Gymnastics Coaching.com

The Nebraska Husker’s Mabel Lee Hall training gym is a classic.

Reminiscent of European gyms of the past. It’s small and I like that everyone is close together in the gym at all times. This leads to a much better atmosphere than the huge, impersonal “modern” facilities.

With elevated pits, it’s crammed with every possible training set-up. Belts, bungie systems, tramp catcher, air floor, etc.

Head Coach Dan Kendig is a fan of specialized training equipment.

Thanks to Dan, the coaching staff and the team for making me feel at home during my visit.

Nebraska Women’s Gymnastics

You’ll be seeing this image again during the Olympics:

… one of England’s darkest moments in the sport.

The venue: Berlin’s Olympic Stadium; the date: 14 May 1938. As the English players lined up alongside their German counterparts for pre-match ceremonies captain Eddie Hapgood and his men issued a Nazi salute to the crowd. …

It was a Foreign Office order that the England team, which included the legendary Stanley Matthews, perform the salute.

BBC

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is back peddling on the addition of “a controversial clause into their athletes’ contracts preventing them from criticizing the Chinese government while participating in the ’08 Beijing Games”:

The clause states only that athletes “are not to comment on any politically sensitive issues,” which would include China’s dismal human rights record and its occupation of Tibet. The move has been widely condemned as an infringement on the athletes’ rights of free speech.

Those who do not sign the contract will not be permitted to travel to the Olympics, and those that violate it while in China will be sent home, according to the BOA.

It’s inevitable that the world will be scrutinizing all aspects of the totalitarian dictatorship over the coming months. No manner of whitewash is going to prevent it.

The BOA should be ashamed.

This blog will happily link to criticism of China voiced by Olympic athletes. That nation has made fantastic progress. But the faster they move to transparency and accountability, the rule of law, and a truly open free market, the better.

The Olympics is the best chance the world has to influence decision-making in China.

Related: Shameful picture of England squad giving Nazi salute still haunts British sport. Why, 70 years later, do we still suck up to dictators?

Update: New Zealand and Belgium athletes facing the same controversy

It a big statement when a girl puts a (temporary) tattoo on her face.

They’ve become common in NCAA competition. Last night I saw a 6-year-old girl wear a Nebraska tattoo into the gym. Makes me wonder if they, one day, might become fashionable in age group competition.

original – flickr – UNC Gymnastics team member Christine Nguyen

North Carolina sophomore Christine Nguyen was named the EAGL Gymnast of the Week for her performance against EAGL rival NC State. Nguyen won the all-around competition (39.375) and placed first on all four events against the Wolfpack. She scored a 9.850 on vault, beam and floor and a 9.825 on bars. This is the second week in a row that Nguyen picks up the honor.

Carolina Gymnastics

Leave a comment if you have an opinion pro or con on tattoos.

UCLA used this mat set-up for super powerful gymnast Brittani McCullough on full twisting double back. She punches from the sting mat, lands on the landing mat.

Chicago Style 2008

Not allowed in all competitive levels, of course.

Related post: extra landing mats on Floor Exercise

That’s it, That’s all.

An incredible trailer for an upcoming snowboard video two years in the making. Travis Rice, Brain Farm Productions, Red Bull and Quicksilver are responsible.

Digg

http://www2.shredordie.com/public/flash/fodplayer.swf?1202361338That’s it That’s all Trailer on ShredOrDie.com

Launched February 2, 2008 this site is huge already.

I’d call it a portal. Not a great deal of original content, but with thousands of links to athlete bios, news stories, TV listings, clubs, College teams, etc.

The videos page links to hundreds of organized clips.

Their recommended gymnastics websites list is quite good.

Thanks to Moe Schober who edits the site. I’ll be checking in often. (Though not nearly as often as if it had an RSS feed.)

We’ve added a link to 4gymnasts in our right hand navigation under Gymnastics.

A comeback at age-33 sounded improbable. But Blaine has done it.

I could see him being selected for Beijing too if he keeps improving.

Five-time national champion Blaine Wilson earned a spot on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team Tuesday, and will receive funding for three months as he trains in an attempt to make his fourth Olympics.

Yewki Tomita, David Sender and Justin Spring also were awarded three of the final 15 spots on the team, which were filled out over the weekend at the Winter Cup Challenge.

details – Associated Press

The best that comes to mind is Rebecca Bross from WOGA. At the 2008 WOGA Classic she was top score all-around (Junior or Senior) with falls on 3 apparatus.

larger original – flickr

Canada’s Peng Peng Lee can challenge Rebecca on Beam, for sure.

Both girls, and many more around the world, are too young to try out for Beijing.

Can both continue at this high level through to the 2012 Olympics?

I have my doubts. The physical demands on the body of the current code of points is staggering.

One of the top coaches at Elite Canada in December — immediately after one of his age group gymnasts won Floor — said to me: “Every coach here is a criminal.”

He feel’s it’s insane to require such high level difficulty at such a young age in order to be successful under age group rules. Any coach who participates, including himself, was being unethical.

The Canadian Men’s Jr National Coach, Markos Baikas, is worried too. He’s telling athletes and coaches not to expect to compete full FIG requirements until perhaps age-19. “Train smart. Train safe. No rush.”

At Nikon Expo in Bristol.