New Blog!

@

http://japanesegymnastics.wordpress.com

MOVED

new name
new blog
this one is out! :]
http://piked.wordpress.com/

New Youtube

My youtube account I've had for about 3 years got deleted for posting a video of Olympic gymnastics. So, I have a new one! Subscribe, add me, ect! :]

http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePenguin888

The Highlights of Olympic Gymnastics So Far.

Okay, so event finals start in about 3.5 hours, I'm about to take a 3.5 hour nap so I can watch them, but here are some of the highlights for gymnastics so far for me.

Mens TF
-Sasha Artemev hitting his pommel routine. That's twice in a row at that point: and it came at a time when the USA really needed it. Major kudos to him.
-Jonathan Horton sticking every single dismount on the events he competed. That fact is pretty much amazing.

Womens TF
-China winning their first Olympic team gold. It all ended with Cheng Fei's floor which she hit beautifully (that floor converted me to a Cheng Fei fan). Deng Linlin's stuck double twisting yurchenko and Jiang Yuyuan's floor were also highlights for me.
-Romania hitting 12 for 12 and keeping their mark on gymnastics strong by finishing 3rd and winning the bronze medal. Steliana Nistor and Sandra Izbasa deserve major props for this feat, along with the rest of Romanian team.
-Japan finishing 5th place behind USA, China, Romania, and Russia. Kyoko Oshima's floor from team finals was absolutely spot on and has been my favourite routine performed at these games so far.

Mens AA
-Yang Wei finally getting his all-around Olympic gold, after missing it in Sydney and Athens.
-Kohei Uchimura recovering from falling twice on pommel horse to finish second. His floor routine was absolutely perfection.
-Beniot Caranobe getting the first AA medal for France in 80 years. He hit his routines solidly and that proved to be enough into letting him get the bronze.

Womens AA
-The duel between Nastia and Shawn. Nastia came out on top over Shawn: which lets hardcore gymn fans breathe a sigh of relief that artistry might come back to the sport.
-Yang Yilin. I personally still believe that she should had won, but to see her even medal was fabulous. In fact, the top group (sans Jiang Yuyuan's vault) performed without major error on all 4 events. That's really impressive.
-Krystina Palesova of CZE cheering on the other athletes after she finished her routines. You can see her on the NBC broadcast yelling for Nastia to hit her floor routine. I'm a sucker for sportsman ship like this :]

Olympics [Prelims]

So, the Olympics have started!

China qualified first into team finals, while counting two major falls: He Kexin on bars, and Jiang Yuyuan on vault. He Kexin fell on her Pak Salto, yet she still qualified into bar finals, but unfortunally goes first in the lineup. Jiang Yuyuan totally bombed her Amanar, but fortunally still qualified for the all-around ahead of Deng Linlin. Yang Yilin was consistant and qualified third into AA finals behind Shawn and Nastia. She also qualified first in bar finals.

USA was a mess. On top of Chellsie Memmel's ankle injury that inhibits her to bars only, Samantha Peszek also injured her ankle and could only compete bars as well. That means that the USA went 4-up, 4-count on bars, beam, and floor. Shawn was strong, the only major issue was her downgrading her rudi to a barani on floor. Nastia was strong as well, qualifying into three finals (floor, beam, and bars). Alicia Sacramone on the other hand was weak, only qualifying into vault finals, after lading totally out of bounds on her fourth pass.

Russia was undoubtebly the strongest I've seen them this quad, easily qualifying third over Romania. Anna Pavlova ended up making three event finals (vault, floor, and beam), Ksenia Semenova made bar finals, Ksenia Afanasyeva made beam finals, and Ekaterina Kramarenko made floor finals. Pavlova and Semenova also qualified in the top 6 in the all-around, and will join Nastia, Shawn, Yang Yilin, and Jiang Yuyuan in the top group.

The highlight for me however was Japan. Japan qualified into their first team finals ever in Olympic history (Japan finished eighth), and also qualified their first event finalist (Koko Tsurumi on beam) in a non-boycotted games since 1964. And as a analysis by Gymnast.com shows, the difference between Japan, France, and Brazil are really close. Gymnast.com took the three highest scores (similar to team finals) and came up with these totals for Brazil, France, and Japan.

Brazil - 176.900
France - 176.325
Japan - 176.125

BTW: Here is Koko Tsurumi's history making beam routine.

TSURUMI - BB
Uploaded by Gymnicestics

You can find full results here: at http://www.nbcolympics.com

TONIGHT

It starts. You heard me right, not 08-08-08, but tonight.
At 11:00PM Central Time, Men's Podium Training will be broadcasted on the NBCOlympics website. Thursday at 12:30AM Central Time will be the Women's Podium Training.
Unfortunally, it's only the rotations in which the USA are participating in.

So, tonight: you can be watching these teams training in preperation for the competition that starts this weekend.

Italy
Spain
USA
Mixed Group 2 (Alexander Shatilov, Daniel Keatings, Louis Smith, Anton Fokin, Jorge Hugo Giraldo)
Mixed Group 3 (Leszek Blanik, Claudio Capelli, Christoph Schaerer, Epke Zonderland)
Mixed Group 6 (Mohammad Serour, Vlasios Maras, Iilia Giorgadze, Nashwan Al Hazari)

And Thursday, these WAG teams will be training.

USA
Italy
Great Britian
Japan.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/gymnastics/news/newsid=167368.html#live+mens+gymnastics+tonight

New Computer (general updates)

So, I just got a new laptop (my first laptop ever), and very excited about using it.
On that note, here are some general updates from the gymnastics community.

-Chellsie Memmel has injured her ankle. She's only doing bars and beam at this moment, so the status of whether she'll do just bars in TF, or try for the AA is up in the air.

-Liudmilla Grebenkova has replaced Daria Yelizarova for the last spot on the team. No official reasons were given for the swap, but it's rumoured that Daria has the flu and will be unable to compete this weekend.

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!