New Skills added to the 2011 WAG Code of Points!

The FIG has released the new elements added to the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points following the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo.    At every World Championships, many gymnasts submit skills for evaluation by the FIG in hopes that their name will go down in history as a named element in the code of points. Below are the latest women's additions for 2011, the men's new skills have not yet been announced.     UNEVEN BARS   Elisabeth Seitz, Germany The Seitz: On the low bar, a pike circle backward through handstand with a full turn in flight to hang on the high bar. Value: E.  The highlight of the new skills, the Seitz as performed in podium training in Tokyo: Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

Nov 14, 2011

2011 World Championships Men's GOLD Medal Routines

The 2011 World Gymnastics Championships came to a close over the weekend in Tokyo. Here's a recap of the newly crowned World Champions on the men's side. All eyes will be on these gymnasts as we head into the 2012 Olympic Games. 2011 Men's Team Champion: CHINA, 275.161   Despite a lackluster performance on the qualification day, the Chinese men were once again dominant and successfully defended their World title anchored by an incredible floor routine from 2008 Olympic Floor Champion Zou Kai. Japan nearly slipped into the bronze medal position after a surprise fall on a kovacs from reigning World Champion Kohei Uchimura in the team's final routine of the night. The USA contingent thought they would move up to the silver medal position, but once the final tallies appeared, the Japanese still had the slightest edge, 273.093 over 273.083. In the end it was China with gold, Japan silver, and USA bronze.  Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

Oct 19, 2011

2011 World Championships Women's GOLD Medal Routines

The 2011 World Gymnastics Championships came to a close over the weekend in Tokyo. Here's a recap of the newly crowned World Champions on the women's side. Interestingly, there were no repeat women's Champions in 2011. All eyes will be on these gymnasts as we head into the 2012 Olympic Games.   2011 Women's Team Champion: USA, 179.411 The odds were against them after losing Alicia Sacramone to an achilles tear in training, but the American team of 5 young gymnasts competed like veterans in Tokyo. They hit every routine to cruise to the 2011 World title over Russia and China! Team Members: Sabrina Vega, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Gabrielle Douglas, and Anna Li as alternate. Results here.  Video interviews after Team Finals: Vega -- Raisman -- Wieber -- Maroney -- Li -- John Geddert -- Martha Karolyi Team Final video highlights by the FIG: Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org

