Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Olympics: Training

Hi all.

I'll update this post with pre-podium-training information as it comes through.

Aussies feature in NBC's latest photo gallery from training here. Yikes, more pink! And for more of a pink overload, the VWHPC has some candid snaps up here.

Further comments from Lauren on the team's preparation and finals chances here.

Here's a pic of her celebrating her 21st yesterday in the athlete dining hall, courtesy of AOC:



Speaking of lovely photos, these ones of the Aussies in training are watermarked but still nice! I do so love that green and gold leotard...

AGB ALERT - We have video of Lauren in the training gym running through her floor! (Refresh if it doesn't work at first)

The Aus Olympic Team twitter gave us a little look at Josh in podium training, and here's a new article on Peggy Liddick's thoughts as the women's team heads into their own podium training session.

Nadia Comaneci talks up Lauren's chances on Fox Sports here.

7:54pm Follow podium training quick hits here. You wouldn't believe the bad luck I am having with my internet connection tonight!

Aussie girls ""in emerald green leotards with sparkly black mesh sleeves and some yellow details on the bodice", according to Blythe, awooooo!

Hope Lauren is alright. Thus far she's had a rough trot on floor and vault (just a Y-full).

On the Olympic broadcaster, Hamish and Andy just shouted out Josh Jefferis!

Catch some un-watermarked photos from podium training here and some watermarked ones here. I really like the leotard!

Inside Gymnastics chatted to the Aussies about their time and environment adjustments in Olympicsland.

IG2's  hi-res photo gallery featuring the team in training is here.

Sydney Morning Herald's gallery of the team is here.




photo courtesy Gymnastics Australia at Facebook

79 comments:

Anonymous said...

for those of us who aren't on twitter, could you please post it here too?

Mez said...

I'll happily insert it into this post, but you don't have to be a twitter user to view my account as it is public! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh thanks!

Anonymous said...

So for those of us who have no idea about twitter, how do we get to view your account on twitter? Sorry to be such a luddite...

Mez said...

Not at all.

Look under "Useful Links" on the right hand side of my blog from page. Click on OzGymBlog (Twitter). You should then see my twitter feed.

Mez said...

my blog front page*

Anonymous said...

That green and gold training leo is really cool. Would love to see something like that (but with long sleeves)for the team comp. Loving the southern cross.

Go girls!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Twitter instructions Mez.

Erin said...

yes, that training leo is very nice, i hope they stick to the green and gold in competition as well!

Anonymous said...

Blythe said that Lauren is missing her layout and looked pale and tired but that the others did well on beam.

Anonymous said...

I just don't see how Lauren is going to be able to perform that cleanly enough to make floor ef. Her leaps aren't reaching 180 very obviously and falling on both passes attempted there isn't a good sign. I hope to god the adrenalin helps her through on Saturday, and I just hope people aren't expecting too much.

nade00 said...

We can't really predict from that video, there are so many variables in this situation. Many athletes are very poor in training but kill it in competition. Lauren will work it out. She has the experience. I remember her sitting down quite a few whip+double arabians in warmups at nationals, but she did pretty well in comp.

I do think though that it's going to be a tough task to make the final, let alone win a medal. We're in the second subdivision for starters.

I feel like the Australian media are sort of assuming she will medal without really knowing what it takes or that the competition has dramatically increased since Rotterdam. The Age predicted she will win gold. I feel like Kym Dowdell's assessment of her chances is probably the most accurate:

http://www.noosanews.com.au/story/2012/07/23/kyms-keeping-an-eye-on-the-judges/

I read this as her being very cautious and expressing hope to offset the doubts she has about the realistic chance of gold.

The increases in Lauren's d-score have come at a likely sacrifice of e-score too, so the effect of the upgrades have been sort of lost. Her old leaps were lovely but these ones will certainly attract heavier deductions for split position.

All we can do is hope that the stars align for her. A medal will take a good draw, a near-perfect routine from her and at least some small errors from the opposition I would think. I really hope she can come away feeling satisfied after working through all those injuries.

Erin said...

that is one video of one routine! we have no idea what context that routine was, was it the last routine of the day, done after all the other apparatus?! a bit much to suggest its all over for her based on that one video!

