Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mitchell Out... Again

Breaking news via The West newspaper (thanks, Brindabella) and GA.

Dual world championships silver medallist Lauren Mitchell will not defend her national title next week, an adductor strain forcing her out of the upcoming Australian Championships and Commonwealth Games selection trials in Perth...


Mitchell was the toast of Australian gymnastics last year when she became the first Australian woman to medal in an individual apparatus final at a world championship, winning silver on the beam and again on floor at London’s O2 Arena.


The latest injury is another minor setback for the 18-year-old, who despite recovering from a broken hand last December, suffered another injury in March when she sprained her ankle landing short on a tumbling pass at training.

However Mitchell remains confident of being selected in the five member Australian team for the Commonwealth Games. “I’m very disappointed that I can’t defend my Australian title in Perth next week,” said Mitchell, “however I remain positive and I still have my sights set on the Commonwealth Games and World Championships later this year.”

West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) Gymnastics Performance Manager Liz Chetkovich said that although the adductor injury is minor, it was important that Mitchell rests it now in order to be at full strength for the two biggest competitions on the 2010 gymnastics calendar. “Lauren has had a niggling adductor recently and at the State Championships last weekend she stirred it up,” adding “It’s not a serious injury. We don’t want a minor injury to turn into a major injury, so we decided to withdraw her from next week’s National Championships.

“She can jump and she can sprint, but she just can’t straddle or do a dynamic split.

“We don’t want her to compete at nationals under prepared and low in confidence.

“She’s now on a timeline to be back in shape for a full performance trial in September ahead of the Commonwealth Games and World Championships."


Mitchell will join fellow West Australian Emily Little, who starred at the Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne earlier this year, strained ligaments in her elbow last month after landing awkwardly during a dismount from bars. on the sidelines next week.

WAIS have advised that they intend to submit an official injury petition to Gymnastics Australia, asking for the pair’s previous performances to be considered when selecting the five-member Commonwealth Games team.
Get well soon, Loz and Em!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Road to Nationals: Queensland

I don't like tomato sauce, but I do love a good source.


Some news, notes and videos from Queensland state titles begin.... right now!

********************************************************

"Moreton Bay College was the great winner at the Saturday portion of the Queensland State Championships, winning all three of the all-around titles as well as the majority of the event golds in the IDP 10, Junior International and Senior International categories.

Georgia Godwin
dominated the IDP 10 competition, winning all five gold medals and showing the best beam routine of the evening in the process.

Amaya King-Koi
took the Junior International title as well as three apparatus titles.

Last but not least, Larrissa Miller won the Senior International title plus the vault and bars golds. Miller has not quite returned to full difficulty yet, but is certainly on her way back from injury. She looked considerably more stable and determined here than she did a few weeks ago at the SEQ Regionals, and showed greater difficulty on several events, although she seems to have left out some of her more problematic skills at the same time.

The competition was marred by a great number of falls. The worst of the lot claimed Delta’s Kristy Bishop, a serious contender for the national Level 10 title. Bishop suffered a bad landing on her opening pass and had to be carried off the floor. She had to watch the rest of the competition from the sidelines. There was no sign of Peggy Liddick at the competition, but former Queensland star Chloe Sims was on hand to distribute medals."


Senior International

"Larrissa got off to a decent start on bars, where she seems to have dropped her problematic Adler for the time being to concentrate on her other skills. She was slow on a giant-full and had a large leg separation on her Gienger, but was solid elsewhere. She also started well on beam, where she stuck her flic-layout step-out (which seemed to give her problems at Regionals) cold. Sadly, she later fell on her power skills (punch front, back tuck, 2.5 twist dismount), where her sore foot seemed to be bothering her. She opened floor with a fall on her double Arabian and finished with another fall on her 2.5 twist, but it was good to see her attempt more difficult tumbling. She finished the competition with a very good layout Yurchenko-full (hop on the landing) for the gold.

Karina Brooks hit a very decent bar routine featuring a hecht, piked Jaeger and double pike dismount (big step). She also showed the most stable beam routine of the three Senior International girls, and remained mostly error-free on floor. Sadly, her difficulty was not quite up to par here (double tuck, 1.5 twist to tucked punch front, layout front full twist, double twist). I missed her vault, but I think it was a layout Yurchenko. Brooks was considerably more stable here than at Regionals, and showed some good work, but will have to upgrade considerably to be a contender for international assignments.

