The gymnastics week in review: Athletes of the Year and interesting new facts

Inshina, usually impassive in competition, also admits that she can be "very brusque." "I can talk very harshly to my coach," she said. "But I always apologize. This is the way I am…I can’t let it go if I know that I have hurt someone, my conscience kills me." (viaRewriting Russian Gymnastics)

 

Canadian Olympic Committee offering coaches incentives to bring home hardware from London: Specifically, gold is worth $10,000, silver $7,500, bronze $5,000 from the Canadian Olympic Committee. The medalists themselves will earn twice that. (Washington Post)

 

Jenny Hansen, the 38-year-old Olympic hopeful: Amy van Deusen talks to the former Kentucky star, the most successful NCAA gymnast of the 1990s, about her training and what motivated her to do it all again. Fun fact: It was Bela Karolyi himself who encouraged her to go out for the National team. An inspiring read. (About.com Gymnastics)

 

Chellsie Memmel gets her Brevet in judging: What does that mean? It means that Memmel will be able to judge elite gymnastics meets. But that doesn't mean her competition days are over. (via Chellsie Memmel on Twitter)

 

Conversations with Catalina Ponor: The 24-year-old offers her perspective on what it takes to be happy in life and recaps the highs and lows of her career, including this year's Worlds, which she described as "70 percent disappointment, 30 percent joy." (Fangymnastics)

 

Tatiana Nabieva's new perspective: The new World bars silver medalist takes a more positive tack on the Russian team's performance at the 2011 Worlds in this new interview. "Our team competed well, although it could have done worse since there were a lot of new girls in the team. But they handled it," she said. (Tatiana Nabieva Online) 

 

 

Chelsea Davis update: The 2010 World team member and fan favorite is settling into college life at the University of Georgia, and settling into doing hard skills again after a frustrating string of injuries. Coach Jay Clark on his top freshman: “We just now have gotten to a place where she’s doing something that looks like gymnastics.” (The Red and Black)

 

Danell Leyva raising the bars: The World p-bars champ isn't resting on his laurels. Here's a video of his new routine, which boasts a 6.6 start value (it was 6.4 at Worlds). (via Yinastic on Youtube) 

 

Canada beats all at Top Gym: Well, not quite all -- Russian juniors Evgenia Shelgunova andYulia Chemareva also did very, very well, winning the all-around and uneven bars, respectively. But the Canadian juniors, including Briannah Tsang and Shallon Olsen, had a terrific medal haul, one of the best overall performances for the Canadian women in quite awhile. (Gymnastics Examiner) 

 

 

Victorian Female Athlete of the Year: That honor has gone to Aussie World team member

Ashleigh Brennan, and the article indicates that she will be part of the Australian squad at the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships in March. (Star News Group) 

 

Dario Maznik dies: The younger brother of Croatian high bar standout Marijo Moznik, a rising star in his own right on the Croatian team, died of unknown causes in his sleep last week. He was only 22. (FIG)

 

Just call it swirlie rage: The always-entertaining, brutally honest Spanny Tampson on what's wrong with leotards these days. (Spanny's Big Fake Smile)

 

Fabian Hambuechen off German Bundesliga team: The German star opted out of the Bundesliga finals last weekend (which were handily won by his team without him) but his Bundesliga team organizers said he was unreliable and would not compete for them next year. That leaves Hambuechen, who has competed for KTV Straubenhardt since 2004, as a gymnast without a team in the Bundesliga league. (Gymnastics Examiner) 

 

Ten things to do with your TumblTrak gear: Like rafting. Seriously. (Gymnastics Coaching)

 

 

Casey Jo Magee moves to Michigan: The former Arkansas star has relocated to train with her former Arkansas coach Dave Kuzara, who is now with Western Michigan University. (Bekah's Get a Grip Gymblog)

 

NCAA verbals: Silvia Colussi-Pelaez to Florida, Emma Sibson to Penn State, Jessica Howe to Cal, Mikaela Gerber to UCLA, Baely Rowe to Utah. (CollegeGymFans)

 

Jordyn Wieber -- Athlete of the year?: The 2011 World champion is up for another honor: The U.S. Sports Academy's Female Athlete of the Year. Vote for Wieber here. Winners will be announced Christmas Day. (Inside Gymnastics Magazine)

 

And the 2017 Universaide goes to...: Taipei City, which beat out Brasilia to host the biggest international gathering of university athletes on the planet. (FIG) 

 

U.S. juniors vs. Chinese juniors: Stanford commit Jonathan Deaton, who came very close to winning the U.S. junior men's title this past summer, is prepping with coach Tim Daggett for a matchup between top U.S. juniors and top Chinese juniors this week in Beijing. Also going is Universal's Max Mayr. (Mass Live)

 

Roman Gisi, Niki Boeschenstein retire: The retirement of these two Swiss standouts follows that of Daniel Groves earlier this month. (Swiss Gymnastics Federation)

 

Veronica Wagner's new opportunities: The Swedish standout, who was working toward her third Olympic berth before a shoulder injury ended the possibility, will continue to be involved in the Olympics as a broadcaster for Swedish television in London. Wagner hasn't entirely closed the door on gymnastics, either -- she says she may be back in 2013 to help her team at the European Championships and some World Cup events. (International Gymnast Magazine)

 

In consideration of the Dutch: Only one Dutch man will represent the Netherlands at next summer's Olympic Games, while the women are still in contention to make it as a team. (Universal Sports) 

 

Giulia Steingruber nominated for Swiss Newcomer of the Year: Vote for the "new face of Swiss artistic gymnastics" here before Dec. 7. (Swiss Gymnastics Federation)

 

Nicolae Forminte and Liliana Cosma on Italy and Bugani: The former Romanian coaches, now happily ensconsed in new jobs in Italy, talk about their protege, Italian junior Serena Bugani, and the differences between Italy and the country they left behind. (The Couch Gymnast)

 

Honors to Isabelle Severino: The longtime French star (who even competed in a meet this past summer, at age 30) has been honored with the National Order of Merit from the French Republic in recognition of her long and successful career. (FIG)

 

Do Thi Ngan Thuong retires: The Vietnamese gymnast calls it quits after an up and down career that included being stripped of her credential at the 2008 Olympic Games for a banned substance and success at the recent Southeast Asian Games. (Gymmin' Miel)