Olympic Team: Nominations Countdown

Zee suspense. She iz murdering me quite painfully.

While we wait for the official team announcement (there's a whole lotta speculatin' goin' on), here's something to distract you:

Emma Dennis featured in today's news. Lovely photo!

I have no idea where the announcement will come from. I've got the AOC webpage and the Gymnastics Australia webpage and The Age online opened. I'm jumping between forums but they're as clear as I am. My computer is hating me hitting Refresh so much.

GAH!...THREE MINUTES!

I probably won't be home tonight so keep your eyes on the nightly sports reports to see if we get anything. Anyone who can video and upload anything would be showered with digital praise.

...Ok it's now gone 10:00, hold onto your hats.

*trumpet fanfare* GA has broken the news.

Your 2008 Olympic Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team is...

Athletes:-
Dasha Joura - WA
Shona Morgan - VIC
Lauren Mitchell - WA
Ashleigh Brennan - VIC
Georgia Bonora - VIC
Olivia Vivian - WA

Coaches:-
Peggy Liddick - National Coach
Martine George - Team Coach - WA
Misha Barabach - Team Coach - VIC

The following athlete and coach have been named as reserves:-

Gymnast - Emma Dennis - VIC
Coach - John Hart - VIC

Some Time Later: Fox Sports has updated about it; hopefully it will be on their cable news channel soon because there hasn't been anything for the last hour (not even in breaking news). The official GA press release is slowly doing the rounds.

They have put some photos up. It's a shame they're so small.

(I'm intrigued by the "Beijing-themed photo opportunities" that the girls apparently had today in the presence of the media. Clearly, with pithy paper lanterns and computer printouts of the Beijing logo sticky-taped onto tables, the AIS spares no expense!)

Olympic Team Trial Day 2

Trial Day 2, the be-all-and-end-all of Olympic teamship qualificationary, will be getting underway soon at the AIS.

I must say, taking 9 to the camp when 8 will be selected is a bit stodgy. I suppose the UnChosen One and the selected 'non-travelling' reserve can keep eachother company and console one another, but really. It's a bit unfair.

Anyway.

WILL Emma stand up the Baitova?
WILL Olivia show a solid bars routine?
WILL Dasha keep landing that layout-stepout beam series?
WILL Peggy choose wisely?
WILL you be frantically logging onto gym websites at 9:59 tomorrow morning?

Only time WILL tell... Stay tuned...

Tune back in to read this bit of gossip from our source, which has been shifted from the Comments page:

"Olivia had 3 falls off beam today. Ashleigh didn't compete floor or vault today and was getting therapy/massages for the first half of the comp (note not her legs but her lower back.hips). She had a fall off beam and made a mess of her run-up for her dismount, had to walk back and do it again. Lots of falls off beam today by the girls. I think the only ones who stayed on beam were Georgia, Lauren and Amber. Lauren almost stuck her piked arabian on floor but went OOB - but a lot cleaner then yesterday's landing of it. She went OOB a couple of other times too I think. Again, I'd say that the team is Dasha, Lauren, the Waverley 3 and Ashleigh (injury-free). Amber Fulljames to be travelling alternate. The last alternate spot I would give to Melanie Jones, simply due to her being more of an all-arounder then Olivia. I loved Emma's floor music and Amber's was pretty good too. Georgia and Lauren's music is kind of the same genre, and I don't really like that style of music. Vault was the best apparatus today overall."

Now, word just filtered through from someone who knows someone who was at the the event that the team was named, and it's as we thought (Joura, Mitchell, Morgan, Bonora, Brennan, Dennis, Fulljames/Vivian as reserves). I find it surprising that Olivia would top Mel J so I'm not really going to believe this lineup until I get more subtantiated confirmation.

ETA 9am Monday: More from Day 2, courtesy of our sources (I've mixed it up between the two so we get a bit of everything).

