Between arguing at Shawn Johnson lovers and watching the 1992 Olympic event finals, I came to a conclusion. WHERE HAS BEAUTY GONE IN GYMNASTICS?
Down the toilet. Okay in 2006 when they introduced the new code I thought it was pretty cool I'm not going to lie. Like everyone would be arguing and was like "this code will be the death of gymnastics" "artistry will be lost" and I full heartedly agreed with everyone...but in the back of my mind I liked the new code. I thought it was cool with the packed routines.
Than people such as Vanessa Ferrari, Shawn, and every single British gymnast started coming on the scene.Although I must admit Vanessa has grown a little since her 2006 days. And THAN I realized that everyone was right. The new code absolutely murdered the sport of gymnastics.
Killed it.
I just recently went back and watched the 1992 Event Finals and the beauty and femininity of the time was simply outstanding. It was a wonderful treat and I was again in awe of the girls. Than I fast forward to the 2009 European Championships and I found myself bored and kind of angry. Almost everyone has the same routines or a variation of the same routine. It gets old.
Where are the Henrietta Onodi's, Svetas (Khorkina and Boguinskaia), or even Pavlovas (who is on the brink of retiring as it is) of our day. Where's the originality? Where is the beauty?
But it is our fault? When to be competitive you must cram in every last skill invented in the COP?
I want to know who will be the next gymnast to incorporate beauty with skill. (NOT JUST NASTIA AND PAVLOVA). Lets hear it.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Is it really Shawn??
Probably by now you have all heard of this quote. And if you haven't, than read. It's no surprise that it is coming from Shawn Johnson...okay it is a little.
Taken from an interview with MSNBC explaining why she probably won't go to the 2012 olympics
“(On the 2008 Olympic team) I was an outcast,” Johnson told the magazine. “I was the youngest, led a normal life and, I hate to say it, I was good. It’s kind of a jealousy thing. Then when I got (‘Dancing With the Stars’), it was hard because it was (teammate) Alicia (Sacramone)’s dream to be on it.”
Naww... this couldn't have been the Shawn Johnson that every little girl loves!? The role model everyone looked up to!?
Okay okay I agree with everyone that it's probably a misquote. I can't imagine poor little "innocent" Shawn ever saying anything bad about her teammates.
But the truth is. I can see her saying something LIKE it. It's not like she was perfect. And it kills me to know that she thinks people were jealous of her on the OT when SHE DIDN'T EVEN WIN IN THE ALL AROUND. SO IF YOUR NOT THE BEST, WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE BE JEALOUS OF YOU!?
Poor Shawn. This whole celeb thing is really getting to your head. No one. Not even Nastia, has any right to act like this. It was crossing the line. And poor dear, anyone who has a lick of sense about the sport doesnt like you too much right now.
happy?
Taken from an interview with MSNBC explaining why she probably won't go to the 2012 olympics
“(On the 2008 Olympic team) I was an outcast,” Johnson told the magazine. “I was the youngest, led a normal life and, I hate to say it, I was good. It’s kind of a jealousy thing. Then when I got (‘Dancing With the Stars’), it was hard because it was (teammate) Alicia (Sacramone)’s dream to be on it.”
Naww... this couldn't have been the Shawn Johnson that every little girl loves!? The role model everyone looked up to!?
Okay okay I agree with everyone that it's probably a misquote. I can't imagine poor little "innocent" Shawn ever saying anything bad about her teammates.
But the truth is. I can see her saying something LIKE it. It's not like she was perfect. And it kills me to know that she thinks people were jealous of her on the OT when SHE DIDN'T EVEN WIN IN THE ALL AROUND. SO IF YOUR NOT THE BEST, WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE BE JEALOUS OF YOU!?
Poor Shawn. This whole celeb thing is really getting to your head. No one. Not even Nastia, has any right to act like this. It was crossing the line. And poor dear, anyone who has a lick of sense about the sport doesnt like you too much right now.
happy?
Monday, April 27, 2009
WOW..
First Shawn on Dancing with the Stars makes me want to die.
I mean I heard she's good but I just really can't bring myself to watch... I might gouge my eyes out.
ANYWAYS news..
Samantha Peszek has verbally committed to UCLA. YAY. Not another gymdog thank the Lord.
Justin Spring has retired (booo...) to take over as head coach at University of Illinios. I'm very very very happy for him, this is so excited to have an opportunity to coach something he loves. And plus he went to my gym, I have to cheer him on in everything. :)
Beth Tweddle opens a gym? Um...what?
