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Olympic Champion Kyle Shewfelt, who broke both legs during a training session in August 2007 at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, withdrew from the event in order to focus on his Beijing comeback.

“I made this decision with the intention of being at my best in Beijing. I have believed all along that this comeback is going to come down to the wire and I’m confident that my persistence and desire are going to get me to where I want to be. Right now is a critical time to make smart decisions and I feel that it will be more beneficial for me to spend the week working in the gym rather than competing,” said Shewfelt of his decision.

Gymnastics Canada

I spoke with Kyle. He was completely certain the decision was the correct one. But concerned that fans would be disappointed not to see his “comeback” this weekend.

Will Kyle be ready for Beijing?

From his personal blog:

… Yesterday (Monday), at training, Edouard came in and checked out my progress. He was very impressed! I showed him a routine on floor with full difficulty middle passes and basic first and last lines. Then I did a couple sky high Arabian double pikes and full in dismounts. I vaulted 5 great Yurchenko 2.5’s. I hit highbar and ring routines too…

Edouard Iarov is the Canadian National Team Coach.

Expect to see Kyle in Beijing. He’ll be ready.

The International Gymnastics Federation in 2006 introduced a radically different “code of points” for Artistic Gymnastics.

The few of us in the world who understand it must endlessly translate for others. Often it comes out like this:

“It’s totally confusing and lame and everybody hates it …”

So said the Australian Gymnastics Blogger trying to explain the new gymnastics scoring system to her father.

She’s not the only one who has “concerns”:

… the rules of FIG international competition are one of the most powerful tools for promoting gymnastics. And this tool is completely in the hands of the FIG men’s and women’s technical committees which are virtually unaccountable to anyone.

Arkaev – Gymnastics. How to Create Champions.

Leonid Arkaev is the most successful gymnastics coach of all time.

Bela hated it:

“I, personally, thought it was the craziest, the stupidest thing on Earth,” Karolyi said of his first reaction when he heard of the new system.

Marta uses it to the advantage of the USA:

“Now, you know, I kind of like it. I think it has been very, very good, at least for [the U.S.]. There are some definite advantages.”

GOODBYE PERFECT 10, HELLO 15.65 – Inside Gymnastics

With Olympics coming we need a Code of Points “cheat sheet” to hand to the general public. Let me know if you have one. I’ll post it on this site. We can download and print copies.

original – flickr – Sooner Shooter

larger original of the beam judge – flickr – frizzellephoto

Related posts:

Nemov dislikes new code of points

is gymnastics getting too HARD?

how to contact the FIG Technical Committees

guide to gymnastics for the non-gymnast

Men’s Gymnastics Study Guide 2006-2008 (judge Doug Hills)

Often critical of the coach education non-system in the States, I was impressed to find this on the USAG site:

USA Gymnastics University is a collection of educational resources, courses, and a professional certification program. The University will provide greater educational opportunities and a standardized program for gymnastics professionals at all levels. All of USA Gymnastics’ current and future educational courses will fall under the University umbrella.

A collection of courses and resources is not a “University”. But the certification option looks interesting. Very similar to that used in Canada and many other nations.

larger version (PDF)

A few key points:

five levels of certification within 4 different streams: Program (competitive), Judges, Recreational and Business

experienced coaches need to start at the beginning (Level 1) — no “Grandfathering”, at least in the first level

certification valid for four years. After which, continuing education required to “maintain”

certification is not mandatory

details – USA Gymnastics University

Sounds good. But I suspect any certification program not mandatory will never take off in a big way in the U.S.A.

USAG needs to find a carrot, if not a stick, to provide incentive for coaches to certify. For example, if clubs got a better price on insurance, that might convince them to get coaches registered in Gymnastics University.

Poor quality video. But the ultimate in difficulty for Artistic gymnasts.

Opening floor pass for 2005 World Trials.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Justin was injured in 2007 and did not competing Floor at the recent VISA Championships. He did vault and was quoted as saying he expects to compete Floor at Olympic trials later this month.

=== vault ===

Justin Spring – triple twisting Tsukahara vault. (Kazamatsu with extra double twist.) … AKA “Lopez” after Eric Lopez of Cuba, I believe.

Vault warm up at Pan Am’s …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Here’s the same bloody difficult vault done by a Russian gymnast. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

From Tsukahara, I feel 3 twists is more difficult than from Yurchenko as shown here by Sasha Artemev in 2007.

