Pacific Rim News: TV Coverage!

Bucketloads of thanks to the ever-reliable OlympicGymnastUSA at YouTube (you wouldn't happen to be the same user as OlympicGymnast5, eh?) who has admirably (and quickly!) put up some Non-Specific-American-Broadcast-Network coverage of Pacific Rim. It aired in the States in the last 24 hours.

Check it out here and keep your eyes and ears out for news of OneHD's coverage here in Oz.

(Gotta love 'game faces' played against Flinders Street station!)

AGB's 2010 Pacific Rim Championships Awards

Australia has just had its Logie Awards so I hereby announce the winners of the inaugural Progie Awards - celebrating the movers, shakers and memory makers of the 2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne. Winners, please keep your acceptance speeches to under 45 seconds, lest you face the wrath of Wil Anderson's tweets.


MVP Award: Australia - Sam Offord. Admittedly I could have gone with a WAG here, very easily. But in addition to good performances on the podium (Australia's first Pacific Rim men's AA medallist in quite a while, I'm sure) Sam did a fantastic job promoting the event in the media, and proved extremely articulate in interviews. He has done much to forge his own gymnastics identity outside of Rizzo/Jefferis/Sellathurai. It was also great to see him hit pommel during the team event, that so often becomes Australia's meltdown apparatus. It's a shame we'll be hearing inexplicably less about him over the next month then we will our new FREAKING SNOOKER WORLD FREAKING CHAMPION IT'S NOT EVEN A REAL FREAKING SPORT GYAAAAAARGH MY INDIGNATION.*exhale*

Honourable Mention: Amelia McGrath. Such a star of the future!

MVP Award: International - Ksenia Afanasyeva RUS). Standing stoic and strong while her teammates were in Birmingham securing gold at the European Championships, Ksenia always had a smile and hug ready for her junior compatriots. She has a stunning, almost regal, air about her performances.

(Honourable Mention: Alexa Moreno (MEX) and John Orozco (USA). Two powerful, elegant gymnasts that proved to be just as cool-headed in competition as their more established teammates.)



Best Leotard - Team China, Apparatus finals. Red body with thick climbing gold swirl pattern. Bold without being garish, topped off with a gold scrunchie.

(Honourable Mention: Team Mexico in their metallic green on white that, from a distance, looked a little like it belonged on Team Australia!)


Best Hair - Team Canada. I loved Vaculik's (almost trademark) ponytail with front braid, and I had a hard time telling the difference between Madeline Gardiner and Dominique Pegg with their immaculate buns!


Best Skill - Tie. Danell Leyva's (USA) laid out Kovacs on high bar; Maddy Gardiner's (CAN) Humphrey turn on the same apparatus - quicker and sleeker than Lauren's, I must say! - and Rebecca Bross' (USA) handspring front layout to double front on floor.

(Wait! It might have been Dominique Pegg! Again with the hair confusion!)

Best Dismount - Emily Little (AUS). Helping secure an Aussie team bronze with a stuck double layout dismount off bars!

(Honourable Mention: Rebecca Bross for her thrilling Patterson dismount off beam; Sam Offord for that gold-clinching rings dismount)



The Olivia Vivian Award for Team Encouragement - Tie. Yin Alvarez and Chris Cameron (USA). Mr Alvarez is now gaining a reputation as 'that coach' with encouragement and enthusiasm to boot. He not only cheered on his own son - Danell Leyva - but had a fist bump for every member of Team USA before and after each routine. Even during warmups, seriously! Chris Cameron's cheers got well known around the arena (it probably didn't help that said arena held a low capacity crowd during men's events), his cry of "Go Steve!" adopted and imitated affectionately by several members of the crowd. He also had some interesting ones in there, including "C'mon Baby, you got it!" and "Let's go, man! This is the [big] show!"

(Honourable Mention: The Team New Zealand supporter who yelled out the most adorable cheer I've ever had the good fortune to overhear: "C'mon New Zealand, continue on!")




The Elsa Garcia Award for Hilarity - Zheng Siqi (CHN). Laughing off the fact her bronze medal fell off its ribbon, and juggling it along with her flowers and toy at the apparatus final.

(Honourable Mention: Team Canada. MOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!)


The Valeri Liukin Award for Kick-Arse Coaching Team - Team USA. Including the award's namesake himself. Honestly, MAG and WAG, juniors and seniors, this team is always just so ready and so focussed, no matter how far they have to travel or how little time they get to train on the podium. Your eyes are always drawn to them, be it in a warm-up or, to borrow a phrase from one of its team members, "for the show".

