It’s that exciting time of year again in the gymnastics world…August! Every year the national championships brings a whole new set of stories, and all of us hardcore gymnastics fans love seeing how they all play out. This year is an exciting one because we have a unique clash of generations, with multiple 2008 Olympians and Olympic alternates going head to head with some brand new stars for national titles and spots on our world championship teams.
We already took a look at the incredible beam finals lineup at the recent Chinese Nationals in Xiantao, so now I wanted to show you some of the other highlights from the competition, which was a great preview of their upcoming world selection process.
Well if you can take anything away from the women’s recent Chinese Nationals in Xiantao, it’s that their skills on beam aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The most recent Chinese nationals took place last weekend in Xiantao, and it was a great opportunity to see some of their very best gymnasts – both old and new – on their specialties.
Kayla Williams…America’s new floor and vault specialist? This girl is the real deal. I didn’t even know about her myself until I noticed that she won both floor and vault at the Covergirl Classic this weekend, and I decided to look up some videos of her. I was astonished she’s been kept a secret until now.
This weekend’s “Covergirl” Classic (formerly the U.S. Classic) answered several key questions regarding the current condition of Olympians Nastia Liukin and Samantha Peszek as well as Olympic alternates Ivana Hong and Jana Bieger.
If you can find a better Cassina done on High Bar, I challenge you to show it to us!
Two of the world’s newest all-around stars in gymnastics took top honors in the all-around finals of the Japan Cup this past weekend.
On the men’s side, the TOP SIX teams from the Olympic Games last year all battled it out for the first time since Beijing at the 1st annual Japan Cup.
Although not a huge competition in terms of numbers, this weekend’s Japan Cup marked one of the few competitions we’ve seen all year in which several of the world’s top female gymnasts competed on the same floor.
In our first Smooth Skills feature, let’s take a look at a few of the cool high bar combinations from gymnastics videos this year that you may not have seen:
It’s time we take a look at some of the men’s gymnastics that has been going on around the world this year. Here are a few men’s videos in 2009 that particularly struck my attention. Check ‘em out!