Gymnastics Coaching.com

Triple Olympic gold medalist Li Ning achieved a major publicity coup in Beijing yesterday by signing pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva to his eponymous sportswear brand for a reported five-year deal worth $7.5 million. …

Beijing – Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia breaks the world record during the women’s pole vault final – Guardian

She’s the #1 female track and female athlete in the world. Winner of the Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF in 2004, 2005 and 2008, and World Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus.

… Li Ning Company Limited now ranking as China’s largest sportswear retailer. Isinbayeva, with her Slavic blonde hair, model good looks and reputation as the world’s greatest female pole vaulter, is expected to add both prestige and chic to the brand’s armory. …

Stars currently under contract include Olympic champion diver Guo Jingjing, men’s gymnastics world and Olympic champion Yang Wei, and women’s table tennis world No 1 Zhang Yining.

To further expand its global reach, it has also signed foreign athletes including NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal of the Phoenix Suns and Baron Davis of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Croatian tennis player Ivan Ljubicic. …

Isinbayeva, a former artistic gymnast, said she felt instantly comfortable with the Li Ning brand.

“Li (also) used to be a gymnast. I think we have the same philosophy on life,” said the Russian, who was formerly under contract to Adidas, the world’s second-largest sports goods maker. …

China Daily – Isinbayeva to scale new financial heights

For MEN …

Stick It Media posted a summary of where things stand with only a few weeks left before Championships:

According to the stats compiled by GymInfo, the men’s NCAA Division I rankings are becoming a bit clearer. As of March 2, the top 5 plays out like this:

Stanford – 356.567
Oklahoma – 355.867
Cal – 355.350
Illinois – 351.833
Michigan – 350.150

Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State, Nebraska and Iowa round out the top 10. Penn State has been plagued by injuries all season, although they are showing signs of getting back in the hunt. Stanford got off to a rough start, by losing three straight to Cal, but they proved they are contenders by bouncing back at the PCC and this past weekend against the Japanese collegiate all-star team.

At this point in the season, Stanford, Oklahoma and Cal appear to be the top teams in the country, in no particular order. Illinois is definitely in the hunt, especially when Paul Ruggeri recovers from minor knee surgery. The Illini will be in great shape in time for the Big 10 Championships. Michigan is definitely worthy of consideration, as Chris Cameron is having a monster season, and is currently ranked 3rd in the All-Around.

Speaking of All-Around rankings, here are the top six:

Steven Legendre (Oklahoma) – 89.33
Casey Sandy (Penn State) – 88.917
Chris Cameron (Michigan) – 88.167
Sho Nakamori (Stanford) – 87.983
Glen Ishino (Cal) – 87.867
Kyle Bunthuwong (Cal) – 86.933

… read more – Stick It Media

Chris Cameron – Go Blue

You know you’re really a gymnastics PARENT when…

* Most of your kids’ photos are of them in gym suits, on a beam, or doing a floor routine.

* You have more water bottles, hair doomahickeys, and gym bags in every vehicle just in case!

* Your diet consists of any fundraising product offered by your club.

* Family holidays generally involve a competition somewhere cold and to get there you usually have to travel in blizzard conditions.

* There is more chalk brought into your house than dust.

* You have watched the gymnastics movie Stick It too many times to count!

read more by Michelle Pisoni on the Chalk Bowl blog

cafepress

The James E. Sullivan trophy, known as the Oscar of sports awards, is presented annually in April by the United States Amateur Athletic Union to the most outstanding amateur athlete from any sport in the United States.

The only gymnasts to win it in the past were Kurt Thomas (1979) and Paul Hamm (2004).

2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, 2008 Olympic balance beam gold-medalist Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa, and 2008 Olympic horizontal bar silver-medalist Jonathan Horton of Houston are three of 12 amateur athletes chosen as semifinalists for the 79th Annual AAU James E. Sullivan Award. …

“We are excited that Nastia, Shawn and Jonathan were chosen as three of the semifinalists for the Sullivan Award,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “This is a well-deserved recognition for their achievements, especially their performances at the 2008 Olympic Games, and it also reflects their hard work, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport. We encourage gymnastics fans across the country to vote for Nastia, Shawn and Jonathan.”

