Gymnastics Coaching.com

In the first of two NCAA competitions in Mexico, the Tigers were victorious.

… LSU posted a 194.900 team score which was nearly a point higher than No. 19 Boise State’s 193.700 total. No. 8 Michigan finished third with a 192.700 score while North Carolina placed fourth with a score of 190.325. …

Individually, LSU swept the all-around as senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney captured the all-around crown for the second straight year at the Cancun Classic by finishing the meet with a 39.350 total while junior Sabrina Franceschelli finished second with a score of 38.775 and junior Susan Jackson took third with an all-around score of 38.650. …

LSU Sports Net

larger version

The second meet: University of Denver, Stanford University, Oregon State University, Brigham Young University is underway.

The man I picked for the Gold on Floor in Beijing has found a sponsor.

Congratulations.

Brandon was forced to limp off the competition Floor at the 2008 Olympics after being injured in podium training. Like many others, Brandon was considering retirement.

Gymnast gets second chance at medal

Thanks to the generosity of a city businessman, local Olympian can revisit his dream in 2012

An Olympic medal wasn’t to be in his future — but then he met Shawn Dolan.

Dolan had watched O’Neill’s agony as he tried to compete in the Olympics a week after suffering ligament damage to one ankle. The Edmonton businessman almost felt the young gymnast’s disappointment as the ankle gave out.

“You’re cheering for him and suddenly you’re friggin’ disappointed when he comes in sixth,” Dolan said. “Well, know what? We were talking about it and I did something about it.”

The owner of ECM Electronics founded the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group and will provide O’Neill with the financial resources to continue competing through the 2012 Games.

Dolan and a small group of investors will give O’Neill $4,000 a month for the next four years to keep alive his Olympic medal dream and to “prove to the rest of Canada that if our athletes are funded properly and are able to train as in other countries, they’ll succeed in winning medals.”

Dolan chose O’Neill as the first recipient of the group’s funding, partly because Dolan didn’t want to see him quit, and partly because his own daughter is a member of the same Capital City Gymnastics Club as O’Neill.

…

He’s looking for more investors — private or corporate — to join his group so more Alberta athletes can be helped. He said the athletes have to be carded, have a good competitive record and be able to quality for the Olympics. He hopes to add a winter athlete after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a second athlete after the 2012 Summer Games. …

Edmonton Journal

Shawn Dolan, left, founder of the Alberta Olympic Sponsorship Group, persuaded Olympic gymnast Brandon O’Neill to come out of retirement and train for the 2012 Games.

Photograph by: Larry Wong, The Journal

Assistant Coach Kari Lords posted a well-edited video of the December Southern Utah University Gymnastics Intrasquad.

Facebook members can see it here. (I wish you could embed all Facebook videos.)

Bars is particularly interesting. Note how WIDE they put them in the NCAA.

First meet January 16th at Fullerton.

Thanks perfect10n.

UPDATE: Head Coach Greg Marsden created a Utah Utes Facebook page, as well. Likely all the NCAA teams will be putting those up this year. Yet another recruiting tool.

title says it all. … madness

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I assume this is faked.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via The Adventure Blog)

Pythons Cheer — the excellent team that trains out of my gym — was featured on the front page of our Community paper today.

Nice.

They are very good and improving at an amazing rate. I attribute the progress to good coaching.

… Power cheer routines are generally two minutes-and-30 seconds long, set to music and include stunts, pyramids, tumbling and dance. Competitors wear traditional cheerleading uniforms and some shout over the music. Competitions are offered regularly and teams are judged.

Stewart emphasizes the safety of power cheering, explaining that all coaches are trained and certified.

“Spotting and safety is the first thing we teach any athlete that comes to the gym, because they’re responsible for everyone. The girl in the air is just as responsible as the people on the ground.”

Information on the Pythons can be found at www.powercheercalgary.com

Calgary Herald Neighbours – Cheer team reaches new heights

All Gymnastics, All the time covers most of the FIG competitive gymnastics sports.

In a year end round-up called The Good, The Bad, and the Okay … I’ll mention only those on the GOOD list:

Nastia Liukin.
Texas.
Marcela Lopez.
Corrie Lothrop.
Canadian trampoliners.
Eastern bloc rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics.
Yevgeniya Kanaeva.
Japan and Australia. And even Brazil.
Inna Zhukova.
Belarus.
China.

Click through to read the details.

All Gymnastics, All the time – The Good, The Bad, and the Okay

UPDATE: trex comments:

At the age of 16 Shawn won nationals, trials, 3 olympic silver medals and a gold medal becoming a millionaire in the process. On what planet is that not a good year? I’m so sick of Nastia fan girls trying to diminish Shawn.

Obviously Shawn is not only one of the great success stories of 2008, but of the entire history of gymnastics. She and her coaches are role models for us all.

Sadly, when you are the Olympic favourite, a Silver medal seems a disappointment to many.

Olympic Champion Yevgeniya Kanaeva will be competing at the LA Lights competition in Los Angeles in January.

At a Junior competition in France, Dutch gymnast Naoual Ouazzani Chahdi competed something NEW internationally for the first time, we think.

From Sher of Shergymrag:

… Maloney (toe on shaposh) into the backswing which she takes to above horizontal then she swings forward to geinger. If she can do a geinger from that backswing, maybe we’ll soon see the Jaeger straight out of the Maloney …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This was in response to some commenters who dislike Shaposhnikova skills because they have a “built-in” extra swing.

Personally I have no problem with Shaposhnikova. Love the skill (even with the extra swing) and loved Natalia Shaposhnikova. One of my favourite gymnasts of all time.

As selected by ThePenguin888 on YouTube.

… in chronological order.

-Yelena Zamolodchikova – 2000 Olympics EF Vault 2
-Yang Yun – 2000 Olympics TF Vault 2
-Nikolina Tankousheva – 2002 Europeans EF Vault 1
-Annia Hatch – 2004 USA Nationals
-Monica Rosu – 2004 Olympics EF Vault 2
-Cheng Fei – 2005 Worlds EF Vault 1
-Alicia Sacramone – 2007 Worlds TF
-Hong Su Jong – 2007 Worlds EF Vault 2
-Oksana Chusovitina – 2008 Olympic EF Vault 2
-Kayla Williams – 2009 Worlds EF Vault 2

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

CollegeGymFans.com does an annual ranking of what NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Teams signed the best prospects.

Here’s their list for the upcoming season.

2009-2010 Recruiting Classes

… The rankings are based on past performance and skill level, which of course are no guarantee of success at the collegiate level. Time and time again, some athletes get injured or go through adjustments in college competition that limit their first-year success. Others blossom right away in college. We can’t project how each athlete will fare in college, but past trends are important considerations. We assume, for instance, that a hardworking L10 with excellent form, technique and a strong history of improvement may benefit her team as much as a former international elite with a history of injury and sudden growth spurt. …

1. Florida

2. Georgia

3. Oregon State

4. Michigan

5. Utah

6. Bama

7. Arkansas

8. UCLA

9. Oklahoma

10. Stanford

read the rationale on CollegeGymFans.com

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

photo – 2008 Olympic Trials – Randy Stageberg (Florida)

Florida opens their season Fri. Jan. 8th against Oklahoma