1984 Bars – McNamara & Ma

Ashlee and Brittany linked to some history in a post titled Evolution of Gymnastics.

One video from that post …

Every guy loved Julianne McNamara’s mixed Jam Cast mount on Bars.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

McNamara & Ma were co-Olympic Bars champions* in 1984.

Swinging Rings …

Bart Conner posted (2009) some good ol’ Muscle Beach Swinging Rings. Santa Monica, CA.

Steve Lerner, Mark Davis and Dennis Sherman.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

via NCAA Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook

P Bars – SpongeBob Squarepants

Gymnast Crossing:

I’m guessing it was released during the time of last year’s summer Olympics in McDonald’s Happy Meals.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Bermuda handstands

Sharon Gareau sends this pic of Prince Edward Island gymnasts getting set to compete at the International Gymnastics Challenge in Bermuda.

Great meet atmosphere, gorgeous location, highly recommended. Warm up Bermuda style

bermuda warm up

Flame-retardant chemicals …

Melissa Marlowe linked to a disturbing HuffPo article.

Flame-retardant chemicals permeate the world, and the bodies of nearly every person. But a new film and a new scientific study point to two groups of people whose risks of exposure may be particularly high: firefighters who venture into burning buildings and gymnasts who tumble into pits of foam blocks. …

…the new study … found four to 6.5 times more flame retardants in the blood of 11 collegiate gymnasts than in the U.S. general population.

In their attempts to pinpoint the source of exposures, the team found air and dust samples with concentrations of flame retardants greater than in residential homes. Hand-wipe samples showed the athletes had higher levels of the chemicals on their skin after practice than before practice …


Flame-Retardant Chemicals Endanger Firefighters, Gymnasts

elevated foam pit

No need to panic. Yet.

But if there’s even a slight risk I’d rather Gyms use foam without fire retardant chemicals. They’ve never been needed.