Posted by: thecscore on: October 29, 2008
In shocking news, Nastia Liukin was named FIG Athlete of the Year. The FIG, with their ever stellar Web presence, has so far only posted a press release, but USA Gymnastics has a little blurb about it too. Liukin won the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Sportswoman of the Year award earlier this fall. According to this [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 28, 2008
Octavian Belu and Maria Bitang, the two formidable coaches of the Romanian team through 2005, have apparently gotten married. I think this is great/hilarious. It initially came out as a rumor in a tabloid in Romania, but now some legit news sources are covering it, so I think it’s actually true. See for instance here. [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 28, 2008
We’ve finally heard something from Ivana Hong, one of the alternates for the 2008 Olympic team. She’s been the subject of rumor since she left GAGE, where Al Fong has trained a number of Olympians, including Courtney McCool and Terin Humphrey. The Hongs spoke with NBC Action News in this article. It was pretty clear [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 22, 2008
After a short hiatus … Today: Britain and Italy Britain 1. Nicole Hibbert Hibbert has been improving steadily over the past year or so — her first as an international elite, culminating in this year’s first-place finish in both the British Junior Championships (June) and the English Junior Championships (held in early October). At British [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 19, 2008
The Chinese national championships just ended, providing us with at least a glimpse into the depths of the Chinese gymnastics program. Five of the Olympians placed in at least one event, although a number of them did not compete AA but rather focused on specific events. For me, this is the best news because it [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 19, 2008
A number of last year’s top juniors from Romania were recently promoted to the so-called “Olympic team” at Deva. The list includes the three girls I included in my choices for top three of Romanian juniors in my Up-and-Coming Juniors series. Romanian head coach Nicolae Forminte says that their overall scores need to be raised [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 11, 2008
After talking to Samantha Peszek and Chellsie Memmel, USA Gymnastics has posted a short interview with Shawn Johnson. Unfortunately, Johnson remains vague about her future plans: Q: Are you going to continue training? A: Definitely. I’m taking it one day at a time. Q: Do you have more goals in the sport of gymnastics? A: [...]
Posted by: thecscore on: October 10, 2008
**Updated 10/12** The most recent training camp took place at the Karolyi ranch this week, with all of the Olympians absent except for Bridget Sloan (sorry). Here’s the news I’ve gleaned, with some commentary: Gymnasts present Chelsea Davis: Davis is apparently doing a double layout on floor! This is one of my favorite skills, and [...]
