Gymnastics 2010 - A year in Photos

 The gymnastics year started with Rebecca Bross winning the American Cup,
New face Alexandra Raisman also made a splash on the international scene.

 In March the European Championships came to Birmingham,
The host took impressive silver medals in the men's and women's team events.

But it was the Russian Divas who walked away with the team title.

 

Romania showed that despite management and financial issues,
they still can produce stand-out performers.

 The unstoppable Beth Tweddle defended her bars and floor titles.

 Team USA visited Australia to dominate the Pacific Rim Championships...

 Then put out impressive performances at home for Nationals
Rebecca Bross and Mattie Larson looked ready to take on the world...

 Young stars Viktoria Komova, Tan Sixin and Diana Bulimar
gave us a glimpse of the future at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

 Meanwhile, olympic champions Shawn Johnson and Nastie Luikin returned
to the gym in a bid to make it to London 2012

 Age falsifications regarding Su Jong Hong meant that North Korea recieved a 2 year ban from international gymnastics, forcing them out of the 2012 Olympic games.

 Team Australia swept the all-around medals at the Commonwealth Games

Whilst British veteran Imogen Cairns shone to win Vault and Floor titles.

 Team Russia were victorious in Rotterdam, winning their first World team title, 

 Whilst rising star Aliya Mustafina put in Virtuoso performances to win the All Around

 Mixed fortunes for Team USA as Rebecca Bross once again missed out on a world championship gold medal, Alicia Sacramone roared back to win the Vault title. 

 Team GB had their fair share of success (and bling) in the event finals.

 Australian Lauren Mitchell added to her Commonwealth success by winning her
country's first world championship gold on floor exercise. 

And Team China finished the year by dominating the Asian games, with Sui Lu winning the all around, balance beam and floor titles.

Photos

American Cup - rebeccabross.com

Russia (canal shot) - Naumov Oleg

Youth Olympic Games - screen caps by Going for Gold

Russian Team - Eileen Lansley

All others - Daylife.com

Figure Skating 2010 - A year in photos.

2006 Olympic Silver Medallist Sasha Cohen made a return effort in
January to bid for her 3rd Olympic Team

She couldn't quite outskate the USA's younger talents but
graciously congratulated the new Olympians

Joannie Rochette became a symbol of olympic courage skating
just days after the death of her mother.

Yu-Na Kim smashed records and demolished the field on her way to gold,
led and supported through it by her coach Brian Orser.

 A collection of emotions from the olympic medallists.

2006 Olympic Champion Yevgeny Plushenko couldn't defend his title,
finishing behind american Evan Lysacek

In a year of comebacks it was Shen & Zhao who made it all the way to the top of the podium.

Canada's sweethearts, Virtue & Moir set a new standard on their way to gold,
making Mahler's Symphony no. 5 their own Bolero.

Sharing the spotlight and the honours with American training mates, Davis & White.

The 2010 World Championships was a story of elation, followed by disappointment for
talented young American, Mirai Nagasu.

Yu-Na joined the club of great champions,
inviting Kwan & Cohen to join her in All That Skate.
Few knew that a split with Orser was in order as she moved to California.

New faces for a new olympic cycle,
Young talents Kanako Murakami and Sui & Han

And redemption for some familiar faces,
Alissa Czisny wins gold at the Grand Prix Final.

And December brought the return of Mao,
Skating out like a breath of fresh air at the Japanese Nationals.
She earned the opportunity to defend her world title in 2011.

(All images - Daylife.com)

Young Stars Shine at Russian Nationals

The changing of the guard has happened rather quickly in Russia. Faces from the 2010 olympics and even the recent Grand Prix have faded and the class of 2014 have risen to the forefront.

Ladies

Adelina Sotnikova won her second national title at the ripe old age of 14. The newly crowned JGP champion upped her difficulty and skated a killer free skate with 7 triples including a new triple lutz-triple loop combination. Sotnikova will not be eligible for senior international competitions this year or next but does not want to waste a moment on her climb to the top. She is quoted by Goldenskate as saying-"On one hand, it would have been great to go and compete at the World Championships. But on the other, I am glad that I still have time to improve, to learn new elements. Besides, we have so many strong young girls now, like Julia Lipnitskaya here or Elena Rodionova, that I sometimes feel like a veteran."

Silver went to Alena Leonova, who shows signs of development after a less than stellar Grand Prix season, showcasing a solid triple-triple combination and expression in her Witches of Eastwick programme. Despite not winning she will be a leader of team Russia to Euros and Worlds. Bronze went to Elizaveta Tuktamisheva- she skated with speed and difficulty, but not the maturity of the older skaters. Like Sotnikova, she has ample time to grow though. Leader after the short programme, Ksenia Makarova had struggles in the free skate and ended up 5th overall. However, given the young age of her competitors, she will likely have another chance to skate on the world stage this year.

