Canada Can Do

Congrats to our MAG competitors who took part in the Kyle Shewfelt Invitational over the weekend in Calgary. It was apparently a very fun and spirited competition!

The team came 2nd overall behind host nation Canada, with Josh Jefferis finishing on the all-around medal podium in 2nd and Tom Pichler in 3rd. They are going to be tough to separate come Olympic selection time!

Full results via GA can be found here.

I love this.

2012 American Cup (Contin.)

A correspondent for The Couch Gymnast has dutifully put up a video of Georgia's bar work during podium training today.





ETA: Unfortunately I was not up to watch the stream. However, I believe they showed Georgia's floor routine and it sounds like people were pretty impressed with it. I will post video and photo links as they come in after the event.


The final women's standings were:

1. Jordyn Wieber USA 61.032
2. Alexandra Raisman USA 60.832
3. Larisa Iordache ROM 59.332
4. Victoria Moors CAN 56.365
5. Diana Chelaru USA 56.100
6. Lisa Katharina Hill GER 55.599
7. Georgia Simpson AUS 54.566
8. Rebecca Tunney GBR 52.132


The Gymnastics Examiner has a photo gallery here.

Image via Reuters/Daylife.com

Full HD coverage of the competition as it aired on NBC can be found here. Thanks as always to NastiaFan! Georgia's floor is at 1:01:38

(if you listen veeeeeery carefully, just after she is announced, some encouraging young fans yell out "Go Georgia! Go Aussie!" which I think is very sweet.)

You can see Georgia's (non-televised) bars routine in the video below.




Would you like some G-Simps on your blog? Check out these groovy gifs!

Gymnastike has a brief pre-meet interview with Georgia up at their website.

2011 Massilia: Videos!

Thanks to Couch Gymnast for pointing out the hard-working French fans who captured Aussie routines (Chung, Wheeler and Brown at least) in Marseille.

Merci a tous!

Check them out here. The highlights for me personally are Nikki's rocked tumbling lines on floor (mistake on the final one aside... she FLOATS them beautifully and nails the landings) and Georgia Rose's crisp bars set.

A report featuring detailed results can be found at IG here.

2011 DTB Stuttgart

Hi guys.

Just got word from The All Around that the standings from the WAG team qualification in Stuttgart went thusly:

1. AUS 110.350 (!!!!!)
2. GER 106.250
3. RUS 105.950
4. NED 105.200
5. SUI 100,500
6. AUT 99.500

See a results pdf here. Lauren scored phenomenally on beam while Nikki rocked the second highest start scores on beam and bars (of the team).

Gymnastics WA have put up some of Desiree Jones' photos from the training gym on Facebook. Like their page and check 'em out!

2011 Worlds: MAG Qualification LIVE!!!

Update 6:21 AEDST: If you or someone you know was listening to 3AW Radio in Melbourne just now, yes, that was my mother calling up the evening sports show to give a shout-out to the gymnasts competing in Tokyo.
Yes, she did it without me knowing
Yes, she spoke without any prompting
Yes, she is aware she got the competition days wrong
No, she didn't say Lauren was from SA on purpose, she genuinely forgot!
No, I probably won't get to partake in the cake shop voucher she won.

And now for tonight's competition...

You, just like me, can follow live scoring here and quick hits here or at any of the social media resources I've cited in earlier posts. Gymnastics Australia are updating Facebook and Twitter simultaneously.


You'll have to forgive me, men's gym is really not my strong suit so my attention may waver.

Parallel Bars -

Sam O kicks Australia off with a 13.833. Hooray!
Two for two - Prashanth gets a 13.7, with a step on the dismount like Sam (eek!)
Luke WOW-atowski, I reckon! Sticks dismount for 14.45
Tom P keeps the good vibes going with a stuck dismount for 14.666
Josh just a 14.53 but a commendable routine.
Go Australia, you made it through p-bars superbly!

High Bar-

Luke 'Wadsy' Wadsworth leads off on high bar. Clean but lacking the theatrics of the powerhouse nations. 12.33, eep! That might hurt!
Sam O rocks a kovacs (I love those) 13.533
Tom P clean routine, dismounts with double lay full. 13.33
No boys have come off yet (touch wood). Phil Rizzo would be proud!
Josh 13.3333 (recurring!)
Team anchor Luke Wiwatowski goes up... hoping for the stuck dismount he did in Commonwealth team final... catches his releases a little close, apparently, struggles, one step on layout double double dismount. Good enough for a 12.333 OWCH!