Click PLAY or watch Sasha on YouTube.

Still, 3 twists are rarely seen in Men’s vault. More popular are double somersault vaults in 2008.

The Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team is celebrating its 20th anniversary of competing in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. This group of women placed fourth and narrowly missed a bronze team medal. The team includes Kelly Garrison, Brandy Johnson, Melissa Marlowe, Phoebe Mills, Hope Spivey, Chelle Stack, and alternate Rhonda Faehn. Kristie Phillips was the second (non-traveling) alternate.

USAG has great interviews with all 8 women. My favourite quote:

Rhonda Faehn

Q: How does it feel to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Olympic Games?

Rhonda: I still can’t believe that 20 years has passed already! It seems so fresh in my memory….all of us flying over to Seoul with the U.S. boxing team!

Q: What is your most vivid memory from these Games?

Rhonda: My most vivid memory is of Phoebe winning the bronze medal on beam. That was the highlight for me of the entire Olympics. I love Phoebe and she was so deserving of that. She was the hardest working gymnast I have ever known.

read the rest … 1988 Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team Reunion – USAG

Here’s that routine. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

related post: coach Rhonda Faehn to be a Mom

Flickr is the world’s most popular photo sharing site.

Shawn has an official photos page which, no doubt, will be updated through the Olympics.

Shawn Johnson flickr photos sets

Win or lose the Olympics, Shawn has had a great run as World Champion already:

To connect U.S. consumers with the spirit and excitement of the upcoming Games, a special Coca-Cola “Six Pack” of athletes will be featured on collectible packaging and in-store materials. The “Six Pack” includes gold medalists Natalie Coughlin (swimming), Steven Lopez (taekwondo) and Sanya Richards (track & field); Olympians LeBron James (USA basketball) and Andy Potts (triathlon); and Olympic hopeful Shawn Johnson (gymnastics). Leading by example, the athletes also are serving as Coca-Cola “Ambassadors of Active Living” to help encourage and inspire people to lead active, balanced lives.

Coke

The Olympic Team will be 6 athletes nominated to the US Olympic Committee (USOC). Additionally, 3 replacement athletes will be named.

There are 3 “tryout” events leading up to making the Olympic Team:

VISA Women’s Gymnastics Championships (June 5-7, Boston), …

Olympic Trials (June 20-22, Philadelphia), …

and Final Selection Competition (July 16-20, Houston).

Qualification to the Visa Championships is by scoring 56.00 All Around (or 45.00 3 event total) at Classics, or for National Team members at Team Training Camp, International Assignment or the May Open Qualifier.

The 7 members of the 2007 World Championship Team (Ivana Hong, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Samantha Peszek, Alecia Sacramone, Bridget Sloan and Shayla Worley) automatically qualify to Visa Championships. Accepted petitioned athletes will also be admitted to Championships.

The top 12 All Around (2-day combined total) from Visa Championships qualify to Olympic Trials. The Olympic Selection Committee (Martha Karolyi – National Team Coordinator, Steve Rybacki – Chairman, International Elite Committee, and Kristi Phillips – Athlete Representative) MAY add additional athletes from the Championships or petitioned athletes to the Olympic Trials.

First, you must qualify to the Olympic Trial. The top 2 All Around (2-day combined total) from the Olympic Trials will automatically qualify for the Olympic Team. Additional athletes from the Olympic Trials MAY be selected directly onto the Olympic Team based on discretionary criteria (listed below). An unspecified number of additional athletes from the Olympic Trials and petitioned athletes will be invited by the Selection Committee to the Final Selection Camp. All Olympic contenders must attend the Final Selection Camp.

The Final Selection Competition will be 2 days of competition judged by 2 Brevet judges. The 6-member Olympic Team and 3 replacement athletes will be named immediately after the Final Selection Competition, but ranking in the competition will NOT necessarily determine placement on the Olympic Team.

The Selection Committee will use discretionary criteria to select athletes to the Olympic Team. Since Olympic rules no longer require all athletes to compete on all events, simple rank AA order doesn’t measure relative event strength and contribution to total or event scores. To be optimally
competitive for both team and individual medals the following discretionary criteria will be considered by the Olympic Selection Committee.

