Answering some questions about my predictions

I've noticed a lot of comments on my predicitions! I like that, I like reading others opinions.
Now I got asked some reasons why I thought the way I did while making the predictions, and I'll try to answer all questions in the comments right now.

"To put Alicia Sacramone or Anna Pavlova as a medalist over Nastia Liukin? That will be the day. Nastia is the reigning world champion and consistantly receives scores in the 16's, with the highest B score of any athlete."

I'm putting both Alicia Sacramone and Anna
Pavlova over Nastia Liukin because, while Nastia is both consistant and has great execution (and will get above 16 in Beijing), her difficulty is not as high as Sacramone or Pavlova, who both have great execution as well. And in the environment at camp where Shawn, Nastia, Alicia, and Sam were overscored; Nastia, Shawn, and Alicia all tied while Alicia had the worst routine, which means her potential is greater. Nastia also won the gold medal last year when several others made mistakes. Shawn, Jade, Li Shanshan, and Ponor all made mistakes that cost gold or a medal.

"Johnson is the reigning world champion and has dominated almost every competition she has performed in in the last 2 years. Memmel's A Score is not even comparable to Johnson's!"

Well, Chellsie is pretty high herself. She's done the DTY, and has upgraded her floor to a 6.5. A member of the WWGym forum was told by a member of the WTC that if Shawn performs the Amanar the way she did at Nationals and Trials, it would not be credited. There goes .7 in A-Score. If her whip+triple doesn't get credited either (which is highly plausible), she loses another .3. So an entire point gone, even without major mistakes.

"To take Nastia Liukin out of the medals again seems very strange. She boasts the hardest ub routine in the world and has scored over a 17.

Actually, Beth Tweddle has the hardest routine in the world. Beth has a 7.8, while Nastia, He Kexin, and Yang Yilin all have 7.7. And I have to take out one of Nastia, He, and Yang; so I took out Nastia since she has major problems with her dismount.

"No Shawn in your predictions for BB and FX finals? That's just highly unlikely..."

Well, floor could happen if she has her whip+triple devalued, giving her a 6.3 A-Score, and if her Popa Half is downgraded, that makes her a 6.2. Now, Shawn has a very good chance of making finals, but so do Alicia, Chellsie, and Nastia. Two of those wont make it and I believe that Shawn might not. Beam has been her least consistant event (only hitting 50% at Worlds last year).

"In the team competition Italy eleventh? In a July competition Italy beat Brazil despite some simple programs for not risking injuries.Italy will arrive minimum 5 ° / 6 °."

Well, Italy has not been looking great recently, I think everyone can admit that. Whether or not that get 11th, that's up in the air. Brazil was also scored very harshly, and had many falls and mistakes. They also didn't have their best bar worker compete (Silva had a major rip before hand). And Italy barely beat them, by less than a point, and it was felt that Italy recieved some gifts.

"beth tweddle is plannning a 7.8 but MORE than likely, it's gonna get devalued. not to mention, her execution is crap

btw what are dos santos' upgrades?"

I wouldn't see why Beth's routine would be devaulued. The only thing I can see is if they count the Ray 1/2 as a Ray, which removes one of her top 10 skills. But it's a smartly composed routine: for example, the Ono spin before the Markelov can go past vertical up to 30 degrees without being deducted.

And Dos Santos's rumoured routine (which has been rumoured to be trained in Japan, and has also been the routine told by Dos Santos as to what she's planning on doing) is

1. Double Arabian Layout
2. Double Layout 1/1
3. Double Layout
4. Front Pike thru to a Double Pike

This gives her the 6.6, and if she does the Gogean leap, it raises to 6.7.

But, these are just predictions. It's the Olympics, anything can happen!
And BTW: thanks Katrina for the article :] And thanks for everyone else's comments.

Controversy sweeps the Media.

They're kinda hard to miss: articles upon articles about whether He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan are underaged her not. This story originally started with the New York Times, then spread to USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and many others. Here are just a few places it's been picked up.

ABC Sports
CNN
EPSN
MSN Fox Sports
Stop.hu [Hungary]
ESPN Deportes [Spain/Mexico]
Channel Nine [Australia]
Sportsnet.ca [Canada]
Plus other articles from Italy, South Korea, Poland, ect.