(Honourable Mention: Team Australia WAG. Third overall and three individual top-5 apparatus finishes. What a fantastic achievement for a relatively inexperienced team who worked so hard to fast-track their acquisition of difficult skills in time for this competition!)


The Universal Sports Award for Media Coverage - The Couch Gymnast. A fantastic week of blog exclusives and unbeatable Kodak moments. TCG is always value for money (on that note - somebody hire her and pay her millions, stat!) not to mention a lovely correspondent at that. I bow in honour.

(Honourable Mention: Gymnastics Australia/JumpMedia and all PRC media volunteers who worked hard over a number of online channels to bring us some smashing coverage of this event. And thanks for not policing video camera use in the arena!)

Thanks again to YOU for joining the party, don't forget to pick up a gift hamper on your way out!


(Image courtesy of The Couch Gymnast)

Pacific Rim Championships: Wrap Up

Apparatus final report and results can be found here. Don't forget to check The Couch Gymnast for more on-the-ground observations and photos. The VWHPC wraps up the competition here; MLC does the same here, complete with behind the scenes photos.


AGB went into this last day of competition with a simple wishlist:

1. Film on my new video camera without getting frogmarched out
2. Finally meet Liz Chetkovich
3. Get a 'moose antlers' photo of/with Kristina Vaculik (as per the 2010 Cottbus bars final when her score flashed up).
4. Give my "Wieber > Bieber" poster to Jordyn Wieber


I can proudly say that, with a little help from friends, I managed all of these!

I was also given the lovely surprise of a PacRim poster signed by some notable names (read below). Check my photobucket and youtube (links in previous posts) over the next few days, I am slooooooowly uploading vids and pics. I also recorded the medal ceremonies so those will go up in addition to routines.

Congrats to Amelia McGrath and Emily Little for their individual medal wins! We're so proud!

************************************

America was once again stellar, save for an uncharactertistic beam fall from Wieber that had the whole crowd gasping. Bross was steady as expected, performing without batting an eyelid. Amelia McGrath made a gorgeous effort on the same apparatus, despite a few pauses causing her to go overtime. She made up for it with a fantastic floor that snaffled her a shared bronze medal. I could re-watch her back walkover sequence for days on end!



Larrissa Miller fought for her bars routine but it couldn't be saved - apparently that injury is still a bother. Best wishes to hear on the road to full recovery and difficulty level.

Kristina Vaculik was again adorable and smiley. I watched her beam warm-up and something was making her want to giggle, you could see her trying hard to suppress it but she just ended up grinning the entire time! She showed a great Korbut full on beam and a sassy floor routine. I love, love, love this girl.

Peggy is very happy with Emily's vault efforts, as the linked report above shows. After the competition, Peggy snapped some solo pictures of Emily on the podium, with Em giving the biggest smile I've seen her give so far.

USA were in a spectrum of their Olympic leos - purple fireworks, pink all-around, red with stripes, red with white slashes and writing - while one of China's looked like a Miro painting, a fading red into yellow. Afanasyeva's simple red glittered leotard could have stopped traffic, she pulled it off so well. Australia's pink and black from Worlds 09 is dazzingly sparkly under the lights! It was like watching bright sunlight bounce on lapping water.

In a slightly embarrassing moment (and a flashback to Pacific Rim 2006), one of the bronze medals broke! It was Zheng Siqi's for bars. It got put round her neck and came away from the ribbon in an instant, clunking loudly onto the dais step. It was returned to her and she juggled it along with her flowers and toy, the audience laughed it off.


Now. To my faffing about.

After the competition I got a lovely surprise - Sloan and Vaculik had signed a poster for me! I unfurled and read it with much blushing. Many thanks to the involved parties.


I walked around the seating area barriers, weaving madly between pre-teens, trying to get near Jordyn Wieber to give her my sign. I gave up hope as she was lead away by Martha Karolyi and co, until I heard an American voice next to me call out to her, "I'll see you at home, honey". I politely asked the woman beside me if she was Jordyn's mum, and yes she was! Jordyn's parents are a lovely pair who were so glad to hear Jordyn's efforts were being noted on the other side of the world. They got a real kick out of the sign and said JoJo would too. They've unfortunately not had any chance to interact with their daughter in the last two weeks but did do a small amount of sightseeing over the past few days, hitting up the Great Ocean Road. Hearty handshakes all round.

