Gymnastics Coaching.com

Big Tkachev already for the 12yr-old from Buckeye Gymnastics. One of they youngest Jr Elites in the USA.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Nia can swing, obviously. But I hope she’s also working to improve “line”.

Background on Gym Divas.

via @mattwickhammatt

Let’s say you are one of the best in the world at your sport … and somebody stops you from competing.

more photos

Why would they do that?

Katelyn Ohashi has competed successfully one of the most difficult beam routines in history (VIDEO), yet is not allowed to even try out for the 2012 Olympics.

Yep. The American Jr Champion is too young to compete in the London Olympics. What a shame.

A recent legal paper looks at the mechanism by which an American could challenge that rule. It’s got a cute name:

Uneven Bars: Age Rules, Antitrust, and Amateurism in Women’s Gymnastics

Katelyn could try to challenge the age-eligibility rules by antitrust lawsuit against USA Gymnastics who enforces the FIG rule.

… That would be odd since nearly everyone in the National Team program for the States is against the age rule, most vocally so.

This legal opinion:

… While gymnastics’ current minimum-age rule would likely survive an antitrust challenge, the rule’s policy impact has been profoundly negative in two distinct ways. First, as predicted by Martha Karolyi, the enactment of the current age rule has helped usher in an era of increased corruption related to age fabrication. As the recent cases in China and North Korea evidence, the nefarious conduct reached governmental levels, where officials knowingly altered documents to further the fraud.

Second, the countries that falsify such documents as a way to circumvent the age rule have created an unlevel playing field vis-a?-vis those countries that follow the rule. …

Still, the paper concludes that if age monitoring cannot be enforced:

… the rule should be eliminated to allow all gymnasts and countries the opportunity for greater parity and fairness in elite-level international competition.

Download the entire 20 page paper here. (PDF)

Rodenberg, Ryan M. , Uneven Bars: Age Rules, Antitrust, and Amateurism in Women’s Gymnastics (July 25, 2011). University of Baltimore Law Review, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2011. Available at SSRN

So, Katelyn Ohashi needs to stay at this level until the Rio Olympics. Exactly as Nastia had to wait until Beijing. … She was too young for Athens.

related – Do Minimum Age Rules “Work” in Sports?

…‘Cold Warrior’.

“A young gymnast questions her dreams of Olympic glory when she discovers she’s part of a shady government plot to win at any cost.”

Written and directed by Emily Greenwood. …

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

It looks hilariously cliché to me. But there is one theme that may be of interest to coaches.

… The film addresses the grim topic of abortion doping, a practice rumored to have been used by Romanian and Soviet coaches during the 1970s and 1980s to improve the athletic performance of gymnasts. …

Double Front – Cold Warrior Movie Trailer

Click through for more on that film. And for another link on abortion doping.

That surprises me.

Many others made the direct trip Tokyo to Guadalajara. Others had a brief stopover at home to do laundry.

related – Examiner – Quotable: Martha Karolyi in the mixed zone

By the way, Blythe Lawrence was recently profiled in the Open Beast Inspiration Journal.

The Men’s Team competition just concluded.

1) BRA 2) PUR 3) USA 4) COL 5) CAN 6) MEX

USA and Canada both sent a B-team.

This will be great for sponsorship and publicity for the Olympic host nation.

Never easy. Some of the most bizarre judging stories I’ve ever heard have come out of Central and South America.

Here’s one from the Women’s Team Competition:

From judge Grace Chiu who’s there as photographer:

The straddled Weiler was supposed to be devalued from a D to a C, according to the FIG WTC since Tokyo. It did not get applied yesterday to Shawn Johnson because Steve Butcher, MTC acting on behalf of absent Nellie Kim, clarified that the change can only be applied after six months‘ notice. Johnson benefits with a 0.4 and one placement ahead of Peng Peng Lee because of the timing of these Pan Am Games. I will be curious to see what Shawn does in 6 months.

That’s significant because vaunted Team USA nearly lost this meet. From Amanda Turner’s wrap-up post:

… The U.S. outscored the field on vault and uneven bars, but performed disastrously on balance beam and floor exercise. Olympic champion Shawn Johnson, who won four golds at the 2007 Pan American Games, dropped off on her standing full and slipped off again on a simple switch leap. Newcomer Jessie Deziel posted the top scores for the U.S. team on balance beam (13.275) and floor exercise (13.150).

Peng-Peng Lee led Canada, which could have won with a stronger performance on uneven bars. The team had the top totals on both balance beam and floor exercise, with Mikaela Gerber posting the best floor score (13.950). …

IG – US Women Defend Pan Am Games Team Title

Full WAG results from that link, too.

New WTC for PAGU (Pan American Gymnastics Union) …

President:
Naomi Valenzo – MEX

Members:
Helen Laliberte – CAN
Irene De Diaz – ESA
Yazaira Cabrera-Davila – PUR
Thays Colina – VEN
Yumi Sawasato – BRA

Congratulations on the strong prelims competition.

… the only Guatemalan classified to participate in gymnastics Pan American Games …

… finished with a total of 55,425 in their classification, which exceeded the Canadian Christine Lee and Kristina Vaculik also be relegated to fourth place in the American favorite Bridgetee Caquatto. …

Gimnasia Latina translated into English

In the past I’d say Ana Sofia Gomez would be a strong candidate for a “wild card” to the Olympics. Right now I’m totally confused on whether or not there will even be any wild card spots.

Dr. Michael Canales interviews the likeable Jon Horton after surgery. They’ve repaired the damage from a Lisfranc injury he suffered landing short on Dragulescu Vault at the 2011 Tokyo World Championships.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I think Jon will be back, better than ever. Better on Pommels, in particular.

MostepanovaFan:

A montage showing some named skills from the Code of Points that were actually performed by other people earlier. Generally this happens when people never get to go to a world championships but occasionally the FIG like to remind us how dumb they can be and just name the skill after the wrong Romanian. Smooth.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That video opens up plenty more discussion. Post in the YouTube comments if you want to weigh in.

The FIG Women’s Technical Committee has a laughable record for bungling the “naming” of skills.

(via Couch Gymnast)

I understand Nastia is coming costumed as a GYMNAST. 🙂

… The Progressive Skating & Gymnastics Spectacular, coming to … Moline, Ill., on October 29, is part of the Pandora NBC Skating Series and will feature Olympic, world and national medalists in figure skating and gymnastics, including Olympic hopefuls for the London 2012 Summer Games.

Leading the cast of world-class gymnasts is 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin, returning for her fifth appearance in the show. …

Horton is out as he’s just had minor surgery.