Princess Mustafina

Aliya Mustafina is an extremely well-known name in the sport of gymnastics. She emerged as a senior in 2010 and had good success at both the European Championships and the World Championships in Rotterdam, where she helped Russia to win the team title for the first time in years. She has elegant lines and expresses herself beautifully in her gymnastics. She is also well known for her dramatic eye make-up and bold nail polish that she wears during competitions. American commentators love to refer to her 'diva' attitude and compare her to the likes of Svetlana Khorkina.

Mustafina competes on floor during the team final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London

She excels on all four apparatus and has good technique across the board (apart from some questionable leg form on her twisting elements). She is daring on beam and performs difficult dance and acrobatic skills with ease (double turn and standing arabian). Here is a very young Mustafina competing on beam in 2006. Even at 12 years old, she was a precise and confident performer and already has many difficult moves packed into her routine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1IwnS7fa80&feature=youtu.be

She was extremely confident coming into the AA final at the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam. She told her father "I cannot loose". She was one determined 16 year old! At this stage she performed an Amanar vault, which gave her an added 0.7 edge over her fellow competitors. Perhaps most impressive were her beam and floor routines which she performed with confidence and style to take the AA title in her first ever World Championships.

Aliya's beam routine during the AA final at the 2010 World Championships

Aliya's gorgeous floor routine during the AA final at the 2010 World Championships

At the 2011 European Championships, Aliya severely injured her knee performing an Amanar vault during competition. This was met with cries of outrage and many debates were fought over whether or not gymnasts should be encouraged to perform these dangerous vaults. The FIG have now lowered the start value of the Amanar vault, in the hopes of discouraging gymnasts to perform them before they are ready. In Aliya's case, the accident was extremely unfortunate.

A scary reminder of how dangerous gymnastics can be

Many thought that this potentially career-ending injury would prevent Mustafina from attending the 2012 Olympic Games. Aliya proved what a fighter she was by resuming training as early as possible and by spending extra time on bars to rest her leg. Right up until the Olympic Games, many questioned her ability to perform well in the all-around. She delighted fans around the world by pulling together a performance that won her the bronze medal in the all-around competition behind Gabby Douglas and Viktoria Komova. Despite a fall on beam, her beautifully executed double turning Yurchenko, stellar bar routine and solid floor routine secured her a place on the podium (was awarded the tie-break over Aly Raisman).

Mustafina, Douglas and Komova on the podium at the all-around final at the 2012 Olympic Games

Mustafina helped the Russian team win silver in the Team finals in London. However, her proudest moment came with winning an individual gold medal in the uneven bars final. She is a beautiful bars worker and competes many difficult connections with huge amplitude and ease. Mustafina has overcome so much adversity to become Russia's most accomplished gymnast at the 2012 London Olympic Games. She is an inspiration to many across the globe and we hope to see much more of her beautiful gymnastics in the coming years!

Mustafina finally wins her individual gold medal for Russia on the uneven bars at the 2012 London Olympics

She's not done yet- see you in 2013!

Article by Imogen Browne (@Iflip4GymBlog)

Then and Now: Anna Pavlova (RUS)

Anna Pavlova is a Russian gymnast and has competed in two Olympic Games, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. She has a balletic style and performs many difficult and original moves, especially upon the balance beam. She is coached by her mother Nadejda Pavlova and, despite her immense talent has never won a gold medal at an Olympic Games or a World Championships. She is often known as the gymnast who just missed out, having finished the 2004 Athens Olympics all-around final in 4th place, 0.025 points behind China's Zhang Nan. She had a rough time at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, accidentally scoring a zero for her second vault in the final and finishing the beam final in 4th place, 0.05 points behind China's Cheng Fei.

Pavlova flashes a pose on floor at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Perhaps unusually for a Russian gymnast, she is a strong competitor across all four events. She is a strong vaulter and won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, with two very well executed vaults.

Anna's vaults during the vault final at the 2004 Athens Olympics

She is perhaps one of the most expressive floor workers of her generation. She marries beautiful dance, impressive flexibility and powerful tumbling in her 2008 routine performed to 'Exodus'. This is quite possibly one of my favourite floor routines of all time (see Fav Floor Routines series).