This story spreading like wildfire. I'm off to check to see if it's on my town's page (Abilene, TX).

My Predicitons for Beijing.

Since all the gymnasts competing in the Olympics have been announced, I would like to add my predicitions for every WAG event in Beijing. Type Beijing, for some reason it's very fun: Beijing, Beijing, Beijing. Okay, here we go :]

Team Competition
1. China
2. United States of America
3. Russia
4. Romania
5. Brazil
6. France
7. Ukraine
8. Japan
9. Australia
10. Great Britian
11. Italy
12. Germany

China and the USA have been the two teams to watch for at these Olympics. They both have gold and silver locked up unless a disaster happens (say, Kramarenko last year). China is going in with over a point in A-Score advantage, along with the home-crowd advantage. Amazing stuff happens in your homecrowd, just like the USA team in Atlanta 1996. I'm giving them the favour over the USA right now.

Third and fourth place are going to be fought between Russia and Romania. Romania's been weakening ever since the addition of the new code-of-points. In 2006, they placed fourth as a team and last year they placed third after Russia took themselves completely out of the running. Also, Steliana Nistor, one of Romania's key gymnasts, was wearing a back-brace as she warmed up beam at the Meditteranean Cup a few weeks ago. Romania is known for pulling amazing competitions out of thin air, but I don't think it'll be enough for a medal this time.

Brazil's team has been looking stronger and stronger since their explosion onto the gymnastics scene in 2001. They placed fifth last year in Stuttgart, and key members like Daiane Dos Santos and Lais Souza have recovered from their injuries last year. Along with other members: Daniele Hypolito, Ana Claudia Silva, Jade Barbosa, and Ethiene Franco, the team has been upgrading so much (and staying consistant) with a few more upgrades planned for Beijing.

France looked strong at the 2008 European Championships, grabbing the bronze medal in the team event. Ukraine has always been a very strong team, but their inconsistancy has kept them from medaling (Ukraine was the third placed team after qualifications in 2006). They're collective goal these Olympics is too make the team finals again after being short last year in Stuttgart.

And Japan (this is where a slight bias comes in :] ). Japan has also been looking strong all year, with all-around high scores on beam and floor. They don't have standouts on very many events A-Score wise (with the exception of Koko Tsurumi on beam and Mayu Kuroda on bars), but their overall level has improved greatly since last years worlds.

All - Around
1. Yang Yilin
2. Chellsie Memmel
3. Jiang Yuyuan

Both the Chinese gymnasts have been looking great all this year. Jiang Yuyuan (as of now) has the highest A-Score total of any gymnast, but she has the pressure of being "the all-arounder" for China, and she's inconsistant on beam. Yang Yilin doesn't have the pressure of being "the all-arounder" but China knows she's their best chance for an AA medal. When China announces their teams, they announce in order of importance, and in this announcement, Yang Yilin was second after Cheng Fei.

Chellsie Memmel is like Yang Yilin in the sense that they both don't have as much pressure as their teammates. Chellsie is liked and scored well by internation judges, and adding in a few of Shawn's skills that don't look like they will be credited in Beijing (the Amanar vault and the Whip+Triple as the main concerns) and Nastia's inconsistancy on bars and floor, having Chellsie, who's consistant and has intelligant upgrades, it isn't that far of a chance to be able to compete in the final. And with her consistancy, a medal is likely for her. The only thing that may stop this chance is if Marta Karolyi doesn't put Chellsie up on vault in prelims.

Vault Finals
1. Hong Su Jong
2. Cheng Fei
3. Hong Un Jong
4. Alicia Sacramone
5. Oksana Chusovitina
6. Jade Barbosa
7. Carlotta Giovannini
8. Ariella Kaeslin

Rumours of Cheng Fei have not looked pretty for her. She's been growing and it's reported that she's not getting as high as usual on all her skills. This might take away the gold from her. Hong Su Jong got silver last year at Worlds (with some, including myself, thinking she was robbed of gold). Hong Un Jong, Su Jong's twin and teammate placed fourth last year with a watered-down vault (DTY instead of an Amanar).

