Tag Archives: gymnastics

This weekend was brought to you by the letter G…

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1300 members of Girlguiding Edinburgh attending the Diamond Jubilee Beacon Night

1300 members of Girlguiding Edinburgh attending the Diamond Jubilee Beacon Night

Nicola asked about what her blog readers’ weekends have been like. Well…

Our Guide unit (the Monday night group of 10-15 year olds) have been asking about camping. The generation that came before them (a few of them now in the new Senior Section Unit) were not fans of camping. I’m sure they won’t mind me telling you that the idea of living without use of a hairdryer for an entire weekend (never mind week) fills them with mild horror.

However, our current generation seem to want to camp. Jo is a Mum of three kids aged 6 and under, and I’ve never seen a day where Ashleigh didn’t have perfect hair, make-up and beautifully manicured nails. I was away from Guiding for 9 years…sooo…none of us has our camping and holiday license required to take a unit on any overnight camp (tented or otherwise!). And so we’re trying to find a way forward.

Enter ‘Camp Out‘ Go For It.

We’re going to be doing the ‘Camp Out’ GFI which kinda prepares girls for what camp involves and gives them ideas about how to plan camp activities and so on. While the patrols chose their own Go For Its to do this term, we’re going to be doing ‘Camp Out’ on the weeks where there is been a holiday the week before. The reason for this is that we find that the girls tend to forget to bring stuff they need for the activities they’ve planned if there’s been a week away from Guides! Our hope is to then have a night at Trefoil (a campsite not far from us) with a campfire and outdoor games at the end of term.

We did a night at Trefoil last year as part of a combined ‘Be A Good Sport’/Olympics/Amelia’s Challenge night with a campfire I built with very soggy wood, and we had a night at Trefoil with the rest of Girlguiding Edinburgh for the Queen’s Jubilee where I discovered most of our Guides don’t know any Campfire songs.

And so this weekend, I’ve been putting together a selection of activities from Camp Out and an older related GFI activity pack for the girls to choose from, and tracking down Campfire songs in preparation for teaching the girls them.

Of course, this is in between keeping up with the European Gymnastics Championships where our British Team won 5 medals (2 Golds, 2 Silvers, 1 Bronze). Our mens team have come home the most decorated mens team. Although the Russians won 3 Golds, they only got 4 medals in total. I’ve begun to update the gymnastic pages on wikipedia (with others doing the same) – there’s a lot of gaps with nothing updated since the Olympics in a lot of places. Some gymnasts don’t even have their own entries. My hope is that by doing this, people new to watching the sport can understand who people are, what they’ve achieved and get interested in following the sport more! I was also super pleased to wake up this morning to the news that University of Florida women’s gymnastics team won their first ever National Team title. I was hoping they would, as they’ve been top most of last year and this year – and it was British Olympian, Marissa King‘s last NCAAs on the Gator team. They won the title on her birthday too. What a gift! You might remember I was hoping to be at the NCAAs this year as they were scheduled to be in Los Angeles the same week as the Q conference. I wish I’d been there last night so bad! :)

Now, I just need to make some cupcakes for a memorial celebration/fundraiser a rainbow unit have organised in our area, in honour of their Rainbow leader who lost her battle with cancer last month. And then I’ll be ready for Monday!

Is inequality why girls aren’t inspired by women?

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Last Monday, the patrols I was working with finished doing the Promise Consultation earlier than we expected. And knowing that after half term they’ll be using time to plan the two nights they are leading next term, I wanted to get them thinking about International Women’s Day.

So I asked them what I thought was a simple question.

‘Can you tell me about a woman who has inspired you?’

With blank looks, I asked them if there was a woman who they looked to as a role model, or did something they thought was cool, or maybe showed characteristics they’d like to have as they got older.

One girl (aged 10) piped up with ‘Rosa Parks’.

The rest of the two patrols all looked at her strangely then looked at me and said ‘Who is Rosa Parks?’

With some help, this 10 year old girl explained who Rosa Parks was and her simple act of courage. But all the girls struggled to come up with their own answers. One said ‘Peppa Pig’ and someone else said ‘Can we choose One Direction?’

