Gymnastics Coaching.com

The 1978 World Champion died Dec. 22nd.

The wonderful athlete, who pushed Nadia and popularized full-in on Floor and double back off beam, was paralysed in a training disaster before the 1980 Olympics.

Unlike the fluke accident suffered by Drew Donnellan, the paralysis of Mukhina was the subject of much conjecture. And even criticism of the coaches involved.

Sadness at Christmas Times….!

At the age of five years Elena lost both of her parents. She was raised by her grandmother, Anna Ivanovna. As a youngster she took an interest in gymnastics and figure skating. When an athletic scout visited her school, she eagerly volunteered to try out for gymnastics. …

Up until 1975, Elena Mukhina was an unremarkable gymnast, but after then, she teamed up with men’s coach Mikhail KLIMENKO and she transformed into one of the most show stopping gymnasts of her time: In 1976 she won the title of a Soviet junior all-around champion, but she did not qualify for the Olympic team (Montreal).

After winning three European titles at the continental championships in Prague (1977), she burst onto the scene at the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg, France.

In one of the most stunning all-around performances in history, she won the gold medal, beating out Olympic Champions Nadia COMANECI and Nellie KIM among others. She also tied for the gold medal in the floor exercise event final, as well as winning the silver in balance beam and uneven bars.

She quickly established herself as an athlete to watch for at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

In late 1979 Mukhina suffered a broken leg, which kept her out of the World Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, a competition in which the Soviet team suffered its first defeat at the hands of their archrivals from Romania.

After surgery Mukhina’s training continued despite her leg having not completely healed. When it was discovered that the fracture had not healed properly, Mukhina was rushed into surgery again. Because of her injury, she had great difficulty re-mastering a signature tumbling run, a Thomas salto (a 1 and 3/4 flip with 1 1/2 twists).

Two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, while practicing this exact move, she underrotated the salto, crash-landed on her chin, and her spine snapped. She was rendered a quadriplegic. …

Following the injury, the Soviet Gymnastics Federation remained secretive about the events surrounding Mukhina’s cataclysmic injury.

Elena herself was reclusive following the incident, seldom publicly discussing the accident.

In a rare interview with “Ogonyok MAGAZINE”, Elena spoke about the Soviet gymnastics program, criticizing it for deceiving the public about her injury, and for the system’s insatiable desire for gold medals and championships:

“…for our country, athletic successes and victories have always meant somewhat more than even simply the prestige of the nation. They embodied (and embody) the correctness of the political path we have chosen, the advantages of the system, and they are becoming a symbol of superiority. Hence the demand for victory – at any price. As for risk, well… We’ve always placed a high value on risk, and a human life was worth little in comparison with the prestige of the nation…”

GYMmedia.com

What ever happened to Elena Mukhina

Elena Mukhina – Wikipedia

We’ve been cheering on Drew and his many supporters.

He is still improving as 2007 approaches.

Drew Donnellan, 16, suffered a spinal cord injury May 12 when he over-rotated during a flip at gymnastics practice. The boy from Jamaica — adopted as an infant by Fran when she was in the Peace Corps — was diagnosed with quadriplegia and spent more than three months at Craig Hospital, a spinal cord center in Denver.

Drew came home Aug. 30, and returned to Salpointe Catholic High School two weeks later.

Drew’s arms are much stronger and slightly more dexterous now, but he is still confined to a power wheelchair.

At the end of his first semester, the junior is on pace to graduate on time with his class. When he first moved home, it took his mother three hours to get him dressed. Now, Drew can get ready in an hour and a half.

Things are getting back to the way they once were in the house on Edison Street, but they will never be the same.

Drew’s Life After paralysis | www.azstarnet.com ®

This is Sweet2242. Nice image.

larger version on Flickr

Professional Athletics offers gym design consulting.

Interesting example facility with 4 floors in a 32,400ft building:

She shows Flairs (Homma) mount. (I’m still waiting for all the future variation to comes.)

The small video top right comes from the on-line glossary site posted by ShanFan, aka Uruviel, aka Heather.

13-year-old Peng Peng Lee of Toronto won floor, beam, bars and the All-around in her first National competition as a Junior.

Click PLAY or watch Peng Peng’s beam routine on YouTube.

Andreea from Romania, now living in Toronto, posted an excellent montage video of some interesting skills and moments in gymnastics.

I particularly like the clip with the bars collapsing behind Ludmilla Tourischeva after she lands her dismount.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via gymnastixrox on the Gymbrooke forum)

Gymbrooke posts a page listing Canadian gymnasts in the NCAA.

(Let them know if you have anyone to add.)

2007 NCAA Gymnasts from Canada

sample

Like so many other clubs, Altadore has added a blog to their website.

There they post recent photos, news and other timely happenings.

I subscribed to the RSS feed. This way I will be notified by my feed reader whenever they post something new on the blog.

Right now they have photos from the annual Christmas party.

One of my favourite gymnasts of all time wins another award.

Kate is one of the top 8 student athletes of the year in the NCAA.

Congratulations.

It rewards athletics success, academic achievement and community service.

Richardson, from Coquitlam, BC, ended her UCLA career in April of 2006 as a three-time NCAA individual and two-time NCAA team champion and a 13-time All-American.

… Richardson excelled in 2004 as well, helping the Bruins win the NCAA title and then being selected to the Canadian Olympic team (her second Olympiad) less than two months later. At the Olympic Games, Richardson became just the second female gymnast ever to compete at the Olympics as a collegiate athlete and the first Canadian woman to qualify for the event finals at a fully-attended Olympics. She placed seventh on the floor exercise.

Richardson was equally successful in the classroom as well. The psychobiology major was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team three times (2004-06), the NACGC/W Scholastic All-America team four times and the Pac-10 All-Academic squad three times. She was awarded a NCAA post-graduate scholarship and the Pac-10 Conference Medal.

In addition to her athletic and academic accolades, Richardson, a Bruin team captain in 2005-06, has been involved with the Bruin Athletic Council and the Bruin Pen Pal and I’m Going to College programs. She has also volunteered her time with Habitat for Humanity, the LA Covenant House, and the Vancouver Spinal Cord Research Center.

UCLA’s Kate Richardson Named NCAA Today’s Top VIII Recipient :: Bruin gymnast one of the nation’s top eight student-athletes in 2007.</a

The best profile is on Gymn.ca – Kate Richardson