Kenzo is still in High School

KenzoYep.

Our World Floor champion is young. I mistakenly believed him too young to have competed Worlds 2013.

Nico’s new MAG Liukin blog linked to some video of Kenzo’s High School Championships.

Click here to watch highlights. Kenzo has never looked better.

He’s been named to Japan’s Worlds 2014 Team.

crediting double layout

Nellie KIM, President of the Women’s Technical Committee on THE WOMEN’S ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS NEWSLETTER – N° 35 – August 2014 (PDF)

Element Recognition

• Double salto bwd stretched: If gymnast grabs the thighs to assist with the performance of the second salto then it will be considered double salto bwd pike.

Click PLAY or watch an example on YouTube.

via GymFever

Kristian Thomas wins fitness contest

Once again, the gymnast is deemed fittest.

… sports nutrition brand Multipower devised a cross-sport fitness challenge putting five elite athletes to the test to see who performed best overall.

They were subjected to seven different trials, testing everything from strength and speed to agility and co-ordination. These included rowing, pull-ups, squats, balance tests, jumping and darts (testing accuracy, co-ordination and fine motor skills). …

Who is FITTEST? Five elite athletes put their separate disciplines aside to find out

fittest athlete

(via GymCastic)

ANTA replaces Li Ning in China

zou_kai_anta14Equipped up to now by the brand “LI NING,” now the top Chinese gymnasts wear future knitted wear the new outfitter, supplier and largest sporting goods manufacturer in China, the top label “ANTA” , the brand with the “dragon symbol”.

After the publication of this notification of ANTA exchange rate rose in the stock market by 1.2 % to a new three-years high, while the LI NING curve fell in the first days of August to a low for the year …

GymMedia

I’d never heard of ANTA before. But they were heavily promoted at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Yao Jinnan – Floor

5.6 + 8.4 = 14.0 – 1st in qualification

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Tumbling is definitely China’s greatest weakness.

Who’s the next Cheng Fei?

Chen Siyi – DTY

China will probably need 3 double twisting Yurchenkos or better if they want a chance to finish on the podium at Worlds as a team.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Not super strong.

Yao Jinnan – 7.0 Bars

7.0+0.2 + 8.3 = 15.5 – 1st in qualification

The routine to beat for Worlds, I reckon.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Yao Jinnan – DTY

5.8 + 0.2 + 9.2 = 15.2

I assume the 0.2 is Chinese bonus.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

No injury at that time to Yao Jinnan. This was just posted.

Chinese team to Worlds

Speculation on the private GymFever group on the most likely team for Worlds and Asian Games: Huang Huidan, Bai Yawen, Shang Chunsong, Chen Siyi, Tan Jiaxin and Yao Jinnan.

Team China

That seems to be a promo photo for Anta, the new main sponsor of Chinese national gymnastics team, taking over from Li Ning.

Update – Catherine, of Beautiful Gymnastics, confirms this preliminary team line-up.

I’ve also heard rumours that Yao Jinnan is injured right now. 😦

The men have so much depth, they’ll send two different teams to Worlds and Asian Games. (Chinese article)

Click PLAY or watch a Chinese team TV ad on Youku.

http://player.youku.com/embed/XNzUwODQzMTYw

Blossom, a Chinese gymnastics blog, hasn’t been updated since May.