No more bottle necks in Circuits. Simply add an Original Block.
I was impressed by the videos of a variety of stations you can set up with it.
The hand positions are a bonus.
Cost $60. The Original Block home page.
(via Rec Gymnastics)
Mustafina ‘kicking butt and taking names’
After a surprising fall on Floor and defeat at American Cup, our World Champion again looks nearly unbeatable winning all 3 event Finals she competed at World Cup in Paris.
… As one commenter said about Mustafina on bars, “she is kicking butt and taking names” at this competition …
Nothing but praise for Aliya Mustafina on that, the Couch Gymnast’s wrap-up post.
More of the same on Gymnastics Examiner:
… Mustafina hit one of the better beam sets she’s ever done. If Mustafina has a weakness, beam is it — it’s the one event she seems to train and compete identically.
But Sunday in Paris she controlled her incredible difficulty very well. I was especially impressed with the more or less stuck triple full from two back handsprings. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Brigid: “I believe when Mustafina is calm – that is when other gymnasts should be scared.”
Blythe’s main complaint about the new Finals format:
Why six is better than four: The beam final was a good demonstration of how the FIG’s new rule about category A World Cup meets can backfire. It was set to be an exciting event, more or less a rehash of the 2010 World Championships beam final.
But the fact that three of the four gymnasts fell, and two of the three earned medals in spite of their falls, illustrates why you need more gymnasts in a final at a World Cup event. I don’t understand why the FIG thinks eight is too many — it takes too much time, perhaps? — but if there must be fewer gymnasts in a final, six would be a more reasonable number. …
The other big problem with the new format is that we’ll likely wear out the top gymnasts in the World competing too often.
Florida, Alabama, Oregon State
As the season winds down, here’s a list of those most likely to end up in the Super 6 team final at NCAA Championships in Ohio.
Florida held the #1 spot all season. And is still the ‘team to beat’.
It’s nice to see the Beavers ranked top 3. They’ve had a great year.
best slow clap ever
Dave Adlard loves the film Cool Runnings:
… loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsled team’s debut in the bobsleigh competition of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. …
For the first half of the final day’s race it looks as though they will break the world bobsled speed record, until tragedy strikes: their sled, due to one of the blades falling off, flips on its side coming out of a turn towards the end of their run, leaving them meters short of the finish line. However, the team lifts their sled up and walks across the finish line …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
“A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
– John Candy as coach Irv Blitzer
Oregon State wins Pac-10
…. The Beavers scored a season-high 197.200 and Leslie Mak won the balance beam title with a career-high 9.950 and all-around championship with a career-high 39.525.
OSU won its first Pac-10 title for coach Tanya Chaplin in her 14 years at the helm. The last conference title for the team was in 1996, the last season before she took over.UCLA took second with a 196.750 followed by Washington (196.025), Stanford (195.975), Arizona (195.475), California (191.575) and Arizona State (190.450). …
Chaplin won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the fifth time, and second year in a row. Mak took the gymnast of the year award. Both awards were voted on by the conference coaches. …
A wake-up call for Stanford?
Anastasia Grishina – Bars
A strong candidate for the Russian Olympic team is back.
She won Jr. Bars at Jesolo with a 15.10.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
There are tons of videos online already. I’ll post highlights over the next few days.
McKayla Maroney – Amanar
The most raved about routine of the weekend, so far.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Will kids start emulating the weird start to her sprint?
MAG Elite Canada
Grace Chiu GraceClick on Facebook:
Elite Canada Champions …
Argo: Sam Zakutney (National Capital), Tyro: Aiden Marsden (Capital City), Junior: Kal Nemier (Flicka), Senior: Jackson Payne (Capital City).
Thank you and congratulations to Gymnastics Mississauga for hosting a wonderful meet!
Sam Zakutney
And thanks to Grace for providing some information and posting a few of her wonderful photos on Facebook, almost the only publicity for the meet that I could find online.
Support her photo site graceclick.ca
meanwhile, back in Paris
Blythe is in France at the World Cup meet:
I was put in the mood for gymnastics today (oh, who am I kidding? I am always in the mood for gymnastics!) on the metro to the Bercy by a group of 10-12 year old girls who got on a few stops away from the arena. They were decked out for “la gym” with signs, tricolor pompoms and the French flag painted on their cheeks.
One girl had streaked red, white and blue eye shadow on her eyelids so that when she blinks you see the French flag. They sang a little song that basically went “If you love gymnastics, clap your hands” followed of course by hand claps. There is so much support and genuine excitement surrounding this event! …
Only 4 gymnasts qualified to Finals, cash prizes for the top 3.
Men’s floor: 1. Gonzalez 2. Koczi 3. Bouhail
Men’s pommel: 1. Smith 2. Bertoncelj 3. Tommasone
Women’s vault: 1. Mustafina 2. Nabieva 3. Chelaru
Men’s rings: 1. Chen 2. Balandin 3T. Pluzhnikov and Morandi
read more – Gymnastics Examiner LIVE coverage
Leyva, Silverstein, Orozco, Ervin
The 20th annual Jason Whitfield Invitational was held in Ann Arbor, Mich., March 12-13.
Cathy and Jim Whitfield announced the 2011 Whitfield Foundation scholarship winners of $3,000 each are: Danell Leyva, Jesse Silverstein, John Orozco and Stacey Ervin.
Three of the four scholarship winners attended the meet this year. The Whitfield Foundation was established after the death of Jason who died in a motorcycle accident in 1991 while pursuing his own gymnastic dreams. Thus far, the Whitfield Foundation has awarded a total of $180,500 to 67 male gymnasts from across the country.
Cathy and Jim Whitfield with scholarship recipients Jesse Silverstein, John Orozco and Stacey Ervin. Danell Leyva not pictured.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 