New Skills for Worlds - MAG

FIG has just released the list of new skills that have been submitted for worlds here.

I wish a bigger deal was made of this as I love seeing new skills and I think that gymnasts also need to be encouraged to think up new skills. Anyhow, there are a few interesting new skills here. Gymnastike has a video of Sasaki's P Bars which shows his new skill (straddled front sault to hang).

Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

There is also a video of Hak Seon Yang trying his much anticipated handspring front layout triple twist. Although he really only does a 2 1/2 here.

Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

Here is a very interesting new skill. A Tippelt half turn!

Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

However, the FIG seem to only be rating this a B!! I really hope they fix this rating as this is completely incorrect and should be at least a D.

Finally, there is Jake Dalton doing a gienger style skill from upper arms on P Bars. This is really just a variation of the skill from giant which he also does in the same routine.

Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

Another interesting skill was number 12 - stoop in hop 1 hand and healy to elgrip. Unfortunately the FIG are rating this as 2 separate skills. I think this is a really bad decision, firstly because I think the skill sounds great and secondly because it could hamper gymnasts enthusiasm for creating new skills if the skills are not going to be credited. We also need the code to include more skills so that routines will have greater variety.

Debunking The Myth: Female Gymnasts Need To Be Tiny

Over the last few years I have noticed that a few female gymnasts have been much taller than I have expected. Indeed, it is a common belief that female gymnasts need to be tiny. However, when Rich McCharles from Gymnastics Coaching stated here (in the comments) that he believes the current code of points is best suited to a gymnast that is 4 foot 9 (144cm), I thought that this number is a bit too short and decided to investigate the heights of some top gymnasts. I have dug up (most) heights for gymnasts who made the all-around final at the 2008 Olympics and also the 2010 world championships to see if indeed gymnasts around a height of 144cm do better (gymnasts are shown in the order that they placed).

2008 Olympics
Gymnast	Height (cm)
Liukin	160
Johnson	145
Yang	161
Semenova	154
Nistor	150
Jiang	148
Pavlova	142
Izbasa	164
Chusovitina	153
Barbosa	151
Ferrari	145
Downie	156
Bonora	163
Parolari	n/a
Morgan	158
Hopfner-Hibbs	149
Tsurumi	141
Kaeslin	165
Petit	158
Oshima	149
Palesova	158
Silva	159
Dugain	152
Mys	145
Average	153.3
2010 Worlds
Mustafina	160
Jiang	148
Bross	152
Huang	154
Porgras	n/a
Mitchell	157
Nabieva	160
Kaeslin	165
Haidu	n/a
Lopez	153
Ferrari	145
Seitz	158
Raisman	155
Bonora	163
Barbosa	151
Whelan	150
Tanaka	156
Hypolito	147
Van Gerner	155
Pihan-Kulesza	162
Tsurumi	141
Hibbert	160
Malaussena	n/a
Preziosa	155
Average	154.7

Most notable in these figures is the presences a quite a few gymnasts around the 160cm mark (a height that many would consider too tall for elite gymnastics), and also a few that are even taller than this (eg Kaeslin at 165cm and Izbasa at 164cm). In addition, the averages of 153.3cm and 154.7cm are much higher than 144cm. Importantly, there is no correlation between height and placing. The averages of the top 5 and top 10 for 2008 are 154cm, 152.8cm and 153.5cm and 156.13cm for 2010 and both short and tall gymnasts are distributed fairly evenly throughout the placings. Although this is only a small study and is by no means conclusive, it does indicate that perhaps shorter gymnasts are not necessarily advantaged as is commonly thought and that perhaps any gymnast in the range of 140cm - 165cm can equally compete at the highest level.

This site suggests that the average height for US women is 162cm, and this Wikipedia article shows the average heights for a number of different countries which shows many countries have a similar average height and a few even have average heights below 160cm. This would suggest that many female gymnasts can even be an average height or even slightly taller than average. So instead of saying that gymnasts need to be tiny, maybe we should instead say that female gymnasts should just not be overly tall. In addition, for those who are looking at competing at a low level or doing gymnastics recreationally, height should not be considered as a factor in whether to take up gymnastics.

Adult Gymnastics

In my opinion adult gymnastics is one of the most untapped markets for gymnastics. It offers great health benefits and is also great fun. Dominique Dawes did a segment for Yahoo Weekend Edition that shows an adult class at her old club. Hopefully the gymnastics world can start to present gymnastics in a wider range classes and not just the competitive aspects that many gyms focus on.

Sang Lan sues, but for how much?

News stories are starting to emerge that Sang Lan, the gymnast who broke her neck performing a timer on vault at the 1998 Goodwill Games, is suing Time Warner for not providing care for her after the accident. However, different sources are reporting vastly different amounts. Some sources put the figures at US$100 million (http://www.strait2taiwan.tw/content/ex-gymnast-sang-lan-sue-us100-million), while others are reporting the figure to be a whopping US$1.8 billion. Yes, that's right billion (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42811725/ns/sports/).

To me, the $100 million figure sounds more likely. This could also have ramifications for competition regulations as she reports that she was distracted by another coach moving a mat.

Former gymnast jailed for fraud

Former gymmast David Simpson has been jailed for 24 weeks after claiming a disability allowance after a car accident left him 'virtually an invalid'. However, he was caught performing as a children's entertainer at parties.

Read the full story here

Commonwealth Games Videos

The Commonwealth Games are getting near and the BBC has put up a few videos about the gymnastics:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9040457.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/gymnastics/9040191.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/gymnastics/9040189.stm

Aussie Gymnastics Team Arrives in Delhi

Watch here

Romanian Nationals

Mihaitza48 has posted some videos from Romanian Nationals
here

Gymnastics death drug claim

Some might remember the tragic death of Michelle Maitland in Townsville about a year ago. A hearing has begun which has revealed that she was under the influence of marijuana at the time. The hearing is trying to determine if Townsville Gymnastics breached WH&S standards. Read about it here:

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2010/09/09/169111_news.html

Talk about short careers

Women's gymnastics is renowned for it's short careers, but this is ridiculous! Apparently Kayla Williams is retiring from elite gymnastics, barely a year after she started competing in elite competitions. Although she does plan to compete in the NCAA for the University of Alabama, it is still really sad to see her leaving elite gymnastics.