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I attended Renmore Gymnastics Level 1 Regionals Qualifier. This is the first level for beginner girls in Ireland, competition held only for Floor and Vault.
FUN is highest priority.
Scoring was done with pencil and paper. Gymnasts flashed the scores manually. No computer errors at this competition!
Group is my favourite of the Rhythmic disciplines. Of the teams competing the Olympic Test Meet London, Spain finished prelims with the highest score.
Rhythmic Gymnastics. Spain, 5 Balls – : 26.900 (Difficulty : 9.000, Artistic : 9.000, Execution : 8.900). Rank : 1
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Here’s the FIG wrap-up post for day 1 competition – Rhythmic gymnasts sparkle at Greenwich. It has results and links to more photos / videos.
Perhaps he’s growing tired of losing Horizontal Bar to Chinese gymnasts doing higher start value, but (in reality) less difficulty.
Our World Champion is connecting Liukin (1/1 twisting layout Tkachev) in combination from a D-part. With perfect form.
Watch it on YouTube.
If that’s not a big enough bump to his start value, maybe he’ll add a Shaham (kovacs 1 1/2) (VIDEO).
The London Test Meet has a kiss and cry area. I didn’t hear anybody in the Gymnastics world complain.
Until @KateBamberPA tweeted …
Is this the ugliest sofa in world sport? #rhythmic #gymnastics #FIGTest12
via @BBCSport_Ollie
A year after her Achilles tendon injury, Vanessa puts up a perfect 10.0 vault for UCLA.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
What’s with the College judges handing out 10s so early in the season? LOVE that vault, but they could have gone 9.95.
… “She does gymnastics on a whole level that you can’t teach,” Kondos Field said. “It’s god-given. She can do the same exact skills that any other athlete does, but she has this lightness and she makes it seem effortless. It’s ethereal, like she is flying.”…
… In her career as a Bruin, she has performed four flawless vaults, earning scores of 10.000 three times in 2009 and once in 2010. …
Oh no.
SHOCK! Ana Porgras withdraw only 18! World Champion in 2010 and a beam of hope for gold in London gave up gymnastics
That’s the headline on Sport.ro.
The 2010 World Champion on Beam made the decision after an elbow injury at a Christmas training camp in France.
Read the article via Google Translate.
She won the 2011 Longines Prize Of Elegance in Tokyo. This is a terrible loss for Team Romania, especially on Bars. And for gymnastics fans everywhere.
Update – the Prosport interview translated by Fangymnastics:
From the moment I made this decision there is no turning back. I said stop and I’m not coming back.
Not many predicted Italy would be the #1 team. (Eric did.)
They won Floor as a team. Ferrari had the highest AA. … But the big reason was the margin (PDF) by which they won Beam as a team.
Watch their highest Beam score, Carlotta FERLITO on YouTube.
14.533 (Difficulty : 6.00, Execution : 8.533).
Click PLAY or watch Francesca D’Agostini on YouTube. 14.525
Slightly over-scored, I’d say.
But a win’s a win. Italy did a fantastic job.
Their Men grabbed the last team qualification spot with a strong performance, too.
I got those links from Between the Olympics, the best page to find routines from London.
Kristina Vaculik does one of the best Geingers in the world. (Def?)
You really can see the Bar most of the time … if you fly high enough. 🙂
Watch her prelims routine on YouTube. 14.333 (5.8) – qualifying for Finals.
She and Peng Peng had the highest Execution score in those Finals – 8.666.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
One of the BIG good news stories of Test Meet and the coming Olympics is Kieran Behan from Ireland.
Here’s a kid who was warned he might never walk again at age-9. Was hospitalized 8wks at age-12 with brain damage. In 2008 he ruptured a cruciate knee ligament. In 2010 he did the same to his other knee.
He wouldn’t quit …
… selling sweets and washing cars to finance his trips in search of world ranking points. His father Phil, a builder, and mother Bernie, their son admits, “have put every spare penny they have into me.” His coach Simon Gale revealed that, “It’s been a struggle for him. Gymnastics Ireland hasn’t been able to fund him really and last year alone he spent thousands competing in places like Japan , Germany, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic.”…
After all that, Kieran somehow placed 34th AA at Test Meet London, grabbing one of the last Olympic spots. He finished 4th in Floor (VIDEO), a serious contender for Olympic Finals.
Ireland has gone nuts over Kieran, despite the fact he trains in England. Here are some of the Google News stories right now:
• Irish Independent – I was told I’d never walk again — today I’m aiming for the Olympics
• Sports News Ireland – Kieran Behan has indeed ‘come from nowhere’ to gain a place in London 2012
Full Twist has been covering the story closely.
Keiran and entourage were flown last minute to Ireland’s #1 The Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy. He’s already a national treasure just for qualifying to the Olympics.
From nobody to national celebrity. 🙂 CONGRATS to Keiran.
You can bet on whether he’ll win the Olympic medal or bring out an award winning autobiography.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 