Anonymous said...

I would just like to say well done to ashleigh and georgia for making the team. Having extended lay offs and then coming back is so impressive. Especially I think for ashleigh given that her time out of the gym was her choice (correct me if I am wrong) as opposed o forced through injury. Looking at the americans I don't think any of the 'come back' girls were successful. Yes, america does have amazing depth though as we've discussed.

Anonymous said...

Reposting a couple of things from twitter (Andy Thornton)

Australian highlights: Larissa Miller bars (super Gienger) and Ashleigh Brennan beam (very solid and confident).

Lauren Mitchell had a few struggles on beam - a short dismount and came off a couple times on her layout. Hit a routine w/o dismount

Gymnastics Examiner:
4:40 p.m.: Aussies as a whole, however, were very, very good on beam. Ashleigh Brennan was solid and beautiful, as was Georgia Bonora (beautiful Onodi to side somie combo, very much hit. There's a very mature beauty to her work as well.)

Emily Little, who added a bhs to full twist to her routine for the earlier meets this year, also has a super diff switch side half. Peggy Liddick does a bit of a dance in showing Emily what she wants her to do with her arms during this element.

4:37 p.m.: Hey, the Aussies are all here! Andy's been watching them, and walked in in time to catch Lauren Mitchell missing her bhs, bhs to two feet, layout to two feet. Lauren looks a little tired and pale today.

Anonymous said...

Whilst I am very aware that Lauren will pull up in comp, she looks soft and tired.

As much as I hate to see it, she will be lucky to make finals with her current form. :(

Anonymous said...

Saw the girls two weeks ago in training and Lauren was on fire! Honestly every tumbling pass in her floor routine was awesome, her dance elements finished and nice and her beam efforts were also good (came off a few times in the layout but in the "verification" she was solid). She also dismounted beam with a double pike instead of the double tuck she did at nationals.

Honestly, its ONE video for starters and secondly we should EXPECT she will make finals, just hope that she sticks and makes finals and we see what happends from there! Being in the earlier subdivision before all the bigwigs (aside from ROM) will be a challenge for her anyway, judging seems to get more lax as the day goes on.

Go team AUS, can't wait to stay up all night on Sunday to watch the whole coverage!

Anonymous said...

To

July 26, 2012 8:56 AM

Ditto, ditto, ditto

I had the same experience, all our girls looked ready to do really well in London.

Anonymous said...

did laurenzo do a yurchenko double in training?

Anonymous said...

What chanal Sunday night should we be watching to catch the girls?

Anonymous said...

anon 10:37

You will have to ask her, you train with her. noone else would know what is going on in the gym?????

Anonymous said...

I think a good indication of how the girls are ranked after there sub division is where the romanians are going to be ranked. I think if Lauren can come close if not score higher than them on beam and fx then she will be in a good position for finals. Especially because Romanians by far have the strongest team on floor and also with Ponor on beam.

Anonymous said...

Aussie girls are due to start podium training shortly. Blythe at the Examiner is doing quick hits for those interested in following along.

Mez said...

I've updated my post with a link.

Gymnastike is also putting them up on twitter.

GOOOOOOO GIRLS!

Anonymous said...

I predict Aussies olympic WAG assault starts and ends on Sunday. Love Lauren and would be so happy for her to make a final but will be tough considering 2nd subdivision and she has had trouble in training. also dont understand why shes only doing a full twisting yurchenco. her double was becoming quite good.

i think it will be a massive achievement for Aussies to make team finals considering our difficulty.

Sorry for the negative. Really hope im wrong and all girls have the competition of their lives

Anonymous said...

Lauren is under too much pressure.

"Oz team there to bolster Lauren like the Tour De France". Really Peggy? Do not recall Shannon Miller tagged this way.

No country in gymnastics, how superior, would project a single competitor this way.


Whether you believe in the power of spiritual healing does not matter, send lots of unconditional love regardless to Lauren and the Team individually and cohesively.

Mez, please organise a positive one hour blog session we can unite and project positivity say two hours before qualification?

Anonymous said...

Go Lauren! and others lol. Also lov lov lov Georgia Bonora :)

P.S did Larissa do her harder fx? it is seriously finals worthy

Mez said...

