Monday, July 30, 2012

Olympics: Australian Finallists

Well, now that the dust of preliminaries has settled, we have the following finallists to cheer on:

Men's All-Around: Josh Jefferis
Women's All-Around: Emily Little, Ashleigh Brennan
Women's floor: Lauren Mitchell

Some articles from the women's preliminary last night can be found here and here and here.


98 comments:

Anonymous said...

from peg, it's clear who she blames!:
----------------------------------

She was disappointed with the errors on beam from Georgia Bonora and Ashleigh Brennan, which proved costly to the team, which finished 10th.

“My prediction coming into the Olympics was that our team would finish somewhere between sixth and 10th," Liddick said.

“We didn’t have the difficulty to be in medal contention as a team. Unfortunately we finished at the other end of 6 to 10. Two silly mistakes from veterans that you don’t expect cost us. I have no explanation for why it happened.

“The two falls cost us four places ... that’s how close it was. If we had of done a normal job we would have qualified comfortably.

Anonymous said...

There was no blame, she stated the facts.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we do not expect these falls from veterans, however, GA's philosophy is to have generally low DD with excellent execution - even Liz spoke of this at the beginning of the session last night. This philosophy is clearly not working as we generally had low DD AND poor execution more often than not in the 7.00's. Time to emulate the USA and doing some harder tricks, if we splat then at least we went out trying!!!

Eliza Brebner Griffin said...

This is the reality of gymnastics now that so many nations like Italy, Germany, GB & Japan have come along way to put themselves in contention. I think the sport is tougher & more cut throat than it has ever been. For the "second tier" nations it comes down to who hits and who doesn't. It's very disappointing but a fair result in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Time for a change of leader. Tough love with the cold shoulder treatment just doesn't work on intelligent, assertive people. Give them someone who won't have them shaking in their shoes from fear, when they walk out to compete. I vote Martine George.

Anonymous said...

If Peggy's strategy was low difficulty and good execution it failed miserably. We had terrible execution scores.

Anonymous said...

It's time for Peggy to go. She obviously is no longer capable of getting the results.

Elizabeth said...

Am still very PROUD of ALL our Artistic Gymnast they gave their best and am happy for that , it's nice to win and get medal but if for getting that will cause some INJURIES ! I rather want to see them All coming home injury free coz l know in my heart they ALL did their best work very hard in their training plus the work their family and friends have contributed are very much appreciated.To All our athletes in London THANKS for being there at the Olympic as an OLYMPIAN and don't forget you all did your best and with that am very PROUD to all of you.And lastly stop the blame game it doesn't help at all no one want to be a loser , we all move on just enjoy the Olympic.Thank You Peggy for looking after the girls and l still have faith in you.

Anonymous said...

I have respect for Peggy for making those comments. She is absolutely right. Veterans should not be making rooky nervy mistakes like that. To think that beam cost us four places due to our allegedy 'reliable' veterans. Ashleigh and Georgia would be be very disappointed with themselves, and rightly so. And Lauren's beam was equally disappointing. Yes, she was injured, but she can do much better than that.

Shame. Those poor girls must be really feeling it today.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I'd prefer it if the stronger nations could submit three gymnasts into the AA rather than the weaker nations like Australia being able to compete in it. Australia has no hope of getting anywhere near the Top 12. At least make it more of a battle.

Anonymous said...

IMHO Peggy's the one who stuffed up. She decided to go the 'safe, reliable, consistent' route and it back-fired on her. Personally,I would have preferred to have taken some risks with a couple of rookies (inconsistent or not) and have them bomb out than to have our so-called reliable, consistent athetes bomb out instead. At least the rookies would have gained some much needed international experience for their efforts. On the one hand I'm not really surprised that we didn't make team finals. Everyone knows our difficulty just isn't up to par (vault anyone?) What did surprise me is that we went out with such stupid, uncharacteristic errors. Majorly disappointing for sure.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm...I wonder if Raisman or Douglas will mysteriously pull up injured so that Wieber will go through to AA. Be still my cynical heart lol

Anonymous said...

Yes agree that it is wrong for Peggy to single out 2 girls, little didn't perform to her best , Lauren made errors and Larrisa's bars, although she made her routine, lost a lot for execution. It was a TEAM over all performance that let them down. Why did they not go to London sooner and do part of the camp over there? Didn't the boys go earlier? Sounds to me that they did peak to early. Although Lauren made some errors at least she seemed to keep things together and once again the weight of the Team falls on her to produce for Australia.

