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I’ve been studying how acrobats learn the air flare over the past few years. It’s the ultimate Floor Exercise not yet competed by an Artistic gymnast at an international competition.

On MakingTheOlympics.com Morgan posted the first video tutorial I’ve seen of a competitive gymnast integrating air flare into a routine. Well worth checking out if you have an athlete working towards this skill.

Morgan does it somewhat differently than I’ve seen before. His looks more like pommel horse and less like a handstand pirouette.

Unfortunately Morgan did not compete the air flare in his routine at USA Championships.

See the video on MakingTheOlympics.com.

Thanks TKO.

It was a thrilling night in San Jose the final day of Men’s Competition. The guys were far, far more consistent than Day 1.

We were very happy to see Durante finally have a breakthrough meet exactly at the right time — when the USA needs a strong leader going into World Championships.

He kept smiling.

As David Durante stepped off the mat after each of six routines Friday night at the Visa Championships, he grinned, pumped his fist or breathed easily. …

Nine months after finishing a disastrous 13th in the world, Durante and his peers made a statement at the U.S. championships at HP Pavilion by putting together the kind of performances they always knew they could.

“I had a sense this week, if I didn’t do it now, I never will,” said Durante, 27.

Fueled with newfound confidence, he backed it up, hitting all 12 of his routines over two days to win his first U.S. senior all-around title.

On an impressive night for the Cardinal, Stanford seniors Sho Nakamori and David Sender were third and fifth, respectively, in the all-around, making strong cases to be selected to the world championship team that competes next month in Stuttgart, Germany.

“We showed we have a lot of depth,” Nakamori said. “It doesn’t matter who makes it.”

It was just the kind of meet Ron Brant, national team coordinator, had hoped to witness from a talented but inexperienced group being asked to carry the Olympic torch.

The Americans must finish in the top 12 at the world championships Sept. 1-9 to qualify as a team for next year’s Beijing Games.

“We’ve got the people; we’ve just got to do the finishing touches,” Brant said Friday. “We’re close, very close.”

Durante, who resides at the U.S. Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., is even more optimistic. When asked if he had any doubts whether the Americans would qualify for the Summer Olympics, he said, “Zero.” …

San Jose Mercury News – Gymnasts’ confidence on the rise

Paul and Morgan Hamm competed only 3 routines between them and looked stronger. But no one is counting on them to carry the American Team to Beijing.

A good flickr set of photos from USA Championships Day 1 Competition .

Ivana Hong. Photographer – flaw13

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2007— 2007 Pan Am Games rhythmic gymnastics all-around champion Lisa Wang of Buffalo Grove, Ill., won hoop and clubs and leads the all-around competition at the 2007 Visa Championships at the San Jose (Calif.) McEnery Convention Center.

In the junior division, Marlee Shape, also of Buffalo Grove, Ill., claimed two individual event titles, hoop and ribbon, and is first in the all-around competition at the half-way point. The all-around finals for rhythmic gymnastics are Saturday, Aug. 18, at 10 a.m. PT.

News: Wang wins two gold medals in rhythmic gymnastics at 2007 Visa Championships

The top 12 juniors and the top 12 seniors in today’s competition advanced to the all-around finals. The all-around awards are based on the two-day scores.

full RESULTS – Sr. Rhythmic Preliminaries

Lisa Wang – Greg Aiken Photography

Just saw the cover of the July/August 2007 edition of International GYMNAST Magazine

Interesting cover story.

Shayla looked wonderful Day 1 of Championships.

… With less than 12 months to go until the Beijing Olympics, Johnson looked every bit like America’s next superstar gymnast Thursday night, handling the pressure of national championships with the same high-flying power and confidence she’s been showing all year.

The 15-year-old Iowa dynamo was in the lead after the first of two days of competition, scoring 61.7 points to finish 1.55 ahead of Ivana Hong and 2.65 ahead of two-time defending champion Nastia Liukin, who made major mistakes on two of four events and was in fifth.

“It’s very important,” Johnson said of her solid first day. “Now, since it’s a year away, every day, the competition counts.”

SI.com – More Sports – Johnson flying high at gymnastics nationals

larger photo – USA today

Overall, there were a surprising number of errors made by the fantastic 18 gymnast who qualified to Sr. Championships.

