Cooney's Cool Runnings

You might recall reading recently about former WAIS gymnast Ashley Cooney's literal crash-landing into the winter sport of luge.

ABC News profiled Ashley and her new Olympic journey this week. All the best to Ash as she hurtles towards Sochi!

High Times

GIGANTIC shout-out to special ops agent Ange for attending and reporting on this weekend's Victorian High Performance Centre Invitational.

If you're a member of the WWGym.com forum, you can read her full report in the "Down Under" subforum. A brief selection of her observations on juniors and seniors are below.

Videos are going up here. Please help her ID the gymnasts if you can, she would really appreciate it. Cheers, Ange.

"George Rose Brown looked strong and consistent. She has added a Yurchenko 1.5 (got it round in comp but low and sat down, but looks beautiful with her height). On bars I am pretty sure that the shap is new... Beam looks more confident than Vics and Nationals last year, when I remember that she had been limited with injury. The double tuck dismount is back in..."


"Kiara Munteanu did a DTY (better in warm-ups than comp) plus a front tuck 1/2 on vault with good power and dynamics. I think she had five [bars] release moves including a Tkatchev-Gienger combo! ... A very balanced all-arounder!"


"Alex Eade... has that real "it" factor when she performs. On vault she is currently doing a Yurchenko 1/2-on front layout off (stuck in competition) and a DTY... Bars is a work in progress -- the new skill seems to be the toe-on Shap (I think maybe with a half)... looking forward to seeing where this routine is by Vics... She then went on and did a great beam, excellent series, good connections. Floor -- double layout, 2.5 twist (sat down), 1.5 twist to double tuck or pike (can't remember) and landed very short... This is one tough young lady. 


"Saw Maddi Leydin just on bars, but wow, what amazing potential that routine has. It just keeps going and going with difficult release after difficult release.... Mistake in the middle, but who cares at this stage of the year? So great to see her put all these skills into competition."



"Mary-Anne Monckton was there and doing a great job of coaching the younger gymnasts and encouraging and supporting her senior teammates. I hope we see her back in competition soon."

Eyes on the Prize

Ten News recently caught up with decorated Aussie Lauren Mitchell, who isn't completely ruling out a run for Rio in 2016.

Despite her shoulder injury sustained in 2012,  Lauren can still juggle recuperation, coaching and study!

Skill Thrill

Could the policy of keeping the national team at home to work on skill upgrades really pay off?

We've had our first glimpse of what the women's program is capable of with a camp report out of Canberra. Check out that hit list of new skills!

It's great to see so many new faces, plus some of the old(er) favourites, donning the grips for another year.

Second Chance

Unfortunately, Luke Wiwtowski and Elliott Cook were unsuccessful in their campaigns at the Cottbus Challenge in Germany over the weekend. Neither gymnast made it through to an apparatus final.

But the fantastic news is, they get a second chance THIS week at the Doha Challenge in Qatar!

They'll be joined by none other than pommel pro Prashanth Sellathurai, who has previously medalled at the event!

Good luck, fellas!

UPDATE 10:30pm Wednesday -  I am being told a livestream of the Doha event will be starting in the next hour at this channel?

UPDATE Thursday:

Good results for the guys so far!

Luke qualified 8th to the floor final and 6th to the p-bars final, Prashanth 8th to pommel! Onwards and upwards!

UPDATE Friday: Finals results!
Floor: Wiwatowski, 13.750 (8th)
Parallel: Pending
Pommel: Sellathurai, 14.650 (7th)

Update Sunday: Videos! (Happy Easter!)

Prashanth's Pommel
Luke's Parallel Bars

Cirquin' Staunch Mel Evidence

Ok, so that pun was incredibly tenuous!

After a firecracker four years of killer bars routines, what other Aussie could take Olivia Vivian's title as "Coolest Aussie in NCAA Gymnastics"? Why, Melbourne's Melanie Jones of course!

I'd like to take a moment to shout out this dynamic young lady.

Mel is now a senior, undertaking her last year at Oregon State, meaning her time with the school's gymnastics team is coming to a close. This weekend, they take on the best in their conference at the Pac-12 Championships, thankfully held in OSU's home arena. It is one major stepping stone to qualifying for the end of season National Championships. Last year, Mel managed a commendable fourth in the national floor final, and her progress in this graduating year shows she's well on track to reach the final once more before it's time to say goodbye.

A few weeks ago, Mel finally had the chance to compete in front of her mother and aunts at OSU's tribute night for their senior gymnasts. Her routine is below and, of course, she rocked it.



You might be interested to know Mel's said she's considering a Cirque career when all is said and done. Can't wait to see what tricks she'd bust out at that audition!

MJ for AGB'S MVP 2013!

Congratulations To...

Allana Slater and fiancé Scott Penny who are getting married in Perth today!

We wish them the very best for their new life together.

Wow Factor

Put some "Holy moley!" in your day today, and check out this video of the men's national team training camp in Canberra.

There are some massive skills in development there - check the insane high bar release combos!