I was then ushered down onto the floor - it helps to have connections! - where I was brought face to face with Goddess of All That Is Worldly and Good, face and voice of televised gymnastics, the one and only Liz Chetkovich! She was shocked yet flattered to hear she had a fan (and a Facebook group! Which funnily enough I didn't start) and that her contributions to gymnastics are so loved. She said all is well up in Perth, Lauren and Dasha are plugging away. She confirmed the latter is definitely looking to return to competition!


Team Australia were having a bunch of group shots taken on the podium, everybody looking happy with the way their PacRim campain rounded out.
I then had a little chat to Stacey Umeh about her work and her travels, and took a happy snap for posterity.

But while all this was going on, I was keeping an eye on Team Canada, and Vaculik most of all. They were moving nearer and nearer the exit corridor and I felt my chance to finish my wishlist slipping away. The venue staff were really cracking down on lingerers (apparently assuming that they were all malingerers). By a stroke of good luck, I spotted Kristina coming back into the arena to grab some things. I waited by the barrier nearest the exit tunnel to call out to her, but then I spotted her coach. I do my best to stick by my rule of always asking a coach's permission first, so I asked the him if it would be ok if I could photograph his team, as the other Canucks were milling by the exit at that point. He obliged! And so did they! I shyly stated that my one request for the photo was that they all do a moose antler pose. Bemused but entertained by the prospect, they did it ("Do you want all silly faces?") letting me capture one of the best moments of the whole competition! I wished them a safe journey home and thanked them for their willingness to participate.



Outside the arena, I spotted Team USA hailing a taxi to their hotel. How dare all those cab drivers ignore them and drive past. Don't they know who Marta Karolyi is!?


All in all: A crazy, busy, exciting, tiring, thrilling, amusing, inspiring week of gymnastics in my home city.

Thanks for sticking with me despite my brief and oft-delayed updates. If I'd had my laptop (or an iPhone) in the arena, I'd have given you all live and more detailed updates in a heartbeat. GA really covered a lot of ground at this event.

In the meantime, keep checking back for pics and vids and I hope you enjoyed the 2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships!


(And Happy 20th Birthday to the most magnificent Lady Dasha!)

Pacific Rim Championships - DAY 4

Alas, all good things must come to and end!

The train's leaving the station, folks. Empty your cigars and stub out your brandy glasses.


Check out some of Nade's gorgeous photos from Friday night here (make you sure ask before posting elsewhere).

Read an Age preview article here. Don't forget to watch 9's Wide World of Sport from 10 this morning for a Phil Rizzo appearance.

And finally, happy birthday to Georgia and Amelia's MLC teammate Alex Byers-Armstrong!

Pacific Rim Championships: DAY 3

...AKA The Morning After The Night Before!

...AKA Cometh The Hour Cometh The Man!

Sam Offord is just one skilled MAG on show today in the men's senior and junior apparatus finals. I'm hoping his presence will see a bigger crowd, it was so great to hear something bigger than golf claps last night.

Going by rankings from the team and all-around, Sam should be going into the rings final ranked first(!) and should also appear in the pommel, p-bars and high bar finals. Luke Wiwatowski goes into the high bar final ranked 2nd, just one of a number of finals slots for him. Brody-Jai Hennessy was the highest-ranked Aussie junior from Thursday night so I hope to see him as well.

Will we see another USA whitewash...?

See finals start lists here.

**********************************

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Due to unforseen personal circumstances (not Masterchef -related), The Australian Gymnastics Blog is withdrawing its attendance at the men's apparatus finals tonight.
Best wishes to all competitors (especially Team Oz), and tune in tomorrow for coverage of the women's event finals, which - for the moment - should see AGB back on form.

**************************

Stuck at home but just heard the ace news - SAM OFFORD WON RINGS! YEEEEEHAAA!

Later...

Luke Wiwatowski hangs on for high bar bronze!

Juniors Tyson Bull and Jack Rickards score silver (high bar) and bronze (pommel) respectively!

Naazmi Johnston wins hoop gold! And rope silver!

Medals, medals, marvellous medals!



I'm so bummed I couldn't make it tonight and missed all this awesomeness.


Tomorrow, as the excitement rolls on, the last day of PacRim kicks off with...

Wide World of Sport (Nine) will include an interview and feature with Phil Rizzo who will be in Melbourne tomorrow for the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships. Watch WWOS tomorrow at 10am AEST.

