How Lyudmila Got her Groove Back

…if she ever lost it in the first place.

Reason #3457628395614 why I love Lyudmila Yezhova Grebenkova:

No, I don’t know who the other people are. Hee hee.

Tyra Approves of Nastia’s ‘Fierce’ Floor

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.

Will they or won’t they?

While a few other online sources have picked up on the Putin + Kabaeva story, there has been no confirmation from the Kremlin. No Louis XIV, is he? Anyway, there are people who are angrily denouncing the news as RUBBISH and NONSENSE, and that no such thing is happening.

And if you ask Alicia Sacramone about how she feels about Tibet, she’s not going to answer you.

Steliana Nistor reacts to Sean Golden stripping

After World Cup competitions (and other gymnastics competitions too), there is a banquet party where the gymnasts can relax, have some fun, and eat sweets (yes, I know).
At the banquet party after the Cottbus World Cup, Sean Golden (USA) thought it would be fun to take off his shirt.

Stela’s reaction is at 0:05-0:06.

LOL.

Ivana Hong’s Mom’s Story

From Blythe at the Gymblog, who got it from the New York Times:

Olympic Hopes Rooted in Tale of Close Escape

This isn’t the first time that the Times has written an article about Ivana that wasn’t actually about her…the other time they talked about her coach Armine Barutyan and about how HARD and DIFFICULT it was being in the Soviet system.

Putin engaged to rhythmic gymnast?

I don’t follow rhythmic gymnastics but this cracked me up.

From Blythe at the Gymblog, who got it from International Gymnast.

“Moscow Correspondent” published that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, 55, divorced his wife two months ago, and plans to marry [2004 Olympic gold medallist Alina] Kabayeva, 25, in June.

HA HA d’you think Irina Viner approves?

As Rawles would say, LOL WHUT.

Pacific Alliance according to my parents

My parents watched the Pacific Alliance on TV with me.

On Kristina Vaculik’s floor
Mom: “The music is going too fast for her.”

On Emily Little’s vault
Dad: (after Tim talked about her bent knees) “Isn’t it bad to land on straight knees?”

On Peng-Peng Lee:
Dad: “Is she Chinese?”

On Sam Shapiro marching:
Mom: “Why is she walking like that?”

On Darlene Hill:
Mom: “How old is she? She’s so muscular!”

On Nansy Damianova:
Mom: “She’s obviously Russian.” (And then right after she said that, Elfi says “She’s Bulgarian…”)

P.S. Nansy Damianova gets brownie points in my book for wearing a poofy ponytail that reminds me of Milo circa 1995-1996. Hee hee.

Cottbus World Cup Wrap-Up

I watched the Pacific Alliance on NBC today.
Sam Shapiro’s beam routine is simply divine.
And may I express my belated condolences to Darlene Hill.

Now, about Cottbus:

From Blythe at the Gymblog:

Balance beam and floor exercise were contested.

BALANCE BEAM
1. Xiao Sha (CHN) 16.125 (well done!)
2. Li Shanshan (CHN) 15.325 (WTF what happened?!)
3. Sandra Izbasa (ROU) 15.300
3. Oksana Chusovitina (GER) 15.300 (all hail)
5. Adela Sajn (SLO) 15.075
6. Katja Abel (GER) 14.825
7. Steliana Nistor (ROU) 14.625 (oh no! Poor Stela! )
8. Sanne Wevers (NED) 14.300

• I am DEFINITELY going to have to hunt down Xiao Sha’s routine. Next to He Ning, she’s one of my Chinese favorites…and ironically one of the least likely to make the team.
• WTF happened to Li Shanshan? Did she fall or something?
• Job well done for Sandra here, but poor Stela! She probably fell too.
• And Bravo to Chusovitina.

FLOOR EXERCISE
1. Sandra Izbasa (ROU) 15.300
2. Jade Barbosa (BRA) 14.625
3. Xiao Sha (CHN) 14.500
4. Daiane Dos Santos (BRA) 14.350
5. Yasmin Zimmermann (SUI) 14.150
6. Anastasia Koval (UKR) 14.125
7. Katja Abel (GER) 13.950
8. Anna Myzdrikova (RUS) 13.725

• You know it, you tell the world, GO SANDRA!!
• Jade seriously needs to get her groove on…

That’s all. I guess I’ll go hunt for Xiao Sha’s beam routine or something. And Sandra Izbasa is red-hot.

Who’s Going to NCAA Championships?

From Blythe at the Gymblog:

1. Georgia 197.775
2. Louisiana State 197.625
3. Stanford 197.525
4. Florida 197.525
5. Alabama 197.3
6. Oregon State 197.1
7. Utah 196.95
8. UCLA 196.625
9. Michigan 196.375
10. Arkansas 196.125
11. Oklahoma 195.875
12. Denver 195.775

Now the question is, who’s going to make it to the Super Six?

In addition, the Gymblog has predicted that Courtney Kupets’ NCAA all-around crown could go to any of these girls this year: Tiffany Tolnay (UGA), Katie Heenan (UGA), Ashley Postell (Utah), and some other girls who I can’t think of at the moment.

But this year’s NCAA Championships are going to be somewhat sad for me. Neither Terin Humphrey nor Courtney Kupets will be competing, and they’re the ones who got me into really paying attention to NCAA gymnastics in the first place.

More Cottbus World Cup

Vault and Uneven Bars were contested today.

You can watch Brazilian coverage of Day 1 on Youtube, thanks to user gymscorpion.

VAULT
1. Oksana Chusovitina (GER) 15.150 (all hail)
2. Jade Barbosa (BRA) 14.512
3. Ariella Kaeslin (SUI) 14.287

UNEVEN BARS
1. He Kexin (CHN) 16.850 (WTF!!)
2. Rebecca Downie (GBR) 14.975 (well done Becky!)
3. Katja Abel (GER) 14.425

And thanks to a kind Youtube user, here is Miss He’s routine.

He Kexin, 2008 Cottbus World Cup, Uneven Bars Event Finals

She re-caught after her first release (straddled Jaeger?) in el-grip mixed grip! It makes her look like she is flailing around in the air…my shoulders are hurting just thinking about it.