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I finally met NCAA coach Rhonda Faehn this past summer. And gushed over how much I appreciated the quality and difficulty of the routines her young ladies competed. Florida was my favourite team last year.

But the big news is that she is having a baby. Mid-season.

That will be interesting …

… Florida head coach Rhonda Faehn addressed the media Monday morning as part of the Gators’ All Sport Media Day.

Coach Faehn discussed the Gator’s talented signing class of three that will join the team for the 2009 season. This class includes Kailey Tissue, a senior international elite gymnast, Elizabeth Mahlich, the 2006 Junior Olympics Level 10 national balance beam champion and Nicole Ellis, vault runner-up at 2007 JO Level 10 national championships.

She also talked about and fielded questions on the addition to family that is expected in a couple months …

Gator Gymnastics News @ GatorZone.com

Recall that Rhonda was alternate on the 1988 US Olympic Team. In fact, she got caught up in one of the most disgraceful incidents in Olympic history — where the Americans were robbed of the team bronze medal, losing to East Germans by 0.3.

The chair of the Women’s Technical Committee was Ellen Berger, from East Germany. An old school criminal.

Details on Gymnastics Greats.

Yet another new show announcement.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Cirque de Soleil is to bring a new cinema-inspired show to Los Angeles from 2010, the Montreal-based circus and entertainment giant announced here Monday.

Under a 10-year-deal between the circus company and the owners of the Kodak Theatre in the heart of Hollywood — which hosts the Oscars — the troupe will perform 368 times a year at the 3,400-seat venue.

Although few details of the production were revealed, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte said the show would reflect Hollywood’s prominent place in the history of cinema.

“(Hollywood films) changed the way we think and the way we live, and they’ve certainly had a positive influence on Cirque du Soleil,” Laliberte said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have found such a spectacular home in LA.”

…

The company now has close to 1,000 artists performing in 15 shows on tour or in residence around the world.

AFP: Cirque du Soleil announces Hollywood-themed show

Hollywood Aerial Arts bills themselves the “The only Flying Trapeze school of its kind in Los Angeles and the largest supplier of aerial talent on the west coast!”

Classes are available for children and adults. Workouts cost $20-$30 for a 2 hour class to start.

Outside High Flying Trapeze:

Inside Low Flying Trapeze, Tissu, Static Trapeze, Hoop, & Web:

Hollywood Aerial Arts

I’m certain the 2008 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be the best and most exciting to date. The atmosphere will be electric.

Teams competing:

1. Georgia
2. Louisiana State
3. Stanford
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. Oregon State
7. Utah
8. UCLA
9. Michigan
10. Arkansas
11. Oklahoma
12. Denver

Thursday, April 24, 2008. Time TBD NCAA Gymnastics Team Preliminaries

Friday, April 25, 2008. 7:00pm NCAA Gymnastics Super-Six Team Finals

Saturday, April 26, 2008. 7:00pm NCAA Gymnastics Individual Championships

Official Championships home page

Aaron Vexler plays Russell Crowe’s stunt double in the current film “American Gangster“.

How did he get work as a stunt performer for movies and television?

From International Gymnast:

… My “transition” into stunt work was basically this: retired from gymnastics; worked on the Celebrity Galaxy Cruise ship as an acrobat/circus performer; finished my degree at Temple University; moved to New York and joined the circus performance troupe, Antigravity; went on tour with a live stunt show called Spider-Man Live! A Family Stunt Spectacular; started my own circus company with (former Temple gymnast) Mike Moran, called Axiom Entertainment Inc.; performed in Batman Vs. Catwoman at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey; and finally on to television and film as a stuntman.

IG: What did your roles in “American Gangster,” “I Am Legend” and “Indiana Jones” actually entail?

AV: In “American Gangster,” I was Russell Crowe’s stunt double. I worked out a lot of the stunts, and then showed him what the shot and stunt required. Russell is a very good “action actor” so almost all of what you see in the movie is actually him. I was mainly there to ensure his safety, help him with any problems, and make sure he had the right pads. However, I did most of his driving for him. I did all of the driving for the scenes in the movie where he is driving and you can’t see his face.

In “I Am Legend,” I worked on a big riot scene where all of the people in Manhattan are being evacuated from the island. There is a panic, where everyone rushes to the boats and helicopters, while knocking down fences and each other. This is called ND or nondescript stunts. We used a lot of stunt people for the riot because it was very dangerous. It was very cold and slippery, there were people and fences falling down and helicopters taking off, and we did a lot of it on a barge in the East River in New York. Falling into the river in January would not be good.