Quick hits will be coming thick and fast from the Facebook group, official Twitter and also GymnasticsLive's Twitter here.

Pacific Rim Championships: DAY 2

God bless McDonalds and its free wi-fi! I am hastily updating before session 2.

A much better turnout for today's women's session. I spotted the New Zealand men's team in the stands and bashfully handed them my poster as a sign of admiration, respect and the need for their women's team to have a hilarious sign waved for them. They said "thenks" and posed for a photo.
AIS girlies (Hi if you're reading this!) sat in the front row of seats; also in the house were some VWHPC gymnasts.

GA's quick hits are here.


NZ once again had a big cheering section, but a lot of other competitors won the crowd's hearts along the way. Big ups to Malaysia for their happy clappy floor routines that kicked off the competition, sleeveless purple leos and all. I did a big "Vamos Alexa!" to Alexa (Alexia?) Moreno as she left floor after a fantastic routine. She's a real powerhouse, showing some strong vaults (stuck a front pike half in warmups) and high tumbles. Everybody's heart went into their respective throats as Mitzi Unda of Mexico landed her double tuck warmup on floor badly, and looked to have sprained her ankle. She was removed from the floor but came back on to perform, to big cheers from the crowd.
NZ's Breanna Mitchell looks like the DNA of Shona Morgan and Ashleigh Brennan smooshed together. The team showed determination throughout, but their form leaves quite a bit to be desired. Brittany Robinson reminded me of Laura Hingston, she was lean and dainty.
One Singaporean gymnast knew the way to work the crowd - Zorba music! That floor staple certainly got the crowd clapping along. Angel Wong showed confidence and class, and if I recall correctly, she was the one who did a Moceanu-circa-1996-by-way-of-Silivas-handstand-wrap-around beam mount?

It's hard for me to contribute when so much has already been said. It's a great atmosphere inside the gym and I wish I had an iPhone to do live updates! I got video of Moreno's floor and a couple of photos. At the very end of the session, Singapore and Malaysia gathered around the beam for happy snaps, including nice smiles and hilariously silly faces. There was great sportswomanship on show as the crowd filtered out, with the teams congratulating and hugging one another after a fantastic round of competition.

Bring on session 2! Gotta run, byeeeee!

***********************
Session 2, whooo mama! I am holed up back at home, shivering after a long ride home.

Just first off: my heart absolutely goes out to Brittany Rogers of Canada. Her accident unfolded directly in front of where I was sitting. Her foot slipped off the beam as she entered her double pike dismount, the salto went way too low and our first thought was that she'd faceplant but she thudded onto her back - at first it looked like she'd landed on her neck! She sat up slowly and grabbed her ankle, motioning to the coaches. My seat was two rows from the front, and I was so close I could see her hands shaking and hear her going "owowowowow!" and just sobbing. It was a horrible end to the competition for her. Hope she recovers soon. The team carried on admirably without her.
On a lighter note: Let these words sound from the rooftops. AGB FRIGGIN' LOVES KRISTINA VACULIK. Honestly, people, this Canuck has matured since PacRim 2008 and is every bit the calm, confident, cool operator.

China had fall after fall on beam which the crowd did not expect at all from them! They had neat work but just couldn't get their head in the game. Ksenia Afanasyeva drew everyone's eye to her, and it was obvious her elegant style and solid landings would see her through to the medal podium. I managed to capture a little bit of her beam warmup on video.
Once again, all eyes were on a pink-hot Team USA. The injury to Bridget Sloan did not affect their mood or performances. This is a team that is consistently ready and consistently confident. The only major mistakes came from Bross on beam (stumble after front somi) and Sloan (looked like she did a toe-on on the low bar but ended up facing the wrong way and had to take it again). Raisman is every bit the Sacramone clone, Ross and Vega showed some sass on the floor, Weiber was all smiles and Bross showed she's boss. You'd be hard-pressed to bet your dollars on an American loss in competitions over the next quadrennium.



Australia hung on for 3rd and we are so proud of all of you! Milly for a stellar beam! Emily for a super vault and 5th all-around! Larrissa for hitting bars! Georgia for standing up the arabians on floor and off bars! Emma for staying strong and getting that double tuck off beam! Georgia Rose for being gorgeous and classy the whole way through! Girlies, you exceeded all expectations and the crowd just loved you, keep the good vibes going over the weekend.


Check my Photobucket and YouTube in the next 24 hours, I hope to have some nuggets up for ya. See an awesome photo gallery at Universal Sports here.


