coach in Toronto

Gymnastics Mississauga is currently looking for a full-time Women’s Artistic Program Provincial Stream Coach.

They have a state-of-the-art 24,000 square foot facility. Gorgeous.

Contact Women’s Head Coach Craig Smith for details on the position craig |AT| gymmississauga.org

competition Vault warm-up port-a-pit

I want port-a-pits to be available for vault ‘timers’ at competition. I’ve even phoned meet organizers ahead of time to request that they provide that kind of matting.

One day at the Canadian Championships I was pleased to see this mat out in the competition gym.

Click PLAY or watch some vault podium training on YouTube.

But why is it so short?

Dangerously short.

I assume the idea is that this mat is easy to move quickly. But I’d just as soon not have one in my gym, afraid that sooner of later one of the kids would fly over it.

Stjarnan Gymnastics, Iceland

Is your gym this fine?

Click PLAY or see the facility on YouTube.

Stjarnan Gymnastics House is in Garðabær, a suburb of Reykjavík.

Thanks Niclaes Jerkeholt for posting that video.

I also stopped by the new Akureyri Gymnastics facility in the north of the island.

They were just installing all new Gymnova equipment.

more photos of the Akureyri facility

There are a number of world class gyms in Iceland.

an inspiring story of sportsmanship

This is the story of Sara Tucholsky, a College baseball player, who tore her ACL while rounding the bases after hitting the first Home Run of her career.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

ESPN – Central Washington offers the ultimate act of sportsmanship

anti-doping at London Olympics

WODA throws down.

The director of the anti-doping lab for the 2012 London Olympics has a warning for any athletes considering using banned substances.

“If you want to take drugs don’t come to London — because we’ll catch you if you take drugs,” professor David Cowan said at the end of a World Anti-Doping Association symposium on Thursday. …

Universal Sports

By the way …

Did you hear that Lance Armstrong bumped into Tyler Hamilton in an Aspen, Colorado restaurant?

Awkward.

NY Times – Armstrong Encounter Draws Scrutiny by F.B.I.

gymnastics chain carabiners

This is a follow up to the post on single point of failure industry standard apparatus cable floor attachments.

Ricky points out that it’s not only the floor plate we need to consider, but the entire tie-down mechanism.

The most frequent mistake made in gyms is when some well meaning maintenance person decides to use a threaded quick link like this one:

Yes, that’s the same kind used in the new installation pictured above. Safe when used properly. Safe when threaded only once.

But in my opinion, if you’ve got those in your gym, replace. It’s possible for the threads to get stripped after repeated use. Likely you’ve seen Quick Links fail. They are untrustworthy.

UPDATE: Here’s an example of one of those Quick Links having failed.

Of the better alternatives, mountain climbing carabiners are light, strong and widely available. Get locking carabiners, just in case.

Locking carabiners have the same general shape as non-locking carabiners but have an additional sleeve securing the gate. These sleeves may be either threaded or spring-loaded twist-lock. …

There are two main kinds:

• Twist-lock
• Screw-lock

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Other suggestions:

George and Ian upgraded the attachments at Phoenix Gymnastics, Edmonton, by adding floor plates with multiple bolts, rather than just one. GREAT.

(Those still worry me when attached to a wood floor – on basketball floors, for example. I’ve seen the entire floor plate, with 4 flimsy wood screws, pull out at the same time.)

Tim Douglas linked to a new-to-me technology they’ve used called – Chemical Anchoring (PDF)

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Update.

Greg Jackson has some cautions regarding the climbing carabiners:

In rock climbing, we use very similar anchors and bolts too. I have installed quite a few of those in far more uncomfortable positions than standing on a gym floor.

The most important part of the system is proper installation – especially in relatively soft concrete. It’s common for people to be too casual while drilling the hole. You must keep the drill straight so that you don’t flute the hole and, for some anchors, you must ensure that you’ve drilled to the proper depth.

If you’re going to use two anchors, they must be at least 10 times the diameter of the anchor away from each other or from an edge, otherwise the concrete will “dinner plate”.

Chemical anchors have been used for ages. The French climbers have been using them in their famous limestone cliffs for decades.

The quick links are plenty strong if closed properly with a wrench; use Loctite Blue to seal the threads. Don’t use Loctite Red as you’ll need a blow torch to break the seal.

DO NOT use an aluminum carabiner, they will wear very fast with the repetitive movement against the sharp steel edges of the anchors. In permanent carabiner installations on rock climbs, steel quick links are used. A steel carabiner is usually huge and quite expensive as they’re used mostly for rescue and not climbing as they’re too heavy.

… So, there’s no perfect alternative to the threaded Quick Link, so far as I can see.

Decades ago we tried these U-bolts, hoping they were more reliable than the Quick Link.

I’ve never seen one fail.

Leave a comment if you’ve anything to add to this discussion.