oscars!

the best senior gymnast.......

LAUREN MITCHELL!!!!!!!

lauren really impressed us this year with her silver winning performances at the worlds, finally her breakthrough into the world of gymnastics!!! lets hope she can carry on to the 2012 olympics!!!

other noable mentions..

koko tsrumi

koko impressed us this year at worlds with her bronze medal in the all around and silver in bars. she is one of the many japanese gymnasts wanting to make thier mark on the world.

bridget sloan

bridgy impressed us this year at worlds becoming the all around world champ but i would of liked to see more medals go to her.

time for the 2009 gymnastics oscars.........

the catergorys

best senior gymnast
best junior gymnast
best breakthrough
best upset
best all arounder
best vaulter
best bar worker
best beam worker
best floor worker
best comeback

aliya mustafina interview

IG contributor Kaori Miyaura chatted with Russia's Aliya Mustafina during the Japan Cup this weekend in Tokyo.
Aliya Mustafina (Russia) leaps on balance beam at the 2009 Japan Cup in Tokyo.
Mustafina, a junior, helped Russia finish second to China in the team competition on Saturday. On Sunday, she finished second all-around behind China's Huang Quishuang and ahead of teammate Tatiana Nabiyeva.
Born Sept. 30, 1994, Mustafina is one of Russia's top prospects for the 2012 Olympic Games. She finished second all-around behind Nabiyeva at the 2008 Junior European Gymnastics Championships in Clermont-Ferrand.
Mustafina trains at Moscow's Central Sport Army Club (CSKA) with coaches Olga Sikorro and Sergei Zelikson. Her younger sister, Nailia Mustafina, is also a member of Russia's junior team, and won the silver medal on floor exercise at the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships in San Jose.
Following the team competition in Tokyo, Miyaura caught up with Mustafina, who will be eligible for senior competition in 2010.
IG: When is the next competition for you?
AM: The Russian Cup is my next competition. It’s going to be held in the end of August in Penza. After going back home, I’ll be working toward it.
IG: Do you have any gymnasts as your role model?
AM: I like Nastia Liukin (U.S.). I adore her elegant and beautiful performances with difficult elements. I like especially her graceful uneven bars and balance beam.
Among the Russians, I like Ksenia Afanasyeva. I respect her strong and beautiful gymnastics.
IG: Could you tell us your future goals?
AM: To participate in the 2012 Olympics in London. But just participating is not enough. I want to show good enough performances and make a good contribution to lead our team to good results.
IG: Could you give a message to international fans?
AM: Me? To international fans? Is it OK from me?
IG: Yes, of course. You have worldwide fans.
AM: I’d like to say thank you very much to everybody who supports me

shawn johnsons return!

IG's Dwight Normile recently spoke with 2008 Olympic beam champ Shawn Johnson about her comeback plans and numerous other topics. Johnson, who will turn 18 on Jan. 19, says she will finish her senior year of high school in one month but isn't applying to any colleges just yet. When she does, Harvard, Stanford and Duke are on her short list.
Johnson says various opportunities have put college and a competitive comeback on hold. And though she's been back to Chow's Gymnastics occasionally, she isn't ready to give up everything right now to train full time.
"Things have just been coming up, appearances and different promotional things," she told IG. "I haven't really gotten back in the gymnastics gym yet, but I have been ... staying in shape, in case [when] that switch flips and I want to go back and stuff, but ... there's nothing rushing me and I want to make sure I make the right decision."
Does Johnson feel like she would let her fans down if she didn't come back?
"Right now, it's trying to figure out what I want to do," she said. "I feel like no matter what I do my fans should support me. Part of me does worry about that (letting fans down). But I went to the Olympics, I accomplished my goal and dream, I represented the country. And if I go back again, I think that should just be, you know, extra special ... I'm not sure what my new goal in life is."
The comeback question is one that many former champions face, and also one that is obviously very difficult to answer. If Johnson's words suggest that she'll never chalk up again, she ended our exclusive interview with one final statement on the matter:
"That door is wide open, and I don't think it will close for a long, long time. I can promise you that I want to get back int

catergory 1

prettiest leotard

becky downie gbr

vote in poll

catergory 1

prettiest leotard

yang yilin chn

vote in poll

catergory 1

prettiest leotards

chellsie memmel usa

vote in poll

catergory 1

prettiest leotards

shawn johnson usa

vote in poll

catergory 1

prettiest leotards

ksenia semenova rus

catergory 1

prettiest leotards

alicia sacramone usa

vote in prettiest leo poll

its time for...............the leotard games!!!!!!!!

theres a lot of leotards out there who need respect for various reasons and these games will do exactly that!
the catergorys are
prettiest leotard
ugliest leotard
shiniest leotard
most colourful leotard
best red leotard
best blue leotard
best black leotard
best white leotard
best overall leotard

Continuing IG's holiday series, 2006 world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari of Italy told IG she hopes to challenge anew as she handles her new role with the Italian Army.
"In gymnastics I'm really focused on the next European Championships (April 28 – May 2, 2010), said Ferrari, who has been hindered by injury since she became the first Italian woman to win the world all-around title. "I know the road to Europeans is long and hard because I'm still struggling to recover at 100 percent, but I want to come back with great routines in next year's main events."
Ferrari, who trains under coach Enrico Casella in Brixia, said she is easing into her recent post with the military.
"Actually I'm a 'rookie,' Ferrari said. "It's the first step into the Army. Many sportsmen and sportswomen in Italy join the Army, Navy or Air Force to receive support during their careers and to ensure an opportunity when they have quit competing.” yay! another return!

