Mitchell Unmatched

Our big red fire engine does it again!

Lauren Mitchell has won an unprecedented THREE GOLD MEDALS at the World Cup in Stuttgart!

She won floor (14.275), beam (15.325) and bars (14.150) in a historic display of dominance from an Australian gymnast.

Peggy said -

“Last night was a success, not only because she won the medals, but it was a statement that she’s a true professional, that she loves her gymnastics and when she goes out she can back herself up.

“Keep that history book open, just love the achievements that we’re making at the moment.”

Read more about Lauren's amazing round of competition here.

Some videos from the event are going up at this account, something of Lauren's may crop up if you keep your eyes peeled.

There is also a routine report up at The Couch Gymnast.

In other quite cool news, Loz's triple wolf turn has been submitted to the FIG for recognition in the Code of Points (and thus to be named after her).

She was mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald, which also noted:

Following a brief training stint with the Romanian gymnastics team this week, Mitchell will journey to Glasgow to compete in the final world cup event of the year from November 18 to 21, followed by the renowned Toyota Cup in Japan from December 10 to 12.

Lauren we are so proud of you.

Personally, I hear an American Cup invite calling...


(ETA: Thanks to Nade for the heads-up... NEW LEO!)

Super Saturday

Hullo! Are you having a super Saturday? I'm having a super Saturday. Please don't hesitate to have yourself a super Saturday!

Good news has filtered through on the Aussie gymnastics front.

Lauren Mitchell has qualified in first place to two finals at the DTB Cup! She leads beam (6.4/14.875) and floor qualification (5.8/14.425), managing a commendable fourth rank for the bars final (5.5/13.725). Good luck, Lauren!

Our Marseille squadron is doing well, too. According to the VHPC at Facebook:

Tierra has qualified for vault finals, Alex for floor finals, georgia for bars finals, nikki for vault, bars, beam and Natalia for vault and floor. Aus team came 3rd. The VWHPC team finished 4th. Alex came 5th AA, Tierra finished 12th, and Laura came 30th.

More information about the Massilia international field can be read here. Apparently Georgia Simpson is competing as part of a 'mixed team' with a Swedish gymnast!

****ETA: The Australian team finished 3rd overall, with Nat Joura the highest ranked all-around finisher in 6th.

France Catch-Up

What? Yes, hello and everything. Come now, surely that vase was expendable.


I've been a tad distracted over the last few days so thankfully there are gymnasts being productive to balance out my rubbishness.

YouTube user Eipos24 has dutifully uploaded footage from Combs La Ville which includes the members of Team Australia/VWHPC. GeeRoBro really lives up to that 'Khorkina-esque' remark, she is simply divine to watch.

The team is currently preparing for the Massilia international. You can view the official website here (click the Union Jack near the top to view the website in English)

Breaking: Dasha Takes a Bow

As one West Australian star takes a step forward into the spotlight, another is taking her final curtain call.



Dasha Joura is retiring from gymnastics, according to PerthNow.

"In a lot of ways I have some unfinished business, or whatever you want to call it," Joura said. "Obviously my career didn't end on a note that I am happy with it ending on.

"But I also feel like I'm at the stage of my life where I need some stability in my future and I want to pursue some of my other passions.

"My parents would love to have me back in the gym, but I don't think it's necessarily the right place for me."

We love you, Dash.

Very best wishes in all your pursuits from here. You were a thoroughly entertaining performer and consistently positive team member. Thank you for your wonderful contributions to gymnastics and congratulations on an incredible competitive career. You and your smile will be missed.



A brief and faffy editorial, if you will indulge me-

Daria Joura. Or, to the gymnastics world, just "Dasha". Toepoint to die for, killer acrobatic skills, a fearless competitive drive, enviable fluidity of movement, endless enthusiasm, unrivalled presentation on floor and a staredown that would intimidate captivate not just the judges but the first five rows of spectators sitting directly behind the judges. Not many gymnasts have their formidable reputation summed up by the mere utterance of their first name (and first name only). Gymnastics in Australia had a wonderful ambassador in Dasha.

I am throwing roses on the stage in farewell of one sassy, daring, unforgettable leading lady of Australian gymnastics.

Francey Pants

The Victorian Women's High Performance Centre has put up some photos on Facebook of the Aussie team in training at Combs la Ville.

'Like' their page to find out more.

The official event website is here.


Also, this is a bit cool (insert "whatever floats your boat" joke here)!

“Lauren has been groundbreaking in her sport and we’re thrilled that she agreed to christen a boat that we hope will lead to more success for Mathew and I,” said Page. “We often just focus on our own sport so it was great to bring two sets of athletes together who have won World Championships in 2010 because there’s plenty we can learn from each other.”

Don't forget to keep voting for Lauren in the Sports Performer of the Year Awards, you can submit a fresh vote every day.


Happy Thursday!

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

News of our great results has filtered through via VWHPC!

Georgia Rose Brown finished second all-around, and the Aussie team came tops in the teams event!



Merci à Benoitof (de Gymnet.org) pour cette photo haut-qualité! Bon effort!
(Apologies for the extremely mangled French)



The apparatus finals results are in!

VT: Nikki 2
UB: Nikki 1 Georgia Rose 2
BB: Georgia Rose 1
FX: Georgia Rose 1

A couple of notes (from what I could decipher in French):


"Vault - the second Australian executed a super Yurchenko half [might've been half on half off?])
"Bars - Chung/Brown had beautiful execution with good difficulty - Chung a full-in dismount)"
" Beam - The Australian [Brown] won with a good but cautious routine."
"Floor - Brown won with beautiful movement, very graceful, tall and slender. Joura showed the most difficulty - double twist, 1 1/2 to 2/1... she was excellent, her fall was a shame. The double twist was magic!"
"Brown... reminds me somewhat of Khorkina!"

Congrats, team, for sweeping the finals!

More Mitchell Media

Thanks to Brindabella for the following WA newspaper scans featuring your friendly neighbourhood world champion!

Click for larger versions.

Thoughts on Gymbloggery

How did you enjoy the international blog coverage of the World Championships this year (I'm not necessarily talking about this blog)? What are your thoughts on the fact that gymnastics bloggers are in there among the media scrum with established publications and news networks?


Do you find them more or less useful than official reporting sources?
Do you find them more or less credible than official reporting sources?
Do you think they should be allowed to have media accreditation at big events?
Is there an uneven ratio of 'fluff' pieces to genuine news stories during big events?
Are the one-on-one interviews during competitions insightful?
Do you trust breaking news when it appears on a blog?
Are training/around-the-gym reports as interesting to you as the competition itself?
Do you think media passes just get treated 'like backstage passes'?

A debate is has kicked off at the Gymnastics Coaching Blog on this very issue. FullTwist Blog has an interesting take here.

Some of you are bloggers, some of you are blog contributors and/or readers. What do you think?

Yes We Can-Can

Massilia Cup and Combs-la-Ville update:

Travelling Victorians are now Brown, Eade, Hingston and Exum.