BRUSSELS 2012: TEAM FINAL FASHIONISTA & NOTES

Yesterday, was the Senior Team Final at the Belgium Expo. Fortunately, I was able to watch it because they were showing it live on BBC1 Red Button. If you don't know, Romania took the top spot (mainly courtesy of Iordache), Russia bitterly took the silver medal and Italy managed to squeeze in for bronze. If Great Britain had Beth Tweddle and Hannah/Jennifer hadn't of fallen off beam, we would have placed (for sure!!) 5th was the French team, bad dismount of beam for Youna Dufournet and she also had a nasty gienger scare. Valentine Sabatou also fell straight onto her knees on floor. The home nation, Belgium, took the 6th place. BBC didn't show many of their routines but Grand'ry had a nice bars set. Mys was also pretty faultless on beam & vault. Spain took 7th, Izurieta really didn't look all to great on floor. Paula Vargas was good on floor but that's all we saw of them. Same with 8th placed, Germany, we only saw the beam routine from Kim Bui, where she fell. Now, we take a look at the fashion side from each team.




Simple, Nice, GOLDEN! Romania pulled off the casual look very well. The pattern with the colors is really nice and I think they all look great in white (I suppose you've got to if you are a Romanian gymnast.) BRING ON FINALS TODAY!




The 'wrapped for christmas' leotard. I don't like this one, the flag does look like they are a christmas present. Great Britain usually pull out the leotard goods but it didn't too it for me.




That was Youna's bad gienger. I think this is very basic, quite tired and France need a variety of leos but this automatically is in the wardrobe for any meet, so I think it'll be hard to loose.




Lush. Russia really did persuade me. The pattern is NOM, the color is NOM and whole design is NOM. Meet your new 'NOMNOMNOM' leotard.




Does this count as Spanny's 'the pube curls'? ask her! Nice design but I tire of seeing pink, I'm glad the event is over today! (well.....not really.)




my favorite one of the competition. I am beginning to think that Purple is totally my leotard color preference. It looks so snazzy, so hip, YES, italy. 




Tired, Bored, *yawns*




I like this one. Nice to see something fresh from the Spanish camp, not just that ugly, black/silver shitty one.


On BBC1 Red Button at 12:45pm (13th May) is today Junior/Senior apparatus finals from Brussels Expo. Official twitter hashtag; #Brussels2012 Our twitter; @TWGgymblog

THE FASHIONISTA: SENIORS

We take a look at some of the outfits worn at yesterday's Senior Qualification round.




I think this is an improvement of the one they wore on Training day, however I am still not a fan. But, I think that Pink looks nice on the Romanian team.




This isn't too bad. I just thought it was too uncharacteristic to be a Russian leotard. I'd imagine Slovenia or Israel to wear it but the pattern is so nice. hehe!




Spanny's 'the freaking pinwheel' strikes again. Obviously, Belgium are the last people you'd expect to be wearing pink this meet (ah!) Of course not, there whole wardrobe consists of pink, pink and a little bit more of pink. But, hey, they made team finals. Belgium love them.




The 'wow, Adela?' design. It has Sweden and BLAH written all over it. Quite reasonable for Adela's taste but it isn't lush. The leaves in the corner are quite effective.




Wow Vasiliki, Wow! What us bloggers would refer to as #hotpinknation It looks like they have a long, pink armband, also the clear sleeves need to DIE! Nooo....




Your average from a German leotard. National colors, tired pattern and Oksana Chusovitina.




I totally love this one...yay, we've found one I like. The lines going down the side are really pretty and very nice and sort of makes it like an adidas leotard. It's a very basic design yet the colors enhance it.




I am hating the material. Also, these leotards are so common, they're isn't even a flag/advertisement separating it from another nation's version. 





I wish Sweden would have worn the Slovenian one. I think this one is really weird. There isn't any yellow just a golden sleeve with blue weird stripes and then 3/4 of it is sheer black with diamontes, hmmph? 




the 'neon party' leotard. I want Ireland to do a version like the Spanish one with the Irish colors, it would look so cool. Basic but actually very cool. Attracts a lot of attention, and even has matching iluminous scrunchie.




Material = 0
Design = 0
Simplicity = 100!!


Lara Svilpaite works the 'zebra' look. Not sure I'm buying it.


thank you for reading:)

BRUSSELS 2012: JUNIOR QUALIFICATIONS/TF

Today, we saw the best of europe go head to head in the Junior european gymnastics championships in Brussels, Belgium. It was an exciting and no-doubt tight competition with small margin for error. 


In the team side of things, Russia prevailed with a team score of 167.330, taking the gold home. 3.299 points later, we saw the second placed team which was Italy. In the bronze medal position, Romania took it.