I’m trying to remember who I looked up to when I was their age. I remember Betty Boothroyd being the woman with the gavel in the House of Commons. I remember the Spice Girls and finding out a lot more about their back stories – I really admired Melanie C because it was someone who wasn’t wearing teeny skirts and high heels all the time. I wasn’t a fan of Margaret Thatcher, but I do remember being told she was the first female Prime Minister. I admiring the dancers in the Scottish Ballet. Lavinia Milosovici, Kerri Strug and Amanda Borden because they seemed like nice people as well as so hard working that they got to the Olympics! Perhaps Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.

But really most of history seemed filled with men. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Steve Redgrave, Linford Christie, Winston Churchill, soliders from World Wars, Stephen Biko, Donald Woods, Nelson Mandela… All the ladies just seemed to be there to look like human Barbie dolls. Perfect hair, perfect make up, pristine clothing. That wasn’t me, and I didn’t identify with them. There just didn’t seem to be many equivalents to not just admire their talents but their ability to live functional ‘normal’ lives.

I have been blessed to grow up in a world where anything seemed possible for women. The only inequality I found growing up is that girls were not allowed to play football at primary school. I remember distinctly there being a football team set up for the boys, but there was absolutely nothing for the girls. Not even another sports team of any sort.

And so it makes me wonder why it is such a difficult question to answer.

And how really I’ve believed a myth of no inequality when actually there seems to be a special secret going on.

Only just this morning, I heard that the Scholastic Athletic programme in Massachusetts is doing away with Men’s Gymnastics.  The MIAA spokeperson went so far to say this: “It’s a girls’ sport…. when was the last time you watched boys’ gymnastics? They don’t get on the cover of the Wheaties box. They don’t get the endorsements.”

Oh. My. Word.

Who hires people like this?! First of all, I’m not even American, and I know plenty of male gymnasts with endorsements. Hilton Worldwide. BMW. Ralph Lauren. That wouldn’t have been John Orozco on Piers Morgan would it? And no they haven’t been on a Wheaties Box recently. Because they haven’t been quite so successful as the American women’s gymnastics team.  But hey – in the UK, Louis Smith made it to our equivalent of Dancing With The Stars and you’ll see him on Subway shop windows. And maybe, just maybe,  the state that produced one of America’s most well-known male gymnasts perhaps wants to rethink that decision. Especially if that’s your sexist and severely misguided view of the sport of gymnastics.

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So it makes me wonder if the problem with inequality lies in ignorance or stereotyping. Perhaps some of the guys out there have the same problem. Who are the male role models for them?

I think I have a lot more to say on this subject, but I would love to hear your thoughts…

Ticking off the gymnastics bucket list…

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…Despite being off work most of last week with a throat infection, I was DETERMINED to get to Glasgow on Saturday. After failing to get Olympic tickets, I was truly gutted – and totally scunnered to see empty seats at the events when I was watching it on TV. I knew that there was an FIG World Cup event in Glasgow each year, and so when the chance came a couple of months ago to get pre-sale tickets as a fan of British Gymnastics I jumped on the opportunity straight away not caring who I got to see compete! My friend Kathy was going to come with me, but then she realised she had a wedding – so Lynn stepped up to the plate as my gymnastics friend.

Saturday came, and I got up, sucked on strepsils, packed a lunch, covered my face in concealer, foundation AND bronzer because according to my Mum ‘I look awful’ at the moment (extra pale), and headed to the train station with my Olympic Torch Relay flag.

I have to say the event was super organised(aside from the tickets only arriving about a week before the event sending me into panic stations). They had put on free shuttle buses from the main bus station in Glasgow to the arena. And as it turns out…just as well.

