PEOPLE IN THE NEWS:
Zhang Shangwu: The former Chinese national team member became a sensation overnight after it was discovered that he was earning less than $10 per day after police refused to let him busk doing gymnastics tricks outside a Beijing metro station. Zhang's plight has exposed the hard living conditions of former Chinese elite athletes, who, as Agence France Presse reports, "are taken from their homes as young as five to be trained in special schools, then struggle to adjust to normal life once their careers are over." (Agence France Presse and Xinhua)
Lauren Mitchell: The talented Aussie, who turns 20 in just a few days, seemed to be celebrating her birthday early at the Australian National Championships. Mitchell, who missed last year's Aussie Nationals with an injury, won the all-around and finished first on every event except uneven bars, which was won by 21-year-old comeback kid Chloe Sims. (Gymnastics Examiner)
Yang Hak Seon: Mr. Handspring front triple full. Holy... (Universal Sports)
Phil Rizzo: Australia's only men's world champion is trying to regain his grip on things following years of injuries that have kept him out of competition. (Canberra Times)
Hannah Whelan: The still-young Brit, whose first big international meet was the 2008 Olympic Games, has really come into her own. Whelan won the British women's title last weekend, over challengers Danusia Francis and Jenni Pinches.Beth Tweddle won bars and floor, Imogen Cairns vault and Francis beam. (Gymnastics Examiner)
Naoya Tsukahara: In the men's competition at the Australian Nationals, the story was Naoya Tsukahara, the 34-year-old son of Mitsuo Tsukahara, who has been living in Australia for the past five years. Tsukahara the younger, who has competed as a guest at Aussies for the past three years, unofficially won his third all-around title. It's unofficial because Tsukahara does not have Australian citizenship, though he has made it clear that he would like to compete for Australia. Discounting Tsukahara's scores, Luke Wiwiatowski captured his first Australian title, followed by Sam Offord and Jayden Bull. (Gymnastics Australia)
Ariella Kaeslin: Her unexpected retirement has shaken the chances of the Swiss team to advance to January's team Olympic qualification round in London. Kaeslin seems to be enjoying her retirement so far -- here's a video of her waterskiing. (Universal Sports)
Sang Lan: The Chinese gymnast who became a star after she was paralyzed while warming up on vault at the 1998 Goodwill Games has come to an agreement with insurance companies that will allow her to receive health coverage and care in China as well as the U.S. Sang's lawsuit against several parties who helped care for her after she was paralyzed is still ongoing. (Gymnastics Examiner)
Nebraska star Kathryn Howard: Now performing with Cirque du Soleil -- in Macau! (Lincoln Journal-Star)
Lane Jarred: The innovative level 10 J.O. National Champion and North Carolina State recruit gets the profile treatment from the New Jersey media. (NJ.com)
Asheligh Clare-Kearney: The two-time NCAA star talks about being a 5'4", 150ish-pound gymnast. And being OK with that. Clare-Kearney is now a law student. (Times Picayune)
Mary Lou Retton: Now in a new Dairy Queen commercial.