Bar Finals
1. He Kexin
2. Beth Tweddle
3. Yang Yilin
4. Nastia Liukin
5. Ksenia Semenova
6. Marie-Sophie Hindermann
7. Chellsie Memmel
8. Steliana Nistor

He Kexin has hit every single bar routine this year. And with some of the best form and one of the highest difficulty routines, the gold is practically hers. Beth Tweddle has the highest difficulty right now (7.8), but that won't stop Kexin from overtaking her. Yang Yilin also has 7.7 and her execution is better than Nastia's, which leaves her with bronze.

Beam Finals
1. Li Shanshan
2. Anna Pavlova
3. Alicia Sacramone
4. Nastia Liukin
5. Sandra Izbasa
6. Irina Krasnianska
7. Koko Tsurumi
8. Steliana Nistor

Li Shanshan's hit rate on beam skyrocketed after she took out the Y-Turn. She's hit every routine since changing her turn. And with (possibly) the highest A-Score on beam, she's unstoppable. Anna Pavlova also have the capabilities of a high A-Score, and like Li Shanshan, she's consistant and has nice form. Alicia Sacramone has upped her game here, wanting to make and medal on beam as one of her goals. She scored the same as both Shawn and Nastia (who both had very nice routines) with one with some balance-checks at the recent camp.

Floor Finals
1. Daiane Dos Santos
2. Sandra Izbasa
3. Chellsie Memmel
4. Dasha Joura
5. Alicia Sacramone
6. Jiang Yuyuan
7. Beth Tweddle
8. Jade Barbosa

Daiane dos Santos will likely have the most difficulty in Beijing. With a 6.7 A-Score in her grasp, and Sandra Izbasa's recent downgrading back to her 6.5 routine, a hit routine from Dos Santos could likely mean gold. Sandra Izbasa's clean landings and high difficulty will gain her the bronze, and Chellsie Memmel's recent upgraded 6.5 routine will get her the bronze, but not silver because of Chellsie's slight form issues.

And there they are! My predicitions for Beijing. We only have 12 days until the Olympics! (counting from Monday, July 28th).

I found He Kexin's birth certificate!

OMG
Look at what it says

He Kexin : January 1, 1978

She's 30! Almost as old as Chusovitina herself!
And we thought she was 15 :]

Noooooooooooo!

Allow this video to amaze you. Sean Golden falls on a back tuck, and Steliana refuses. And then, here is another video. Liudmilla Yezhova Grebenkova, the new hottest club celebrity in Russia!

Talking about Chinese gangs...(and more pictures)

We should all be familiar with the "Li Ning" sign, the one that Jiang Yuyuan is modeling on the right. Now, what the heck is the girl to the left of Jiang Yuyuan doing? Since Li Ning is like Nike, is that symbol for the Chinese version of Adidias or something? Then there is Zhou Zhuoru (middle bottom, with the shades) who looks like she's holding a plant, being as fierce and fabulous as always.

If I was a Chinese gymnast, I would be Jiang Yuyuan. I would so cute that random strangers would give me free candy on the street: like Sweet Tarts and Yan-Yan! Yums.

So hmmmm.

There is just something about this picture, IDK. Maybe it's the fact that there is a random guy in the background when this is the women's Chinese team. Or the fact that they are all holding 100$ bills. If the Chinese team was a gang, that Jiang Yuyuan would be the cute one walking into the bank and beg the cashier for four, 100$ lollypops. Then there is Cheng Fei in the background, with a tongue the size of Montana. When did that happen?

I wonder how a 100$ lollypop would taste?

If this girl doesn't make beam finals...

in Beijing, I'm going to cry.

Koko Tsurumi - 2007 Toyota Cup EF

Top Ten Most Original Floor Routines

These are (in my opinion) the ten most original floor exercises ever performed. This was a hard list to compile, but I agree with the end list. They are in no particular order.

Maria Teresa Gargano


Yvonne Tousek


Stella Umeh


Camelia Voinea


Irina Breigina


Gaelle Mys


Silvia Mitova


Svetlana Khorkina


Peng Peng Lee


Yang Yun


The reason that neither Boginskaya nor Strazheva were included was summed up best by mrparke007 at WWGym.

"The problem is that Boginskaya, Strazheva, and Laschenova all received the same modern dance training. I wouldn't call them each unique. They are expressive and precise dancers, but they are not unique."