All I ever try to do IS project positivity to the team! Often to the detriment of people's perceptions of me here!

I am hoping a good comp follows a rough training session. Sounds like beam, vault and bars were an improvement so there were obvious,nerves at the start. Although I guess Riss had a good day, yay!

Am back on phone bc broadband modem has chucked a wobbly! :(

Anonymous said...

Mez, get over yourself, was not suggesting you were negative.

Do you not think our competitors at qualifications are not doing likewise, whether official or otherwise? Please organise an appropriate time via Peggy..the "structure" is simple..

An opening "prayer" non denominational (written by you as blogger or a volunteer) open blog time for thoughts, love etc..a closing as per opening.

Participants may light candles near puter, add crystals or most importantly participate with their love :-)

Simple, positive but oh so effetive

Mez said...

I don't recommend candles near the computer, though!

Anonymous said...

*effective

Olivia, can not think of a better person to conduct - poetry in motion ;-)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Emily and ashleigh were strong as well. Why do we need to say the team had a bad day just cos Lauren did, frustrating.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10.07..exactly..relieve Lauren of expectation, collectively & individually may they shine (as per all "heavy weight" teams).

COME ON OLIVIA WE NEED YOU :-)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely disappointed that Mitchelll is not doing a DTY. No chance of TF without it. I wish they would just be honest with the media and admit it aint happening. There will be no TF this year with their difficulty, they are in denial.

Anonymous said...

I just hope Peggy actually is honest with the media and explains the problem. There is obviously something going on if Lauren can't even land her passes anymore.

Anonymous said...

Who knows if it's the pressure or what but Lauren should be able to deal with it by now. There's hardly been anything too intense, much of the energy is focused on Pearson/Hooker/swimmers. She's had 4 years to improve her competitive mettle. I know people on here are often precious about expecting too much, but it's really not too much to expect her to be capable of hitting her routines at the Olympics after a 6 week training camp. No excuses this time guys.

I hope she can get it together because the team has supposedly been arranged to give her the best chance and now it's looking like she might be the one to let the others down. Harsh? Maybe, but these are the standards that the Americans are held to every day.

Anonymous said...

It has reached the media:

http://www.news.com.au/sport/london-olympics/mitchells-floor-campaign-stumbles-with-falls/story-fndpu6dv-1226436191900

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm I hate to say this as I love Lauren and would love nothing more than to see her medal in London, however it sounds like it's way out of her reach now. I hope she gets out there and proves us all wrong, but these are extremely worrying signs.

Anonymous said...

wow im sure the judges have already decided to leave her off the finals for beam and floor after those performances. its all pre scripted whether we like it or not. Too much pressure :(

Anonymous said...

gb had their session - 3 DTYs for them

Anonymous said...

TO ALL THE HATERS:
Lauren Mitchell NEVER told ANYBODY that she was going to win a medal. All those expectations have been put on her by the media, VISA, Qantas and exuberant fans. Lauren knows what her world ranking is at present, she is a realist. But the cruel and mean spirited comments on this blog have really been uncalled for, as she is training as hard as she can. If she is good enough for a final, then great, if not, then she would have certainly put her best effort in. Don't hate on her because of that. Lauren did not ask for this publicity. Yes, she did sign with VISA & Qantas, but THEY CAME TO HER. Lauren did not spout off that she was the greatest gymnast ever, so sponsor me, THEY CAME TO HER. So....is she supposed to refuse the offers? Lauren has single handedly raised the profile of gymnastics in Australia and even if she never wins another medal in her life, she can be proud of what she has done for this country & the rest of us gymnastics fans (the ones who support & love her UNCONDITIONALLY!)

Anonymous said...

Take a chill pill Anon at 7.49am. No-one is hating on Lauren or saying she should never have signed with Visa or Qantas. No one is saying she's going around sprouting off that she's the best gymnast in the world or is definitely going to win a gold medal. You really need to go and re-read everything with a clear and level head my darling.

All people here are saying is that it is unfortunate/very sad/extremely worrying or however you want to put it that Lauren is having major problems this close to the competition. I'm pretty sure everyone here is behind Lauren 100% and loves her and supports her UNCONDITIONALLY, however we are realists and know that if she is having these kind of problems now, whereas other gymnasts are hitting everything, the chances of her recovering in 2 days back to top form are pretty slim.