Floor-
Wadsworth leads off again. Near stick on last pass. Clean for 14.00
Sam O - stuck double layout! 13.866
Josh J clean but landing errors 13.733
Luke Wiwatowski - Puts feet oob on one pass 13.633
Floor anchor Tom gets "mostly stuck landings" according to GA! 14.666

Pommel-

Australia's bogey apparatus, but a chance for pommel wunderkind Prashanth Sellathurai to shine.
Jefferis is up first. IG gives me a heart attack, as I read the quick hit "slices through his routine, a tad loose in the legs" as "slices his leg open"! But makes it through, 12.766
Bugger. Wadsworth runs out of steam as has to dismount prematurely
Wiwatowski fares better, stays on, but iffy on the dismount 12.933
Tom also stays on and avoids major form breaks 13.1
COME ON PROSHDOG!
Good reviews from IG, they said he "rips through it" and that it was superb... and it's a... 15.566! This puts him just behind Berki and Smith. Doubtless a finals spot.

Rings-

First up is Wiwatowski for 13.733 (GA says he was wobbly)
Tom good positions, dismount is double back with 1.5 twist 13.833
Josh pikes down dismount and hops, but gets us over the 13's. Scores 14.533!
Prashanth nice job, double lay dismount, 14.433 IG says he is "putting on a strength clinic", haha! Watch and learn, fellow competitors! Prash is the man!
Offord takes a large hop on dismount but made it through. 14.666

Vault-

Luke Wadsworth tsuk double for 15.433 great stuff!
Same in name and vault - Luke Wiwatowski also a tsuk double for 15.366...
Josh has to take a step on landing, 15.2
Tom 15.3
Last up is Sam... 15.366! IG and GA very happy with the effort on his Yurchenko double.
We finish 15th after our subdivision.

Well done, boys. Be proud of yourselves. Now we play the waiting game!

AUSTRALIA IS GOING TO THE LONDON OLYMPICS

LET'S PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

GA posted the following pic of the team upon learning the news...

AUTOMATIC TOKYO TEAM FINALLISTS
AND LONDON 2012 OLYMPIANS
AFTER 10 ROUNDS OF PRELIMS...

1. USA 234.253
2. Russia 231.062
3. China 230.370
4. Romania 227.228
5. Japan 223.543
6. Australia 221.846
7. Germany 221.163
8. Great Britain 220.553

Lauren Mitchell and Emily Little will contest the all-around final

Lauren is first reserve for the floor final


There is a nifty photo gallery featuring the purple Aussies here.

Later Breaking News

1. This is a bit cool. Nice one, guys.

2. Congratulations to our own Janine Murray who, by virtue of her 75th ranking at the World Rhythmic Championships, will be the sole Oceania representative at London 2012.

Strewth, Youth!

Sorry to have been conspicuously absent over the weekend, dear readers.

A driving test won't practise for itself, work shopping doesn't do itself (and it'll be cold day in hell before a roast lunch prepares itself).

Some great results coming out of the Commonwealth Youth Games, as Australia claims hardware in all three colours!

According to a GA update, we ended the competition with...

Individual All Around Placings: 12th (Declan Stacey), 14th (Kent Pieterse), 5th (Emma Nedov), 9th (Maddie Leydin)
Bronze - Australia WAG team, Australia MAG team
Silver - Rings (Tyson Bull)
GOOOLLLLDDDDD!!!! - Beam (Emma Nedov), Men's floor (Declan Stacey)

GA has some cracking photos up at Facebook.

For full results, head to the Isle of Man Commonwealth Youth Games website (link posted in my previous post).

Congrats to the Aussie delegation who battled a long trip and niggling injuries to do us proud on the international stage.

Catching Some Air

Bit of an unfortunate finish to Jayden Bull's Ghent campaign with a slip in the high bar final that landed him in 5th. But errors aside, he has a real flair for the apparatus. That much is obvious. So chin up, sonny, and chalk it up to experience. I have to admit it's a bit weird seeing new faces represent Aussie MAG overseas! I'm so used to the usual suspects!



And speaking of people going places, best of luck to our Junior Commonwealth Games team who yesterday departed for the Isle of Man! I promise not to make any The Fast Show jokes*.



*ask your parents.

Good Morning!

