perfect 10

Like Rick McCharles over at Gymnastics Coaching, I felt a bit deflated after the Women’s Team Final last night.  China was brilliant and were well-deserving of their gold medal.  But I, too, was hoping it would be a closer race for the title.    This morning I didn’t really feel like blogging about it.  Then my husband sent me the link to an article by Meghan O’Rourke on Slate.

Here are a few excerpts…

The American girls came out onto the floor in shiny red leotards that made them look like Las Vegas showgirls. On average 30 pounds heavier and 3.5 inches taller than the doll-sized Chinese gymnasts, they had the sheen of aging starlets, imbuing the scene with a peculiar Sunset Boulevard feel. From the start, we knew how this would end, with the young outshining the “old.” Briefly, after the Chinese team completed its third rotation, the balance beam, it looked like the Americans had a real shot at the gold: The Chinese team leader, Cheng Fei, had taken a dramatic spill, earning a huge 0.8 deduction. But Alicia Sacramone, the oldest member of the American team, misjudged her mount and, arms windmilling, fell from the beam before she even got on it. It was as metaphorical a fall as it was literal. In the next event, the floor exercise, all three American competitors—Shawn Johnson, Liukin, and Sacramone—stepped out of bounds, as if the equipment were taunting them: You’re too big and old.

It was hard not to see the American girls’ failure to stay inbounds as a kind of Freudian slip—or Freudian step. It was as if, worried that the Chinese might have an unfair advantage, the Americans suddenly became aware of their growing bodies, of the potential for harm, of how easy it is to make a mistake, of how fast time flies and the body stiffens, even for those who can flip through the air and perform ever more complicated release skills on the uneven bars.

And then a little later in the article…

Meanwhile, in other news: Apparently the Romanians are so “Westernized” that they actually “text message” between rotations now. Tim Daggett, NBC’s color commentator, noted this development breathlessly, fingering it as the cause of the Romanians’ dramatic decline in the past four years, practically bemoaning the passing of athletic slavery in Eastern Europe. (Gymnastics truly can bring out the fascistic perfectionist in anyone.)

Click here to read the entire article.

It’s hard to know where to even begin in a critique of this article.  I’m not even entirely sure what it’s about.   So while I further form my thoughts on O’Rourke’s outlandish piece, I thought I would post it and see what you think.   What do you think she’s trying to say with this article?  Is there any validity to her assertions?  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

If Samantha Peszek can’t compete any events in the Women’s Team Final, here’s my pick for the US Team on each event, in order.

• Vault: Sloan, Sacramone, Johnson (in order of highest scoring potential)
• Bars: Sloan, Memmel, Liukin (again, in order of highest scoring potential)
• Beam: Johnson, Liukin, Sacramone (Johnson and Liukin have proven their stability and consistency time and time again on Beam.  By putting Sacramone up last, it should take a bit of pressure off of her and boost her scoring potential.)
• Floor: Sacramone, Johnson, Liukin (Liukin is normally the lowest score out of these three athletes - putting her up last, like Sacramone on Beam, would maximize her scoring potential).

If Sam Peszek is back in the mix by Wednesday morning, I would change the vault lineup with Peszek filling in for Bridget Sloan.   I would leave the Floor lineup as is because when they both hit, Liukin tends to score a tad higher than Peszek.

What do you think?  Who would you put in the lineup if you were head coach Liang Chow?

So I realize that the entire gymnastics world is talking about one of three things right now… Paul Hamm’s withdrawl from the US Men’s Olympic Team, the alleged age falsification of some Beijing-bound athletes, and the Dominque Moceanu/Jennifer Sey “stuff.”  All of these things have certainly been on my mind of late and I have been preparing a post regarding the Sey controversy, but for now, I’m going to keep things on the lighter side.

I wrote a post last Fall about the ten things I dislike in the world of gymnastics and thought I should counter balance it with a list of ten things that I do like.  I find myself complaining about the current state of gymnastics far too often.  I thought it would be fun to remind myself of what is good about our sport right now.  Without further ado…

• I like the return of the aerial cartwheel on Beam.  Yes, I suppose it’s overused already (what isn’t with this code?  Wait, this is a positive list…)  but it’s a gorgeous skill when done well.
• Mattie Larson.  Isn’t she fun?  She has such spunk and seems so unaffected by the things that have happened this year.  We need more athletes like her, with expressiveness on the apparatus and clean, precise execution.    I hope she recovers well from her stress fracture and look forward to seeing her in the years to come.

