Gymnastics Coaching.com

Gymnicestics posted videos of 10 routines, all good choices.

I include, from that list, Canadian Yvonne Tousek here. Simply unforgettable. I love watching her gymnastics.

Click PLAY or watch Yvonne on YouTube.

Yvonne is currently performing with Cirque du Soleil after a terrific College career with UCLA.

See the other 9 original routines on Gymnicestics.

(… I recommended Oksana Omelianchik 1985 Worlds Floor routine (video) to the list. While she was not a strong tumbler, this routine was stunningly original for the time.)

Did you see the human trebuchet on Gymnast.com?

Japanese reality TV is great!

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’d do this. But into water. Not a net.

If you follow the blogs, you are well aware of the issue. Quite possibly one of the biggest “scandals” of the 2008 Games.

There are many, many indications that the favourite to win Bars in Beijing He Kexin is actually underage.

Finally the story has hit the mainstream media. No doubt NBC and others will cover it relentlessly, even if no conclusive evidence ever is produced.

And for the first time to my knowledge, the age of Jiang Yuyuan is being challenged.

… In Chinese newspaper profiles this year, He was listed as 14, too young for the Beijing Games.

The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts — now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache — shows He’s age as “1994.1.1.”

Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an “intercity” competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He’s passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008.

There has been considerable talk about the ages of Chinese gymnasts on Web sites devoted to the sport. …

The other gymnast, Jiang, is listed on her passport — issued March 2, 2006 — as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.

A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang’s national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games. …

Records Say Chinese Gymnasts May Be Under Age – NY Times

Jiang Yuyuan – Show China

Thanks Em for sending in this link.

Location: Fuvahmulah, Maldives.

larger version – flickr – nattu

The Chinese Gymnastics Association announced on Wednesday its final roster for the men’s Olympic team, which includes three gymnasts competing in their third Olympics.

The six men named to the roster are 2000 and 2004 Olympians Yang Wei, Li Xiaopeng and Huang Xu, plus world championship gold medalists Chen Yibing, Xiao Qin and Zou Kai.

Chinese Name Men’s Olympic Team; President Hu Stops By – IG

That’s one impressive line-up. Almost the same team that won World’s 2007.

L-R Yang Wei, Xiao Qin, Huang Xu, Liang Fuliang, Chen Ybing and Xu Kai celebrate their gold medal in the team all-around competition at the 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart September 6, 2007. – larger original – Reuters Pictures

NPR has posted the first of a 5-part series.

Once again the gym featured is Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School in Xiantao, Hubei.

Around 100 youngsters, between four and nine years old, train at Li Xiaoshuang. Most of them board at the school to take advantage of its nine gymnastic coaches.

Gymnastics — in any country — is a tough and painful sport. And Beijing’s sports machine has generally had a bad press. Yet some argue that Chinese athletes are in some ways more fortunate than their Western counterparts, particularly as they are paid a government salary. …

How much money has your gym been given by the government over the past 10 years?

Even though it is remote, the Li Xiaoshuang gymnastics school is a beneficiary of state largesse. It has received $14 million in funding over the past decade. …

Click through to read this excellent article:

Boarding Schools Generate China’s Sport Stars by Louisa Lim. Be sure to watch the photo gallery audio slide show.

Ohio State head coach to serve as assistant in his fourth-consecutive Summer Games

… The Philadelphia native will join U.S. head coach Kevin Mazeika of Houston on the competition floor this August in China.

“It’s an honor and a great responsibility that I am prepared for,” Avery, the personal coach of three-time Olympians Paul and Morgan Hamm, said. “Part of my job in this role is to act as the mediator for the personal coaches of the athletes who are not on the floor during the competition. I will be there for both the personal coaches and the athletes so this team can live up to its full potential.”

Avery, who first served as an assistant at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, has coached four Olympians, including former Buckeyes Kip Simons (1991-94) and Blaine Wilson (1994-97), as well as the Hamm twins. In addition, the decorated coach has had two gymnasts be named Olympic alternates in Jamie Natalie (2000 Sydney) and Raj Bhavsar (2004 Athens). …

Ohio State Buckeyes

Kevin Tan of Penn State was named captain of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team.

Cheng Fei, the five-time world champion and team captain, will lead a team consisting of all-around standouts Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin, uneven bars specialist He Kexin and balance beam specialist Li Shanshan.

… read more – International Gymnast

Fans in China are expecting big things. Gymnastics is a hot ticket.

The police were called in to control a crowd of more than 50 000 people who queued for the fourth and last batch of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games tickets today (Friday). … chaos, disorder and disappointment. …

Gettin’ The Last Batch Of Beijing 2008 Tickets Is Not A Walk In The Park, Police Maintains Order – Beijing Olympics Fan

That’s my prediction.

I’d been reluctant to make this call — though she won the last 3 World Championships on vault — because I thought some specialist might emerge over the past year to challenge her start scores. That has not happened, so far as I know.

Cheng Fei has the highest start scores. She’s a veteran, proven in high pressure situations. The Olympic Gold Medal on vault is her’s to lose.

Click PLAY or watch a fluff piece on her produced by Li Ning sport clothing on YouTube.

There’s an obvious error in the voice over commentary.

(via difficulty plus execution)

Here’s one of the best set-ups I’ve ever seen. In Australia.

larger photo – flickr

Nice dense mats. But still flexible enough to bend around the rails.