Best of luck to Jayden Bull who has qualified 8th to the high bar final in Ghent!

To Cool For School

Results out of the World University Games in China...


Aus MAG team - 11th

Sam Offord, rings - 4th!

All Around - Luke W, 17th. Tom Pichler, 22nd.

Prashanth S, pommel - GOLD!




Go you good things!

Nationals 2011: MAG wrap-up

Unfortunately, nothing much is being said in the media about our men but the senior all-around and apparatus finals have wrapped up, with a mixed bag of results.

Congrats to our 2011 National AA champ Luke Wiwatowski!

Luke was second behind the yet-to-earn-citizenship Japanese dynamo who keeps tongues wagging Naoya Tsukahara, but won by virtue of his, well, residency! Not content with just one gold, he also snagged the national floor title. AA favourite Sam Offord managed second, with Victorian upstart Jayden Bull (rocking a 6.5 high bar SV!) finishing in third.

Olympian Phil Rizzo is still making a comeback, unable to medal on his pet events, while Queensland golden boy Josh Jefferis managed three events in his road to recovery. And look out, world - Prashanth Sellathurai is comin' atcha with a 6.9 pommel SV!

The road to Tokyo is taking some interesting twists!

Nationals 2011: WAG EF LIVE!

Hello friends!

Special ops agent Brindabella is on the ground in Perth and reporting dutifully!

She says Challenge Stadium is filling up rapidly for the women's apparatus finals. I will be updating this post as she texts in.

We're kicking off with Senior VT and Junior UB.

Spotted as the vault final warmups wrap up - Sims, Monckton, Miller, Brennan, Brown, Greeley so far.

Sims in a black leotard, Mitchell in black with aqua and silver. Brown and Brennan in VWHPC aqua swirl. Eade in VWHPC pink and black flame leo.

Rotation 1:

UB Savidou nice geinger. Hop forward on dismount.

Chloe Sims on sidelines working with Vlad Joura.

VT Miller sits down her second warmup vault.

VT Monckton sticks first vault for 13.700!

VT Sims one step to the side. 13.875

VT Miller 4.8/13.500

UB Savvidou 11.750, McGrath cheering her on from the sidelines

VT Messy warmup for Budack, a near faceplant for Brennan. Hope competition vaults are better for them!

UB Rachel Boyd 3.8/11.325

VT Brennan stuck but landed low.

UB Cassis 11.300

VT Brennan 5.2/13.750

VT Mitchell stuck Baitova! 5.8/9.000!

VT Greeley stuck 5.3/13.975

UB Nedov clips foot on jaeger and almost falls, recovers to stick landing.

UB Naomi Lee 11.225

VT Budack 5.3/14.075

*** UPDATE: CHANNEL TEN CAMERAS ARE AT THE WAG EF SO KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED ON THE NEWS/SPORTS TONIGHT/7pm PROJECT! ***

Rotation 2:

UB Miller great bars warmup but legs apart on geinger. Brown flexed feet on geinger.

UB Sims does a Memmel-esque stoop giant now? Stuck dismount. 5.8/14.275

(From Nikki: fantastic routine! Inside stalder - inside stalder - blind change, reverse inside stalder, huge piked jaeger, shoot over h/s, stalder hiccup, stalder full - full in dismount. Nice!)


BB Nedov great routine with a few wobbles, 5.9/14.275

(from Nikki: Emma Jane Nedov on beam - flip - layout to 2 feet solid, switch leap - wolf jump, switch ring, front arial, flip-layout, punch front slight hop, sheep jump, pivot, r/off dbl pike chest low on landing, small hop)

BB Boyd two falls. 4.1/10.300

UB Miller legs apart on geinger, several hesitations. Twice holds handstands for too long, jumps off. re-attempts, stuck dismount.

(From Nikki: inside stalder full - gienger (leg separation), shoot over h/s - stalder hiccup, inside stalder - blind change - jaeger, fall on h/s half turn, stalder full, giant, full in dismount. 13.150)

UB Brown great, save for a few flexed feet and almost bouncing to knees on dismount. 5.3/12.725

(from Nikki: hecht mount, toe on, toe on full, gienger, giant half, jaeger, shoot over (short of h/s), stalder hiccup, toe on blind change, dbl front dismount over rotated.)

