Gamers love Elsa García

Laura García Rodriguez Blancas (her sister):

… my sister is the gymnast who performed to The Legend of Zelda’s theme (at the Olympics) …

Overnight she went from the best gymnast Mexico has ever had to poster child for blending beautiful athleticism and awesome video game soundtrack music. …

… Elsa performed her floor exercise beautifully and made her country (and Koji Kondo, the original composer of the Zelda theme) proud. …

My Awesome Sister is the Zelda Gymnast and Yes, She’s a Lifelong Gamer

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related – Nintendo Life – The Legend of Zelda Music Makes Olympics Appearance

on bossy children

Gymnastics is one of that last places where kids experience discipline, structure.

Line-up. Warm-up. Conditioning. Heading to first rotation. …

Tony Retrosi linked to a Tom Burgdorf facebook commentary:

Most 7 year olds are cute, they have been on this earth 84 months and they don’t know how to multiply yet. How did they get so much control and power in a family? We are seeing more and more families catering to the desires and whims of 7 year olds as if they know what is right for them. As if they are “worldly,” educated and have a grasp at right and wrong. Doesn’t that seem odd? …

Parents, Teachers and Coaches – 7 Year Olds Obey, They Don’t Dictate

Read the rest of Tom’s post on Gym Momentum.

Aliya Mustafina’s Dad

Farhat Mustafin (born 7 September 1950) is a Russian former wrestler of Tatar descent who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1976 Summer Olympics where he won a bronze medal.

… He is the father of Russian artistic gymnast and Olympic Gold medalist Aliya Mustafina. …

Farhat and Aliya’s coach, Alexandrov, are the same age and both came out of CSCA (Central Sport Club of Army).

… this situation with her coach, who suddenly left for the USA, crushed her down (Aliya was not training for 6 months and could leave gymnastics for good, when Mr. Alexandrov turned up to take the charge) …

The occasion, that Aliya ended up with Alexandrov as her personal coach – was her good fortune. …

As a wrestler, Farhat knows all about the difficulties of staying at competition weight.

… Unfortunately in gymnastics it really counts: 2 kilos more and you fall and fail …

… We also had to keep our weight and sometimes get rid of some extra kilograms – seven kg less, for example, was also hard. Your life joy vanishes after the fifth kg off. And still you have to go on with full workouts every day, while you walk around like a zombie between your bed, workout, a tiny amount of food to keep you on your legs and up to bed again… So anyway even this could not overshadow the main purpose. …

read more on Aliya Mustafina Online

(via Aliya Mustafina Online Facebook)

6 twists in one tumbling pass

The Gym Press on Facebook:

RO-3/2, front 1/1, front 2/2, front 3/2 that is pretty awesome pass if I do say so myself

You might assume he’s just another of those Japanese guys with amazing twisting. Wait for the big finishing pass. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Ellie Black only does 5 1/2 twists in her first line.

keeping in touch with retired gymnasts

Almost every athlete “retires”, sooner or later. As coaches we try to guide them to pick the optimal time.

Worst case scenario is when the athlete quits angry. And later regrets both how they left, and that they left.

Wendy Bruce Martin has a 10yr old daughter who quit her Team. And then shared a letter her child received:

Coach to former athlete:

… Just wanted to send you a quick letter to let you know how much I will miss you not being in the team anymore. I’m sure it was very hard on you to decide what you wanted to do. However I am very proud of you for making such a hard decision! No matter what I just want you to be happy …

read more on Facebook

That’s a class coach. 🙂