ROTATION 1: Floor

Georgia - great routine.
Emma - Bounced backward out of first pass, and just stayed in bounds. Other than that it was a great routine.
Melanie - Large step forward out of double Arabian, but stayed in bounds. Bounce backward out of double twist. Fell on front full into front 1.5 twist. Landed almost laying down the side of her body. Step on last pass.
Amber - out of bounds on first and second passes. Landed on line in last pass. Otherwise good routine.
Olivia - Fell on double pike last pass. Landed on hands and knees.
Shona - Bounced backward out of double pike, otherwise beautiful routine.
Lauren - out of bounds on Arabian double pike in first pass. Overall great routine.
Dasha - Awesome double layout. Fantastic routine.

Ashleigh didn't do floor.

ROTATION 2: Vault

Emma - BAITOVA. Awesome and stuck.
Melanie - Tsuk 1.5. Stuck.
Amber - Handspring front pike, small step backward
Georgia - Yurchenko 1.5. Good vault but large step right out of the lines.
Shona - Great vault, BAITOVA (!). Small step
Lauren - Yurchenko 1.5. Good vault, small step
Dasha - BAITOVA. Great technique and height. Small step.

Olivia and Ashleigh didn't vault.

ROTATION 3: Bars

Melanie - Missed going over the bar in half turn, extra swings. Missed going over the bar in giant full. Extra swings. No falls.
Amber - Great routine. Good height in releases. Small step on landing of dismount.
Olivia - Hit majority of handstands. Slight ankles apart in some places. Large step backward on double front dismount.
Georgia - Close Gienger release. Jump forward on double front dismount.
Emma - Great routine. Smallest movement after dismount.
Shona - Missed turn on high bar. fell the wrong way and had to improvise. Small step on double front dismount.
Ashleigh - Good routine. Very aggressive.
Lauren - Release kind of low and close to the bar. Bent knees throughout turning giant and resulted in an extra swing. A pretty deep squat on landing out of dismount.
Dasha - great routine. Hit pretty much every handstand. Small hop on dismount.

ROTATION 4: Beam

Amber - Great routine but large step backward out of double tuck dismount.
Olivia - Fell off after back walkover into layout step out. Fell off after front aerial. Fell off after side somersault. Missed that series. Step backward after dismount.
Georgia - Great routine, only step backward after back layout and step backward after dismount.
Emma - Step backward after back layout. Small wobble after side aerial. Fell off on full turn. Small movement on dismount.
Melanie - Step backward after switch leap with half turn. Wobble after full turn. Step backward and a bit of a low landing on front tuck. Overall good routine.
Shona - Fell off after back layout. Nice full twisting Korbut. Grabbed beam with hand after side aerial to prevent falling off. Wobble after full turn. Step backward after double pike dismount.
Ashleigh - Wobble after side somersault series. Fell off after back layout. Fales run on dismount. Had a bad hurdle so stopped and went back to the end of the beam and did a second take. Small step on landing.
Lauren - wobble after front aerial to 2 feet. Great layout series. Dismount 2 flips into double pike, stuck cold. Really good routine.
Dasha - Step backward out of back layout. Small step on double tuck dismount.

Hurray! Baitova's! A plethora of Baitova's! (claps for you if you get the Three Amigos referenc)

Other observations:

Melanie was better today, but still a few issues. During warm-up Peggy was coaching her a bit on beam and telling her what she is doing wrong. When she was on fx she took a big fall on one pass and Peggy had to jump out of the way so she didn't get bowled over. Classic. On fx she had a big fall on one of her twists and was low on her double pike and jumped back a bit, but otherwise she looked better than yesterday.


Ashleigh is injured in some way. Before the comp she was warming up on floor and looked like she was hurting - it could be that she really does have shin splints, there could also be something with her back because her coaches were working on that. She didn't compete floor or vault. She looked pretty good on bars though with just a small hop on her dismount. Beam was a disaster...she had a fall and big wobbles on 3 skills I think and then for her dismount she got to the end of the beam and stopped and had to run back to the other end to give her dismount another try. Poor thing didn't look happy and she seemed to be in a bit of pain. She stayed away from the other girls most of the time with her coach, so I hope that she is alright

Baitova's, yay!
Injuries, boo!

Are you needing a change of pants yet? It's nearly time!