So when I first read this I really thought she built her own gym. But its really that she just helped open it.
God I hope England does well at this olympics for this gym..
I mean I heard she's good but I just really can't bring myself to watch... I might gouge my eyes out.
ANYWAYS news..
Samantha Peszek has verbally committed to UCLA. YAY. Not another gymdog thank the Lord.
Justin Spring has retired (booo...) to take over as head coach at University of Illinios. I'm very very very happy for him, this is so excited to have an opportunity to coach something he loves. And plus he went to my gym, I have to cheer him on in everything. :)
Beth Tweddle opens a gym? Um...what?
So when I first read this I really thought she built her own gym. But its really that she just helped open it.
God I hope England does well at this olympics for this gym..
Saturday, April 18, 2009
whoa
It's been a WHILE. And when I say a while I mean like a couple of months, and I am really sorry. I want to continue my blog so here we go again. I'm going to try to update it as often as possible!
Recent news:
Beth Tweddle wins floor and bars at the Europeans. Did you know that was her first medal since...WORLDS 2006!? Whaaattt... I mean thats like mind blowing. I guess it would suck to do a routine SO hard no one could even match it, and than you're always getting beat by people who's routines are actually ridiculous (cough cough Nastia, and every Chinese gymnast)? Well good for her.
Georgia wins NCAA's. Yay. Go red..
Pardon me while I go throw up.
Recent news:
Beth Tweddle wins floor and bars at the Europeans. Did you know that was her first medal since...WORLDS 2006!? Whaaattt... I mean thats like mind blowing. I guess it would suck to do a routine SO hard no one could even match it, and than you're always getting beat by people who's routines are actually ridiculous (cough cough Nastia, and every Chinese gymnast)? Well good for her.
Georgia wins NCAA's. Yay. Go red..
Pardon me while I go throw up.
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Years Resolution
Okay, let me start by saying sorry. I haven't posted something in god knows how long.
My first new years resolution is to consistantly post. Or at least more often.
So its a fresh new year. 2009! The year after the Olympics is always boring. Gymnastics suddenly has a dip of followers, excitement, skill level, and even gymnast! In a sport where everything is about the Olympics the perfect time to peak is every 4 years, meaning the most drama, the most coverage is during Olympic years. I ask my non gymnastics friends and the only gymnast they know is Nastia and Shawn. And I wonder what about Chellsie Memmel, 2005 World CHAMPION, Jana Beiger 2006 silver medalist? I mean NBC didn't even do coverage of 2005 or 2006 worlds I don't think. So I'm going to have to dig for the juicy dirt.
My second new years resolution is to dig for dirt :)
Lastly just wanted to let everyone know that I am co-running a website created by cccam. The site is in the very early days so we don't have everything up, but I want EVERYONE to check it out because it will be incredible.
Check it out!
My first new years resolution is to consistantly post. Or at least more often.
So its a fresh new year. 2009! The year after the Olympics is always boring. Gymnastics suddenly has a dip of followers, excitement, skill level, and even gymnast! In a sport where everything is about the Olympics the perfect time to peak is every 4 years, meaning the most drama, the most coverage is during Olympic years. I ask my non gymnastics friends and the only gymnast they know is Nastia and Shawn. And I wonder what about Chellsie Memmel, 2005 World CHAMPION, Jana Beiger 2006 silver medalist? I mean NBC didn't even do coverage of 2005 or 2006 worlds I don't think. So I'm going to have to dig for the juicy dirt.
My second new years resolution is to dig for dirt :)
Lastly just wanted to let everyone know that I am co-running a website created by cccam. The site is in the very early days so we don't have everything up, but I want EVERYONE to check it out because it will be incredible.
