From the Beijing Collection

Olivia Vivian has kindly said that she would be happy for the following photos to be shared with you all. So let me present to you moments from her exclusive Beijing Olympics collection...
(apologies for blurriness, I had to resize them a bit)

The leotards arrive in Canberra, plastic-wrapped and ready to do their job as part of Australia's Olympic campaign. As you can see, there were a few that did not get selected for use by the team, including the interesting two on the far right, and the two in the middle of the top row.

The pride of an Olympian: She certainly has it.

Pre-comp: In the training gym

Pre-comp: The team gets "pumped up" and feels the love before prelims. Could we love this team more? I think not.

Oh wait, apparently we can. Post-comp: Despite the rain, the girls converge on The Great Wall to amaze onlookers and bemuse television reporters...

All good things must come to an end. Byebye, Liv! Good luck in Oregon!

Awards Amendments

I have amended category #8 and #13 of the AGBy list, adding one or two extra names I had forgotten, so please look closely at the nominations list before voting.

Those who have already voted prior to this afternoon (you know who you are) may review the list and may change their vote/s within those altered categories if they wish to; otherwise the original rules still stand (only vote once, one vote per each category etc etc).

Thanks for your patience, and keep the votes coming to ozgymblog@gmail.com.

Ah.

*slight cough*

Ummmm... I have a bit of a clarification to make.
Those Worlds '07 montages. The ones I linked to. Yeeeaaah... remember how I said we were dealing with an exciting new montage maker? Well, um, I don't think we are, exactly.

Watch those two montages.
Then watch this one.
Then this one.

And try to think where we've seen them before.

...

...

That's right. They're the GA montages they play at Nationals! I've been waxing lyrical about stuff we'd pretty much already seen, thinking it was new and done by some amazing person with MovieMaker on their laptop way out in the wild blue yonder. Well, technically they ARE a pretty amazing person with a laptop... but they're montages made for public broadcast and promotional purposes! That people, in a roundabout sort of way, are charged to see (insofar as they pay for a ticket to the event and then they play these on video screens). Oh, how foolish I was to think some individual was finally making use of good Stuttgart footage they had on their computer and having some fun with it! And to tell you all that they had! Little did I know someone was doing it for a job! Professionally! I even said they had used Nade's song... when in fact it was the other way around! THAT'S where we first heard it!

Oh, the huge manitee!

*exhale*

In other words - rest assured, Nade. You are still the individual non-for-profit supreme overload of YouTube-based gymnastics montagery. I don't know if that'll fit on a business card.


Don't forget to vote in the 2008 Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards.

Mid-Week Updates

There's a GA "mid-week update" up. Who are these people, Saturday Night Live all of a sudden?

LOLlity. I shouldn't complain. It's certainly an improvement! That it talks of "overnight" events goes to show they're kind enough to bestow the news on us.

Thanks to speedy secret agent Nade for the heads-up:

MID WEEK UPDATE - LAUREN MITCHELL HEADS TO THE WORLD CUP FINAL IN MADRID

Overnight, GA has received an invitation for Lauren Mitchell to attend the 2008 World Cup Final in Madrid (ESP). Lauren and coach Martine George, will leave Australia on Tuesday 9th December in time to compete in the Beam final which will take place on Sunday 14th December 2008.

Best wishes to Lauren, Phil and Prashanth, who will all be flying the flag for Australia at the 2008 World Cup Final.

And while they're at it, they've also named the Youth Olympic Festival team:

Britt Greeley - VIS/VIC
Emily Little - WAIS/WA
Mary-Anne Monckton - AIS/NSW
Georgia-Rose Brown - MBC/QLD
Emma Collister - Waverley/VIC
Ashley Cooney - WAIS/WA
Natalia Joura - WAIS/WA
Karina Brooks - QAS/QLD

Reserves:
Svetlana Sanders - VIS/VIC
Zoe Lorenzin - VIS/VIC
Tierra Exum - VIS/VIC

Let's Hear It For the Boys

It is an acknowledged fact that, in the unfortunate absence of stalwart Philippe Rizzo, our MAG team did not do as well as hoped at the 2007 World Championships.

Well, this rather uplifting montage, courtesy of the montage-maker behind the WAG Stuttgart montage from t'other day, would make you think otherwise! It's to the Foo Fighters (or at least appears to be) so... get ready to rock out with your chalk block out.

*does the rock finger salute thing*

Brain Bleach

Clearly, something is needed to sedate our eyes and memories from that horrible crash in yesterday's video.

Well!

Feast your eyes on Britt Greeley's new non-doofdoof floor routine here (talk about mature new choreography!) and her beam routine here. What a difference a few months makes!

Image courtesy of Kostikal.

And while you're at it, check out this fantastic new montage about our WAG team at the 2007 Worlds. Not too shabby at all. Nade, methinks you have some competition! Heck, they're even using your song!

Don't forget to vote in the 2008 Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards.

SWEETMAMMASTRINGBEANS!

Remember that old video someone posted of the Aussie gymnast who was doing a bar routine and hit her shins unexpectedly on the low bar while doing giants? A fall that just about makes you jump out of your chair because you're not expecting it and it looks super painful?

Yeeeah. Just warning you now, this video, featuring Victoria's own Svetlana Sanders at the recent Massilia Cup, has that in reverse. I honestly don't know which is painfullier.

...what do you mean that's not a word!? Ask Lano and Woodley, they'll tell you.

Anyway, good on her for getting up and continuing. Just listen to all the "ooh la la"-ing from the spectators!

But believe me. You don't see it coming. Watch at your own risk.

In brighter news, nominations for the 2008 Agbys are already starting to emerge. Please keep them coming in, a new category was added today!

New Email Address!

Please send any and all correspondence (including, but not limited to, nominations for the 2008 Agbys) to my new email address, created for this blog:

ozgymblog@gmail.com

That'd be ace. Thanks.