Archives for September 2015

WHAT: Elevate of The Stage:  Xcel, J.O., with Auburn vs. Alabama dual meet finale
WHEN: January 16-17, 2016
WHERE: Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama
SPECIALNESS: It’s on podium and the college coaches will watch the top levels on Saturday night.
TWO PRIZES:

• $250 off of a gym’s registration (20 or more gymnasts) to compete in the JO meet and no team Fees.
• Four VIP passes to watch the college meet on the floor, access to hospitality and four free t-shirts.
  ***With this, the winner will have to be someone 18 or older because recruitable gymnasts can’t be on the floor during college meet competition (blame the NCAA rules).

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Send us an email with the subject line “Elevate the Stage” to gymcastic@gmail.com

DEADLINE: Sunday, October 18th
More details on the Elevate the Stage podium meet here.

In the news, Jessica, Lauren Hopkins, and Uncle Tim chat about:

• Ages and height of the US women’s Olympic teams since 1972
• Why Russian gymnastics fans are the best!
• Who’s on and who’s missing from the preliminary US World Team, including Brenna Dowel!
• Is 4th place all-around the worst place to be for an American gymnast?
• Romanian Nationals:
  • Marian Dragulescu won a zillion medals
  • Larissa Iordache is back on top
  • Catalina Ponor is injured, but hopefully will be back in time for Glasgow
• The Junior Japan International
  • Cameron Bock, is he the next Sam Mikulak?
  • Jazzy Foberg takes silver and Laurie Hernandez goes undefeated in the all-around in 2015
• The London Open
  • Never count Louis Smith out, he is on the nominative roster for Glasgow.
  • Max Whitlock recovered from his mono and won with a 7.2 D score on pommel horse!
  • Brinn Bevan is gorgeous on high bar and why Kristian “The Legs” Thomas should do a cameo in an episode of Outlander.
• Italian Nationals
  • The perilous status on Vanessa Ferrari
  • Erika Fasana is amazing on floor, as usual
  • Why Russian fans should love the new all-around champ, Tea Ugrin
  • Did Carlotta Ferlito fix her execution problems during her mono-induced competitive hiatus?

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

• Marian Dragulescu shows us allll of the places he shaves.
• Sho Nakamori launches www.totaltaiso.com
• Sub-mash videos we want our favorite gymnasts to post on Instagram
• Shannon Miller launched her own line with Alpha Factor.
• Australian Olympian, Larissa Miller, shares her story of sexual abuse by a family member in order to help others.
• Your letters and voicemails about combating abuse,  the “joker” system for elite, British teams update, lyrics in floor music.
• Why Danell Leyva is a wonderful leader, a true feminist and a irrefutable gentlemen.

• Bai Yawen is on Instagram instagram.com/baiyawen0909
• Adult Gymnastics news: the most adorable Instagram account of a dad and his daughter doing gymnastics together. https://instagram.com/my_gym_dad/

Update to the GymCastic-approved acceptable exit transitions from the dreaded wolf turn mentioned last week:

• Wolf turn to gradually standing double turn
  • Seda Tukhalyan https://youtu.be/IitX_4Vg4YQ?t=1m8s
  • Lauren Mitchell https://youtu.be/Gy2vmdqMak4
• Wolf turn to split
  • Maddie Gardner (Canada, Oregon) wolf turn to reverse split/I’m the baddest woman in all the land – thug life beam pose
  • Chelsea Tang (OU) wolf turn to side split beautifulness
• Wolf turn to needle scale turn
  • Melitina Staniouta https://youtu.be/4DoBZ1Zfsq0?t=20s

• 52: Four Nations Cup Italy, Russia, Romania and Colombia
• 90: The 2014 Women’s NCAA Championships! Plus details from the Ljubljana World Cup, Korean Meet and Romania takes on Belgium and France
• 117: Youth Olympic Games, Romanian Nationals, Russian & Novara Cup
• 152: Four Nations Cup Italy, Russia, Romania and Colombia
• 166: Aliya was like Nu-uh Rodionenkos!
• Episode 46: Russian Cup Results and Gabby Dancing With The Stars?
• 117: Youth Olympic Games, Romanian Nationals, Russian & Novara Cup
• 165: Ponor is Back!
• 164: Marian Dragulescu
• 163: ENOUGH
• Tim Daggett: A GymCastic Classic Episode
• Episode 56: Preventing Abuse in Gymnastics