I hope you enjoyed these videos. If there is another gymnast that just screams UNIQUE to you, post it in a comment! I'd love reading others opinions on these and other original floor workers.

The Women Competing At The Olympics

It seems to me that every single WAG gymnast has been announced that's competing in the Olyympics. Keep in mind though that these are nominative rosters and countries have up until 24 hours until the games start to change their team.

Full Teams
USA
Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Sam Peszek, Alicia Sacramone, Bridget Sloan
China
Cheng Fei, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, Deng Linlin
Romania
Sandra Izbasa, Steliana Nistor, Andrea Acatrinei, Anamaria Tamarjan, Andrea Grigore, Gabriela Dragoi
Russia
Ksenia Semenova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Pavlova, Daria Elizarova, Svetlana Klyukina, Ekaterina Kramerenko
Italy
Vanessa Ferrari, Monica Bergamelli, Carlotta Giovannini, Sara Bradaschia, Lia Parolari, Francesca Benolli
Great Britian
Beth Tweddle, Beckie Downie, Becky Wing, Hannah Whelan, Marissa King, Imogen Cairns
France
Pauline Morel, Marine Petit, Laëtitia Dugain, Cassy Véricel, Marine Debauve, Katheleen Lindor
Brazil
Daiane Dos Santos, Jade Barbosa, Daniele Hypolito, Ana Claudia Silva, Lais Souza, Ethiene Franco
Ukraine
Alina Kozich, Valentina Holenkova, Daria Zgoba, Irina Krasnyanska, Marina Proskurina, Anastasia Koval
Germany
Oksana Chusovitina, Joeline Mobius, Daria Bijak, Marie-Sophie Hindermann, Anja Brinker, Katja Abel
Australia
Daria Joura, Shona Morgan, Lauren Mitchell, Ashleigh Brennan, Georgia Bonora, Olivia Vivian
Japan
Kyoko Oshima, Mayu Kuroda, Miki Uemura, Koko Tsurumi, Yuu Minobe, Yuko Shintake

2 Gymnasts
North Korea
Hong Su Jong, Hong Un Jong
Canada
Nansy Damianova, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs
Spain
Lenika De Simone, Laura Campos

1 Gymnast
Czech Republic
Kristina Palesova
Netherlands
Suzanne Harmes
Switzerland
Ariella Kaeslin

Individual Qualifiers
Stefani Bismpikou [Greece]
Nastassia Marachkouiskaya [Belarus]
Adela Sajn [Slovenia]
Dorina Boczogo [Hungary]
Natalia Sanchez [Colombia]
Marisela Cantu [Mexico]
Hyun Joo Jop [South Korea]
Marta Pihan [Poland]
Gaelle Mys [Belgium]
Tina Erceg [Croatia]
Luisa Galiulina [Uzbekistan]
Jessica Lopez [Venuzuela]
Nikolina Tankoucheva [Bulgaria]
Ivana Kovacova [Slovakia]
Sherine El Zeiny [Egypt]
Jelena Zanevskaja [Lithuania]

Wild Card
Do Thi Ngan [Vietnam]

Announcement of the 2008 US Olympic Team

Provided by NBCOlympics

New Banner

Thanks to Rocky Parker!

The drawing was created for me. It's of my favourite gymnast, doing one of my favourite skills.

Daiane Dos Santos's double arabian layout!

The USA Women's Olympic Team;

Team
Nastia Liukin
Shawn Johnson
Alicia Sacramone
Chellsie Memmel
Samantha Peszek
Bridget Sloan

Alternates
Jana Bieger
Ivana Hong
Corrie Lothrop

Congratulations to these gymnasts and all who made this selection camp!