I soon realised that my bringing my flag from the Torch Relay (a Union Jack) was a dangerous thing – as our bus stopped for a rather large Orange March on our way to the arena. I then realised the arena was in the Parkhead area…the home of Celtic Football Club. You might know about the riots and violence that’s been going on in Northern Ireland over the last week. You might also know that people on either side of the Republican/Loyalist debate like to associate with Celtic and Rangers – the ‘catholic’ and ‘protestant’ football clubs of Glasgow. Basically, wandering around a ‘Celtic’ area of Glasgow carrying a Union Jack flag is basically like walking around with a target on your back. And it didn’t fit into my backpack. OOPS.

I got there safely on the bus, and was greeted by friendly stewards who handed me a programme, showed me where to go and allowed me back out to meet Lynn with her ticket!

We settled in our seats to eat our lunches, watched Beth Tweddle and I explained who all the gymnasts competing were to Lynn. They had helpful videos on the big screen to explain each event which was great for the newbies to gymnastics.

It was a super long afternoon, but we were blessed with some great gymnastics – especially considering it’s the end of an Olympic year! Marcel Nguyen showed why he won the silver medal behind King Kohei Uchimura in London. we got to see Danell Leyva’s Dad and Coach, Yin do his exuberant  clapping, bouncing and air punching. I strongly believe that Elizabeth Price could win the All-around at worlds next year in Antwerp. And I was gutted that Rebecca Tunney fell from the beam, because she could easily have got a medal if that hadn’t happened. The crowd loved the Japanese guy (I can’t remember if it was Saito or Tanaka) who threw a bit of Gangnam Style when they ‘introduced’ all the gymnasts. I loved the amazing mount to the beam Wakana Inoue performed. Daniel Purvis gave a great pommel horse routine and fought through some minor errors after falling on the Floor event. Kristian Thomas nailed his floor routine, but a disastrous time on Pommel Horse became a theme as he fell on several other events after which was very uncharacteristic for him. What I loved though, is any time a gymnast fell, the crowd cheered them on throughout their routine once they got back on – no matter what colour their leotard was.

So finally – some pictures from the day…

The Wednesday HodgePodge – Round 11

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1. Share your traditions surrounding the Christmas stocking.

This folks, is my Christmas stocking. It’s felt and I’ve had this for as long as I can remember!Photo on 2010-12-25 at 10.15

Every year, my Mum collects random stuff for it, and it used to be that it was placed on the end of bed when I went to sleep on Christmas Eve. Now my Mum dumps it outside my door when we get back from the Midnight Service! The rule is that you can’t open any presents until you’ve woken up from sleep on Christmas Day. When I was a kid, I’d take it through to my Mum’s bed and open everything up then I’d usually be made to go to sleep for a few more hours before being allowed to open presents under tree at more civilised hour. Tradition is that there is always a clementine or satsuma, some pennies, chocolate coins and a packet of Thorntons Viennese Truffles in there!

2. How many hours of sleep do you average at night? Is it enough?

I usually sleep for 7-8 hours. If I get less than that, I really do not function. If I don’t catch up on sleep after 48 hours I usually come down sick with a cold or something very quickly. When I was a teenager, because of school starting so early (and me not usually being able to get to sleep before Midnight or 1 a.m.) I often got only 4-6 hours a night. I used to sleep on my desk in several classes! 1st year of uni I was worse – I used to be awake til 2 or 4 a.m., get up at 8 a.m., go to my 10 a.m. lecture, study, have lunch come back, fall asleep and often missed my afternoon lectures. And I had glandular fever at the time. It’s not surprising that I got Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome really.

3. If you had to give up one thing for the remainder of this year what would it be?

I don’t know. I’d like to try and stop swearing. I do try all the time…but have you ever tried changing the way you speak? I’ve grown up using ‘f’ and ‘b’ and ‘s’ words since I was a wee girl just the same as using words like ‘aye’, ‘wee’ and ‘outwith’.

4. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or Wills and Kate as I like to call them) have announced they’re expecting a baby. Do you follow news of the Royals?