Pavlova's exquisite floor routine during the all-around final at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Unfortunately, Anna tore ligaments in her knees at the end of 2008 and required surgery. In the years after, she made a comeback to gymnastics but only competed watered-down routines and did not compete in many meets outside of Russia. Recently, she has appeared at more bigger meets, including the Voronin Cup. Watch her beam routine below where she performs unusual skills. 

Anna's beautiful beam from a competition in November, 2012

It is unlikely that Anna will make any Worlds teams in the next quad, because of the talent of the up-and-coming juniors such as Kharenkova and Shelgunova, and the presence of gymnasts such as Mustafina, Komova, Afanasyeva and Grishina. However, she is a strong performer on vault and beam and could potentially fill a void in those roles. Nevertheless, it is fantastic to see her still enjoying the sport at age 26!

Anna, still in it for the love of gymnastics!

Article by Imogen Browne (@Iflip4GymBlog)

Montage March

There are several great montages on YouTube which capture the beauty and emotions involved in the sport of gymnastics. A few are displayed here, from different years and competitions.

1/ USA Juniors 2012. Shining by AshleyakaFlipper2

Shows what a powerhouse in gymnastics the US is at the moment. Their talent is so deep and there are many talented juniors due to move up into the senior ranks over the coming years

2/ Not Always Happy Endings by nade00

While gymnastics is a beautiful sport it is also extremely difficult and much sacrifices are made. This montage tells the very sad stories of several young girls in the sport. Unfortunately gymnastics can be a heartbreaking sport.

3/ Jordyn Wieber. 2012 Olympics. Little Wonders by Jamie Nicole

One of the most shocking moments of the Olympic Games in London was 2011 AA champion Jordyn Wieber failing to qualify for the Olympic AA finals due to the 3 per country rule. This montage captures the emotional roller-coaster that she experienced, and shows how she was able to pull herself together for the team final and win gold for Team USA. She impressed the world with her bravery and her class.

4/ They Can't Dance by Spanny Tampson

This beauty from Spanny is just plain hilarious! There has truely been some TERRIBLE choreography over the years, it's about time someone made fun of it!

Article by Imogen Browne (@IFlip4GymBlog)

New Faces: Sydney Johnson-Scharpf (USA)

Sydney Johnson-Scharpf is the 12 year-old daughter of Brandy Johnson-Scharpf, a US Olympian from 1988. Sydney was born in 2000 and named in honour of the Olympic Games held that year. She is a level-10 gymnast and trains at her Mother's gym in Florida. At the Eastern Nationals in 2012, she placed first on beam and second on vault, floor and all-around.

Sydney Johnson-Scharpf, a first year level 10 (credit: Sydney's website)

Sydney displays her flexibility on beam at the 2012 Eastern Nationals

Her favourite event is floor, where she has an amazing presence for such a young gymnast. There are some things in gymnastics that you just can't teach, either you've got it, or you don't! Perhaps gymnastics talent does run in the family, I mean- look at the Liukins! I feel as though the Johnson-Scharpf story is going to be one that commentators will LOVE. She is aware that people look at her differently because she is the daughter of a famous gymnast, although she still feels 'the same as everyone else'!

See the interview with her here after she qualified for the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup.

Sydney performed recently at the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup, which is a J.O competition held in the same arena as the American Cup. Sydney was one of the youngest performers there and competed in the Junior division. After a mistake on bars at the start of the competition, Sydney came back to perform an excellent beam routine earning a massive 9.7, which placed her second on the event. Not bad for a kid in her first year of level 10! Although she may not have placed as high as she could have, she gained valuable competitive experience in that moment and certainly proved that she is a fighter.

Here is her delightful floor routine from the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup

In her spare time she enjoys shopping, driving her golf cart and doing science experiment- this kid is going far! It will be great to see Sydney's gymnastics developing over the next few years and hopefully we will see her on the elite scene before to long. She is set to attend her first gymnastics camp at the Karolyi Ranch at the conclusion of the American Cup.