Scores from Day 1 of USA Selection Camp

All-Around
Shawn Johnson - 63.60
Nastia Liukin - 62.65
Bridget Sloan - 61.40
Samantha Peszek - 60.80
Ivana Hong - 60.60
Corrie Lothrop - 60.20
Jana Bieger - 60.10
Chelsea Davis - 59.90
Mattier Larson - 59.70
Alicia Sacramone - 47.45
Chellsie Memmel - 15.90

Floor Exercise
Shawn Johnson - 15.800
Mattie Larson - 15.400
Bridget Sloan - 15.300
Alicia Sacramone - 15.300
Samantha Peszek - 15.300
Chelsea Davis - 15.150
Nastia Liukin - 15.150
Corrie Lothrop - 15.100
Jana Bieger - 15.100
Ivana Hong - 15.000
Chellsie Memmel - scratched



Vault
Shawn Johnson - 15.950
Alicia Sacramone - 15.950
Bridget Sloan - 15.300
Samantha Peszek - 15.200
Corrie Lothrop - 15.100
Ivana Hong - 15.000
Chelsea Davis - 14.950
Jana Bieger - 14.800
Nastia Liukin - 14.700
Mattie Larson - 14.600
Chellsie Memmel - scratched



Uneven Bars
Nastia Liukin - 16.600
Shawn Johnson - 15.650
Ivana Hong - 15.300
Bridget Sloan - 15.200
Chelsea Davis - 15.200
Samantha Peszek - 14.800
Jana Bieger - 14.800
Corrie Lothrop - 14.700
Mattie Larson - 14.700
Chellsie Memmel - scratched
Alicia Sacramone - scratched



Balance Beam
Nastia Liukin - 16.200
Alicia Sacramone - 16.200
Shawn Johnson - 16.200
Chellsie Memmel - 15.900
Bridget Sloan - 15.600
Samantha Peszek - 15.500
Jana Bieger - 15.400
Corrie Lothrop - 15.300
Ivana Hong - 15.300
Mattie Larson - 15.000
Chelsea Davis - 14.600




Chellsie Memmel dropped out of her floor routine after bouncing out of her double layout. Shortly after, her back, neck, and shoulders were being rubbed by Bela Karolyi, and Bela has said she'll be alright. She warmed up a Yurchenko 1/1 on vault, but didn't compete, and then put her grips on for bars, but didn't compete there yet again. She did decide, however, to compete on the balance beam, so it looks like scratching the earlier events was just a procaution.

*Thanks to those who gave me the few extra scores that were missing!

No Olympics for Shayla Worley

The first day of the 2008 US Olympic Selection Camp is happening now, and there is some bad news. Shayla Worley injured her "right lower leg" and has dropped out of the competition. Here are the exact words from the NBCOlympics webpage.

1:20pm: Shayla Worley is not competing. She has a problem with her "right lower leg." She did warm up on beam. (Worley missed Nationals and only competed three events at the Olympic Trials this year due to a back injury.) Martha Karolyi had said last month that Worley needed to show readiness at this camp.

1:26pm: Shayla Worley just left the gym on crutches and her right leg is in a black protective boot. She was followed by her coach and doctor, as well as USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny. She's visibly upset and in tears. Worley was second in the all-around at last year's nationals and was on the gold medal winning world championships team. She competed on the uneven bars during the team final at last year's worlds. When healthy, her bars are an asset to the U.S. team.

1:30pm: Worley's leg has been bothering her, and while warming up on beam she said she heard something pop. They're taking her to a hospital for x-rays.

3:38pm: The official word is that Shayla Worley has an acute fracture of her right fibula (the smaller bone in the lower leg).

To follow more quick hits of the competition, go here;
http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/news/newsid=152042.html#narrowing+down

Peszek no longer lock for US team.

It's been rumoured that Bela and Marta Karolyi have said that Sam is no longer "guaranteed" the fifth spot on the team. Her training has been reported as "a wreck" and "like she already peaked and is coming downhill fast."

USA Camp Updates;

Kindly provided by KittyPie and Ingrid of the WWGym forum.

The format of the camp is as follows
-Yesterday and Today were training days.
-Tomorrow is an All Around competition
-Saturday, Marta will choose two events that she wants the gymnasts to perform on.
-The USA team will be announced between 7PM and 8PM central time on Saturday.
-The Team will fly to be on the Today Show on Sunday Morning for the "official" announcement.

• Make sure you watch for updates on the NBCOlympics webpage. They will be posting videos of the competitions Friday and Saturday.

And here are the gymnast updates;

-Samantha Peszek looked jittery at the beginning of practice, so bad it looked like she was coming down from a peak. She started getting into her own groove come the end of practice.

-Jana Bieger looks like normal, nothing standing out about her.

-Ivana Hong might have a knee injury. It's been reported that after dismounting from beam, she fell to the ground grabbing her knee.

