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From a gymnast known as united team girl …

I wait and wait and there I go,
Jump out there but I start out slow.
Picking up speed
Hoping to take lead,
I go higher and higher
Feeling weightless
All eyes on me
Hoping to see
A winning smile,
While my life depends on this.
Nobody knows how I feel,
Making my way through the floor
Will I stick it or land short?
Almost done,
Here it comes
I feel my body sink,
But stand tall.
Smile, salute, wave,
These are the moments I crave

You can comment on the poem on Chalk Bucket

original – flickr – Raphael Goetter

1. Stanford 197.000
2. Oregon State 196.550
3. UCLA 196.200
4. Arizona 195.725
5. California 193.400
6. Washington 193.375
7. Arizona State 191.925

Insightful commentary from Blythe who was there:

… The meet began and ended with injuries to ASU junior Tia Orlando and Stanford redshirt freshman Allyse Ishino. …

… It must have made it especially difficult for Stanford seniors Liz Tricase and Tabitha Yim to concentrate, as both still had to go. But they showed why they’re pros — both executed two especially clean and powerful Yurchenko fulls without seeming to bat an eyelash.

Despite Ishino’s injury, Stanford looked like it was on cruise control the entire meet. It’s six seniors, all All-Americans, are truly impressive. Yim gave a tour de force performance on her way to her second Pac-10 all around title, backed up by Tricase, who captured her third (third!) consecutive Pac-10 bars title. …

… from the stands at the Pac-10 Championships – Gymblog

You have to cheer for Stanford. They have a shot at NCAA Championships THIS year with so much experience on the team. Go for it girls!

Congratulations to Tamitha Yim, PAC 10 Gymnast of the Year:

“Tabitha has been through so much in this sport,” said head coach Kristen Smyth. “She has grown and matured tremendously here at Stanford and has become our team leader. She is one of the most charismatic performers of all time and she definitely deserves the honor. We are so excited for her and for this program, as this is our first Gymnast of the Year honor.”

Tamitha Yim – Stanford profile

The German gymnastics federation has developed a new Web site, http://www.Turn-Team.de, devoted to its current World and Olympic hopefuls, featuring news, athlete blogs and more. …

full story – International Gymnast

In German only: Turn-Team.de

Chris suggested we look at this vault for “perfection”.

It’s the best Amanar that’s ever been competed, I suspect, by a woman. World Championship finals 2005. Yurchenko with two and one half twist.

Click PLAY Or watch it on YouTube.

Leave a comment if you’ve seen Cheng Fei or any other female gymnast do it better.

Ashley Postell from Utah has the top average score in the NCAA on Vault.

The Salt Lake Tribune documented Postell’s March 7 vault against Oregon State. She received a 9.95 score, a combination of two judges’ scores – a 9.9 and a perfect 10.0.

Charity Greene, the judge who awarded the 10.0, was asked to analyze the vault frame-by-frame. (Every judge awarding a “perfect” score should be required to do so.)

The most interesting frame to me is this one, the point of contact on landing. Technique is very good.

Unfortunately, NCAA judges want the chest position vertical on landing. The gymnast must stop the rotation of the somersault and come to a stop, somehow. There are many ways to do this biomechanically. But the only acceptable way in College gymnastics rules is like a knife stuck into a plank.

Shannon Miller’s landing on her first vault from the 1992 Olympics is perfect — yet her torso is not vertical. (Was Shannon fantastic, or what? Apologies in advance for the antics of Steve Nunno. His retirement from coaching was a happy day for me.)

Click PLAY or watch Shannon on YouTube.

(via difficulty plus execution)

If you want to see Ashley’s vault analysis for yourself, download the PDF file linked from this article:

Gymnastics: Postell’s vault broken down by a judge

The best Yurchenko fulls I’ve ever seen were done by Chinese men (and probably Kyle Shewfelt) but I do not have the links at my finger tips. Leave a comment if you have a personal favourite. We can use it as a 10 standard when comparing with College women’s vaults.

Gymnastics fans were irked when a 14-year-old qualified to the Olympics in Diving.

“Why can’t a 14-year-old gymnast qualify?”

Is there a double standard? Or is each sport doing what is right for them?

Interview with Thomas Daley:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Now I hear Tom Daley’s mother is worried about getting tickets to the Olympic events.

Obviously the Olympics should block a “family section” at each sporting venue, and allot a given number of tickets / country based on the number of participants. They could even charge a premium for those tickets.

Related post: 14yr-old diver to compete at Olympics

This video is the “making” of the first movie pitting Jet Li against Jackie Chan. It should be good.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Straight to the Bar)

Here’s a related fan video:

Click PLAY or watch the top 10 Jackie Chan stunts on YouTube.

(via Straight to the Bar)

#1 and #2 clips are where Jackie REALLY went too far.

Jackie Chan – Wikipedia

Philippe Rizzo, of Australia, performs a release move on the high bar his during the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Mar. 30, 2008. Philippe Rizzo won the gold medal in the high bar competition.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar) – ESPN

In Australia last year I was lucky enough to spend time with Philippe’s father, Andre Rizzo. A respected coach, former competitor for France. What a shame Andre won’t get to see his son contend for an Olympic medal.

Philippe is one of the medal contenders not qualified for Beijing.

Shout out to Brandon O’Neill who won Floor with a 15.550.

photo – Grace Chiu

The chalk dust still settling, check the “live” reporting on International Gymnast. Both Men’s and Women’s results are included.

Oklahoma Sooners remain undefeated. Win the Big 12.

TEAM RESULTS

Oklahoma, 195.875
Iowa State, 195.775
Missouri, 195.225
Nebraska, 194.975

more NCAA coverage – Inside Gymnastics