… For many decades there was no separate vaulting horse, the pommel horse was simply turned around and gymnasts vaulted over it lengthwise. The pommels were unscrewed and wooden poles inserted into the holes to avoid any injuries to the fingers when gymnasts pushed off the horse.
Berlin native Carl Schuhmann, the most successful German Olympian in Athens 1896, vaulted over that kind of apparatus…
Katrina sent me a link to a funny take on the most recent Chinese age falsification scandal.
John Powers:
… The Chinese, who are notorious for falsifying ages of their women’s gymnasts, evidently have been doing the same with their figure skaters for years. According to birthdates on their federation’s website discovered by the Associated Press, nine athletes, most notably Olympic pairs medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, either were too young or too old to be competing in senior and junior world championships. …
What’s baffling is why the Chinese, whose Internet censoring borders on the paranoid, would post any athletes’ ages there at all. Either they’re brazen, careless, or just plain clueless. In any case, they’ve got some explaining to do …
That is baffling. It’s as if an affluent totalitarian regime is inefficient. Their bureaucratic toadies can’t keep track of what birth year is required in each sport.
Actually, Dan and Hao have already been cleared, it seems.
Chinese sports officials acknowledged Friday there were inconsistencies in some of the recorded ages of their athletes and said they were taking measures to fix the problem.
Winter Sports Administration director Zhao Yinggang said the body was verifying birthdates listed for more than half a dozen figure skaters after questions were raised about different dates given to different governing bodies….
The Events Director will lead the Gymnastics Victoria Events Department to deliver an annual event series in excess of thirty events across eight different Gymsports and divisions (including the multi sport premier Senior Victorian Championships), ensuring optimal member satisfaction and continual improvement.
I haven’t heard much about this product since first posting about it in 2006.
Gym-Trix Inc. has recently received patent approval for our NEW spring loaded balance beam. The combination of internal steel springs and a completely movable top create a “Spring Floor” action for the entire working surface of the beam.
At the World Championships in Rottedam, legendary Russian coach Leonid Arkayev did an interview with GymMedia where he examined a balance beam prototype whose ends were slightly wider than four inches …
Soft top ‘club ‘ balance beam 20 cm wide. This beam has been developed especially for training halls where very young girls start their beam training. This beam has the same features as the regular soft top beam, with height adjustable legs and a very soft top but it is 20 cm wide.
The downside, of course, are those kids who develop a psychological dependency on the width. They can’t stay on the freeway too long.
What do you think?
Are you one of the coaches who doesn’t need wider Beams? … Or would you use one of these, if you had it?
A fascinating profile on one of my favourite gymnasts, Jessica Lopez.
It is no wonder Jessica Lopez now sits among the top ten gymnasts in the world. Her gymnastics is exact, beautifully executed and it is performed with an astonishing quickness and precision. Her pirouette work on her favorite event- bars- is comparable to that of China’s most renowned bar workers. Blessed with a gift for twisting, her tumbling work is a feat of tight, corkscrewed saltos. And, after months of working to overcome some tightness in her spine the twenty-four-year-old shows great flexibility and style in her beam work. …
Lauren Hopkins was at WOGA, posting some commentary on sessions not yet mentioned on this site:
… Casey Jo Magee, former Arkansas Razorback, competed and was what you’d expect from a college gymnast…great technique but VERY low difficulty.
Her technique almost makes you forget you’re watching a basic routine, until you see her scores…I was very impressed by her bars, even though it was something you’d see from a much younger girl. She did win beam, something she’s kind of an expert at. …
… I nearly forgot to mention the Russians…because they were horrendous! I don’t really have anything to say about them, other than they were very messy form-wise on each event, and Irina Yashina vaulted INTO the vault table at one point…they were flipping around like mad on the bars, falling down, etc. It was pretty discouraging to watch…they’re nothing like their counterparts who performed at worlds! …
The 2011 Buckeye Classic was a huge success! Over 2,200 gymnasts and close to 9,000 routines and we had only a couple of sprains, bumps, and bruises. …
Congratulations. … Every meet I attend I check injury statistics with the medical staff. This was a healthy one.