I hope we don't have to read any more of these "Stop the Haters" posts. It's getting rather tiresome and boring!!!

Mez said...

Then again, Lauren had bung ankles in Tokyo 2011 and looked at the floor she pulled out in the AA!

If there was an issue (i.e. the ankles are re-injured), I wouldn't mind some clarification from Camp 'Straya.

Otherwise, I am not sounding a death knell until prelims are over.

Anonymous said...

As a parent of the most well known 'bung ankles' person out there at the moment, don't write them off, they can pull it together when it counts. Sometimes they have to 'save their ankles' when training by allowing landings to falter. They have to do so many numbers. Stuck landings are painful and can damage, so they save it for when it counts. I'm sure Lauren will pull it together just as my daughter has in the past. Have some faith people.

Anonymous said...

We're all here because we love Lauren. We just want to know what the matter is. It is not normal for her to be so poor in podium and as people who follow this sport year round, it concerns us that for the biggest meet of the quadrennium she is not herself.

Anonymous said...

Dear Parent of Bung Ankles girl, if you are the mother of who you think you are, I am so disappointed she didn't quite make it onto the team. I saw her training down in Canberra during camp and she looked great. I wish she'd had the opportunity to compete.

Thanks for your wise words. :-)

Anonymous said...

who *I* think you are. Oops

Anonymous said...

That is a good point, Anon @ 10.13 about the ankle protecting landings. We see the Chinese men do this all the time, also the Russian women. It is a completely different thing to under-rotating a tumble, which I would be more inclined to put down to fatigue/reduced fitness/adjustment of timing.

I'm sure we would all love Lauren to look like the best gymnast in the world all the time, but the reality is that winning podium training in no way means winning a medal.

Lauren was competing with a much tougher preparation at Tokyo, so I am willing to bet she will pull out what she needs to when it matters. History is on her side in that regard. Remember CWG and Worlds 2010? She hadn't been able to compete at all that year.

Let us all just cross our fingers and hope. :)

Anonymous said...

To anon at 12.03, no I'm not that one. Funny though, I guess disintegrating ankles are everywhere! They will have to all form a special club when they're 40!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know of a livestream that will work here in Oz?
Cheers.

Anonymous said...

OMG olympics start in a few hours :):):);)!!!!!!

Anyone know what subdivision Josh is in?

Anonymous said...

The complete USA Wag podium for Vault and UB can be viewed here

http://www.youtube.com/user/13shifter/videos

Love this team. Gabbs looks abit shaky on bars. I really want usa gold in team. And hoping like crazy that Lauren makes an EF or has a good comp ;)

Anonymous said...

Im so angry.... IOC/youtube are providing live streaming with 11 channels live yet only to countries without a major broadcast ;(. Cant afford foxtel and channel 9 will be shit * 10

Any way to trick the IOC youtube site into thinking im in Eithiopia?

Anonymous said...

download the stealthy app for google chrome you can pretend to be from any country in the world

Anonymous said...

wow even liz chetkovich is having serious doubts and she knows australian gymnastics better than anyone else :/ seems like Mitchell has more of a shot on beam than on floor. I hope she pulls it together, if anyone deserves it, it is her!

i also hope brennan hits beam and floor to possibly have a shot, as does miller on bars!

Anonymous said...

unbelievable

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/london-olympics/former-mentor-writes-off-lauren-mitchells-chances-of-olympic-medal-on-floor/story-fn9dheyx-1226437083902

Anonymous said...

Guys Brennan and Miller have absolutely no chance of an EF. They haven't upgraded in four years! Their difficulty level is completely prohibitive of scoring high enough to be anywhere near finals, there are now athletes competing routines of 6.5+ on floor, 6.8+ on beam and 7.0+ on bars. It aint happening. I wold muster a guess that at least 25 athletes have their difficulty level or higher on their best events.

