Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:
- Could it be Aliya Mustafina’s love life that drew her to a new gym?
- If a gymnast like Shawn Johnson became a spokesperson for safe sex and contraception, could it change the image of gymnastics for the better?
- Scandal in Singapore! How do you get revenge when your coaches are fired? Hire them like Lim Heem Wei did.
- US elites, Ariana Guerra and Deanne Soza are back after injury and illness.
- Pac-12 Conference adopts changes that could put them ahead of the SEC.
In the news, Uncle Tim, Evan, and Jessica chat about:
- Updates and recaps from the NCAA meets: Georgia, UCLA, Florida, Michigan, LSU, Oklahoma, SJSU, and the men of Stanford and Cal.
- New rules you should know about for the NCAA competition this year.
- Elites premiers in college: Brenna Dowell, Peng Peng Lee and Brianna Brown from the famed Cincinnati Gymnastics.
- Favorite leotards, unique skills and our opinions of veterans new floor routines, including LSU’s Rheagan Courville and Lloimincia Hall.
Adult Gymnastics Camp 2015 details here.
Oakville Gymnastics 5th Annual World Masters Gymnastics Championships, which really just means they give out beer as a prize–details here.
Gymnastics Injury Data http://www.gymnasticsinjurydata.com/
- 116: Louis Smith, Amelle Berrabah of Team Sexy & Tumble Episode 5 Recap
- 113: Junior & Senior Women’s Finals from the 2014 US Championships in Pittsburgh, plus an Interview with Kim Zmeskal Burdette
- 112: Junior & Senior Women’s Prelims from the 2014 US Championships in Pittsburgh
- 130: Mary-Anne “Mez” Monckton
- Episode 129: Why Gabby Left Chow (or Chow left Gabby?) & Glasgow World Cup
- 128: Aly is Back
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Endo says
January 14, 2015 at 4:22 pmNo mention of Kelly Garrison throwing shade at Mincie Hall during Ali Jackson’s fx routine? I thought that was pretty crappy of her. No need to put any other gymnast down in order to make another one seem better. And, in my opinion, Ali Jackson is much more similar to Kytra Hunter than Mincie in terms of dancing style. I LOVED Jackson’s routine, but I get completely turned off the second I hear a commentator say “she’s like [insert name here], but better.”
Endo says
January 14, 2015 at 4:24 pmAnd spell check for the episode summary…Lloimincia, not Lomincia. Easier just to call her Mincie!
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 6:14 pmHaha, Guerra and Guerrero are both fairly common surnames. The first means war and the second means warrior. Personally I prefer Guerrero because it sounds bad-ass!
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 8:42 pmOn another note, I have to agree with Uncle Tim on UCLA’s floor rotation. I couldn’t help but notice how similar they were to the Russian team on this event with poor conditioning and lack of engagement in the choreography for some routines.
Endo says
January 14, 2015 at 9:27 pmI concur! In the interview with Miss Val where she talked about doing full routines so much earlier in the preseason, I expected them to be on fire! They just looked blah on floor. Granted, I only saw beam and floor, but from what I have read, bars and vault weren’t anything to write home about either.
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 9:37 pmVault was actually pretty good for them. Their vaulting the other night was better than much of what they did last season.
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 9:44 pmAnyway, I was thrilled for Peng. Hard to believe it was her first college meet and she nailed all her routines. She competed like a pro!
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 8:45 pmFlorida’s floor routines this season are a big disappointment. I didn’t like any of them. I only sort of liked Bridget’s and Kytra’s. That was it. But they have bad music choices and bad choreography that doesn’t go with any of the routines.
Endo says
January 14, 2015 at 9:30 pmThe only routine I liked was Claire Boyce. Kytra didn’t seem into it at all and Bridget looked like she just reorganized last year’s choreo to fit this year’s music. Bridgey’s was the same way…same routine, just different music.
The Liukin says
January 14, 2015 at 9:36 pmI think that’s a fair statement about Kytra. Maybe her routine had the only music I kinda liked?
Either way, I was cringing at most of their routines. So much bad techno and dubstep with no relevant choreography.
Hayley says
January 15, 2015 at 5:53 amJust re: the whole Shawn Johnson/gymnasts being able to openly develop into mature adults in the public eye, I think organisations like USAG play a much bigger part in this than a lot of people realise. On his Tumblr, Danell Leyva has mentioned that USAG ask him and other gymnasts to censor themselves on social media and in interviews, not just in terms of their word choice (that is, not cussing) but he also stated they are asked not to talk openly about controversial social issues that they feel passionately about, like women’s rights, homophobia, racism etc. Even Taylor Rice mentioned on her new blog that because she’s representing Stanford she has to censor herself somewhat, and that she’s ‘gonna use some profanity until [her] coach notices this blog’.
I would love to see well-known gymnasts who are still competing/plan to still compete (Ross/Maroney/Raisman/Douglas etc) be able to acknowledge the fact they’re young adults just like everyone else their age. I remember in London Aly accidentally tweeted about going a bar or something with some male gymnasts, and I think it would be a really positive thing for the general public’s perception of gymnastics if USAG allowed gymnasts to openly do things like drink alcohol (responsibly and legally, of course) without having fearing retribution because someone might kick up a fuss about their ten-year-old being exposed to a more adult lifestyle by following gymnasts in their late teens on social media.
The Liukin says
January 15, 2015 at 6:51 amIt would be nice to shed some of the goody two-shoes image often associated with the sport. A lot of people still have the impression that gymnasts are reserved and sheltered kids who never do anything like ‘normal’ kids do.