tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
The Golden Circus Festival included a performance by a Chinese athlete with great physical ability.
He is very young to have such control in planche press handstand.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
If you know his name, leave a comment below.
(via Scott Bird on Straight to the Bar)
A good listing of potential super stories if not necessarily superstars for the Beijing Olympics from Blythe at Gymblog:
Shawn Johnson, USA
Beth Tweddle, Great Britain
Jiang Yuyuan, China
Aisha Gerber, Canada
Vanessa Ferrari, Italy
Daria Joura, Australia
Hong Su Jong, Korea
Anna Pavlova, Russia
Bridget Sloan, USA
Cerasela Patrascu, Romania
Yulia Lozhechko, Russia
Oksana Chusovitina, Germany
Click through to see photos or videos of each. And reasons why they are athletes to watch this year:
Women’s artistic gymnastics: 12 to watch in ‘08 « The Gymblog
PS
Or to add name gymnasts you’d like added to the list.
Coach Dan Niehaus has gone to a better place … (Cirque du Soleil. He’s Head Coach of LOVE in Vegas.)
But his legacy lives on in the form of the Sprinkler Dance.
History remembers that Dan invented this gymnastics warm-up game. It’s traveled all around the world.
To see kids pretending to be sprinklers at Island Gymnastics Academy in PEI, Canada click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That’s Kelly Thompson from SFX University leading the fun.
Thanks Patrick Carmichael for posting the clip.
Just to prove acrobats aren’t the craziest athletes.
Loic Jean Albert BASE jumps from a helicopter.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(via Team Geared Up Blog)
Want more?
wingsuit flying – crazy BASE jump video
Maybe cluster ballooning is more your style:
Jason Siska, a gymnastic coach from Fox River Grove, Illinois, is one of the 20 castaways set to compete in Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites.
(Photo courtesy of CBS)
Survivor: Micronesia – Wikipedia
If you have not already heard enough about the test competition from Beijing, read John’s honest and insightful review on Inside Gymnastics:
So the dust has settled on the Olympic Test Event in Beijing, China and anyone who thought the test event was supposed to be a preview of the gymnastics we are going to see next summer at the Olympics, well, you were sorely disappointed. …
John Roethlisberger is one of the best American gymnasts of all time, much respected by one and all.
John concurs that Cheng Fei was the biggest star of the meet. She’s the greatest female gymnast in Chinese history. Here’s a good montage including some major mistakes she’s made over her long, illustrious career:
Click PLAY or watch Cheng Fei on YouTube.
by Rick McCharles from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Tomorrow begins a pilot training course for “learning facilitators” in the latest revision of Canada’s NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program) Level 1 Gymnastics Foundations course.
So far, it looks great.
Formerly “learning facilitators” were called “course conductors”.
I’ll be posting updates over the weekend.
I first heard about Kiara Nowlin from Don Eckert at Woodward West Gymnastics Camp. He called her the best tumbler her age in the USA.
Kiara came out of Cheer into competitive acrobatic tumbling.
To me, Kiara is symbolic of the rapid improvement of Cheer tumblers. Every day they are catching up to Artistic.
KIARA GOT THE GOLD MEDAL FOR THE USA AT THE 2007 World Age Group Championships in TUMBLING- Age 11-12, Nov 4 – 11 in Quebec City, Canada.
KIARA finished 1st
Russian Ekaterina Timofiychuk (2nd)
fellow USA teammate Mackenzie Kulka (3rd)
kiara’s world – official website
To see Kiara at Age Group Worlds click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.
One other thing you should know about Kiara Nowlin. Despite her tremendous celebrity at a very young age, she’s one of the most polite, respectful kids I’ve ever met.
Related post: Kiara Nowlin – cheer tumbling prodigy
At the fabulous new National Institute of Circus Arts facility in Melbourne, Australia you can “try before you buy”:
If you are interested in trying out circus before committing to a term of classes then our Come & Try classes are for you. Running on Saturday 19th January our Summer Come & Try classes have something exciting for everyone. Have a go on Aerial Apparatus, Manipulation Equipment or try Tumbling and Acrobatics. Each Come & Try Class runs for 3 hours with participants trying various activities with trainers who teach in our term programs. Come & Try Participants may enrol in a term class after the enrolment deadlines following their class. …
about Short Courses at NICA
NICA offers classes for young and old.
National Institute of Circus Arts – Wikipedia
Gymnastics Coaching.com 