Bridget Beattie started off well on bars, where she hit a fine routine featuring a piked Jaeger and a stuck double pike dismount. She showed good jumps on beam, but fell on layout step-out and side aerial. She wasn’t faultless on floor either, falling on a double pike and suffering a deep landing on her double tuck. I think she vaulted a layout Yurchenko, but I’m not sure.

Sophie Budack sadly didn’t compete."

Results
All-around: 1) Miller, 2) Brooks, 3) Beattie
Vault: 1) Miller, 2) Brooks, 3) Beattie
Bars: 1) Miller, 2) Beattie, 3) Brooks
Beam: 1) Brooks, 2) Beattie, 3) Miller
Floor: 1) Beattie, 2) Miller, 3) Brooks


Junior International

"Amaya King-Koi was the cream of the crop in the Junior International competition. She started off with a fairly successful bar routine, marred only by poor handstands and a weird moment when she seemed to hit the low bar with her feet while kipping out of her Jaeger. She handled the incident well and finished her routine (which is improving all the time) without any other problems. She also stayed on the beam, where her worst deductions were major wobbles after her back tuck, change-leg split leap and 1.5 turn. Her floor exercise was marred by a fall on her dismount, which was probably supposed to be a double pike but looked more like a double tuck – the second one in her routine. She was solid on her other passes and dance skills. Her vault was a slightly piked and bent-legged Yurchenko-full.


Katie Wurth took the silver. Wurth looked slightly less impressive here than she did at Regionals, but still showed some lovely work. She vaulted a full-twisting Yurchenko (piked down, big hop). She was one of very few gymnasts in the competition who seemed to hit her toe shoot to high bar on bars, but wasn’t able to cast out of it and had to pause on top of the high bar after her kip. Her pretty beam routine was sadly marred by falls on the sheep jump and Onodi. She went out of bounds on her second pass and lacked a bit of difficulty, but was as always beautiful to watch on floor.

Natalia Joura (competing with a heavily strapped left ankle) didn’t have the greatest competition. She landed her Yurchenko-half vault on her bottom and also fell on her Jaeger, which she seems to perform very far from the bar, resulting in frequent falls. She also fell several times on beam, among other skills on a punch front. She finished her competition with a fairly successful floor exercise featuring a double pike, 1.5 twist to layout front, double twist, double tuck and triple turn. She has great form on nearly everything she does but seems to be desperately in need of some consistency.

Shar-lee Clark didn’t have the best of competitions either, starting with an unsuccessful bar routine (good Jaeger, dead hangs on both toe shoots, low bail-half, no handstands, fall on full- in dismount). She counted four falls on beam and also took some deductions for lack of split on her jumps. Her floor exercise featured a double pike, layout front to tucked front, 1.5 twist and double twist. She finished with a fairly decent handspring piked front vault but didn’t seem too happy with her competition."

Results
All-around: 1) King-Koi, 2) Wurth, 3) Joura
Vault: 1) King-Koi and Wurth, 3) Clark
Bars: 1) King-Koi, 2) Joura, 3) Clark
Beam: 1) King-Koi, 2) Joura, 3) Wurth
Floor: 1) Wurth, 2) Joura, 3) King-Koi


IDP 10

"Georgia Godwin owned the IDP 10 competition, receiving the highest scores on all events. She showed good swing in her bar routine, but suffered a dead hang on her toe shoot, some leg separations in the giants and a lack of difficulty on her dismount (a layout flyaway). She was solid on balance beam, where she showed a gorgeous side aerial-layout step-out combination and a stuck ff to back tuck. Sadly, her change-leg split leap, full turn and punch front were a bit on the wild side and she didn’t have a real dismount either (again, a layout timer), but it was an impressive routine nevertheless. She also showed excellent tumbling on floor but suffered an uncharacteristic fall on her closing double pike (overrotated). Her vault was a somewhat piked Yurchenko-full. Keep an eye on this one – she needs more maturity in her presentation but has tons of potential.