BB Godwin 5,5/13.075

UB Greeley 4.5/10.850

(From Nikki: stalder hiccup, clearhip - gienger, clearhip half not made, extra swing half turn, clearhip full turn repeated, over shoot (short of h/s), hiccup extra swing, full in dismount hands down)

UB Budack: Overarches first handstand. Great double layout dismount! A bit close to the bar, feet almost hit. 5.1/12.675

BB Cassis 4.6/13.025

BB Crystal Yeo (from Nikki) Low tkachev, shoot over, stalder hiccup, nice dbl layout dismount slight leg separation

UB Mitchell falls. 5.9/12.750

(from Nikki: hecht mount, toe on half (fall), toe on 1.5 - jaeger (extra swing), shoot over (short of h/s) - stalder hiccup, toe on, toe on blind change, dbl front dismount. 12.75)

**** YOU CAN SEE MORE DETAILED ROUTINE QUICKHITS FROM NIKKI IN THE COMMENTS OF THIS POST***

BB Lee Solid effort but sits down dismount. 5.4/12.500

(from Nikki: Naomi Lee on beam - Beautiful dbl wolf pivot, front arial, flip - pike sault stuck, front sault, side arial - switch split - back tuck, massive r/off dbl pike over rotated. 12.500)


UB Monckton STICK STICK STICKITTY STICK! Catches all releases nicely and sticks double layout dismount, Brind texts me IN CAPITALS so I thought this update NEEDED CAPITALS!

Monckton 5.8/13.875

(from Nikki: toe on full, piked shushunova, sky high tkachev, toe on, pak, stalder hiccup, blind change, reverse giant, beautiful dbl layout, small step on landing. Great routine! 13.875)

Channel 10 camera team moving to beam, obviously to catch our world champ on one of her best events! And the woman from Today Tonight Perth who did the gymnastics piece this week has just sat down next to Brindy!

Rotation 3:

BB King-Koi falls, 11.125

From Nikki: FX Godwin front full - front dbl (short on twist), dbl tuck, nice switch ring - switch half, dbl twist, dbl pike dismount

*** LIVE UPDATES ARE NOW BACK UP AT THE GA FACEBOOK PAGE ***

BB Joura: Big wobbles. Falls on side aerial. 11.050 . Cheered on by her celebrated big sister in the stands who is sporting "flaming red" hair!

FX Boyd "lovely" (from Brindy) "dbl pike, r/off 1.5 step out r/off back full, front 1.5 twist, nice switch ring - switch split half. Stuck dbl tuck dismount. Finish late to music" (from Nikki). 12.400

BB Monckton (from Nikki) "Beautiful side arial - back layout, front arial, switch half, back sault, switch leap - back pike, full turn leg horizontal, switch ring, r/off dbl pike low chest on landing. Nice routine!" 5.8/14.050

FX Nedov thumbs up from coach after routine. "Dbl tuck, dbl twist, switch ring - switch full, clean r/off 1.5 twist - front sault - stag, lovely dbl pivot, dbl pike dismount chest low on landing but stuck" 12.575

BB Brennan "front arial - switch leap - gainer layout, switch half - back tuck, beautiful split jump - wolf jump, nice side sault, switch ring small wobble, solid flip layout, side arial, side sault, r/off dbl pike dismount, hop on landing" 5.9/14.525

FX Eade goes OOB twice.

BB Brown: Lovely dance and leaps, steps back on double twist dsmount. "Looks upset on the sidelines"? Hope she hasn't hurt herself. 13.250

BB Mitchell: Whole arena hushed for the routine but she falls on first acro series! Wolf turn a double instead of triple. Despite the fall gets 6.5/14.575 so could win anyway.

BB Sims "eyeballs the judges" in the routine! Falls, goes overtime, but stands up her double front dismount.

(from Nikki: "front arial (pause) - side sault, flip - back tuck (fall), front tuck, beautiful leg up pivot, oversplit switch split, switch half, wolf jump - split jump, big step fwd on dbl front dismount. Amazing flexibility in dance elements") 5.6/12.975

Rotation 4:


Only six seniors line up for the floor final. Apparently stag jumps and leaps out of passes really are the done thing in this new code. "Everyone, seriously EVERYONE is doing them!" was the text. Thanks, FIG for instituting lunge deductions. Hope you're happy.




FX Mitchell nice warmup.