In “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” I did some of the stunt driving in a car-and-motorcycle chase that was shot at Yale. I was also a pedestrian in the same car chase. I did a lot of diving out of the way of cars and motorcycles. It was really a great experience, because of the caliber of stunt performers on this movie. They really brought in some of the best stuntmen and stuntwomen in the business. This movie is going to be awesome!

IG: What was it like working with Russell Crowe, on a personal level?

AV: Russell Crowe is a super great guy. He is always looking out for the crew and is very gracious to everyone on set that he is working with. One night he bought the whole crew — at least 100 people — Australian steak dinners. However, he has been doing action movies so long that it is also a bit intimidating, because he is such a good stuntman himself. …

IG Online Interview

Blythe likes his hair.

(via tsuks on Gym Chat)

Yelena Mukhina died last year at 46. Now her coach is gone too.

… Mikhall KLIMENKO was once National juniors’ champion of the USSR, but turned to the profession of coach quite early due to an injury and once took care of the gravely injured wheelchair-bound Elena Mukhina. The brother of the sixfold European Champion Victor Klimenko, who lives in Germany now, was known as one of the most creative coaches in womens’ artistic gymnastics.

… during the 1980ies, Mikhail Klimenko left the Soviet Union and found a second home in Italy, where he worked as coach in womens’ artistic gymnastics in Milan till the end.

GYMmedia.com

Related:

video – goodbye Yelena Mukhina

A surprisingly good interview:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There are a flurry of NCAA signings being announced. Check Gymblog and GymGemz for more “letter of intent” news.

But one, in particular, is important to me. Stephanie McGregor, one of the hardest working gymnasts I’ve ever known. I recall the year she literally ran from the car to the change room on arrival at the gym.

A past Canadian National Open Champion, Steph will be a great addition to Oregon State.

Congratulations to her Gymtastics coaches Tammy Andreotti and Karen Haverstock.

“Stephanie is a dynamic and powerful gymnast,” said (Head Coach) Chaplin. “She is capable of making an impact on all four events as a freshman. She is an excellent student and a talented gymnast. I look forward to watching her success continue in our program.”

“I’m extremely excited to commit to Oregon State,” said McGregor. “I am so impressed with the awesome family of team and coaches, its excellent academic programs, the college town spirit and the location – which isn’t far from home for me.”

Three Gymnasts Sign with Beavers for 2008-09 – Oregon State University Athletics

Related:

Gymnasts Look Sharp in Exhibition – OSU Beavers

UPDATE: I emailed Natalie to ask if she would like to correct the many errors in her article Why Gymnastics Should Be Banned. Here’s her unrepentant response:

Hi, Thanks for writing to me. And no, I haven’t changed my mind about the nature of gymastics – I think it presents a harmful, damaging model of what it means to be female in our society. Why are the women supposed to smile and wear makeup through all of their feats, when the men are not?

BlogCritics

Yes, Natalie took the opportunity to add yet another embarrassing misstatement to her list. Perhaps she should actually research our sport before writing about it. And learn how to spell the word gymnastics.

There are, so far, 68 (mostly irate) comments on her article.

===== original post Nov. 15th, 2007

OUCH.

A professional writer and blogger named Natalie Bennett actually put her name on an article called Why Gymnastics Should Be Banned in 2005.

She is astonishingly uninformed. And the comments on the post are outraged. Well worth reading, actually.

Here are a few of Natalie’s opinions:

These are children – usually before puberty, or with all signs of puberty disguised by huge amounts of exercise and a restricted diet – doing things that only such small lithe bodies can do. Female gymnasts are usually washed out for serious competition by the age of 18, if not 16.

And to do these things even the girls have to put in vast numbers of hours of physically hard training – and many of course will fall by the wayside with injuries before they even see the inside of a competition hall – labelled as failures as 10, or 12, or 14. And what sort of education will they have received for other careers? …

Aside from the sexualisation of routines – girls are expected to smile pleasingly while performing the most amazing physical feats – there’s a question about a sport that ensures all of its participants are washed up before the age of 18.

The answer surely is to limit the age of participation – should children of 12 really be competing in Olympics and World Championships? And should the competition really require, and be judged, on the basis of what a child’s body can do? Isn’t this child labour, and child abuse – not just in China, but everywhere?

Why Gymnastics Should Be Banned – BlogCritics.org

You might want to slap Natalie yourself by leaving yet another comment on her post.

Here’s a handstand I’ve not yet seen:

Facebook

Added by Steve Kimm, Australia to the group “Random Handstands Club“.