Gymnastics Coaching.com

At the 2004 General Assembly of FIG in Turkey, the Italian Bruno Grandi was elected as President of the International Gymnastics Federation with votes from 86 of 96 nations. Grandi hasn’t been all bad.

He’s running for election again in 2008 — unopposed, it seems — with that vote taking place in Finland in October. There is the possibility of a nomination from the Floor, I assume. Personally, I wish Vice President Slava Corn would run for the top job.

Pretty boring stuff …

But if YOU happen to be interested, FIG has posted a list of candidates (PDF) for those elections.

The disastrous Adrian Stoica is running for reelection as Men’s Technical President. NEW candidates up for MTC include Steve Butcher (USA) and Edouard Iarov (Canada).

Nellie Kim is running again for WT President.

My opinion is that IOC and FIG are structured so that it is very difficult for a new person to unseat an incumbent. That corruption and vote influence is commonplace. That there is very little incentive for FIG to improve or change. And that the organization is most undemocratic.

AND that the IOC is even worse.

Related posts:

how to contact the FIG Technical Committees
Olympic Games for sale

(via Lightbulb Hands)

July 1 is the deadline for USA Gymnastics to submit the names of the six members of the Olympic team and any replacement athletes to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

If an athlete’s petition to the Olympic team is accepted, he must prove competitive readiness at the Olympic Team preparation camp July 13-22 in Colorado Springs, Colo. If he fails to do so, he will be removed from the team at that time.

read more … Gymnast.com

Everyone I’ve talked to is very optimistic the defending Olympic Champion will be close to 100% in time for the Olympics.

… Dr. Lawrence Lubbers, an orthopedic hand specialist who has previously worked on Hamm’s former teammate, Blaine Wilson, will perform the surgery. Dr. Lubbers is part of the elite Hand and Microsurgery Associates, Inc., a division of Columbus Hand Therapy, LLC.

“We know he’s very competent,” Hamm’s coach, Miles Avery, said of Dr. Lubbers.

Dr. Lubbers evaluated Hamm this morning and found nothing previously unknown about the break, allowing them to proceed immediately with surgery. Dr. Lubbers will fixate the break in Hamm’s fourth, right metacarpal and that hardware—be it a pin, plate, screw or combination thereof—will stay in Hamm’s hand, at least through Beijing. …

“Four weeks from now we’ll be back up on the apparatus,” Avery told Inside Gymnastics. “Four weeks at the outside—hopefully, [sooner]. …

Inside Gymnastics

This is unofficial. But, posted by Glen’s Dad, it’s official enough for me.

From the USA VISA Championships competition in Houston this past weekend.

The top 7 juniors (age groups combined) in rank order are:

1. Glen Ishino (87.15),
2. Alexy Bilozertchev (86.05),
3. John Orosco (86.00),
4. Danell Leyva (85.90),
5. Sam Mikulak (84.45),
6. Donathan Bailey (84.25) and
7. CJ Maestas (84.00).

This ranking identified the gymnasts who are going on the Japan Training Camp with Yoichi Tomita for ten days beginning June 23rd.

With these super talents coming up, I don’t think American Men’s gymnastics has ever been this deep.

Father Dmitri Bilozertchev coaching son Alexy.

Dmitri was, by age-16 in 1983, World Champion. The best young male gymnast of all-time. I see some similarities in style with his son, but even more differences.

Note: the last name can be spelled many different ways.

… Allan Bower, a gymnast at Xtreme Gymnastics … took second overall in Level 9 all-around … at the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics, held May 8-9 at Battle Creek, Mich. He finished in the top 10 in the other three events in a field of 280.

… As a member of the national team, Bower will attend two special camps — in July and October — at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

… Bower has Olympic aspirations, but in the meantime is looking ahead to the international Junior Olympics event set for the summer of 2010 in Singapore.

Gymnastic Bodies

Thanks Coach Sommer.

A weird and wonderful video produced by the Indianapolis Star.

Olympic hopeful Bridget Sloan trains at Sharp’s Gymnastics Academy in Indianapolis.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

BridgetSloan.com

(via Live.Breath.Love.Gymnastics)

Bridget had a minor meniscus tear but says she is back to 98% healthy. She’s also planning on performing two new skills on bars at the U.S. Championships.

Related: Samantha Peszek Indianapolis Star Clip – YouTube

7.4 A-score. 16.65 final score.

She’s a contender for a bar medal in Beijing, for sure. And without being able to do “stoop Stalder” or “el-grip” giants to pump the difficulty score, Beth must do REAL skills in combination.