VT Savvidou sits down her warmup vault
FX SIMS HAS WITHDRAWN FROM FX FINAL

FX Brennan new routine. "tour jete half, full in (chest low), nice dbl tuck - stag jump, nice leaps, front layout - front full (step to side), nice dbl pike small hop fwd on landing." 5.3/13.050


VT Lee is injured on second vault. Limps off mat. 13.100

FX Greeley "Remember the Name". OOB double arabian and on second pass. 5.0/11.625

Brown seen icing ankles on the sidelines. Has withdrawn from FX final. Hang in there, Georgia!


FX Monckton "Triple twist (slightly short), 2.5 twist - front sault - stag, effortless dbl tuck (step back), dbl pivot leg up - full pivot, low chest on dbl pike dismount" "Great routine!" 5.3/13.35


VT Eade "Dynamic yurchenko half twist, step fwd on landing. 2nd VT - full twisting yurchenko, good landing." 13.725


FX Mitchell "Dbl arabian steps back but good fight to stay on feet, nice piked full in - split jump, switch half, 2.5 twist - punch front, gorgeous switch ring - tour jete, dbl pike dismount knees buckled but hopped fwd and stayed on feet." 5.8/14.000



FX Budack "high dbl tuck, clean dbl twist with small hop back, nice front layout - front full - stag, tour jete, good dbl pike dismount." 4.9/12.750 Brindabella was a big fan of this one and was surprised at this score.

VT Cassis "Jazminne Casis - dynamic full twisting yurchenko with leg form errors. 2nd VT nice layout yurchenko step back on landing."

VT Nedov "1st and 2nd vaults layout yurchenko slight pike in hips, good landings."
Spotted in the stands: Georgia Simpson on crutches.

VT Georgia Godwin - another pocket rocket in our midst? "Attempted dbl twisting yurchenko landing very short on side. Dynamic handspring front pike half 2nd VT. Small hop on landing."

And that's our show, folks! Results are in......


Junior VT: Lee 3, Cassis 2, Eade 1
Junior UB: Boyd 3, Savvidou 2, Nedov 1
Junior BB: Cassis 3, Godwin 2, Nedov 1
Junior FX: Nedov 3, Savvidou 2, Godwin 1

Senior VT: Greeley 3, Budack 2, Mitchell 1
Senior UB: Miller 3, Monckton 2, Sims 1
Senior BB: Monckton 3, Brennan 2, Mitchell 1
Senior FX: Monckton and Brennan (tie) 2, Mitchell 1

Apparently after medals were given out, they played Happy Birthday for Britt Greeley and Peggy handed her some flowers. Teehee. Happy Birthday, Britt!

So that's the WAGs done and dusted, folks. Thanks to all who shared quick-hits and media from the event. You MADE this event, you guys! You rock.

Nationals 2011: WAG AA

No quick hits showed up in my Facebook feed tonight. But results are in:

Lauren Mitchell 1
Georgia-Rose Brown 2
Maryanne Monckton 3

Chloe Sims 4

(interesting to note 2 of the 3 medallists are new Victorians)

Georgia Godwin maintained her #1 ranking from day 1 in juniors, followed by Alex Eade and Emma Nedov.

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

Although results are in, I'm amending this post to include some of the observations from Angeandbella who was at the event (texting updates AND and recording vids simultaneously!) I have published them pretty much verbatim so feel free to ask if you don't understand an abbreviation.


Day 1-

Bit of a splatfest. Only saw half the comp because I was videoing.

Lauren okay, similar to recent comps, stacked d-pike. Def put lots of passion into her new floor, maybe a bit overdanced?

Britt 1.5 yurch, okay beam w d-turn, pretty good floor w d-arabian.

MAM more expressive on FX, bouncy out of triple. Fell on aerial CW-LOSO on beam, caught releases. Ash looked okay... bit wobbly on beam, fell on FX.

Chloe nailed d-front dismount on beam in w/u, low in comp, same FX tumbles, a bit wild, to face with d-pike.

Larrissa messed up on bars in comp, but hit w/u. GRB looked okay, just d.twist off beam.



Day 2 -

Larrissa is doing d-arabian again.

MAM just did a perfect w/u on beam, down to stuck d-pike.

Britt stuck a really dynamic Y 1.5.

MAM fell on aerial series on beam, but otherwise solid.

Lauren UB much better tonight.

GRB large wobble on Y-turn and slow connections on beam.

Larrissa good d-arabian (1 step out), but 1 hand down on front LO-front double twist and final 2.5.

Britt fall double turn and FF-LOSO.

