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The excellent INTERNATIONAL Gymnix competition 6-7-8 MARCH 2009 this year will be held in conjuction with a World Cup event.

The Men’s Competition looks somewhat interesting:

Tim McNeill and Danell Leyva (USA), Aljaz Pegan (SLO), Krisztian Berki (HUN), Nathan Gafuik (CAN) and many more.

full MAG list (PDF)

But the women’s competition …

Is this correct? The only competitors I see listed on the WAG list (PDF) are from 4 countries:

Leave a comment if I am wrong.

As a Canadian, I find it a bit embarassing that so few female gymnasts want to attend our meet. On the other hand, I’m very interested to see the American girls.

The competition features individual event competitions only, with each country allowed two competitors per apparatus.

The qualification round for both men and women takes place on Friday with event Finals on Saturday and Sunday.

FIG

Update: Quebecker will be attending the women’s meet and notes:

Fortunately there is also the Gymnix Junior International Cup and the Gymnix Senior International Cup at the same venue this weekend. The fields for those two looks great. I’ll be there watching the finals of all 3 meets on Saturday and I will be seeing some great gym.

Russia, AUS, USA all have teams as do Canada & France.

Cirque du Soleil is seeking female gymnasts to perform in our new show about Elvis and his musical heritage. The show will take place at the theatre of the CityCenter in Las Vegas, and will be directed by Vincent Paterson.

Let your talent shine

Cirque du Soleil produces multidisciplinary shows combining circus arts, acrobatics, music, song, dance and theatre. In 2009, Cirque will be presenting 18 different shows-featuring more than 1,200 artists-all over the world. Cirque du Soleil is continually developing new creations and seeking new talent. We recruit artists globally online, via auditions or on scouting trips.

Applying Online

Interested candidates must apply online with a complete application that includes a CV/résumé, a recent photo and a video demo that shows:

Bars (uneven or horizontal) skills including giants, bar transfers, release moves and dismount;

Acrobatic skills and any other special skills.

original – flickr – iamazeyou

To find out more about what to include in your video demo, please click here.

Submission deadline: March 20, 2009.

disclosure – I love Cirque du Soleil

==== UPDATE – In Australia, Cirque is doing a benefit show Friday 17 April in conjunction with NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts).

Dralion by Cirque du Soleil

All proceeds from ticket sales directly support NICA’s Social Circus activities with young people in remote and regional communities across Australia.

For more information visit: www.nica.com.au/outreach

Details on that show (PDF)

Gymdogs vs Florida 2009
March 2, 2009

The Georiga Gymdogs face off against the Florida Gators. This video is an overview of the meet where the Gymdogs get a season and NCAA high score of 198.200.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

From Anne Phillips.

When You Train In The Same Gym As Nastia…

I was at WOGA filming the workout with the German National team when I saw this going on and it was just too cute not to get on film!

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

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

Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

If you deal with contracts, check out this article on USOlympicTeam.com.

By Dr. Athena Yiamouyiannis, Ohio University and Dr. Heather Lawrence, Ohio University – COACHES AND EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS

It recommends Cotten and Wolohan’s (2007) 4th Ed. book titled Law for Recreation and Sport Managers.

… British Olympic gymnastics bronze medalist Louis Smith is the subject of the Observer Sport Monthly’s fashion special. Photographer Levon Bliss captures the Olympic hotness in this spring’s most vibrant styles and colors. …

Louis Smith is killing it in the Gucci suit and Burberry shirt. …

Olympic Gymnast Louis Smith Models Spring Colors and Fashion

(via Gymblog)

Dimitri Bilozerchev, father and coach of Alexi, has been fired from the Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Team. Miles and Dimitri clashed over coaching styles and the recent dismissal of Alexi only between Miles and Dimitri. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bilozerchev’s end up at another NCAA school by September.

IG Forum

Sounds like it may be true.

Too bad.

