Tweet An early start this morning for Full Twist with both rugby and gymnastics going on.
Ireland V Wales, Rugby World Cup Quarter Final.

Tweet I hear it was a fantastic match (I was coaching until this afternoon so missed it). Ireland played Australia this morning…and triumphed, winning 15 – 6! Australia are currently ranked 2nd in the IRB rankings, behind New Zealand, Ireland are 8th so this was a huge achievement. After last weeks terribly disappointing match against the USA it seems Ireland are now back on track. Read Gerry Thornley’s excellent match report from the Irish Times newspaper.

Earlier this week Heineken’s Rugby World Cup Ambassadors filmed a video in Dublin in the …

Tweet The 2011 Rugby World Cup kicks off this morning. It’s 8.40am here and I’m currently watching the opening ceremony ahead of the first game between Tonga and host nation New Zealand. This is the 7th Rugby World Cup which is held every four years and will be the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand. Twenty teams in total have qualified to compete – Tonga, Australia, England, Ireland, France, Canada, USA, Japan, Argentina, Scotland, Fiji, Wales, Italy, Namibia, Samoa, Romania, Russia, Georgia and South Africa. Many of these …

Tweet The Managing Director (MD) and President of the Special Olympics in Europe and Eurasia has cited her interest in running for the office of President in the Republic of Ireland. On May 26th Mary Davis announced that she was to seek nomination to run for the Presidency of Ireland as an independent candidate.
Ms Davis has responsibility for the development of the Special Olympics in 59 countries across Europe and Asia. Before being appointed MD and President, she was the CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and was also CEO of the 2003 Special …

Tweet We all know that the likes of Nastia and Shawn have endorsed different products at different times. It’s common enough for sports stars to endorse a product, Nastia endorses Subway, David Beckham endorsed Gillette and Adidas (to name a few) and Wayne Rooney has previously endorsed Coca Cola  and  Nike.
Sports Pro has released a list of athletes that they have named as the 50 most marketable. Athletes have been ranked according to their marketing potential over a three-year period. The 50 athletes, only five of whom are women,  were deemed …

Tweet Yes, Full Twist is going political…but with a good cause.
We are all currently aware of Ireland’s current financial and political trouble. At the end of this week the country is set to go to the polls for possibly the most important General Election ever in the history of the State. The candidates have been on the campaign trail strongly for the past 3 weeks while their parties lay out their manifesto’s and promote why the public should vote for them to run the country.

Obviously, it is important to fix …

Tweet Eileen Langsley is a fantastic photographer , covering twelve Olympic Games during her 30 + years as  a photographer – 17 of those years were spent chronicling gymnastics on film as the official photographer for the FIG.

Eileen recently wrote an article for Official Publication of the International Sports Press Association titled ” The End of an Era – The golden age of sports photography is no longer with us”. She conveys her “disillusionment and concern” at the current state of the sports photography industry.  Whilst Eileen welcomes the new developments …

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Today, February 2nd is National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) in the USA. NGWSD is marked annually with events around the country and on Capitol Hill to commemorate the achievements of girls and women in athletics. It is also an important day to promote the continued expansion of opportunities for girls and women to play sports and live physically active lives.
Since its inception in 1987, National Girls and Women in Sports Day has become the premiere occasion to celebrate the participation, success and accomplishments of girls and …

Tweet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on Monday that the government will spend $3 billion ( 90 billion rubles), on the development of sports in Russia over the next 3 years. The money will be invested in sports development in 2011 and funding for sports medicine will also be increased. The Prime Minister also declared that 2011 is the Year of  Sports in Russia!

Whilst the funding seems to be more geared towards Sochi 2014 (Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2014) rather than London 2012, I’m sure that the  Russian gymnastics teams …

Tweet The UK Anti Doping (UKAD) has issued a warning to athletes and players to be extra vigilant when using supplements. This comes as British shotputter Rachel Wallader became the first UK athlete to receive ban as a result of testing positive for the prohibited substance Methylhexaneamine.  Rachel received a four month ban from the sport. It seems that two other athletes have also tested positive for the substance in recent months but their cases are on going.

Methylhexaneamine is also known as dimethylamylamine, dimethylpentylamine, DMAA, forthran, forthane, floradrene, geranamine and …

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The prices of the London 2012 Olympic Games tickets were announced. You can download a copy of all the tickets prices here or visit the website for more details.
The tickets go on sale next March and apparently 90% of the tickets cost £100 or less. People who are 16 years of age or younger will only pay their age for a ticket and Senior Citizens aged 60 and over (as of 27 July 2012) will pay £16.

So what are we looking at for Gymnastics?
(Click to enlarge) …

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USA Gymnastics just posted this picture on their Facebook page. It’s a shot from their final World Camp Selection.

The Worlds Team Selection announcement is due this evening in the USA, however since it’s nearly 12am here, I’ll be asleep. Can’t wait to wake up in the morning and hear the news. Best of luck to all of the girls!

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According to This Is Exeter, before winning her team Silver medal yesterday in the Commonwealth Games, Imogen Cairns was considering retirement.
“I’ve put all my focus into just getting back to fitness again and being here and I really thought this would be my last competition before I retire,” she said.
“But everything goes so fast and maybe I might need to think again because I think I proved that I still have it.
“I will focus on this competition first and then have another think about it.”
Read more on This Is …

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The Hindu asks “Can India do the unbelievable in gymnastics?”
Isle of Man gymnast Alex Hedges has been blogging for Channel 4 – here he watches as two teammates succumb to injuries
Char from Sports Girl Play has ditched her Super Mom Cape for a while
Star Tribune has a Q & A session with Bela Karolyi
Q: How long will it take Johnson to get back into peak form?
A: I knew the time would come very, very shortly to see her back with the same kind of hunger and same kind …

Tweet Huntingdon gymnasts Luke Folwell, Alex Hedges, Charlotte McKenna, Luke Carson, Tori Simpson and Emma White all set for the Commonwealth Games
Burren Gymnastics Club in Ireland is looking for a WAG coach
Alicia Sacramone launches new website and Fan Club
Al Sharif, Secretary-General of the Dubai Sports Council believes Dubai can do well at gymnastics