Shawn Johnson was not to be denied, however. She’s a house on fire. Wow.

full RESULTS for Sr. Women’s Preliminaries – USA Gymnastics

Only the top two after Saturday’s competition (combined scores) immediately qualify for the Worlds team. Congratulations to Shawn and Ivana and their coaches. Fantastic competition!

No doubt the media will focus on the errors made by Nastia. Actually, she looked very good. The fall on Vault was a complete fluke. Despite a fall on Bars dismount she still won the apparatus. (It may have been the best routine in history on the apparatus up to that point. The fall on Floor was not a surprise to me, however.)

I’m optimistic she can eliminate those errors and be better than ever before at Worlds in a couple of weeks.

Bridget Sloan looked fantastic. Technical and artistic. I’ve already raved about Shayla Worley.

I’d add Alica Sacramone to the World’s team for her maturity, personality and leadership. (Not to mention Vault.)

But there’s a long way to go before final team selection is made. No doubt some of the veterans will move up the list after day 2.

Good luck to all the athletes.

The big story at Championships 2007 was the return of Paul and Morgan Hamm.

Morgan, in particular, looked good. But both had problems on the two events they competed.

Here’s the first news story on the web after the meet:

Hamms show flashes of old selves
By NANCY ARMOUR

SAN JOSE, Calif. —
Paul and Morgan Hamm aren’t yet the gymnasts they were the last time they were on the floor.

Then again, the U.S. men aren’t what they were in 2004, either.

Competing for the first time since the Athens Olympics, the Hamms showed why they were among the best in the world. But it was clear they are still working their way back into competitive form.

“First one’s out of the way,” Paul said afterward.

Paul, the Olympic champion, scored a 15.7 on floor that was not only best in the event, but among the highest of the competition. Morgan was solid on floor until he under-rotated his final tumbling pass, needing to take a few steps to steady himself. Even with the error, he scored a 14.950 that put him in eighth place.

Both got hung up on the pommel horse, and neither cracked 14.0, which is not a world-level score under the new scoring system.

At least they have an excuse. The rest of the men at the U.S. gymnastics championships have been working for three years, and had very little to show for it that will scare China, Japan or Romania.

David Durante had a few nice routines, Kevin Tan was spectacular on the still rings and Sasha Artemev looks good even when he’s faltering. Durante and Artemev were tied for the lead going into Friday night’s final competition. Other than that, though, there were too many spills and splats from guys who are expected to be leading the way.

Which explains why everyone was so eager for the Hamms to come back. …

Sun Herald

The Hamms will not be competing at Worlds in 3 weeks. USA will need to finish in the top 12 nations without the Hamm experience and reputation.

But I’m a little more optimistic than most in San Jose. I expect the US to qualify for Beijing as a team without much problem. They simply need to put together a team based on who can hit routines CONSISTENTLY.

The Sr Men have actually improved since Championships last year.

To the contenders listed above, I’d add these names to those who could count at Worlds 2007 for the USA: Jonathan Horton, Sho Nakamuri, Guillermo Alverez, Yewki Tomita and even young Steven Legendre (WOGA). I list those who could score on a minimum of 3 apparatus.

There are other specialists, of course. But I doubt the US can afford to name anyone unable to do a minimum of 3 strong events.

full RESULTS of the Men’s Jr and Sr Preliminaries (UPDATED link)

I’ve just subscribed to an excellent new gymnastics newsletter published by coach Valentin Uzunov from Wellington, New Zealand.

Check out a sample issue posted in .PDF format linked from this page: GymPress Newsletter July 2007.

The two major articles cover CONDITIONING and VAULT TRAINING. It will appeal most to the high level competitive coach.

If you like GymPress, subscribe to have it sent to you by email in future.

It’s FREE.

Thanks Valentin. It’s obvious to me you have studied the most recent videos and gymnastics literature. Good luck with GymPress!

sample screenshot from the July 2007 issue – Dragalescu on Vault

My second day at USA Championships the local paper San Jose Mercury News has a focus on injury.

Headline:

THIS MIGHT HURT A BIT
Gymnastics is examining the aches, pains of its athletes

The article is well written (Elliott Almond) though every coach would take exception to some of the statements made.

UPDATE: Read the original article: Gymnastics examines its aches, pains

On the plus side, the new Code of Points needs as much media scrutiny as possible.

What medical consequences are we seeing under the new FIG rules?