Mens

New faces rose to the podium after a somewhat messy competition from the Russian men, where the title was open for the taking. The new champion was in fact a relatively unknown 'veteran', 27 year old Konstantin Menshov, followed by 'mini-plushenko' Artur Gachinski. The 17 year old student of Mishin is battling a leg injury and admits he had considered withdrawing. Zhan Bush edged out the rest of the field for bronze. Veteran Sergei Voronov rose up the rankings after a disasterous short programme but had to settle for 4th place.

Pairs

New team Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov stormed to a first national title in Saransk, topping fellow olympians Yuko Kavaguti & Alexander Smirnov. The two younger pairs who made a splash, qualifying for the grand prix final this season finished 3rd (Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov) and 5th (Lubov Iliushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze). Former singles skater Katarina Gerboldt and partner Alexander Enbert pipped the Skate Canada champions for 4th place. After a long while out of the spotlight, Russia shows a good chance of rising back to the top of international pairs skating with a wealth of deep talent at home.

The Ice Dance competition concludes tomorrow, with Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev currently holding a 3 point lead after the short programme.

Competition Reports (Goldenskate) and Full Results.

Photos - Adelina Sotnikova (Daylife.com) and Volosozhar & Trankov (Goldenskate)

Miki edges Mao for gold, World team announced.

Mao's return to form is almost complete. She has earned the chance to fight another day at the World Championships in Tokyo in March.

But it was Miki Ando who pipped her to the gold in Nagano. Mini-Mao, Kanako Murakami took the bronze and proved she is definitely a contender for the future.

Top 4
1. Miki Ando 202.34
2. Mao Asada 193.69
3. Kanako Murakami 187.52
4. Akiko Suzuki 175.96

I predict Akiko will miss out on a spot at worlds but certainly has the quality to be Four Continents champion!

Takahashi & Tran took the pairs gold
The Reed siblings won the dance
(no surprises there!)

Event Results

UPDATE

Team Japan for international events (as reported by Katze on twitter)
Worlds (Tokyo, late March)
Takahashi/Tran Reed/Reed Takahiko Kozuka, Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahashi Miki Ando, Mao Asada, Kanako Murakami
Jr Worlds (Korea, late Feb- early March)
Kento Nakamura, Keiji Tanaka, Ryuichi Kihara, Risa Shoji, Yuki Nishino, Miyabi Ohba, Takahashi/Tran, Komatsubara/Mizutani
4CC (Taipei, mid February)
Takahiko Kozuka, Daisuke Takahashi, Yuzuru Hanyu, Miki Ando, Mao Asada, Akiko Suzuki, Takahashi/Tran, Reed/Reed
Asian Games (Kazakhstan, early February)
Takahito Mura, Tatsuki Machida, Kanako Murakami, Haruka Imai, Reed/Reed
Winter Universiade (Turkey, late Jan -early Feb)
Nobu Oda, Daisuke Murakami, Shoko Ishikawa, Shion Kokubun, Emi Hirai/Taiyo Mizutani

Takahiko Kozuka - Japanese Champion

The Japanese men's world team was never really in doubt, only the order of the medallists was a matter for debate.

Kozuka had built up a mighty lead in the short programme to give him a comfortable win.

The final scores were
1. Takahiko Kozuka 251.93
2. Nobunari Oda 237.48
3. Daisuke Takahashi 236.79
4. Yozuru Hanyu 220.06
5. Takahiko Mura 207.31

View the full results here.

Mao back on top after SP

No-one wanted a clean skate more than Mao Asada. She leads the ladies at Japanese nationals after hitting her triple axel and pulling in a score of 66.22 points.

Currently it's Miki Ando in 2nd with 64.76
Kanako Murakami is 3rd with 61.50
and 14 year old Risa Soji in 4th with 58.22

Akiko Suzuki's reach on a world team place is slipping away after a sub-par effort left her in 7th place.

The Mens free skate takes place later today and the ladies competition concludes tomorrow.

Article - Breitbart

Christmas in Russia

Japan isn't the only country where National titles are being given out for Christmas.

Photo from eurasia-sports.net

Olympians Alena Leonova & Ksenia Makarova will face off against tween-age stars Adelina Sotnikova & Liza Tuktamisheva. The goal is more than a place on the world team (with many of the major players too young to make the trip) but to assert authority a the start of the road to Sochi 2014.

2011 Russian Figure Skating Championships, Dec 25-29, Saransk

Kozuka leads men at JPN nationals

Takahashi & Tran were uncontested in the pairs but posted a respectable SP score of 58.60.
Full Results here.

