Wednesday, August 8, 2012

This and That


Moore-Towers and Moscovitz's winning free skate from the Indy Pairs Challenge

AP article on the injury of Jordyn Wieber. An update from the writer on twitter says Jordyn will decide in January whether or not she will continue and will continue training with Geddert if she does. Kyla Ross will NOT go pro and will only be doing a few tour dates. That raises questions about how much $ they are set to make on tour. Aly Raisman is looking toward 2013 Worlds and the 2016 Olympic Games. She says Alicia taught her how to stay in shape between Olympics. McKayla Maroney wishes to pursue opportunities such as acting, but is saying she is aiming for 2016. Of course, everyone wants to continue in the heat of the best moment of their lives...so we will see what becomes of the girls after tour. Much will change. Gabby has said she would like to continue, but she has the ride of her life in front of her and anything can happen. The Fierce Five will be on Letterman on August 14.

The Fierce Five touring London

In news of the weird, Mark Kerrigan is looking the serve out the rest of his six month sentence in prison. He was previously released early on probation from his two-and-a-half-year sentence for assault and battery, yet he is looking to go back. This must be an extremely difficult time for the Kerrigan family that fought to keep him out of prison in the first place and has dealt with years of issues on Mark's behalf.

Quote from Rodionenko:
Head coach of the combined men's and women's artistic gymnastics team Andrey Rodionenko comments on Viktoriya Komova's fall on balance beam and talks about the team's overall results. 

"Vika was simply tired", Rodionenko said, "She put her all into the two days of the team competition and did everything she could. Who can I highlight now? The team. That is why

 Aliya was able to do what she did, the team gave birth to a leader. Without a team, there cannot be a leader. A lot have little individual stars, but no team", Rodionenko commented.

"The boys have a young team, one that is going to be bright. They came out and said 'here we are'. The fact that they were second after qualifications hasn't been valued enough", Rodionenko said.


Quote from Komova:
Komova: I stopped fighting after my fall

Russian gymnast Vitoriya Komova, who finished in eighth place in the balance beam final at the 2012 Olympics in London today, comments on her routine.

"I went out like I always do, ready to fight. I wanted to do it all, but it didn't happen. Like it always does, really. After the fall, I stopped fighting. I just went on auto-pilot to get to the end. I already knew I wouldn't win anything, even if I did the second half perfectly. But I wanted to do it perfectly, including the dismount, but it just didn't happen. I don't think I had a good Olympics", Komova said.





 Disson Skating meets SMASH

Ksenia Afanasyeva may quit gymnastics

Gabby Douglas needs to avoid letting others set narrative for her

Gabby Douglas ready for some time off

Women's gymnastics uniforms through the years (very cool photo essay.)

Explaining the gymnastics inquiry process.

Ultimate tribute to Aliya Mustafina

Interview with the mother of Denis Ablyazin

Shannon Miller in London

Mark O'Donnell, co-author of the book for Hairspray, passed away in Manhattan on Monday at the age of 58.






Though NBC focused on showing scenes of them crying and looking like hateful bitches, here are some fun pictures of the Russian girls enjoying part of their Olympic experience.



Lovely Donlan and Speroff's FS from the Indy Pairs Challenge:


Lawrence and Swiegers FS:


Aly Raisman on Today

Ralph and Hill's new short dance:



Michael Buckley on Aly Raisman winning gold:

25 comments:

  1. are there rumors that Jordyn will not train with Geddert if she does decide to continue?

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    1. No, this is what Will Graves said

      "Jordyn is going to heal, do the tour then decide in January where she's at. 2013 Worlds a possibility. 2016 too far out to say right now."

      "I think she's tired, certainly. She did say she couldn't train under anyone other than Geddert."

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    2. thank you what article is this from?

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  2. USA Gymnastics Facebook Page just posted a Kellogg's box with all five gymnasts on it... Wouldn't that mean Kyla is actually going pro?

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    1. Not if she doesn't accept the $.

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    2. I think it would still be seen as an endorsement, regardless of whether or not she takes money.

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    3. the ncaa would only care if she accepted cash.

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    4. can't the cereal company just slip her some $ on the side, this whole $ rule is dumb, it's for rich people

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  3. lol I think I'd actually love it if Maroney became an actress. Glad to see the Russians having fun.

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  4. another Mustafina tribute in love letter form...on vice

    http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/pretty-girl-bullshit---im-in-love

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  5. pretty pathetic that they let weiber compete on a stress fracture. I honestly think it is all a spin, made up to justify her worst meet in three years. I thought that Marta was against taking injured gymnasts on major teams.

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  6. The injury was rumored at camp same as EBees on GGMB. Would you want to lose your spot on the Olympic team like others have for stress fractures? credit to Wieber is that she wanted to go did and performed fourth best in qualifying INJURED. That is HARDLY lackluster...

