Gymnastics Coaching.com

16-18-YEAR OLD DIVISION All-Around:

1. Donnell Whittenburg, Baltimore, Md., 86.200
2. Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J., 84.350
3. Sean Melton, Orlando, Fla., 84.050
4. Timothy Wang, Riversdale, Calif., 83.550
5. Max Mayr, Miami, Fla., 82.850
6. Allan Bower, Chandler, Ariz., 82.650

Click PLAY or watch Whittenburg’s #1 Rings in prelims (14.700) on YouTube.

14-15-YEAR OLD AGE DIVISION All-Around:

1. Marvin Kimble, Milwaukee, Wis., 84.850
2. Hunter Justus, Cypress, Texas, 82.600
3. Marty Strech, Fountain Valley, Calif., 82.100
4. Yul Moldauer, Arvada, Colo., 82.000
5. David Jessen, East Greenwich, R.I., 81.000
6. Tristan Burke, Royse City, Texas, 80.550

Complete results: Junior men’s prelims at the 2012 U.S. Championships

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike. 16.3

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/OTQ1NjQwMjM5?related=1

Watch more video of 2012 Visa Championships on gymnastike.org

Don’t count David out. 🙂

Men’s Sr Visa Championships. #VisaChamps

1. Leyva 91.850
2. Orozco 91.800
3. Mikulak 90.550
4. Brooks 90.500
5. Horton 90.300
6. Dalton 88.950

That’s deep. China and Japan will be watching these routines online.

Horton went 15.5 on Rings. #1 for the day. If he’s on the team, no need for a Ring specialist. Stick It Media likes Glen Ishino — 15.45 Pommels — for the “specialist” in London.

Tough guy Chris Brooks said he was scared of his new vault. … No problem.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NzE2NjQwMjU4?related=1

Watch more video of 2012 Visa Championships on gymnastike.org

Men’s Visa Championships begins 6:30pm Central. The Juniors go at 1pm today.

Andy Thornton:

With the huge number of gymnasts in the men’s field (43), the wide range of various strengths and weaknesses among the competitors, and the complex nature of putting together a five-man team that best captures the three best on each event for London, it’s easy to feel a little lost in the year’s men’s Visa Championships.

There are some battles that are obvious to follow – like who will win the competition – but the real discussions among the Olympic selection committee members will center around a few “unspoken” battles …

Battle 1: The All-Around Race: Danell Leyva vs. John Orozco vs. Jonathan Horton.

Battle 2: The Pommel Horse Champion: Alex Naddour vs. Glen Ishino vs. Craig Hernandez

Battle 3: America’s Best Tumbler and Vaulter: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Eddie Penev vs. Sam Mikulak vs. Paul Ruggeri vs. Chris Brooks vs. David Sender vs. Alex Buscaglia vs. Joshua Dixon

Battle 4: The Best Rings Score Amongst the Tumblers and Vaulters: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Sam Mikulak vs. Chris Brooks vs. David Sender

Battle 5: The Strongest Ringsman Of All: Brandon Wynn vs. CJ Maestas vs. Scott Rosenthal vs. Jonathan Horton

Battle 6: The 4th Best All-Arounder: Jake Dalton vs. Steve Legendre vs. Chris Brooks vs. Sam Mikulak vs. CJ Maestas vs. Brandon Wynn

American Gymnast

Will USA carry a Pommel specialist? Ring specialist? … Or go with all all-arounders?

Click PLAY or watch Alex Naddour’s Pommel training on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/OTY3NjQwMTU0?related=1

Watch more video of 2012 Visa Championships on gymnastike.org

related – Five men’s stories to watch at gymnastics Nationals

Stick It Media:

A terrific spreadsheet is making the rounds, detailing the recent results of every Senior qualifier in the 2012 VISA U.S. Championships field.

… the men’s Olympic selection committee will also be taking these results into consideration, along with those accomplished at Nationals and Trials. The committee is looking for consistency, so if four days of competition isn’t enough, these past results will likely come into play.

The top two all-arounders, determined by their combined scores at Nationals and Olympic Trials, will automatically qualify for spots on the 2012 Olympic Team. A gymnast can also automatically qualify by placing in the top 3 on 3 events, also determined by combined scores at Nationals and Trials. …

read more – 2012 U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Championships 1st Stop on Road to London

Thanks to Ono No Komachi for sharing her database of USA MAG Past Performance 2012 (Google doc).

… Rodionenko considers the U.S. team the main threat to the Russians at the Olympics.

… Alexander Alexandrov, named the four countries likely to compete for medals: the U.S., China, Romania and Russia. But I believe that the Americans are our main rivals.

Three of the total five spots on the team have already been assigned. Head coach Andrei Rodionenko has announced that Viktoria Komova, Aliya Mustafina and Anastasia Grishina have already been confirmed …

We’ll know more after next week’s Russia Cup in Penza. Keeping the top girls healthy is highest priority, I’m sure.

… Alexandrov described the daily routine of Russian female gymnasts at their training camp at Lake Krugloye. With school already over for the summer, training for the London Olympics is in full swing. The athletes get up at 7:30 a.m., and after some warm-up exercises, they go out for a walk or a jog. A half-hour later, they have their breakfast, and at 10 a.m. sharp their first training session begins; it lasts for about 2.5 hours. Then they take a break, do some recovery exercises, and have some personal time. Their second training session lasts from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by massage and personal time. They have no second training sessions on Thursdays. They turn in at 10:30 p.m., and have a day off, just like everyone else, on Sundays. …

Russia Beyond the Headlines – Training for Olympics in full swing

Rewriting Russian Gymnastics links to the latest issue of Gymnastika online. (Russian)

related – Alfosov and Rodionenko speak – men’s team selection

Thanks Alan.

DVORA MEYERS has another good article on Deadspin, explaining to the general public the issue of body type in women’s Artistic Gymnastics. Shawn and Nastia are used as examples.

… “In America, we’ll score the stocky, athletic builds normally,” 1996 Olympic gold medalist Dominique Dawes said, in response to Johnson’s comments. “Internationally, there still remains a stigma to that type of body type.”

Given Johnson’s success, it’s hard to make the case that she has suffered much under-scoring internationally—she won nearly every senior meet she entered in 2007 and 2008—and many similarly built gymnasts have also fared well in competition, including Mary Lou Retton and 1991 World Champion Kim Zmeskal. …

“Athletic” Shawn Johnson Retires: How Gymnastics Talks About Bodies In Code

Do you need the “international look” (rail thin) to be competitive in London?

In 2012 there’s less stigma than ever before. It’s far more advantageous to be built like Shawn than Nastia in an open-ended Code. Ask the Chinese coaches.

Highest difficulty score will usually beat highest execution score. Regardless of body type. Good leg and foot form has never been less rewarded than in this cycle.

related – response on Rewriting Russian Gymnastics – ‘The Artistry Fallacy’

The latest from Ws van Wijk. A great preview of what’s to come at Olympics. Rock out to ACDC.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Is it possible to do better than this?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

From Nick Blanton.

… At 24, the Beijing captain was already on borrowed time, competing against gymnasts in their mid-teens for a spot on her second Olympic team. Then, eight months ago, she blew out her right Achilles, a devastating injury made that much worse for its timing.

“I’ve been to one Olympics and I would love to go to another,” Sacramone said Wednesday, two days before she returns to competition at the U.S. gymnastics championships.

“If all things work out, great. If not, I went down giving it a hell of a shot.” …

NANCY ARMOUR – Neither injuries nor age can slow Sacramone