Leave a comment if you know any more.

related post – Alexy Bilozerchev leaves Ohio State

The German Press quoting our International Gymnastic Federation boss on an old issue:

Bruno Grandi has said that there were believable indications that China had cheated with the age of some of their gymnasts at the Beijing Olympics last year.

‘There were strong indications, but I did not handle the investigation. I had to accept the official documents that I was shown at face-value, I am not a policeman or Interpol,’ he told the German gymnastics magazine Leon.

‘If I find out that there was cheating, I can act. I gave everything to the IOC and they investigated the issue. They gave us their findings and we looked at them, but there was nothing.’

He said that if people found forged documents on the internet they would have to have legal proof that they were forged. ‘I have to respect the documents that the Chinese state gives me. What else should I do – declare war on China?’

In Beijing rumours surfaced that Chinese gymnasts He Kexin, Jiang Yuyan and Yang Yilin had not yet obtained the Olympic minimum age of 16 after reports were shown that gave the age of the gymnasts as just 13 in 2007.

But nobody could provide proof that the documents used for Olympic registration had been forged.

The former US gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi said at the time that age-cheating was like doping. ‘Official documents from a totalitarian system are meaningless,’ he said.

Monsters and Critics

Asian Gymnastics Union

So, Grandi thinks they cheated. (As do I.) … But puts the blame on the IOC.

… Could be that some new information is just about to come to light? Grandi covering his butt, in advance.

His blaming IOC is a good ruse. Except that it was Grandi that promised a second investigation into age cheating for Chinese gymnasts Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao at the 2000 Olympics.

FIG never followed through on that promise.

I simply cannot believe anything Grandi says on the issue.

He Kexin – Welt Online

For the record, I feel that age cheats discovered after the fact should keep their medals. That the Federation get the penalty. And any adult officials complicit in the cover-up.

Further, that FIG drop the minimum age requirement.

Senior Courtney Kupets is the #1 all-around gymnast in the NCAA.

Online Athens – larger original

Who has a chance to beat her at Championships 2009?

full rankings – March 2, 2009 – GymInfo

I’d love to see Baskett win, tell the truth.

Don’t count out the young talent at UCLA. I could envision one of the Freshmen finishing high in the AA.

Click PLAY or watch Courtney’s Vault, Bars and Beam from last weekend on Gymnastike.

Watch her 10.0 Floor vs Florida.

Thanks PT.

What’s best practice for your gymnasts?

How do we prevent overuse pain later in the career?

Question: Should we use light ankle weights on young gymnasts for conditioning?

Answer:

Adding very light weights to gymnasts while conditioning is an excellent idea. At my gym coaches have made sand-filled bicycle tire tubes that can be wrapped around the waist or body.

Be cautious with using wrist or ankle weights, though. The resistance is greatly increased by being at the end of the lever of the limb. The risk, of course, is possible damage to growth plates. The bike tire tubes are safer.

Question: best methods for improving shoulder / upper back flexibility?

1) Increase passive flexibility.

My favourite passive stretch is bridge with feet elevated, pushing the shoulders away from the wall. Advanced kids are allowed to progress on to walkover drills starting with at least one foot elevated.

The lower back is “rigid” and not in full extension. (The “flatter”, the better.)

2) Increase active flexibility.

Use surgical tube or skipping rope to “bounce” to full range.

Note that measuring shoulder / upper back flexibility is difficult. If you allow the gymnast to use flexibility in the lower back (e.g. bridge test) to get a higher score, they will. Yet that’s not what we want (later) on Yurchenko, Tkachev, swing on Rings, etc.

Question: stretch at the beginning or end of a practice?

This one is easy. Improving flexibility in a muscle is best done when it is fatigued. Therefore, do flexibility improvement at the end of practice.

On the other hand, if you need flexibility during the workout (and you normally do) then you need to stretch at the beginning of the workout too. Or, perhaps better, at each apparatus as you arrive. Many beam coaches have a specific complex for stretching they do on arrival at that event.

Good coaching!