The assessment of the NBC gymnastics correspondent was that the Aussies were as a whole lacking in difficulty. For some reason this quad upgrading has been ignored and Peggy has clung onto the forlorn hope that if we hit our 5.3s on bars and floor we will make finals. Not good enough any more. Italians and Canadians are competing DTYs, rudis on vault, double layouts on floor, combos like 2.5 thru triple on floor. Even the hopeless Japanese vaulters have DTYs now. Don't be disappointed if we finish 10th because any higher and we are punching above our weight.

Anonymous said...

Why would Liz do that!? I mean sure, have your private thoughts, but why go to the media the day before qualifications and say she hasn't a shot? I'm sure Lauren is trying to stay positive and having someone who she no doubt loves and respects like Liz writing her off can't exactly be good for her morale. Big thumbs down Liz.

This whole saga has been the result of simply not being honest with the media. Maybe it's to put on a brave face, to hype up gymnastics by the GA people, or to hold onto sponsors (to be clear, i'm talking about the management of Loz's media stuff not her herself, as no doubt she is not the one who makes those decisions). Why say to the media 'oh, she's super fit, in great shape, a great medal chance'. Ask any GYMNASTICS community member and you will hear that she is an OUTSIDE chance at best these days. Anyone could tell you that. I don't know why they have worked so hard to keep the facade that a medal is 'likely' when if anything, it is possible but unlikely.

As a long-time and dedicated fan frankly I feel kind of deceived too. Reading those overly positive updates from camps that had no real perspective on the situation got me rather excited for these games and our girls chances, but now having seen that our level is lower than expected, it is hard to muster up that same level of excitement. It would have been far more interesting to hear about the challenges of camp anyway.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 8:49 AM I don't know what Liz is on about with the comments about Lauren not looking good. I personally saw her training in camp, saw her trial efforts on both days and she looked great. She obviously didn't do well in podium training so maybe something has happened since then but in training she WAS looking great. All tumbles in routines, some oob but mostly stuck and leaps connected. Dismounting a double pike from beam etc. They all were looking solid!

The media weren't deceived but as a gym fan you should realise that even on her best day it will be tough for Lauren to medal. The media has hyped up all of Australia's medal chances. That's what the media do...

Anonymous said...

If Larrissa achieves her full difficulty on floor, I actually thnk she could make a final there over bars. Her routine is lovely.

Liz was saying that Lauren could definitely make finals for beam and floor, but that beam was her best medal chance, and I would have to agree with that.

The field for those two apparatus is injsanely good, though. Being in such an early subdivision will also make it difficult -- the judges may feel they need to leave room for higher scores by USA, Romanian, Chinese and Russian athletes (and others, of course, but those four teams are where the best beam and floor workers are generally coming from).

Whatever, I know Lauren will absolutely do the best she can, and that is all we can ask.

Anonymous said...

Forget it, whilst I would love the Aussie girls to do well, their difficulty level is too low.
Peggy has chosen the 'safe' road of consistent workers with low start scores over the 'risk' of younger athletes with higher start scores.

Sadly, after Sunday's qualifiers....we are unlikely to see another Aussie WAG perform

Anonymous said...

I am just so confused....If Lauren was looking great, what happened? Liz's comments don't make any sense either if she was hitting really well in training.

Anonymous said...

OMG WTF IS GOING ON! I FEEL LIKE IM TAKING CRAZY PILLS!

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8506935

Anonymous said...

^ that's as good as an admission that things aren't going well...

Anonymous said...

I'm not reading any more articles or any more blogs etc until after qualification on Sunday. If she hits, she hits, if she doesn't she doesn't but all this speculating is killing me and nothing is going to change what happens at the competition.

I'm now going to wait until tomorrow night and just see what happens. I'm still holding out hope that a miracle happens and the girls perform beyond their expectations. I really hope the girls are being shielded from all the media reports coz this can't be helping their mental game at all.

Anonymous said...

It is almost loltastic that GA/Adam Sachs expect us to believe that it's absolutely normal for her to spend podium training landing on her head, especially now that all these ominous signs are emerging from people close to the team.

Hello GA, we spend 365 days of the year following these girls and their competitions, we know this is NOT normal.

Anonymous said...