Anonymous said...

Agree, especialy when the 2 so called " veterans" as she put it were put in the Team by her and the selection committee because of that very reason! They took the risk of having age over inexperience and many were surprised with the selection, even Benora from what has been said. So she shouldn't blame the girls. GA's gamble didn't pay off.

Anonymous said...

The adult athletes (not girls) are Olympians and therefore come under scrutiny for not performing up to standard. They were crap last night. They know it, we know it, Peggy knows it.

Okay, arguably Peggy may need to change her long-term approach or leave, but the athletes themselves stuffed up big time. Lauren, Asleigh and Georgia are not young girls - they are not even teens. They are adult gymnasts competing at their second Olympic games. They blew it, plain and simple.

Nobody forces them into the gym. They go there of their own free will. They have chosen to represent Australia in a highly demanding and competitive sport. So they are subject to our scrutiny.

Last night they showed us that not only do they not have the necessary competitive skills - they don't even have the safe reliable skills.

Let's call it as we see it. It was an abysmal effort and we shouldn't be proud or grateful. That doesn't mean we hate them - it means we expect more from our elite athletes.

Honestly, until we prove to our own country that we have some competitive skill in this sport, we will never get any focus. I don't blame Channel 9 for not giving us more than a few minutes at a time. Why would they focus on sports that get hyped up and yet rarely deliver?

Lauren is an outside FX medal hope, I suppose, and I'll be cheering for her (not that I like her choreography). I won't mind if she comes last - as long as she doesn't stuff up. I just want her to prove to me/us that she can nail everything as she's been trained to do.

Anonymous said...

Well said 3:05pm

Anonymous said...

They would never pull Douglas out. She's one of the 'it' girls at the moment. The only one they would consider is Raisman, but I don't think that will happen.

Anonymous said...

It's not GA's philosophy to have low difficulty, it is Peggy's. Unfortunately that style doesn't work anymore. Bye bye Peggy. It was nice knowing you.

Anonymous said...

Where would Peggy go if they get rid of her?

Anonymous said...

The girls looked solid to me apart from a couple of errors which in this sport with nerves can happen. Peggys selection was fair and i dont think any of the other girls (Rookies) would have preformed any better. you all seem to be pointing the finger at peggy she is not with the girls 24/7 in training, it comes down to thier coaches.

Quality and how they preform mentally in gained in training and its the coaches job to get it out there, and for Peggy to display it.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure she could land a job at a US uni or something. Perhaps there is even another country that will been happy with 13th place in future quads.

Anonymous said...

I watched in 2000 - the year we had the strongest team we've ever had before or since. Gutting prelims performance meant that we didn't make team finals. Peggy pulled Trudy off bars (despite her super strong VT, BM and FX) so that blew her AA chance. I still think Allana was much more of a risk for her weak vaulting than Trudy for her weak bars, and that's exactly what happened. Allana almost broke her neck on vault in the prelims. Scary to watch. The AA itself was a disaster due to the vaulting table. Lisa did quite well in the AA coming 9th, but she completely stuffed up her floor in the FX finals. Shocking gymnastics meet for the Aussies.

I watched in 2004. Netty was our big hope but sustained an injury as the competition commenced. The team spearheaded by veteran Allana didn't deliver - though Allana did okay in the AA coming 10th. No event finals despite the hype for Allana and Netty. Disappointing.

I watched in 2008. Hollie Dykes had already retired - always the pretty ones. An injured Dasha did her best, but one gymnast does not make a team. Mediocre Aussie gymnasts competed in the AA - they had no hope. No Aussies in any events finals. All hopes shattered. Game over again.

I watch in 2012. My expectations are low. I am so far not surprised or disappointed.

I honestly don't know why we expect more than we get.

Anonymous said...

....remember in 2007 worlds I think we did have a reasonable amount of difficulty and we ended up finishing 11th - only just qualified for the olympics.....there were falls everywhere. I think peggy has played it safe from thereon. who could blame her?? We were close to not even qualifying for the olympics.

At the end of the day, I think other countries have improved and there is tougher competition.

