Gymnastics Coaching.com

Andy Thornton:

ALL FIFTEEN PARTICIPANTS in the men’s Olympic Trials are not only healthy, but all have competed IN THE ALL-AROUND in all three qualifying competitions thus far. There were no petitions to either the Olympic Trials or any attempted petitions onto the Olympic team. Unbelievable! …

AG – Men’s Trials Day 1…A Sudden Realization

Too good to be true.

As a parent, Stephen Mikulak was as proud as any father could be after his son’s performance Thursday on the first day of the men’s competition at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team trials.

As an orthopedic surgeon, Mikulak was as concerned as any doctor would be after watching his son, Michigan junior Sam Mikulak, land short on his vault in the all-around, spraining his left ankle. …

If Mikulak, 19, can’t compete, Golder said they would petition the selection committee …

read more on the Detroit Free Press – Sam Mikulak’s ankle sprain to be a game-day decision at Olympic trials

Marisa Dick is from Capital City Gymnastics in Edmonton, Alberta.

The 15-year-old was the first junior elite athlete to perform for the Caribbean country at the recent Pan American gymnastics championships in Colombia.

“My mom was born there so I have dual citizenship,” Dick said. “I was really nervous because it was the first time representing that country and I wanted to make them proud.” …

read more – Gymnast competes for Trinidad and Tobago

Marisa Dick places top 10 on floor and vault at Pan American gymnastics championships in Colombia

Well done.

She handled the hard questions end of Olympic trials day 1 eloquently.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Congratulations.

1. Wieber 61.700;
2. Douglas 61.400; … hit 4/4, great Amanar
3. Raisman 60.300;
4. Price 59.600
5. Ross 59.400 … fall on Vault

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Jordyn’s 18yr-old brother, Ryan, a home town football star, is trending on twitter after NBC aired this video clip. Trending, at least, with females following Jordyn online.

Detroit Free Press

In the USA you can watch it on NBC.

Ran out of gas. Not even close on the dismount.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

9.6 execution seems high for the Amanar. But that Vault is so much better than the rest, by comparison the score is fair.

She later fell on Bars. Still, Marta will find it extremely difficult not to name McKayla to the competing Team. If she declines, most likely it will be the concussion consideration.

… Yeesh. She fell on Beam. Too. 😦

Then HIT Floor. She’s not making it easy on the selection “committee”.

Price went 59.600. Stone cold warrior. Just the way Marta likes her soldiers.

Held this year in conjunction with Olympic Trials in San Jose, this is the biggest gymnastics conference and trade show in the world.

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I’m impressed. I’d not attended for a few years, thinking the presentations/presenters are somewhat repeated. But with about 200 sessions to choose from, over 3 days, I’m not having much trouble finding sessions of interest.

First morning I most enjoyed Neil Resnick’s Yurchenko clinic. (Neil stood in this morning for Tom Forster, too. Tom was forced to stay home in Colorado, his home threatened by fire.)

Fong, Biggs, Sands, Folger, Lulla, Sahlein, Mizo, Tomita, Ivanov … etc. … all still to come.

My #1 request for the future is that USA bring in big name international presenters that have not been in the past. New blood. Uchimura’s coach from Japan, for one obvious example.

Best of all is the chance to catch up with friends you see too infrequently in a social situation. I’m gone to lunch with the Tumbl Trak crew next.

Chinese officials last week unveiled a team bound for London with an average age of about 19.5 — nearly four years older than the minimum of 16 required to compete at the Olympics.

How did the Chinese team get so old in a sport that favors the flexibility of smaller, younger bodies? …

WSJ – The Age-Old Chinese Issue

That’s assuming the reported age of these girls is correct. But without the eldest of all, Cheng Fei.

It is surprising. Surprising that more young gymnasts were not able to push veterans off the team. Is Team China in decline? I was not particularly impressed at their Individual Nationals Championships 2011.

Here’s our defending Olympic Bar Champion, not a suspected age cheat this time, from earlier this season.

D: 7.1, E: 8.550, Total: 15.650.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Blossom’s heard that He’s upped the start score to 7.4 in an attempt to make the competing Team as a specialist.

James Cameron has announced that he’s in the business of making Avatar sequels, and has no plans to work on any unrelated projects in the foreseeable future. As such, the Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D movie (produced by Cameron) will be the rare forthcoming film to bear his name – in some creative capacity – and not take place in a world populated by giant blue aliens.

Worlds Away was written and directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Chronicles of Narnia). It incorporates elements from the Cirque du Soleil performances into a fictional narrative, about a young woman (Erica Linz) who enters the fantastical realm populated by characters and creatures featured in the company’s Las Vegas shows. …

Screen Rant

Cirque du Soleil – Worlds Away 3D – Official Trailer (HD) was just posted on Apple.

Click PLAY or watch a lower resolution YouTube version.

… Seems to me, you normally don’t get the advertisement pre-roll when you watch the YouTube embed version. Am I right on that?

It won’t be in theatres until Dec. 2012.