The Herald Sun will be launching their Olympics website tomorrow, with interactive features, news feeds and athlete blogs. I got a bit confused at this announcement, seeing as their site is...well, pretty much up already. Follow gymnastics news here.
Look for the 'Hero Wall' to send athletes messages of encouragement. There are no gymnasts on there yet but hopefully, once the team is named, there will be!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Strong as an Oks
On a non-Australian note... I love Grandma Chusovitina.
Always have (since I first saw her), always will. She's fan-bloody-tastic and an inspiration, worthy of any NBC Olympics fluff piece.
Image courtesy of International Gymnast
That is all.
Add Another to the Blog Roll...
Victoria's Ashleigh Brennan is contributing some thoughts of her own to the website of our state's High Performance Centre. Click the link to Ashleigh's Page here. If that doesn't work, go from the VWHPC link at Gymnastics Victoria.
Hopefully talk of her leg injuries is just that - talk!
Hopefully talk of her leg injuries is just that - talk!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk
Gymnastics has been listed as one of the sports whose Australian representatives may/will bow out of the Beijing opening ceremony march-in. Usually gymnasts don't take part in the opening ceremony for health and wellbeing reasons (it's a frickin' long circular walk, people. T'aint no Albert Park stroll) and because they're straight into training the morning after the big up-late spectacular. But still, The Age has brought it up fleetingly in light of the athletics team boycotting the march-and-wave.
On the topic of the Games, An interesting article has cropped up about our sole male competitor bound for Beijing, Sam Simpson.
He's revealed that he won't be training in Canberra with the men's squad, he'll be keeping a low profile and training locally by himself. It's interesting that he talks about not wanting to adjust to different equipment. Erm...won't he need to do that at the Games? Isn't every opportunity to adjust a worthwhile one to take?
On another note, I'm wary about training alone in one's home gym being good preparation for THE WORLD'S BIGGEST AND MOST MEDIA-SATURATED GYMNASTICS SHOWDOWN IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING (thanks to our sponsors NBC and McDonalds for that inspired title). I'd hate for him to get overwhelmed and succumb to nerves under the lights of the bustling Olympic arena. Beijing's a big step from a bungalow.
But hey, that's just me.
The 18-strong gymnastics team will prepare in Canberra before arriving in Beijing. Despite being in the village before the opening ceremony none of the team will march in the ceremony, which will not finish until 2am. Some gymnasts must compete the following day but others compete more than a week after the ceremony.
On the topic of the Games, An interesting article has cropped up about our sole male competitor bound for Beijing, Sam Simpson.
He's revealed that he won't be training in Canberra with the men's squad, he'll be keeping a low profile and training locally by himself. It's interesting that he talks about not wanting to adjust to different equipment. Erm...won't he need to do that at the Games? Isn't every opportunity to adjust a worthwhile one to take?
On another note, I'm wary about training alone in one's home gym being good preparation for THE WORLD'S BIGGEST AND MOST MEDIA-SATURATED GYMNASTICS SHOWDOWN IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING (thanks to our sponsors NBC and McDonalds for that inspired title). I'd hate for him to get overwhelmed and succumb to nerves under the lights of the bustling Olympic arena. Beijing's a big step from a bungalow.
But hey, that's just me.
DJ's Back in the Mix
Our national champion has returned from a two-week hiatus to pen her delightful column again.
She's a humble young lady and it's interesting that she doesn't draw any attention to her own victories at the competition.
Olivia Vivian also updated her blog today.
Team selection is drawing ever closer so good luck to them and all the girls in their preparation.
To get you in the mood, check out this absolutely smashing montage by media magnifico Nade.
If that doesn't become a GA promotional video that gets submitted to Channel 7, then I'll eat my hat.
She's a humble young lady and it's interesting that she doesn't draw any attention to her own victories at the competition.
Olivia Vivian also updated her blog today.
Team selection is drawing ever closer so good luck to them and all the girls in their preparation.
To get you in the mood, check out this absolutely smashing montage by media magnifico Nade.
If that doesn't become a GA promotional video that gets submitted to Channel 7, then I'll eat my hat.
Monday, June 16, 2008
GymWeek - Whatever Shall We Do!?
Beingachildofsomeonewhowasadopted, I am always a bit hesitant about "Adopt a..." programs.