Anonymous said...

last night reminded me of trudy - so much talent and then it was just all over in a couple of minutes. Obviously, she didn't qualify for the AA, but also no event finals. Such an amazing talent and it was all over quite fast. Sometimes (actually quite often) kind of makes me wonder if alll of those hours and sacrifices are worth it. A few minutes of compeition has to reflect hours an dhours of training....but I gusess that's why you have to enjoy the journey...not always have ur eye on the 'end prize'...becasue in gymastics it normally doesn't come

Anonymous said...

Had Trudy been allowed to perform bars, she would have made the AA in 2000 even if she had received an 8 on bars in the prelims. She was easily the highest scoring 3-event performer of Sydney 2000.

She was hyped to possibly make vault, floor and even beam finals, but it wasn't to be. The prelims were such a disaster for the Aussie team. Trudy did extremely well on her three events, but she had lost the necessary spark to take risks due to the splat fest from her team mates.

2000 was the most gutting for me. We had a great team then, and we also had huge depth to our senior elites.

Who'd be an elite gymnast in this country, eh?

Anonymous said...

I agree that Peggy's gamble didn't pay off.

I wonder if she regrets not taking the big skills (even with inconsistency) of Monckton?
The team would not have done any worse as Bonora's scores failed to count on any apparatus anyway.

She may as well have not competed at all.

I for one would have taken the risk and used the high 5s and low 6 potential of Monckton over Bonora any day

Anonymous said...

OK, I may be off the mark here - but o/s coaches seem to come here all fired up to launch Australia as a real contenter on the world scene - but then somehow lapse into complacency somewhere along the line. They start off with aspirations, but then seem to be satisfied that the girls are good by Australian standards, and that's enough. What happens to the coaches original drive - politics, GA, organisational dysfunction? Remember the tall poppy syndrome when Ju Ping was around? She seemed absolutely driven to make Australia a more competitive gymnast nation - which is what she did.

If GA is actually serious about the sport, then perhaps its time to bring in some coaching talent who understand how to win and what it takes. This may be a tough approach which may upset the establishment/status quo - but the gymnasts deserve to be coached by the best coaches we can get.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 5.16 - Bonora's vault score counted, and her Beam was exactly the same as Brennan's. If you're going to have massive personal digs at the girls at least try to use correct info....

On another note, I must agree that there really needs to be coaching changes at the highest level. Whether it's a decision from Peggy herself, or a directive from GA, Australia are SOO conservative with their skills and it is incredibly frustrating to watch them not even have a crack. I think Peggy tried to protect her own butt here and it may well have backfired on her.

Anonymous said...

anon 5.48 - saying that Bonora's scores counted or didn't is far from a 'massive personal dig'. It is a statement of fact. A personal dig might be 'Bonora is so fugly and such a nasty girl' (not true, btw). But anything about her gymnastics/scores should be fair game. THis is an olympic sport we are talking about here, not a children's sporting event.

Anonymous said...

Why would a "competitive literate" coach come to Australia to be subjected to a Senate Inquiry?

Kaz Honda & Ju Ping pioneered successfully our elite, their treatment a disgrace.

Leaving the interstate politics aside, Monique Allen's quote "she was like a mother to me, you are being so cruel" is good enough for me. Kaz also taught Monique's elder sister Gabrielle.

Some may argue history is history, though I believe the way Peggy was introduced paved the way...and why so many gymnasts of this era left the sport indefinitely.

Missing Sydney team final set back our sport immensely.

Hoping we learn from past mistakes before gymnastics in oz implodes.

Following this blog alone I would not wish for gymnastics to be a sport for my child and it was once my passion!

Get real GA - you have four short years!

Anonymous said...

I agree Anon 3:54 PM

Bob said...

Gee, people need to take a look around. Discussion of mistakes in performance and strategies is a normal part of high level sport. Take a look at forums for high profile sports such as the football codes. Some players and coached are endlessly criticised. It is a part of life. I don't condone it, but people do it. No matter what sport you get into, if you get to a high level you will be subject to it. To say you wouldn't get into a sport because of criticisms made of competitors at the highest level is just plain naive. You may as well not do anything with your or your childs life. There is criticism everywhere, and the criticism here pales in comparison to that received by people like Shane Warne and Brendan Fevola.

Anonymous said...

Let's face it Monckton and brown should have been in the team! Monckton skill is crazy I saw her at nations and her bars were insane. Brown is the constant all and all wrong team was chosen

Anonymous said...

