Cool skill alert: German giants in combination

August 30, 5:23 AMGymnastics ExaminerBlythe Lawrence

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Former GymMaxer Ivana Hong. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

California's GymMax, home to 2009 U.S. Junior champion Kyla Ross and supervaulter McKayla Maroney, doesn't seem to be a "bars gym."

But that doesn't mean GymMaxers have no cool skills in their bar routines.

Take Shantessa Pama, one of the only female gymnasts ever to throw a triple back dismount off bars (Mexico's Brenda Magnana and Russia's Alexandra Sorokina are the only other people I can think of who even tried it in competition).

Pama also did a jam through to a straddle Jaeger and German giants through to a Tkatchev.

Shantessa Pama, 2004 U.S. Championships Finals, Uneven Bars:

Here's another interesting move from Chanen Raygoza, an up-and-coming elite who trained at GymMax: German giants to an overshoot to the low bar, a combination last seen from the wildly inventive Frenchwoman Elvire Teza, who also performed German giants into an immediate Pak salto at one point.

Chanen Raygoza, 2009 American Classic, Uneven Bars:

Elvire Teza, 2000 Olympic Games Event Finals, Uneven Bars:

Another former GymMaxer  who did German giants in combination: Ivana Hong, who left the gym in 2004 to train in Missouri with Al and Armine Fong at GAGE. Hong ditched the German giants when she reworked her bar routine in 2008.

Ivana Hong, 2003 U.S. Challenge, Uneven Bars: