Inside Gymnastics on Winter Cup

Inside Gymnastics magazine publisher Chris Korotky shares his thoughts on the 2009 Winter Cup competition. …

Based on past Winter Cup competitions that kicked off new quads, I was expecting to see a rough meet. But this year, I was surprised to see a relatively clean competition with athletes who looked well-prepared, focused and eager to take on the new Code—and the next four years. …

Korotky liked Stanford, Alex Buscaglia, Joey Hagerty, Chris Brooks, Guillermo Alvarez, Sho Nakamori and Steve Legendre.

… Steve Legendre also provides some clips for the highlight reel of the night, wowing the crowd with a spectacular floor set, that included a rarely-seen Arabian double front with a full out (earlier this season, he also competed a 2 ½ twisting double layout!). …

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Inside Gymnastics – publisher Chris Korotky – My Take on Winter Cup

more Picture Perfect Gymnastics

I’m seeing more and more gymnastics photos … with a twist.

Hopes and Dreams posted more.

Gopher gymnast Jamie Bullock is in a snowglobe. And it’s snowing. Ana Balboa was puzzled, but she’s putting all the pieces together.

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new gallery – 2009 University of Minnesota Women’s Gymnastics v. Iowa State – February 7, 2009

Hopes and Dreams also added a 2009 USA Gymnastics on TV page, including NCAA broadcasts.

new gymnasts in Brazil and China

Triple Full has two interesting new posts.

The first is called Meet China’s New Stars (Part 1)

WAG hopefuls for the 2012 Olympics. As we understand it, fifteen of the girls are newcomers to the national team, chosen from the sixty or so youngsters who participated in a December 2008 selection camp. The remaining five seem to be returning members — juniors who originally joined the National Team in 2006-07, returned to their provincial teams in the summer of 2008, and have now been invited back to Beijing. …

A complete roster has not been released yet, but recent Chinese news items confirm that the following six girls are among the lucky twenty-one: Tan Sixin and Zhang Yujiao (Shanghai); Chen Shihua (Guangdong); Zeng Siqi (Hunan); and Huang Ying and Zhang Qing (Hubei). …

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Major cuteness alert: He Kexin and Zeng Siqi (photo courtesy of Ling Jie’s blog)

read the rest – Meet China’s New Stars (Part 1)

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The second post is titled Brazil Names a New National Team.

This Wednesday [today] Ukrainian coach Iryna Ilyashenko took her first decision as commander-in-chief of the Brazilian WAG team. After three days of work at the Center of Excellency in Curitiba, the coach selected the team that will serve as the basis for the next Olympic cycle.

Iryna selected nine of the twelve athletes she intends to use as the group that will seek to qualify for the London Olympics in 2012. Unofficially, three spots on the team will be kept for Daiane dos Santos, Laís Souza, and Jade Barbosa, who are recovering from injuries and did not take part in the selection camp.

In all, eighteen gymnasts took part in the tests that began on Monday in the capital of Paraná State. After analyzing such aspects as physical fitness and technical prowess, the coaches’ committee, headed by Iryna, opted for a group of nine official team members and five alternates.

Of the nine official team members, five were not part of the group that worked with Oleg Ostapenko in the last cycle. They are Anna Carolina Cardoso, Bruna Leal, Nadhine Ourives, Janaina Silva, and Priscila Cobello. Still on the team: Ethiene Franco, Khiuani Dias, Ana Claudia Silva, and Daniele Hypólito, all gymnasts who joined the team last year [or much longer ago in Hypólito’s case]. The alternates are Nicole Beltrame, Vitória Sampaio, Caroline Himovski, Letícia da Costa, and Nayara Sobrinho. …

They also give an update on the ongoing woes of Jade Barbosa.

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Brazil Names a New National Team

ring strength – Galimores

<img align="right" border="0" hspace="10" vspace="5" blockquote id="image7217" src="https://gymnasticscoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/Coach-Sommer.jpg&quot; alt="Coach-Sommer.jpg" / Coach Sommer of GymnasticBodies calls this drill a Galimore.

I assume that’s in tribute to former gymnast, now USAG Vice President, Ron Galimore.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

more conditioning videos from Coach Sommer on YouTube

summer gymnastics camps

USA Gymnastics has an online free database of camps.

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screen shot

If you are already thinking about summer training options, check it out on the USAG Camp Directory.

You can add your own camp to the list for free, too.

Alicia Sacramone – Quest for G

You’ve seen the big budget ad promotion for Gatorade called Quest for G.

behind the scenes footage of Quest for G. Hear what Alicia, Kevin Garnett, Derek Jeter and Usain Bolt have to say about recreating Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-4560738103985586169&hl=en&fs=true

Alicia will be at the NBA All Star Game this weekend as a “reporter” offering an inside look into her Quest for G activities at the event. Please also check out www.MissionG.com this weekend to see videos of Alicia at the event. For every person that visits the site this weekend, $1 will be donated to charity (up to $25K).

Thanks Tammy Quach.

Northern Beaches Gymnastics, Australia

Doug Davis & Diana Hughes of my favourite equipment company Tumbl Trak are touring clubs in Australia. Doug mentioned he was impressed with the Northern Beaches club, Sydney. So I looked it up on the WWW.

Well named, the club is 5min from a surf beach.

In April 2007 the club moved into a terrific facility in Pittwater Sports Centre.

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Northern Beaches Gymnastics was established in 1990 by husband and wife team, Mark and Gai Forrest.

Since its initial concept, the club has blossomed into one of Australia’s premier sporting facilities, attracting over 1500 members. …

official website

Lu Ming and Xiao Qing Li are two of the coaches there.

Aleftina Priakhina v Shawn Johnson

Soviet gymnast Alevtina Pryakhina. I had not thought of that name in years. Priakhina competed against Daniela SilivaÅŸ.

The Couch Gymnast has a great post comparing Aleftina Priakhina vs Shawn Johnson!
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As far as I am concerned, they look alike. They flip alike.

For starters both were short, compact and as cute as buttons! Shawn and Aleftina share a lot of qualities as gymnasts as well as similar body types. They were both tiny with intensely muscular builds, moved quickly and had explosive leg power, meaning they were both capable of strong tumbling and and dynamic work in the air. …

Was Alevtina Pryakhina the first gymnast to compete standing 1/1 twist on beam? AND the first gymnast to compete double double on Floor?

Click PLAY or watch her 1986 Floor on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch her 1987 beam on YouTube.

Related – The Couch Gymnast’s World’s Worst Leotard contest continues.

gymnast Daniela SilivaÅŸ interview

Romanian Daniela SilivaÅŸ won seven world titles and three Olympic titles between 1985 and 1989. She’s one of the greats of all time.

What is she doing now?

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She coaches 3hrs / day at Hammond Park Gymnastics in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Read the interview translated by Triple FullDaniela SilivaÅŸ: “We Were a Team in the True Sense of the Word”

Click PLAY or watch Daniela Silivas 1987 World’s Event Finals Floor on YouTube.

Daniela admitted in 2002 that her age had been falsified by 2 years in order to make her eligible for the 1985 World Championships.

Common practice in Romania in that era.

Like Double Salto, I preferred the beauty and artistry of Aurelia Dobre on that team.

Daniela’s Poodle Perm was a turn off too. Those were bad hair years.

Suzanne Yoculan collectable figurine

Has any other gymnastics coach ever had one of these?

I think not.

Only the Georgia NCAA gymnastics coaching legend.

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larger version – flickr – U-EET

more photos

The first 5,000 attendees at the Alabama vs Georgia competition got one.

Cool.

(via Chez Peg)