Great Britain lost the bronze by less than 1 mark but still gaining great experience for the girls with 4th






In all-around terms, Maria Kharenkova of Russia swooped in to 1st position with 56.132.
Italian superstar Elisa Meneghini qualified 2nd and Evgeniya Shelguynova in 3rd.

Vault;




Bars;




Beam;




Floor;





To end with;


@theallaround just posted a nice picture on twitter of the team final podium a few minutes ago;




The competition will carry on tomorrow with the Senior Qualifications. 
follow @Double_Front @GymExaminer and @theallaround for highlights.

THE FASHIONISTA: EUROS PODIUM TRAINING

We take a look at some of the leotards that were worn during the Senior podium training yesterday. We saw a variation of different colors, patterns and materials. Let's take a look;




This is the Belorussian team. It's a nice, simple leotard for a CLUB! It doesn't scream international gymnastics or Belarus, more just like a county/state meet leotard. What do the colors represent in Belarus?




Kim show's off this very typical German style leotard. I mean the lighter tone of red makes it Pink but I like that and it goes really well with the yellow swirl but this is cut way, way to high! That's what let's it down.




As many tweeter's have said ''Mike Wazowzki'' leotard. It screams ''EURGH, GET ME A BUCKET!'' and ''WHY THE HELL IS THIS IN THE GREEK WARDROBE''. Straight off the top, the pink chest bit almost see-through but also it's just a random mix between the 2 colours. But, this mid air acrobatic shot of Millousi redeems the whole picture.




I really didn't know what to say about this when I saw this picture. I'm surprised that Russia opted for a long-sleeved leotard as their usual choices go short. But, I think a new leotard concept to the Russian wardrobe is good. The shades of blue are really TOO PRETTY and It's not too high cut = YAY!!




Just when you thought the Romanian national colors were safe! I hate this one. It is just really weird with the random blue coming down the sides and the sleeves are GROSS. I hope they do opt for a national colored leotard for qualifications tomorrow, they represent themselves a lot better then.




The usual you'd expect from France. National color city with a hint of pretty pattern. I am a fan of this one but it's pretty same-ish.




We'll review both sides of the picture;


Portugal:


I am a big fan of this number. First shown off by the classy Ana Porgras, It has been very popular since. White, Blue and Black are actually quite a nice combo:)


Belgium:


I like how the whole competition is like ''think pink'' because the cards are pink, the arena is pink and hay, the leos are pink. The Diamontes are very beautiful, you'll make the team final leotard wise.




and now the junior's step up to the fashionista playing field;




Oh, I really don't like this one. The sleeves are really random and the gold just doesn't do it for me. However, I am a massive fan of the British flag backs (and Angel Romaeo)




This is the leotard that inspired white to come in with the Romanian leos. This is just a bit weird. Although, all the primary colors is a good start. Plus, good way to put the leotard manufacturer on...(the sleeve)




Bored...but again, they have stuck to the pinky theme so congratulations Belgium.




This is a very nice leotard from France. Many of their wardrobe is a blue domination but who cares? The color and pattern is LUSH!




the ''OMFG, KILL ME NOW!'' leotard. When did Belarus hire a 3 year old to design their leotards? Basic, boring, DIE!




Thanks for reading and remember. Follow live action from the Senior Competition tomorrow via. twitter! @Double_Front @GymExaminer @theallaround for live tweets:)

SEITZ WITHDRAWS

Many live bloggers in Belgium have said that German gymnast Elisabeth Seitz has withdrawn from the competition because of injury. The injury is a back pain and she may be out of the Olympics because of it. Her replacement will be 2x world athlete Pia Tolle.




We wish Eli the best recovery...

BETH FOLLOWS.

We are privileged to tell you that 3x Olympian Beth Tweddle is now following us on twitter. We are very happy for her to follow us. Now, she is following, we can DM her so give us your questions to ask her.


Thanks,


James.

NHK 2012: WHO'S GOING TO LONDON?

In Japan, the final leg for the London 2012 Olympic Games was to rank in the top 5 at this year's NHK Cup. It was held yesterday. At the end of the meet, here was the gymnasts that qualified for London;

1. Tanaka Rie
2. Yu Minobe 
3. Asuka Teramoto
4. Tsurumi Koko
5. Yuko Hsinchu

The biggest disappointment for me was little Mai Yamagishi who came in at 10th. I really thought she was going to do big things for this team. Sticking with Mai, Mai Murakami was last in the whole competition. But, how? She had massive skills/upgrades prior.

No doubt that this team with do really well in London though.

BRUSSELS 2012: VAULT CONTENDERS

We start a new series for the Brussels 2012 highlighting someone of the contenders for apparatus finals from each country. We bring you the vault today. Over the past year, we have seen revolutionary change in vaulting. Many more people are investing in a second vault and the high difficulty values have been increased (an average vault start value for a vault final is usually 5.2-5.5. Let's take a look at the girls that could factor;


RUSSIA:
Russia are known mainly for their beauty on floor and beam but they also have a lot of power on vault and bars.


