of Olympic champion Carlos Yulo, was the gymnast most cheered.  Very similar at the same age.  Eldrew qualified for Floor, Vault, H Bar and All-Around Finals. 
  • Danila Leykin (USA) leads on P Bars and H Bar with terrific and interesting routines.  USA very excited about finishing Bronze in team.  

Watching Podium training, I expected a lot of falls. BUT performances in competition were good, overall.

Falls mostly on:

  • Double Front on Floor
  • Under-rotated H Bar dismounts
  • Pommels, especially dismounts

Many fell on Vault landings, but not many felt unsafe. Most of the nations made good decisions on difficulty.

  • Remember the name ➙ Nikita Netreba, Poland.
  • Remember the name ➙ Aaron Esner, Netherlands.  Tons of potential. 

Looks to me like we will have more 1/1 twisting Double Tuck dismounts off P Bars in the future. Evan McPhillips (GBR) and Dukhno, for example. All 3 Colombia gymnasts used Flyaway 1/1 twisting Double Tuck dismounts off the end.

Hey. Could Colombia qualify a full team to the L.A. Olympics? They have 2 very strong all-around gymnasts in Ángel Barajas and Camilo Vera.

I recall well when Taiwan qualified a full men’s team unexpectedly. It could happen again.

  • pinning numbers on gymnasts in competition is unnecessary and stupid
  • pinning numbers on gymnasts in competition is unnecessary and stupid
  • pinning numbers on gymnasts in competition is unnecessary and stupid

Click PLAY or watch it on Instagram.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

coach Camelia Voinea – Gymnastics drama

Camelia Voinea competed for Romania between 1984 and 1988. The first gymnast to tumble a double layout to punch front on Floor.

Today Camelia coaches her daughter Sabrina, born 2007. Yes, that’s the excellent gymnast who would have won a Bronze medal on Floor in Paris IF her mother / coach had submitted an inquiry on time. Romania — at the time — thought Sabrina would win the Bronze medal, even with the wrongfully assessed 0.1 out of bounds deduction so they didn’t appeal.

Coach Camelia Voinea, we are told, is not up on the Code of Points. She tried to appeal the E-score, at one competition, for example. Not allowed, as every other coach knows.

Always controversial, Camelia is back in the headlines after recent allegations of physical, verbal, and mental abuse by multiple former gymnasts.

To get caught up, listen to the GymCastic podcast interview with former Romanian national team coaches Daymon Jones and Patrick Kiens.

Romanian Gymnastics administration remains a dumpster fire.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.



Věra Čáslavská documentary

Don’t Look Away

Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská won a total of 22 international titles between 1959 and 1968 including seven Olympic gold medals, four world titles and eleven European championships.

Čáslavská was known for her outspoken support of the Czechoslovak democratization movement and her opposition to the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, she took this protest to the world stage by quietly looking down and away while the Soviet national anthem was played during the medal ceremonies for the balance beam and floor exercise event finals.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Rebeca might be back in 2026

In a new Marie Claire magazine interview:

After her historic achievement at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which established her as Brazil’s most decorated Olympic medalist, the athlete decided to take time off to care for her physical and mental health during a sabbatical year.

During this period, she did not compete in the World Gymnastics Championships for the first time since starting in the senior category in 2015, and is still considering plans for the 2026 World Championships and the 2028 Olympics, which should mark the gymnast’s last competition in the Olympic Games.

Why is Taiwan Called “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympics? 

Just arrived Taipei for holidays.

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), competed as “Chinese Taipei” (TPE) at the Olympic Games since 1984.

Athletes compete under the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag instead of the flag of the Republic of China; for any medal ceremony, the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China is played instead of the National Anthem of the Republic of China.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Meet AYO, the #Dakar2026 mascot

The 2026 Summer Youth Olympics (French: Jeux Olympiques de la jeunesse d’été de 2026), and commonly known as Dakar 2026 (Wolof: Ndakaaru 2026), will be the fourth edition.

31 October to 13 November 2026 in Dakar, Senegal.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. I like this one.

Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026

Artistic Gymnastics & Rhythmic are to be included in Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026.

Each nation will have to decide whether or not to send athletes. Maximum 2 / nation / discipline.

Dates for ALL sports are October 31 ➙ November 14, 2026.

Gender parity ➙ up to 108 male and 108 female athletes. 

Venue is Dakar Expo Centre (Centre International de Conférences Abdou Diouf/ Cicad l’officiel).

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

R.I.P. Alexander Dityatin

Alexander Dityatin won 8 medals at the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics, setting the record for achieving the most medals of any type at a single Olympic Games to that time.

He died in October 2025. Age-68.

I’m shocked how many elite Russian gymnasts die young.

Is it the Vodka? Is it poor health care?

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Yulo looking at the AA for Jakarta

The defending Olympic Floor and Vault champion is not only concentrating on those two specialities.

“Right now I’m really focusing on doing All-Arounds at the same time doing Vault and Floor,” Yulo said in a recent interview with the FIG. …

… right now I’m really focusing on going to the LA Olympics,” Yulo said. Preparing for Los Angeles and the prestigious events leading up to it will take most of his time and attention for the next three years …

Already en route to LA28, Carlos Yulo hopes for a golden stopover at the Jakarta Worlds