Kaz Honda is still here in Australia. Still quietly coaching away. Still a wonderful man and a fabulous coach.

Anonymous said...

I accept your point to a degree but your two examples, the monetary rewards are often increased by the criticisms.

Predominantly amateur sports that attract global attention once every four years, e.g. diving - do a comparison between this and their blog and a comparison of their associations.

It seems like yesterday Ann Scott scouting for young ens willing to climb trees for 2000, GA trying to raise the profile.

What has been achieved apart from an epitome of futile aspirations hindered by incompetent management?

Anonymous said...

MAM might have reasonable D score but internationally she scores low because her execution is not up to standard,especially on bars. It's only in Australia she scores high.

Anonymous said...

copied directly from NSWGA website:

1988

Kazuya was appointed the Coaching Director � responsible for overseeing and coaching the elite MAG and WAG squads, and coaches� education!!

On the eve of hosting a National Championship � the fire!!

Kazuya resigns.

Read it here : http://www.gymnsw.org.au/default.asp?id=12097

Anon 7.08pm, yes a wonderful man, coach & we are lucky still contributing.

How his association to this day contains such content, testimony why GA is in a quad mire.

Kaz would have been an amazing Head Coach, all these years and the AIS would have fulfilled its prophecy...if not for the politics killing this sport still to this day.

Anonymous said...

Remember Peggy chose the team. She went for maturity and experience. I feel she was concerned that the younger girls were not able to hold it together in an international arena. BUT both of the reserves were on and contributed scores at worlds that qualified Australia to the Olympics. I think Peggy and the selection team
Have not only taken a risk in their selection but also perhaps a bigger risk with the next four years. If she really thought we wouldn't make the finals then put in the rookies push them along and give them the experience and desire to come back and go again for the next 4 years building on skills and execution. We need these girls to keep training building their skills increasing their difficulty and creating an atmosphere that is very much needed and will be lost as the older athletes retire. I think she knows the risk she took and it didn't pay off. Would it have paid off with one of the reserves. Maybe not for team finals but maybe for the next rotation.

Dave L said...

I think some people just need to pull their heads out of their asses and stop playing 'the blame game.'
People make errors and mistakes in the heat of the moment, and last night proved even veterans can too.
No one is to blame, it's sport and these things happen all the time, it's all about the heat of the moment.
Sure, if it was another time it may have been different, but it wasn't and it is how it is.
Learn to deal with it, and show a little respect to the girls who put in all the hard work and managed to get as far as they did. They travelled half way across the world to represent the country and they gave it their all.
The last thing the girls need is to be seeing angry "fans" blaming them for the result and causing such a fuss. They need your support, not your criticism. I'm sure they're disappointed enough as it is.
I say, well done girls, don't let them get you down and better luck in the future!

Anonymous said...

Hi to all,I was there to watch the girls and yes there was mistakes, There was also alot of mistakes made from other countries, and tears from them as well as they realized this was the one chance that they had. We all have our opinions on the aussie team, but these girls do not deserve the slander that is being thrown at them. As a team they have all bonded together, along with Georgia Rose and Mary-Anne. These girls didnt want to fail, they wanted to be in the finals. From what I saw on the night, I was proud, emotional, and felt for the girls when things went wrong for them. To me and my family, this was a monumental occasion, and I have had the pleasure of meeting other parents of the team, and what a lovely bunch of Aussie families we have to support our gymnasts. You may not like the outcome, but I can tell you I am very proud to have an Olympian in my family. I have ran into alot of people over here that know who my daughter is, which really suprised me!
Good luck to Emily, and Ash in the AA. Lauren in Fx.
This is what the girls need to hear

Anonymous said...

Another article about Peggy's reaction:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/other/14407474/liddick-slams-costly-gym-errors/

Anonymous said...

Stop calling them girls as if they're children. They're adult women - international elite athletes. They are subject to our scruitiny and our criticism.

When will people stop babying these adult athletes?

Mez said...

What is wrong with calling them "girls"? It doesn't exclusively mean "females under 18". There are 30+ year old women who say they're "meeting up with the girls"!

Nobody is babying this team. We know full well they are adults.

Anonymous said...

The context in which they are called girls usually suggests youth and vulnerability. If it were used differently, it wouldn't be an issue.

In the past, the argument against any kind of criticism has been "They're young girls".

