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We watched some of the men’s Canada Winter Games last night. There is plenty of good talent coming up in the Great White North, but the most exceptional athlete of all is Félix Dolci from Quebec.

Click PLAY or watch some 2014 highlights on YouTube.

Félix is 12yrs-old. He weighs 29kg (64lbs).

In prelims Félix had a fluke fall on Horizontal Bar. And still finished 5th in the AA with 80.135 FIG Jr rules.

This 12yr-old could conceivably win the AA in this competition. And Félix is competing against Juniors some of whom are in University already.

Coach Adrian Balan has other excellent guys coming up, as well. The future looks bright for Quebec Gymnastics.

15.350 1st place at WOGA.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Oleg Verniaiev is our current World P Bar champion. One of the main challengers for the AA podium in Rio. Ukraine’s problems are too numerous to list. We’re hoping he can continue to train well there though to the Olympics.

Q. Who’s had the most influence on your achievements?

A. Probably my current coach [Gennadiy Sartinskiy]. He’s helped me prepare for competitions so that I don’t travel abroad as a “tourist” as he calls it.

…

Q. What’s the situation with the national training facilities in Ukraine?

A. Nothing’s changed. Everything’s the same as it was at least 10 years ago. It sucks. The equipment is outdated, and the medicines, pharmacies, and rehab centers are in bad condition. We train in a dangerous environment, which is why we have a lot of injuries. It shows in our results as well. Just look at teams like China, Japan, and the United States. We’re still training in the last century.

…

Q. Would you like to be a coach in the future?

A. No, probably not. I think being a coach is a thankless job. I thought about it, but you need to have nerves of steel. It’s commonly believed that great athletes don’t make great coaches.

Q. Are champions born or made?

A. Made. The greatest gift an athlete can have is the ability to work hard. Work your hardest and you’ll see results. You can look great in training, but everything changes once you’re in the competition hall in front of an audience. Nerves can get the best of you. But you can overcome them if you work at it.

read more on The Liukin

Media coverage of this excellent competition was poor this year.

Bea Gheorghisor compiled everything she could on what happened in the Elite International competition – Couch Gymnast – 2015 Nadia Comaneci: Results & Report

Romania won the Team Competition:

1 România Deva (Crisan, Cîmpian, Mihai)
2 Canada (Laurie-Lou Vezina, Victoria Jurca)
3 Mixed (Vasileva, Dunn, Stapleton, Henry)

And the AA:

1 Crisan and Cimpian (tie)

But I’m really waiting on a video of Jessica Lopez’ Beam. Leave a comment if you’ve seen one online.

related – Dwight Normile’s report on the competition

In the senior session of the 2015 WOGA Classic, Xie Yufen of China – the alternate for her country’s World Championships team last year – earned the gold medal with a 55.6. Celine van Gerner of the Netherlands took home silver with a 55.55 while Natsumi Sasada earned bronze with a 55.4 …

Gymternet – The WOGA Classic International Senior Report.

1 Xie Yufen China 13.450 15.350 13.750 13.050 55.600
2 Celine Van Gerner Netherlands 14.050 13.450 14.750 13.300 55.550
3 Natsumi Sasada NSSU / Japan 13.750 14.050 13.950 13.650 55.400

full results

😦

USAG:

We are sad to learn that Damaris Orozco, mother of John Orozco, suddenly passed away this weekend. …

Our thoughts, prayers, and best wishes are with John and his family right now, and they have asked that their privacy be respected at this time.

Men’s Canada Winter Games

1. Ontario 325.240
2. Quebec 323.642
3. British Columbia 309.709

Top AA scores in prelims via @Gymnasticath:
1. Zakutney (ON)
2. Halickman (QC)
3. Karstadt (ON)
4. Mah (BC)

full prelim and team results

See the winning teams on twitter.

https://twitter.com/Gymnasticath/status/567532927487975425/

More than 500 gymnasts. Over 80 nations.

2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held in Glasgow, Scotland at The SSE Hydro from 23 October – 1 November 2015. The competition will serve as a qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics. …

Top 8 teams from prelims MAG and WAG will qualify to Rio. The other 4 teams will not qualify until the Olympic Test Meet in 2016.

The arena has a capacity of 13,000. …

Prelims tickets start at £20/session. But you can get “floor seats” for £60/session. Finals are much higher. The best deals are the packages – Prices and Seating

One person rooms at a hostel start at about US$40 / night. For example, For example, Euro Hostel, a 30 minute walk. I’ve seen them advertised as low as US$30 / night.

official website

Sweet swing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There were a LOT of high scores over the past 2 weekends.

Illinois tied their 2nd highest score in team history.

The Illini were paced by three career-high all-around scores, led by junior Giana O’Connor’s near-school record total of 39.600. O’Connor took the all-around title, one of three individual titles on the day, nearly matching Alina Weinstein’s Illinois all-around mark of 39.625 in the process.

Sophomore Mary Jane Horth tied the fourth-best all-around score in Illinois history with a 39.550 to finish second behind O’Connor. Sophomore Erin Buchanan also had a career-day in the all-around, posting a score of 39.325. …

Fighting Illini

University of Iowa had a fantastic meet in the loss, 196.370, well above their previous season high 195.725 against Maryland.