tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
The C Score has been reporting on the meet, just finished:
Yang Yilin took the title at this event, and took third on the UB finals. This may be the biggest news from these championships.
But who’s the FUTURE superstar for China?
Perhaps Chen Chuyan.
The AA medalists of the Chinese national championships: Yang Yilin, He Ning, and newcomer Chen Chuyan:
details – Chinese Nationals — is Chen Chuyan the one to watch? – The C Score
Once again, Stanford is almost everyone’s pick to win the Men’s NCAA Championships.
1 Stanford (10)
2 Oklahoma (2)
3 Ohio State (1)
4 Illinois
5 Penn State
6 Michigan
7 California (1)
8 Minnesota
9 Iowa
10 NebraskaGymInfo – 2009 Men’s Pre-Season Coaches Poll
On the other hand, l was there last year when Oklahoma stunned Stanford at home, defeating them by 0.45 points in the final rotation. What a shocker!
I feel any of the top 7 ranked teams could win in 2009.
The best analysis of the Men’s season to come is posted on Stick It Media.
photo – Thom Glielmi – Stanford Head Coach
Bruno Grandi is age-74.
Outspoken. Controversial.
He’s just been elected for a 4th 4-year term.
larger version – flickr – FIG
Good news?
I’m not so sure.
Those that don’t like Grandi post on the “Bruno Grandi Is The Worst Thing To Happen To Gymnastics Since Gina Gogean” Facebook page.
There’s more:
… Women’s Technical Committee President Nellie Kim (Belarus) and Men’s Technical Committee President Adrian Stoica (Romania) also ran unopposed for re-election.
Poland’s Maria Szyszowska was elected for a first term as president of the FIG’s Rhythmic Technical Committee. …
Four members of the Men’s Technical Commitee were re-elected: Huang Liping (China), Julio Marcos (Spain), Istvan Karacsony (Hungary) and Sawao Kato (Japan). New members are Canada’s Edouard Iarov (formerly of Kazakhstan) and American Steve Butcher.
Three members of the Women’s Technical Committee were re-elected: Kym Dowdell (Australia), Yan Ninan (China), Donatella Sacchi (Italy) and Yoshie Harinishi (Japan). New members are Lyubov Burda Andrianova (Russia) and Naomi Valenzo (Mexico).
Unopposed Grandi, Kim and Stoica Re-elected for FIG Posts – International Gymnast
Steve Butcher and Edouard Iarov will certainly make an impact.
I feel it’s far too difficult to oust incumbents in the F.I.G.
And … shouldn’t we have age and term limits?
Olympic Horizontal Bar medalist — some feel it should have been GOLD medalist — Jonathan Horton goes BIG.
No doubt about that.
But lost in the anticipation of the Olympics was the story of how he proposed to longtime girlfriend Haley DeProspero:
“She didn’t know it was coming,†he said, grinning.
Who could blame her?
Horton asked DeProspero to marry him between the two biggest meets of his life, the U.S. Championships and the Olympic trials. Both were part of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team.
Not exactly a time you’d expect a big-time contender to make a life-altering decision. Then again, Horton and DeProspero have always juggled their sport and their relationship. …
Click through to read the entire romantic gymnastics fairy tale: Horton had more than Olympic rings on his mind – NewsOK
(via Gymblog)
by site editor Rick McCharles
Iarov was the coach of Valeri Liukin. And is currently the National Coach of the Canadian Men’s Gymnastics Team.
He’s a genius coach, though often very controversial. I’ve been much influenced by his coaching philosophy.
At a training camp for age group gymnasts, I took photos and notes. Here are a few sample drills:
much more information, many more photos on my report – Iarov Training Camp, December 2001, Montreal
MUTINY ON THE RINGS is the best photoset on flickr of traveling rings.
I’ve linked to it before. But they keep adding new pics.
larger original – flickr
see all their photos – MUTINY ON THE RINGS
related post: DVD – Wild Rings – very COOL
The experimental seasonal Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk is returning for a second winter season at Madison Square Gardens.
Featuring a good deal of street acrobatics, the show’s been updated with a Power Track.
It runs October 29, 2008 thru January. 4, 2009.
Wintuk – home page
A couple of samples from the excellent American Gymnast Gymnastics on Demand series.
Click PLAY or watch Learning a Gienger – Spotting Technique on Gymnast.com.
http://gymnast.com/flashplayer/FlashPlayer.swf?v=http://www.gymnast.com/media/gymnast//upload/Videos/TTs/Gienger/230-03-spot.flv&eb=1&ap=1&av=sportnet.gy.videos&pv=video&szv=320×240&apv=doubleclick
This is a difficult spot. Easier is to slide big mats over the bar as the gymnast releases. (Be careful not to push too soon.)
Click PLAY or watch Learning a Gienger – Missed vs. Caught Giengers on Gymnast.com.
http://gymnast.com/flashplayer/FlashPlayer.swf?v=http://www.gymnast.com/media/gymnast//upload/Videos/TTs/Gienger/230-04-miss-catch.flv&eb=1&ap=1&av=sportnet.gy.videos&pv=video&szv=320×240&apv=doubleclick
Hey, Gymnast videos have short ads now in advance of the “good stuff”.
I’m OK with that. Sites need some sort of revenue steam … or they will not survive.
To me, these two athletes were the most impressive at the Beijing Olympics:
Michael Phelps
Usain Bolt
His coach said Usain could have run the 100m in 9.52 seconds instead of 9.69 seconds if he had only run through the finish line as he did in the 200m.
One gymnast that comes to mind as comparing (slightly) with Michael and Usain is two-time World Champion Dmitry Bilozerchev.
When he won World’s in 1983 at age-17, there had never been a prodigy like him. It seemed impossible at the time.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 