Check it out!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Post Beijing
Despite the hectic Olympics, Sandra Izbasa is already starting her comeback. She recently competed at the Swiss Cup and later she heads to Japan for the Toyota Cup, Nov. 15-16, and returns to Europe for the Italian Grand Prix, Nov. 22 in Milan. She ends her year at the World Cup Final, Dec. 12-14 in Madrid. She is currently the only Romanian that is currently in shape for competition however according to Nicolae Forminte:
"Anamaria Tamarjan and Gabriela Dragoi are recuperating [from injuries], and Sandra was the only one prepared to honor her invitation to the Grand Prix meets," Forminte said. "Andreea Grigore has a sprained ankle, and the other girls are still struggling to find motivation." << AKA Steliana Nistor
In other news Jordan Joctchev (you know that 5 TIME OLYMPIAN) will finally hang up his grips after next year. He wants to finish his long career on a good note. Apparently the only reason he has been continuing gymnastics is to win that presidented Olympic gold on still rings, however he has never been able to obtain it. I wish Jordan all the best of luck next year and congratulate him on his amazing career of 5 Olympics, 4 olympic medals (silver and 3 bronze), 12 world championship medals including 4 gold
Cute little Uchimura wins the Japanese national title, and Kashima announces his retirement after Japan's Toyota international. Kashima annouced that he cannot recover from his cronic elbow injury. I also congratulate him on his outstanding career
And of course the Chinese domination lives on as Lu Bo and He Ning capture the Swiss Cup duos title
"Anamaria Tamarjan and Gabriela Dragoi are recuperating [from injuries], and Sandra was the only one prepared to honor her invitation to the Grand Prix meets," Forminte said. "Andreea Grigore has a sprained ankle, and the other girls are still struggling to find motivation." << AKA Steliana Nistor
In other news Jordan Joctchev (you know that 5 TIME OLYMPIAN) will finally hang up his grips after next year. He wants to finish his long career on a good note. Apparently the only reason he has been continuing gymnastics is to win that presidented Olympic gold on still rings, however he has never been able to obtain it. I wish Jordan all the best of luck next year and congratulate him on his amazing career of 5 Olympics, 4 olympic medals (silver and 3 bronze), 12 world championship medals including 4 gold
Cute little Uchimura wins the Japanese national title, and Kashima announces his retirement after Japan's Toyota international. Kashima annouced that he cannot recover from his cronic elbow injury. I also congratulate him on his outstanding career
And of course the Chinese domination lives on as Lu Bo and He Ning capture the Swiss Cup duos title
Fong in the Deep End...typical
Well Fong's infamous overpushing of his gymnast has landed him in the news again, this time with Ivana.
Ivana Hong Athlete Bio
NBC Olympic Zone
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - Olympic alternate Ivana Hong says her road to the Olympics was a lot rockier than anyone had known.
Ivana, like many other young gymnasts, moved to Blue Springs to train with Al Fong, who has built up his Gage Gym to national prominence.
At age 11, Ivana left her father behind in California, coming to Blue Springs with her mother and three siblings to train with Fong. It is a decision the Hong family says they regret.
In a gym, Fong looks the part of a master motivator especially through the eyes of a teenage girl.
“I was kind of intimidated by him,” Ivana told NBC Action News. “I always saw him at camps when I was really little."
Al Fong Intimidated or not, Ivana thought she needed Fong’s tough love to make the Olympics.
Fong coached two silver medalists in 2004 and Ivana seemed destined to become his next big success story.
For four years, Ivana trained under Fong. Just four months before Olympic trials, her ankle started hurting.
The 15-year-old says she tried to tell her coach, but he wouldn’t listen.
“They kept telling me that nothing was wrong with my foot,” Ivana said. “I knew what was wrong with it, but I wasn’t going to be like ‘I have a fracture in my foot and I’m not gonna train.’”
Fong discouraged Ivana from seeking medical treatment. Against his wishes, Ivana’s mother took her to a doctor, who confirmed she had a fractured ankle.
With the Olympics looming, Ivana thought she had no choice but to trudge on.
She finished fifth in the team trials, earning an invite to the team’s selection camp.
Her lifelong dream was still in reach, but it had become clear her fractured ankle had fractured her relationship with her coach.
Michelle Hong Ivan’s mother says Fong simply stopped instructing her daughter.
“She wasn’t being coached,” Michelle Hong says, “And I don’t know what I was paying for.”
Fong says Ivana gave up. He refused an on-camera interview, but told NBC Action Sports “It became blatant she flat-out quit. It was almost as we were taken down a deep dark path.”
That path ended with Ivana just missing an Olympic bid.
“Just because I wasn’t crying at the very moment they named the team, they think I don’t really care whether I made it or not,” Ivana says. “I was just trying to keep it all in and now it feels like maybe if I did something or if they did something different, it wouldn’t have ended up this way.”
Ivana Hong Ivana says Fong’s tough love became too tough to take. Ivana soon left Gage Gym and is now conducting a national search for a gym where she will train for the 2012 Olympics.
Her foot still has not healed and some of the pain from her experience might never go away.
“It didn’t end up as big as I wanted it to, but I don’t want to regret for the rest of my life moving here.”
Sadly, this is a common tale in the gymastics world.
A few years ago, a book was written on the subject titled “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.” That book mentions Al Fong and how two of his former gymnasts died.
One was paralyzed in a training accident; the other died from organ failure after a bout with an eating disorder, which she said Fong contributed to with name-calling.
