Lizzy LeDuc, Ava Verdeflor, Youth Olympic Games

So! Lizzy LeDuc tweeted that she is the top gymnast in the Philippines or something. With some searching I found out she just competed in the Philippine National Games. She cleaned up. Full results aren’t quite out yet. Maybe there will be pictures soon.

I also found out that Lizzy’s WOGA teammate, Ava Verdeflor, has qualified to represent the Philippines at the Youth Olympic Games. Ain’t that a trip. Last I heard, USAG did not even send a women’s team to the Pan Am Championships which was the qualifier to the YOG. They probably could’ve sent the four girls that beat Ava at the Level 10 Junior B Texas State Championships and the US would’ve been well represented by one of them.

If the gymnast that goes to YOG has to be an elite then make her one. USAG has varying qualifying standards based on age and the competition the gymnast is trying to qualify for. They just have to make some standards designed to get level 10s of the proper age to qualify. It’s not like it’s a one way trip. Plenty of elites drop back to level 10.

Enough ranting. How ’bout that bar routine!

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Another Produnova?

When I first read that India’s Dipa Karmakar has started practicing the Produnova my initial reaction was to bang my head against my desk.  At first.  When I got a hold of myself I remembered that Dipa has attempted a front layout and now does a front pike half.  Maybe that doesn’t mean anything but maybe it does.  

In 2011 Yamilet Pena was doing a tucked front with a full whenever she wasn’t competing the Produnova.  By 2013 she started doing a front layout instead.  I’m pretty sure Yamilet’s front layout in 2013 was better than the front layout Dipa was doing in 2010.  Hard to say but the fact that Dipa has already done a front layout gives me hope that maybe her Produnova will be one of the less terrible ones.  

Anyway, I’ve felt that the best thing to come out of all these crapdunovas is that sooner or later we would start to see better prepared gymnasts training and competing the Produnova.  Somehow I don’t expect coaches to attempt teaching this to any of the current crop of top athletes but maybe they’re working with some of the younger ones right now.  Who knows.  

Can I exhale?

May 9th has come and gone. So far I haven’t heard any more about these new Olympic qualification procedures. The FIG has something on their site about reforms but says nothing about what that means.

As of May 9, delegates from the FIG affiliated Continental Unions will join the Executive for the Council, at which time several issues will be presented.

Maybe the whole ‘announcement on May 9th’ thing actually meant they would announce it to each other and let the rest of us know at a later date.

The Heebie Geebies

That’s what I got when I read that the FIG is going to announce a new Olympic qualification procedure. The last thing I remember from the FIG on this subject had something to do with cutting teams down to four. Please, no! Or if they do announce any sketchy changes next week, please let it be the kind of changes they turn around and undo five seconds later. OR maybe have the changes not be terrible!

This is bothering me. The not knowing what the fuck they are up to. Imma just try to stay cool with a dose of John Orozco trying to learn air flares. Of course, it’s not the air flares that sooth me, since he can’t do them yet. I’m calmed by the toe point. Looks pretty good from that angle.

Anyway, poor John can’t get air flares. The whole brute force approach might be slowing him down. He’d probably have better luck if he came up with some drills so he can learn it the same way he learned all his gymnastics skills. Bit by bit. Lots of gymnasts are only as good as they are because their coaches were able to utilize tons of drills that were developed by other coaches over many years.