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Got a chance to catch-up with Don Eckert of Woodward West Camp at USA Championships.

As the intense summer camp season wraps-up, coaches should be aware of the opportunity of off-season visits to Woodward (and the other big full-time camps, I expect).

You can sometimes get Woodward West to yourself during the off-season. And prices are great compared with summer.

If you are looking for a fun, productive getaway for your Team. Or perhaps getting together with another Team in a training camp format, contact Woodward West for details.

Good luck to Ron Galimore, Ron Brant, Yoishi Tomita and the entire Men’s Program working towards Olympic qualification at Worlds in Germany.

It was not easy selecting the Team. Many hours of discussion were needed to piece together the contributing scores necessary on each of 6 apparatus to achieve the highest score.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 18, 2007 – USA Gymnastics has named the U.S. Men’s Team that will compete in the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships, Sept. 1-9, 2007, in Stuttgart, Germany.

The six members of the team are: Guillermo Alvarez of Denver, Team Chevron; Alexander Artemev of Morrison, Colo., Team Chevron; David Durante of Garwood, N.J., Team Chevron; Sean Golden, Camden of N.J., Team Chevron; Jonathan Horton of Houston, University of Oklahoma; and Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif., Team Chevron. Sho Nakamori of Albany, Calif./Stanford University, is the team alternate.

“I’m confident these guys can get the job done,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “They showed what they are capable of at last night’s competition.”

The 2007 World Championships is the qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games. The top 12 teams advance to compete in Beijing. The men’s team was named following the conclusion of the men’s competition at the 2007 Visa Championships in San Jose, Calif.

News: USA Gymnastics names U.S. Men’s Team for 2007 World Championships

Sean Golden – official website

I really admire Valeri Liukin as a coach.

Despite some very tough setbacks for his WOGA gymnasts and his daughter over the past week, he remained open, honest and forward thinking.

I rate Liukin one of the very best few coaches in the World today.

Nastia Liukin, right, waits to compete on the floor exercise as her father and coach, Valeri Liukin, left, looks on during the U.S. gymnastics championships in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, August 16, 2007.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

ESPN – Gymnastics Photo Wire

We were sitting close to Yewki Tomita and National Champion David Durante during the Women’s Finals last night.

When I suggested Alicia could compete successfully in the Men’s competition on Vault, they did not disagree. She is awesome.

Where does that power come from?

Alicia Sacramone competes in the vault during the US gymnastics championships in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

ESPN – Gymnastics Photo Wire

With her experience and personality, no doubt Alicia will be named Team Captain for Worlds.

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP National Writer

… Johnson won the U.S. gymnastics championships so handily Saturday night, the rest of the field might as well have gotten its own division. Her score of 123.650 was 3.450 points ahead of runner-up Shayla Worley …

And after the show she put on Saturday, she is sure to be a favorite for the world title.

“I remember watching these last year and thinking, `Oh my gosh, I could be a senior next year,'” she said. “To be here and win, it’s a dream come true.”

Just 4-foot-9, Johnson packs the power of someone twice her size yet somehow manages to still look dainty. She tumbles without fear, whether it’s on the floor or up on the balance beam, and makes the toughest tricks look easy. She’s the type of gymnast who you can’t help but watch, an automatic eye catcher.

When she finished uneven bars, her last event, coach Liang Chow threw up his arms in triumph and swept her into a hug. She grinned, then waved happily to the cheering crowd. In addition to the all-around title, she won gold on balance beam and floor exercise.

Two-time U.S. champion Nastia Liukin, long considered one of the world’s best, finished third after another rough night. Liukin is nursing a nagging ankle injury, and she took an ugly tumble on floor and had another bumble on vault.

But she finished strong, doing routines on uneven bars and beam that were among the best of the meet. She was named to the world team along with 2005 world floor champ Alicia Sacramone; Worley; Samantha Peszek; Ivana Hong; and Bridget Sloan.

Six of the women will compete at worlds, with one going as the alternate.

read more … Gatorsports.com
Johnson proof that good things come in small packages

Backseat coaching in the audience, that’s the same team Dana Brass (talent scout for Cirque du Soleil) and myself called.

