Black American gymnasts

Decades ago, conventional wisdom was that gymnasts of African heritage would be too heavy for acrobatic sports. Too muscular.

That was WAY wrong.

When Black gymnasts have a chance to train acrobatic sports, they are very successful. 

A few examples, including the greatest of all time.

Authorized Neutral Athletes – Belarus

FIG has published a list of gymnasts and support personnel who can return to FIG sanctioned events starting 1st January 2024 only in an individual neutral capacity.

Ad hoc rules are posted here.

So far, the entire list is from Belarus. None from Russia.

It includes Tokyo Olympics trampoline champion Ivan Litvinovich.

Belarus fully supports Putin’s war, but claims not to have their military attack Ukraine directly.

I fear that this is a first step. And that Russian athletes will be added to the list soon.

A mistake, in my opinion.

Of many bad options, least bad is a full ban of Russia by FIG until Putin ends the war.

Morinari Watanabe, the President of the International Gymnastic Federation (FIG), led a minute’s silence in remembrance of a young Ukrainian gymnast called Kateryna Dyachenko and her father who were killed during the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Cal 197.875

Cal 197.875
Michigan State 196.725
BYU 196.100
NC State 195.675

Big day for Cal as they set a program vault record and MJ Frazier sets the team AA record at 39.775 with a 10 on beam. …

That total will move them up to 2nd in the in-progress rankings.Β 

Balance Beam Situation LIVE blog

Oklahoma 197.900

Still the team to beat in 2024.

Oklahoma 197.900
LSU 197.150
UCLA 197.100
Utah 196.975

Adam Siao – Figure Skating backflip

Good man. Adam Siao is pushing the sport to innovate.

He defended his European title despite deliberately taking a deduction for an illegal back flip.

Others have done it in the past β€”Β most famously Surya Bonaly from France who landed a backflip on one blade at theΒ 1998 Winter OlympicsΒ inΒ Nagano, Japan.

Sage Kellerman – Vault

I’m OK with 10.0 for this one.

George Eyser – amputee Olympic gymnast

George Eyser was a German-American gymnast who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics, earning six medals in one day, including three gold and two silver medals.

Eyser competed with a wooden prosthesis for a left leg, having lost his real leg after being run over by a train. Despite his disability, he won gold in the vault, an event which then included a jump over a long horse without aid of a springboard. …

The Paralympic Games began 1948. Most physically challenged athletes now compete there.

Prior to 2008, Eyser was the only person with an artificial leg to have competed at the Olympic Games. In 2008, Natalie du Toit, a South African swimmer who lost her left leg in a traffic accident, participated in the 10 km marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and finished 16th …

Read more βž™ George Eyser: Medals, mystery and the Games’ first amputee

Thanks Jim Holt for remembering Eyser, one of the most amazing Olympic stories of all time.