… the Code of Points does not help Romania develop and retain many gymnasts.
“Now the scoring is open(-ended), so everyone tries to do many difficult combinations that take a lot out of the body,” he said. “It’s not easy to make many routines. There are two notes, Difficulty and Execution. To have good execution you have to do it many times, and when the difficulty is higher, it is not easy to do many times.” …
Some 2009 World Championships clips including the fall by Rebecca Bross on FX.
It’s interesting to look at a large number of falls closely to see why they happen – often very bad technique and form – and to speculate on why the coach left the skill in the routine.
Seems to me there’s too much incentive to do “difficulty” in our rules.
And that many of these athletes have not done enough landings on competition mats prior to the meet.
… This moment made me laugh because Kayla was sooo overwhelmed after vaulting so well, that even though she’d already hugged him and then stood there a while, she turned back and clung to him for dear life for a minute because, it seemed she just didn’t know what else to do! Seriously sweet. To me, Kayla won the US’s most well-earned medal for the women. She was consistently brilliant on vault. …
Kristina Vaculik has verbally committed to Stanford University. This is a big gain for Stanford. Vaculik is currently back in the gym working basic skills. Peng Peng Lee has just returned to the gym and is starting conditioning again. …
A new video from GymSmarts. Must see for every beam coach.
Fresh from training the 2008 Olympic Beam team, Tammy Biggs saw a need to develop an effective set of Balance Beam warm-up drills to improve the weaknesses she saw during the last Olympic Cycle. Tammy’s Beginning Tumbling Beam Complexes is the set of warm-up drills to correct these fundamental weaknesses she designed and is in current use by elite athletes throughout the United States. The DVD includes excellent demonstrations by athletes at Cincinnati Gymnastic Academy and is a must have for any program that needs to improve their Balance Beam performances.
Longines has a prestigious award for “Elegance” given to a male and female gymnast at the World Gymnastics Championships. (The guys are less pleased to be elegant than the girls.)
Elsa Garcia Rodriguez Blanca (MEX) and Daniel Keatings (GBR) won at the last World Championships.
Blythe on Gymnastics Examiner, tongue in cheek, riffs on OTHER Longine Prizes she would have awarded in London:
The Longines Prize for Difficulty
The Longines Prize for Embarrassing Fall
The Longines Prize for Graceful Acceptance of Things That Cannot Be Changed.
The Longines Prize for Graceful Acceptance of Things That Cannot Be Changed
The Longines Prize for Longevity
The Longines Prize for Promise
The Longines Prize for Improvement
The Longines Prize for Eye-Catching Fashion Statement
The Longines Prize for Themed Sports Attire
The Longines Prize for Specialization
The Longines Prize for Eye-Catching Tumbling Run
The Longines Prize for Breakout Performance
The Longines Prize for Perseverance
The Longines Prize for Calmness
The Longines Prize for National Satisfaction
Let me add my best wishes to everyone participating.
World Championships in Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini-Trampoline will get underway in St Petersburg (RUS) at the Sports and Concert Complex.
A total of 274 gymnasts (162 men and 112 women) from 32 different federations and every continent will participate in these championships, which feature Individual and Team competitions in Individual Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini-Trampoline as well as Synchronised Trampoline events. Great Britain and Russia will be sending the largest delegations (23 gymnasts per country), followed by Canada (22 entries) and the USA (19 participants). Kylie Walker (NZL), and Claudia Prat (ESP), both Women’s Individual Trampoline, will be the only representatives from their countries.
Let’s have a closer look at what and whom to expect:
Adam Wong of the Calgary Gymnastics Centre, Senior National Team Member and two-time Olympian has announced his retirement from gymnastics and the Canadian National Men’s Team.
“After much deliberation, I have decided to realize and put focus towards my professional goals outside of the sport. …
I’m sensing a bit of a backlash to the pink campaigns that hope to bring attention to the terrible disease of breast cancer, the second most common after lung cancer.
Will buying a pink t-shirt actually reduce the incidence of breast cancer?
Which organizations are actually contributing to the fight against breast cancer? And which organizations are turning a profit in these pink campaigns?
… (the) “Think Before You Pink” campaign urges people to “do something besides shop.” After explaining that some “pink” sponsors are polluting industrial giants or spend more money on breast cancer-themed advertisements than they actually donate towards research or treatment, BCA asks consumers to reflect thoughtfully on questions like, “How much money was spent marketing the product?” or “What is the company doing to assure that its products are not contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?” This group has particularly excoriated major cosmetic companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estée Lauder, which have claimed to promote women’s health while simultaneously using known and/or suspected cancer-causing chemicals, such as parabens and phthalates in their products. …