In Los Angeles this week for meetings and promotions, 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin told IG she is likely to return to serious training and competition next year.
"Right now I'm not so much training the events, but doing cardio and conditioning to stay in shape," said Liukin during Saturday's UCLA vs. University of Utah meet at Pauley Pavilion. "Because I'm traveling so much, it's hard. This year is going to be busy, so I don't know if I will be able to compete. But, as soon as [an upcoming promotion] is done, I would absolutely love to be 100 percent serious. I have already told [the promotion sponsors] that, if there is a year during which they want me to travel, it has to be this year. Because, starting next year, I'm going to be very serious about training and competing in 2011 and 2012."
yay! lets hope she returns!

i love this video it shows true romanian gymnastics

Right, I have been on holiday lately and haven’t been keeping up with the news.anyway, Im going to start doing a gymnast of the week category will put information on the gymnast, possibly a video and some pictures. To start us off with gymnast of the week is……

Svetlana boginskaya!!!!!!!!



Svetlana Leonidovna Boginskaya was born on the 9th of February 1973 in minsk,belarus and is 36 years old. Boginskaya was a figure skater before beginning gymnastics at age six.2 years later boginskaya moved to moscow to train full time at the round lake training center.when svetlana was 14 she became a member of the soviet team.her first international medal was a bronze medal on beam at the 1987 gymnastics world champs.at the 1988 olympics svetlana was one of the most sucsesful gymnasts on the soviet team winning 4 medals. A gold in the team event and vault,silver in the floor exercise and a bronze in the all around.soon after the games svetlanas coach lyubov miromanova commited suicide for an unknown reason. In 1989 svetlana became the all around world champion.1990 saw svetlana sweep the european champs,taking gold in every event. In 1991 svetlana lost her world title in the all around to american kim zmeskal but received gold in the team event and balance beam. At the 1992 olympic games a showdown was expected between zmeskal and boginskaya but it did not happen.at the games svetlana could only manage a gold in the team event. Shortly after the olympics svetlana announced her retirement but made a comeback in 1995. at the 1996 olympics boginskaya represented her native country,belarus bringing them to a 6th placing in the team event. Svetlana competed in the all around and vault finals but could not medal. In 2005 boginskaya was introduced into the gymnastics international hall of fame

floor

3 months 22 days to go!!!!!! How long do I have to wait!

My predictions for floor
Anna myzdikova for gold 100%! She has some of the most difficult tumbling passes I’ve ever seen and has so much grace and elegance! She would of taken gold on floor if she hadn’t of landed low on the third tumbling pass. Silver goes to Miss Ana pogras who has a lot of talent on floor and deserves more than what she gets on this event. Bronze goes to Beth Tweedle of England who can land her tumbling passes properly and has grace but needs more difficulty in her routine.

My predictions
Gold: Anna myzdrikova (rus)
Silver: Ana pogras (rom)
Bronze: Beth Tweedle (gbr)
c u soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beam

Still 3 months 23 days!! It seems every time you think about something that’s coming up that’s good it seems to take forever but when its bad it seems like each day is a minute. Anyway, here are my beam predictions for Europeans 2010.


Yana Demyanchuk or Anamaria Tamarajan are my 2 favourites for the gold in beam. Then its probably a battle between Ksenia Semenova and Gabreila Dragoi for the bronze. Yana perfects everything and makes it look easy while Anamaria looks flawless and graceful as well as making it look easy. Ksenia can wobble at times but is graceful and makes it look easy. Gabi is graceful and makes it look easy but again can sometimes wobble.

My beam predictions
Gold: Anamaria Tamarajan (rom)
Silver: Yana Demyanchuk (ukr)
Bronze: Gabreila Dragoi (rom)


C u soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bars

European Champs - still 3 months and 23 days!!! its going to take forever for them to arrive at this rate!

My predictions for the bars final

Ksenia Semenova is my choice for the gold. She got robbed at last year’s champs and deserves gold after her performance at Worlds. Silver goes to the beautiful Ana Pogras of Romania! She’s so graceful on bars and surprised us all with a bronze medal at Worlds. Looks like she’s one of the few Romanians who have succeeded internationally on bars. Bronze goes to Britain’s most successful gymnast Beth Tweedle! Beth is good on bars but I don’t know if she’s still got the effect she had in 2006 when she became World Champ.


Bars Predictions
Gold: Ksenia Semenova (rus)
Silver: Ana Pogras (rom)
Bronze: Beth Tweedle(gbr)


c u soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi

Right, I’m new to blogging so lots of things could be wrong. I know it won’t be perfect but here goes.
I’m a primary school kid from New Zealand who is mad about gymnastics. From when I wake up till when I go to bed im either doing gymnastics, researching it or thinking about it. I even dream about it!

Please leave positive or helpful comments

I am looking forward to the European champs in April 2010. I hope there is lots of TV coverage here in New Zealand. Please send me your predictions too!

European champs, 3 months and 23 days. My predictions for the vault finals: Yulia Berger is my favourite for the gold but Youna Dufournte of France will be a hard competitor if she performs as well as she did at Worlds. Areilla Kaeslin is a powerful vaulter I think if she doesn’t get deductions for bent legs & leg separations she might take home the bronze.

Vault Final: Gold Yulia Berger
Silver Youna Dufournte
Bronze Areilla Kaeslin

My next post will be my predictions for the Bars at the Europeans. C U SOON!!!!!!!!