Sydney Johnson-Scharpf's Website

Article by Imogen Browne (@IFlip4GymBlog)

New Faces: Simone Biles (USA)

Simone Biles is a name that is beginning to become familiar in the gymnastics world. As a junior, she was well-known for her abilities on the power events, showing an explosive Amanar on vault and dynamic tumbling on floor. Born in Ohio in '97, she now trains at Bannon's Gymnastix in Spring, Texas. 

Simone competes on floor exercise at 2012 Secret Classic

The height of this stag jump shows the immense height that she gets in her rebound after a tumble run! 

She has made rapid improvements over the past two years and, along with Katelyn Ohashi (WOGA), was selected to represent her country at the prestigious American Cup held this weekend. Simone already has impressive skills including a stellar Amanar (which she plans to upgrade to a triple-turning Yurchencko). If she competes this at an FIG-sanctioned event, she will be the first woman ever to compete this vault. 

Here is Simone's Amanar from the Secret Classic last year, where she earned a whopping 16.05

She uses a full-in dismount off beam, which is extremely difficult to perform (the same dismount used by Shawn Johnson in 2008). She also has impressive leaps but will need to learn to harness her power! However, the apparatus where she really shines is the floor exercise. She has is capable of major tumbling passes, including a full-twisting double layout, a double-double and a double-layout to name a few! I have a feeling that she will emerge as one of the top floor workers of the American squad over the next quadrennium.

Here is her floor routine from podium training at the 2013 American Cup, held this weekend

Simone performed extremely well for her senior debut and despite a fall on beam performed well against Olympians to take 2nd behind Katelyn Ohashi. Her nerves showed a bit, but she did extremely well under the pressure. More confident performances will come with experience and I can't wait to see how this gymnast progresses over the years to come- good luck to Simone! She seems like a lovely and fun-loving person and is delighted to be part of such a big event.

Media Day at the 2013 American Cup

From the camp: Getting to know Simone

Article by Imogen Browne (@Iflip4gymblog)

Coaches Corner: Conditioning ideas from Mary Lee Tracy

Mary Lee Tracy who coaches at Cincinnati Gymnastics (Junior Champion Lexie Preissman and Amelia Hundley) posts some of the best coaching and conditioning videos on her YouTube channel, found here.

Mary-Lee with Amelia Hundley

Circuit training is a great way to build up endurance and teaches the gymnast to perform skills even when they are tired. It is also fun for the gymnasts participating!

Circuit training set-up, easily adapted for any gym conditions

Gymnasts can be conditioned to improve their body tension. This improves the overall look of their gymnastics on all apparatus. I like the use of leg weights in these drills to help build muscle.

Article by Imogen Browne (@Iflip4gymblog)

Sunday Spotlight: Shallon Olsen (CAN)

Shallon Olsen is one of Canada's rising stars in gymnastics. Born in 2000 and a member of Omega Gymnastics Academy, she has produced impressive results as a junior including capturing the all-around title at the 2013 Elite Canada competition. She is a very clean gymnast and already performs some very difficult skills in competition (DTY, full-twisting double back on bars).

A 10 year-old Olsen competes at the 2010 Canadian Championships and earns her a spot on the junior national team (photo credit: www.examiner.com)

                                    

Shallon competes on floor at the 2012 Top Gym Competition, where she placed first in the all-around and on vault (photo credit: Gymnastike)

Shallon trains at the same gym as Brittany Rogers and shows immense promise for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she will be just old enough to compete. She is the most exciting to watch on floor, where she shows off her flexibility and difficult tumbling. With four years to go before Rio, she has plenty of time to improve her skills and become a great all-around potential for Canada. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Canadian Women's gymnastics team not only finished 5th in the team final but qualified two gymnasts, Brittany Rogers and Ellie Black into the vault final. With young stars such as Shallon, hopefully Canada can improve on this effort in 2016. Watch this space!

Shallon competes on floor in 2012

Shallon on bars at the recent Elite Canada Competition

Shallon's gymastics idols are Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin and enjoys reading and baking in her free time. All the best to her for the future, I'm sure that she will become a well-known name in the future!

Other links:

Shallon on TCG's Junior Watch

Article by Imogen Browne (@iflip4gymblog)