See the short clip from the 7pm Project here: http://7pmproject.com.au/video.htm?channel=7PM+Catch+Up&clipid=2689_7pm-300410-sg3&bitrate=300&format=flash


Who was in the stands tonight? The AIS girls again, Ju Ping Tian, Fiona Coley, Naomi Russell, Ashleigh Brennan (the latter two having a good old laugh with Stacey), Josh Jefferis and Team Mexico.

What did AGB do wrong tonight? Talk to Bridget Sloan.
Here is a transcript of our post-meet chat, shared over the arena railing as she took a breather from signing autographs.
AGB: "Um, hey Bridget! You rock!" *unfurls Melbourne <3's style="font-style: italic;">BS: "Oh wow cool! Thank you!"
AGB: "Yeah, well done tonight! You guys were really great!"
BS: "Thanks *laugh*!"
AGB: "Yeah! Uh... it's so fantastic you came. Melbourne's so happy to have you, we can't wait to have you back, you yourself have a love of Australian fans!"
BS: "Awww, thanks! Glad to be here!"
AGB: "...sorry about your foot!"
BS: "..."
AGB's Brain: SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP
AGB: "Ok, so, yeah, um, bye!"

Not "sorry TO HEAR ABOUT your foot", no, just "sorry about your foot".

LIKE I HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT.



Verbal diarrhoea - I get it a lot. *cringe*

Pacific Rim Championships: DAY 1

Gosh, I thought the day when I could say that would never come!

Today, today, today, today TODAY marks the first round of Pacific Rim competition!

Yours truly will be at both men's artistic sessions. I will probably have my NZ sign for this morning, I may not. I have a lot in my bag as it is, and lugging a big roll of cardboard around will get frustrating. If not... then... just guess which one I am (clue: the one with a beet-red nervous face asking for autographs or photos of fan signs)!


But yes! Warmup is from 1pm and I'm told ticketholders can rock up anytime from then on to watch before march-in. And don't let those seating goons (apologies to any lovely volunteers reading this) boss you around during that time - go mingle with your fellow fans and share the good vibes* with those you spot in the stands.


Now, just a couple of final words before I head off on a rattling train:

1) Twitter (PacRimChamps) and Facebook (2010 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships) will be doing 'quick hits' simultaneously. There is no web video streaming for this event so keep your eyes there. I don't own an iPhone so cannot update the blog's twitter - or the blog iteself, for that matter - while I'm in the arena.
2) According to Michelle Cook of JumpMedia, filming will NOT be permitted during Friday's women's competition, and at the request of NBC they will enforce that rule rather strictly.
3) Those of you interested in following the rhythmic competition can follow Cameron Pegg's live tweeting here.


Now, go forth and be Mezzie, for today is a glorious day for gymfans!



*not a euphemism for narcotics. Jussayin'.

*********************

Where do I begin!?

How's about here: Congratulations to Sam Offord for winning silver in the men's senior all-around!

There was a small but loyal turnout to both sessions. NZ had the biggest support contingents, after Australia in the latter session. I sat behind some NZ coaches and supporters who thought it necessary to talk THE ENTIRE TIME THROUGH EVERY ROUTINE.

*ahem*

Just going over the notes I saved in my phone... NZ had a lot of stuck landings and more confidence than ever in their program. They topped Singapore (the only other full team in session 1) convincingly and have some real rising stars in their lineup. I probably can't add anything you didn't already read at Twitter or Facebook. There were some very low scores in the first session, but the highlight was Hong Kong's Wai Hung Shek sticking a near-perfect double front tuck vault. Kiwi Brandon Field had a scary rings fall but recovered alright. Aaron Clutterbuck (hope I spelled that correctly) showed some nice work, especially on p-bars. In short - go you big silver ferns!

There was a larger turnout for session 2, and from the second you walked in your eyes locked on the Americans. They showed such power and confidence in all their work, and you couldn't ignore their enthusiastic cheers. Danell Leyva's dad was the pick of the bunch (he of the whoop-whoop celebrations), fist-bumping every one of the gymnasts after they did a good skill, or mounted the podium, or hit a routine, or was re-starting a fumbled routine... it was fist bumps abd backslaps all round once the team was declared the overall winners. China were elegant as always, with textbook twisting style and pirouettes on bars. Unfortunately, Leyva didn't have the best night, falling on either his bum or his face on 4/5 floor tumbles. The crowd loved USA's Steve Legendre and CJ Maestas, and picked up on several of Chris Cameron's rowdy cheers. Canada and Russia quietly plugged away while the crowd went nuts for the home team and America's daring. Nathan Gafuik won the senior all-around, John Orozco was tops for juniors.

