From Canberra With Love

Awwwww.... lots of love in the WAG team training camp, and lots of fun in between training too.

DJ Sho-Mo got herself an interview at IG, hot on the heels of Georgia's interview; Dasha's latest column reveals a little bit more about training as well.

The girls are gaining themselves some valuable experience and knowledge, and I have full confidence that they'll be mentally AND physically prepared for a good showing in Beijing. They are learning how to relax, focus, and deal with any unexpected situation that arises. Most importantly, they are learning from the experiences of others - not just their teammates but from stage performers and past Olympians (such as Petria Thomas, below) as well.

The team appears to be gelling well, and this of course will be a significant factor in their Beijing performance when the time comes.

Go girls, and keep smiling!

How Appealing

Emma Dennis' Olympic appeal must be well and truly underway. At the AOC website, under the WAG team list is an asterisk with "Subject to appeal by Emma Dennis" next to it.

Now the Sydney Morning Herald has included her in a piece about athletes appealing their non-selections.

So let's wait and see how that unfolds. Hopefully it doesn't do much to detract from her training or that of the team itself.

In more positive news, the Herald Sun's pre-Olympics liftout series continues tomorrow, with a piece on "Our Olympic Rookies". So if you can get your hands on it (which I dutifully will of course), have a look for any of the gym team. They're ALL Olympic rookies after all!

Olympics Caught in Crossfire of TV Bidding War

So, we all know Channel 7's got the Games, and have had them for a while now.

Interestingly enough, their reign as KING OF THE OLYMPICS BROADCASTING MOUNTAIN, TAKE THAT CHANNEL 9 YOU TRYHARDS! AND THAT ABC, YOU PEASANTS! THE POWER! THE POWAAAAAAAHHHH! is actually coming to a bit of a bumpy end.

We know that Foxtel's extra channels during the Commonwealth Games had exemplary gymnastics coverage, I hope future CWG's and Olympics bring the same thing. I was most intrigued by this part:

He said the Australian broadcast schedule (for the Olympics) "is always far above what (other) countries generally put to air".

Seven has partnered with SBS, which will be broadcasting the longer form Olympic sports at Beijing, while other Olympic programming will go to Seven's half-owned website Yahoo7.

Hopefully not all the good material will be viewable online only.

After the late-night broadcast efforts of channel 9 during the Melbourne Games, I'm thinking we might get more than the scant look-in at Aussie competitors this year, and at a reasonable hour too (given that the time difference between here and China is not so epic). There was only so much of Liz C's "Well, you can just see so-and-so at the edge of frame/in the background there" I could handle in Athens.

More Olympic Developments

We're coming into the home straight now, folks. The days to August 10 are ticking over fast.

The Age newspaper has revisited the progress of Ashleigh Brennan and swimmer Matthew Targett. For number crunchers and other eagle-eyes, you'll learn in the piece that few to no new skills are being added to her repertoire, she (and I assume the rest of the team) are sticking to repetition and consistent performances with the routines they already have.

If you check out your local newsagent some time soon, there is a soft-cover "guide" to the 2008 Olympic venues and our teams for all sports that had been named at time of printing. The gym team isn't listed, But Dasha Joura is pictured and listed, along with Ashleigh and Lauren Mitchell, as sure bets for a team spot.

Spirit Fingers, everyone! The Aussie WAG team went to the So You Think You Can Dance? live national tour in their down-time when it stopped by Canberra, and met some of the stars after the show. Here they are with Anthony Ikin.

Give it Up For Stellar Stacey

Ok, ok, so I've been a bit of a grump the last few days. To counter that, here's a much-needed injection of positivity and sass, and it comes in the form of Anastasia "Stacey" Umeh-Lees.

Sister of Canadian Olympian Stella, former commentator, now a WAG coach and choreographer, Stacey has been sassin' up the gymnastics scene from coast to coast here in Oz for more than a decade (two decades?), from the Waverley Gymnastics Centre here in suburban Melbourne to the tropical and topical climates of the Queensland Academy of Sport to the far-flung floor mats of the West Australian Institute of Sport. She not only choreographs routines for some of our top squad members (including, but not limited to, Lauren Mitchell's funk-tacular new routine and Emma Dennis' Chinese ballet-inspired exercise) but she lectures at clubs and institutes on coaching and artistic principles (particularly conditioning, flexibility and dance elements). Oh, and she heads the Creative Movement Group, a dance, physical movement and fitness company that tours around the country educating and working with anyone from schools to sports programs and other dance companies. You can't say she doesn't know her stuff.

I was inches away from Ms Umeh-Lees at Nationals this year, and it took every ounce of courage not to lean over and hug her and shout "YOU FREAKING ROCK!" She moved through the girls, hugging all of them and complimenting them. She is clearly proud of all her charges, either currently competing or retired. She radiates a confident, outgoing and encouraging presence. I believe she's helping prepare the WAG team for Beijing*, and I couldn't think of a better "big sister" for the girls to have working with them.

Good on you Stacey, you're working wonders.


(*Speaking of the team, it has been confirmed by the AOC. Not that we didn't already know who was in it, but still. It's in concrete now. See here and here.)

Iz Good Broadkast. You Like Broadkast. Here, Take Turnip. Iz Good.