Chloe large step punch double tuck front, deep squat d-arabian, fell out of turn, fell back OOB on d-pike.

BB Ash fall side aerial.

GRB v.high on d-pike, pretty clean FX.

Loz okay beam, usual wobbles.

Ash bit low FTDB (I assume this means the tucked full-in?), short on turn, perfect d-pike to sissone.

Mez bouncy on triple twist, made 2.5 punch front-stag, good dance, turns and leaps, high d-tuck and pike.

Chloe hit bars, inbar, inbar 1/2, inbar endo (hit feet going through), v.high jaeger. Bail to HS, stalder shoot to high. Stalder full to FTDB w large step.

Loz fall d-arabian, only slightly short though. Piked full-in to sissone. 2.5 punch front tuck changement. Bit short d-pike. Routine is growing on me slightly!

Jaz Cassis and Godwin both hit FF-FF to 2-2 foot LO. Jaz fell on LOSO, only LO d-mount tonight, but nice. Godwin double wolf. Fall aerial CW. stumble forward d.tuck.

Larrissa inbar full to gienger, bail to HS stalder shoot to high. Inbar 1/2 not over and fell. Repeated and connected to jaeger. Stalder full, FTDB stuck.

Alex had 2 goes at beam mount, nice combo d-mount 2 FF to d-pike.

Loz good vault, one step forward.

Ash simple bars, stalder, Tkatchev. Bail to HS. D-tuck.

Godwin front full rudi to open.

Mez toe-on full to piked Shush, nice! Clear hip, Tkatchev. Toe on, Pak with flex feet. DLO, almost stuck.

GRB short cast, toe on, toe on full, gienger. Jaeger. Bail HS (little short), stalder shoot. Toe half to d-front, small hop.

Larrissa no acro series on beam, missed all connections hand down on 2.5 d-mount.

Chloe weird hitch in mount, made front aerial side somi, fall on FF back tuck. Front somi. Y-turn. Change split, tour jete, wolf. Long pause bf d.mount, coyboy d-front, 1 step back, went overtime.


What I love about gymnastics personally is that a layperson would look at this and go "huh?" but I understood every word! :)

Good luck to the senior and junior men who kick off tonight in Canberra.

Nationals 2011: WAG TF

Unfortunately, I didn't have a source on the ground tonight but GA elves were dutifully keeping us updated at Facebook.

A hearty congratulations to Victoria, who have taken top honours in the junior and senior team events.

Chloe Sims showed she's not to be counted out just yet, seemingly showing up her Queensland compatriate Larrissa Miller on bars (this could get awkward!) and rocking double fronts like they're singles.

Lauren Mitchell debuted her new floor routine on home soil, albeit with some opening night nerves. Wonder what the audience made of it...

I am particularly interested to see Miller's beam, as it gained a very positive review from the quickhitters. And I'm excited Mez Monckton seemed to do so well on bars!

Stay tuned for media morsels!

ETA: Houston, we have media morsels!

Lauren leads the senior AA standings after day one, with Georgia-Rose Brown in second and Chloe Sims nipping at their toes in third. Another Georgia is impressing the judges, with Queenslander Georgia Godwin leading junior standings, flanked by jetsetters Alex Eade and Emma Nedov.

Thanks to Gemeanie for vids from the venue. Chloe's floor is great.

IG has a wrap-up with scores and highlighted routines from Gemeanie's channel here.

2011 Japan Cup

Konnichiwa!


You can find some pre-competition media from Tokyo at Facebook or view the official event website here.

The Victorian Women's High Performance Centre have put up some great photos onto Facebook of the Aussie girls in and out of the training gym. Check it out!

I'll update anything as it comes to hand (if I'm near my phone or pc). WWGym and GGMB have updates and media coming thick and fast so it doesn't hurt to keep your eyes on those two as well.

If you'd like to view (or try and view!) a stream of the event, Ono No Komachi from WWGym suggests:

1) Download Keyhole TV http://www.v2p.jp/video/english/

2) Look for the characters for Fuji TV フジテレビ

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

Day 1: Australia finished 4th with 152.950 in the team competition, and scores went thusly:

Vault: Maryanne 12.100, Larrissa 13.200, Lauren 13.700
Bars: Georgia-Rose 11.150, Larrissa 13.700, Lauren 13.950
Beam: Maryanne 11.400, Ash 11.650, Lauren 13.750
Floor: Ash 11.850, Maryanne 12.650, Lauren 13.850


Day 2: Lauren Mitchell and Maryanne Monckton finished 4th and 5th respectively in the women's all around final. Both put in commendable performances, improving on their scores from the team event. Lauren had the top beam score of the day, outscoring 10 other competitors with a 14.150!