 

WHAT: Elevate of The Stage:  Xcel, J.O., with Auburn vs. Alabama dual meet finale
WHEN: January 16-17, 2016
WHERE: Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama
SPECIALNESS: It’s on podium and the college coaches will watch the top levels on Saturday night.
TWO PRIZES:

• $250 off of a gym’s registration (20 or more gymnasts) to compete in the JO meet and no team Fees.
• Four VIP passes to watch the college meet on the floor, access to hospitality and four free t-shirts.
  ***With this the winner will have to be someone 18 or older because recruitable gymnasts can’t be on the floor during college meet competition (blame the NCAA rules).

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Send us an email with the subject line “Elevate the Stage” to gymcastic@gmail.com

DEADLINE: Sunday, October 18th
More details on the Elevate the Stage podium meet here.

In the news, Lauren Hopkins, Uncle Tim, and Jessica chat about:

• The Russian Cup
  • Maria Paseka’s Cheng is getting better and better! We think she’ll be on the podium in Glasgow. 
  • Alla Sosnitskaya won bars but it was actually Viktoria Komova who had the highest bars score of the meet!
  • Ksenia Afanasyeva did choreography that was so lazy, it rivaled the epic Zero-F*^*s-Given floor routine from Tatiana Nabieva last year.
  • The provisional world team and Aliya Mustafa putting Valentina Rodionenko in her place by saying”I will decide if I complete on the basis of my health.”
  • Denis Ablyzian put Ri Se Gwan on notice with the most insane tsuk-full-in of all time. 
• Osijek World Cup
  • Manrique did not do well and it’s a world-wide tragedy.
  • Paula Mejias, Danell Leyva’s teammate at Universal in Miami, triumphed from her vault disaster at the Pan Am Games. 
  • Jade Barbosa, grandmother of Brazilian gymnastics, did an absolutely, stunningly solid, wonderful beam routine.
  • Ruby Harold burned the bars to the ground with her sheer awesomeness!
  • Igor Radivilov’s neck tattoo continues to slightly inhibit his landing ability on vault.
  • We discuss the need for , pommel horse winner, Louis Smith to harness the power of his D.
• Chinese World Team
  • Bai Yawen is not on the team and Jessica refuses to talk about it.
  • As of this recording it was Fan Yilin, Huang Huidan, Mao Yi, Shang Chunsong, Tan Jiaxin, Wang Yan with alternate Chen Siyi. 
  • Tan Jiaxin did an Amanar that terrified the world
  • Mao Yi fell on a Moors and was knocked unconscious during her routine. 
  • Shang Chunsong won the all-around and why we think she has a good shot at the podium in Scotland.
  • Defending bars silver medalist, Huang Huidan, struggled on her best event. 
• German National Championships
  • Head coach Koch is calling aa champ Elisabet Seitz, Pauline Schäfer and Sophie Scheder, “The Hambüchens” and we don’t know how we feel about that. 
  • Pauline Tratz wore a technicolor dream coat leotard that either thrilled and/or burned our eyes out.

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

• Marvin Sharp died in jail, initial reports say it was suicide.
  • Is Coach Rick right — if female coaches take more leadership roles in gymnastics, will less men mean fewer incidents of sexual abuse?
  • Is a massive lawsuit like the one faced by the Catholic Church force gyms and USA Gymnastics to make Safe4Athletes mandatory for every club?
• You can help Lisa Mason continue to train.  Lisa currently travels over 600 miles a week! That’s an average of $200/week in gas! HELP LISA HERE. 
• Simone Biles gave the world a full camp update with scores and gave such an epic Snapchat that it skipped meme-dome and became a t-shirt.
• The Cure of Wolf Turn-Itis: Please take note, there are now two official GymCastic approved ways to acceptable exit from a wolf turn:
  1. The Melnikova –Step up into an immedate double turn https://youtu.be/k384wBo2KcU
  2. The Chayse Capps — drop into pron position like a python about to devour the beam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHqKWTX5a8