Olympic Team Trial Day 1

Observations from Day 1 at the AIS courtesy of inside sources (please note that scores and standings were not announced):

ROTATION 1: Floor

Olivia Vivian - good routine. Out of Bounds 3rd pass.
Amber Fulljames - out of bounds 1st pass. Low landing 2nd pass.
Melanie Jones - low landing and crooked 2nd pass but just stayed in bounds. Same kind of landing on 4th pass.
Emma Dennis - stuck 1st pass. Clean routine.
Georgia Bonora - clean routine but out of bounds on last pass.
Shona Morgan - stuck 1st, end and 4th passes cold. Great routine.
Ashleigh Brennan - I think mucked up 2nd pass. Only a full twist forward and kinda ran out of it. Out of bounds 3rd pass.
Lauren Mitchell - overrotates and out of bounds 1st pass. out of bounds last pass. Other than that, clean routine.
Dasha Joura - perfect double layout. Stuck 2nd, 3rd and 4th passes. Great routine!


ROTATION 2: Vault

Amber - handspring front pike. Small step forwards.
Melanie - Tsuk 1.5. Low landing. Step backward and off to the side.
Emma - Baitova. Fell short. Landed on hands and knees
Georgia - Yurchenko 1.5. Small step.
Shona - Yurchenko 1.5. Small step. Just stayed inside the lines.
Ashleigh - Tsuk full twist. Pretty much stuck.
Lauren - Yurchenko 1.5. Good landing, small step forwards.
Dasha - Baitova. Good height, small step backwards.

Olivia didn't vault.


ROTATION 3: Bars

Mel - Fell on Gienger. Missed going over the bar on reverse giant so had to change direction and extra swings. Long routine. Double layout dismount ok. Small step.
Emma - Good routine. Hit majority of handstands. Small jump on landing out of double front.
Georgia - Good routine. Had no swing on transition to high bar. Kip from almost dead hang. Small jump on dismount.
Olivia - missed going over the bar in giant full. Extra swing in the wrong direction. Had to fight over the bar on last front giant. No speed into double front dismount and sat it down.
Amber - missed first release. stuck dismount.
Shona - good routine. Just a small step on her dismount.
Ashleigh - fell wrong way on first handstand on high bar. Did extra swings and whilst starting to restart swing smacked shins into low bar. Other than that, it was an okay routine. Small jump on dismount.
Lauren - great routine. Hit almost every handstand. Small jump backward on dismount.
Dasha - great routine. Just step on double front half dismount.


ROTATION 4: Beam

Emma - extra step backwards after flip layout. Wobbles after standing back tuck and full turn. Large step to the side on 2.5 twist dismount.
Georgia - step after side aerial. Step after double tuck dismount. Good routine.
Olivia - nice backward walkover to back layout series. Wobble after side somersault. Low landing on dismount. Jumped backward into squat to avoid sitting down. Good routine but slightly cautious.
Amber - wobble after switch ring leap. 2 steps backward out of front aerial. Step forward out of double tuck dismount.
Mel - wobble on front mount. Solid front pike. Fell on switch leap half turn. Wobble on side somi. Fell off after back layout. Front full dismount. Looked like layout but had bent knees.
Shona - low landing on back layout. 2 step and small wobble. (not sure whether that was as a result of the low landing on layout?) Great full twisting Korbut. Step backward out of double pike dismount. Overall nice routine.
Ashleigh - good routine. Small wobble after switch ring leap. Very controlled. Slight movement after dismount but no major dramas.
Lauren - great leaps. Front aerial to 2 feet into back tuck. Nice double turn down close to beam. 2 flips to double pike dismount. Step on landing. Great routine.
Dasha - backward step out of flip layout. Slight wobble after side somersault. Bit of a low landing on double tuck dismount. Two steps and a wobble. Overall great routine.


Many thanks to source/s.

Looks like the girls are really feeling the pressure and some are handling it better than others. Olivia and Ashleigh were clearly having an up and down day, and there were some surprise OOB's (poor Lauren and that pesky piked arabian!).

Good luck for Day 2, ladies.