Aliya Mustafina


Aliya is back after last year's vault mishap at Europeans and ready for battle to win the vault crown.
























Viktoria Komova


Viktoria has been training a second vault of yurchenko half on, tuck front off as demonstrated at the Voronin Cup. Whether she'll be able to make finals, I am not sure but she's definitely a contender if she can pull off her amanar. 
















Tatiana Nabieva


Nabs has been around for a very long time but I still think she could pull out the goods. Nabieva has experimented with an amanar before but she only got credited the double. If she doesn't final, I think that Grishina or Paseka could take this spot.
































ROMANIA:


I've only picked 2 girls for this because they haven't been very strong in recent years for vaulting. Is Iordache a 2-vaulter? I haven't added her, please tell me;)


Sandra Izbasa


2011 Vault European Champion, Sandra Izbasa, has come back from injury scare early this year. Her vaulting has become very solid and she is a big contender. 


















Diana Chelaru


Not a very strong vaulter but has the vaults to squeeze in.
Time will tell.








other gymnasts;





Dorina Boczogo


Always been a strong, powerful vaulter. Can she make it to finals? Maybe not but don't count her out for all-around finals.
























Imogen Cairns


Imogen is coming back after a quiet year in 2011. Don't count her out as she is Commonwealth Champion and has finalled at European and World levels.






Youna Dufournet


We have seen Youna on vault many times. I think she could make it to the finals this year. She was injured in 2010 and missed out on Worlds, in 2011, she didn't make Euros but made bars finals at Worlds. Youna has had a busy and yo-yo past 2 years.










Oksana Chusovitina


When Germany keeps moving, Chusovitina is staying. The 34 year old veteran gymnast is still in the mix for the Europeans. 2008 Olympic Vault Silver Medalist, 2008/2011 European Vault Champion, she keeps moving strength to strength.

















Giulia Steingruber


Giulia Steingruber is a very, very strong vaulter. In 2011, she made the European vault final but unluckily fell. Later in 2011, she made World Vault Finals and came 6th. Earlier this year in Osijek, she upgraded her second vault to a 1.5 tsuk, can she keep up the great work?





t.h.a.n.k.s:)

THE WORLD GYMNAST BACKGROUND DESIGN COMPETITION: MAY/JUNE

Every 2 months, we've decided to hold an annual competition for budding gymnastics photo editors to get their work shown on the blog and facebook. We are giving 2 lucky winners, the honor of having their photo edit as the blog background or the other winner, their edit will be our facebook and twitter profile picture for 2 weeks. 


WHEN?


We will be taking entries from today (2nd May) right through to the 12th of June. The winner will be announced sometime during 15-20th May 2012.


WHAT?


Your task is to edit/design a gymnastics photo. It should be very eye-catching and very nice to look at. We also accept collages.


HOW?


As Picnik closed down, photo editors have found it very tricky too make some good photos but I highly recommend 'befunky' for sepia, hue, make-up etc. and also photovisi for collages. But, photoshop or any others would be perfectly fine, we don't mind what software. They need to be jpg, jpeg or png files please;)


WHERE DO I SEND THEM?


You can send them too us via. facebook, twitter or e-mail. E-mail or Facebook are preferred but whatever is easiest. Just tag us in it on facebook or if you upload to twitter put our address (@TWGgymblog). When e-mailing, just attatch it with your name and age. (the.world.gymnast1@googlemail.com)


WHAT ELSE DO I WIN?


I am currently in the process of thinking but I will get back to you when I have ideas;)


HOW OLD DO I HAVE TO BE?


Old enough to be able to use photo editing software really. We don't really mind what age. Of course you should be 13+ if your posting via. facebook;)


WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO BE ABOUT?


Anything to do with gymnastics.


OTHER INFO;


Only one photo per e-mail/twitter and facebook account.


Please give name and age when sending;)




If you have any questions, please e-mail/facebook.

one of our edits

WHO WILL MAKE THE GB SQUAD FOR LONDON 2012?

This post was written by our new contributer Rachel P.

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property of Becky Downie

The countdown to the Olympic and Paralympic games have begun, and for team GB that means the pressure is beginning to explode, five spots are to fill on the Olympic team but with a talent pool as deep as the current British squad anything or anyone could happen. For each of these girls it has different meanings, whether it’s the final cap to Britain’s most successful gymnast: Beth Tweddle’s career or a second chance for a now experienced Hannah Whelan, who captured the heart of the gymnastics community when she burst onto the scene in the last quad, this is the ultimate goal and for some, they dream no higher.

