The University of Georgia won the Super Six. Yawn. Can’t they lose at least once to make things interesting? The only time they lost this season was a competition right after they lost Kupets (I think). I only tolerate UGA because I’m a Kupets fan and because Grace Taylor is cute. Otherwise I would hate them for being so dominant.
I’m going to miss Tabby.
I was OMG SHOCKED! when UCLA didn’t make it into the Super Six…but congratulations to Tasha Schwikert anyway for taking the all-around crown.
And poor Ashley Postell for coming in second all the dang time. I was pretty confident that with Courtney Kupets out, Postell would be able to make her move. Dang.
Lightbulb Hands reported on a competition in China in which the Chinese girls (Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, He Kexin etc., etc.) showed off their MAD SKILLZ: He Kexin broke 17.000 on uneven bars and Jiang Yuyuan has an Amânar.
And they showed that they want that damn Olympic team gold medal.
But I’d rather they didn’t. (Sorry girls.)
I’d cheer for the girls individually but not as a team. I respect Cheng Fei and want to see her and Sandra Izbasa battle it out on floor exercise (uh, Shawn who?). And how can you NOT love that little cutie Jiang Yuyuan? I understand that winning would help these girls provide for their families who have sacrificed so much for them; so it would be kind of cruel to tell them YOU SHOULDN’T WIN BECAUSE YOUR COUNTRY CHEATS…these girls have no control over what the grown-ups are telling them to do.
But ironic, isn’t it, that while they’re trying to bring “honor” to their country the Chinese are going to cheat to do it. As an ethnic Chinese, I’m not surprised at all.
For even a smidgen of fairness’ sake, China shouldn’t be winning any sort of gold in the team, when it’s likely that only Cheng Fei will undoubtedly be past the legal age limit when Beijing rolls around. Not when the USA and Russia keep their juniors at home and China sends He Kexin.
Lex was a gymnastics montage maestro. Before launching his eponymous website, Lex had been the webmaster of nubianpoptart.com (defunct), which had been a popular video repository, and the prettiest fansite I’ve ever seen for Allyse Ishino.
The women’s artistic gymnastics fan base will be a lot poorer without him.
Rick at Gymnastics Coaching and International Gymnast report that Deriugina was indeed suspended from the FIG. She is the coach of current rhythmic World all-around champion Anna Bessonova (UKR), whose emotional win in 2007 halted the seeming dominance of Irina Viner’s rhythmic gymnasts.
Rhythmic fans find Deriugina’s firing to be VERY fishy.
For one thing, it was already a shocker that Bessonova could finally defeat her longtime competitor Irina Chaschina (RUS) and surmount the rampant corruption in the rhythmic gymnastics circle dominated by Irina Viner, who by all accounts is worthy of being called a Mafia don.
Viner, as a Top Dog in the rhythmic governing body, has allegedly twisted the rules in favor of her own gymnasts in the past; these rule changes notably benefited Alina Kabaeva in the 2004 Olympics. Now with Bessonova–a gymnast Viner does not coach–leading the pack entering Beijing, most fans were afraid that Viner might to something to sabotage Bessonova’s chances afterwards, and this only supports their fears.
Deriugina herself has been accused of corruption, in 2000 when she apparently lowballed Elena Vitrichenko (UKR) because she was from a different gym in Kiev.
But compared to Viner’s iron fist, Deriugina seems like just another victim of the system.
Hey, maybe I should watch rhythmic gymnastics this summer…
The Gymblog reported that one of Spain’s top gymnasts (and dare I say a better contender for her country due to Patricia Moreno’s fading potential), Lenika de Simone has signed on to compete for Stanford University.
I think I may need to haul my ass out to one of Stanford’s competitions one of these days (despite the fact that Tabby Yim is graduating this year, sob sob). I love seeing Not-From-USA gymnasts (well, ‘Leni’, as her fans call her, is actually from Florida) competing NCAA: Daria Bijak and Gael Mackie (Utah), Annamari Maaranen and Jessica Lopez (Denver), among others.
I mean seriously, have you seen those faces Nastia pulls during the opening strains of her floor music?
Blythe at the Gymblog made remarks about Nastia’s floor exercise. Yes, it’s not her best event; I’d have to be a bloody idiot to disagree, and I’m not THAT idiotic.
But I also think Nastia has meant her floor routine to be built the way it is.
And on that note, Rawles wrote a brilliant defense of Nastia’s floor routine. Or at least, I think it’s brilliant. Rawles concludes her defense with:
Now, I am in no way saying OMG NASTIA SHOULD BE THE THIRD FLOOR SPOT FOR THE US or anything like that. I am neither stupid or crazy. She has around half a point of built in deductions (crossed ankles, massive cowboy on the double front) and, more importantly, she needs to compete floor SMART to keep her ankle healthy. But I am saying that this whole business where people act like Nastia is so horrendously under par on floor and is an all-arounder solely on the strength of her exceptional ability on beam and bars is quite a lot of sensationalist exaggeration.