Ioannis Melissanidis: The 1996 Olympic floor champion is flirting with a comeback for some smaller meets next season. Melissanidis, now living in New York and studying acting, said he still works out three hours per day. (Agence France Presse)
Tomas Gonzalez: Gonzalez, a World standout on floor and vault and also arguably the best gymnast ever to come out of Chile, tallied over 90 points in the all-around on both days of competition. (The All Around Gymnastics News)
Fabian Hambuechen: The German star, who tore his Achilles earlier this year, is set to return to competition in August and hopes to be ready for the World Championships. Hanbuechen plans to compete at the first German World Trials, which take place August 13. (GymNiceTic)
Sam Mikulak: The NCAA champion is likely out of the U.S. Nationals after fracturing both his ankles on floor at the Puerto Rico Cup. (Gymnastics Examiner via Stick It Media)
PROFILE PIECES:
Meet Chris Stephenson: The 16-year-old junior is the first man from DeVeau's (the club that also produced Samantha Peszek) to qualify for the U.S. Nationals. (Indianapolis Star)
Get to know Lottie Lindsley: Aka long-legged 2010 British Commonwealth team member Charlotte Lindsley. Her Olympic hopes are small -- "I think the chances of me getting in are quite small because there are five places but 20 girls fighting for them," she said frankly -- but her talent is quite large all the same. (Henley Standard)
Daniel Keatings gaining strength: Little more than a year after tearing his ACL, Keatings is focused on regaining his form, and helping the British team nab a top eight finish at the World Championships. With video interview. (BBC)
More Sam Oldham: The 18-year-old chats about the upcoming Japan Cup and his non-gymnastics gaming hobbies. Also: a wonderful training video showing Sam's tremendous potential. (Redbull International)
Back in business: Shawn Johnson talks about her return to gymnastics and the journey she's been on. (USA Today)
AWARDS:
A gymnast and a scholar: Inside Gymnastics Magazine reported on the men's gymnastics teams with the top GPAs in the country. Coming in first was Temple University, followed by Minnesota and William & Mary. The guys averaging 4.0 GPAs are: Lukasz Adamczyk (Illinois-Chicago); Nathanael Gessner (Navy); Jesse Kitzen-Abelson (Temple); Ian Makowske (Michigan); David Mohr (Illinois-Chicago); Timothy Monaco (Springfield); Miguel Pineda (Penn State); and Chad Weist (Illinois). Gymnasts with grade-point averages between 3.5 and 4.0 are named First Team All-America Scholar Athletes; those with GPAs between 3.2 and 3.499 are named Second Team All-America Scholar Athletes. (Inside Gymnastics Magazine)
Dominique Moceanu to the Hall of Fame: 1996 Olympic darling Dominique Moceanu will be inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 22. Moceanu, who graduated from John Carroll University in 2009works as a part-time gymnastics coach in Cleveland. (Cleveland Women's Sports Examiner)
Another award for Lauren Mitchell: First there was the 2010 World floor title. Now, Aussie great Lauren Mitchell has been named Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year at the 2011 Australian University Sports Awards. (In My Community)
AWESOME/CRAZY:
Gymnastics after cancer: 21-year-old Adam Starr hasn't let the cancer recently required the amputation of one of his legs, keep him away from gymnastics. An amazing, inspiring story. (ABC News and video of Adam in the gym, post-amputation)
The men who came to dinner: Aka "This month in strange questions reporters ask." 2010 European junior champ Sam Oldham describes his dream dinner party. (Redbull International)
Gymnasts and Geiger counters: If the Geiger counter says it, it must be true -- four gymnasts at the Japan Cup test for radiation outside the arena that will host the 2011 Worlds. (Universal Sports)
NCAA STUFF:
The commitments: Ball State Gymnastics will add freshmen Caroline Fiscus, Alexis Moore and Sam Santos to its roster this fall. (Ball State Sports)
The commitments II: WOGA Level 10 standout Kimberly McRobbie is part of the freshman class to sign with Air Force for the 2011-2012 season. She joins classmates Jessica Wallander (Texas Dreams and Metroplex), Alexandra Stych (Midwest Gymnastics), Elaina Cammarata (Trinity) and Lindsey Abel (Colorado Aerials) on the Falcons squad. (Air Force Falcons)
Greg and Megan Marsden renew their contracts at Utah: The Utes will be coached by the Marsdens, as they have for the past 30 years, for at least the next five. (Deseret News via The Couch Gymnast)
RANDOM:
More good news if you're Aliya Mustafina: A report on how tearing an ACL doesn't necessarily end your career. Meanwhile, the Russian team goes to camp in Mallorca with the Spanish team, and Mustafina, with knee brace, can be spotted doing a side aerial on beam. (L.A. Times)
Guess who's going on the Today show?: Jordyn Wieber, Alicia Sacramone and Jonathan Horton are likely to do some demos when they appear on the popular ABC program July 27, one year from the start of the London Olympics. Stay tuned. (Lansing State Journal)
And now, a quiz: Which American gymnast are you? Take the quiz to find out.
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