• Episode 46: Russian Cup Results and Gabby Dancing With The Stars?
• 117: Youth Olympic Games, Romanian Nationals, Russian & Novara Cup
• 165: Ponor is Back!
• 164: Marian Dragulescu
• 163: ENOUGH
• Tim Daggett: A GymCastic Classic Episode
• Episode 56: Preventing Abuse in Gymnastics

The Gymnasi-Cat Naming Contest

WINNER! Rainey gets to choose one of these two fabulous, adult small, P&G Championship prizes.

Runner Up

The now legendary, Lil’ Kim-Z MouseKill

Catalina Ponor is back, Lisa Mason is back, Oksana Chusovitina is back; at this rate, maybe Alexi Nemov will show up wearing grips in Rio. Joining the “Gymnastics At Any Age” Club of Returning Superstars is, Romanian legend, Marian Dragulescu, the most successful Romanian male gymnast of the past 30 years! He’s won four World titles on both floor and vault, his best events. He is the originator of the “Dragulescu vault,” a handspring double front half out, which is named for him and still considered one of the hardest elements on vault. Yes, you know his name because it’s mentioned seven hundred times on ever men’s gymnastics broadcast and this very show.

Even though he’s been incredibly successful, there’s still something missing from the bag he keeps his medals in (true fact, bag, not his underwear drawer or display case). Despite sticking his signature vault in Olympic event finals in both 2004 and 2008, Dragulescu fell on his second vaults at both Games, losing what was almost sure to have been the gold medal. He was to the Athens and Bejing men’s Olympic vault final, what McKayla Maroney was to the women’s London vault final. He did not compete at the 2012 Olympics after an ankle injury suffered at the kept him from being in peak condition in time. Now the re-married father of two, wants Olympic gold.

Gymternet fairy-godmother Emma Bailey, Romanian-born, editor-in-cheif of The Couch Gymnast Bea Gheorghisor, and Jessica discuss:

• What Kohei Uchimura’s parents told him long long ago!
• How’s he’s dealt with the tabloid’s obsession with his ex-wife Larissa.
• His motivation for coming back now after all of his success (are you listening, Marta?!).
• The importance of partying after the stress of competition.
• Was he worried he would get in trouble for standing on the vault to celebrate after winning gold in 2009.
• GymMyth Busters Romanian Edition:
  • Is it true that Romania gymnasts get a pension and a house for winning a World or Olympic medal?
  • Are male and female athletes given the same pension amount.
• Why the murky waters of Romanian laws around sponsorship make pensions and prize money so important for their gymnastics program.
• The injury that forced him to miss the 2012 Olympics.
• Finally, the story behind the fur vest he wore for his Gala performance in Mexico.
• What he learned from the negative and positive experiences in his storied gymnastics career.
• The 2004 Olympic vault and floor controversies: how does he feel then and now about losing a tie breaker with Kyle Shewfelt for the floor gold but winning bronze despite a fall in the vault final.
• If it has it been difficult or relatively easy to get his skills back.
• How social media helps motivate him.
• Why he decided to try his now Eponymous skill Drăgulescu (double front half vault) and what his coaches thought of that idea back in 1999:
  • Which current gymnasts do his vault best?
  • The status of the Dragulescu II vault — double front full out, and Dragulescu III –double front rudi out. Not even kidding about that last one.
  • What to put up for a vault skill number at the end of the runway when you are doing a vault that has never been done before.
  • Man puberty! Yes, puberty isn’t just for awkward NBC commentary anymore!