Well living in the UK, it’s hard not to – the BBC News homepage right now (Tuesday morning) looks like this – and this is after the news is already a day old! Poor Kate though – Hyperemesis Gravidarum is horrible. I’ve had a few friends who had really terrible morning sickness where they’ve puked numerous times a day throughout their pregnancy and that is horrible enough. I’ve had 2 friends with HG – one seriously just wanted to die, and was in hospital constantly. She couldn’t go 20 mins without throwing up. It got to a point she couldn’t move without being ill. Every. single. day. For 8 months. Can you imagine puking 10-40 times a day for that long?

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5. For me, the sound of childhood is__________________.

Laughter.

6. Fruit cake-yay or boo? What’s your favorite dessert made with fruit?

Boo. We do not have fruit cake or Christmas pudding in our house. I love Apple & Blackberry crumble, I love berries in general, and at Christmas I use berries and mix them with whipping cream, chocolate fudge icing to make Chocolate Berry Panettone.

7. What is one thing you want to accomplish before 2012 comes to an end?

I accomplished quite a few things on my bucket list this year, so I’m chuffed with that!

I got a tattoo, I cartwheeled on a beach next to the Celtic Sea in Cornwall. I went on a spa day with my friend Carrie and though I didn’t see the Olympics in person, I hope that by next week I’ll have at least seen an international gymnastics competition in person which will include some of the London 2012 Olympians!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Photo on 2012-12-04 at 00.01

I got the other reindeer, and have named them Ruairidh (a Gaidhlig name, pronounced ‘roo-ah-rhee’ which means ‘red king’) and Saija (a Finnish name which I think is prounounced ‘sai-ya’ means ‘Princess’). They are currently wearing smoothie hats 9 & 10, and standing guard over my tickets for the Glasgow World Cup which is THIS SATURDAY!!!! Very excited to see Marcel Nguyen & Danell Leyva (2012 Olympic silver and bronze medallists), not to mention our British Olympics Kristian Thomas, Dan Purvis and Rebecca Tunney. Elizabeth Price (an Olympic alternate) will also be there, and I suspect she’ll contend for the medals at Worlds next year competing for the USA. She won the Stuttgart World Cup competition last weekend. This is my first time seeing elite gymnastics live so I’m super excited!! Worlds next year wil be in Antwerp, which isn’t too far away either…

The way to get better at something is to…

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When kids are little, they think grown ups can do anything. There are things they can’t do or haven’t learned yet, and when we’re able to do things they can’t it might seem like we’re waaay more superhero like than we actually are.

It might be because we can drive a car to get somewhere exciting, or jump up so high we can touch the ceiling. The fact that we can draw a picture with incredible detail that you know exactly what it is without having to ask. You are the person that can quench their curiosity with answers to their questions and they might wow at your knowledge.

But of course children grow up, and eventually they learn that you’re just as flawed as everybody else and you’re not really a superhero after all.

My friend’s daughter looks up to me. When I realised that, I got a bit intimidated. After all, we already know that I can be a corruptive influence on the younger generation. ;) Whenever she was in church and I was singing in the worship band (often with her Daddy who plays drums and other grown up friends she knows) she always got excited. When she was little she’d do impressions of us all – she’d sing with her eyes shut – one arm raised in the air and declare that she was me. My response was a mixture of embarrassment (oh my – is that really what I look like when I’m singing?!), hilarity and pride. She made me a card on my 26th birthday that declared I was a rockstar. And I guess to her, it maybe looked that way. I mean I got to sing on a stage with a microphone with a band. That is COOL. To her, I was an amazing singer.

But the truth is, although I can sing, I’m not anything remotely close to amazing or rockstar like!

When we were on holiday last month, my friend and her daughter (and indeed everyone else on the beach that day who might have been watching) got to see me suck at something. I love gymnastics. But I can’t do it. My friend’s daughter like me, loves dance and other sports but isn’t brilliant at them yet. She’s still learning after all. At first she didn’t try the cartwheels with me. Until she saw that I couldn’t do it, and was having fun trying anyway. So together we tried to fling our bodies into the air attempting handstands and cartwheels. Again. And Again.

We didn’t succeed.

But we had fun trying.