Here is Lauren's new floor routine! (Many thanks to Tenshiguy78 for taking the time to capture and upload from the stream)

Sunshine State Superstars

Congratulations to all the champs and placegetters at the 2011 Queensland state championships!

Roll on, Perth!

Vics Day 2: Winners Are Grinners

Congratulations to all the newly-crowned Victorian state champions!

I am disappointed I was unable to attend last night, but I am sure it was an exciting round of competition after Saturday's kick-start.

If you're attending a state championships in the next few weeks as we draw closer to Nationals 2011, I'd love to hear your news, notes and quotes!

Pick of the Vics

It was a mixed bag of performances from the seniors and juniors last night.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed that not a great deal of publicity seemed to be given to the guest MAGs - basically the entire Commonwealth Games team was competing except for Jefferis - which was extremely exciting to watch. Then again, this isn't their state so precedence of course would go to the hometown boys.

Now, I did film some routines but they will take a while to go up as I am still without a working high-speed internet connection. So until then, check out Nade00 or MistySakura's channels at YouTube. They did a cracker job capturing the many routines that zigzag your eyes around the arena as MAGs and WAGS compete side by side!


Extended notes for anyone who didn't catch my tweets at twitter.com/ozgymblog:

- Angela Donald was withdrawn due to injury. Georgia Bonora was on the sidelines with her foot in a boot, and was wearing her Australia tracksuit top to help hand out the team medals at the end. Amelia McGrath did not compete. Zoe Lorenzin and Tierra Exum watched from the stands. A tweeter on the ground told me Brittany Engellener of JETS sustained a back injury in vault training.

- Everyone kept thinking they were watching Angela Donald, but it was impressive lookalike Ulln Sternburg in the Waverley leotard instead. Not much is known about this intriguing newcomer, although I did see her being interviewed by The Couch Gymnast so we may have some insight before the weekend is out! I only caught half of her beam routine which included a switch split leap to back tuck, dainty Korbut flic and roundoff double twist to finish.

- Peggy Liddick and Stacey Umeh were watching from high up in the stands. Oh, to be a fly on the wall!

- For a girl who is reportedly injured, Maryanne Monckton put it in one of the performances of her career. The only significant error was a fall on her bars release (to be named after her if successfully performed at a Worlds) but she recovered from it to stick her double layout dismount. She vaulted a Yurchenko full if memory serves. Beam had a few significant wobbles but a nice double pike dismount, as she turned out to be one of the few to avoid a fall on that apparatus. Floor was absolutely stellar, with dramatic choreo, a nice triple twist, Y-pirouette, double tuck and double pike to boot! The VWHPC girls were cheering their lungs out for her.

- Britt Greeley also put in a commendable comeback performance after a prolonged back injury. Vault was a stuck Y1.5 with bent knees. She showed a lovely double pirouette on beam and a switch leap to back tuck but fell on her BHS LOSO and her double tuck dismount. Floor was a great effort with her "Remember The Name" music, but she sat down her double arabian opening pass and had a low chest landing on her double tuck and double pike.

- Georgia Wheeler showed some big skills but seemed a little off tonight. She was another to show off a nice double layout dismount off bars (I am loving those!) and a nifty tkatchev, but couldn't save an otherwise error-dotted routine. It had a bizarre start where she saluted, mounted with a glide kip and then paused; cast, Weiler kipped and paused; remounted to do a very nice Shaposh then lost her rhythm, then hopped off and re-mounted to go on and complete the routine with a small form break before the end. Her new floor routine (to techno) definitely gets the crowd going and is full of energy, but almost too much energy - she stepped OOB on her double arabian to open and her punch layout full (1.5?) twist through to double tuck.

- Ashleigh Brennan competed with poise, and praise for her HPC teammates. She showed a lovely bars routine but downgraded the double layout dismount to a double tuck and had to take one step. She showed a rock solid beam routine (all Beijing skills back in there) until she fell on her side somi (which always seems to be the clincher for her), only to recover with a stuck double pike dismount. She showed off a new floor routine to classical-techno music with vocals, similar to Georgia Rose Brown's. The new choreo is stylish and striking, she showed great form on her tucked full-in mount but unfortunately put her hands down on a double pike dismount.