Christmas in Japan

Who will be Japan's golden lady? 

Who will get a coveted spot on the world team?

Who will just miss out? 

Japan Figure Skating Championships, Dec 24-27, Nagano

Another well-earned award for Beth

2010 World Asymmetric Bars Champion and European Floor and Bars Champion Beth Tweddle has been announced as the recipient of the Olympic Athlete of the Year Award for Gymnastics.


Beth Tweddle: “I’m really happy to win this award, in what has been a outstanding year for British Gymnastics. Becoming World Champion for the third time in my career in 2010 has given me great confidence towards my aim of reaching the podium at the London 2012 Olympic Games. We experienced the support of the home crowd during the European Championships in Birmingham and that has given us a great taste for the amazing support Team GB will receive in London in 2012. I will continue to work hard and hope for further success in 2011 and beyond.”

To mark outstanding performances in 2010, the following athletes have been awarded the BOA Olympic Athlete of the Year trophy:

Aquatics - Rebecca Adlington
Archery - Alison Williamson
Athletics - Mo Farah
Badminton - Rajiv Ouseph
Basketball - Pop’s Mensah-Bonsu
Boxing - Tom Stalker
Canoeing - Ed McKeever
Cycling - Emma Pooley
Equestrian - Laura Bechtolsheimer
Fencing - Chrystall Nicoll
Gymnastics - Beth Tweddle
Handball - Holly Lam-Moores
Hockey - Helen Richardson
Judo - Euan Burton
Modern Pentathlon - Sam Weale
Sailing - Ed Wright
Shooting - Elena Allen
Table Tennis - Liam Pitchford
Taekwondo - Jade Jones
Tennis - Andy Murray
Triathlon - Jonathan Brownlee
Volleyball - Nathan French
Weighlifting - Peter Kirbride
Wrestling - Myroslav Dykun
Biathlon - Lee-Steve Jackson
Bobsleigh/Skeleton - Amy Williams
Curling - Eve Muirhead
Luge - AJ Rosen
Skating - Sinead and John Kerr
Skiing - Andrew Musgrave

*Ice hockey, football and rowing are yet to announce their Olympic Athlete of the Year for 2010.

(British Gymnastics/British Olympic Association)

More Nationals News

Finland

Kiira Korpi won her third national title with an impressive total score of 172.43. This was however in the absense of the injured Laura Lepisto and the retired (?) Susanna Poykio. Does anyone know what happened to promising talent Jenni Vahamaa who made a splash as a junior then vanished from the scene soon after turning senior? Bela Papp won the Men's and Henna Lindolm & Ossi Kanervo were uncontested in the Ice Dance.
Full Results here.

Poland/Czech Republic/Slovakia

At the 3 nations championships in Zilina, Tomas Verner won the men's title ahead of countrymen Michel Brezina and Pavel Kaska. Przemyslaw Domanski was the top placed Polish man and Jacob Strobl the top placed for Slovakia.
The top 3 in the ladies event were Anna Jurkiewicz (POL), Alexandra Kunova (SVK) and Martina Bocek (CZE). Klara Kadelecova & Peter Bidar (CZE) won the pairs and Lucie Mysliveckova & Matej Novak (CZE) won the dance.
Full Results here.

Sweden

Viktoria Helgesson held off her younger sister Joshi for the ladies title in Malmo. Kristoffer Berntsson won the Men's title with Adrian Schiltheiss second. Ronja Roll & Gustav Forsgren were the only senior pair.
Full Results here.
Interesting to see that the web address for the swedish results is nymanfamily.se!

Joubert Bounces Back at French Nationals

Brian Joubert showed he is still the king of French figure skating, winning his 7th national title in Tours this week. Whilst he is not yet back to world championship form, he improved greatly from his disastrous outing on the Grand Prix and helf off young pretender to the french throne, Florent Amodio.

Amodio (who won 2 medals on the grand prix circuit and placed 6th at the final) won the free skate but could not catch up with Joubert after his mistake-ridden short programme had put him over 10 points behind. Alban Preaubert finished 3rd

Ice Dancers Nathalie Pechalat & Fabian Bourzat easily won their second national title with Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones in second.

Newly formed pair Adeline Canac & Yannick Bonheur won the Pairs title. Both skated with other partners last year but this looks to be the start of a positive new partnership.

Yretha Silete, who placed 4th and 6th on the Junior Grand Prix this season won the ladies title, finishing first in the short programme and 4th in the freeskate, the ladies competition was the closest of the disciplines with less than 2 points separating the medallists. Lénaelle Gilleron-Gorry was 2nd, Maé-Bérénice MEITE 3rd and 2009 champion Lena Marocco 4th.

For the upcoming European Championships in Bern- Switzerland, France has 3 spots for men, 2 for pairs and dance and one for Ladies.