Oct 18, 2011

World Championships 2011 Event Finals, Day 2: Results & Recap

The 2011 World Gymnastics Championships concluded today in Tokyo with another exciting day of event finals. Though there were many defending Champions in the field, new World Champions were crowned on each event today. Below you can find the full results from day 2 of 2 of event finals, as well as our live updates from each event finals competition.    MEN'S VAULT 1. Hak Seon Yang - KOR - 16.566 2. Anton Golotsutskov - RUS - 16.366 3. Makoto Okiguchi - JPN - 16.291 4. Thomas Bouhail - FRA - 16.187 5. Denis Ablyazin - RUS - 16.174 6. Dzmitry Kaspiarovich - BLR - 16.083 7. Wai Hung Shek - KOR - 15.950 8. Jeffery Wammes - NED - 15.683   Quick Hits (to read in chronological order, start from the bottom):   GOLD: Hak Seon Yang, Korea. SILVER: Anton Golotsutskov, Russia. BRONZE: Makoto Okiguchi, Japan   Wammes VT2: tsuk 2.5 twist, very clean. Landed upright and took 1 step forward. 15.933 (6.60/9.333). 8th place   Wammes was not credited with the 2.5. Score for first vault: 15.433 (6.8/8.633)   Wammes VT 1: attempted yurchenko 1/2 on, 2.5 twist off, but came in low, did not complete the rotation. Luckily he alright!   Okiguchi VT 2: handspring 2.5 twist well done. (7.0/9.232). Average = 16.291. He's in bronze medal position with only Wammes to go   Okiguchi (JPN) VT1: tsuk triple twist, clean in the air, landed fairly low. Japanese fans loved it. 16.300 (7.0/9.40)   Yang VT2: tsuk triple twist. This guy is amazing. Score:16.266 (7.0/9/366). Average = 16.566! He's in the lead   Hak Seon Yang VT1: WOW! handspring triple! Landed so well that it made me question if it really was a triple! 16.866! (7.40/9.466)   Score for Ablyazin VT2: (7.20!/8.916). Average is 16.174   Ablyazin VT2: yurchenko 1/2 on, crooked on the horse. Still whipped around a 2.5 twist! Landed on the side of the mat, stepped off.   Score for Ablyazin VT1: 16.333 (7.0/9.333). He had the most open pike we've seen yet.   Ablyazin is in today's final because Marian Dragulescu scratched. Making the most of it with a great tsuk dbl pike first vault.   Kaspiarovich: 15.633 (7.0/8.733/-0/1). Avg = 15.950, in 3rd place for now. Golotsutskov still leads, his Russian teammate Ablyazin is next   Kaspiarovich (BLR) VT2: tsuk doube pike, and like Bouhail had a bit too much power. 2 big steps back   Kaspiarovich (BLR) VT1: another excellent Dragulescu. Score: 16.533 (7.0/9.533)   Golotsutskov scored 16.400 for the Drag vault. (7.0/9.40). Average = 16.366, and he's in the lead for now!   Golotsutskov (RUS) VT 2: Dragulescu very well done. Clean in the air, tight tuck. Does the half twist very early. Great landing   Score for Golotsutskov first vault: 16.333 (7.0/9.33)   Golotsutskov (RUS) VT1: great tsuk double pike. Went for the stick, took 2 tiny steps   Shek VT 1: great tsuk triple twist/kas double. Well done. 16.300 (7.0/9.30). Average = 15.950   15.600 (6.60/9/00) for Shek's first vault. The USA men, especially Chris Brooks, are cheering extra loud for him   Wai Hung Shek (HKG) VT1: huge handspring double front. lots of power, step forward   Video of what Bouhail's first vault looked like: http://t.co/57nTX87f   Score for Bouhail's tsuk double pike is 15.708 (7.00/8.808). Average = 16.187   Bouhail VT 2: tusk double pike and too much power! Had to run backward to keep it on his feet.   16.666 for Bouhail's first vault. (7.00/9.666). That will be tough to beat!   Bouhail VT: incredible!!!! Dragulescu, massive block off the table, STICK!   Thomas Bouhail is the defending champ. He's up now, then will have to sit and wait to see if his scores hold   Men will vault in this order: Bouhail FRA, Shek HKG, Golotsutskov RUS, Kaspiarovich BLR, Ablyazin RUS, Yang KOR, Okiguchi JPN, & Wammes NED     BALANCE BEAM 1. Sui Lu - CHN - 15.866 2. Yao Jinnan - CHN - 15.233 3. Jordyn Wieber - USA - 15.123 4. Alexandra Raisman - USA - 15.066 5. Amelia Racea - ROU - 14.533 6. Yulia Inshina - RUS - 14.525 7. Catalina Ponor - ROU - 14.241 8. Viktoria Komova - RUS - 13.766     Quick Hits:   Bummed for @Aly_Raisman! Thought she deserved a higher score. Hopefully she'll come away with a medal on floor!    Score for Racea is 14.533 which puts her 5th.    2011 Beam Medalists: GOLD: Sui Lu, China, 15.866. SILVER: Yao Jinnan, China, 15.233. BRONZE: Jordyn Wieber, USA, 15.133    Racea: bhs+tuck full step back. front aerial. big switch side. side aerial. wobble on side somi. scissone+full turn, cool. 2.5 twist dismount.    That was a fantastic routine for Sui Lu. Score: 15.866 (6.60!/9.266). Shoots into 1st place. Only Racea left to go    Lu: front pike+swing down. front tuck half. front aerial+bhs back pike. side somi. wolf+split. great sheep jump. switch+back tuck solid. Stuck double pike!    Score for Raisman: 15.066 (6.40/8.666). 3rd place. Hmm... that seems low, right?    