I'm pointing out that they're not young girls (strictly speaking, a female under 18). They're young women and are subject to the same criticism that any elite or high level representative athlete receives from fans.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:06am http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/other/14407474/liddick-slams-costly-gym-errors/


disgraceful photo to be publicised

Anonymous said...

The photo matches the article perfectly. it's not so bad. it shows what happened.

It's a shame, but it is what it is. No point showing a photo of someone nailing their skill in such an article.

Anonymous said...

girl  noun
1. A female child, from birth to full growth.
2. A young, immature woman, especially formerly, an unmarried one.
3. a daughter: My wife and I have two girls.
4. Informal: Sometimes Offensive . a grown woman, especially when referred to familiarly: She's having the girls over for bridge next week.
5. girlfriend; sweetheart.

Anonymous said...

Has this blog seriously come down to the definition of girls? Maybe you should all take some of your own advice and GROW UP.

Anonymous said...

I'm so angry with Peggy's comments in the article, Liddick Slams Costly Gym Errors. She states that there was an expectation that the team would finish in between 6 - 10th place. He things went right they would be in 6th place, he not in 10th. Obviously things didn't go right but to single out 2 me the team was inappropriate. It's the Olympics and it's gymnastics. It's not unheard me that things might not go to plan.
Georgia was a controversial selection given her lack of recent competition experience due to injury. Peggy and the selectors went with her anyway and unfortunately it didn't say off. Peggy should accept responsibility for her decisions. Not just the team selection but all the other decisions that she has made in this quad. Her poor planning, management and lack of understanding of how to bring out the best in the girls generally and particularly at competitions is something she should accept responsibility for. She has had plenty of time to get a strong squad me girls ready for this Olympics and she failed! She took the lazy route me focusing on the "veterans" and a few girls and this strategy didn't work.
It was a ridiculous risk to expect to make team final without big difficulty and hoping noone made costly errors. No other country had this strategy. And disgusting me Peggy to blame the girls.
She is happy totake the credit when there's success but points the finger when there isn't. It's time for her to stop riding on the success of WAIS.
I really want her to go ,she's done enough damage to this wonderful sport in this country. Martine would be a great replacement!

Anonymous said...

get over calling them 'girls'

Anonymous said...

isn't Martine going to be running WAIS now with Liz gone? How would she be able to do that and be head coach at the same time??

nade00 said...

To be fair to Peggy, she has overseen has consistently solid performance. We haven't missed a world/olympic team final since 2007 (ironically, that was the year I feel we absolutely had the best athletes and deepest talent pool in recent memory). It is a significant thing to be able to compete on a second day of finals, even if we don't have any shot of medalling.

By the same token it should be acknowledged that it doesn't seem like there has been great improvement in the team as a whole over the past few years. Lauren has improved, and that has kept us hovering around 7th/8th, but the support athletes are not as strong as they were, say in 2008. Looking back in 2008 we melted down on beam in prelims and still came 5th! We had sufficient difficulty that year so we could swallow those falls. It was like that for the Germans and British this year who both had 3 athletes fall on beam in prelims too.

I guess going forward it's a question of do we want to keep going on, likely making team finals on a good day but competing low difficulty and not expecting to push the envelope in terms of higher placings, or do we want a new start, to try some different strategies and try and move up as 5th or 4th place contenders while taking a bit more risk.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:05am.

Thank you. That's what I think too.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong with Peggy's comments in that article. She's their coach - not their mummy.

Honestly, I feel sorry for Peggy. If she's hard on them, she's wrong. If she babies them, she's wrong. Frankly, I prefer the former.

Anonymous said...

Who cares if they're called 'girls' or not???

It's not babying them, it's just a bloody word.

People do it will full grown men... "goin to see my boys"...

And even in Footy... "Good ol' Blue Boys" "Seein my boys play tonight"

Get over it..jjeeeeee

Anonymous said...

Keep your shirt on.

Re. 'girls', plenty of people find it offensive for adults to be called girls. In this situation, it's the context. It is only due to familiarity in other contexts that it works (including your footy team example). For our female Olympic gymnasts, it's always 'the poor girls reading this', 'nice young girls', 'the girls did their best - they work so hard'.

Plenty of comments here seem to baby the gymnasts, and the language used to describe them just contributes to it. We're being asked to be proud of them for .... well, I'm not sure what for.

It's called WAG - not GAG - for a reason.