From Berwick to Beijing and Back Again

It's D-Day, people. Or should I say B-Day, as the final trial for the Beijing women's team gets underway in Canberra today. Cross your fingers, eyes and all other humanoid digits that it goes smoothly and the girls all perform at their best.
Good luck, girls!

Now for the media, with which we will hopefully be bombarded over the next two days (they've been invited to the trials so keep one eye on the papers and another on the news bulletins!)

Ashleigh Brennan scored a feature in The Age as one of several hopefuls (and favourites) for the team. Her family are very supportive in their preparations to go and see her compete in the world's biggest sporting event. To give a bit more insight into the family's sacrifice (and those of similar sporting families), a family friend of ours has a son in the Australian Olympic hockey squad. He made it to their final trial but sadly he didn't up making the team. If he had, the other family members would have had to fork out upwards of $300 each(!) for tickets to go and see him compete.
I have a crazy theory that, provided she makes the team (which I believe she will), Ash's floor routine wouldn't be shown in the broadcast because it's the theme music to a program ("Cold Case") shown on a rival network to the Olympic broadcaster. Let's not forget, Allana Slater was nearly in trouble in 2000 for using floor music that was used in QANTAS ads, that airline NOT being the official sponsor of the Sydney Olympics.

Follow the Waverly girls' progress here. There is a short explanatory piece here, and Dasha gets a a say here and here.

Joura said she had a little trick that might catch the eye of the judges.

''Some gymnasts go in with a straight face but I have a little bit of flair and try to connect with the judges and the crowd,'' she said.

You're nervous!? I'M Nervous!

It's getting closer, folks. On Monday morning we will know our women's Olympic gymnastics team!

The air is electric and goosebumpy.
I've come over all woozy...

Will our three-time national champion be on that list? Oh, I should think so. Better she be nervous now than in the middle of the Olympic podium!

(In other news - keep your ears to the ground if you're a fan of British gymnasts. Team GB gets named after this weekend too).

Oz vs GB in the race to team finals... bring it on, guv'ner!

The Best Things in Life are Free

Olivia Vivian's latest blog takes a look at fundraising (and fun-raising, yuk yuk yuk).

I would've loved to see Liz C as an auction caller (or better yet, a bingo caller!) on the night.
Though no doubt she got paired with an inexperienced male assistant who made trivial speculations and pronounced everything incorrectly. Just like old times...

It's The Little Things

The women's Olympic squad is now in Canberra, undertaking their last training session together before the final team of six is named. Stay tuned, Wally Watchers!

I'm glad GA make technical bulletins and other administrative things open to the public. It is always interesting to read what goes on behind the competitions and what those off the floor think about what goes on.

Tidbits from Nationals 2008:

1. The "My Heroes" autograph session on the Friday night ran too late. Some gymnasts got 'home' well after midnight, no thanks to compulsory drug testing sessions that also happened once the competition was over!
2. Apparently judges at the competition don't get a great deal of audio-visual reference material after the event. Not all state programs were able to get access to filmed routines that were on show for their judges. Not enough filmers and not enough DVD's to go around. It was recommended by the technical committee they use "U-tube" [sic] for the time being. I don't like to snicker, but... *snickers quietly* Back on topic, did they not SEE myself and three friends video-ing next to eachother in the one row of seats? We'll work for free if they're that desperate!
3. With regards to National Levels Challenges, New Zealand, Japan and the USA have expressed interest in competing against our girls (thus making the events more of a 'challenge' as it were).
4. From 2009 onwards, the annual Carol Sussman award for floor artistry (won in the past by the lovely likes of Dasha Joura, Monique Blount and Nicole Alexander) will only be awarded to a National Levels gymnast.


And on a personal note - our girls deserve 'ticker tape' at their medal ceremonies and team announcements, just like the US girlies get!

Testing, Testing...

Don't mind me, just testing YouTube embedding. Can't believe I didn't try it before. This is all VERY complicated for a newbie blogger such as myself. Hope it works!

Trudy McIntosh and Melinda Cleland cooked up a storm in this little-known profile piece that aired in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. Very cute. "Whaddya reckon, Min?" Video courtesy of AusGymVids (whose magnificent archived collection is making its way over to YouTube).