(more…)

I am spending a few days in Canada for a mini vacation but couldn’t resist bringing the laptop so I could write an end of the year post. I decided to write about the top ten things I think should have happened in 2007 but didn’t. As usual I am focused on the women’s side of the sport. It would be great to hear what you think should be on the men’s list.

Just to clarify…by “should have” I do not mean deserved.  I just mean things that I wish had happened but for one reason or another did not.  In no particular order…

1. Hollie Dykes should have made more of a world impact. I was expecting to see her in the hunt for several medals in Stuttgart but she was nowhere to be found.

(more…)

So I know that I admitted in an earlier post that Rick over at Gymnastics Coaching has been slowly persuading me that the event specialist is not a bad thing. And while I confess that I am starting to agree with him, I still can’t help advocating for All Arounders.

With Cheng Fei dashing my hopes last month, my thoughts have recently turned to Alicia Sacramone. I’m guessing that she’ll be on the US Olympic Team barring any major injuries or problems. She’s a former World Champion on Floor, multiple World medalist on Vault and she has recently enjoyed a resurgence on the Beam. All that leaves is Bars. And honestly she’s not that bad on the Bars. Check out this youtube video of her from last year’s nationals.

I’m not saying she’s Svetlana Khorkina or anything but she’s got a respectable routine. And since she was still training Bars as of last Spring (2007 season for Brown University), it wouldn’t be that difficult to start up again. It certainly seems like it would be worth a shot.

What do you think? Should Sacramone dust off her grips?

December is usually one of the busiest months for me at work so I am anticipating that I will not be able to post as much in the next couple of weeks. But I do want to weigh in on the discussion about the international age limit.

Bruno Grandi, president of the international gymnastics governing body (FIG), has been quoted as saying that he would like to raise the minimum age limit once again for international competition. In 1997, the age limit was raised from 15 to 16. Grandi has said in the past that he thinks the age limit should be 18 and just recently announced that he believes there should be no international competitions for juniors whatsoever.

There are many things to consider with regard to age limit but by and large, I am tempted to agree with Grandi - though not entirely.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject…

• Making the age limit higher will encourage athletes to stay in the sport longer. Athletes, especially on the women’s side, will see that it’s not necessary to stop the sport at 18. Gymnasts like Chusovitina, Khorkina, Bhardwaj, & Hatch have made it abundantly clear and I believe the FIG should encourage that. With Rick over at Gymnastics Coaching slowing changing my mind about event specialists, I believe that the rise of the event specialist will also encourage longevity in the sport.

(more…)

I wrote about my distaste for tank leos, gym shoes & the leg-up full turn a few months ago. The list has now expanded. These are the top 10 things I dislike right now in the world of gymnastics.

1. The jump-up mount on Beam. Think Shawn Johnson & Li Shanshan. I did this mount as a Level 7 compulsory gymnast way back when. This is an ugly and uncreative mount and way too many gymnasts use it. It is possible to get on the Beam without risk but still with beauty and originality. Using this mount seems lazy and I expect more from world class athletes.
2. I’ve said it before but I must say it again. The leotards worn by the United States Women. Now that we’ve seen that the floor and matting is going to be red at the Olympics next year, I hope they come up with something more interesting than this.

   

(more…)

So apparently the choice for the best Bar Worker of All Time should have been easy. Everyone has been casting their vote for Khorkina. She accepts your vote of confidence.

In honor of her clear victory here, I decided to post one of her best routines (there were, of course, many to choose from). This is from the 2000 Olympic Events Finals, where she took home the gold.

My apologies for the lack of posts recently. I have been completely consumed revamping my website for work. Now that it’s pretty much up and running, I’m back in action here on p10.

So my all-time favorite Bar Worker… It’s a toss up. I’m having a much harder time choosing one with Bars. Beam was no contest. But I keep thinking of so many incredible Bar workers. So I decided to make this a Top Ten list. In no particular order…

1. Tatiana Lisenko, UKR - Great rhythm
2. Nadia Comaneci, ROM - Beautiful form
3. Jamie Danztscher, USA - Incredible swing

(more…)

I’ve been reading on the other gymnastics blogs and sites lately that people are starting to worry about Shawn Johnson. The concern seems to be that all the media attention will ruin her game, that all the talk shows and appearances and interviews will distract her and ultimately place too much pressure on her.

While I see why this might be a concern and I certainly understand from where the sentiment stems (Kim Zmeskal in 1992, Vanessa Atler in 2000, etc), I’m not sure the gymnastics community should be so uneasy about the attention on Johnson. She has had an unbelievable year. She’s undefeated on the world and national level. It’s unlikely she will ever have such a magical year again. If she does have another such year, wonderful. If not, let’s let her enjoy this one for all it’s worth.