You know, I was never able to sing in harmony. It took me ages to learn. At first I could only do it if I was provided with the notes I needed to sing over and over. When I began to sing in church, I stuck to the melody. Eventually I got the harmony if someone made it up for me. And then with practice and trying (and some awful bum notes in the process) I began to be able to harmonise. Our leader at Powerpoint now jokes with me because I don’t know the melodies to songs anymore – I’m so used to making my own harmonise version as we learn a new song! But when I was 19 I never thought I’d be able to do that. I had to keep practising. I had to ask others from help and teaching. I had to keep trying. I had to make myself vulnerable to making mistakes in the process.

As I came away that day, I reflected on the importance of that lesson. It’s the words that now stick on my head watching footage of World Champion (and now Olympic Champion with her teammates) Jordyn Wieber trying to do a gymnastics move in her living room and falling on her first attempt when she was a little kid. Her Mum is behind the camera as she goes for another attempt…‘The best way to get something done is to try again’

You want to get better at something? Are you being held back because you failed the first time and you don’t like not being the best at something on first go?

I’m with Rita Wieber on this one.

Try Again.

It really is the best way to live. :)

History was made today

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History was made this weekend, when the British gymnastics team qualified a mens team AND womens team to an Olympic Team Final. That hasn’t happened in the modern era of  gymnastics…EVER.

And today…we won BRONZE – the first Olympic team medal in men’s gymnastics in 100 years!!!

I’d got really annoyed in the last few months reading gymnastics sites who had so many articles about medal contenders and hadn’t mentioned the British men’s team. Last month, one of the best sites that I follow regularly declared the medals would be given to USA, Japan, China, Russia or Romania in men’s team final. I was so angry – did they not realise the talent we had? Our men’s team had BEATEN Russia, Germany and Romania at Europeans as recently as May. Yes, injury comebacks and a disastrous day (not unlike the one the American men had today in team final) at the Prelims in Tokyo meaning they didn’t qualify back then. But the fact that Daniel Purvis got 4th all-around and Smith got Bronze even after a big error on his Pommel routine should have been a sign not to count us out. We dominated the London Test Event. Daniel Purvis got the highest All-Around score at Euros – on 3 hours sleep and a stomach bug! And then we won and became the European Champions.

I always knew that a medal was possible – though not probable today. There were some great teams – the American men proved in qualifers they were capable of making that medal podium. I knew that it was highly unlikely that China wouldn’t hugely improve from qualifiers – they did that at Worlds and they  have great mental toughness. Germany had huge potential. Russia had huge potential. In all honesty, the surprise for me today was not the British medal, but the almost medal for Ukraine. The only one I’d noticed in the last year was young Oleg Stepko. Shame on me for counting out the Ukrainians. They did AWESOME today, and I hope to see plenty more of them in years to come.

I hope now you see why I made my complaint to the BBC – why I’ve complained that they’ve really not promoted gymnastics too much on the BBC Sport website except for Louis Smith and Beth Tweddle. These guys can inspire a whole generation of kids to get into sport with the drive of a dream of representing their country in international competition. Making the choice to work hard, be disciplined, stay healthy. Wouldn’t that be fabulous? Even if they never become Olympians, what they could gain to take into whatever they wish to work hard to achieve in life is priceless.

And stay tuned. Some people may say this is a ‘surprise’ medal or that the British men ‘overperformed’ – but those who paid attention (and that includes Japanese coaches when they first saw today’s team in junior competitions like the youth olympics) saw the potential. And if you paid attention to the European Championships this year you’ll know that there is some great talent amongst the Juniors that hopefully will come up in the next few years before Rio 2016.

I’m so looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and World Championships in 2015 – both competitions will take place in Glasgow. It may mean a trip on the ‘road of doom’ (the M8 for those not in the know!) but today I’m even more disappointed not to have gotten those Olympic tickets I applied for and tried to get other ways.

And I’m not regretting a second of my precious time off being used to watch our British Olympians. Whether they win medals or not.

:)

 

Who to watch: Women’s Subdivision 5

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And the final Subdivision begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday 29th July – after this we will know which of the 8 teams have made the final, and which individual gymnasts have made which final. Eek!