As a performer there's always a saying that a bad dress rehearsal equals a great performance. There was an article, i think in Ig with Emily little stating that Lauren was taking a bit longer than the other girls to adjust to time difference, jet lag etc which could have been a factor at PT. Lauren deserves the benefit of the doubt, she's got a lot of pressure on her at present. I have every faith in our team. GO GIRLS!!

Anonymous said...

Peggy Liddick - "The rest of the girls don't really have a high degree of difficulty..."

For crying out loud woman, DO something about it!!!

Anonymous said...

I know I just can't believe an entire quadrennium has been wasted by Brennan training a double tuck to jump as her second pass, or Emily not upgrading her vault, or Miller not upgrading her bars...they have been mostly healthy and competing unlike Bonora, it is just ridiculous that everyone has settled on them doing such mediocre difficulty. The Australians will never improve their ranking if they don't have a sliver of ambition or any desire to push the envelope.

Anonymous said...

i'm sure they will be regretting it when they are sitting on the sidelines during team finals, don't you worry....

Anonymous said...

I think the reason this year the team is so underwhelming is that there has been no improvement or change for years. Like, I could really just watch 2010 again and that would do me. They are all doing basically the same old routines and skills.

Look at someone like Ponor who is returning with a double layout full as her floor mount and is dismounting with a pike full in off beam. That is someone who really wants to work to improve their gymnastics.

Our team is one big yawn. I would much rather have seen Monckton and Brown instead of our 2008 team looking worse than four years ago. Only Mitchell is better, Bonora and Brennan are not the gymnasts they were in 2008.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12.21 I'm sure Brown & Monckton would agree after spending their time training in the reserves gym as a just in case we may need you " and from what the Canadian reserve team is saying they are both looking fantastic.
Maybe fresh blood is needed ........

Saying that my feeling is that this mature experienced team will most likely step it up when needed most.

Anonymous said...

Everyone, it is just time to DEAL.

What we have is what we have. Let's support and cheer for our team to do the very best they can.

Dissect it afterwards, if you have to, but for now all these negative comments are serving no purpose whatsoever except to bring down spirits.

Honestly, why? Just so you can say "I told you so."?

We cannot change what we have at the moment. Now is NOT the time to be beating up our team, training and preparation.

I KNOW we are all fans and want great results. Let's do what we can to help the team achieve that bu supporting them!

C'mon Aussies!

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:15, while the fact that Lauren Mitchell seems to be taking a long time getting used to the apparatus and the time difference is a little worrying, it's not really that alarming. Two years ago, at the Rotterdam World Championships, I saw the Russians fall all over the place during their podium training session. Honestly, they were horrendous. Remember how that ended? That's right, they won the team title.

Please don't forget that training and competition are two completely different things. Mitchell has proven herself a strong competitor before. Have a little faith in her, eh?

Anonymous said...

I also just want to say that it IS actually okay to cheer for the team even if they don't get a medal, you know!

We face a mammoth task to get to team finals, AA finals and EF. There is SOOOOO much talent at these games, and there has never been as many contenders coming from non-traditionally dominany nations. Of course there are the top four nations wh are basically untouchable, but there is tremendous parity amongst the second-tier teams (of which we are one).

This isn't bad, this is exciting! For the first time in the new code, it actually looks like whoever competes the best on the day will make the finals. We are SOOOO far from having a guaranteed spot -- but that just means that our achievement if we DO make it is so much greater.

Our gymnasts are fabulous. They bring wonderful artistry and form to the competition. I for one celebrate them for that!

Go Aussies!

Anonymous said...

Liz is in London as a commentator, not Lauren's former mentor. The media would have asked Liz what the expectation might be, and Liz has answered honestly. Weren't people complaining earlier about there being somewhat unrealistic expectations of Lauren- well here you go, job done.

Besides, there's going to be a lot of uninformed opinions around about our fabulous sport for the next week. The Herald Sun is hardly a bastion of media excellence for topics that they know about (how terrible smacking children is, drugs are awful, Julia Gillard vs Kevin Rudd yadda yadda)... like they're going to write an article about gymnastics with complete accuracy?? You know they grabbed a few choice sentences out of an entire conversation with Liz and decided to play an angle. So back off, because if Lauren does have a hard time this week then there's more to come.

Anonymous said...

New coach from overseas!

Anonymous said...

Huh?

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