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7.4 A-score. 16.65 final score.

She’s a contender for a bar medal in Beijing, for sure. And without being able to do “stoop Stalder” or “el-grip” giants to pump the difficulty score, Beth must do REAL skills in combination.

I’m impressed.

This routine from the British Team Championships this past weekend.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Difficulty Plus Execution)

I suspect we’ll see an 8.0 A-score on bars in the not to distant future.

UPDATE: I called “el-grip” swing EASY. It is easy, if you are born with flexible wrists and shoulders. For other gymnasts, it may be impossible. Jaeger from el-grip swing is easier than from undergrip, for example.

Same with Stoop Stalder. If you are born with the right body proportions, those skills are “easy”. If not, impossible. I coached a gymnast named Davide Bardana who could do as many stoop Stalders in series as he wanted. It was easy for him. But no one else in the gym could even attempt it.

I’m not saying they should devalue those families of skills. I like them. But people should credit how difficult Beth’s routine truly is.

A sneak preview of the latest, greatest product from Tumbl TRAK.

Sections are connected with Velcro.

Doug Davis MIGHT be showing this at USA Congress 2008 held in conjunction with Olympic Trials in Philadelphia June 19-22.

I really like the markings painted right on to the equipment. This should be standard.

Related posts:

TumblTrak tumbling “Air Floor”
competition AIR FLOOR for tumbling is here

Lets say YOU want to go to the Olympics. How do you get there?

First, you must qualify to the Olympic Trial in Philadelphia. Only 14 men were selected, out of over 40, based on performance at VISA Championships this past weekend.

Ten were chosen based on a point system:

(in rank order): New national champ David Sender, Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan, Joey Hagerty, Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, David Durante, Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar and Sean Golden.

Wisely, Men’s Program Committee (MPC) could add 4 more gymnasts based on potential to make the Olympic Team.

Justin Spring, Tim McNeill, Guillermo Alvarez and Yewki Tomita

Finally, any injured athlete could petition to the Olympic Trial. Confirmed was Sean Townsend who has strong Horizontal Bar, an apparatus weak in the USA and the world right now.

Defending Olympic Champion Paul Hamm was injured at the VISA Championships and expects to miss the Olympic Trial. He’ll petition to the next stage. Personally I hope Paul does some apparatus in Philadelphia. That his broken hand heals quickly.

Any of the gymnasts competing All-around at the Olympic trial can guarantee themselves a spot in Beijing. They simply must finish in the top two (40% USAs + 60% Trials) and also finish in the top three on at least three events. That’s a big ask. Only Horton has much of a chance to do so.

In the end, the Olympic Selection Committee will finalize who is on the team:

Because Tomita made Trials, his father, Yoichi, will not be a part of the committee. Instead, MPC member Stacy Maloney will join National Team Coordinator Ron Brant, Men’s Program Senior Director Dennis McIntyre, Coaches’ Representative Bill Foster and Athlete Representative Jay Thornton …

Inside Gymnastics

This is a huge and important responsibility. But people are confident this super experienced panel will do everything they can to pick the best team out of many possible combinations of athletes.

Interestingly, the personal coaches are not necessarily consulted.

Related post: 14 American gymnasts to Olympic Trials

The only injury petition accepted.

SeanTownsend.com

He withdrew shortly before VISA Championships with a shoulder problem. I assume MTC believes Sean can be ready to challenge for an Olympic spot at Trials June 19-22 in Philadelphia.

With this addition, 15 men have been invited.

Related post: 14 American gymnasts to Olympic Trials

Australia will have a respectable team, despite the many gymnasts that have dropped out of contention:

Dasha Joura
Lauren Mitchell
Olivia Vivian
Georgia Bonora
Shona Morgan
Emma Dennis
Amber Fulljames
Melanie Jones
Ashleigh Brennan

Six of these young ladies will compete in Beijing.