In addition to Liukin, Johnson and Horton, the other nine semifinalists are: U.S. Olympic men’s 4x100m free relay team, swimming; Cynthia Barboza of Stanford University, volleyball; Amanda Blumenherst of Duke University, golf; Sam Bradford of the University of Oklahoma, football; Tyler Hansbrough of the University of North Carolina, basketball; the Lopez Family of Sugar Land, Texas, taekwondo; Erin Popovich of Silverbow, Mont., Paralympic swimming; Gerald “Buster” Posey of Florida State University, baseball; and Dara Torres of Parkland, Fla., swimming.

read more – USAG

Nastia should win, I think.

Three gymnasts out of twelve is fantastic for the sport in the USA. Wow.

(But, personally, I might be convinced to vote for Dara Torres.)

We will soon be able to vote on the winner on the USA Today website, though I didn’t find the link as yet. The winner will be announced on April 15 at the New York Athletic Club.

The most successful Russian gymnast from Beijing — after a long break — is back training full-time for the all-around. He’s preparing to compete at the Russian Artistic Gymnastic Championships starting on the 8th of March in Bryansk.

Kristina translated an interview in Russian by Alexander Ivanov and posted it on the IG Forum:

Everyone knows that I took a break from training after the Olympics in order to resolve my health problems,” said Anton Golosutskov. “But even if my back is ok, my wrists are still aching a little. I trained one week at the most before the World Cup Final in Madrid. Of course I was not able to achieve optimum form after such a small amount of time but I am satisfied with my performance at that time.”

Anton Golosutskov was present in January at the training camp together with the other representatives of the Russian national team, but he again did not take part in the actual training process. The athlete carried out sessions of physiotherapy and massage and took therapeutic baths. Anton only started full blown training at the beginning of February.

„Yes, I was at the training camp in January, but I continued to work on improving my health“ said Golosutskov. “At the beginning of February I finally started to work on apparatus. Now I am at the “Lake Round” Center, where we are spending the last days of training for the Russian Championships. On Thursday already we are heading off to Bryansk, where the national Championship takes place.”
„To be honest, it is a bit difficult to start training after such a break. During my enforced rest I put on 5 excess Kilos, three of which I have already managed to lose. Throughout February we trained twice a day – 3,5 hours in the morning and 2,5 hours in the evening. Now I am boosting my training, I want to get back to the form I was in August of last year as quickly as possible.”

For the first time in a long while I want to compete in the all-around at the Russian Championships in Bryansk. I have not competed in the all-around since 2005. I had several problems with my bars exercise. But now I am working on bars all the harder, for this reason I am full of strength and the desire to again take part in the all-around. I hope that in the Russian Championship I shall be able to achieve at least two golds on separate apparatus. It would be a present for my wife on 8th March (he laughs).”

IG forum – Anton Golosutskov Article

Many of the top Olympians in Beijing are only now beginning to get back in competition shape around the world. Last Fall was the best time for them to take a long break during the 2012 quadrennial.

Full size March 2009 Gymnastics Calendar ready to download at:

www.GymnasticsTrainingTips.com/calendar

Thanks Rik.

I’ve been a big fan of Anni Li ever since I first saw her stagger an NCAA competition with her monster Tkachev.

more photos on her official website

From an excellent interview on the UCLA Gymnastics website:

… You’ve been experimenting with different versions of your bar routine this year and pretty much throwing every trick in the book. Have you decided on a final version, or do you play it by ear, depending on what the team needs at the time? In an ideal situation, what would you like your routine to consist of?

Haha, yes I have played around with many different bar routines! I believe right now we have come to a conclusion. However, I do still play it by ear! The ideal routine right now is Shaposhnikova to bail to stalder up to the high bar, a Tkatchev, and then either a double layout or a layout full out. Usually, the coaches tell me to base it on how I feel, which is usually what is most comfortable for me before I compete. And so far, this routine seems to work out pretty well!

You taught yourself the Tkatchev, correct?

Yes! It was after my dad had left for China, and I felt that the only skill I had never really tried or learned was a regular Tkatchev. So I was watching the guys do it on the high bar and started learning the tap and timing of it all. When I threw the first one, I think I shot back probably 20 feet!! But once I realized I didnt need to throw that hard, I got the hang of it. I learn skills well just by doing a few and feeling it.

read more – 10.0 Spotlight – Anna Li

UCLA faces #1 Georgia on Sunday, Mar. 8th.

I predict it will be close. UCLA is on the rise.