At the end of the night, Team Canada posed around the pommel horse for the fans, Nathan hopped on the phone to what I assume was Mum and/or Dad to let them know how it went.

The medal dais was everyone's favourite green one that didn't quite look like the right size for a team event but everybody juuuuust squeezed on there and looked happy to receive medals, flowers and stuffed animals (I think it was kangaroos this time).

Spotted in the crowd at session 2: Team NZ MAG, Ben Wilden, Josh Jefferis, Valeri Liukin and Mihai Brestyan, Stacey Umeh (I saw you, sister-girlfriend! But you were too busy chatting and being fabulous to notice li'l old me trying to catch your eye!), Ian Bartlett, Liz Chetkovich and Team Russia. They are indeed tiny girlies.

Daddy Liukin, Bridget Sloan and the US girls were spotted souvenir shopping this afternoon on Swanston St. I was in Elizabeth St, DIRECTLY PARALLEL, AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME. *sigh*

AGB and The Couch Gymnast finally encountered one another, at which point the universe was turned upside down and the sheer awesomeness of the moment melted the faces of all and sundry.



More photos are up at my Photobucket account, and I have two videos up at YouTube (see useful links in the sidebar).

Hurray! *claps, jumps and fist-bumps* Here's hoping Day 2 has a big turnout and some big cheering for the ladies.

Pacific Rim News: AGB Posters

Slow going at the moment, folks.

These are the first of my completed posters.

My Team Australia one is green and gold but otherwise blank. I can't think of a good slogan. I'd love your suggestions! Post them in a comment or email me at ozgymblog@gmail.com

I also picked Nastia-inspired pink cardboard for Team USA and got as far as putting a red heart in the middle. I thought about "I <3 USA" but then thought maybe there are some fans out there who'll be attending that might want to do an individual shout out to a US team member? "Melbourne <3's Bridget" or something? Drop me a line at the email address above as soon as possible and let me know if you'd like to hold the poster and spread the love among the stands for our international visitors. You can even keep it as a memento!

I'm running low on time and resources, so I won't end up with as many posters as I originally planned!

Pacific Rim News: Podium Training

More training inside the arena for artistic today.

If you caught Channel 9 news this afternoon, you'd have seen a blink-and-you'll-miss-it plug for the event at the end of the sports report. It included a little bit of footage from the training session, including Emma Collister's double arabian on floor.

The Couch Gymnast (see my links tab) has some cracking photos and observations from Hisense. I thank Couchy greatly for the following photos of Aussie WAGs. Click on each for a larger version.







Apparently both Georgias are looking good but Larrissa is still struggling with that Adler combination.

Read a new preview of the event and Peggy interview here.

Pacific Rim News: One Day More

Today marks the second day of training for teams at Pacific Rim as well as the opening ceremony. My apologies for not giving comprehensive coverage of trampolining and rhythmic, but my ticket is for Hisense.

You can read some detailed observations from yesterday's artistic training sessions here, courtesy of Elaine at the International Gymnast forum.

I'll be away once again due to work today but hope to update any goings-on later this evening. I am also going to try and whip up some posters (probably not as many as I originally envisioned) with my limited time and resources. In the meantime, keep your eyes on tweets and Facebook updates.

Hope to bring you some exciting on-the-scene coverage from tomorrow.

Pacific Rim News: LOTS OF IT!

If you haven't 'liked' the Pacific Rim Championships page on Facebook, or are following on Twitter (PacRimChamps), then do it NOW.

Some cracking photos and videos are being added to each page simultaneously every day, and today's training session alone proved a goldmine.




You'll notice there are 7 Aussie girls on the floor; apparently Emma Nedov has travelled to Melbourne with the team. I believe this has to do with Georgia Wheeler's (noticeably strapped) knee?

Thanks to the Anon who posted these titillating tidbits...

"USA look unstoppable.
Marta has a new little fave in Kyla Ross who did some beaut bar work.
Bross and Sloan struggled on bars - but their difficulty is amazing - if they hit (and I suspect they will) they will be unbeatable.
Team AUS and team CAN had solid, solid training and the Chinese and Russians looked superb. Oh China on beam - sigh!
The junior Russians are the smallest girls in the arena bar one miniature Chinese girl. They all seemed pretty happy around Hisense today!"

