Category: Uncategorized

Since the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, security has been very tight at the Games.

One advantage of going to Beijing is the low risk of terrorism. Right?

Aussie tour group held hostage in China

… surprised to see this story on the Sydney Morning Herald: Ten Australians freed as hijacker shot dead.

Fortunately no-one was injured. The hijacker who was armed with explosives was shot dead by a sniper.

The ordeal lasted for two hours in the popular tourist city of Xian, famous for its terracotta warriors.

Beijing Olympic Games blog

Terrorism in China is not unknown, though most of the identified “rebels” are in the eastern part of the country. There are millions of Muslims in China, suppressed in many ways, for example, that have no voice. Not to mention the Tibetans:

Tibetan Women’s Association

Shannon Miller, Men’s Olympic Team Head Coach Kevin Mazeika and over 1300 others have signed a petition to protest the closing of an award-winning gymnastics program.

To see the petition for yourself, click this link.

If you sign, it will help them reach the goal of 4000 signatures.

For the sake of our sport, it’s important that administrators not cancel programs without good cause. Explaining their reasoning to 4000 critics will help clarify the decision to the girls in the program. Or, even better, reverse the decision.

This is exactly the kind of tumbling line we do not want to see. Ever.

Doha World Cup 2008 Finals: Makoto Okigushi (JPN)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Judges were told at the Olympic Test Meet that one and three quarter roll-outs will be eliminated or at least devalued in the next code from difficult acrobatic elements.

Videos are going up from the meet:

TripleFlip – Gym Chat

2008agwc – YouTube

Prashanth Sellathurai from Austalia won Pommels. (16.075)

I mention him specifically because I’m still irked that he did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics. And because he is such a nice guy.

more Men’s results

Women’s results

commentary on the competition – IG

Here’s the World Cup schedule for 2008. The meet in China will be the most interesting, I reckon.

When will more World Cup events come to North America, do you think?

(Thanks IG)

larger image

I prefer Nastia’s routine. It’s so rich in variety of skills. But see who you think won between these two recent routines:

Click PLAY or watch Nastia at American Cup on YouTube. Score 16.60 / A Score 7.5.

Click PLAY or watch He Kexin at the Doha World Cup in Finals on YouTube. Score 16.55.

(via difficulty plus execution)

OK, the Chinese girl “hit” and Nastia “missed”.

Still, I would have to predict He Kexin finishing higher in Beijing because her execution is so much cleaner.

PS

The best review of Tyson American Cup I’ve seen is the one posted by Shannon Miller.

“There’s always a Gretzky out there,” Brian McVey figures. “You just have to find her.”

A nice article by columnist Scott Russell on CBC Sports Weekend looks at the search for talented youngsters.

It features retiring Canadian coaches Brian McVey and Carol-Angela Orchard from Sport Seneca in Toronto.

Carol-Angela Orchard has been coaching Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, now 18, since she was 10 years old.

Nadia’s Legacy – Coaches in Search of Perfection

People have been asking, “Why doesn’t Carol-Angela apply for the job of Canadian National Coach?”

Good question.

Thanks to the wonder of YouTube, rare events like this one are captured:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The gymnast hurt her foot during this accident and did not finish the meet. But has no major injury, according to comments on the video.

Several years ago at Altadore Gymnastics we added a second floor plate on each chain. That way — we hope — if one floor plate pulls out of the ground, the second floor plate will catch the chain and prevent the bars from falling completely.

(via About.com Gymnastics – Equipment Malfunction at Dutch Competition)

Related posts:

bars collapse at gymnastics High School meet

gymnast Tourischeva – psychologically TOUGH

A DAREDEVIL ex-SAS soldier is to attempt a record-breaking skydive — from 120,000ft.

Movie stuntman Steve Truglia, 40, will jump from a hot air balloon 24 miles up on the edge of space. …

He will freefall for seven minutes before opening his parachute, and could break the 770mph sound barrier as he hurtles towards the ground. No human has ever travelled at such a speed outside an aircraft — and Steve has no idea how his body will react.

He will need a pressurised space suit in temperatures of -100°C and risks going into an 800 revolutions per second spin.

But Steve, of East London, said: “It’s the last great challenge left on Earth. Obviously it will be dangerous. We’re playing with a lot of unknowns. But it’s my job to assess risk and I don’t believe the problems are insurmountable.”

Steve is a veteran of 1,200 jumps with 21 SAS Regiment and the Royal Marines. He has since co-ordinated stunts in Bond films.

Daredevil’s super skydive

Space Jump – official website

(via Uncooped)

In Canada we think our Olympians have it rough. Others have it far tougher:

Shin Soo-ji won the top place in the competition to select the rhythmic gymnasts to represent South Korea in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, held at Korea National Sport University on Feb. 3. In the 28th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in September last year, Shin placed herself on the 17th rank and succeeded in getting the ticket to the Olympics which is given only to top 20 gymnasts.

For South Korea, this is the first time in 16 years since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games that it has won the ticket to Olympics in rhythmic gymnastics. Shin Soo-ji is the only Asian gymnast to compete in the Beijing Olympics.

… Last year she spent about 200 days abroad to take part in 12 competitions and trainings.

For the moment the biggest enemy for the young gymnast is money. Training in Russia costs 300,000 won per day, and she had been handling it personally. Recently her parents closed their installment savings.

All her suits she wears in competitions are second-hand items. Unable to afford the suits priced above 2 million won per set, she bought ones previously worn by Russian gymnasts.

A small amount of rice, fruits and six nutrition pills per meal are all she eats a day. In the prime of growth, she is tempted by delicious food, but the sad reality says she shouldn’t eat them. When I have something I want to eat, I comfort myself looking at the pictures of food on the Internet, she said. …

Korean Rhythmic Gymnast to Compete in Beijing – BBC

I’m excited to see events hosted in Arabic countries. Sport is one of the best ways to break down barriers.

And who wouldn’t want to compete here:

Yet there are very few female gymnasts coming:

The event will see participation of 109 male and 29 female gymnasts from 38 countries. …

Croatia’s Robert Seligman, France’s Yann Cucherat in parallel bars, Greece’s Dimosthenis Tampakos, a Olympic gold medalist, Italy’s Igor Cassina, Japan’s Hiroyuki Tomita, Netherlands’ Lambertus Van Gelder in ring, Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina and Tunisia’s Wajdi Bouallegue are some of the top gymnasts who will be seen in action during this three-day event. …

March 4-6th – Artistic Gymnastics World Cup – official website

Only 29 female competitors?

I have a theory that the current code of points may eventually fail for an unexpected reason. That too few of the member nations of FIG will be able to field athletes.

Even the top 12 nations qualified for the Team Olympics are having problems putting together a competitive team for Beijing.

How long can it be before disgruntled nations force rules change to allow them to be more competitive on the world stage? FIG elections are one nation, one vote.