From Troy on the FIG minimum age rule for Worlds and Olympics:

Anyone that thinks that the age rule is stopping moron coaches from over-training their athletes is naive’ or inexperienced in this sport. There are no rules that are going to keep idiots from doing whatever they want to train their kids with no foresight or care about their well-being or their future.

Our sport, and every other sport is rampant with these undisciplined, unapologetic, excuse-making losers that care only about their own careers and reputations, and don’t think twice about the repercussions to their athletes.

And most of these dolts have little to nothing to do with Olympic caliber athletes. No rule is going to change this. The only way to change these things is the leadership at the top of the organization, the judges and the way they reward difficulty comparative to mastery, and the continuing efforts to train coaches and educate them as to what is important in training.

Something I would be interested in pursuing is if there is some way for meet referees, judges, etc. to start filing reports on coaches who have several gymnasts at a meet doing things that are obviously “over their heads”. We have all been to meets and seen this tool that has his kids flipping vaults that they have probably never made safely in practice. Why are there no sanctions for this jerk? What is stopping that guy/girl from going back in the gym and continuing to put his/her kids at risk? No one is telling him/her not to.

I’ve heard judges complain about a certain coach and their dread in having to watch his/her kids compete. Why are we not doing something about that? Think of a football player at age 10 coming on to the field without a helmet because his coach told him that he didn’t need one. The ref would send him right back to the sideline and I’m pretty sure the coach would be dealt with by the organization. Why do we not have similar oversight? I, for one, am sick of watching some coaches disregard the best interest of the gymnast because of their own stupidity, and the rest of us looking the other way.

Well said.

As a judge, I’ve been instructed to stop any performance I deem dangerous.

And I have stepped in and questioned a coach about things I’ve seen in the warm-up. Judges are oft to say, “Don’t scare me. It won’t help your score.”

On the other hand, I can only think of 2 or 3 instances over decades where a routine was actually stopped by a judge at meets I’ve attended.

Avril Enslow, New Zealand

It’s been a tough season for my favourite College team.

One of the most appealing gymnasts in the NCAA is Senior Corey Hartung.

Click PLAY or watch her beam (2007) on YouTube.

She’s out with a tear in her calf muscle.

Faehn said Hartung first felt tightness in her calf during the Alabama meet Feb. 20. Faehn then decided to keep her out of the first few days of practice leading up to the Georgia meet last Saturday. Hartung told her coaches last Thursday her leg was feeling better, but when the pain returned after practice, Faehn decided to let her only compete in the bars and beam exercises against the Bulldogs.

After swelling developed in her leg Friday, Hartung got an MRI Sunday and the tear was discovered.

Faehn said she will rest her senior in hopes of getting her back in time for the Southeastern Conference Championships on March 21.

“Corey’s unbelievable,” Faehn said. “She’s the total package. What a great person, great character. So disciplined inside and out. She does everything possible for this team. It’s painful for her not to be able to compete.” …

Gator Sports

The No. 4 University of Florida plays host to No. 14 Michigan on Friday, March 6 for its 2009 home finale. Without Hartung.

She will be honoured that evening for her contributions to the team.

related – Aligator – Corey’s story – Senior Sacrifices: Gymnast takes long journey from home to compete for four years at UF

The 3rd Individual European Championships are to be held in Milan from 2nd – 5th April 2009.

The MAG gymnasts selected to represent Great Britain are named as follows:

Luke Folwell – Huntingdon OlympicGymnastics Club – Paul Hall
Daniel Keatings – Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastics Club – Paul Hall
Daniel Purvis – Southport YMCA – Jeff Brooks
Theo Seager – Bury Gymnastics Club – Paul Hockwart
Louis Smith – Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastivcs Club – Paul Hall
Kristian Thomas – Earls Gymnastics Club – Michelle Bradley

non travelling reserve – Danny Lawrence – South Essex Gymnastics Club – Scott Hann

British Gymnastics

A young and talented team, no doubt.

Congratulations to coach Paul Hall who has 3 lads on the team.

The biggest surprise is the selection of judge Nikki Hanley.

Nikki will become the first female judge to attend a European Championships in this capacity, with Britain leading the way in opening up opportunities for women in sport.

She had the highest marks in passing the recent Brevet judging exam.

—- UPDATE:

The British women, including Beth Tweddle, are readying for Europeans, as well.

A near full strength British Senior and Junior Team will be heading to the Senior/Junior International competition in Jesolo, Italy from 13-15 March 2009. …

British Gymnastics