Tweet The February issue of British Gymnastics online magazine “The Gymnast” is out now to read. View it here.

Tweet Day one of the Winter Cup kicked off in Las Vegas yesterday.  The top 42 placing gymnasts from the preliminaries proceed through to Saturday’s finals. The big surprise of the day was Paul Hamms performance. The former Olympic Champion was knocked out of the the top 42, ranking in 56th place. Hamm did not compete on Still Rings or High Bar. He told the Associated Press:
“This has been one of my weaker performances of my career,”
“It’s disappointing for sure. I’m not happy. I just have to be constructive …

Tweet So it’s not quite an actual video. A promotional tape of the official London 2012 Olympic Games video game being created by Sega shows all the stadiums and events which will feature this summer. Some of the athletes shown are clearly visible but curiously, we only see the back of the the gymnast, it is not clear who she is, perhaps in time we will find out. It’s a quick shot 46 seconds in of a gymnast in a British leotard performing a handspring front vault. Watch it here on …

Tweet The Tokyo World Cup scheduled for April 14th – 15th has been cancelled. The FIG announced the decision today which came as a result of scheduling conflicts. This follows the cancellation of the Paris World Cup.

Artistic Gymnastics FIG World Cup
CANCELLED
 
LAUSANNE (SUI) – FIG Office, February 2, 2012: Due to a conflict in scheduling, Japanese organisers for the FIG World Cup stage in Artistic Gymnastics, slated for April 14 – 15, 2012 in Tokyo, were forced to cancel the event.
 
The decision comes in response to an inability to …

Tweet The wonderful London 2012 Test Event appears to have set standards and expectations bigger than was first thought. FIG President, Professor Bruno Grandi today issued a letter discussing the FIG’s use of live streaming during the Test Event. This was the first event in which FIG offered live streaming, something many fans worldwide have been crying out for, for a number of years, more so in the most recent years as technology has developed.

His letter today very much indicates that the FIG are likely to live stream other events in the …

Tweet Tony Retrosi over at Gym Momentum has an excellent post on Sportsmanship. With the competition season beginning for many gymnasts and coaches, this is a great post to read. Sportsmanship is vital in any sport, especially gymnastics. I like to see the winner of a competition shake the other competitors hands before taking to the podium to receive their medal.

To get good at winning, you have to get good at losing.
The bottom line is that you or your team is NOT going to win every competition you go to. …

Tweet The MTC today issued a newsletter which features the new moves submitted and approved at the World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo last October. The communication is excellent, it features links to YouTube videos of the elements where possible.  They are as follows:
Floor

The “Penev” – F Value – submitted by Eddie Penev (BUL) – Jump backward with 1/2 turn to Double Salto Forward stretched with 1/2 turn

Vault

The “Yang Hak Seon” – E Value – submitted by Yang Hak Seon (KOR)- HANDSPRING FORWARD AND SALTO FORWARD STRETCHED WITH 3/1 TURNS

Parallel Bars

The “Sasaki” …

Tweet Yet another fantastic artistic drawing.

Although it didn’t look like this at the London 2012 Test Event!

Tweet Yesterday Ireland’s second ever Olympic Gymnast Kieran Behan was presented with a cheque for €20,000 to cover his grant from the Olympic Council of Ireland by Pat Hickey, President of the IOC to help him in his preparations for the London Games.  The event took place at Dublin’s prestigious Shelbourne Hotel where Behan was interviewed by the national newspapers, national television and radio broadcaster RTE whilst also posing for a series of photos on the furniture.

Kieran with IOC Secretary General, Dermot Sherlock  and IOC President, Pat Hickey.

Coach Demetrios Bradshaw, Gymnastics Ireland …

Tweet Australia’s Women’s National Coach Peggy Liddick was granted her Australian citizenship yesterday during the countries national day celebrations. Reports say that Liddick, originally from the United States was accompanied by the whole national team to celebrate her citizenship. Liddick said:
“When the position of national coach for women’s gymnastics became available in Australia in 1996, I saw it as a sign that I was destined to become an Australian.”
“I feel a sense of pride and patriotism when the Australian flag is raised and Advance Australia Fair plays over the speakers when one …

Tweet Last week on the back of his visit to the London 2012 Test Event, Rick Mc Charles of Gymnastics Coaching paid visits to five gymnastics clubs in Ireland, one in the Western Region (Renmore) and 4 in the South Dublin Region (Excel, Trojan, Janz and Sugarloaf GC). As he pointed out, despite the economic crisis in the Eurozone, especially in Ireland the demand for places within gymnastics classes around the country is high. Of course, with the London Olympic Games coming up we can expect more girls and boys …

Tweet This years AT & T American Cup is set for March 3rd in Madison Square Garden, New York City and kicks off the 2012 World Cup Season.  World Cup rules for Category C- II –  the top eight ranked gymnasts in the All Around competition from the 2011 World Championships are invited to compete. In the case that one of these gymnasts declines, a place is offered to the next gymnast who ranked 9th – 12th.
The line – up was announced yesterday, January 24th:
Men

USA: Danell Leyva
USA: John Orozco
France: Cyril …

Tweet Yet another former Olympic Gymnast is to release a memoir as the 2012 London Olympic Games rapidly approaches. At the beginning of the month it was announced that 1996 Olympian Dominique Moceanu would release her memoir on June 5th, which also happens to be the day that Shawn Johnson will release hers. The memoir will be titled “Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams”.

Carol Stream, IL – Four-time Olympic medalist and Dancing with the Stars winner Shawn Johnson will
release a memoir, …

Tweet I came across the Coach’s Eye app for iPhone and iPad a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had some great fun in the gym with it and some lessons have definitely been learnt, it has been advantageous for both young and older gymnasts. It’s a fantastic app, a must have for those who don’t have video analysis in the gym.

In short, Coach’s Eye is a video analysis app. As the website describes it:
Whether you’re working on a golf swing, football drill, soccer kick, or yoga posture…Coach’s Eye delivers “ah-ha” …

Tweet A total of 91 male gymnastics are registered to compete at this years Winter Cup in Las Vegas. We can expect some big names, Reigning U.S. all-around and world parallel bars champion Danell Leyva, a Jonathan Horton comeback, the return of recently disgraced Paul Hamm, John Orozco, Steven Legendre, Jake Dalton, Alexander Naddour, Chris Brooks, Paul Ruggeri, Sho Nakamuri and Brandon Wynn to name but a few.

Here is the list via USA Gymnastics:
Athlete roster for 2012 Winter Cup Challenge
(Alphabetical by state, then last name)
Arkansas
Lee Grogan, Champions Gymnastics Center Inc., …