*sigh*

I resent my job sometimes. Most of the time it's because it holds no regard whatsoever for customer satisfaction or occupational health and safety, but last night I added an extra little mark to my crankypants book - sometimes it makes me miss gym-related things!

Last night I had to head out the door RIGHT before Dasha's floor was to be shown on the Moscow World Cup. So I missed it. And the broadcast itself, as far as I saw it, didn't show Lauren's beam in the rotation before. No wonder I couldn't find it anywhere on Youtube. Thankfully day 2 is being replayed in an hour so at the very least I'll get the rest of the floor rotation.

What an erratic broadcast. For those of you without the joy of cable television or other frivolous things the internet is replacing, allow me to enlighten you.

In between routines or rotations, we will often be treated to a prolonged shot of a random in the audience or just the arena itself. No commentary, no nothing. Once a competitor is finished, the camera man hangs around long enough to capture them hugging their coaches....then taking a drink...then sitting down... then putting their jacket on... then looking up at the scoreboard... then walking over here....then walking over there... then shaking hands with people... then packing up their grips... all before we get to see the instant replay. Then once we get the replay, we're treated to more of Moscow's Funniest Home Videos of Gymnasts' Down-Time. When we got this during men's vault, I found myself shouting "GO BACK TO BEAM! GO BACK TO BEAM!" which all but cemented my reputation as an insane woman. I'm just short a few dozen cats and a cardigan.

As I have established, we will not always get to see all competitors in a rotation. Don't know if this is at the request of Russian producers or organisers. But it really is a let-down. Often, we will be watching a bit of MFHVoGDT when suddenly they'll cut back to the other apparatus (in last night's case, we cut back from men's vault to women's beam) when a routine is already underway. Even Staffan remarks how much of a shame it is that we missed the start of the routine.

The footage quality (in terms of image) is great but the sound quality and editing leaves a lot to be desired. For those who always wanted to know what it's like on the sidelines, the broadcast is helpful (for me, it helped me rekindle my French studies when Raphael Wignanitz talked about his 'deuxieme' vault, his first deemed 'mieux') but ultimately it doesn't do the competition a great deal of justice.

ETA: Speaking of broadcasts, I was told that P-Liddy would be on the radio in SA yesterday. Thankfully ABC Radio has put up a transcript.

Wilden's Words - Wise?

In yesterday's MX newspaper which I dutifully read on the train home (there's only so long you can stare at the floor to avoid the gaze of the drooling loon opposite you wearing a tinfoil beanie and whose eyes go in different directions), there was a double-page spread on our Beijing-bound trampolinist Ben Wilden. Ben "Born to Be" Wild(en) has created a cocktail at the bar in which he works. Sales from said cocktail will go towards funding his trip to the Games. Smart move. He needs money. Booze costs money. People need booze. People will give him money for booze. Everybody wins.
(Not taking into account the dangers of bringe drinking and the poor juxtaposition of an athlete promoting an alcoholic drink and rah rah rah leave all that pontificating to Kevin Rudd).

He waxed lyrical about his expectations for the event, but one particular paragraph struck me. He said words to the effect of, "I read an article the other day where artistic coach Peggy Liddick had ruled out gold and silver for the team, and said they were a chance for bronze. I don't think this is so great; why not go for gold?" If I had the means, I'd respond, "Ben, it's not that they're not going for gold, they certainly will be going all-out for the best result they can. But the fact of the matter is, China and the USA do have the gold and silver team spots all but cemented for themselves. It's been like that since China's resurgence at Worlds in 2006. It's a race for bronze realistically."

And then I'd ruffle his hair, wish him good luck for the Games, and ask where the bar is.


ETA: Ooh! I've come home to discover that the Moscow World Cup is on. But I've only caught the last half hour. Damn. I could see Lauren and Dasha hanging out in the background for bars, but they must have aleady competed. Me and my bad timing! This is a frustrating broadcast though, we just had about 10 minutes of a long-shot of the podium, and scores seem to be taking ages to come up. The camera lingers on competitors getting changed and discussing with their coaches for far too long. And the music, the awful awful awful pop music played over routine replays, blergh!

For those interested (who have Foxtel/Austar), Day 2 is showing tonight at 6pm. If you can stomach the erratic broadcast. You'll see Dasha's floor routine from finals, and hopefully Lauren's beam as well!

Olympic Developments

Precisely one month out, and the excitement is starting to build. To be honest, though, I'm getting a bit sick of everybody interviewing swimmers and Jana Rawlinson. Anyway, here are some news bites:

1. The gymnastics podium in Beijing has been changed from vibrant red to blue. I personally didn't mind the red. The blue with all the concrete around just makes it all seem so cold, but understandably red is expected to be 'the' big leotard colour come August, so this change takes care of colour clashing.



2. Ashleigh Brennan has a blink-and-you-might-miss-it spot on a new Channel 7 promotion for the Games. Various athletes are smiling at the camera and moving in slow motion. Ashleigh is in a sleeveless training leotard chalking up her hands and, if the song is anything to go by, she's ready to flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.


3. P-Liddy has upped the ante from 'distraction tapes' and is now busting out a seizure-inducing light.