Gymnastics Coaching.com

From this angle the great Fabian looks to have very, very good form.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Will he win the world championships on Horizontal Bar this year?

Horton will be competing 4 big releases for sure, a higher start value than this routine. (Jon didn’t make HB finals since he was the #3 American. Thanks, Darius.) Epke will try to connect 2 big releases. … Others may take the chance and go for higher difficulty, as well.

As you’ve heard over and over again, I can’t think of nicer people in this competition than Fabian and his father / coach. We’re lucky to have them. Fabian’s as compelling a personality as Li Ning, back in the 1980s.

The Olympic Gold medalist on Pommels in Athens had the second highest score in Team finals (15.466) tied with Tommasone of France. (Louis Smith had an even higher number.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My complaints about Horizontal Bar in general, and Chinese Horizontal Bar in particular, is getting boring.

This guy is the exception. So tall, you’d not guess he was Chinese.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (15.90)

Though not perfect, he may have the best form on this apparatus of anyone in Rotterdam. (Leave a comment to correct this ranking.) … And of the near compulsory routines under this code of point, Zhang does have a little bit of variety.

LOVE the pull-outs to Invert Cross. A strength clinic by the reigning Olympic Champion on this apparatus.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

And kicking out of double layout full out. Sweet.

All he needs to do now is add back the Butterfly to Cross mount he used prior to the 2008 Olympics.

Thanks Jeff.

Inside Gymnastics:

National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi has announced that she will retire from her position following the 2012 Olympic in London. We caught up with Karolyi here and asked her, “Who do you think might be able to fulfill that role?” Here’s what she had to say…

“You are trying to squeeze it out of me? Yes? (Laughs) Well I don’t know, but my personal opinion is that Valeri (Liukin) definitely would be a good person.” …

Inside Gymnastics

They HIT 18 for 18, finishing strong on Pommels. The only team not suffering at least 1 fall.

Everyone counted Germany out. Even themselves.

Click PLAY or watch Fabian’s interview on Gymnastike.

http://videoplayer.flocasts.org/player.swf

The German boys are huge celebrities in Europe, … and not only with teenage girls.

Their success is good for the sport.

Rings.

I’m telling you. This is a new era.

China was almost 2 points ahead of Germany and the rest on that apparatus.

They won P Bars by only about 0.1 and finished 6th on Pommels as a team.

Chen Yibing’s 16.00 on Rings was my favourite routine on all apparatus in the competition. I’ll post video when it comes online. (Horton had the 2nd highest score, 15.50)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js

He’s number 1.

GREAT SHOW at the Men’s World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam. They guys were even better, overall, than they were in qualifying.

Fantastic gymnastics.

Last rotation Japan trailed China by about 0.8 going into Horizontal Bar. I thought might overtake, having no faith in China on pipe.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js

Didn’t happen. … The first Japanese, Tanaka, came off on a pirouette. Uchimura missed a connection out of Tak full (falling the wrong way without a form break, then NAILING the routine and STICKING the dismount). … A God even when he makes a mistake.

Congratulations to team China. All hail!

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js

… The USA could not make up for their weak Pommels. (Somebody phone Artemev and tell him to train harder. His country needs him.)

The happiest guys in the gym are TEAM GERMANY. Dancing and singing. … They were only ranked 5th in the IG preview post.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js

International Gymnast Magazine

FINAL RESULTS – top three repeat from 2007:

1. China 274.497 GOLD
2. Japan 273.769 SILVER
3. Germany 271.252 BRONZE
4. U.S. 268.012
5. France 263.468
6. Russia 263.170
7. Great Britain 261.103
8. Korea

… Now the Germans–Well what can I say–They just really wanted this. Everyone had pretty much counted them out with the injuries to Nyugen and Hambuechen. I guess we won’t do that again!

See the FALLS from Team Finals.

Click PLAY or watch China on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Russia on YouTube.

(via About.com Gymnastics) … more videos linked from that page.

In 2010 to make the Vault final you need two 7.0 value vaults. And have good landings on both.

Click PLAY or watch the 2010 European Champion from France qualify on YouTube.

My proposal is to improve the landing mats to those used by FIG in Double Mini-tramp competition. If that happened, they would need to be adopted across both WAG and MAG.