Full Results here
Icenetwork also has a competition report here.

 More National Championships coming up in December include RUSSIA and JAPAN

Gymnastics bits from the week.

First of all I should apologise for the scarse updates recently - I will have all the time in the world to blog once my medical school exams are over on Tuesday.

Gymnastics No Ceiling posted this week on the sad news from Romania that 2 of their most seasoned gymnasts, Ceresela Patrascu and Anamaria Tamarajan have retired from Competition.

Shawn Johnson updates us all on her journey to a possible place in London 2012 on her blog here
Meanwhile USA's best gymnast from the recent world championships, Rebecca Bross was in San Jose to promote the 2012 Olympic trials- Bross was on crutches as she recovers from the ankle injury which she was struggling with right through the world championships. Hopefully she can recover fully for next season.

British gymnastics has been awarded extra £625k of funding from UK sport in the wake of their recent success, however - winter sports such as Skiing and Figure skating are getting next to nothing (Ollie Williams- BBC)

WINTER WINNERS AND LOSERS

Changes in Olympic funding announced by UK Sport on Thursday

Winners:

Women's bobsleigh - £2.4m, up £1.9m

Short-track skating - £2.8m, up £1.8m

Skeleton - £3.4m, up £1.3m

Curling - £2.1m, up £900,000

Losers:

Figure skating - no funding, down from £496,000

Skiing - no funding, down from £372,000

Snowboarding - no funding, down from £248,000

Full Twist has posted updates from the  first day of the Toyota Cup in Japan

Women’s Vault 
1. Aliya Mustafin
2. Rie Tanaka 
3. Ekaterina Kurbatova

Women’s Uneven Bars 
1. Jiang Yuyuan 
2. Anna Dementeva 
3. Yu Minobe

Women's Beam
1.Lauren Mitchell 15.200
2.Aliya Mustafina 15.150
3.Sui Lu 14.975

Women's Floor
1.Aliya Mustafina 14.625
1.Sui Lu 14.625
3.Jiang Yuyuan 14.175

North American Skaters Golden in Beijing

With Japan coming in as the dominant force from the grand prix series they were possibly surprised in Beijing by the rejuvinated force of Alissa Czisny and Patrick Chan, outpacing the field to take top honours in the singles events. Ice Dancers Davis & White, and Germans Savchenko & Szolkowy re-affirmed their dominance on the world stage. (Full results here)

Ladies

USA's Alissa Czisny is doing well to dispel her inconsistency demons and prove herself a global contender- 2 clean and beautifully executed performances gave her a first Grand Prix title ahead of competitors with a bigger jump arsenal, but perhaps less style. "This time I feel like I belong here and I am in the right mind set," said the 23-year-old. "The last time it was overwhelming." Last time Alissa qualified for the grand prix final was 2006.
Carolina Kostner of Italy was second after the short programme and despite mistakes in the free skate she held on to silver ahead of Kanako Murakami of Japan by  JUST 0.01 points. Murakami will be the talked aboout young talent of this season- and a new challenger for a new olympic cycle (I'm sure Mao will be keeping an eye on her progress!

Men's 

Patrick Chan outshined the men's field with personal best free stake and overall scores. The Japanese men were 2nd (Nobunari Oda), 3rd (Takahiko Kozuka) and 4th (Daisuke Takahashi) respectively. Chan will have to face off again against this Japanese powerhouse at the Worlds in March.

Pairs

Savchenko & Szolkowy were unreachable in Beijing, taking gold by over 20 points over home favourites Pang & Tong. Their younger chinese counterparts Sui & Han held off the Russian contingent to take bronze in their first year as senior skaters, these 2 will likely be the future of chinese pairs skating and will want to continue their country's winning trend.

Dance

The Ice Dance season so far has been peppered with injuries and withdrawal, leaving the way clear for Davis and White to clinch every gold waved in- front of them. French pair Pechalat & Bourzat put in strong performances to bridge the gap somewhat between the americans and the rest. Canadians Crone & Poirier bested the rest of the field to take bronze, showing Canada has depth beyond Virtue & Moir.

Junior Grand Prix Final
Russia's class of 2014 made their presence known in beijing, taking the top 2 spots in the ladies event, second in the pairs and the top 4 places in the junior ice dance.
Adelina Sotnikova took the ladies gold ahead of team-mate Elizaveta Tuktamisheva. These 2 may well be competetive rivals heading toards Sochi. USA's Richard Dornbush and Keegan Messing took the top 2 places in the men's event. World Jr Champions Ksenia Monko & Krill Khaliavin took their second straight JGP title and led the Russian dominance of the event. Japanese pair Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran topped off their busy and successful fall season with an easy in in the pairs event.