Follow Marian on his official YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

• 151: Danell Leyva
• 138: Prince Emyre Cole
• 150: Luke Carson
• 139: Steve Butcher, President of the FIG Men’s Technical Committee
• 132: It’s Never Too Late to Start Adult Gymnastics
• 116: Louis Smith, Amelle Berrabah of Team Sexy & Tumble Episode 5 Recap
• 115: Kenzo Shirai
• 72: John Orozco
• Episode 32: Sam Mikulak & 2013 Men’s NCAA Championships
• Episode 4: Louis Smith, Spanny’s Athlete Oath, Making Men’s Gymnastics More Popular
• Episode 21: Kyle Shewfelt
• Episode 24: Sho Nakamori & Match-Play Meet Debrief with Justin Spring
• Episode 35: Jake Dalton
• Episode 40: Michigan’s Stacey Ervin

Watch this week’s playlist on YouTube here.

Sport psychologist Dr. Megan Neyer and Katherine Starr from Safe4Athletes join us to talk about the arrest of Olympic coach Marvin Sharp on child pornography and charges of molesting one of his athletes.  We discuss:

• Why  a “don’t talk back” policy can sets kids up to be victims.
• Conditions that lead to abuse, both through grooming and organizational loopholes.
• What the alleged victim might be feeling and how best to support her as a community.
• Steps the gymnastics community can take in preventing abuse:
  • Mandate moral, ethical and specific behavior guidelines
  • Apply a policy that makes misbehavior, not just criminal activity grounds for dismissal
  • Parent, coach and athlete education about those guidelines because policies without education create cynicism
  • Enforcement by someone other than the owner of the gym
  • External oversight through an athlete welfare advocate and if necessary an external advocate for intervention or accountability when necessary.
• Why child athletes are especially vulnerable to abuse (This is where Bruno Grandi got something right. Part of his reasoning for raising the minimum age for seniors was to prevent abuse. The older the athlete, the less likely they are to be abused.)
• The bottom line for owner’s pocket books: why gymnastics schools who do not have a comprehensive abusive prevention program in place will go out of business.
• Why National Governing Bodies (NGB) like USA Gymnastics need to make gymnastics a much less hospitable place for abusers and a more powerful place for gymnasts.
• Gym Myth Busters: Do boys need protection from pedophiles just as much as girls do?
  • Why abuse of boys go under-reported.
  • What special cultural issues prevent boys from seeking treatment.

• Dr. Neyer’s company is Neyer Performance Strategies
• Safe4Athletes policies, education sheets and app–free and available to you on their website.
• USAG’s Club’s Care and We Care campaigns.
• FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force.  The FBI Internet Crime Complaint form.
• YouTube’s reporting hub.

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

• There’s a new toe-on-counter-Kim being done by a Hawaiian superstar!
• Hollie Vise and Alex Naddour’s future baby girl will have to battle baby Springer for butterfly roll world domination.
• Katelyn Ohashi is doing bars again!
• Larisa Iordache is going to compete very soon.
• Aliya Mustafina has not taken a break from gymnastics. You can put the prayer vigil away now.
• Maria Paseka proves she  is on level 3 of the Brestyan leg circuit with her scary Amanar landing.
• Ablyazin’s D keeps getting bigger and bigger
• Jake Dalton had shoulder surgery.
• Men’s gymnastics might move to eight skills after Rio and some people on this show are THRILLED about it.
• Your Feedback:
  • We are the new cure for morning sickness
  • Every American women’s Olympic gymnastics team from 1996 to 2008 had a gymnast in her 20s on the team.
  • An American Dietician in Denmark weighs-in on our Chris Brooks screams for food after P&G Championships
  • Paul Ruggeri is the Brenna Dowell of the men’s program.
  • Does Marta think that Gabby isn’t working hard enough or is she upset about her gym change?

Episode 56: Preventing Abuse in Gymnastics covers:

• Stopping abusers from club-hopping.
• Creating a standard of behavior an effective tool for identifying grooming behavior and abusers early.
• Stopping character assassination of girls who are abused.
• Learning how to speak up and being heard by adults.
• Why kids don’t come forward when they are abused by a coach.
• How to support a gymnast who has been abused once he or she comes back to the gym.
• What questions to ask before choosing a gym.

• 162: Wrap Up of the 2015 P&G Championships
• 161: Women’s Finals Recap with Aimee Boorman and Christian Gallardo
• 160: PG Championships Women’s Prelims Recap
• 159: 2015 Championships Preview Show
• Episode 56: Preventing Abuse in Gymnastics