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    1. Seriously, she was one of only 4 who scored over a 60 that day, she didn't have THAT bad of a day. People seem to think she fell 9 times in qualifying.

      So Jordyn is going to be walking around in a boot for 6 weeks just for show?

      You can compete on a stress fracture, it's not a torn ACL or blown achilles.

      Didn't USAG try to keep Mckayla's toe hush hush but the media got wind of it and blew it out of proportion? In their press conference Steve Penny even had to address 'the toe'. If Jordyn or Geddert wanted to use it as an excuse they had the perfect opportunity after qualifications.

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  7. I know the girls must be worn out in so many ways. However I will puke if I hear any more crap about "exhaustion" and them being "so tired" etc being made into excuses for less than perfect performances. Like Elfi commenting on Gabby in beam finals. Komova making mistakes. Tim running his mouth talking about how the routine is so tiring. Yeah, I bet they ARE tired on so many different levels, but damn they're practically professional athletes, they're young and in shape as hell and routinely bust out numerous routines on every apparatus on a consistent basis. I'm sure these athletes, at the pinnacle of their careers on the Olympic stage went out and botched their routines due to exhaustion, as if they didn't have enough excitement, adrenaline, endurance, and freaking PRIDE to pull out one routine in the moment.

    If they miss there could be a myriad of reasons why, but please stop blaming it on how tired they are; they're not 90 yr olds that got dragged out of their wheel chairs at the nursing home to do a triathalon for cryin out loud. Sorry to rant and rave, but hearing that crap sets me off every Olympics.

    And while I'm complaining, I also hate Elfi's accent and how she tries to sound so freaking eloquent. Especially with how she pronounces her L's. Lines. Layed out. Lovely. Elevated. Classical. Please woman stfu.

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    1. Wow, talk about an uneducated comment. Have you ever heard of being mentally tired? These girls have been on the go since May, when the Olympic selection process really got under way. Then they went to Nationals, Trials, Olympic training camp and THEN the Olympics themselves. They've been training their butts off nonstop. They have been under constant pressure from the media, coaches and themselves. They haven't been home for what, two months? And just because you're young doesn't mean that you're body doesn't get horribly beat up Everybody in the finals looked mentally and physically tired, not just the Americans.

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    2. I got sick of hearing that they were tired too. On one hand I can see how your nerves could get shot and that there's been so much excitement every day since they got to London and even before. But how about Ferrari, Izbasa, and Deng in event finals? These ladies are old and had long meets. They train just as hard. They might have looked tired but it didn't keep them from performing well. Sandra wiped out but you get the point. There's something to be said for old bitches who can handle their mental game.

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  8. I read rave reviews of M-T/M's LP from Indy but was way underwhelmed upon viewing it. I don't care for the music (I find it overused) or the choreography (although at least they have actual transitions). I hate that it's backloaded with them doing very little except for transitions in the beginning. Yuck! I will say that M-T has improved this season, and you can tell they've been working hard to improve. I think their SP is so much better.

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  9. I dont think the mentally tired argument is valid when you look at 08 and Nastia and Shawn. Nastia for example won the biggest prize and then went on to win 3 more medals. Im sure she and Shawn were tired but thats what champions do.

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    1. I think the 2008 team was just full of more all-around gymnasts (obviously with two very exceptional ones) whereas this team is girls who are amazing at some things and not others. Gabby is the closest there is to a true AA gymnast but then she didn't also get mentally fit until this year.

      And the COP seems more punishing for this quad. Maybe twitter was a distraction too, IDK.

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  10. I agree with you, and I was thinking the same thing at one point, but then I realized that this is the first time at least Gabby has ever been in the situation where at the biggest meet of her life she competed three complete all arounds. The only other really big meet she's ever been to (Worlds) she only competed a couple of events in qualification (I think) and only bars in team final. Shawn and Nastia had so much major international experience leading up to Beijing where they each competed on at least 3 events in qualifications and finals and then the all around that they were well conditioned both mentally and physically for the challenge of the Olympics. So even though she didn't have a very good event finals, I think Gabby had a fantastic Olympics.

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  11. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-ultimate-aliya-mustafina-tribute

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  12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQzkMoEGDGE

    will ferrell talking gymnastics and making fun of overly patriotic dum dums.

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  13. Kristen MT is in really good shape but the hair is a little too Tanith-Moldavian-folk-dance.

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  14. Some of those London pictures are missing Aly -- the other four girls must hate her! (<-- sarcasm)

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  15. I agree that fatigue isn't really a valid excuse, but no other team since 1996 had all the interviews and hoopla after the team competition since they won the gold there. Maybe literally not enough sleep/too much running around.

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