PH: Whitlock, Berki, Bertoncelj

European Champions 2014. #EChSofia2014

1. Whitlock GBR 16.166
2. Berki HUN 15.633
3. Bertoncelj SLO 15.466
4. Kuksenkov RUS 15.333
5. Vernyayev UKR 14.133
6. Likhovitsky BLR 14.000
7. Ude CRO 13.766
8. Mikhalitsyn BLR 13.266

Whitlock has confirmed himself the #1 Pommel man in the world. He’s been hitting his 7.3 start consistently while Berki starts with only 6.9.

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

FX: Ablyazin, Kosmidis, Purvis and Shatilov

European Champions 2014. #EChSofia2014

1. Ablyazin RUS 15.700
2. Kosmidis GRE 15.533
3. Purvis GBR 15.400
3. Shatilov ISR 15.400
5. Whitlock GBR 15.333
6. Barkalov BLR 15.241
7. Capelli SUI 14.900
8. Belyavsky RUS 14.866

Check the size difference.

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

NCAA team scoring

Balance Beam Situation:

For the last few seasons, I’ve been particularly interested in the trend of rising scores in NCAA, which is a relevant issue considering that the average team score for the top 36 teams in the country increased four tenths from 2012 to 2013

2014 NCAA Team Scoring: It’s Comfy at the Top

average score

Beam layout layout series

It’s been great to see the return of the layout series this cycle.

Eileen Imbus – handstand layout layout

Click PLAY or watch her Beam series on YouTube.

Or … standing like Morgan Hurd. 🙂

//instagram.com/p/oXC8wpQDG-/embed/

(via Swing Big and GymFever)

new D Beam dismount – aerial fwd 2/1 twist

Note this Beam coaches. The 1 1/2 twist is not difficult from 1-foot.

Here’s Ralitsa Mileva competing the 1 1/2 in 2012. (VIDEO)

For many kids the 2/1 twist will now be the easiest D Dismount.

TAA – new FIG Difficulty elements

Former Rhythmic gymnast Elizabeth Vasileva from Bulgaria does some amazing stuff. But should FIG really have 6 new elements named after her?

Europeans: RUS, GBR, UKR

@2014SofiaECH:

Although the highest score of this tournament (16,2) Max Whitlock couldn’t get GBR in front of RUS…

It was a big gap, actually. Not even the great Louis Smith could have made up the difference. 🙂

1.RUS 267,959
2.GBR 265,953
3.UKR 262,087
4.GER 260,711
5.FRA 258,892
6.NED 256,979
7.ROU 252,779
8.BLR 252,672

MAG Team

Congratulations to Team Russia coming through when needed. And congratulations to Ukraine. Talk about overcoming hardships! Recall that UKR would not have been at European Championships if FIG had not on short notice come up with a loan.

Karen Psiaki has some commentary on the competition – Russia Steals Gold After Great Britain Falters.

David

#EChSofia2014

Steve Butcher interview

Steve’s one of the best of the elected FIG leadership. Our new FIG MTC Chair.

Q: You said earlier that your goal as MTC President is to “make things better”. What are the issues surrounding Men’s Artistic Gymnastics that need to be improved?

Butcher: “You know, as with all sports the number one mission is to make sure that the athletes are on a fair playing field. …

… for example, one project that I’ve really worked on in the last few months is a revision of the FIG Judge’s Evaluation Programme (JEP). …

Q: What needs to happen to make Men’s Artistic Gymnastics more popular?

Butcher: “What the FIG Executive Committee is trying to do is arrange a competition schedule where other competitions factor into qualification for the Olympic Games. It wasn’t my idea, but I’m supportive …

Q: How do you feel about the current Code of Points?

Butcher: “People ask me about the Code of Points all the time. People say, ‘If you don’t like something, you need to change it!’

Well, I’m the new MTC President, and this Code of Points was decided before I was the President. Actually, a lot of the things in this Code of Points were decided before I was a Technical Committee (TC) member. So I always have to respect the work of the past committees. …

There will be no significant changes affecting the Code of Points for this cycle. Gymnasts and coaches have already made their plans through the 2016 Olympic Games and we do not want to disrupt their goals. …

Q: Twenty years from now, what do you want people to remember about your term as MTC President?

Butcher: “Great communication and improved fairness in judging. What angers me most is when a gymnast steps on the floor, when he’s from a certain country or has received certain high medals in the past, automatically the sense is that he’s going to get the benefit of the doubt. I want the judges to feel courageous …

FIG – A conversation with…Steve Butcher

KIM-Nellie-BUTCHER-Steve

During his recent sojourn in Lausanne, he worked with his counterpart, Women’s Technical Committee President Nellie Kim (BLR), on synchronisation of the men’s and women’s rules. The goal: making it easier for fans and spectators to understand what is going on during a competition.

God speed, Steve.

related:

Janssen-Fritsen and the InnoSportLab ’s-Hertogenbosch are executing Measurements on Still Rings on the ECh MAG 2014 at the Request of the European Union of Gymnastics and with Approval of the International Gymnastics Federation.

GOALS …

3. For UEG it is a goal to develop an Aid for Jury Members to support their Judgements on Hold Time.

FIG

Like “air time” on Trampoline, having a computer calculate actual HOLD time on Rings would make scoring more accurate.