P.S. I am perfectly calm. Seems to me that others are getting disproportionately aggressive. I'm happy to debate stuff with you, but let's do it like reasonable adults.

Anonymous said...

When the ex gym "girls" and current gym "girls" over 18 all meet up for a night out or get together, they say "I'm meeting up with the gym girls"!!! They're adults but refer to themselves as "girls". What's the prob Anonymous @8.41 am?

Anonymous said...

Anon at 3:40 PM

Familiarity. In-group members can inclusively call their friends 'girls' without any negative or diminutive undertones.

That's the difference. It's all about context, context, context, context and context.

Not that I agree with it, but some African Americans inclusively call their friends 'niggers'. That's an extreme example of a similar point.

But hey, let's move on. Clearly by some of the comments here, many people agree and many people disagree. Rather than get caught up on this, let's talk about gymnastics.

Who will win the team finals tonight?

Anonymous said...

I'll be interested to see whether Wieber comes out firing and gets the best AA score as a kind of redemption, or if not making the AA final really rocks her confidence.

As for teams, would love to see Romania get a medal, hopefully gold but that's a looooooong shot.

Anonymous said...

Wieber is not doing AA in TF - they pulled her from beam for Douglas...

Anonymous said...

oh ok. Her other 3 events then.

Anonymous said...

I think I want Russia to win and the USA to get the silver.

Anonymous said...

We don't have a TV, so I didn't get to watch the coverage the other night. I just found some gymnastics vids from the other night though, on the Channel 9 website.

They may not have gotten through to the team final, but I really enjoyed watching the bits Channel 9 showed. (It would have been nice to have one of Georgia's routines though...)

Well done Young Ladies. (See, I didn't call them girls. :-) )

Anonymous said...

I'm family member of one of the girls. They know they made mistakes. They don't blame anyone else but take it like they should. They are young women and don't necessarily see the feedback as negative but honest. I don't think anyone is attacking the gymnast as a person but their performance is out there' to be judged. That goes with the territory just like they judge their favourite football basketball or soccer team. A lot of the comments/feedback are correct they did not perform at their best but what I love and admire most is that they offer no excuses just their own disappointment at their own performance.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 3:33

"We're being asked to be proud of them for .... well, I'm not sure what for."

That is the worst thing that's been said yet... that doesn't even deserve a response... isn't making the Olympic Team at least worthy of your respect??

Anonymous said...

Well said anon 7:32pm.

Anonymous said...

Bravo anon at 7.43.. I'm proud because they represented AUS. They made some finals, they didn't have a tantrum, they were good sports. Over the 16 routines they had 3 major mistakes.

Anonymous said...

There are systemic problems with the preparatory levels in Australian gym and the attitude of gymnasts. I think there is a cultural problem still with gymnasts and coaches not being ambitious enough with difficulty. It is clear to me that many of the girls dont believe they can be top 1, 2, 3. It doesnt matter if u are going to get there or not but u must compete like u wanna come 1st. Also, the basic skills and form of the current group is atrocious. Handstand shape is terrible. Loose legs and feet everywhere.

Anonymous said...

You cant compete with the best in the world by doing less than they do. Look at beth tweddle. Its attitude.

Anonymous said...

@anon July 31, 7:43pm

I respect them for making the Olympic team and representing Aus., but I'm not proud of their team performance. Respect and pride are two different things!

Anonymous said...

"There are systemic problems with the preparatory levels in Australian gym and the attitude of gymnasts"

"You cant compete with the best in the world by doing less than they do... It's attitude"

Come on guys, as a friend of one of the gymnasts... these two quotes are absolutely ridiculous.

If you don't know them personally, you don't understand how committed and how mentally and physically prepared they are!!

People make mistakes, that's the bottom line. Enough of this making excuses and finding things to blame crap... It is what it is. They worked their ass off for 4 years, and they put their all into it... in the end they made a few mistakes and unfortunately that's that.

I know certain members do read this blog and some of this crap is the last thing they need to be reading right now!

Anonymous said...

As if the girls don't feel shattered enough. People going on and on ad nauseam. Has anyone given any thought to the athletes reading all this criticism directed towards them, as if they didn't give it their all. These athletes maybe over 18, but they have lived in a gym for 75% of their lives.They are not footballers with managers and million dollar pay cheques. Do you think Peggy isn't giving them hell right now! Dont you think they are beating themselves up? They don't need the armchair critics kicking them in the teeth as well. Enough already.

