In yesterday’s last entry I neglected to translate what the interview with Le Pennec said, and why she decided to leave the sport. Basically, Emilie had been suffering from injuries, and it also seems maturity hit her hard. In addition, she said that she no longer felt the thrill of competition, and felt it was best that she retire.
Anyway, on to more cheerful stuff.
How do I watch gymnastics? Superficially, of course (see blog sub-title). I do enjoy the routines, but for me, more than half the fun comes from watching the goings-on before and after the actual routine.
Case in point: Here’s Yang Yilin’s event finals uneven bars routine from Stuttgart.
Hear that screeching going on while she’s busy? That’s He Ning, who later ends up jiggling the barrier while waiting for Yang’s score. (Watch closely: while Yang is putting away her hand guards, the camera pans slightly to the right, and there’s He Ning.)
Funny how He Ning ends up back there; maybe the Important People got sick of her yelling and plunked her behind the barrier. Ho ho.
And here’s the USA version: Alicia making lots of supportive noise for Nastia…
The close friendship between these two girls give me warm fuzzies. And also Yelena Zamolodchikova randomly coming up and giving Nast a greeting kiss. I shudder at the amount of hair clips Yang Yilin is using. And doesn’t anyone else besides me wonder what Sam Peszek was whispering into Alicia’s ear?
People have been complaining about how judges take too long to score the gymnasts, but aside from the suspense that such predicaments inspire (ha), I enjoy watching for little moments like the ones I have just posted above. You all should try it too.
I’ve recently taken a liking to Daria “Dasha” Joura, of Australia. Her sassy “Standing Yang Bo” salute used to scare the heck out of me, but now, I watch her just to see that salute:
Dasha at 2006 Aarhus.