- Speaking of Georgia Rose Brown, have I mentioned enough times that I could watch this girl all day? Even just warming up choreography on the sidelines? She showed beautiful lines in her giants and toe-on on full on bars, catching her gienger and straddle jaeger well and making a good job of her double front dismount. Vault was a Yurchenko full with good form throughout and a not-too-shabby landing. Her dance on beam was just divine, she showed great leaps and a nice Y-pirouette with a slight wobble, but fell twice and practically faceplanted on her double pike dismount. Floor showed some of the most elegant dance of the whole session, and she executed her layout 1.5 to punch front nicely. She had a large pause before her last pass, a double pike, and finished behind the music.

- Alex Eade didn't have the best of outings. She stumbled backward and fell onto her back in her Yurchenko full. She then lost her rhythm early into her bars routine after a neat tkatchev and had a few small form breaks, stumbling forward on her double layout dismount. Beam was dainty (walkover mount was nice to see) but she seemed uncertain in just about everything, going on to fall twice. Her BHS back whip was fantastic, as was her pike jump. She had a huuuge wobble after her side somi, showing how much of a bugbear that skill is for the women on beam, and one step back on a double tuck dismount. On floor she debuted her flamenco routine which has lots of fun facial expressions to go with cheeky choreography and "clap along!" moment. She did a layout full twist that seemed like she had suddenly opted out of a double. Her twisting passes are nicely executed overall and her double pike dismount needed just one step back to control.

- Isis Lowry competed with the help of the world's loudest and most upbeat cheer squad - JETS clubmates! Showed a lot of attack in each of her beam skills and unfortunately suffered a fall in the process. Her BHS LOSO was one of the strongest and neatest shown in the competition and got some serious air on her double back dismount. Opened her floor routine with a slightly overcooked double pike that showed great height, and managed to keep her twisting passes in bounds. She sassed up the choreo to the max (jazzy version of Rage Against the Machine's "Kiling In The Name", hilariously enough) and showed she is definitely one to keep an eye on!


- Prashanth schooled EVERYONE on pommel, scoring 6.6/9.5 for a 16.1! He got a huge cheer as he finished his routine, making up for a less-than-stellar routine on parallel bars earlier in the competition.

- Skills of note - Clare O'Donnell's press to double stag planche beam mount, Stella Savvidou's nailed double pike on floor, Sam Simpson's double layout to front tuck on floor (which got a massive cheer), Monckton's triple twist, Luke Wiwatowski's high bar release (Voronin? Gosh I am rubbish at identifying releases!), Georgia Wheeler's huge pike jump on beam.


- The crowd got to meet Bounce, the GV "spokes-sugar glider", who is as nimble as he is cute with his gigantic mammaly head.


- My sincere apologies for not recording scores, there was just SO MUCH GOING ON AT ONCE!

- In terms of the standings, the visiting Christchurch team (who reeked adorableness in spades) won the women's IDP10 team title, and MLC took top honours for jnr/snr combined team. The WAG all-around standings after Day 1 are Monckton 1, Brown 2, Brennan 3. It is unclear yet whether I will attend Monday's session but if all falls through, AGB's helper elves are sure to make up for my absence.

Read The Couch Gymnast's previews, reviews and interviews at GV here.

Kudos and Catch-Up

This is a general "sorry I'm so late for mentioning these" post.

You can read a round-up of Australia's excellent results, and see some lovely competitor pics, from the recent Portugal International here.

You can check out videos of Aussies at the Pre-Olympic Youth Cup here. I have only seen snippets of Alex Eade's new floor routine in training, but the finished product should be fantastic. The day she busts out a double layout, as she has been seen dutifully training, I will be one excited Eade-gionnaire*!

Echoing Lauren Mitchell's World Cup Final win on beam in the 2008 World Cup final, Olympian Prashanth Sellathurai has been named FIG Overall World Cup Champion for pommel horse!

And yes, how awful of me, I am FIVE MONTHS LATE announcing the winners of the AGB Awards. How slack is that!? Exceptionally slack, I know. Call me Slacky McSlackenson why don't you. I will make a "here are the winners" post very soon, I promise.

Or my name isn't Slacky McSlackenson.


*working title for fans of Alex Eade. If you can think of a more hilarious one I'd very much like to hear it.