I’m impressed.

This routine from the British Team Championships this past weekend.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Difficulty Plus Execution)

I suspect we’ll see an 8.0 A-score on bars in the not to distant future.

UPDATE: I called “el-grip” swing EASY. It is easy, if you are born with flexible wrists and shoulders. For other gymnasts, it may be impossible. Jaeger from el-grip swing is easier than from undergrip, for example.

Same with Stoop Stalder. If you are born with the right body proportions, those skills are “easy”. If not, impossible. I coached a gymnast named Davide Bardana who could do as many stoop Stalders in series as he wanted. It was easy for him. But no one else in the gym could even attempt it.

I’m not saying they should devalue those families of skills. I like them. But people should credit how difficult Beth’s routine truly is.

A sneak preview of the latest, greatest product from Tumbl TRAK.

Sections are connected with Velcro.

Doug Davis MIGHT be showing this at USA Congress 2008 held in conjunction with Olympic Trials in Philadelphia June 19-22.

I really like the markings painted right on to the equipment. This should be standard.

Related posts:

TumblTrak tumbling “Air Floor”
competition AIR FLOOR for tumbling is here

Lets say YOU want to go to the Olympics. How do you get there?

First, you must qualify to the Olympic Trial in Philadelphia. Only 14 men were selected, out of over 40, based on performance at VISA Championships this past weekend.

Ten were chosen based on a point system:

(in rank order): New national champ David Sender, Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan, Joey Hagerty, Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, David Durante, Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar and Sean Golden.

Wisely, Men’s Program Committee (MPC) could add 4 more gymnasts based on potential to make the Olympic Team.

Justin Spring, Tim McNeill, Guillermo Alvarez and Yewki Tomita

Finally, any injured athlete could petition to the Olympic Trial. Confirmed was Sean Townsend who has strong Horizontal Bar, an apparatus weak in the USA and the world right now.

Defending Olympic Champion Paul Hamm was injured at the VISA Championships and expects to miss the Olympic Trial. He’ll petition to the next stage. Personally I hope Paul does some apparatus in Philadelphia. That his broken hand heals quickly.

Any of the gymnasts competing All-around at the Olympic trial can guarantee themselves a spot in Beijing. They simply must finish in the top two (40% USAs + 60% Trials) and also finish in the top three on at least three events. That’s a big ask. Only Horton has much of a chance to do so.

In the end, the Olympic Selection Committee will finalize who is on the team:

Because Tomita made Trials, his father, Yoichi, will not be a part of the committee. Instead, MPC member Stacy Maloney will join National Team Coordinator Ron Brant, Men’s Program Senior Director Dennis McIntyre, Coaches’ Representative Bill Foster and Athlete Representative Jay Thornton …

Inside Gymnastics

This is a huge and important responsibility. But people are confident this super experienced panel will do everything they can to pick the best team out of many possible combinations of athletes.

Interestingly, the personal coaches are not necessarily consulted.

Related post: 14 American gymnasts to Olympic Trials

The only injury petition accepted.

SeanTownsend.com

He withdrew shortly before VISA Championships with a shoulder problem. I assume MTC believes Sean can be ready to challenge for an Olympic spot at Trials June 19-22 in Philadelphia.

With this addition, 15 men have been invited.

Related post: 14 American gymnasts to Olympic Trials

Australia will have a respectable team, despite the many gymnasts that have dropped out of contention:

Dasha Joura
Lauren Mitchell
Olivia Vivian
Georgia Bonora
Shona Morgan
Emma Dennis
Amber Fulljames
Melanie Jones
Ashleigh Brennan

Six of these young ladies will compete in Beijing.

Details on the Australian Gymnastics Blog

… By virtue of their one-two finish at the Australian Championships that concluded Sunday in Melbourne, Joura and Shona Morgan received automatic selection onto the team. …

more commentary on International Gymnast

Gymnastics Australia

More people are talking about Daria Joura as a long shot contender for an Olympic AA medal:

Dasha’s total A-score (adding up all four events) is a 24.5 right now. By comparison, Shawn Johnson’s is 25.9, Nastia Liukin’s is 25.8, and Steliana Nistor’s is 25.6 (Jiang Yuyuan’s is way up there as well).

Andrew Thornton on Gymnast.com

She will need very good B-scores to stay in the fight.