– Team needs and medal potential
– Results from international and national competitions
– Difficulty scores
– Routine performance “hit” consistency
– Composite strength of all the Olympic Team members
– Routine execution
– World class presentation
– Competitive readiness
– Professional attitude and ability to positively contribute to the team dynamic

The complete USAG 2008 Olympic Athlete Selection Procedures document (PDF).

Yup. Pretty subjective.

To guarantee your spot, best place in the top 2 AA at Olympic Trials.

(via Judge Judy’s Just Gymnastics newsletter)

I’ve been looking forward to this!

The competition starts Tuesday in the gargantuan Calgary Olympic Oval.

I stopped by tonight to snap a few pics.

Men’s Floor Manager Rosemary Rosemary Redgrift confirmed what you assume. The set-up was a BIG JOB. Thanks to all the volunteers.

… over 600 gymnasts and 300 coaches and officials to the Olympic Oval where Canada’s young athletes in artistic gymnastics, tumbling, and trampoline will compete for National titles. This will be a gymnastics competition of unprecedented size in Calgary requiring the support of over 500 volunteers. Over 5,000 spectators are expected during the week of events. …

official competition home page – Gymnastics Alberta

Shergymrag has done it again.

“Stumbled on to” the blog of an English speaking employee of the Ch*na Daily newspaper. In this non-official post, the employee — spiraledout — questions the real age of He Kexin, the favourite to win Bars at the 2008 Olympics:

Normally when a paper issues a correction it is to set the record straight. Ch*na Daily, my employer, almost never issues them because, well, as the official paper of the Communist Party, it is Pope-like — infallible.

So imagine how shocked I was when I was told earlier this week that we would be running a correction to a story from last week. I have never seen one in the 9 or so months I’ve been here, so I was a bit shocked. Did we get something wrong and, more shocking, are we admitting it?

Well, in a way. The story was about a young gymnast named He Kexin. Pretty straightforward tale: new gymnast on the scene, an ace at uneven bars, could give Team China that extra push to win all the golds they lust after. Except one little thing — the story said she was 14 years old.

The correction, then, reads as follows: “The second and third paragraphs on the May 23 story on Page 23 entitled ‘Uneven-bars queen new star in town’ should read: The 16-year-old newcomer to the national team…” and it goes on, exactly as it was in the original story, just with the age changed. Normally, of course, a real correction will mention what it is that’s being corrected, that is, what was wrong. But not this one. It just re-writes the story and insists that’s the way it is, not an admission of error. Just restating the facts as they were meant to be told.

So why the big deal? Why would we take the unprecedented step of issuing a correction, such as it is? Well, Olympic rules say that gymnasts must be at least 16 in order to compete in the Games, so even though her bio on Sina.com (a Chinese sports site that I can’t navigate since it’s all in Chinese) says she is 14. But no, she is officially 16, because, well, they say so. …

A rare correction to obfuscate the truth – Left Coast Leaner

This “reeks of dishonesty”.

We may never know if He Kexin is old enough to qualify under F.I.G. rules. But it’s possible that the truth may out if Chinese reporters and bloggers decide to investigate.

The post goes on to compare this “scandal” with that of Chinese NBA Basketball prospect Yi Jianlian who’s age is “officially” 20, but some think he is closer to 24 or 25.

Related posts including He Kexin

Alison Arnold Ph.D. is a sport psychology consultant for USA Gymnastics, a former gymnast.

Her site is Head Games.

One of their online offerings is called Web Camp ($99/month). There you can get video tutorials on mental toughness training.

They have free trial sessions, as well.

Jami Sims of GymMeet did an interview with TV star Janae Whittaker Ali, former captain of the Penn State gymnastics team:

So, we’re here to talk about the Head Games Web Camp. What is it exactly?

JW: A chance to train your mind ONLINE with a LIVE mental toughness trainer, like myself. There is nothing like it. You can get mentally tough this summer from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access! It is designed to have you grow in confidence, overcome fears, and be able to perform your best.

Why is it important in sports to be “mentally tough?”

JW: As we say at Head Games, “Out of control thinking leads to out of control performance.” Who wants to have an out of control performance? Sports are mentally challenging. It comes down to the one who can be confident and consistent…in training and competition. Your mind either makes you or breaks you. We all have fears and inconsistencies. It is important to learn [not how to be fearless], but how to have fear and do it anyway. This is called courage. And, being mentally tough makes sports a heck of a lot more fun! It is fun to be in control of your mind, it is fun to win.

read the rest of this interview on GymMeet.com (free membership required)