Olympic champ Sandra Izbasa returns

The rumours were true. The Olympic Floor champion is back and getting ready to compete.

BEIJING - AUGUST 17: (L-R) Shawn Johnson of the United States poses with the silver medal, Sandra Izbasa of Romania poses with the gold medal and Nastia Liukin of the United States poses with the bronze medal in the women's individual floor final in the artistic gymnastics event held in National Indoor Stadium on Day 9 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 17, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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

… Sandra Izbasa recovered her exercises on vault, floor and beam and she already thinks of new challenges. …

Couch Gymnast – Sandra’s back! 🙂

Watch video.

Belu is once again the spokesman for Romania, it seems.

Comment on one of those posts:

And once again, reports of Romania’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

gymnast Sabrina Gill website

The Canadian Junior Champ from Oakville has a new site on Chalk Bowl.

chalkbowl.com/sabrina

Thanks Rick.

Even better is her YouTube Channel.

Great West Gym Fest, Feb. 25-28, 2011

Coeur d’ Alene Resort, Idaho

The registration form is posted. Deadline Jan. 1, 2011 … though you’d be well advised to send a deposit much sooner if you plan to attend. It’s going to be awesome.

… the Great West Gymfest celebrates it’s 10th anniversary with a meet extravaganza like nothing you’ve ever seen!

Featuring our world famous awards, FREE leos for every competitor, “Rock and Roll” march-ins, tons of Olympians, great socials, and some “new for 2011? suprises that are guaranteed to make the 10th year celebration of the “world’s best invitational” even more of a special memory for coaches, parents and athletes alike! …

Great West Gym Fest 2010

more photos from 2009

official website – Great West Gym Fest

IGC – huge gymnastics pit

Anna sends a link to the International Gymnastics Camp Olympic Gym page. The video highlights their HUGE pit.

Check the excellent IGC TV YouTube channel, as well.

Elvire Teza – 2000 Olympics Bars

Agressive swing. Interesting skills.

French gymnast Elvire Teza is a fan favourite. She was the first French gymnast to qualify to an Olympic Final. And has 2 elements named after her on Beam.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Thanks Jerimiah for the link.

‘Step Up 3D’ Trailer

3D truly is a whole new ballgame when it comes to the big screen.

A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers, including Luke (Malambri) and Natalie (Vinson), team up with NYU freshman Moose (Sevani), and find themselves pitted against the world’s best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown …

IMDB

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Impressive how they can convey 3D in a 2D video clip. John Woo is a master.

Thanks Jason.

Texas Dreams gymnastics workout

Looks very efficient, not easy when you have so many good kids.

… Coaches Chris Burdette and Kim Zmeskal-Burdette will have 6 gymnasts representing Texas Dreams next week in Hartford at the 2010 US Championships.

They have 5 junior elite qualifiers: Kennedy Baker, Dare Maxwell, Claire Boyce, Ashton Kim, and Peyton Ernst (Kiana Winston qualified but won’t compete due to injury). Their lone senior elite is former national team member Chelsea Davis who will be competing in her first major national competition since the 2008 Olympic Trials. Watch how former World Champion and Olympian Kim Zmeskal-Burdette prepares her athletes for US Nationals, a meet she herself has won numerous times. …

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://c1403192.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/player.swf