Koko Tsurumi (JPN) – I fear she may have peaked in 2009, but I’d love to see Koko shine in London. It’s been great to see the Japanese women improving as the Japanese men have become so dominant in the sport of gymnastics.

Watch out for her in: (if all goes really well for her) Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around and Women’s Uneven Bars

Romanian Women’s Team – First of all, we have the return of 2 fantastic Olympic gymnasts who were looking excellent at the European Championships. Then we have the return of their legendary Coach, Octavian Belu. And then the newest Senior on the team who could challenge for the All-Around crown.

Catalina Ponor – A three time Olympic Champion in 2004, she returned to Worlds in 2011 with very little training and still looked like she had all her power. Now we’ve been seeing that power more polished and she has won a fair few titles this year already. A fabulous new floor routine, and dominant on Balance Beam (she’s the current European Champion). This girl wants to bring more bling back to Romania from London.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s Floor, Women’s Balance Beam

Sandra Izbasa – Sandra was the only Romanian to bring back an individual medal in 2008 having performed a stunning routine taking Gold away from Shawn Johnson in the last performance of the floor final. She’s since been injured, but under great coaching she has become a superb Vault specialist. Though I suspect Ponor and Iordache will keep her out of floor finals in London, I hope to see a routine from her in team finals.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s Vault

Larisa Iordache – She was too young to compete in Worlds last year (it’s annoying they’ve stopped letting 15 year olds compete the year before the Olympics) but her performances in international competitions in 2012 have gone from strength to strength. She beat teammate Catalina for the Floor title in Brussels, and came second to her on Balance Beam. She is a contender for the All-Around title too. I can’t wait to see how she does in London on the Olympic stage

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Balance Beam, Women’s Floor

Phan Thi Ha Thanh (VIE) – Phan was the first Vietnamese gymnast to bring home a World medal, earning a Bronze on Vault in Tokyo. Since then, more recognition for the sport in her country has meant a lot more support for her training. I would love to see her do well in London. And perhaps bring another medal home to Vietnam – because it’s always nice to see someone who is not Russian, American, Romanian or Chinese do well in women’s gymnastics!

Watch out for her in: Women’s Vault

Who to watch – Women’s Subdivision 4

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4.40 p.m. sees Subdivision 4, with Germany, China and Russia competing with a mixed group of individual athletes.

Oksana Chusovitina (GER) – The only athlete who’s competed for 3 different countries (Soviet Union, Uzbekistan & Germany), the only gymnast for whom this will be her record sixth Olympics. Oksana holds the record for the most world medals on a single event (9 medals all on Vault). She has been competing at an elite international level for 22 years – since before most of her competitors were born. She is also only the 4th female to compete in elite gymnastics after giving birth. She is AMAZING. She won Silver in Beijing, and it would be wonderful to see her medal in London also.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s Vault

Huang Qiushuang (CHN) – Huang didn’t have her best competition last year at Worlds, but still came 5th All-Around and took home a Bronze medal on Uneven Bars. In fact this quadrennium the Chinese women’s team haven’t looked nearly as dominant as they did before Beijing. But word is that Huang has upped her difficulty – training an Amanar vault which is looking good that could put her back into medal contention.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Uneven Bars

Yao Jinnan (CHN) – Overshadowed by the Komova/Wieber controversy, this teeny Chinese gymnast didn’t get much attention despite the fact that had she not fallen from the Balance Beam, she had the potential to beat both Wieber and Komova in the All-Around. In fact, she went on to win a Silver on Balance Beam a few days later. She’s been dominant in the World Cup circuit in 2011/12 winning Golds in several events.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Balance Beam, Women’s Floor

Sui Lu (CHN) – A gymnast that didn’t make the cut for Beijing, seems to be shining now. Her performance in Tokyo’s event finals was superb and delightful. She won a very deserved Gold on Balance Beam, and a Silver on Floor. One of China’s specialists, she will be a pleasure to watch in London.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s Balance Beam, Women’s Floor

The Russian Women’s Team – Gold medallists in 2010, Silver medallists in 2011, this new crop of gymnasts has been bringing Russia back onto the Gymnastics podium. Though they’ve had some injuries, the team is much deeper than it was last time, and I suspect that despite not having the best of showing in events this year a great deal of work has been going on behind closed doors.