Penguins, dolphins, trees, highways... it's a pretty thankless exercise. They don't tend to know you're doing it and you don't get to physically keep them.
Anyway. I digress.
National Gym Week is this week, a time when primary school kiddies across the country go nuts doing forward rolls on the oval and drawing pink sausage people in scribbly leotards on butcher's paper. In addition to urging you into spending your hard-earned money, GA suggests 'adopting a gymnast' and sending squad members some love through YouTube tributes, letters, poems or drawings that they will forward to the athletes via ausgym@gymnastics.org.au. Sounds like an interesting idea, bordering on divisive- it's like gifts at Valentine's Day, one enviable group is sure to get dozens of lavish ones where some just get a small melted loveheart chocolate in their school lunchbox from mum.
...Not speaking from past experience or anything...
Regardless, it never hurts to let an athlete know that you're gunning for them.
If anyone is interested in/particularly good at digital art, Photoshop, Paint or any other computerised endeavour at which I am rather crap, please contact me via the email address listed on the right as there is one idea I have for something to send to the Beijing WAG squad on behalf of The Australian Gymnastics Blog and Supporters of Australian Gymnastics (Facebook). If you're an artist, web nerd, photographer or design freak in addition to being a gym fan, please let me know if you want 'in' on the project. I'd make a pretty poor effort of it by myself.
Penguins, dolphins, trees, highways... it's a pretty thankless exercise. They don't tend to know you're doing it and you don't get to physically keep them.
Anyway. I digress.
National Gym Week is this week, a time when primary school kiddies across the country go nuts doing forward rolls on the oval and drawing pink sausage people in scribbly leotards on butcher's paper. In addition to urging you into spending your hard-earned money, GA suggests 'adopting a gymnast' and sending squad members some love through YouTube tributes, letters, poems or drawings that they will forward to the athletes via ausgym@gymnastics.org.au. Sounds like an interesting idea, bordering on divisive- it's like gifts at Valentine's Day, one enviable group is sure to get dozens of lavish ones where some just get a small melted loveheart chocolate in their school lunchbox from mum.
...Not speaking from past experience or anything...
Regardless, it never hurts to let an athlete know that you're gunning for them.
If anyone is interested in/particularly good at digital art, Photoshop, Paint or any other computerised endeavour at which I am rather crap, please contact me via the email address listed on the right as there is one idea I have for something to send to the Beijing WAG squad on behalf of The Australian Gymnastics Blog and Supporters of Australian Gymnastics (Facebook). If you're an artist, web nerd, photographer or design freak in addition to being a gym fan, please let me know if you want 'in' on the project. I'd make a pretty poor effort of it by myself.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Kickin' it Old School
I had in the past promised to do an entry about Aussie gym from the archives, well here it is!
It's basically just a cluster of interesting routines from Australia's early steps onto the world stage, and some footage of well-known seniors when they were younger. Feel free to entertain yourself with wibbly picture quality and 'interesting' fashions of decades past.
Many thanks to a GGMB user who uploaded vids from the 1988 Pacific Alliance Championships, a comp that featured budding stars like Yang Bo, she of the famous leap, and Kristie Phillips, who around that time was being touted as 'The New Mary Lou' on magazine covers, only to have a slight personal meltdown when her career fizzled.
Look out for Monique Allen (or 'Alien' as the commentator says at around 9:11) in this video of the bars final, her bar routine is at 8:37. She gets the silver medal, so good-on her.
Yeah... you thought our pink and purple leotards were bad? Try lurid green.
And way before McIntosh, there was another "Trudz" flying our flag on vault - Trudi Nurse, seen in action at 1:59.
Here's Kirsty-Leigh Brown, who looks like Sarah Lauren and Steph Moorhouse's DNA squished together, doing a tidy Compulsories bar routine at the '96 Olympics.
Oh look, it's that lovely yellow aboriginal-print leotard. Classy. Now, I'm *pretty* sure Julie-anne Monico was the first Aussie to make a World Championships apparatus final. Here she is at the 1992 Worlds, having made the uneven bars final. A bit messy (particularly on the double layout dismount) but still a remarkable achievement for a member of a beginning-to-bloom national team. She placed 8th with a score of 9.800.
Joanna Hughes, who really carried the torch for Team Australia in the early to mid-90's, is shown here on vault. Clearly, Nationals in the mid-90's weren't a big deal, it sounds as though there are three men and a dog in the audience.
