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.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Rotation 1 interlude

Can we just for a sec? Yeah. Legend.




I am very proud of this team. They held it together until the end there, and even in mistakes were there for eachother every step of the way. I hope they walked out of the arena with their heads held high. What wonderful ambassadors for gymnastics.


Olympics: Women's Preliminaries

Tonight, the Australian women take to the floor (literally, it's their first event!) to better their 6th place finish from Beijing.

Lauren, Ash, Georgia, Emily and Larrissa are set to shine in subdivision 2.

A start list is here.

Foxtel will be broadcasting prelims live from 6:25pm AEST on London3.

International Gymnast, GA, The Gymn Examiner and Gymnastike to name but a few will be livetweeting preliminary competition throughout the night.

Gym Examiner quick hits here.

Foxtel coverage kicked off with the revelation Lauren Mitchell had sustained an abdominal injury but it's been treated, and they are confident for Australia's competition round.

POST-COMPETITION:

Quotes from Mitchell in this article and also here.


"I have to take a step back and just reassess everything," she said when asked if she felt the pressure going into competition.

"I spoke to the psychologist the last couple of days and that's really helped.

"I think I took on a bit too much pressure from the rest of Australia to take it to that next level."

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Olympics: Men's Preliminaries

Very best wishes to Australia's sole representative in men's artistic gymnastics, Josh Jefferis. We hope Josh can keep the good vibes going from podium training as he flies our flag in session 2, starting on floor.

The start list is here.


Foxtel will be showing the men's preliminary rounds from 7:55pm AEST this evening on London3. Josh's session kicks off at approximately 12:25am.

The men's all-around final will be shown from 1:25am on August 2, live on London3.

Gymnastics Australia will be providing quick hits at Facebook. The Gymnastics Examiner is on the scene, check out Blythe's quick hits as they go up here. If I get word on a working feed, I will let you know. Otherwise, make the most of Foxtel if you have it.

NBC live scoring is coming through here.

8:12am Sunday HUUUUUE CONGRATS TO JOSH JEFFERIS FOR QUALIFYING TO THE MEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL!!!!

West Australian article featuring quotes from Josh here.

What a joy to watch him (on delay!) on channel 9, making the whole nation proud.

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

Monday, July 23, 2012

Happy Birthday To...

Proud London olympian LAUREN MITCHELL!!!




Our 2010 World floor champion, Commonwealth Games juggernaut and Coles/Foxtel/VISA commercial starlet turns a festive 21 today, and appropriately celebrates it among her Olympic teammates!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Follow-along-a-lympics

There are a number of ways you can chart the Aussie performances in London, and join in the celebrations with me and other Aussie supporters.

This article lists a number of official IOC social media resources you can use to follow Olympic results and participants. Search for an athlete's name to find out if they're tweeting!

You can also follow the Australian Olympic Committee website and twitter .

Good blogs to follow are my chums at The Couch Gymnast or Gymnastics Examiner, who you can find on Facebook and Twitter under those names, outside of their websites.

Gymnastics Australia will of course be on the scene, keeping us in the know.

And me?

Well, I'll be putting up as much content here as I can as competition draws nearer and then gets underway, but your best bet is my Twitter account. The benefit of Twitter is that it can be speedily updated from my phone or computer. It's also easier for any of you other users to contribute to (I am happy to retweet articles or photos you find of our gym delegates).

All our team have officially touched down in London (check out Lauren being fitted out with the team kit), so start warming up those cheering muscles!



GO YOU BIG RED FIRE ENGINE!


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Come Fly With Me

Very best wishes to our women's Olympic team who jet off for London today!

Read all about their farewell function here, and don't forget to check out yesterday's post to find out how to support the team through the Go You Big Red Fire Engine Project!






Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Go You Big Red Fire Engine: Destination London

Lots to talk about today, folks! Time's ticking away!


1. The latest episode of Tom and Josh's web series is up. They now have a desk and mugs, so I think they're going for an "In London Tonight" pitch. Watch out, Roy and HG!




If you've missed any instalments so far, check them out at Tom's channel.

2. Thanks to Brindabella for capturing this profile piece on Emily Little (click on image to expand). She's all smiles.


3. Yes, fire up the sirens and lights, it's back once more!

 Over the next 10 days, show your support for the Australian gymnastics delegation by taking a photo of yourself and/or friends (two-legged or four-legged!) holding a sign that says "Go You Big Red Fire Engine" which I will proudly post here and then forward on to our gymnastics support team in London. The more we get, the bigger the love!