Brittany Boffo started her competition with a nice bar routine which featured a successful toe shoot (gasp) and nice stuck dismount. Sadly, she collapsed on the bar on a giant-full. She also counted two falls on beam (ff-layout step-out and side aerial) and generally seemed to lack confidence, but did show a nice planche mount and good form on her acro skills. Her floor tumbling was solid, although she did go out of bounds on one of her passes. Her vault was a stuck piked Yurchenko.

Third place went to Tianye Boorman, who started off with a bar routine featuring a dead hang on the toe shoot, leg separations on the handstands and a fall on her bottom on the double back dismount. She counted many balance checks on beam, but showed good difficulty on floor, where she hit a double tuck and 1.5 twist to tucked punch front but fell on her closing 2.5 twist. She also fell on her piked Yurchenko vault.

Fourth-place Yasmin Budack showed some class on beam, where she showed off her beautiful lines to great effect but fell on a front somi. She was one of the more elegant and balletic performers on floor, working to slow music, but her difficulty left a bit to be desired. She vaulted a layout Yurchenko with a hop."


Results
All-around: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Vault: 1) Godwin, 2) Budack, 3) Boffo
Bars: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Beam: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Boorman
Floor: 1) Godwin, 2) Boffo, 3) Budack


Friday, June 25, 2010

Pac to the Rafters

Don't forget to tune in to One or OneHD at 4:55 today (if you're in Victoria; check your local listings elsewhere) for the two-hour broadcast of the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships!

Will you spot yourself in the crowd...?

******************************

ETA LATER:

An extra hour and a hi-def channel makes such a difference. Great quality footage, great insightful commentary, great kudos to individual AA and EF winners, great audience member shots, great opening fluffs... but where on earth was Russia!?


You can now watch the One coverage at YouTube. Many thanks to Asha76.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Breaking: Shona to Stanford

Something I've been waiting to break for a while and now, at last, can!


It's been confirmed by Stanford University that Aussie Olympian and head ginger at Waverley Gymnastics Centre, Shona Morgan, will be heading there for the new collegiate season!

“I am so excited that Shona will be joining us this fall. She rounds out a stellar class for 2010. Shona is a world-class athlete with extensive international experience,” said Stanford head coach Kristen Smyth. “She is fantastic on all four events but really shines on vault and beam. She is a confident competitor and her routines are packed with difficulty. She brings maturity and international flavor to our program and the collegiate gymnastics community.”


She joins fellow Commonwealth gymnast (and other other other AGB favourite) Kristina Vaculik of Canada in heading to the Big S for the new season.


Best of luck, ShoMo, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time! We'll miss you!


Totally Archived

If you missed this morning's Totally Wild, keep your eyes on this link where you should be able to watch it online.

In addition to some fairly basic skills across the apparatus to demonstrate their use (though I was sure I could at one point spot Zoe training her DLO in the background), not to mention moments of stellar presenting on show from BrittBritt and Z-Girl, we also saw Georgia Rose Brown on beam and Noaomi Russell on vault. The host also tried some gymnastics herself and had a chat about the girls' aspirations for London 2012.


Great effort, girls!

ETA: Many thanks to Asha for putting the segment onto YouTube.

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Road to Nationals: Western Australia

I hope those of you who ordered WAIS Fliers books get a nice package in the post this week, as I did today! It is an amazing (not to mention hefty!) book, chock full of fun, quirky, intimate, engaging photographs of WA gymnasts at work and play. And to top it all off, the inside was lovingly signed by the author as well as AGB's Super Ultimate Best Friend Liz Chetkovich.

Now, speaking of gymnastics folk out west, check out the following nuggets of news and information about the State Championships.

ChimGym Blog
PerthNow
Gymnastics Australia's wrap-up
Gymnastics WA's results site.

Don't forget to tune in to Channel 10 tomorrow morning at 7:30 AEST to catch Totally Wild at the Victorian Women's High Performance Centre!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Exclusive: AGB Says G'Day To...

AGB SAYS G'DAY TO... TAYLA DINUCCIO!



Tayla Dinuccio is a vaulting dynamo hailing from Niddrie Gymnastics Club, with a big heart to match her big skills. She has made a rapid rise through the ranks of national levels and frequently appears on the medal dais. Last weekend, she was crowned Victorian State National Level 10 vault champion. Many thanks to Tayla's mum and to her coaches for allowing her to participate.
****************************************


AGB: Tell us a bit about your gymnastics journey so far - Where/why did you start gymnastics?

