Susan Jackson 6th AA victory

The #1 college gymnast, Susan Jackson, refuses to miss a routine.

Susan won her school record 6th straight all-around with a 39.525.

And she’s leading her team up and up. Last weekend LSU beat #1 Alabama. Tonight they tied their high team score of the season with a 196.475-190.775 win over Texas Woman’s.

Shayla Worley is for REAL

I was starting to have my doubts about Shayla Worley. But now with 2 strong AA meets over the past 2 weekends, you have to count Shayla one of the favourites to win the individual NCAA championships.

Click PLAY or watch her Floor (from last weekend) on Gymnastike.

This routine is strong, but doesn’t blow me away.

Georgia, at home, won 196.725-195.872 over No. 3 Arkansas.

Shayla won the AA with 39.375. That won’t be enough to hold her rank at #2 in College gymnastics.

Post meet she tweeted: WE ARE BACK AND HERE TO STAY BABYYY

Alabama v Florida v Olympics tonight

… the No. 2 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team returns home this Friday at 7:30 p.m. to take on No. 6 Florida in another top-10 match-up.

“I’ve said all along I think Florida might be the most talented team in the country,” Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. “We’re excited to have them here and excited to be back at home in front of our great crowd after two weeks on the road.” …

No. 2 Ranked Gymnastics Faces No. 6 Florida on Friday

I’ll be checking in via the internet. But watching the Winter Olympic Games opening ceremonies on TV.

Friends in the States are telling me NBC coverage there is much inferior to host Canada.

gymnastics – introducing forward giants

Here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s post on front giants. The next step.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It’s from GymDrills.com.

world’s biggest gymnastics meet

The IGI Chicago Style Invite goes this weekend, Feb. 12-14th. Good luck to the _____ gymnasts competing.

How many girls are entered this year? … 4000? … 5000?

One highlight will be the NCAA College competition tonight.

Nebraska Heads to IGI Chicago Style Invite with Denver, Illinois and Iowa

judging destroying the popularity of Gymnastics?

Jim Holt related to this article in Sports Illustrated:

Ah, the old system, where perfection was a (10) — remember? …

The prime purpose of the new and unimproved scoring system was to better quantify the various elements in a program — required jumps and spins— so that the famously nefarious judges would have less latitude to cheat.

Alas, this created a scoring system so arcane that, by comparison, it makes computing the Standard and Poor’s index child’s play. Moreover, by emphasizing compulsory obligations, the new system diminished the emphasis on artistry. …

Frank Deford in Sports Illustrated – … Go figure

Bottom line: Frank argues that the scoring system has “destroyed the popularity” an Olympic Sport.

Sound familiar?

Frank is talking about Figure Skating.

Mirai Nagasu (left) skated a pristine program last month in Spokane, but lost out on gold to Rachael Flatt by ... 11.33 points?

Shawn Johnson – Got Milk?

… making the rounds at the Vancouver Winter Games this week, with appearances on behalf of McDonald’s and the milk industry …

Shawn Johnson has transformed into pop celebrity

Love the upside down Shawn.

Youth Olympic Games Singapore, Nanjing

The first ever Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will be held in Singapore between 14 and 26 August 2010. That’s 3,600 athletes between 14 and 18 years of age from 205 National Olympic Committees.

Only 1 male and 1 female athlete will compete for each country in individual disciplines.

All 26 sports on the London 2012 Olympic Games programme will be hosted.

official website

Today Nanjing, China was elected to host the second YOG in 2014.

We can be certain that Nanjing event will be massive, China still high on the success of the Beijing Games.

Obviously critics will be vocal that this new event will push young athletes too soon. It flies in the face of Bruno Grandi’s efforts to raise the minimum age of gymnasts competing at World’s and Olympic Championships.

Personally, I’m really looking forward to YOG. If successful, Olympic sports will get a media boost every two years, rather than every four.

gymnastics conditioning – the Al Slide

UCLA’s Allison Taylor says she’s the only girl on the team who can do this drill.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-4.2/player.swf

A couple of wannabes give it a try here, including Anne from Gymnastike, herself.

Do you know someone who can do it in series, like Allison?

Join Gymnastike (free) and upload the video to the site. They might be profiled on the Home Page.

Game on.