Gymnastics Coaching.com

This looks potentially even more interesting than Gymnastrada.

In 2009 the first ever Gym for Life Challenge will take place during July 15-19 in Dornbirn, Austria. There is now a time constraint of five minutes for each routine. Groups are separated by age: 16 or younger, 17 or older, and mixed age groups; then sub-separated by amount of gymnasts: 20 or less, and 21 or more. The criteria for evaluation will be overall impression; entertainment value; innovation, originality, and variety; and technique (quality and skill safety). …

All Gymnastics, All the time – 2009 Preview: The Gym for Life Challenge

I’ll recommend that Cirque du Soleil attend.

Click PLAY or watch the FIG promo video on YouTube.

The man who many rank as one of the greatest coaches ever is 98-years-old.

I’ve heard more inspiring stories about John Wooden than anyone else in sport history.

His 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years while at UCLA are unmatched by any other college basketball coach.

He still lives at home.

And his mind is still sharp as you can tell from a recent interview:

… I’m ready. I wish it would happen now. But I’m not going to try to hurry it. I’m not afraid of death. I’m not going to intentionally hurry it up, but I’m not afraid. I’ve been so blessed in my life. I’m thankful for so many things. My children, my 13 great-grandchildren, all live within an hour or less, and I see them all regularly. How many times does that happen? Within an hour or two, I can see the ocean, I can be in the mountains, I can be in the desert, I can be at Disneyland, I can be at an athletic event. There are so many things. I have been so blessed. And out yonder, I’ll be with Nellie again.

Sporting News

Nellie was his wife. She died in 1985. But Coach Wooden has not moved her nightgown from her side of the bed in the intervening 24-years.

The Salta Gymnastics Club Competitive Blog (Chalk Bowl) posted two videos showing how the Gym-Action club — to save space — suspended bars from the roof, rather than from the floor.

related post – Funtastics Gymnastics – gymnastics bar suspended from ceiling

Elena Lehniuc was born in Cernauti (in the later Republic of Moldova) in 1935.

It seems she has passed on.

That according to FanGymnastics – Romanian gymnastics blog.

Elena was one of the Bronze medal winning Team at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (1956), the first Romanian Olympic medal in gymnastics.

Read a long, rambling article on FanGymnastics – Elena Leusteanu – The First Lady of Romanian Gymnastics

Gymnastike linked to a near perfect routine from the 2001 East Asian Games.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Whatever happened to the Chinese inquiry into Dong Fangxiao being underage at the 2000 Olympics?

In the second of two NCAA competitions down in sunny Mexico …

Stanford, which ranked No. 5 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, finished first with a score of 195.6, No. 9 Oregon State came next at 194.575, No. 14 Denver University scored 193.825 to place third and BYU scored 189.125 to take fourth.

All-around:

1. Carly Janiga (Stanford) 39.275
2. Jami Lanz (OSU) 39.125
3. Shelley Alexander (Stanford) 38.975.

Stanford Scores Sweep in Gymnastics Opener

Stephanie McGregor of Oregon State competed Vault and Floor in her first NCAA meet, by the way. Congrats, Steph.

Gymtastics Gymnastics, Calgary.

I like how LOW it goes. Lower than the other manufacturers, I think.

Mary Wright is a coaching legend. Owner of Olympus School of Gymnastics in Utah. Choreographer with the Utah Utes.

Mary has sent 70 of her gymnasts on to the NCAA. She’s personally coached 10 Olympians, 19 National Team members and 17 World Championship competitors.

I coached with Mary once for 2wks … and can confirm she scorches the Earth. One of the best coaches I know.

But have you heard of her Mom, Rita Joan Marlow?

Rita has just been awarded the QUEEN’S SERVICE MEDAL (QSM). Congratulations.

She was the first woman head gymnastics coach and first delegate to the New Zealand Gymnastics Association.

A competitive gymnast herself, Mrs Marlow (86), was a member of the famous gymnastics exhibition squad, the Silver Six, in the 1940s.

In 1964 she founded the Dunedin Gymnastics Club and was a driving force behind the establishment of the Otago Gymnastics Association.

She is a life member of both organisations.

She was the first to introduce coaching and judging clinics to the region and she founded the first Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics Club in New Zealand.

Mrs Marlow managed New Zealand gymnastics teams at international competitions, including coaching the only New Zealand female gymnast at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. ..

read more

Every time we see a “world’s best” sport performance it’s tempting to think it will never be bettered.

Not so.

Bolt is an outlier.

The World’s fastest man will not be the fastest ever.

As astonishing as Usain Bolt’s record-breaking 100-meter sprint was, his time of 9.69 seconds is nowhere near what biostatisticians predict is the natural limit for the human body. …

Wired Science – Bolt Is Freaky Fast, But Nowhere Near Human Limits

I’m not a gamer. But this may be of interest to those who are. And who own the Nintendo DS console.

… In Ener-G Gym Rockets players take on the role of a young female gymnast making her way through successive levels of competition that will eventually lead to the Olympic games. This road to the medal round is full of training, choreography, fashion and fun as players familiarize themselves with the various elements that make up a winning performance in each of the five events, which include, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercises, vault and freestyle performance.. …

Five events?

OK, it may not be all that realistic.

Amazon.com – $28

Leave a comment if you know of a better gymnastics video game.