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Belarusian gymnasts perform during a final show of the 2007 Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, May 20, 2007.

ESPN.com – OLY

AP Photo/Sergei Grits

Very well edited, this clip was used to “fire up” the girls from Region 2 in the USA.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The razzle dazzle excitement of the NCAA is what’s missing from most competitions.

Here at the Canadian National Gymnastics Championships the atmosphere is too subdued. The competition slow and, at times, boring. (Quebec has a loud cheering section, though.)

We have several American NCAA coaches here with Canadian athletes. They are very patient with our “traditional” way of running a competition.

The 2004 Olympic Floor champion will be in Regina doing school visits and promotional appearances at Canadian Championships, but will not compete.

He has minor tendonitis in the Achilles. But Sonorex (high intensity ultra-sound) worked quite well on this nagging injury last year. Kyle expects it to heal up quickly again this time.

He’s taking no chances. The goal is team qualification for the Olympics 2008. Kyle wants to peak for Worlds in September.

larger photos on KyleShewfelt.com

Kikuchi came out with the win.

Here are the top 10 from Day 1 competition:

2007 Canadian Gymnastics Championships – Full Results – Gym Score Depot

It was great to see Casey Sandy (NCAA Champion Penn State) and Stephen Tétrault (Nebraska) make it to Regina. This was not easy for them as their College season finished up just weeks ago and routines had to be upgraded for the FIG requirements. (Stephen told me he changed his sets as little as possible due to lack of time.)

The veterans looked great as expected. Brandon O’Neil competed only four events — but won Floor, Vault and P Bars.

Canada is ranked 6th in the World right now and will be a strong contender for an Olympic Team berth.

Jr. National Coach Markos Baikas said that increased difficulty of FIG rules means that it may take until age 20 for a male gymnast to become competitive at the Senior level.

I think he’s right. Coaches need to be patient with the young guys.

Kikuchi, Vaculik lead at gymnastics nationals – CBC

If you read this blog regularly, you know I am a big fan of playgrounds. Not only for kids. But for myself. Playgrounds are where I workout when on the road.

Scott Bird suggests that “monkey bars” have been disappearing from parks in Australia. What a shame.

A few decades ago – when I would have first played around on monkey bars – they seemed to be everywhere. In their original, simple form or as part of more elaborate constructions such as rockets and aeroplanes. To a young boy with a big imagination, they were magical.

Fast forward 20 years or so, to the mid ’90s. Due to their popularity – they were being used almost 8 times as much as other playground equipment – there were an alarming number of accidents. …

Fearful of lawsuits, many of the monkey bars were removed.

Straight to the Bar

We need more monkey bars in this world. Not fewer.

source

Last year’s junior national champion Kristina Vaculik of Gemini Gymnastics won the senior women’s qualification at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Regina last night.

Vaculik, who entered the meet as a heavy favourite based on international successes this year in France and at Gymnix, scored 58.30 points, with her best mark of 15.0 (6.4 A score) coming on the uneven bars.

See Kristina’s profile: Gymn.ca: Kristina Vaculik

As usual, photographer Grace Chiu is shooting the National Championships.

Small thumbnail photos are posted on GraceClick.ca where you can order prints on-line.

2007 Canadian Gymnastics Championships – Photos © GraceClick

This was the best Canadian Senior Women’s Competition I have seen in some years. And the top ranked gymnast — Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs — did not compete.

Here are the top 10 from preliminaries:

2007 Canadian Gymnastics Championships – Full Results – Gym Score Depot

Stephanie Pacitto really impressed me, especially with her tumbling.

The 2006 Jr. Champion Kristina Vaculik and Emma Willis are young and talented, the future of the team.

Really all of the top girls looked good and made few errors. Do they need more difficulty in order to qualify as a team for the 2008 Olympics?

I’m not sure.

Olympian Gael Mackie looks strong and confident at the Canadian Championships. She had a good competition in preliminaries (except for a fall on beam) and finished 5th.

Gael’s always been great. But has suffered from injuries. Many have questioned whether her training regime in the past has been too demanding.

Injuries nearly derailed Gael’s dreams of competing at the 2004 Olympics but she ultimately won a spot on the team. At the Olympics, Gael competed on uneven bars and helped the team to a 10th place finish.

Since the Olympics Gael has added to her international resume by qualifying for event finals on uneven bars World Cup meets in Ghent, Belgium and Glasgow, Scotland.

Like her teammates, Gael is working hard on new routines as she looks ahead to the 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2007 Pan American Games and 2008 Olympics.

Gymnastics Canada – Gymnastique Canada

Gael’s also looking forward to an NCAA scholarship at Utah after that.

Good luck!

GaelMackie.net – official website