Aliya Mustafina – The 2010 World Champion who made it to every single final. Sadly, she tore her ACL during finals at the European Championships last Spring and was unable to defend her title in Tokyo. She hasn’t looked quite the same since but she has always seemed a very stubborn and determined gymnast – not too unlike Svetlana Khorkina in character!

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Uneven Bars, Women’s Balance Beam, Women’s Floor

Ksenia Afanasyeva – the current World Champion on Floor, Ksenia was the surprise world champion as she had been a reserve and only competed due to the Russian coaches pulling out her teammate Viktoria Komova from the final and a last minute injury in the warm gym to Italian Vanessa Ferrari. Her artistry and clean execution won her the Gold having made many finals over the years but never seeming to perform her best to be on that medal podium. Her second Olympics she’ll be looking for an individual as well as a team medal.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s Floor, Women’s Balance Beam

Viktoria Komova – A favourite to become World Champion, she looked exhausted in Tokyo having been injured earlier in the year. She was devastated when she lost to Jordyn Wieber in Tokyo, but gained Gold on her strongest piece – Uneven Bars making her the current World and European Champion on that event.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Uneven Bars, Women’s Balance Beam

Anastasia Grishina – a new Senior this year, she won Silver behind Komova at the European Championships this year. However, I noticed she only performed one event at the Russia Cup last month – so I’m not sure what she’ll be capable of in London.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Final, (possibly) Women’s Uneven Bars, Women’s Floor and (possibly) Women’s Vault

Who to watch: Women’s Subdivision 3

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2.45 p.m. is when Canada, USA, France and Great Britain will want to be cheering on their respective teams as they compete for places in the final. Coincidentally, the USA and Great Britain were also in the same subdivision together in Beijing too! This will be an exciting subdivision to watch, as there will be no mixed groups – only full teams.

Beth Tweddle (GBR) – The best British gymnast that has ever been, she just finished outside of the medals in what was a controversial Uneven Bars final in Beijing. She’s won multiple Commonwealth, European and World medals on Uneven Bars and Floor, but the dream is…an Olympic medal. At 27, she’s competing at an age where gymnasts have long since retired and her 3rd Olympics will likely be her last. Her new floor routine is looking fantastic – to the background music of Live And Let Die (a shout out to her gymnastics home of Liverpool?) and hopefully she’ll have no falls & have a great execution score to match her difficulty level on the Uneven Bars.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Uneven Bars, Women’s Floor and (hopefully) Women’s Team Final

Rebecca Tunney (GBR) – A relative unknown in gymnastics she’ll be Team GB’s youngest Olympian. Her performances at the American Cup and Euros were really trumped at the recent British Championships where she showed more difficult routines and beat her teammate Hannah Whelan for the All-Around title. Not likely to be in contention for medals, if she keeps her cool she could surprise a lot of people in London. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her in Rio in 2016 either!

Watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s All-Around


The American Women’s Team – The current world champions, these girls won the title in Tokyo by quite a margin. However, where their difficulty levels won’t have changed too much between then and now, China & Russia have been upping theirs – because these are the girls to beat in London. Because of the two per country rule, they’ll also be competing against each other in the qualifiers for spots in the individual finals. And they have 4 girls who are medal contenders.

