Nellie's new ideas: Former Soviet star (and 1979 World Champion) Nellie Kim, now President of the FIG's Women's Technical Committee, shares her ideas on improving the sport. Among them: having a World Championship for "A" competitors and one for "B" competitors. Kim also addresses raising the age limit for women in senior international competitions to 17, saying that's something FIG President Bruno Grandi wants to do. (International Gymnast)
Mitchell prepped for Australian Nationals: What a roller coaster the past nine months have been for Lauren Mitchell. First the Australian wins silver medals on beam and floor at the World Championships (and comes achingly close to a bronze in the all-around). Then she breaks her wrist in training. As that's healing, she suffers an ankle injury. Now recovered and ready for the Australian National Championships that begin July 5, Mitchell is hoping for more of last fall, and less of the winter and spring. Perth Now also noted that neither Dasha Joura or Emma Little, both recovering from injuries, will be competing for the Australian title. (Perth Now)
YMCA Nationals results: Julia Greer took the YMCA National title last week in San Diego, scoring 37.8 over Keyonie Wrenn (36.525) and Megan Ryan (35.475). Greer also had the highest scores of the meet on beam (9.7) and floor (9.6), while Kambria Blakely was the top finisher on vault (9.65) and Morgan Whitehead won bars (9.225). In the junior division, Selena Swanger was the all-around champion (36.65), with Margaret Miller second (36.425) and Meghan Merritt third (36.375). Swanger also won vault (9.675), while Merritt won floor (9.425). Nicole Pearson won bars (9.35), and Alexandre Barr was the champion on beam (9.4). (YMCANationals.org)
Reive to be new men's coach at Iowa: Former U.S. National team member JD Reive has been named the new men's gymnastics coach at the University of Iowa, replacing Tom Dunn, who retired after the end of the season. Reive, who is married to once-1996 Olympic hopeful and later UCLA star Doni Thompson, was named National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009 after Stanford won the NCAA men's title. (Daily Iowan)
Shawn and stalker: Since Robert O'Ryan was convicted of two felonies and two misdemeanors for stalking her, Shawn Johnson appeared on Good Morning America to talk about the experience and urge O'Ryan to get help. O'Ryan, who is scheduled to undergo a mental evaluation, and is likely headed for an institution and a lot of therapy. (Toronto Sun)
Presenting the 2000 U.S. Olympic bronze medal-winning women's team: Ten years later, Elise Ray, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney and Amy Chow will get the team bronze medal they earned in Sydney. The medal will be awarded during a special ceremony at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, Conn. on Aug. 11, just before the beginning of the senior men's competition. (Universal Sports)
New Romanian Gymnastics Federation website: A well-designed space that will be great for fans to keep up with what's happening in Deva (or Izvorani). Bookmark http://romgym.ro. (Inspired by Nadia)
This week in non-gymnastics gymnastics news: A band called Elite Gymnastics is getting mad props for its EP "Real Friends," which the New York Post describes as "not only as free as skinny dipping in the ocean, but it's just as refreshing." (New York Post)
And the 2012 NCAA championships go to...: Auburn. The Tigers of Alabama will host the 2012 NCAA women's gymnastics championships during the Olympic year. Motivation for the burgeoning Auburn women's team. (Anniston Star)
And the 2012 NCAA men's championships go to...: Oklahoma. Even more motivation for the Sooners. (Tulsa World)
Two more for Michigan: The Wolverines will welcome Teresa Arthur (Krafft Academy) and Victoria Kane (Will-Moor) as freshmen next season. Arthur and Kane join signees Stephanie Colbert, Shelby Gies and Joanna Sampson. (MGoBlue)
Carrina Lo Bello interview: One of Canada's new "High Performance" (read: elite) competitors talks about training with Kristina Vaculik, bumping up her difficulty and her hopes of attaining an NCAA scholarship. (Examiner.com)
World Cup cancelled: Ukraine's Shaklin World Cup has been cancelled. Competition had been scheduled for Sept. 18-19 in Kiev. (FIG)
Why get involved in gymnastics?: Here are 10 reasons from Samantha Peszek. (USA Gymnastics on Youtube)
Heidi Moneymaker interview: The former UCLA star on her stunt work, including the films Charlie's Angels 2, Sucker Punch and Iron Man 2. (Comicbookmovie.com)
Commonwealth Games will be big for gymnastics: More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold for the New Delhi, India, Commonwealth Games to be held just before the World Championships in October. Gymnastics is among the most popular sports among buyers, along with swimming and hockey. (Hindustan Times)
The return of "Make It or Break It": For those who haven't been watching, The New York Post has a good plot summary up to now, as well as a good warning for the show's writers: "Make It or Break It," like its young stars, needs to keep its eye on the Olympics and not bubble under the suds, however much fun they are to generate. If it can do that, it will remain a winner." More gymnastics please! (New York Post)
Apparently the writers heard the New York Post: In a TV Guide interview, MIOBI's Josie Loren (Kaylie) says that her character swears off boys and pledges to focus on gymnastics during this second season. For awhile, at least. Sorry, Carter. (TV Guide)
Poll results: Earlier this week I asked whether there should be a minimum skill level required for gymnasts at international meets. Poll responders were divided -- as of right now, 48 percent say yes, while 52 percent say no. Here's what some commenters had to say, pro and con:
-- "Countries who are still developing their gymnastics program need to be able to gain international experience. It took the US about a couple of decades to attain the world class level where they are right now." -- Tyler
-- "Perhaps at the Worlds there should be a minimum average difficulty of 4.0 (or something similar) to ensure a high level of performance. All other international competitions should be left up to organizers." -- Katie
-- "Athletes doing clean and SAFE gymnastics wins over athletes doing forced skills that they're not really ready for. Technique requirements would just make the sport uglier and more dangerous for a lot of athletes." -- RSP
-- "I'm divided on this topic. But, I am leaning towards having a minimum D-score to qualify to certain competitions, perhaps 4.0." -- Brianna
-- "If teams or countries aren't entitled to at least one spot then it can stop new talent coming through." -- Emma
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments
your ymca gymnastics paragraph is all wrong that was only from the 1st day of competition and there was 3 days
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