Alberta Congress

1st annual was a success.

The 2012 Fall Congress, AGF Annual General Meeting, Assemblies and Awards Gala took place in Calgary. It was an amazing and most successful weekend!

.. 175 participants and 12 presenters …

more photos

Janna Ball of Calgary Gymnastics Centre was honored with Coach of the Year Award.

The Athletes of the Years were presented to the following: Anysia Unick for WAG, Nathan Gafuik for MAG, Lexi Giesbrecht for the T&T female and Keegan Soehn for the T&T male. …

Here’s a full list of presenters. Non-cowboys and cowgirls got white-hatted. (PHOTO)

(via Alberta Gymnastics Federation on Facebook)

landing from 39km jump

After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier …

Felix reached a maximum of speed of 1,342.8 km/h (833mph) through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4:20 minute long freefall. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe Kittinger.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

He won’t be doing it again.

GymCastic episode 5

UCLA’s Allison Taylor on what it was like to be part of the greatest US elite program of all time at WOGA. Uncle Tim’s six year-old-friend reviews Shawn Johnson on Dancing with The Stars and we tackle cyber bullying in gymnastics. Dvora Myers follows up on our discussion of the popularity of men’s gymnastics. We play, who would win this reality tv show, if every contestant was a gymnast.

GymCastic

You can listen to this 90min audiocast via that link. Or click through from there on the iTunes link and subscribe to get every episode. It’s free.

Allison Taylor did not compete much or often for the Bruins, but she was a leader, now broadcasting and blogging for UCLA.

When I think of Allison it always reminds me of this conditioning drill.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NjU5Mjk0NzU5?related=1

Watch more video of 2010 UCLA Bruins on gymnastike.org

related – GBR’s Danusia Francis is now at UCLA

LSU gymnasts – Going Up?

Sarie Morrison & Rheagan Courville

LIKE the original photo on Facebook.

Have any of the other Colleges promoted their Team this way?

competition slackline?

… I thought those diversions were for mellow hippies. 🙂

Not so. The party’s just getting started. Potential for acrobatics on slackline is far higher than Beam. And you are ENCOURAGED to fall on it.

Click PLAY or watch highlights from Gibbon Games East 2011 on YouTube.

See more like that on the Gibbon Slacklines USA YouTube channel.

GymRep camp has a huge slackline set-up. It’s an ideal addition to any gymnastics program.

The one downside … How do you fix and adjust tension?

Problem solved. Gibbon’s now selling a portable freestanding structure $299 for setting up anywhere.

It’s an easy, inexpensive addition to your program.

via Tumbl Trak

London FX – Mustafina v Ferrari

WOGymnastike:

… the floor final, Vanessa Ferrari tied with Aliya Mustafina but due to tie breaking rule Ferrari was dropped to 4th place and Mustafina won the bronze medal.

… Ferrari had a D score of 6.2 while Mustafina had 5.9

Was Vanessa Ferrari Robbed In London

I’m sympathetic to the Ferrari, especially after she was robbed of the Gold medal on Floor at 2010 Worlds. It was clear to everyone in Rotterdam aside from the judges that hers was the best Floor in Finals.

But in London, … I’m not so sure.

Click PLAY or watch Ferrari on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Mustafina on YouTube.

I would have been happy if ties were allowed.

… Vanessa’s coach Enrico Casella believes that Vanessa was robbed of the Olympic floor medal since no gymnast in the floor final was better than her ” None of these three gymnasts out performed Vanessa.

WOGymnastike – Vanessa Ferrari “Ponor Didn’t Deserve To Qualify To Floor Final”

Leave a comment if you have a strong opinion.

photo via Stuck Vaults & Somersaults

meet Jimmy Verbaeys

Jimmy Verbaeys (Brussels, born August 26, 1993) is a Belgian gymnast.

Verbaeys represented his country at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, during which he qualified for the individual all-around finals and finished in 21st

JOHN CRUMLISH has an entertaining interview. I’d missed the story of how he unexpectedly qualified for the AA in London.

Belgium hosts Worlds 2013 — the unimportant Worlds, as I tend to call them — so Jimmy will be much in the national media there.

Mother wants Amanda Todd’s video to help others

Amanda Todd’s mother, Carol Todd, doesn’t want other children to suffer as her daughter did — stalked and harassed by bullies in cyberspace and in the schoolyard, by people she knew and by stalkers many miles away. …

Amanda killed herself this week, one month shy of her 16th birthday and one month after telling the world through a YouTube video of bullying that left her depressed and despairing.

The Amanda Todd trust fund is being held at the Royal Bank of Canada, which will be accepting donations in Amanda’s name at all its branches.

Read more

😦

Dowell, Verniaiev win Acapulco

Women’s All Around Final Results
Brenna Dowell USA 57.100
Yessenia Estrada MEX 56.150
Anna Dementyeva RUS 54.750

Men’s All Around Final Results
Oleg Verniaiev UKR 89.000
David Belyavskiy RUS 88.900
Sergio Sasaki BRA 87.300


5th Daniel Purvis GBR 86.800

Double Front – Dowell, Verniaiev Crowned Champions in Acapulco

Click PLAY or watch Oleg’s Pommels on YouTube.

At age-18, Oleg is already strong on Pommels and Rings. The future looks bright.

Blythe had predicted Oleg would win. I picked Purvis, expecting him to be clean and consistent, if not in shape.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Actually, that’s from the Gala. Daniel goofing in a KILT.