TD: I started gymnastics at Keilor Gymnastics for 6 weeks when I was 7 years old but it then closed down, so I moved to the Melton Mowbray Gymnastics Club and was there for 5 years. I then moved over to the Niddrie Gymnastics Club where I have been for the last 5 years being coached by Nat and Tracy.


AGB: What have been your favourite competitions so far and why?

TD: I have loved competing for the last 5 years in a row for Victoria at Nationals, but my favourite comps would have to be the 2009 Victorian Championships and 2009 Nationals where I was a member of the Level 9 Champion Team, as well as being the National Level 9 vault champion.


AGB: Which is your favourite apparatus to compete on? Which is your least favourite?

TD: Vault is my favourite apparatus! I love using the power and speed that you need to compete a good, strong vault. I don't really have a least favourite one asI enjoy doing them all.


AGB: How did it feel winning the N10 State vault title last weekend? How will it help your progress for future competitions?

TD: It felt great to win the Vault title as l was competing against a very strong and talented group of girls. I was very happy and excited. I always strive to do better than I did in my last competition.


AGB: How do you keep yourself motivated after a bad training session, or a routine that doesn't go your way?

TD: I try not to think about it too much and just let it go, as I find if you make yourself feel down about the things you have done, then the things that you are doing (or going to do) will be worse. So I try and leave it behind me and start fresh. I find that helps and then you are always entering the gym happy and ready to try again.




AGB: What do your friends outside of gymnastics think when they see you do your skills?

TD: Probably the most frequent thing they ask is "how do you land back on your feet?" But they like watching me and think the skills I do are pretty cool.


AGB: Which gymnasts do you admire most and why?

TD: I admire all gymnasts as I know how hard they all work and how dedicated you have to be for what they do.


AGB: What are your hopes for 2010 and your hopes for the years to come?

TD: I hope to compete well at Nationals in July for my state and continue to improve my skills and routines.


AGB: Any other fun information you'd like us to know about you?

TD: I’m a massive Richmond supporter... GO TIGERS!
Favourite foods are pasta and nachos
Favourite TV show is
Friends.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Totally Wild: Totes Early

Whisper in my ear says the Totally Wild episode at the VWHPC will be airing from 7:30, not 8:00 as originally listed, this Friday morning?

Probably best to tune in early anyway. You never know with those wily television programmers...


ETA: More like totes inappropes, Channel 10!

The broadcast date has been shifted to Tuesday June 22. Thanks everyone for the heads-up.

Monday, June 14, 2010

That's Gotta Hurt

News update courtesy of Tkatchif-your-Lucky:

The shoulder injury that caused Philippe Rizzo to withdraw from the Pacific Rim Championships turns out to have been more serious than initially thought. He has recently had surgery on his shoulder, which now puts both Commonwealth Games and Worlds in doubt for him this year.
Get well soon, Phil!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Road to Nationals: New South Wales/Victoria Day 1

Thanks to ChaChaKid for some footage of the NSW State Champs. Errors aside, Mary Anne Monckton rocks some pretty ace bars skills - that fancypants new piked shush and a double layout to boot! Don't sweat the small stuff, Mez, you put in a good effort.




And a brief junior/senior Vics report from Nade:

Georgia B looks the fittest of the 'veterans' by far. Easy double backs on floor, easy FTY, nice beam. Emma D has a new floor which is quite interesting!

Ashleigh B must have a beam DV around 6 looking at her skills today. They are all back. She was going well until she straddled the beam on something and lost concentration. Still, I think if she can get the routine consistent by worlds selection it's going to be hard to say no. Opened on floor with a full-in.

Georgia Rose did well except on bars where she had a fall on her toe full IIRC. Still, she seemed very happy with her performances. She now tumbles double pike, 1.5+punch layout, front double twist+stag, double tuck to finish. Amelia was solid on her best events, but scored under 10 on bars.

Georgia W was ok. Some hesitations on floor, she didn't do her double front.

Rachel Collister opened floor with a high full in [but] scored under 10.00 on beam.

VWHPC have a gorgeous new leo!


Nade has started putting videos up here. And the ever-vigilant MistySakura is also in the process of uploading videos. You guys rock!




Update - if you're a Facebooker, you can become a fan of/"like" Gymnastics Victoria and access some ace photos from the championships!