The success of the Tokyo world championships are behind them, at this point there is one combination of the team that we all know already works; that team being made up of: Beth Tweddle, Hannah Whelan, Becky Downie, Imogen Cairns, Jennifer Pinches and Danusia Francis. This team, with no mistakes secured Britain’s highest place since 1928 at an International level.
 But what about the gymnasts behind the scenes, the ones at home working on bigger and harder skills to increase their start value, the ones that are yet to be seen by the world or have little to no international experience, the ones ready to take 2012 by storm.

Rebecca Tunney

Relatively known on the international scene after competing at the test event in January and a not so good competition at the American cup soon after, we are yet to see what she has to offer. Like Whelan in 2008 she is a new year senior taking the field by storm with a big bar set leveling her on the playing field of already established competitors. Rebecca is capable of a DTY on vault and has a dynamic floor routine with stable, efficient tumbling. Here is Rebecca’s competing at the London Test event on her favourite piece bars:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuQjwir9dlE

Jocelyn Hunt

Jocelyn turned senior in 2010 after successful years on the junior British gymnastics scene where she was selected for various international and friendly competitions. Now at the age of 17 Jocelyn has already proven herself as a useful member of team GB, in 2010 she was part of the silver medal team at the European championships and also a member of the 2010 English commonwealth team who took silver in the team competition and placed a respectable 5^th in the AA. In more recent years Jocelyn has been overshadowed by up and coming gymnasts who have dominated the British gymnastics events as well as aging team members looking for a last chance. On the plus side Jocelyn is a strong dynamic performer with years of international experience under her belt, will she make the team. Here is Jocelyn competing at the London Test even on one of her strongest pieces floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Bjnc4qdCA&feature=relmfu

Jessica Hogg

A member of the well-known Cardiff Central trio, Jess has been competing internationally for a few years now, not only is she a complete powerhouse, but also a relatively strong all-rounder. Jess’ most notable international competition to date is at the 2010 International Youth Olympic festival where she competed alongside stars such as: Carlotta Ferlitto, Victoria Komova and Tan sixin. Although Jess only finished in 18^th a strong floor performance secured her a place in the floor final where she placed a respectable 5^th place. Jess is capable of two different vaults placing her in contention for one of Britain’s weaker events. Here is Jess on her favourite event floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIG3uhd0Pw4&feature=related

Nicole Hibbert

Nicole has had minor international experience, competing in events such as the 2008 Junior European Championships and more recently as a senior at the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam. Nicole is another powerful gymnast where she particularly excels on floor and vault, although seemingly disappearing from the gymnastics scene in more recent times due to being hampered with injuries. Looking to make a comeback for the upcoming games Nicole has previously been capable of skills such as a full in on floor and a 1 1/2 TY on vault. It’s a race against the clock as to whether Nicole will gain all of her skills back and up her difficulty in time for the event. Here is Nicole on Vault at the 2010 British Championships:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY83_ELsyMs

Charlotte Lindsley

Charlotte is another gymnast from Heathrow gymnastics club. A taller gymnast Charlotte struggles with events such as bars, but excels with her well-choreographed floor and has an interesting and creative beam mount. Although she may not be the most experienced gymnast, hopes are still high, she was a member of the 2010 commonwealth team and recently competed in a friendly against Romania and Germany where she placed 9^th. Charlotte still has big skills to contend with, a more interesting skill is her double twisting bar dismount. Here is Charlotte at the 2010 Commonwealth on Vault: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gGcbGquq8

Niamph Rippin

Niamph has been on the British team since 2007 and is a member of the same club as Becky Downie. As a junior Niamph had immense talent and showed large promise with her gymnastics, but since turning senior in 2010 Niamph as experienced many obstacles including a back injury obtained at that years British Championships. Before this Niamph was part of the silver medal winning team at the 2010 European Championships and also placed 6^th on floor. In 2011 Niamph was back to her old competitive self, placing 7^th AA at the British in 2011. Although a strong member of team GB her place on the Olympic team will be dependent on whether she is fit and capable. Here is Niamph on floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfWF5q3v5U

Laura Edwards

Another member to the silver winning Commonwealth team in 2010, Laura is a strong beam worker with an exciting and graceful floor. Laura finished 6^th in the AA at this competition and works with skills such as a blind beam mount which is performed by very few gymnasts as well as a flick to one, flick to two, double pike dismount. Laura is a consistent worker with great prospects for future teams with her continuous upgrades but with so little time until the games there may not be enough time to meet the par of other already established hopefuls. Here is a video of Laura on beam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJEgza5kWPE

Kelly Simm

Kelly trains at Dynamo gymnastics club, where she has been since she started gymnastics, Kelly only recently qualified to the British team having previously being part of the English squad. Kelly is a dynamic gymnast with skills such as a double layout on floor, her easy flexibility and flowing leaps making her performance enjoyable, she may not have the experience or skills for this quad but she is one to watch for next. Here is Kelly on floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G-4yrReYLc