The Olympic GYMNASTICS RAT

Get Back to the GYM Basics

noreply@blogger.com (jcp) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:45:00 +0000

Export this widget from Encyclopedia Britannica and score big on your compulsory gymnastics terms, definitions, as well as blurbs on the sport's major names and figures.

Just yank the code from below, copy and export to your personal desktop!

US Olympic Gymnastics Squad Ready to Take-off!

noreply@blogger.com (jcp) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:22:00 +0000

The US Olympic Gymnastics Selection Committee announced the six-woman team that will represent the United States in next month's Summer Games in Beijing.

There was little surprise (thank goodness!) when Marta Karolyi added Alicia Sacramone, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, and Bridget Sloan to the American roster.

Last month's US Olympic Trials winner, Shawn Johnson, and runner-up, Nastia Luikin, received automatic berths to the American team following their 1-2 finish.

The seasoned American squad are the medal favorites to bring home the Team Gold.

Thank you, Marta...

Gymnast(s) DOWN! ... Inside the Karolyi Ranch (aka 2008 US Olympic Selection Camp)

noreply@blogger.com (jcp) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:19:00 +0000

For two of the American gymnasts picked to participate at the this week's 2008 Olympic Trials "Selection" Camp, the next two days may very well quantify the last four years.

Karolyi Camp insiders have made public the news that two Olympic hopefuls, vying for a coveted spot on the US' six-athlete roster, have gone down with injuries.

For Shayla Worley, an uneven bars specialist who was a leading candidate to make this year's squad, her season (and Beijing hopes) have all but dashed and turned to (chalk) dust.

For Chellsie Memmel, her back injury is day-to-day. This latest injury, however, differs from the shoulder shoulder injury that has sidelined her for the past couple years). Memmel was essentially "a lock" upon arriving to the Texas ranch, but now an inkling of doubt has surfaced as to whether or not her body can heal in time for Team USA's July 31st departure to Beijing.

I really, really hope the selection committee realizes how much the American team needs a consistently brilliant, time-tested bar-worker like Memmel.

Marta and Co. ought to remember that alternates exist for a reason. They travel with the team and prepare as though they could be called to replace an injured teammate at any time. So, please... Put Chellsie Memmel where she belongs: on the 2008 US Olympic Team... squarely, surely, definitively. M and Co. can make a later decision whether or not to appoint an alternate to replace any injured gymnast. They should reserve their rights and decide later.

Whether or not Shayla Worley had a true chance of making the team will remain a curiosity. I feel horribly that Worley's combined accolades will likely omit Olympic acclaim.

As a member of the US's 2003 World Champion Team, Memmel can certainly sympathize with Worley's (literal) pain. An untimely injury during the lead-up to the 2004 Athens Games relegated Memmel to the sidelines (as one of three Team Alternates).

With Memmel's latest back injury, are we witnessing Athens all over again?

I certainly hope NOT!

I, along with my fellow rabid elite gymnastics fans, beg this year's Selection Committee to stop history from repeating itself and let each gymnast's resume represent...

thank you.

US Olympic Gymnastic Hopeful Chellsie Memmel Making Something of Twenty

noreply@blogger.com (jcp) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:02:00 +0000

We're less than a month away from the Summer Games in Beijing. The anticipation is killing me... So many curiosities are cutting diagonals across my brain.

What is going on behind the piney gates of the Karolyi ranch?

Who is allowed inside with Marta and the girls?

Will a third "true bar-worker" emerge for Team USA?

What kind of meals are the girls being fed? Where the heck is this ranch anyway?

One question about which I'm less curious is whether or not former World Champion Chellsie Memmel will make the six-gymnast American squad. True, she may have only recently healed from a long-standing shoulder injury, but the 2004 Athens alternate has proven her mettle by nailing her routines during the recent 2008 US Olympic Trials.

Most gym pundits would agree: Chellsie Memmel is a lock for the Beijing Olympic squad.

The three-routine specialist will arrive as an uneven bars medal contender at the seasoned age of 20, once considered "ancient" in elite Women's Gymnastics. However, with advancements in training methodology and innovations in injury prevention, female gymnasts are sticking around much longer than their predecessors.

Also, college gymnastics has come a long way from its initial inauguration into the NCAA. The college gymnastics circuit now hosts a slew of former Olympic medalists, a mix of former national and international team members, and an all-around group of high-caliber elite competitors.

Take, for example, the 2008 NCAA Champs: the Georgia Gymdogs. From Bottom-to-Top, it's a who's-who of US elite gymnastics. The top of the list goes to Athens Olympian Courtney Kupets who I would argue to be the top American uneven bars worker... still! If not for a crushing mid-season Achilles rupture, I would've started an internet campaign to lobby her into the Karolyi selection camp!

Aside from Kupets, there's her Olympic teammate, Courtney McCool. Then there's former National Team members Katie Heenan, Nikki Childs, Grace Taylor, Marcia Newby... on and on.

I love the lengthening life-span in women's gymnastics. I love seeing older, taller gymnasts (i.e. gymnasts with the first name, Svetlana) thriving in a sport that was once dominated by young, pixie machines (even though i love them, too).

So, I will be rooting for "roaring 20-yr old" Chellsie Memmel (and Alicia Sacramone!) and all the other women bringing down the podium, Old-school.

Beijing is One Month Away!

noreply@blogger.com (jcp) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0000

We can officially begin the Beijing '08 Countdown since we're inside one month of the Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Games! Let the (prediction) Games Begin!

Check out the latest interactive feature from ESPN.com which includes profiles on Olympic hopefuls (like Alicia Sacramone, left), updates on past US Olympians and info on the broader international Olympic scene.

Also, check out the entire list of this year's US Olympic Hall of Fame inductees, which includes each of the Magnificent Seven from the 1996 US Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team from Atlanta. Congrats!