And an AGB agent on the scene (possibly the same Anon, teehee) said ...

* New Zealand looked pretty good on Beam and floor!
* Larrissa Miller (AUS) did not appear to warm anything up other than bars
* Emma Nedov (AUS reserve) appeared to be training all apparatus with the rest of the team
* My friend overheard Marta Karolyi saying she liked the look of Georgia Rose Brown (AUS) (possibly just body-wise, not sure if she saw her actually doing gym...)
* Alexa Moreno (Mexico) has good tumbling! Very high! A real little powerhouse. Did Pike full in, double pike and very open double arabian tuck.
* Rebecca Bross (USA) was doing very cowboyed double fronts
* Alex Raisman (USA) was a sticking machine, stuck all her tumbling.... then bailed out of a roundoff and had a pretty spectacular fall. Walked it off, talked to her coach for a while and then went back and did 1.5 through to layout, which eventually became a double arabian.

Pacific Rim News: Things That Go Bump-In

Ooooh, I gots me some tingles!



In other good news, Emma Dennis was spotted last week helping the 2010 Commonwealth Games torch on its international journey!

In quite sad news, Team Australia MAG has been dealt yet another blow. Sam Simpson has had to withdraw from Pacific Rim due to injury. He will be replaced by Luke Wadsworth.

Pacific Rim News: Caption This!

And from 3D to HD: Channel 10's digital off-shoot OneHD to broadcast Pacific Rim...?

Pacific Rim News: WAG Camp

Big thanks to MLC for reports, photos and interviews from our WAG Pacific Rim campers.

International delegations arrive from Monday, let's get this party started!

Pacific Rim News: The Countdown Begins

Less than a week to go, muffins! Woohoo!

Just a quick news round-up:

Luke Wiwatowski has been named to our men's team, replacing Philippe Rizzo. Congratulations, Luke, and good luck!

The USA has confirmed its women's team, and it is the exciting combination of... the nominative team!

Rebecca Bross
Alexandra Raisman
Kyla Ross (may be replaced with Madison Kocian if ankle problems continue?)
Bridget Sloan
Jordyn Wieber
Sabrina Vega

He Ning of China is apparently ruled out of their team.

An article on Emily Little for The West Australian is here. Note the really exciting bits at the end:

[Lauren] Mitchell has returned to full training with vault and tumbling basics, having overcome a hand and then a foot injury and should be ready for trials in July.

Dasha Joura, Australia's leading Olympian in Beijing in 2008, is also progressing after 18 months away from top level competition.

An article featuring rhythmic gymnast Naazmi Johnston can be found here.

I will be absent for much of tomorrow, so I won't be around to see the live chat with G-Whizz unfold. Don't forget to get your question in (you can ask from today)!

Pacific Rim News: More Media

A breakdown of the Victorian PRC participants by suburb is here (with some additional comments from Peggy Liddick).

Though home-field advantage is often a big plus in sport, Liddick said the Australian coaching staff would be working hard to ensure the young team remains fully-focussed on the competition floor.

“It would be easy to look up in the stands and wave at granny, when they should be thinking about their beam routine.”

Below is French coverage of the recent Paris-Bercy international, featuring Emily Little's vaults from the final (thanks bundles, Marine!)



Here is her beam from qualifications (with thanks to eipos24).




Here's a different angle on her vault from one I previously posted.





Aaaaaaand here's Georgia Wheeler's beam for good measure!

Pacific Rim News: I'm Doing The Snoopy Dance

Who's excited for next week!?

You Sir, are you excited?

You there, Madam (not meant in anyway to presume you associate yourself with ladies-of-the-night), are YOU excited?

Small child looking terrified, are YOU excited!?!?

Big Kev says... I'm excited!


Victorians, get ready for tomorrow's double-page Pacific Rim promotional liftout in the Herald Sun! You might have spotted the teaser ad today in the very same publication, a surprise that made me drop my lunch in shock and glee.

Set your collective moods to WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!




Edit: in the meantime, read a Herald Sun article on the gym team's prospects here (it may very well form part of tomorrow's liftout?) and an additional piece on Georgia Wheeler here.

AGB Goes to the VHPC Invitational

Along with a mere handful of spectators.


Plenty of room to spare in Prahran today as some of Victoria's best (and I do mean some - MLC, Waverley, Jets, Grips, apparently didn't make the trip out) strutted their stuff in front of a small but dedicated crowd.