Anonymous said...

Here! here! I totally agree 11:35 pm

Anonymous said...

I agree, the girls did the best they could. The point is the coaches are up to speed with the other countries. Peggy should have focused on the younger girls of the cycle and increased the difficulty scores. The only people that can be blamed are the coaches and Peggy.
We need to pick up the pace and increase our difficulty... This might only be able to happen if Australia invests in a new coaching team and National coach.
The is still a sport for the younger gymnasts, this was clearly shown in the women's finals where USA took out the Gold with a young team.

Anonymous said...

You could only up the difficulty if you had a much larger population to work with. The thing is they can learn lots of high scoring elements and pile them into a jam packed, super dooper amazing routine (a la U.S.A.) but the injury list would leave us with no gymnasts. The coaches, with Peggy's input have to be cautious. So, to focus on the young ones with high difficulty just means counting casualties earlier. U.S.A. can manage if they push them young because they have a huge pool to draw upon.

Anonymous said...

The girls peaked at camp. They competed tired physically & mentally.

Compare their preparation to this interview with Martha Karolyi:

http://www.gymnastike.org/blog/42642-The-Woman-Behind-Team-USAs-First-Gold-Medal-in-Sixteen-Years?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

"We really used a tactical preparation plan. We wanted to do our hardest work in the first part of the year and then narrow it down to the Championships, (Olympic) Trials, and all the way through to the preparation here to lower the numbers of routines because we already were ready."

As for the start to this quad, our coaches nationally require better training. Insufficient number capable/confident teaching/spotting elite skills and their egos prevent them from referring to centers that can.

Experienced this first hand, the head coach, "I know I should but I do not want to let them go" (two insanely talented young girls who never prospered).

And a co gymnast. Huge potential, coach be littered her as she was beyond her coaching ability. Our Gym closed so went to Epping YMCA where she thrived under Anne Scott and won a national championship (aged 20). Could of competed internationally if not for the years wasted, reliant later on a partner coach to travel from Canberra to Sydney.

Gabrielle Douglas is on the eve of winning the all around because at the beginning of this year changed gyms, wearing the controversy with grace. Karolyi's confirmed she would not be the gymnast today if had not done so.

Parents, have high expectation of the clubs you financially support. Coaches, act in the best interest of the gymnast.

Time for us to adopt the USA 1998 plan and try to fast track it and/or look to Canada'a approach.
They came fifth with the "Lauren Mitchell" of their team sidelined through injury.

Participation will be challenged by our olympic performance, it is however quality over quantity.

Best wishes for a successful AA & FX, you have all worked extremely hard and your conduct admirable.

Believe the majority are proud of our Team.

Anonymous said...

Did they work harder than the Americans, the Russians, the Romanians, the Chinese, the Canadians, the Great Brits, ....... etc.?

The sad thing is that they did work hard but something is wrong. Ju Ping always said something along the lines of "Our gymnasts have two arms and two legs. They should be able to do what the others are doing". She didn't make excuses.

It's sad to think that our athletes work their butts off but still cannot compete. Something smells.

Anonymous said...

It's still about population. It's the mathematics of probability. China, 1.3 BILLION, U.S.A., 311 Million, AUSTRALIA, 22 Million.

Anonymous said...

Romania has a similar population and less money! This isn't just a population thing. It is about having the right coaching staff and the mentality that girls need to be pushed at a young age. There is no excuse for our lack of difficulty. The girls have access to world class facilities and put in just as many hours. Using injuries as an excuse for such poor difficulty is ridiculous. WAIS is the only gym that seems to focus on building difficulty. There is something wrong with the way the girls are being coached at a grassroots level. There is no point just hanging it all on Peggy - the coaches at the clubs and HPCs have to bear some responsibility because they are the ones working with the girls everyday. They should be the ones training new skills. I'm just getting a little sick of hearing that 'the girls work so hard', which I'm sure is true, but they don't have much to show for it. They aren't as well conditioned as the US girls, their dance is not as clean as the Russians and their tumbling isn't even on par with other second tier nations like GB or Canada.

Anonymous said...

It's not just about population. We compete very well in other sports with the much bigger countries.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 6:58pm, I couldn't agree more.

Anonymous said...

