A gymnastics fan gives thanks

The holidays are traditionally a time of reflection and thanksgiving. As a gymnastics fan, here are a few things I'm thankful for this year:

• Comeback kids. 2010 has been the year of the comeback. Among others, Alicia Sacramone, Jiang Yuyuan, Sandra Izbasa and Cerasela Patrascu all made successful returns after injuries or brief retirements. By all indications, there's more to come, given Shawn Johnson's training videos, Nastia Liukin's tweets about two-a-day practices and Anamaria Tamirjan's photo sessions showing that she's back training with the rest of the Romanian national team. Even Alexei Bondarenko, one of the mainstays of the Russian team between 1997 and 2004, has announced plans to return.

• That the women's code of points no longer rewards gymnasts for doing a roundoff, double full side pass on floor.

• Emerging countries. World Cup meets are no longer dominated by the same gymnastics powerhouses. This year's medalists at major meets have come from India, Mongolia, South Africa, Venezuela and Israel, just to name a few. New toward the top of the heap: As "their" Olympics approaches, Great Britain's men's and women's teams are showing huge potential for success. Ditto the German men.

•  Thanks to Sacramone, Beth Tweddle, Oksana Chusovitina and all the other elite gymnasts over 20, women's gymnastics is truly a women's sport. For the first time in about 40 years, experience outperformed youth at the World Championships.

• Youtube. Let us all give thanks for Youtube.

• The promise of bigger things to come. There was huge gymnastics from both the men and the women at the World Championship, but the level of difficulty keeps climbing on certain events. I wouldn't be surprised if we see the first triple twisting Yurchenko vault from a woman in 2011. Or perhaps the first triple back Kovacs on high bar from a man.

• World Cup season may be over, but the NCAA gymnastics season is right around the corner.

•  Photo galleries. When I was a gymnastics-obsessed kid in the early 1990s, I pored over newspapers looking for competition reports and photos of my favorite gymnasts. The search was rarely rewarded. Today, thanks to the internet, it's far easier to see snaps of your favorite gymnasts in action. Here at Examiner.com, a number of photographers have generously contributed their work. Click the image of Lu Bo above and to the left to see the latest -- a gallery of "big air" at the World Championships by gymnastics photographer Heather Maynez.

Your take: Gymnastics-wise, what are you thankful for this season?

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