-Shayla Worley is looking good again, she might indeed be the sixth member on the Olympic Team.

I'll post more whenever I find out more important information.

Exciting Chellsie Memmel Upgrades Confirmed

From this article.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=772370

Memmel has added a tumbling pass (a tucked double Arabian) to her floor routine and has improved her vault to a double Yurchenko, which adds needed difficulty to her routine.

Going off of A-Score at the last day of Olympic Trials, these upgrades raise her A-Score all-around total to 26.1 (She has 5.8, 7.0, 6.9, 6.4 now) Now, the shocking part. Nastia Liukin's A-Score total which is only 26.00 (5.5, 7.7, 6.6, 6.2). And it's been a realistic possibility that Chellsie could beat Nastia, as exhibited at the last day of Olympic Trials when Chellsie placed second over Nastia for that day. These upgrades now confirmed for Chellsie will further aid her in creating Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel the all-arounders for the USA.

Other upgrades I've heard about for both Nastia and Chellsie
-Nastia wanting to upgrade beam from 6.6 to 6.8 (creating a piked version of the "Nistor", the tucked front aerial to arabesque/scale)
-Chellsie wanting to upgrade bars to 7.2
-Nastia might having a DTY (she's been working on it, and has done it one camp (before Nationals and Trials) where she crashed it and hasn't tried it at competition since.
-Chellsie connecting the Front Aerial to Side Somi on beam to get a 7.1 A-Score.

Now Beijing (if we didn't know already) will be very interesting :]

The Chinese Team Is...

Cheng Fei
Li Shanshan
Yang Yilin
Jiang Yuyuan
He Kexin
Deng Linlin

1st Alternate : Xiao Sha
2nd Alternate : He Ning
3rd Alternate : Sui Lu

I feel Deng Linlin is a great choice (I still want Xiao Sha, but thats just me), Deng Linlin could help on beam, vault, and possibly floor if neccesary. This team will be the team to beat in Beijing.

Underscored

This is Daiane Dos Santos's recent floor routine at the 2008 Mediterraneon Cup. She was given an A-Score of 6.1, and a B-Score of 8.3. Now, at first glance, a B-Score of 8.3 means a major mistake, like a gallop out of bounds or a fall. But not here. Daiane hit her routine pretty much to her best ability and still got an 8.3.

Now, her B-Score isn't the only thing that was underscored, so was her A-Score. Here is the breakdown of what she attempted here.

Double Arabian Layout (G)
Full-In Tuck (E)
Double L Turn (C)
Switch Leap (B) + Switch Side Half (C)
Strug (C)
Double Layout (F)
Double L Leap (C)
Switch Half (C)
Front Pike (A) thru to a Double Pike (D)

A[BCCCCCDEFG]
B - .2
CCCCC - 1.7
D - 2.1
E - 2.6
F - 3.2
G - 3.9
Requirements - 2.5
Total A-Score : 6.4

Now, I can see devauluing the double L turn, giving her a 6.3, but to have a 6.1 the judges must have devaulued two other skills a letter.

And on to some good news for Daiane, after her performance at the Brazillian Nationals this year, she said that the only pass she was planning on keeping was the Double Arabian Layout. Then, she had a whip+double tuck as a third pass that's now a double layout, and she added the front stepout to her double pike. But that full-in is still there! Since she's most likely changing that for Beijing, what seems the most realistic pass for this pattern would be a full-in double layout. That would raise her to a 6.6, which puts her into serious medal contention with Cheng Fei (6.5), Shawn Johnson (6.6), and Sandra Izbasa (6.7).

Zamolodchikova Left from Training Squad.

The Russian training squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics includes Ksenia Afanasyeva, Kristina Goryunova, Liudmila Grebenkova, Svetlana Klyukina, Yekaterina Kramarenko, Yulia Lozhecko, Anna Pavlova, Kristina Pravdina, Ksenia Semenova and Daria Yelizarova. Two time Olympian Yelena Zamolodchikova was left from this training squad, after a more than lackluster performance at the Russian Cup last weekend. Finishing 12th during finals with only a 55.700 was not enough for this former-Olympic gold medalist to be put on the squad.

Also missing from the cut is Anna Myzdrikova. This youngster shocked the gymnastics community at the 2008 Pacific Rim competition with her first tumble: roundoff, backhandspring, triple twist, punch back tuck. Finishing first on vault and third on floor at that competition, most of the gymnastics community viewed her as a lock if Zamolodchikova couldn't compete. Now, neither of them will make the Olympic team.



Another surprise was the highest score in the all-around finals. Not Semenova's uneven bars, but Liudmilla Grebenkova's balance beam. She scored a 16.200 to obtain the highest score of the night. Grebenkova placed second in event finals to Anna Pavlova by posting another high score of 16.000.

Sandra Izbasa's 2008 FX Music

Found on Gymworld. It's the 1:30 cut version, yay!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oq6by5

And yay, this is my 50th post!

Gymnastics Report!

Some things happening in the gymnastics community right now.

• Kristina Vaculik has injured her elbow, causing her to drop from the first alternate position for the Canadian team. Alyssa Brown has replaced her as first alternate. Nansy Damianova and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs are the two competiting members on the Canadian team.
• The 2008 Russian Cup is going on right now. Ksenia Afanasyeva is in the all-around lead after prelims with a 60.800, and Ksenia Semenova is right behind her with a 60.750. Both counted one fall, Afanasyeva on floor and Semenova on beam. Prospects for the Olympics are pretty high for these two. Svetlana Klyukina is in a surpising third (and when I say surpising, I mean a good surpise; I love Klyukina's gymnastics) ahead of Anna Pavlova. Dissapointing results for Yulia Lozhecko and Yelena Zamolodchikova. Lozhecko is in 12th after prelims, and Zamo is 13th.
• The Mediterraneo Gym Cup starts tomorrow, July 5th. At this meet are three full teams, Romania, Italy, and Brazil. Participating are all the big names from these countries: Sandra Izbasa, Steliana Nistor, Vanessa Ferrari, Jade Barbosa, and Daiane Dos Santos. You can find more information here, at the official site. http://www.mediterraneogymcup.it/homepage.aspx

Ridiculous Comments about Gymnastics

This post is slightly rant-ish. No, I won't lie to myself; this is pretty much as rant. I apologize in advance =D



"The way [Chellsie Memmel] holds her hands and wrists should be a deduction."

-International Gymnast Editor Amanda Turner

No, you can't be serious, can you? Sure, Chellsie doesn't have the most artistic routine, but deductions for the placements of her hands? That's ridiculous. I can't believe that comment was actually posted on their site.

"I have nothing against pygmies -- just youngsters who go out of their way to grow no bigger than pygmies. [about gymnasts]"

-LA Times Columnist TJ Simers

Does this statement even deserve a reply? Gymnasts aren't these little three foot creatures wondering around in the forest doing giants on tree branches and flips on mushrooms. And I'm pretty sure they don't try to be short. They grow to the height the majority of their family does, loose about 2-4 inches from gymnastics, and work with what they got. This guy obviously hasn't seen Svetlana Khorkina.

"Female gymnasts are usually washed out for serious competition by the age of 18, if not 16."

-BlogCritics Writer Natalie Bennet

Before we even get to this statement, I would like to add that the title of the article in which this quote came from is called Why Gymnastics Should Be Banned. Banned? The entire sport? Wow. Now, back to this quote. This journalist obviously doesn't know that to compete in world competition, you have to be sixteen (proved by another quote you'll see later). She also doesn't know that at least four of the six gymnasts to be on the USA olympic team will be over eighteen. (Alicia Sacramone, Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin, most likely Jana Bieger). Let's continue with this gem.

"The answer surely is to limit the age of participation - should children of 12 really be competing in Olympics and World Championships?"

-BlogCritic's Writer Natalie Bennet

Now, from this statement alone, you can see the painstaking hours of reasearch this writer put into this article - or lack of research. At this moment, you have to be sixteen to participate in any Olympics or World Championships (Bruno Grandi changed it so there isn't any exceptions, not even for the pre-Olympic worlds. This change starts next quad). The youngest World Champion known (at least to me) is Daniela Silivas, the 1985 Worlds Beam champion, when she was thirteen at the time. Not even twelve! Where did this lady get that number from? I guess only she and whoever visits her little magical world will ever know.