I was reading an article from the VWHPC talking about their under 8 year olds. They are training high hours from a very young age - I wonder if this is new? Trying to build difficulty earlier? These kids are 2020 and 2024 so if it makes a difference we'll have to wait a while!

Anonymous said...

I actually don't see a problem with our level of difficulty, though I would like to see the gymnasts her really do look capable of more do something harder, but as I'm not in their gyms I have no idea what they've tried & what they really are capable of.

If you look at our scores it was the execution side that actually could have got us into the final. Execution in the 7's and low 8's turned into high 8's could have made a big difference. Oh and for those who say you can't make team finals with FTY - Japan & Italy both competed vaults worth less than a DTY & I'm farily certain a couple of their vaults were FTY's.

Sandra

Anonymous said...

Good luck tonight Josh!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

EVERYONE... There was nothing wrong with Australia's level of difficulty. Australia had a higher total team SV than Italy - 90.6 compared to 89.8, and Australia had the exact same total level of difficulty as Japan, ie. both with 90.6. It was the execution score that was Australia's downfall. Since Austraila and Italy were in the same qualification subdivision, we can't blame judging inconsistencies between divisions. The Aussies really should of been ahead of Italy taking difficulty into account. Considering execution was Peggy's emphasis for the team, the Aussies unfortunately failed in this regard. Aussies could however up their difficulty to give them some buffer/advantage as was the case for Canada. They had 91.6 SV which bumped them ahead.

Anonymous said...

High hours of training are not new at VWHPC. My daughter was training 28 hours a week as a 7 year old there - that was 5 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Quality of hours not quantity, physically & mentally.

Build their core strength through Pilates, Yoga, non impact aerobics, then when strong, introduce the skills. Less injury, bad habits averted.

Swim, dance, meditate, introduce martial arts.

No 5-10 yr old will do a double twist, no matter the hours!

Waiting for Josh to start AA, most give it lip service mate, have three meetings 2morrow but lookin forward to watching you minus foxtel, channel 9 but my newly found access to BBC Live :-) hope the red engine thing goes faster better higher ;-)

It is your special time, nerves are good, means something is there, first and foremost the energy is for you.

Anonymous said...

hey sub kuch, welcome, we need some balancing!

Our protests have been heard, Men's AA been on nine exclusively for over an hour, Kennie Sutcliffe even went in search of Josh's HB routine not available through their service!

Josh was 5th after PB & Vault, 12th after HB but still a good routine.

Back to uncle BBC :)

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 1.20am, VWHPC has a pilates coach as part of the coaching team. That's no problem.

Anonymous said...

There is a very interesting review of the WAG structure here:

http://www.gymnastics.org.au/site/gymnastics/national/downloads/gymsports/wag/pdf/ASC_WAG_Review.pdf

Anonymous said...

It is Interesting but I note that it is already five years old. I wonder if there have been any further developments.

Anonymous said...

Not in NSW

Anonymous said...

Yes not in NSW - wonder if anything will every happen???

Anonymous said...

Peggy's not the problem, one of the biggest problems in Australia is Aaron Bloomfield CEO of Gym NSW, has the highest memberships in the country and has produced no Olympians in how long. This man has no intentions of building a High Performance Program he is just interested in stealing your money and lying to the 10's of thousands (40K) of gymnasts in NSW selling each one of these people the Olympic dream when there is no way of making it in that state. WA has less than 10K memberships and has sent several olympians in the last few cycles. NSW get your act together, we need talent in numbers. If you want this to happen get rid of Aaron Boofhead Bloomfield..........

Anonymous said...

I agree. Aaron has done NOTHING to help NSW

Anonymous said...

what kind of low life anonymously uses such venomous language to criticise someone on a public blog. As a Victorian with no interest whatsoever in the politics of gymnastics I find the post of 10.08 am sad and cowardly.

Anonymous said...

Could I please ask what was meant by the bad treatment of Kaz and Ju? Kaz teaches gymnastics to my 2 daughters and I personally think he is fantastic. I always wondered why he left AIS but didn't feel it would be right to ask him.

I cannot imagine why anyone would treat him with anything but respect. He puts the kids first and foremost (definitely before money because tells you immediately if your child is good enough for IDP even though he can't provide IDP training for them)

thanks very much

Anonymous said...

For the record, Kaz IS happy to provide IDP training. And he is an EXCELLENT coach.