Gymnastics Coaching.com

I saw a few commenters say that Lauren Mitchell should have won Floor finals over Beth Tweddle. Let’s compare for ourselves …

Click PLAY or watch Beth on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch Lauren on YouTube. (routine starts at 60sec)

TWEDDLE – 6.100 8.60 8.40 8.70 8.50 8.40 8.70 8.550 14.650
MITCHELL – 5.800 8.80 8.70 8.80 8.30 8.70 9.00 8.750 14.550

I like both. And I’m satisfied with Beth winning. She did more difficulty. Lauren is definitely more artistic.

Both routines are worthy of a World Championships medal. Congratulations!

Leave a comment if you disagree.

Can Shayla replace Courtney Kupets as the star in the Georgia line-up?

Shayla Worley is a great gymnast. But Courtney was the greatest College gymnast of all time.

There’s a terrific interview with Shayla on the Georgia Dogs website. Click through to watch it.

Or, if you are already nostalgic for the OLD GymDogs, click PLAY or watch a cool edit from last season on YouTube.

This year will be the 100th annual gymnastics show, making it, perhaps, the oldest gymnastics exhibition in the world.

The show’s theme this year is “The Wonderful World of Gymnastics”.

Springfield College Men’s Gymnastics and Women’s Gymnastics home pages.

Check this out.

A new online journal dedicated to research in gymnastics. The editorial board includes several high profile gymnastics sport scientists (e.g. Hardy Fink, Bill Sands, Istvan Karascony, etc.).

The first issue (PDF) has just been published. Clicking on that link should open it as a document on your computer.

Ivan Cuk is Editor-in-Chief

English is the main language but they are accepting articles in other languages.

I’m super excited about this great new initiative. How many times has Dr. Jeni McNeal told me that gymnastics research is “dying”? (Jeni might be dying herself this weekend, competing in the U.S. Adventure Race National Championship in Pilot Point, TX)

Pass this link along to anyone you know who might be interested.

Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian gymnast Yury Ryazanov was killed in a car crash on Tuesday, just five days after winning a bronze medal at the world championships, police said.

Ryazanov was driving on a highway heading to his home city of Vladimir, around 200 kilometres east of Moscow, when his car collided head on with another vehicle …

Reuters

Nancy Armour, AP National Writer

LONDON — The Japanese men aren’t the only ones who can bring home the hardware.

Koko Tsurumi won the bronze at the world gymnastics championships on Friday, only the second time a Japanese woman has won an all-around medal. Keiko Ikeda took the bronze in 1996.

“The women’s team has been strong, but since last year, there’s more attention being paid,” Tsurumi said through a translator. “They’re going stronger and stronger, and I hope this continues for the Olympic Games.”

Tsurumi finished with 57.175 points, behind Americans Bridget Sloan and Rebecca Bross.

Asked if she’d taken any inspiration from Uchimura, Tsurumi shook her head.

“We know the Japanese men are strong,” she said. “It’s natural for them to win.” …

read the article – USA Today – Look out, guys! Tsurumi wins bronze at gym worlds

Koko 4′ 7″ weighs only 33kg (73lbs) … yet nobody accuses her of being underage. We trust the Japanese. We don’t trust the Chinese. Simple.

Who is the top gymnast in the world today?

Rebecca Bross.

She’s got the highest AA start value for difficulty. And it’s only going to get higher over the coming years.

Click PLAY or watch her Beam from AA Finals on YouTube.

No, Rebecca is not my favourite gymnast. But this code of points favours girls who are tough and consistent. Gymnasts like Shawn Johnson and Rebecca Bross.

Rebecca’s got a smart coach in Valeri.

She’s the girl to beat.

Organisers of the London Olympics may be forced to rethink plans to move rhythmic gymnastics and badminton to Wembley after receiving a frosty response from the world governing body of gymnastics.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

details – International Gymnastics Federation unhappy with Wembley switch for London 2012

Posted on the Facebook Woodward Camp page.

Woodward Gymnastics Camp, Pennsylvania

After every age group competition I check on injury trends. Talking to the medical staff on site is usually the best way to get a feel for what happened.

What about the World Championships?

Some called it a “Splatfest” … I think that’s a bit too harsh.

The first thing you need tell a non-gymnast about Artistic Gymnastics is that it’s difficult. Second, that it’s dangerous.

We saw a lot of falls like this …

Yang Yilin of China tumbles as she dismount from the uneven bars during the World Gymnastics Championships women’s all-around final at the O2 Arena in London, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham) – ESPN

Most gymnasts pick themselves up. And go on. They are tough as any athlete anywhere.

Reuters published an article on the dangers:

The risks faced by young gymnasts in the chase for medals were again highlighted on Sunday when Jessica Gil Ortiz‘s bid to win the floor exercise title ended painfully with a suspected neck injury.

The 19-year-old Colombian was attempting to finish off a high-flying tumbling sequence with a double front somersault when she banged her head at an uncomfortable angle, hushing almost 12,000 fans at the O2 Arena into silence. …

Gymnastics-Ortiz fall highlights dangers faced by gymnasts

Reports are that the injury turned out to be not serious. (Jessica trains at Universal Gymnastics in Miami.)

Other athletes injured in London include Fabian Hambuechen (GER) and Shona Morgan (AUS). Leave a comment if you know of others who withdrew from competition.

Shona had a dislocated kneecap. No ligament damage. That’s good news too.