And Peggy Liddick.

Our national women's head coach was there, and her presence made me as nervous as I'm sure it made the gymnasts. Kinda like when police officers walk past - you know you're totally innocent and non-threatening, you just feel like you're going to be pulled up for something. She was quite taken with the HPC's system of chair sponsorship ("This Chair Donated by [x gymnast]") and asked two younger gymnasts, "How do I get my name on a chair?... Do you guys just bring them from Bunnings or something?" She also took a shine to the girls' pink aprons left over from the breast cancer fundraiser, joking, "I love the waitress look you've got going on!"

In short - give this woman her own stand-up set, post haste.

But yes! To the competition proper.

Seniors Naomi Russell and Fiona Coley were not present. Zoe Lorenzin and Alex Eade continued apparatus training as the others rotated events; Ash Brennan trained in the first rotation but joined the rest of Mischa and Tracey's squad for beam, vault and floor. All girls wore the pink breast cancer fundraiser leotards with matching ribbons. Some girls from Balance Gymnastics came to watch the second session, wearing their OSU-esque black and orange leotards.

I recorded as much as possible on my new video camera but, I ashamedly admit, I accidentally erased Georgia Rose Brown's GORGEOUS beam routine. I am kicking myself for it. I managed to catch a whole bunch of other routines and observations.


Before I upload them, here are some tidbits -

* Britt Greeley is sporting a tan; she worked her Weiler kip on the single bar throughout today's session, sitting and chatting to Peggy during the first rotation.
* The girls have had their dance and pirouette work overseen by choreographer Lisa Bradley in recent days.
* Zoe Lorenzin did double pike dismounts on bars, then some fairly piked attempts at double layouts. I repeat - double layout dismounts! I can definitely see her getting the skill consistently. She then did some lovely ones on the tumbling strip (spotted then un-spotted) plus some piked full-ins for good measure, while fellow junior Alex Eade worked on triple twists. Alex fell backwards on nearly every one, but made some amusing faces in the process. I tried poorly to catch both of these things on camera.
* The gym gets a new floor mat tomorrow, apparently. They have their own medal dais now with the centre's logo on it, used at the end for awards.
* Georgia Rose's dad (at least I think it was her dad) dutifully filmed each of her routines, as did Peggy. A lot of buzz around GRB today as the Pacific Rim representative, she got a special shout-out at the end.
* Ash B was the only senior on show today, so she won 3 apparatus titles outright. Hers was the last lot of awards given out, Peggy walked up and just put all 3 gold medals around her neck instead of having each one announced individually. Much laughter ensued.

Aaaand... I'll pretty much let the videos do the talking now! Forgive any wobbly bits and my excessive use of zoom. I was up, down and around trying to capture the best angle.

Stay tuned, I'll have them up and in a playlist before tonight is out.

Edit: Ok, so I lied. YouTube is taking FOREVER and I have about half a dozen videos still to come (including Georgia Rose's vault, Svetlana's floor and the medal ceremonies). Please bear with me, my little laptop can only take so much. My apologies for you all hearing me constantly saying gymnast names at the beginnings of videos, it's to remind myself when the time comes to label them on YouTube! I will try and get the rest up by tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, enjoy this little random moment I felt like capturing...

TRIPLE Woah

Not only is Phil Rizzo confirmed to be out of Pacific Rim with injury, the team reserve Martin Jozwiak is out, too!

GA says:

Rizzo has battled niggling shoulder inflammation since before the trial but persevered under light training loads in the hope that his shoulder would respond in time to take his place in the men's team.

Unfortunately, an MRI yesterday revealed that the shoulder is not responding as well as first hoped and that a period of rest and rehabilitation is required in order to avoid any further inflammation.

This disappointment comes just days before the men's team is due to head to Canberra for their final preparations ahead of the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne.

Team reserve Martin Jozwiak (WA) has also been ruled out of taking Rizzo's place owing to injury, with Victorian Luke Wadsworth and New South Welshman Luke Wiwatowski flying into camp next Tuesday to be put through their paces.

A decision on Rizzo's replacement is expected by Thursday 22 April.

Get well soon, Phil and Martin! This is very unfortunate timing but here's hoping you can recover for the big events going on later this year.

Double Woah

Phil Rizzo reportedly out of Pacific Rim with injury!?

And what will YOU ask rising star Georgia Wheeler?