Fong denied repeated requests from NBC Action Sports for an interview, saying he wanted to focus on the future and the promising gymnasts he has left at his gym.
Listen this is not the first time people are telling the news about the horrible treatment they received at GAGE. I know Courtney Mccool and Terin Humphrey didn't exactly love him either. I also talked to one of my friends who attends GAGE and she hates Al too. She says that Ivana by the end was just tired of them and talked back and didn't do her assignments. I mean thats never a good thing right before the Olympics. I wonder where she'll go and I wonder with the Fongs will do: their image is forever tarnished (although kids still go) I don't think they'll get the business they need and rumors of talks about GAGE going under are in the works.
Other news:
Chuso tears her achillies tendon at the Swiss Cup
Shayla signed with Georgia (booo) and maybe has been kicked off the tour for underage drinking
And camp started this Monday
Ivana Hong Athlete Bio
NBC Olympic Zone
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - Olympic alternate Ivana Hong says her road to the Olympics was a lot rockier than anyone had known.
Ivana, like many other young gymnasts, moved to Blue Springs to train with Al Fong, who has built up his Gage Gym to national prominence.
At age 11, Ivana left her father behind in California, coming to Blue Springs with her mother and three siblings to train with Fong. It is a decision the Hong family says they regret.
In a gym, Fong looks the part of a master motivator especially through the eyes of a teenage girl.
“I was kind of intimidated by him,” Ivana told NBC Action News. “I always saw him at camps when I was really little."
Al Fong Intimidated or not, Ivana thought she needed Fong’s tough love to make the Olympics.
Fong coached two silver medalists in 2004 and Ivana seemed destined to become his next big success story.
For four years, Ivana trained under Fong. Just four months before Olympic trials, her ankle started hurting.
The 15-year-old says she tried to tell her coach, but he wouldn’t listen.
“They kept telling me that nothing was wrong with my foot,” Ivana said. “I knew what was wrong with it, but I wasn’t going to be like ‘I have a fracture in my foot and I’m not gonna train.’”
Fong discouraged Ivana from seeking medical treatment. Against his wishes, Ivana’s mother took her to a doctor, who confirmed she had a fractured ankle.
With the Olympics looming, Ivana thought she had no choice but to trudge on.
She finished fifth in the team trials, earning an invite to the team’s selection camp.
Her lifelong dream was still in reach, but it had become clear her fractured ankle had fractured her relationship with her coach.
Michelle Hong Ivan’s mother says Fong simply stopped instructing her daughter.
“She wasn’t being coached,” Michelle Hong says, “And I don’t know what I was paying for.”
Fong says Ivana gave up. He refused an on-camera interview, but told NBC Action Sports “It became blatant she flat-out quit. It was almost as we were taken down a deep dark path.”
That path ended with Ivana just missing an Olympic bid.
“Just because I wasn’t crying at the very moment they named the team, they think I don’t really care whether I made it or not,” Ivana says. “I was just trying to keep it all in and now it feels like maybe if I did something or if they did something different, it wouldn’t have ended up this way.”
Ivana Hong Ivana says Fong’s tough love became too tough to take. Ivana soon left Gage Gym and is now conducting a national search for a gym where she will train for the 2012 Olympics.
Her foot still has not healed and some of the pain from her experience might never go away.
“It didn’t end up as big as I wanted it to, but I don’t want to regret for the rest of my life moving here.”
Sadly, this is a common tale in the gymastics world.
A few years ago, a book was written on the subject titled “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.” That book mentions Al Fong and how two of his former gymnasts died.
One was paralyzed in a training accident; the other died from organ failure after a bout with an eating disorder, which she said Fong contributed to with name-calling.
Fong denied repeated requests from NBC Action Sports for an interview, saying he wanted to focus on the future and the promising gymnasts he has left at his gym.
Listen this is not the first time people are telling the news about the horrible treatment they received at GAGE. I know Courtney Mccool and Terin Humphrey didn't exactly love him either. I also talked to one of my friends who attends GAGE and she hates Al too. She says that Ivana by the end was just tired of them and talked back and didn't do her assignments. I mean thats never a good thing right before the Olympics. I wonder where she'll go and I wonder with the Fongs will do: their image is forever tarnished (although kids still go) I don't think they'll get the business they need and rumors of talks about GAGE going under are in the works.
Other news:
Chuso tears her achillies tendon at the Swiss Cup
Shayla signed with Georgia (booo) and maybe has been kicked off the tour for underage drinking
And camp started this Monday
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