Raisman absolutely nailed beam! Not even a wobble! Almost stuck her Patterson dismount. Great position on landing, just a small hop    Raisman: front tuck. bhs layout 2ft solid. front pike+layout step out. switch 1/2+back pike. side aerial. switch leap+back tuck. L turn. Patterson! Great!    Score for Wieber: 15.133 (6.20/8.933) She's in 2nd behind Yao. Here comes Aly    Wieber: front aerial+1arm bhs lay solid! switch+back pike. side somi. L turn. switch side wobble. side aerial. standing full+bhs! Crowd loves that. 2.5 twist, small hop.    Score for Komova: 13.766 (5.90/7.866)    Komova is wearing the same purple leo she won bars gold in yesterday. Wasn't as lucky this time around. Wieber is next.    Komova: front tuck. bhs lay lay pretty. high standing arabian, wobble. Lturn+front aerial+sheep wobble. side somi. Double turn, fall! Double tuck dismount.    Yao Jinnan score: 15.233 (6.30/8.933). 1st place for now    Raisman is running in circles around Mihai down off the podium to get warm. Komova is next, then Wieber, then Raisman    Yao: standing full wobble. bhs bhs 2 ft layout. front aerial. sheep. front tuck. Leg up full turn. Not her best switch ring. Double pike, step    Score for Inshina of Russia: 14.525 (5.70/8.825). Puts her ahead of Ponor    Inshina: switch+back tuck. sheep. f aerial+bhs lay, iffy connection. side somi. Lturn. side aerial. switch ring ok. Roundoff double pike, hop    Score for Ponor: 14.241 (5.70/8.541). Much lower D score than in qualifications where she scored a 15.00    Good, hit routine for Ponor but definitely not the best she has done here. She left out her bhs+lay step out after the front aerial wobble    Ponor BB: switch 1/2 wobble. roundoff 2ft layout solid! onodi+bhs whip. switch+full twisting bhs. front aerial wobble. wolf+split. Full in, small step    Romania vs Russia vs USA vs China in this final. Here comes Ponor! 2004 olympic beam champ!    Competition order: Ponor ROU, Inshina RUS, Yao CHN, Komova RUS, Wieber USA, Raisman USA, Sui Lu CHN, Racea ROU    And here come the beam finalists! Defending Champ Ana Porgras did not qualify, so we'll have a new Beam Champ this year.       PARALLEL BARS 1. Danell Leyva - USA - 15.633 2. Vasileios Tsolakidis - GRE - 15.533 2. Zhang Chenglong - CHN - 15.533 4. Kohei Uchimura - JPN - 15.50 5. Yann Cucherat - FRA - 15.333 6. Marius Berbecar - ROU - 15.266 7. Feng Zhe - CHN - 15.20 8. Kazuhito Tanaka - JPN - 15.166     Quick Hits:   RT @USAGym Leyva's gold medal on PB's makes the 6th medal for the USA men and women at these World Championships!     2011 PB Medalists: GOLD: Danell Leyva USA 15.633. TIE for SILVER: Tsolakidis of Greece, and Zhang Chenglong of CHN 15.533.     Congrats to @danelljleyva and Yin Alvarez! 2011 World Parallel Bars CHAMPION!     Wow, 4th place for Kohei 15.50 (6.50/9.00)     Uchimura: not his best start, but great belles. belle half. Stuck double pike! Awaiting the scores.... ah!     USAGym 15.533 for Zhang, Danell will get at least silver. Uchimura is the only man who can take away the gold!     Zhang: He's the reigning HB world champ. Highest front 1 1/4 of the day, wow! Double pike, near stuck with chest way down. Surrendered, hop     Cucherat: 15.333 (6.40/8.933). In bronze medal position for now. Leyva will definitely medal with only 2 guys remaining!     Cucherat: massive front 1 1/4 to his hands. Nice fluid routine. Double pike but a small hop     Tanaka of Japan scored 15.166 (6.80!/8.366). 5th place for now.     nrarmour US not won pbars medal since Sean Townsend's gold in 2001     Tanaka: error on his mount. belle. piked belles. Hop to one rail, kip back up. Stuck double pike. Crowd went crazy with the stick!     Score for @danelljleyva - 15.633 (6.40/9.233)! 1st place thus far! 1 tenth ahead of Tsolakiois     Leyva: excellent diam work. stutz right on to double pike STICK!! Yin's havin a dance party! Great job     After a long wait, Feng's score is 15.200 (6.6/8.60). He will not repeat as World champ. 3rd for now.     Excellent save/cover up for Feng. We'll see what the judges do with that... Leyva is next    Feng PB: He's the defending champ. Belle. Near fall! saves with a kip. front 1 1/4 to hands, swing to support. piked belle. stuck dbl pike.    Tsolakisis: very cool routine. nice diam. Front double pike to upper arms. 15.533 (6.50/9.033)    Berbecar: nearly slid off on a belle. cool tippelt-like skill to long hang. Double pike hop back. 15.266 (6.6Dscore)    PB competition order: Berbecar ROU, Tsolakidis GRE, Feng CHN, Leyva USA, Tanaka JPN, Cucherat FRA, Zhang CHN, Uchimura JPN    Up now: Men's PBars finals! Think @danelljleyva can come away with a medal?!     WOMEN'S FLOOR 1. Ksenia Afanaseva - RUS - 15.133 2. Sui Lu - CHN - 15.066 3. Alexandra Raisman - USA - 15.00 4. Yao Jinnan - CHN - 14.866 5. Lauren Mitchell - AUS - 14.733 6. Jordyn Wieber - USA - 14.70 7. Beth Tweddle - GBR - 14.50 8. Diana Chelaru - ROU - 14.20   Quick Hits: 1 Afanaseva, 2 Lu, 3 Raisman, 4 Yao, 5 Mitchell, 6 Wieber, 7 Tweddle, 8 Chelaru. AWESOME FX Final!     Score for Afanaseva is 15.133 (6.10D). GOLD Medal! SILVER: Sui Lu CHN 15.066. BRONZE: Aly Raisman USA 15.00     Afanaseva should squeak in there for a medal. Raisman and Lu are guaranteed on medal, but what color will it be?....     Afanaseva: great double lay. whip,whip,bhs, triple. nice. Lay back turn spot on! Love the expressive choreo. Stuck 1.5+front full. Dbl pike     14.200 (5.8/8.40) for Chelaru     This is strange... Afanaseva is up next instead of Komova     Chelaru: full in stick. whip+triple. Big hop back out of double tuck. Low landing on double pike. out of the medals for sure     Tweddle's score: 14.50 (6.10/8.50/-0.1)     Chelaru of Romania is up for Ferrari     Tweddle: 1.5 thru to dbl arabian step forward. pike dbl arabian then a split jump a bit delayed, and oob. darn. Stuck 2.5+front full!     Ah, Raisman pushed down to silver for now. Score for Lu: 15.066 (6.10/8.966). Tweddle is next     Lu FX: whip+triple+stag great. 2.5+front lay full lower than usual. amazing turn..was that a quad? Memmel turn. Small hop on double pike     15.00 for @Aly_Raisman! (6.10/8.900). 1st place for now     Great hit routine for Aly! That should medal, I think. 4 gymnasts to go.     Raisman: 1.5 to double arabian+punch front yes! pike dbl arabian step forward. switch ring. great triple. High dbl pike, small hop     Yao scored 14.866 (6.0/8.866). 1st place for now. Here comes Aly!     Yao: nearly stuck double lay. great triple+stag jump! Memmel turn. 1.5 thru to 2.5+split jump. Dbl pike, low landing. Nice routine     Score for Mitchell: 14.733 (6.30/8.433). Puts her ahead of Wieber. Yao is next     Mitchell: whip+dbl arabian+stag great! Pike full in hop back. 2.5+layout, half of a beat jump. Double pike+split jump.     Score for Wieber: 14.70 (6.0/8.70)     Wieber FX: big double double step back. 2.5 thru to triple, step back. great triple turn, 2.5+lay good but 1 foot slid. stuck double pike.     Nevermind, Ferrari has scratched!     FX Comp order: Wieber USA, Mitchell AUS, Yao CHN, Raisman USA, Lu CHN, Tweddle GBR, Ferrari UTA, Komova RUS     Up now: women's floor final! Lauren Mitchell of Australia will get the chance to defend her title after Bulimar of Romania scratched       HIGH BAR 1. Zou Kai - CHN - 16.441 2. Zhang Chenglong - CHN - 16.366 3. Kohei Uchimura - JPN - 16.333 4. Fabian Hambuchen - GER - 16.233 5. Epke Zonderland - NED - 14.833 6. Yusuke Tanaka - JPN - 14.70 7. Philipp Boy - GER - 14.30 8. John Orozco - USA - 14.133   Quick Hits:   GOLD: Zou CHN 16.441, SILVER: Zhang CHN ,BRONZE: Uchimura JPN 16.333. What a final!    Very fitting for Uchimura to perform the final routine here in Tokyo. Sad its all over!    Uchimura: cassina. lay out tkatchev. tak full to yamawaki clean. kohlman. layout double double, stick!    Boy finished well with a laid out double double and waves to the crowd. Uchimura is last up, so we'll definitely see Zou & Zhang medal    Boy: cassina. kohlman. fall on a tak half! ouch.    Zhang is in 2nd behind teammate Zou with a big 16.366 (7.60/8.766). Hambuchen sits in 3rd. Boy is up next!    Zhang: lay out tkatchev. big rybalkos. tak to tkatchev mix grip catch. laid out jaeger. Lay out dbl dbl, stick! Could defend his title    And Zou finished with a stuck laid out double double but a very low landing. High score, regardless. 16.441 (7.70!/8.741). 1st for now    Zou: tak to lay out tkatchev. rybalko to full twisting jaeger, cool! sloppy rybalko. low yamawaki. layout jaeger.    Tanaka scored 14.70 (7.0/7.70). Messy high bar final so far. Defending olympic Champ Zou Kai is next    Tanaka: clean full twisting kovacs. tak1/2+kovacs. rybalko. Things were going great until dismount.. laid out dbl dbl very low, hands down    Zonderland scored 14.833 (7.40D/7.433E)    Ugh what a bummer for Epke. Amazingly, he still hung onto the bar, did not count the fall and finished well.    Zonderland: laid out full twisting kovacs+tucked full twisting kocacs! Amazing! Gaylord release, wow! Ahhh hit is foot on yamawaki.     Orozco scored 14.133 (5.90/8.233)     And score for Hambuchen was a massive 16.233 with a 7.50 D score! Just incredible. 8.733 D score. Zonderland is next.     Not John's best routine, but what a World Champs he's had!     Orozco: Liukin legs glued together. clean rybalko. off on his tak, extra swing. yamawaki. tkatchev. Full twisting double layout.     Hambuchen: tak 1/2. full twisting kovacs. lay out tkatchev+rybalko+gienger, so cool! tak, yamawaki. lay out dbl dbl. Great routine!     HB Competition order: Hambuchen GER, Orozco USA, Zonderland NED, Tanaka JPN, Zou CHN, Zhang CHN, Boy GER, Uchimura JPN     The gymnasts are marching out for the final event here in Tokyo, men's high bar finals!               

Oct 16, 2011

World Championships Event Finals, Day 2 PREVIEW

This time tomorrow we will have new World Champions on Vault, Balance Beam, Parallel Bars, women's Floor, and High Bar. Here's a preview of what we'll see in Tokyo on day 2 of Individual Event Finals. 

Oct 15, 2011

World Champions Crowned on Floor, Vault, Pommel Horse, Uneven Bars, and Rings

New individual World Champions were crowned today in the first of 2 rounds of Event Finals in Tokyo. Below are the results for each apparatus, as well as my live blog for each event. Congratulations to the new 2011 World Champions!  MEN'S FLOOR 1. Kohei Uchimura JPN 15.633 2. Zou Kai CHN 15.500 3. Diego Hypolito BRA 15.466 3. Alexander Shatilov ISR 15.466 5. Steven Legendre USA 15.400  -  Video interview 6. Flavius Koczi ROU 15.333  6. Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda CHI 15.333  8. Jake Dalton USA 15.133  -  Video interview   Quick hits: (to read in chronological order, begin at the bottom) Amazing Floor final! Not even a fall! Tough competition.   1 Uchimura 15.633, 2 Zou 15.50, 3T Hypolito & Shatilov 15.466, 5 Legendre 15.40, 6T Koczi & Gonzalez, 8 Dalton   Shatilov of Israel wins a medal and advances to the Olympics!! 15.466 (6.70/8.766). BRONZE   Shatilov FX: Double full in pike! whip+tucked thomas. Stuck full in dismount! He's pumped!   Score for Zou Kai: 15.50 (6.90/8.60). That puts him 2nd. Legendre is officially knocked out of the medals. Bummer   Yep, we stand corrected. Actual score for Uchimura: 15.633 (6.70/8.933). He is now in 1st place with 1 guy to go.   There's an inquiry on Uchimura's score. Perhaps that was a triple double first pass? I thought I saw double double. Interesting....   Zou FX: lay out dbl dbl, fights for stick, step forward. back 1.5+front tuck full landed in a low squat. Whip+lay thomas. Full in, step.   Uchimura score: 15.433 (6.50/8.933). Puts him in 2nd, knocks Legendre to 3rd. Hypolito still 1st. Here comes reigning Olympic champ Zou Kai   Only 2 guys remain: Zou Kai and Alexander Shatilov   That was a different routine than what he did in qualifying. Left out his piked double arabian half out, which he's stuck every time here   Uchimura FX: tucked double double, chest low. stuck side pass. clean through combo twisting. tucked thomas. triple twist, hop back   Score for Gonzalez: 15.333 (6.50/8.833). He's tied for 3rd with Koczi. Uchimura is next. Japanese crowd going nuts already    Gonzalez FX: Stuck tucked double double 1st pass! Whip+tucked thomas. And layed out thomas. He's very clean. Triple twist. Excellent job    Koczi score: 15.333 (6.70/8.633) He's in 3rd for now. Tomas Gonzales of Chile is next.    Koczi FX: A routine packed with big combo twisting. 3.5+front tuck full, amazing. Triple twist dismount, slight hop    Legendre FX score: 15.40 (6.80/8.60). He's right behind Hypolito    Legendre FX: HUGE 2.5 twisting double (open tuck). Near stick. Hypolito slight hop. Front dbl twist+front full. pike double arabian. GREAT!    Score for Dalton on FX: 15.133 (6.60/8.633/-0.1)    Big tumbling and a hit routine for Dalton, but the out of bounds and a couple landing errors will likely prevent a medal    Dalton FX: big laid out dbl arabian, step oob. darn. whip+tucked thomas. stuck back 2.5+front full. Triple twist, hop back.    15.466 for Hypolito (6.80/8.666). Dalton is next    Hypolito FX: whip+pike dbl arabian stick! big hop out of combo twisting. Tucked thomas side pass. Layout thomas, clean. Triple dismount.    FX Finals will go in this order: Hypolito, Dalton, Legendre, Koczi, Gonzalez, Uchimura, Zou, and Shatilov    Men's floor is up 1st and Jake Dalton is in!! Former World Champion Marian Dragulescu has scratched.  There are a total of 12 World and Olympic floor medals combined with this group of finalists. Should be an amazing competition.        WOMEN'S VAULT 1. McKayla Maroney USA 15.300  -  video interview 2. Oksana Chusovitina GER 14.733  -  video interview 3. Thi Ha Thanh Phan VIE 14.666 4. Jade Fernandes Barbosa BRA 14.566 5. Gulia Steingruber SUI 14.450 6. Tatiana Nabieva RUS 14.349 7. Alexa Moreno Medino MEX 14.216   Quick hits:   This is the 3rd straight World Vault Gold medal for the USA women! Kayla Williams in 2009, @ASac3 in 2010, and @McKaylaMaroney 2011!    And with that Thi Ha Thanh Phan of Vietnam has qualified to the 2012 Olympics! How exciting!    1 Maroney 15.30, 2 Chusovitina 14.733, 3 Phan 14.666, 4 Barbosa, 5 Steingruber, 6 Nabieva, 7 Moreno, 8 Pena    Congrats to @McKaylaMaroney! 2011 World Vault Champion!    Chuso VT2 score: 14.733. Silver medal    Chusovitina VT2: tsuk 1.5 small hop forward, and she even did a slight college stick by throwing her head back. Love it!    Chuso VT1 score: 15.066 (6.30/8.766)    Chusovitina VT1: handspring rudi, nice power off the table. Can you believe she is 36 years old!?! Amazing.    Score for Steingruber VT2: 14.400 (5.20/8.80). She's in 4th place. Only Chusovitina remains!    Steingruber VT1 score - 14.90 (6.30/8.60). They called it layout. VT 2: tsuk full. Again slightly piked in the air.    Steingruber VT1: handpsring rudi. I'm thinking they'll credit her for a pike, tough call... Big step    14.80 (5.60/9.20) for Maroney's second vault. Average = 15.30. She is in 1st with 2 gymnasts to go    Maroney VT2: yurchenko 1/2 on, layout half off. Super clean, nearly stuck it. Looking like a gold to me!    Maroney VT1: her usual, HUGE, amanar vault. went for the stick. Took 1 step back. 15.80 (6.50/9.30)    Pena VT 2: terrifying. Just terrifying. Handspring double front straight to her back    13.900 for Pena VT 1 (5.30/8.600). Prepping for vt2, crowd is getting loud....    Pena VT1: yurchenko 1.5 landed with legs locked. Quick turn to salute. Guess the handspring double front is next...    Yamilet Pena is next. Im nervous to see this handspring double!    Nabieva VT2: yurchekno half on, pike half off. Basically stuck it. 14.349 (5.20/8.933). Average = 14.349, 3rd for now    Nabieva is wearing a green leo again. Same one as podium training if I remember correctly    Nabieva (RUS) VT1: played it safe with just a DTY. Legs crazy in the air, as usual. Lots of power, step back. 14.566 (5.8/8.766)    Score for Phan VT 2: 14.866 (5.80/8.933). Average = 14.666, in 1st for now    Jake Barbosa is being tended to off the podium. Looks like a sprained ankle. Poor girl. At least she got her 2 vaults in!    Phan VT2: yurchenko double twist, nicely done. 1 step back. Her coach is very happy with that    Score for Phan VT1: 14.60 (5.90/8.70)    Phan VT1: handspring piked rudi, quick leg separation in the air. 1 step on landing    Average for Barbosa is 14.566. Phan of Vietnam is next    Barbosa VT2: yurchekno half on, layout half off clean in the air but leg gave out and nearly fell backward. Good save. 14.266 (5.60/8.666)    Jade Barbosa (Brazil) VT1: yurchenko double, well done. She won the silver on vault last year. 14.866 (5.80/9.066)    Moreno VT2: tsuk full, nice and straight in the air but not much distance from the horse. 13.70 (5.20D) = 14.216 Average    Moreno VT1 score: 14.733 (6.30/8.433)    Alexa Moreno (MEX) VT1: wearing a white leo with blue details. Handspring rudi, slightly piked. Step to the side out of the lane    Vault order: Moreno, Barbosa, Phan, Nabieva, Pena, Maroney, Steingruber, Chusovitina     POMMEL HORSE: 1. Krisztian Berki HUN 15.833 2. Cyril Tommasone FRA 15.266 3. Louis Smith GBR 15.066  -  video interview 4. Vid Hidvegi HUN 15.000 5. Kohei Uchimura JPN 14.533 6. Prashanth Sellathurai AUS 14.333 7. Sasa Bertoncelj SLO 14.266 8. Teng Haibin CHN 14.266     Quick hits: And that's it! Berki repeats as World Pommel horse Champion with a 15.833. He's also qualified himself to the 2012 Olympic Games!        Teng PH: excellent one pommel work. Press on one pommel late in the routine. Oh and a fall! He was so close to the end!   Score for Berki: 15.833 (6.70/9.133). 1st place. Amazing! Teng Haibin of China is next   Berki (HUN): big scissor press. Great style and precision. Nails it! Huge routine. Chris Brooks gives a standing ovation   Vid Hidvegi (HUN) - hit routine! 15.00 (6.40/8.60). He is 3rd behind Tommasone and Louis Smith. Defending Champ Berki is next   Two Hungarian guys in today's pommel final. What do they do in Hungary to produce amazing pommel swingers??   Sellathurai scored 14.333 with the fall. (6.60/7.733)   Sellathurai (AUS) - lightening fast circles in between the pommels. Oh no, got his foot stuck on the horse and stopped! He looks stunned.   14.533 for Uchimura with a fall      Got up and finished well, waves to the Japanese crowd. He's also in today's rings final. Busy guy!   Uchimura PH: press up on both pommels, great control. Fall! Weird to see him miss. He's still smiling though!      Score for Tommasone: 15.266 (6.50/8.766). 1st place for now. Uchimura is next, right after his gold on floor.      Tommasone nailed it! Press up on both pommels. Excellent control on the dismount. French team in the stands loves it!      Bertoncelj (SLO) scored 14.266 as the first guy up. Tommasone of France up now. He scored 15.40 in last night's all around final.       Ah! missed the first 2 routines of pommel horse while in the mixed zone. Smith (GBR) PH: hit until the dismount 15.066 (7.0!/8.066)     UNEVEN BARS 1. Viktoria Komova RUS 15.500 2. Tatiana Nabieva RUS 15.00 3. Huang Qiushuang CHN 14,833 4. Jordyn Wieber USA 14.500  -  video interview 5. Gabrielle Douglas USA 14.200 5. Asuka Teramoto JPN 14.066 7. Koko Tsurumi JPN 14.066 8. Youna Dufournet FRA 12.641 Quick Hits: It's offical - gold for Viktoria Komova!    Nabieva gets silver! Wieber knocked out of the medals. 15.00 (6.60/8.40) I miss seeing the Nabieva release, but this routine is smarter.    Nabieva: stalder full. shaposh+pak to stalder full+ shaposh half. blind to jaeger. half turn. toe full. full in stick. Is it enough??...   With 1 to go its 1 Komova 15.50, 2 Huang 14.833, 3 Wieber 14.50. Can Nabieva hit for a medal?   Dufournet is back up. Gienger. Hit her feet on the low bar on a giant. ouch. Only Nabieva is left to go.   Dufournet UB: big combo: shaposh free hip, stalder full, stalder tkatchev, and fell! Darn!   Wieber scored 14.50 (6.30/8.20). Low execution scores on bars today. She's in 3rd for now   Score for Huang Qiushuang: 14.833 (6.70/8.133). Puts her 2nd behind Komova. Wieber is next.   14.066 for Koko (6.40/7.666). Huang is next   Tsurumi: nice pirouetting, tkatchev. way off center... sideways in a handstand, and STILL connected jager! Fighter! Stuck double lay.   Score for Teramoto: 14.20 (6.30/7.90). She is adorable, by the way   Teramoto: blind full to gienger. pike stalder half to jaeger. blind full to overshoot, toe shoot. double front knees glued together. Good!   Score for Komova: 15.500 (6.70/8.80). Will be tough to beat. Teramoto of Japan is next   Komova UB: shaposh+pak. shaposh 1/2. layed out jaeger. blind full to tkatchev. Shy a handstnd, only visible error so far. Hop on full in.   Score for Douglas 14.200 (6.30/7.90)   Douglas was supposed to connect the tkatchev to the pak, but you wouldn't tell if you didn't know her routine. Finished very well   Douglas UB: inbar stalders. blind full + huge tkatvchev! hit her feet on the low bar. Kip to pak. excellent stalder work. hop on full in.   Gabby is in light purple, and Wieber in a dark purple. Gabby is up 1st   And here come the bars finalists! Competition order: Douglas, Komova, Teramoto, Tsurumi, Huang, Wieber, Dufournet, Nabieva   STILL RINGS 1. Chen Yibing CHN 15.800 2. Arthur Nabarrete Zanettti BRA 15.600  -  video interview 3. Koji Yamamuro JPN 15.500 4. Matteo Morandi ITA 15.200 5. Yuri Van Gelder NED 14.666 6. Kohei Uchimura JPN 14.633 7. Jonathan Horton USA 14.300  -  video interview 8. Regulo Carmona VEN 14.266   Quick hits (For chronological order read from the bottom):   Yamamuro scored 15.50 (6.70/8.80). BRONZE.   Yamamuro: excellent control on inverted cross, and swings to another inverted cross. wow, this is great. Full twisting double lay but a hop   Carmona scored 14.266 (6.70/7.566). 7th place. Only 1 guy left to go, Yamamuro. Chen still in the lead   Carmona piked down and fell forward on full twisting double layout. Bummer. He still looks happy though! Flashes a smile up to the fans   Morandi hit routine. Got a little shaky on handstand after yamawakis but stuck full twisting double layout. 15.20 (6.80/8.40). 3rd for now   Morandi of Italy is next. He is 2010 rings bronze medalist.   Big strength from Van Gelder. Upped his dismount today, went for a front double pike and sat it down! Only did double lay in prelims. Bet he's regretting that.    Van Gelder looks like a buff carrot stick in his all orange uniform   Horton scored 14.30 (6.10/8.20)   Horton: great start, long strength holds but looked gassed at the end of the routine. Only a full twisting double tuck dismount   15.600 for Nabarrete (6.50/9.10). He's 2nd behind Chen. Horton up now.   Nabarrete: beastly strong. Great maltese work to start. Straddle planche down to a cross. Full twisting double layout piked down, stick! Awesome! Huge hug from his coach   15.80 for Chen Yibing (6.80/9.00). Big score.   Looks like Chen should win another. Nailed a huge routine. Stuck the full twisting double layout. And kissed the ring tower, just like last year   RT @nrarmour That was hilarious. They just rattled off Chen's titles on rings. Took about five minutes.   Uchimura broke form on rings. The guy must be exhausted. Not even 24 hours after winning all around last night   SR order: Uchimura (JPN), Chen (CHN), Nabarrete (BRA), Horton (USA), Van Gelder (NED), Morandi (ITA), Carmona (VEN), Yamamuro (JPN)

Oct 15, 2011

World Championships Event Finals, Day 1 PREVIEW

This time tomorrow we will have new World Champions on Floor, Vault, Pommel Horse, Uneven Bars, and Still Rings. Here's a preview of what we'll see in Tokyo on day 1 of Individual Event Finals. 

Oct 14, 2011

Kohei Uchimura wins 3-Straight World All Around Titles

Oct 14, 2011

Jordyn Wieber of USA wins 2011 World All Around Title: Recap and Results

In a heated battle, Jordyn Wieber of USA edged Viktoria Komova of Russia for the elusive World All Around title tonight in Tokyo. Wieber had an uncharacteristic error during her bar routine but came back with an excellent performance on balance beam and a dynamic floor routine. She and coach John Geddert were in disbelief when the final scores were posted. Wieber secured the gold medal by just 0.033 tenths of a point!   Yao Jinnan of China and Alexandra Raisman of the USA battled for the bronze medal. Raisman looked to be off the podium after trouble on uneven bars, but she battled back with very strong performances on beam and floor. Jinnan counted a fall on beam, but hit a difficult floor routine to earn the bronze medal.    Full All Around Results:  1 WIEBER Jordyn USA 59.382 2 KOMOVA Victoria RUS 59.349 3 YAO Jinnan CHN 58.598 4 RAISMAN Alicia USA 57.558 5 HUANG Qiushuang CHN 57.432 6 PORGRAS Ana ROU 57.299 7 AFANASEVA Kseniia RUS RUS 56.732 8 MITCHELL Lauren AUS 56.699 9 WHELAN Hannah GBR 56.124 10 Nadine Jarosch GER 56.033 11 Seitz Elizabeth GER 55.823 12 Vanessa Ferrari ITA 55.532 13 MATIAS HYPOLITO Danielle BRA 55.365 14 FERLITO Carlota ITA 55.532 15 TSURUMI Koko JPN 54.999 16 Guilia Steingruber SUI 54.932 17 Celine Van Gerner NED 54.865 18 HAIDU Raluca ROU 54.814 19 LEE Christine CAN 54.732 20 TANAKA Rie JPN 54.699 21 MALAUSSENA A FRA 54.498 22 IZURIETA Ana Maria ESP 53.731 23 LITTLE Emily AUS 53.999 24 LOPEZ Jessica VEN 52.299   Watch interviews with gymnasts and coaches after tonight's exciting All Around Finals: Jordyn Wieber interview John Geddert (coach of Wieber) interview Martha Karolyi interview Viktoria Komova interview Alexandra Raisman interview Lauren Mitchell interview Hannah Whelan interview Christine Peng Peng Lee interview   Watch video Highlights of tonight's All Around Finals from Universal Sports: (only available for viewing in the United States and US territories due to Universal braodcast rights) Jordyn Wieber's All Around Gold Routines Viktoria Komova's Routines Yao Jinnan's Routines Alexandra Raisman's Routine Relive tonight's competition through our live updates! Click here to read Watch more videos from the World Championships 2011 in Tokyo  

Oct 14, 2011

Live Updates of the 2011 World Championships Women's All Around Finals

Here are my live updates as taken from the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the 2011 World Championships women' All Around Finals. To read in chronological order begin from the bottom. To go to the Gymnastike live updates page, click here. 

Oct 14, 2011

Archived Live Updates of the 2011 World Championships Men's Team Final

Here are my live updates as taken from the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium during the 2011 World Championships men's Team Finals. To read in chronological order, begin from the bottom. To follow our live updates from Tokyo, click here. 

Oct 12, 2011

China Dominates, Team USA wins the Bronze in World Team Finals

The USA men have just won their first World team medal since Paul Hamm and company secured the silver back in 2003. The strong team of Danell Leyva, Jonathan Horton, Steven Legendre, John Orozco, Jake Dalton, and Alex Naddour hit 17 or 18 routines in tonight's Team Final. In dramatic fashion, they passed Russia on high bar in the final rotation of the night to earn themselves a place on the medal podium.  The Chinese were once again dominant and successfully defended their World title anchored by an incredible floor routine from 2008 Olympic Floor Champion Zou Kai. Japan nearly slipped into the bronze medal position after a surprise fall on a kovacs from reigning World Champion Kohei Uchimura in the team's final routine of the night. The USA contingent thought they would move up to the silver medal position, once the final tallies appeared, the Japanese still had the slightest edge. In the end, it was China gold, Japan silver, and USA bronze.  Team Final Results: 1. China - 275.161 2. Japan - 273.093 3. USA - 273.083 4. Russia - 269.045 5. Ukraine - 264.102 6. Germany - 263.926 7. Korea - 260.393 8. Romania - 245.175   Watch video interviews with each of the guys moments after stepping off the medal podium: John Orozco interview Steven Legendre interview Jake Dalton interview Jonathan Horton interview Danell Leyva interview  Alex Naddour interview  To relive tonight's performance, check out our Live Updates page.  Coming up next: Women's and Men's Individual all around finals in Tokyo. Who do you think will medal? Enter our prediction contest before the start of the women's team final tomorrow for the chance to win a Dreamlight leotard! 

Oct 12, 2011

Team USA wins the World Title!

The odds were against them after losing Alicia Sacramone to an achilles tear, but the American team of 5 young all around gymnasts competed like veterans tonight in Tokyo and hit every routine to cruise to the 2011 World Team title!  2011 World Team Final Results:  1. USA 179.411 2. Russia 175.329 3. China 172.820 4. Romania 172.412 5. Great Britain 169.670 6. Germany 168.479 7. Japan 167.122 8. Australia 166.739 Hear what the gymnasts and coaches had to say after receiving their gold medals:  Jordyn Wieber interivew McKayla Maroney interview Alexandra Raisman interview Sabrina Vega interview Anna Li interivew Coach John Geddert interview Martha Karolyi interview Also, because Alicia Sacramone was still on the roster for this team, she has now officially become the most decorated gymnast in US history. Congratulations to Alicia and Team USA!  Stay tuned for a full meet recap. In the meantime, relive the competition with our live updates from tonight's team final. 

Oct 11, 2011

2011 World Championships Men's Finalists

Qualification competition has officially concluded in Tokyo! It will be nothing but Finals from here on out. Below is the list of countries and individuals who will advance to contend for World titles. Results via the all around, as the official FIG/Longines results have been quite slow to update. The biggest surprise of the day was that the British men, who I expected to come in and contend for a medal, failed to advance to the final after falling apart on high bar. Good news is, it's not over for them. They will get one more chance to qualify their first full team to the Olympics since 1992 this January at the test event in London.  The top 8 teams below have not only advanced to this year's World team final, but they have also successfully qualified a full team to the 2012 Olympic Games. The teams who finished 9th - 16th will be go to the test event in January for the second and final opportunity to send a full team to the Olympics. A total of 12 countries will be represented by full teams at the 2012 Olympics.  Below are the top results from today's competition. Those with a "Q" means they have advanced to finals. Those with an "R" are the reserve gymnasts. Due to the rules of the competition, only two gymnasts per country may advance to individual all around and event finals.  Tokyo, Japan - Results after Qualifications.

Oct 10, 2011

World Championships Women's Team Finals Lineups

The first medals of the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships will be handed out tomorrow in the women's team final. Here's a look at the lineups just released from each of the 8 teams, in the order which they advanced to the final.  Team USA (starting on vault) Vault: Alexandra Raisman, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney Uneven Bars: Sabrina Vega, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas Balance Beam: Sabrina Vega, Alexandra Raisman, Jordyn Wieber Floor: McKayla Maroney, Jordyn Wieber, Alexandra Raisman Team Russia (starting on vault) Vault: Ksenia Afaneseva, Victoria Komova, Tatiana Nabieva Uneven Bars: Anna Dementyeva, Victoria Komova, Tatiana Nabieva Balance Beam: Yulia Ishina, Victoria Komova, Anna Dementyeva  Floor: Yulia Belokobylskaya, Victoria Komova, Ksenia Afanaseva Team China (starting on bars) Vault: Jiang Yuyuan, Huang Qiushuang, Yao Jinnan Uneven Bars: Yao Jinnan, Huang Qiushuang, Tan Sixin Balance Beam: Yao Jinnan, Tan Sixin, Sui Lu Floor: Tan Sixin, Yao Jinnan, Sui Lu Team Romania (starting on bars) Vault: Diana Chelaru, Raluca Haidu, Catalina Ponor Uneven Bars: Raluca Haidu, Amelia Racea, Ana Porgras Balance Beam: Amelia Racea, Catalina Ponor, Ana Porgras Floor: Diana Chelaru, Diana Bulimar, Catalina Ponor Team Japan (starting on beam) Vault: Yuko Shintake, Asuka Teramoto, Rie Tanaka Uneven Bars: Rie Tanaka, Asuka Teramoto, Koko Tsurumi Balance Beam: Asuka Teramoto, Yu Minobe, Koko Tsurumi Floor: Kyoko Oshima, Rie Tanaka, Koko Tsurumi Team Australia (starting on beam) Vault: Ashleigh Brennan, Emily Little, Lauren Mitchell Uneven Bars: Georgia Rose Brown, Lauren Mitchell, Larissa Miller Balance Beam: Ashleigh Brennan, Mary Ann Monckton, Lauren Mitchell Floor: Larissa Miller, Ashleigh Brennan, Lauren Mitchell Team Germany (starting on floor) Vault: Nadine Jarosch, Elizabeth Seitz, Oksana Chusovitina  Uneven Bars: Kim Bui, Lisa Katharina Hill, Elisabeth Seitz Balance Beam: Nadine Jarosch, Oksana Chusovitina, Elizabeth Seitz  Floor: Kim Bui, Elisabeth Seitz, Nadine Jarosch Team Great Britain (starting on floor) Vault: Danusia Francis, Hannah Whelan, Imogen Cairns Uneven Bars:  Balance Beam: Jennifer Pinches, Danusa Francis, Hannah Whelan  Floor: Imogen Cairns, Hannah Whelan, Beth Tweddle The biggest surprise of these lineups is that 2008 Olympic and 2009 World uneven bars Champion He Kexin will not compete for China on uneven bars. He fell during the qualifying rounds, missing the individual event finals, so her time here in Tokyo is done. I attended the Chinese training session just a few moments ago and during the bars rotation, He was struggling on her jaeger mix grip combination and looked to be in pain from a leg/groin injury.  Judging by these lineups, who do you think has the best shot at a medal? 

Oct 10, 2011