Japanese Men’s Floor

A few snippets from podium training.

Team Japan will win Floor as a team … while competing only one double somersault. (Uchimura is competing double double.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I expect FIG MTC to change the Code next cycle. This is overuse of one kind of skill taken to the extreme.

It’s not good for the knees, either.

Simone Biles – Amanar

#FIGWorlds2014ART podium

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Gold medals Vault, FX and Team are near guaranteed. All-around too, actually.

Watch it in SLOW MOTION.

MyKayla Skinner – Floor

#FIGWorlds2014ART podium

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Possible silver medal at Worlds 2014. But she has some built in deductions.

Russia – podium photos

Nadia Boyce is here from Australia, reporting for Couch Gymnast. She’s posted some wonderful photos of Russia at podium training. The most wonderful, as you might expect, are of Nabieva. 🙂

Nabs

Russia – 1st Photo Gallery from Worlds

Nabieva’s tattoo

@_Alishik thinks it’s a version of the Eye of Horus.

Navieva tattoo

The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. … It is also known as ”The Eye of Ra”. …

The eye symbol represents the marking around the eye of the falcon …

eye of Horas

(via lovingymnastics)

Aliya training Beam

#WCHNanning2014 WAG podium – 1st session CAN, BEL, EGY, RUS

Russia looked pretty good overall. Destined for 3rd place as a team, I reckon, behind USA and CHN.

Aliya made some small mistakes, as she normally does in training. No doubt she’ll hit everything when it counts. The leg up triple turn on FX is perhaps her greatest risk of a stumble.

Canada has a young but enthusiastic team gaining great experience here. Without Victoria Moors, however, they won’t have much of a chance to qualify to the Team Final.

Ellie Black is one impressive athlete. She was under-rotating her Rudi on Vault. But I expect, like Aliya, she’ll hit when it counts.

I’ve seen Egypt twice now and have not seen a Handspring double front. Perhaps I missed it. Perhaps Fadwa only chucks it for competition.

Commonwealth Games Durban 2022

On 22 January 2014, The BBC reported that the organisers of the Commonwealth Games were concerned about the future of the event, after no member country had expressed serious interest in hosting the 2022 edition with only two months to go before the March 2014 deadline for applicant cities. …

Happily, two cities are prepared to take on the Games:

• Edmonton, Canada
• Durban, South Africa

Edmonton has hosted CWG in the past and did a great job. I know, as I was there as a volunteer. 🙂

It’s Africa’s turn. Let’s hope the Games go to South Africa when announced September 2015.

Click PLAY or watch their bid video on YouTube.

Everything shown in that video is true. (Aside from the boast about internet connectivity. It’s crappy throughout South Africa.)

___

In a related story, two Durban gymnasts are struggling.

Siphamandla Ngcobo and Siphesihle Biyase are quality guys just arriving at an international FIG level. Both competed Commonwealth Games Glasgow. They are trying to raise $5000 in donations to support their full-time training with coach Jesse Kitzen-Abelson, former Temple co-captain.

It’s not much to ask. These are young men trying to live Mandela’s dream for them.

Chinese National Day

The streets are crowded in Nanning, people already celebrating National Day of the People’s Republic of China:

The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square. …