The gymnastics week in review

November 1, 7:30 PMGymnastics ExaminerBlythe Lawrence

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Russia's Ksenia Semyonova on beam at last week's Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland.

AP Photo/Keystone/Dominic Favre

Dragulescu and Kaeslin win Arthur Gander Memorial: Romania's Marian Dragulescu and Switzerland's Ariella Kaeslin won the men's and women's titles at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Morges, Switzerland. At Arthur Gander, male gymnasts compete on four apparatuses of their choice, while the women compete three.

Dragulescu, who opted to compete on vault, floor, pommel horse and high bar, outscored the Netherlands's Jeffrey Wammes (floor, vault, rings, high bar) and Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria (floor, rings, vault, parallel bars), 59.95-59.85-59.25. Russian Sergei Khorokhordin was fourth, followed by Cyril Tommasone of France.

On the women's side, Kaeslin (vault, bars, beam), stayed clean to defeat Romanian Diana Chelaru (vault, beam, floor) and Russia's Ksenia Semyonova (bars, beam, floor), 42.4-41.95-40.45. Semyonova, who had problems on floor at the World Championships earlier this month, continued to struggle on that event and scored only 12.9. Ukranian Yana Demyunchuk, eighth overall, had difficulties on beam (12.7) and floor (12.6), as did China's He Ning, who recorded 11.5 on beam and 11.7 on floor for ninth. (International Gymnast)

Shawn Johnson, Olympic torchbearer: The Olympic beam champion will spend her 18th birthday in Calgary, carrying the torch on its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Twitter)

Best of the 2009 Worlds: A photo gallery of the best AP images from October's World Championships in London. (Examiner.com)

Germans win in Switzerland: Kim Bui and Matthias Fahrig were the top couple at this week's Swiss Cup, gymnastics's most high-profile mixed pairs competition. Bui and Fahrig beat countrymen Thomas Taranu and Elisabeth Seitz, while the Swiss pair of Kaslin and Niki Boeschenstein were third. (International Gymnast)

Best of the 2009 Worlds II: Some suggestions for watchmaker Longines, bestowers of the Longines Prize for Elegance, on some other awards it could give out. (Examiner.com)

Lopez, Kuksenkov best at Blume: Denver University's Jessica Lopez and Ukranian standout Nikolai Kuksenkov won the Joaquim Blume Memorial in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain. Lopez beat Demyunchuk and Chelaru for the title, while Khorokhordin and Spain's Javier Gomez were second and third in the men's division. (International Gymnast)

"It looks as if it might be bitchy, too...": Melbourne's The Age newspaper profiles Lauren Mitchell and attempts to address some of the stereotypes about gymnastics. (The Age)

Miller now a mom: 1996 Olympic gold medalist Shannon Miller and husband John Falconetti welcomed their first child, John Rocco Falconetti, on October 28. (Inside Gymnastics)

Slovenian success: A book about Slovenian gymnast Miroslav Cerar, who won gold on pommel horse at the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, has been published to correspond with the athlete's 70th birthday. (Sta.si)

The U.S.'s most diverse NCAA gymnastics team?: Perhaps it's Oregon State, which boasts three Canadians and two Australians. (OSU Barometer)

Furosemide strikes again!: This time the diuretic was found in the system of 2003 World floor champion Daiane dos Santos, who is recovering from knee surgery and not present at last month's World Championship. Furosemide is taken to bolster weight loss but can also mask other banned substances. The case has been referred to the FIG's Disciplinary Committee. (FIG)

Speaking of banned substances: Dutch rings star Yuri van Gelder has been suspended from competition for one year after testing positive for cocaine at the 2009 Dutch Championships. Although van Gelder will be eligible to compete at the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam, he will miss the 2012 Olympic Games. An International Olympic Committee rule stipulates that any athlete suspended for more than six months is ineligible for the next Olympics. (International Gymnast)

Auburn opts out of double home meet with Alabama: The 2009-2010 Auburn gymnastics schedule does not include a trip to Tuscaloosa to face in-state rival Alabama this season, though the two schools will compete against each other at Auburn on Jan. 8. Alabama and Auburn have competed against each other twice each season for 25 of the last 29 years, and the Crimson Tide have beaten Auburn the last 98 times the two schools have met. (Tuscaloosa News)

College commitment update: U.S. standout Cassie Whitcomb has verbally committed to UCLA, while Chelsea Davis announced plans to compete for Georgia. Already committed to Florida for the future: Alaina Johnson, Kytra Hunter and Mackenzie Caquatto. Samantha Peszek has already committed to UCLA. (Inside Gymnastics on Twitter)

Gymnastics equipment as furniture: Some creative ideas on home decoration. (Trendhunter Magazine) 

And now for something completely different: Here's five-year-old Giuliano Stroe of Romania, who seems well on his way to becoming the next big thing in Romanian men's gymnastics. The video shows Giuliano doing handstand pushups, backflipping off the kitchen table, lifting weights and, in one place, ripping off his jacket in the middle of what looks like a boxing ring. All very impressive, although perhaps also a trifle White Palms-y. Enjoy.