Details on the Australian Gymnastics Blog

… By virtue of their one-two finish at the Australian Championships that concluded Sunday in Melbourne, Joura and Shona Morgan received automatic selection onto the team. …

more commentary on International Gymnast

Gymnastics Australia

More people are talking about Daria Joura as a long shot contender for an Olympic AA medal:

Dasha’s total A-score (adding up all four events) is a 24.5 right now. By comparison, Shawn Johnson’s is 25.9, Nastia Liukin’s is 25.8, and Steliana Nistor’s is 25.6 (Jiang Yuyuan’s is way up there as well).

Andrew Thornton on Gymnast.com

She will need very good B-scores to stay in the fight.

UPDATE: photos from the competition – Gymnicestics

In Houston I was happy to meet Penguin888, the young editor of the Gymnicetics blog.

He posted some commentary on the The 2008 US Classic women’s competition:

… Ashley Stott was a surprise. She has a DTY and a VERY nice floor. So much personality, reminds me of Joura. Marta was giving her a serious talk after she won the AA. =]

Caquatto fell on her 5/2 dismount on beam. Her head almost hit the end, it was scary.

Britney Ranzy was also a surprise. She had a HUGE double layout on floor, and a very nice DTY.

Carly Patterson was there, she was signing autographs and giving pictures (which I got both of). The “World Debut” of her music video happened also. It wasn’t bad. =]

Gymnicetics

Polish101 was there too – U.S. Classic Update

The 12 Senior women were trying to achieve a qualifying score to be invited to Boston for the VISA National Championships. (I’ve not heard if any were added.)

Regarding the other little publicized event:

Also going on this weekend in Houston, the U.S. Challenge, an event for gymnasts formerly known as National-Level Elites and now referred to as “Pre-Elite” and “Hopes,” based on an athletes age. (Technically, all the Challenge athletes are Level 10s, and the “Pre-Elite” and “Hopes” classifications are part of TOPS, USA Gymnastics’ Talent Opportunity Program, designed to identify and foster gymnastics talent in American youngsters.) …

Inside Gymnastics

I’ve not seen any results on that, either.

The new USA Gymnastics website is still not up working well. At least the calendar and results should be kept up-to-date.

rockygaz in a comment on this site:

… the points system the US is using at the moment is BS

He’s right, of course.

I was shocked to hear that gymnasts at the 2008 Men’s VISA Championships were ranked so simplistically.

rockygaz:

… I got my computer to test all the possible team combinations to find the highest scoring team in a team finals format.

Based on day 1, the highest possible team score is 280.15 (lower than China from 07) with Paul Hamm, Hagerty, Horton, Durante, Morgan Hamm and Kevin Tan.

Based on day 2 (+ Paul Hamm’s scores from day 1) the highest possible team score is 282.05 (higher than China from 07) with Paul Hamm, Horton, Hagerty, McNeill, Morgan Hamm and Kevin Tan.

Custom coded software like this will undoubtedly be used for final team selection.

You can argue that the simple point system used in Houston was “good enough” to choose 10 of the eventual 14 competitors for Olympic Trials in Philadelphia.

… NOW, McNeill in the best case scenario score. That’s interesting. He wasn’t at his best on parallel bars, even on day 2.

Here’s what he did to win both PBars and Pommels at NCAA Championships 2008. Click PLAY or watch Tim on YouTube.

Another point of interest: McNeill, Morgan Hamm and Tan all do not normally compete All-around. That’s half the team picked by the computer. Recall that Japan required that ALL athletes at their first trial to compete All-around. That was a mistake. It makes me wonder what else Japan is doing wrong in preparation for the Battle in Beijing.

McNeil’s coach at Berkeley, Barry Weiner, feels the USA could beat China at the Olympics, never mind Japan. He’s also told me that Cal has a bigger scholarship budget for the future. They’re on a recruiting binge and plan to challenge for the NCAA Team title over the coming years with a young, talented squad.

David Sender reacts after his routine on the pommel horse during the final round of the US Gymnastics Championships Saturday, May 24, 2008 in Houston. Sender won the overall title with a score of 180.7.

(AP Photo/Dave Einsel) – ESPN

The first day of competition was ruined for David Sender because he fell on Pommel Horse.

He knows the Olympic Team selectors are looking for consistency. Pommels is not his best event. He MUST hit that routine.

HOUSTON — When he landed, with a little buckle in his knees but with both feet planted safely on the mat, David Sender bent over and kissed the pommel horse. The routine hadn’t been spectacular. But Sender’s final score of 13.750 was just good enough.

Sender, 22, of Arlington Heights, Ill., was a surprise winner Saturday night of the Visa National Championships men’s gymnastics all-around gold medal. …

David Sender gets big return on pommel horse routine – Los Angeles Times

I recall a few years ago a lady coach friend of mine saying, “David Sender breaks your heart.”

What she meant was, he’s a fantastic gymnast … who often disappoints by “missing” routines in the competition.

David is in the groove right now. His timing may turn out to be just about PERFECT. Good luck to him at Olympic Trials.

Masako Kardos wrote to tell us of an upcoming FUN meet.

Azarian US Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo, CA on June 14.

… beginner to advanced, age 18+, are all welcomed to compete! You can choose either competition (scored) or non-scored exhibition … Events are, including Men and Women’s Olympic apparatus, Rope Climb, Tumbling and Tumble trak.

Please contact April Littlejohn, the meet coordinator.

e-mail alittlejohn7 AT cox.com

Azarian USGTC

The left picture shows Eduard Azarian, and the right one shows his father Albert. – source

The Azarian (back roll to Iron Cross on Rings) is named after Albert, the father, an Armenian.

Eduard Azarian, the son, is club President, Program Director & Boys Team Head Coach. And 1980 Olympic Gold medalist.

Is Eduard competing in his own meet, I wonder.

2008 National Champion David Sender of Stanford is going to Philadelphia!

Who else?

Ten of the team members advanced to Olympic Trials based on their two-day point totals. The men’s program committee named the four remaining gymnasts. Six of these athletes will win Olympic berths following the Trials, June 19-22 in Philadelphia.

Both Paul and Morgan Hamm of Waukesha, Wis., made the national team based on their point totals. Paul Hamm, who had to withdraw from Saturday’s competition after fracturing his hand during the opening night on the parallel bars, was still fifth overall with 46 points. Morgan Hamm was one point behind his brother.

Jonathan Horton (55 points)
Kevin Tan (54)
Joseph Hagerty (50)
David Durante (42)
Alexander Artemev (38)
Raj Bhavsar (36)
Sean Golden (36)

In the competition to determine who advanced to Trials, points were awarded on each event. Gymnasts earned 11 points for first place, 10 for second and so on down to 1 point for 10th place.

USA Today

The only question at the arena following the meet last night was: “Which 4 additional athletes would be invited?”

Justin Spring
Tim McNeill
Yewki Tomita
Guillermo Alvarez

These guys can thank the selection committee. They live to fight another day. All are legitimate candidates for the final team.

I talked to Guillermo’s father and he was very positive and confident that his son would be going to Beijing. All 14 athletes believe.

What great gymnasts does this leave off the possible team?

Steve Legendre (awesome Floor and Vault)
Todd Thornton (tons of experience)
Sho Nakamori (great Pommels, elegant gymnastics)
Wesley Haggensen (strong All-around)
Kyson Bunthuwong (young with terrific potential)
Clay Strother

And many more …

Congratulations to those who got through. It was a terrific battle. (If any of the 14 are injured for trials in Philadelphia — Paul Hamm, for example — I’m not sure if an “alternate” can be added. Leave a comment if you know.)

Related:

As We See It: Men’s Finals – Inside Gymnastics

Sender Wins U.S. Championships – International Gymnast