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Road to Nationals: Victoria

Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this weekend's Victorian Gymnastics Championships. I was greatly looking forward to watching the artistic action from the State Netball and Hockey Centre but, sadly, something something something best laid plans.

If you are attending the event, I would love to hear from you! Please forward any photos, videos, reports or other nuggets you'd like the rest of the gymnastics public to know about to ozgymblog@gmail.com

You will be credited.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Choice Choices

Just a little intra-Commonwealth shoutout.

Congratulations to the members of New Zealand's just-announced women's World Championships team!

Holly Moon
Briana Mitchell
Jordan Rae
Lani Hohepa




Good luck in Rotterdam, ladies!

(If I were a judge, I'd give 'em bonus points for good senses of humour...)



ETA: These four girls have also been named as their country's Commonwealth Games team.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Delhi TV Spot

If you've not caught it on your telly just yet (though my guess is it's just me who hasn't!), GA have posted Lauren Mitchell's promo spot for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.



And if you feel like a late one tonight, Foxtel/Austar is showing the Paris World Cup (Day 2) at midnight Melbourne time on Fox Sports 2.

PSA

Kids: Don't rob cash registers.

Just don't.

It's not worth it.

It's rather upsetting for the store superviser on whose watch you do it.

AGB thanks you for your time.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Road to Nationals: SE Queensland

Videos have cropped up from the recent SE Queensland regional championships and state trial, many thanks to the YouTuber who went to the effort.

Check out some stars from the sunshine state here.





Also (swinging by Perth for just a moment), it was reported in The West Australian today that senior Emily Little has withdrawn from Commonwealth Games selection trial but has not abandoned her campaign to compete in Delhi altogether.

The report explained that she has strained elbow ligaments after an awkward landing on a bars dismount. It's not serious, although she will apparently be petitioning through to the second Worlds team trial in addition to the Commonwealth Games team selection. Liz Chetkovich said (forgive me if this quote is not verbatim) that she, "imagines [Emily] will be selected based on her performances earlier this year, but with the proviso that she will have to show fitness before the team's departure for India". The injury will prevent her from doing weight-bearing exercise for three weeks, leaving her just a couple of weeks to get ready for the Games selection trials. It is believed this would be too short a time period, thus they felt the need to withdraw Emily.

Liz is confident Emily will be back in training before Nationals, but in the meantime she is working on leg strength, flexibility and overall choreography.

Lauren Mitchell
is back to "95%" and should be ready for trials, despite her tumbling and vault work still being done on soft surfaces to protect her ankle.

And if you hadn't spotted it earlier (I thought people had been talking about some other person named Olivia, duh), Olivia Vivian is returning home (!!!) to compete as part of WA's National Level 10 team. Click this link to read more about her thoughts on the event. Oh yes, there WILL be an AC/DC floor routine at Nationals.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Pacific Rim News: OZ BROADCAST

I've had a cracker 24 hours, have you?

Just came home to read this:

Gymnastics Australia is pleased to announce that One HD will screen a two hour program of the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships on Friday, 25th June at 5pm. Presented in nine segments, the program will primarily focus on the women’s team and all around competitions and include features on Australian gymnastics and the men’s team, all-around and apparatus finals.


(Interestingly enough, GA's original announcement listed Network 10 instead of OneHD but it it was a minor error. Either way... wooohooooooooooooooooo!!!)

Also...

On June 18th, keep your eyes on OneHD's mothership, the aforementioned Network 10, because VWHPC gymnasts Britt Greeley and Zoe Lorenzin will be guest-hosting Totally Wild at 8am.

*readies the popcorn and beanbags*

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Pre-Olympic Youth Cup: Videos!

Wow, it only took me around 60 hours of impatiently checking YouTube and quite a few keyword combinations to finally come up with the goods.

I have found something from the Germany competition!

Many thanks a million times over to JoeMueVid for providing videos. I am sure more will continue to go up at his/her channel so keep your eyes peeled.






Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Pre-Olympic Youth Cup: Photos

Thanks to Nade for the heads-up.

Photos from the Pre-Olympic Youth Cup are now up, courtesy of the hard-working and ever-vigilant Bernhard Schwall. Thanks as always, Bernhard!

Check them out (sorted by age division) here.