Gymnastics Coaching.com

2004 Olympic Champion Paul Hamm 90% ready

This is storybook.

(AP Photo/Rob Carr) – Hamm handed

Eight weeks and two days after Hamm on May 22 broke a bone in his right hand during the closing seconds of the U.S. national championships in Houston, he’s competed AA at an in-gym practice competition in Colorado.

… “I’m starting,” Hamm said, “to feel pretty good.” …

He proved he will be ready to contend in Beijing:

… USA Gymnastics officials had asked him to show readiness on only three of the six routines on the men’s program, on still rings, high bar and pommel horse. Then he went out and took part in all six events. …

… A candid review would note that Hamm, 25, of Waukesha, Wis., did not put on a championship-caliber performance.

A side step on landing marred the big air he got on his vault. He wobbled some on rings. He ran through only about half his parallel bars routine. On the high bars, he initially seemed to have stuck the landing, then lost control and slipped onto his backside.

Minor glitches all. …

This “comeback” will be one of the most interesting stories of the 2008 Olympics.

Paul Hamm confirmed – NBC Olympics

day 1 Olympic camp results

Steve McCain of Gymnast.com is at camp taking video and getting interviews. (Gymnast is a partner of USA Gymnastics.) Andrew Thornton is doing analysis.

Aside from the sad departure of Shayla Worley from contention … (she stayed at camp) … the top 5 are still a “lock” for selection:

Shawn Johnson: Status unchanged. She won three events on Day 1 and placed 2nd on bars with a strong 15.65….

Nastia Liukin: Status unchanged. She won her strong events (bars and beam) on Day 1, though I was a little surprised to hear she had trouble on the Pak salto again …

Chellsie Memmel: Status became just slightly uncertain. Iâ€™m still having trouble picturing this â€œwhiplashâ€ incident on her double layout (which is normally so easy for her), but Iâ€™m definitely hoping to see her at least show her bar routine on Day 2. Iâ€™m also curious to see if sheâ€™s doing the Yurchenko double full. The fact that she nailed beam at the end of Day 1 was an excellent sign, so my guess is sheâ€™s going to be okay.

Alicia Sacramone: Status unchanged. She hit all three of her events yet again, and this time managed to tie Shawn and Nastia on beam. …

Samantha Peszek: Status unchanged. This girl has hit 19 of her last 20 competitive routines and has been too solid and confident to not make this team. …

read the analysis on Gymnast.com

From this competition it would appear Bridget might be the best 6th place pick. (Shawn could end up doing Bars in 3-up, 3-count Team finals. Bridget would be a good replacement on any other apparatus if needed.)

Crouching Tiger Bridget – difficulty plus execution

The Olympic Team should be announced tonight.

Shayla Worley – Olympic dream is over

Sport is hard. Timing is critical.

I feel rotten for this beautiful gymnast.

more Shayla photos on Gymbox.net

… “She’s pretty crushed,” her coach, Jeff Wood, said in a phone interview from Texas.

Wood said Worley was doing a turn skill on the beam, and when she stepped, the bone cracked all the way through.

“She got off the beam and said to the person next to her, ‘Did you hear that? I felt something pop and I can’t put any weight on it,’ ” Wood said. …

… Worley’s leg had been bothering her for about a week, but she continued to train on it.

At the camp, she focused only on the uneven bars and balance beam because of the pain in her leg. She also is one of the best the American have on the uneven bars. Wood said Worley was performing well and was actually scheduled for an X-ray after competition Friday to determine the cause of the pain.

That all changed with her beam accident.

“This ends our nine years of work. She was a cinch to be on the team because they needed the help on the bars,” Wood said. “She was heartbroken she cried quite a bit.” …

On Monday, Worley told the Sentinel she was feeling 100 percent healthy and looking forward to clinching her spot on the team. She described her confidence level as a 10 on scale of 1-10.

“I feel like I’m ready for this,” she said. …

read more – Orlando Sentinel

grocery cart gymnastics

Playing around on grocery carts is FUN.

original – flickr

Bridget Sloan looking good at Olympic trial

NBC posted lived coverage of day 1 of the in-gym intrasquad competition to determine the four athletes who will join Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin on the Beijing squad.

The official word is that Shayla Worley has an acute fracture of her right fibula (the smaller bone in the lower leg). …

Shayla left the competition to go to the hospital for x-rays.

… Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin had the two best performances on the first day of the Olympic selection camp. Bridget Sloan made a strong statement for her inclusion on the Olympic Team with a new vault and hitting her other three events. …

Live from the ranch – NBColympics.com

Thanks Nik. Thanks Tuesday.

American Olympic Gymnastics Team selection

This is it. Final “mock meets” for Marta and the selection committee are scheduled for today and Saturday.

The American Team should be announced Saturday night.

source – Gymbrooke Sports News

Camp gossip on Gymnicestics and Polish101- Gymnastics. (Sounds to me like Shayla may grab the last spot on the competition team, after all.)

Though there is less doubt about the final selection than ever in the past, the pressure on these young women is immense. Perhaps greater than that they will face in Beijing.

The USA will be far more psychologically prepared for the Olympic Team Final than China.

The Pressure is onâ€¦ – Gymnastics and stuff

The Beijing Factor – addicted2gym

Gymnast Tube – new look

The good folks at American Gymnast emailed:

With over 3,500 gymnastics videos currently on the site, GymnastTube.com is quickly becoming the largest video sharing community dedicated solely to gymnastics on the web! Check it out to find your favorite gymnastics videos, or Upload Your Own!

Also be sure to rate and leave comments on your favorite videos … it’s a great way to share training ideas, offer constructive criticism, or just tell someone how cool their video is.

… If you haven’t visited lately, you’ll also see that we have given GymnastTube a significant face-lift.

screenshot

GymnastTube.com

It’s entirely free.

teens not exercising

One of the best reasons for parents to sign up their kids for gymnastics is to help establish for them a psychological and physical BASE for lifetime fitness.

We must educate parents to understand that the schools are not doing the job of physical education.

Have you seen this news story on the decline in teen fitness?

… Nader and his colleagues found that young women dropped below the recommended 60 minutes of exercise a day threshold around age 13, while in boys the drop occurred later at 14.7 years old. By age 15, teens exercised for 49 minutes on weekdays and for 35 minutes on Saturday or Sunday. …

New Research Confirms That the Older Kids Get, the Less Active They Become

ABC News