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The strangest side story to Pan Am Games. I feel badly for the girls and coaches on Team Mexico.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 19

The Mexican women’s gymnastics team was stripped of its Panamerican Games bronze medal on Thursday after it was discovered that one of the athletes in the team had been accredited as an official.

PASO (Pan American Sports Organisation) executive committee voted unanimously to disqualify Mexico and upgrade Canada from fourth to the bronze medal position.

During the team competition on Saturday a technical delegate noticed that a Mexican gymnast was accredited as an official (“As” accreditation), not as an athlete (“Ao” accreditation) and reported it to PASO.

After an investigation, the PASO executive committee made the decision to disqualify the Mexican team for a breach of rules.

The bronze medals will be given to the Canadian Olympic Committee, who will distribute them to the women’s team which has already left Brazil and returned home.

© Reuters 2007

Mexico loses gymnastics medal for accreditation error

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) – larger original

This is perhaps the best I’ve seen on YouTube. It’s had over 250,000 hits already.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It was posted by 16-year-old KajaRG from Norway.

I was impressed by Canadian RG Championships 2007. And in August will again be attending the USA RG Championships.

Is it true that Rhythmic Gymnastics is America’s weakest sport, Summer or Winter Olympics? If so, why?

John Ferreira wrote to let us know about an interesting upcoming event.

The 98th Annual Springfield College Exhibition Show, a.k.a. The Homeshow, featuring the Tableaux number which has been done for all 98 years.

Tableaux 2006

The theme this year will be “extreme sports” (of course focusing on “extreme gymnastics”).

The show is a hot ticket drawing about 2000 spectators each night. Mark it on your calendar (Oct. 19-20) if you live near Massachusetts.

Collegiate exhibition teams were not uncommon in the early decades of the Century. Such teams were organized to stimulate interest in gymnastics work. Springfield College was at the forefront of exhibition gymnastics.

Roots of American Gymnastics: A Review – A.B. Frederick, Technique Magazine



Originally uploaded to flickr by hélê.

Brazil and the U.S. won four golds each in the apparatus finals at the Pan Am Games, held Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Brazil’s Jade Barbosa won women’s vault, but the U.S. women finished 1-2 on the other three events. All-around champion Shawn Johnson topped Nastia Liukin on both uneven bars and balance beam. Liukin, the top qualifier on uneven bars, fell on her new invert to double front dismount. …

Gymnastics continues at the Pan American Games with the rhythmic competition on July 27 and trampoline July 27-28.

The 2011 Pan American Games will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

International Gymnast – full results

US’ Anastasia Liukin competes in the beam final of the Pan American Games gymnastics competition in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Liukin won the silver.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull) – ESPN – Gymnastics Photo Wire

Some 2007 Pan Am Games gymnastics videos are available as YouTube clips on one of the Gym Chat Forum pages:

Gymnastics Message Boards – Gym Chat :: View topic – 2007 Pan Am Games gymnastics videos!!

They are difficult to watch due to the low resolution format of YouTube.

U.S. gymnasts Shawn Johnson, center, Rebecca Bross, left, and Ivana Hong, react after winning medals at the Pan American Games women’s all-around gymnastics competition in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, July 16, 2007. Johnson won the gold, Bross the silver and Hong the bronze.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ESPN – Gymnastics Photo Wire – larger version

The USA has so much depth!

Bross and Hong have to be considered serious candidates for the American Team to Worlds 2007 team after this result. No doubt Johnson will lead that team.

DORNBIRN, Austria — Two Russian gymnasts were suspended after testing positive for prohibited substances at the acrobatic gymnastics World Cup final in April.

The International Gymnastics Federation said Tuesday it handed Tatiana Okulova a two-year suspension after she tested positive for the banned diuretic Furosemide at the finals in Puurs, Belgium. Stanislav Kofelnikov tested positive for marijuana and received a six-month ban.

Okulova, 17, won gold with world champion Revaz Gurgenidze in the mixed pair event.

Diuretics increase urine production and are used to treat patients with renal problems. They can also be used to mask the presence of steroids and other banned substances.

Kofelnikov earned the silver medal with Viacheslav Spirin in the men’s pair event at the World Cup final. …

The gymnasts have the right to appeal to the FIG Appeals Tribunal.

Acrobatic gymnastics, formerly known as sports acrobatics, features pairs or groups of athletes who perform routines to music.

ESPN – Russian gymnasts suspended after testing positive at acrobatic World Cup finals – Gymnastics

I was a big fan of sole circle swings on bars. But recently I am seeing far too many of them.

Can’t we do more to penalize overuse of similar skills? Or, better, reward gymnasts who show a wide variety of skills?

For example, check the loaded routine of Ksenia Semyonova at the 2007 WOGA Classic.

Too many sole circle elements “piked inverted swing” elements for you?

CLICK PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Semyonova, current Russian Champion, who turns 15 in October, was not eligible for the Senior competition at Europeans. She will be eligible for the world championships in Stuttgart, because 2007 is a qualifying year for the Olympics.

It feels like she has the right timing and momentum to challenge for the Olympic AA title in 2008.

Shawn Johnson led a U.S. sweep of the women’s all-around medals at the Pan Am Games, held Monday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 15-year-old Iowan scored 61.725 to claim the title over teammates Rebecca Bross (61.050) and Ivana Hong (59.375).

Johnson and Bross, who each scored 15.100 on floor exercise in the first rotation, clinched their respective medals on beam in the final rotation. Johnson nailed her routine for the highest mark of the day, 16.175, with Bross earning the second-highest mark (15.925).

After three rotations, Brazil’s own Jade Barbosa led Johnson by .1 after her Yurchenko 2 1/2 vault earned a 15.850. Barbosa fell out of the medals with a missed routine on her final event, uneven bars. Hong, who also suffered a fall on bars in the fourth rotation, managed to earn the bronze over Barbosa by .050.

2007 Pan American Games
July 16, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Women’s All-Around Final
1. Shawn Johnson USA 61.725
2. Rebecca Bross USA 61.050
3. Ivana Hong USA 59.375
4. Jade Barbosa BRA 59.325
5. Peng Peng Lee CAN 57.300
5. Daniele Hypolito BRA 57.300

International GYMNAST Magazine Online