Gymnastics Coaching.com

Deng Linlin competes on the balance beam. (Photo credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

See more photos on NBCOlympics.com

Stu Cram informed me that Kyle’s first vault (the ‘Shewfelt’) had the highest B score of everyone in the preliminary qualifying meet: 9.75

I’ll post the video as soon as I get my hands on it.

China easily finished ahead of the USA in Prelims. But that really doesn’t matter. Team Finals will be much closer.

Prelims for the top teams are all about qualifying to Finals. There were MANY problems in Beijing. But the All-around contenders will be much as predicted.

So far …

more AA results

Cheng Fei leads Floor Final qualifiers, so far. And Vault. Alicia will make Vault Finals, as expected. But it looks like Shawn did only one Vault … so will not be eligible for the Final.

Li Shanshan is first on Beam, just ahead of Nastia and Shawn.

Bars may be the most fiercely contested. Ranking so far.

more Apparatus results

Shawn will not make the Final. There are still some very good Bar routines to come. Nastia will … though she fell on her dismount. (And it looked so much improved in podium training.)

He Kexin missed her awesome routine. But will likely still make the Final with that score. Only two gymnasts / nation can qualify to any Final. On bars, it looks like at least 2 will qualify despite falls in prelims. Strange, this new code.

I’m feeling rotten for Brandon and the entire Canadian Team.

Canada’s Brandon O’Neill writes about the injury that cut his performance short in Beijing. O’Neill, the 2005 world silver medalist on floor exercise, was a favorite for an Olympic medal prior to suffering an ankle injury Monday.

Hello everyone. Basically I am writing this note to answer many questions regarding my performance at the Games and what I have experienced. …

read the sad story – O’Neill: ‘I Couldn’t Have Done More’ – International Gymnast

Brandon had been one of my picks to win the Gold medal on FX.

UPDATE: Samantha Peszek sprained her left ankle in warm-ups for Sunday’s qualification session – NBCOlympics.com

Inside Gymnastics is posting a top 10 highlights of each day. Here’s there list for day 1 of competition, Men’s Prelims:

1. League of Their Own – Simply put, China was head and shoulders above the field in today’s preliminary round, topping second place Japan by more than five points …

2. Two Much Too Handle – Subdivision two featured China, Japan and Russia competing together, often presenting a challenge for fans in deciding who to follow. The three powerhouse programs went 1-2-3 on the day and showcased some amazing gymnastics. Japan was particularly impressive on floor, p-bars and high bar while China was terrific all around, but strongest on pommel horse, rings, vault and p-bars.

3. Jia-Yo! – The home-country crowd showed up …

4. Team USA Rises to the Occasion

5. Textbook Technique – Today’s Code of Points calls for a ridiculous amount of difficulty that often comes with a sacrifice of form, technique and style. In prelims, Japan and China put on a clinic with performances that showcased textbook technique throughout. They’re not just doing ridiculously hard routines; they’re doing them well.

6. Kudos to the Hosts – The organizers and volunteers are well prepared and efficient in their operations, which made for a smooth first day.

7. “Wei” Ahead – Even with a major miscue on p-bars—he sat on the bar during a straddle kip press to handstand—two-time Chinese world all-around champ Yang Wei still led the field by more than a point. …

8. Fanfare – The National Indoor Stadium—which served as the holding pen for the athletes marching Friday’s opening ceremonies—is a great competition venue that provided for an electric environment and a great fan experience overall. …

9. Sasha Steps Up …

10. Tough Tricks – From Marian Dragulescu’s Handspring double front half-out and Yurchenko half on Randi off vaults to Kohei Uchimura’s HUGE releases on high bar (pike Kovacs, tuck Kovacs, Kolmann; all with incredible amplitude and picture-perfect form) and Justin Spring’s peach-full, giant, Diamadov, Belle combo on p-bars, a great display of awe-inspiring gymnastics brought the crowd to a roar time and again today. Other highlights: Fabian Hambuechen’s (Germany) layout double-double on floor; Hiroyuki Tomita’s (Japan) pike double front half out rings dismount; Nikolay Kryukov’s Gaylord release on high bar; Pinheiro Rodrigues’ Victorian to Maltese on rings; Li Xiaopeng’s incredible p-bar set featuring a huge Tippelt; Jonathan Horton’s triple twisting double layout high bar dismount; Jordan Jovtchev’s killer positions on rings – grey hair and all! Inside’s reporters’ said “Wow” out loud on press row today more often than we have in a long time. We applaud these talented athletes and celebrate all of the hard work, long hours in the gym and dedication to a sport that only enjoys the full glow of the spotlight once every four years.

August 9th – Inside Gymnastics

Competing in the first subdivision seems not to have hurt China at all. But pressure will be much bigger in the Team Final.

full results

The biggest shocker: He Kexin fell on Bars

… after a perfect first half (Ono, Jaeger-half, Jaeger, full to invert to a layout Jaeger, Tkatchev to a Pak salto) but missed her Pak and had to remount, where she made another mistakes (missing on a pirouette and having to do an additional kip) scored the second highest score for the team, and the third overall in the first subdivision 15.725. It’s possible she could still make the final regardless of the errors, if they keep the scoring tight. …

International Gymnast

Jiang Yuyuan sat down her Yurchenko 5/2, eliminating her from Vault Finals. She also had problems on Floor making qualification on that apparatus doubtful.

UPDATE: Hugo commented: “ye shuai is not going to the olympics….. the chinese man are dong dong and lu chunlong”.

Who will win now?

======

The first Men’s World Champion from Asia, I think, is the favourite in Beijing.

Click PLAY or watch him winning the 2007 World’s in Quebec City on YouTube.

Nice toe point.

The final will be very, very close. Any of the top 5-6 could win.

Nick Johnston in his first ever video montage did a great job highlighting the American Olympic trials. (The edit took him a week.)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Two of the featured Olympian divers — Haley Ishimatsu and Mary Beth Dunnichay — are 15yrs-old. They would be too young for Beijing if they were gymnasts. Divers do not have a minimum age requirement.

I’m not hearing any outcry from the diving community that 14 or 15yr-old divers are somehow under too much pressure to be allowed to compete in the Olympics.

(via Sports Girls Play)

Olympic diving competition runs Aug. 10th – 23rd. Good luck to all competitors.

Less wrong than usual, but wrong:

… this is a sport that idolizes prepubescent and underweight girls. …

There is something to what you say, Jennifer. Thin and young gymnasts are sometimes overscored by judges.

But myself and many gymnastics experts idolize this gymnast:

(via Live Breath Love Gymnastics)

Is she “prepubescent and underweight”?

Or is she the ultimate in female fitness for a 20yr-old woman?

Jennifer, you quote the Women’s Technical Chair for F.I.G. in your article in Salon:

Nellie Kim, a five-time Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union, says it’s because they’re lighter and more fearless, which allows them to perform more difficult maneuvers. Kim was 23 when she competed in her final Olympics in 1980, where she won two golds. …

Nellie Kim is correct.

Young gymnasts have some advantages. They have some real weaknesses too. I predict that experience will win the day over young and fearless in the showdown between the USA and China in Team Finals.

Any coach in the world would choose the BEST gymnast for the Olympic Team, regardless of age and body type. Start score is more important than percentage body fat in 2008.

related post: is ex-gymnast author Jennifer Sey a liar?

Official Team results – Beijing2008.cn

Individual Apparatus Finals qualifiers linked from this page: Competition Results

Not all that many surprises, really. The new code actually does separate the very best from the rest.

I’m impressed that Dragalescu came back so strong. He’s the man to beat on Floor.