Check out our Beijing contenders in their freckly youth here. BabyShona, BabyLivvy, BabyGeorgia... it's like TinyToons!
For real 'old school' Aussie gym action, check out this website GA set up to commemorate our gymnastics efforts at the 1956 Olympics.
And after nearly a decade, it's interesting to note that not a lot of the philosophy or method arond team selection has changed.
It's basically just a cluster of interesting routines from Australia's early steps onto the world stage, and some footage of well-known seniors when they were younger. Feel free to entertain yourself with wibbly picture quality and 'interesting' fashions of decades past.
Many thanks to a GGMB user who uploaded vids from the 1988 Pacific Alliance Championships, a comp that featured budding stars like Yang Bo, she of the famous leap, and Kristie Phillips, who around that time was being touted as 'The New Mary Lou' on magazine covers, only to have a slight personal meltdown when her career fizzled.Look out for Monique Allen (or 'Alien' as the commentator says at around 9:11) in this video of the bars final, her bar routine is at 8:37. She gets the silver medal, so good-on her.
Yeah... you thought our pink and purple leotards were bad? Try lurid green.
And way before McIntosh, there was another "Trudz" flying our flag on vault - Trudi Nurse, seen in action at 1:59.
Here's Kirsty-Leigh Brown, who looks like Sarah Lauren and Steph Moorhouse's DNA squished together, doing a tidy Compulsories bar routine at the '96 Olympics.
Oh look, it's that lovely yellow aboriginal-print leotard. Classy. Now, I'm *pretty* sure Julie-anne Monico was the first Aussie to make a World Championships apparatus final. Here she is at the 1992 Worlds, having made the uneven bars final. A bit messy (particularly on the double layout dismount) but still a remarkable achievement for a member of a beginning-to-bloom national team. She placed 8th with a score of 9.800.
Joanna Hughes, who really carried the torch for Team Australia in the early to mid-90's, is shown here on vault. Clearly, Nationals in the mid-90's weren't a big deal, it sounds as though there are three men and a dog in the audience.
Check out our Beijing contenders in their freckly youth here. BabyShona, BabyLivvy, BabyGeorgia... it's like TinyToons!
For real 'old school' Aussie gym action, check out this website GA set up to commemorate our gymnastics efforts at the 1956 Olympics.
And after nearly a decade, it's interesting to note that not a lot of the philosophy or method arond team selection has changed.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Bring Out Yer Dead
Tomorrow is Melbourne's burgeoning annual Zombie Shuffle aka Mummy, What are Those Slow-Moving, Blood-Spattered Things Coming Up The Street?
So yes, my friend and I will be there in zombie-fied finery. Can't wait.
If I still had the lithe figure of my youth, and had held onto my old club leotard, I'd have gone as Elena Zombie-lodchikova but despite the aforementioned factors, I officially vetoed it because I didn't think anyone would get the reference.
Damn undead and their ignorance of global sports...
Ooooh! Here's something to bring me out of my undead reverie: Gymnast.com has posted some scrabulous videos at YouTube. They include high-quality footage of the Pacific Rim competition. Scroll through for videos of Aussies. The great things about this collection are-
1. No annoying NBC commentators! In fact, no commentators at all!
2. Ashleigh Brennan's FX, which we didn't see in the tv broadcast, is there!
3. No watermarks or scrolling newsbars!
4. Great visual and sound quality! Just listen to that team encouragement!
5. Did I mention the lack of annoying commentators!?
So yes, my friend and I will be there in zombie-fied finery. Can't wait.
If I still had the lithe figure of my youth, and had held onto my old club leotard, I'd have gone as Elena Zombie-lodchikova but despite the aforementioned factors, I officially vetoed it because I didn't think anyone would get the reference.
Damn undead and their ignorance of global sports...
Ooooh! Here's something to bring me out of my undead reverie: Gymnast.com has posted some scrabulous videos at YouTube. They include high-quality footage of the Pacific Rim competition. Scroll through for videos of Aussies. The great things about this collection are-
1. No annoying NBC commentators! In fact, no commentators at all!
2. Ashleigh Brennan's FX, which we didn't see in the tv broadcast, is there!
3. No watermarks or scrolling newsbars!
4. Great visual and sound quality! Just listen to that team encouragement!
5. Did I mention the lack of annoying commentators!?
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