From what I saw tonight, I’d say this team looks unbeatable at Worlds in Germany in a couple of weeks.

It has everything. Consistency, artistry, high level of difficulty, power. Everything.

Liukin’s bar routine tonight (7.1 difficulty) was the best routine I’ve ever seen on the apparatus.

Full RESULTS linked from the USA Gymnastics Championships page.

Another 6 or 8 gymnasts might have been named to this team, if they had had a stronger competition. Make no mistake, many others will be in the running for the Olympic Team next year.

Inside Gymnastics magazine had a live blogger reporting on Day 2 of the Jr Women’s Artistic competition.

Here’s a sample.

Warm-up notes:

-During general stretch, Sarah Persinger (Southeastern) climbed up onto the low bar and did leg kicks as if it were a balance beam. Many coaches in the arena stopped to watch the feat!

-Rebecca Bross worked on pulling around Yurchenko doubles without touching down her knee

-Solid beam warm-ups from All Olympia girls

­-Jordyn Wieber still doing full-twisting double layout (she had warmed up layout double-double during prelims)

-Shushunovas on bars from both GAGE girls (Sarah DeMeo and Rebecca Clark)

… more notes on the competition: Inside Gymnastics » Blog Home

sample screen shot

USA Gymnastics has something similar the call the Quick Hit Commentary.

A good flickr set of photos from USA Championships Day 1 Competition for Jr Women.

Photographer – flaw13

Junior prelims Nationals – a photoset on Flickr

Photo buffs should know that our favourite gymnastics photographer Grace Chiu is also in the house, her first USA Championships. Look for Grace’s fantastic pics in Inside Gymnastics magazine.

High speed internet connection required.

I’ve been studying how acrobats learn the air flare over the past few years. It’s the ultimate Floor Exercise not yet competed by an Artistic gymnast at an international competition.

On MakingTheOlympics.com Morgan posted the first video tutorial I’ve seen of a competitive gymnast integrating air flare into a routine. Well worth checking out if you have an athlete working towards this skill.

Morgan does it somewhat differently than I’ve seen before. His looks more like pommel horse and less like a handstand pirouette.

Unfortunately Morgan did not compete the air flare in his routine at USA Championships.

See the video on MakingTheOlympics.com.

Thanks TKO.

It was a thrilling night in San Jose the final day of Men’s Competition. The guys were far, far more consistent than Day 1.

We were very happy to see Durante finally have a breakthrough meet exactly at the right time — when the USA needs a strong leader going into World Championships.

He kept smiling.

As David Durante stepped off the mat after each of six routines Friday night at the Visa Championships, he grinned, pumped his fist or breathed easily. …

Nine months after finishing a disastrous 13th in the world, Durante and his peers made a statement at the U.S. championships at HP Pavilion by putting together the kind of performances they always knew they could.

“I had a sense this week, if I didn’t do it now, I never will,” said Durante, 27.

Fueled with newfound confidence, he backed it up, hitting all 12 of his routines over two days to win his first U.S. senior all-around title.

On an impressive night for the Cardinal, Stanford seniors Sho Nakamori and David Sender were third and fifth, respectively, in the all-around, making strong cases to be selected to the world championship team that competes next month in Stuttgart, Germany.

“We showed we have a lot of depth,” Nakamori said. “It doesn’t matter who makes it.”

It was just the kind of meet Ron Brant, national team coordinator, had hoped to witness from a talented but inexperienced group being asked to carry the Olympic torch.

The Americans must finish in the top 12 at the world championships Sept. 1-9 to qualify as a team for next year’s Beijing Games.

“We’ve got the people; we’ve just got to do the finishing touches,” Brant said Friday. “We’re close, very close.”

Durante, who resides at the U.S. Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., is even more optimistic. When asked if he had any doubts whether the Americans would qualify for the Summer Olympics, he said, “Zero.” …

San Jose Mercury News – Gymnasts’ confidence on the rise

Paul and Morgan Hamm competed only 3 routines between them and looked stronger. But no one is counting on them to carry the American Team to Beijing.

A good flickr set of photos from USA Championships Day 1 Competition .

Ivana Hong. Photographer – flaw13