Email photo files to ozgymblog@gmail.com or tweet them to twitter.com/ozgymblog along with your city/state/country. Only include your name if you are comfortable with that. Any messages of support you include will happily be included along with your photo. Most of all, be sure to smile!

Previous years have had some really clever, touching contributions and very nifty signs. So show your true colours (green, gold and red!) as London draws ever closer.


And if you needed a bit more convincing, don't forget the endorsement from Gordon Street's most famous resident, and the man who popularised the phrase.



Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Birthday To...

TWO lovely gymnasts currently in Olympic camp right now, Olivia Vivian and Larrissa Miller!


Both are wonderful ambassadors for gymnastics in this country and will continue to do us proud in the years to come. Have a great day, girls!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

C'mon Get Happy

Check out Josh and Tom's latest pre-Olympic video blog... from inside Waveney Gymnastics in the UK! Some cheeky candid happysnaps make an appearance.




 The Telegraph has an interview up with former Olympian Allana Slater from the WA Olympic team farewell luncheon. She shouts out Lauren Mitchell and talks about Australia's chances as a team.

 And Oregon State touched base with Aussie alum Olivia Vivian on her role at the women's Olympic team training camp.

Note that both Vivian and Slater stay firm to the belief that, in gymnastics, "anything can happen"!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

More Camp Mail

Hello muddah 
Hello faddah
Here I am at 
Camp Canberra!
Camp is very 
entertaining. 
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining...!


Another bright and bubbly update from Olivia Vivian and the girls at Olympic camp. They've been bonding inside and out of the training gym.

 Now I know that 8 gymnasts in a kitchen doesn’t exactly sound like the smartest idea, especially when there’s knives and fire involved, but I can assure you we are fully capable. Last week we all made Lamb steaks with mint snow peas and cherry tomatoes. It was a delightfully refreshing change to our weekly schedule.

We also get weekly BBQ food prepared and get to go out for dinner on Saturday nights. Not only does it get us out of the dining hall, but it also creates team-bonding moments that bring us closer as a team.
Liv must have the writing bug. Hot off the presses here is Blog #3! GA also have a link to a picture of the delightful sign Waveney Gymnastics Club erected in honour of the Aussies there for training.



Here's Livvy's Blog #4 with an interesting insight into distraction training for beam. Am I jealous the girls got to see 'Tap Dogs' perform? Heck to the yes!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Tally-ho!

All the very best to Tom and Josh who depart today for London. On behalf of the minions and munchkins at AGB HQ, I wish them both a safe and comfortable journey to the UK.


So thrilled to have you flying the flag, the cheering starts right here right now!


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Writing Home From Camp

Wahey!

Gymnastics Australia have given us a nifty update from camper and Olympic reserve Olivia Vivian, on the mood at camp and the all-important team trial.

We also have episode 5 of Tom and Josh's Olympic journey vlogs to check out!


For Sale!

Hello there!

My family is moving house in 4 days and I have some old editions of International Gymnast, Australian Gymnast, Ten and Somersault gym magazines to give away to anyone wanting to fill gaps in their collection. Most are ones I bought myself but some I have inherited from previous owners. So I will admit some editions in the pile have things clipped out of them.

I have the following to offer:

Australian Gymnast
April 1983
summer 1990
autumn 1990
summer 1991
winter 1991
autumn 1991
winter 1992
summer 1992
spring 1992 x 2
spring 1993
winter 1993
autumn 1994
spring 1995
autumn 1996
winter 1996

Somersault (Victoria-centic)
Issue 2, june/july 2006 (Bonora cover)
Issue 3, Aug/Sep 2006 (Russo cover)


Ten (Australia-centric)
Issue 1, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 6

IG
Aug/sept 1991
November 1991
December 1991
March 1992
May 1992
June/July 1992
June/July 1993
Aug/Sept 1993
Oct 1993
Nov 1993
Dec 1993
June/July 1993
January, February, March, May, August/September 1994
February, March, April, May, December 2005
June, September, October, November, December 2006
Jan/Feb, March, April, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov 2007
Jan/Feb, April, June, Oct 2008
March 2009


Please email me at ozgymblog@gmail.com if you'd be interested in taking any off my hands.  Unfortunately I cannot post internationally.


Cheers.