Jordyn Wieber – The current All-Around World Champion, she wasn’t really beaten in a competition she entered until the US Olympic Trials. Great on all the events, she knows that people want to beat her. Most especially – Viktoria Komova who only narrowly lost to her at Worlds last year. The pressure has been on Jordyn to follow in the footsteps of Carly and Nastia since 2009, and we just hope that the wise coaching from John Geddert will help her to the finish line. She’s a dynamic gymnast and consistently great on Floor and Beam especially.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s All-Around Finals, Women’s Beam, Women’s Floor

Aly Raisman – Eternally 4th, this girl finally got a Bronze medal on Floor at Worlds last year that has been long overdue. Calmness and consistency should be her middle names! Both she and her training partner, Alicia Sacramone got injured right before the competition began in Tokyo – Alicia’s needing immediate surgery. In Alicia’s absence, this girl became the leader of Team USA. The only thing that’ll keep this girl away from an All-Around medal is her weakness on Uneven Bars. However her powerful tumbling makes her one to watch in London.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s Floor and (possibly) Women’s Beam.

McKayla Maroney – One word: Amanar. This girl is like a cat. Like the gymnasts that came before her, she shows the ballotic lines and great execution that we’ve come to expect from AOGC training. Now performing a Mustafina as her second vault, it seems practically impossible for her not to win Olympic Gold.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s Vault

Gabby Douglas – This girl’s family has worked hard to help her achieve her Olympic dreams. Really this girl has the potential to win as long as she keeps calm and confident. Her inconsistent performances caused a lot of doubts but she proved her nay-sayers wrong by hitting 4-for-4 at Worlds qualifiers. She actually beat Jordyn’s score at American Cup and then beat her at Olympic Trials this year too. Nicknamed the flying squirrel, this girl is stunning to watch on Bars.

watch out for her in: Women’s Team Finals, Women’s All-Around, Women’s Uneven Bars

Youna Dufournet (FRA) – Dufournet was only the 5th French gymnast to win a world medal when she earned a Bronze on Vault in 2009. Last year in Tokyo she ranked 2nd on Uneven Bars, but fell in the final and was, understandably, upset. It’ll be interesting to see how she swings in London.

watch out for her in: Women’s Uneven Bars

Who to watch: Women’s Subdivisions 1 & 2

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Sunday 29th July at 9.30 a.m. is when the women start competing. Because women do only 4 events, there are more subdivisions. Plus medal contenders tend to come from mainly the same countries – unlike men’s gymnastics which has specialists from countries that often don’t have whole teams in the Olympics.

Subdivision 1 is made almost entirely of mixed groups – individual competitors from countries that did not have teams qualify. Brazil will be struggling as due to contracting and sponsorship issues, Jade Barbosa has not been allowed to compete. Had she been allowed to compete she would likely have been a medal contender on Vault.

Yamilet Peña Abreu (DOM) – The first Dominican gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Peña has the potential to throw a spanner in the works of the women’s vault final. In 2011 we saw her attempt an insane vault with a 7.0 start value – a handspring double front. Even men struggle to do this vault and stick it, and they have more upper muscle and a higher vault table (therefore more air to get their somersaults in before landing). Every final she’s ended up landing on her back with a 0.000 score. Will she compete and complete the vault in London?

watch out for her in: Women’s Vault

Subdivision 2 – 11.30 am.


Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) – The 2006 World All-Around Champion narrowly missed out on a Floor medal this year in Brussels at the European Championships. However, there is no doubt that her strength on floor is coming back. She’ll be a key member of the Italian team along with Carlotta Ferlito and best hope for Italy winning a medal.

watch out for her in: Women’s All-Around, Women’s Floor

Lauren Mitchell (AUS) – Lauren had a real coming out party in Beijing, and looked to just be enjoying that she was at the Olympics. Then came Worlds in London, and she won a Silver medal on beam stunning people with her signature wolf turns – on 4 inches of wood! In 2010 she won multiple medals in the Commonwealth Games and went straight from Delhi to Rotterdam where she became Australia’s first world champion female gymnast. Her career has been plagued by injuries taking her out the All-Around but we’d love to see her shine on Beam and Floor…and maybe even help Australia to team finals.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Floor, Women’s Beam & (possibly) Women’s Team Final

Giulia Steingrüber (SUI) – Taking  the torch from Ariella Kaeslin, Giulia is another great Swiss vaulter. Though she will likely be beaten by the likes of Chusovitina, Izbasa and Maroney, she is still one to watch in London.

Watch out for her in: Women’s Vault