gymn Digest Mon, 14 Mar 94 Volume 2 : Issue 87
Today's Topics:
---> Please read! (re subscribing and bounce msgs)
Agache/Szabo '81
American Cup & stuff
American Cup stuff (Efton)
College Bars Better Than Elite?
College Vault (5 msgs)
Collegiate Bars (3 msgs)
Collegiate Yurchenkos
Compulsories
Goodwill Games Formatl
great trivia qn
Hi! (2 msgs)
Kerri Strug in _IG_ (4 msgs)
Kerry Huston -- update
Larissa Fontaine
new life (2 msgs)
Piskun
Qualifying -- My Final Note
Question
Question (1996 Olympic Trials)
Results to Gymn Poll #1
Ronald's reports on Am Cup ...
The Gymn Pub
Trivia Set #13, topic
UF-Illinois-Iowa State
World Qualifying
Worlds programme - April
Worlds qualifying procedures for women (3 msgs)
This is a digest of the gymn@athena.mit.edu mailing list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 13:35:16 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: --->Please read! (re subscribing and bounce msgs)
This is just a reminder to everyone in general:
PLEASE note that I am *not* the Gymn person to contact regarding
bounce msgs or requests to subscribe (or, heaven forbid, unsubscribe,
grin).
The appropriate person to contact is Robyn. Her address is
owner-gymn@mit.edu. When you ask me to unsubscribe and such, all I do
is forward the msg to her, so you're just saving yourself one step of
"bureaucracy" by emailing her right away.
A couple other points:
PLEASE please please do not give out "gymn@mit.edu" as the
subscription address. It seems we've gotten more of these public
subscription notes than we have in the past. Aside from the time it
takes to download for those on commercial systems, it's also at least
vaguely annoying.
Almost every time you post, you are going to receive a couple or more
"bounce msgs". Please do not repost! Your original msg did indeed
get through to Gymn; it only bounced in a couple of random mailboxes.
If you continue to get bounce msgs for the same address for over ten
days, forward the entire bounce msg to Robyn. Please only do so if
you're one of our "frequent" posters-- we don't need ten people
emailing Robyn with the same complaint-- it's too much for her to keep
track of.
Thankee muchly, Rachele (a little harried today, can we tell?)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 05:23:00 BST
From: ***@genie.geis.com
Subject: Agache/Szabo '81
Regarding the Agache/Szabo "switch" at the '81 All American Classic,
here's a bit more information:
The March '81 _IG_ lists Szabo as finishing 3rd AA at the Classic, and
in the April '81 issue (pp. 8-9) there are 2 large color photos of
"Ecatrina Szabo" (actually Lavinia Agache) from this meet.
_IG_ printed a correction in next month's issue (p. 5) saying, "The
gymnast in question was not Ecatrina Szabo, as [the photographer] was
told by the Romanian coach ... [the] magazine had already gone to
press before it was noticed that this was in fact Lavinia Agache ..."
The Reader's Forum in the Aug. '81 issue (p. 54) discusses the
"switch" and an interesting letter to the FIG from the Romanian Gym.
Federation is reprinted, which states that they had informed the USGF
they were sending Cristina Grigoras (who became "unavailable at that
moment"). Agache was substituted and was issued a passport and plane
ticket. The letter goes on to say that the US organizers "would have
been able to ... validate the concerned gymnast's identity even from
her arrival in the US, on the basis of her passport and air ticket,
which cost would have to be refunded to our federation." The Romanian
Gym. Federation basically denied any involvement in or knowledge of
the supposed "switch", and it is not clear how the organizers got the
name "Szabo" (i.e., was that the name on the passport?).
I think the only reason it was an issue at all is because NBC made a
rather big stink about this "switch" during a SportsWorld program
(sorry, I don't have it on tape but I *do* remember watching it).
Debbie
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 21:17:46 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: American Cup & stuff
Just returned from American Cup, which I'll cover in the May issue of
International Gymnast ... Met your correspondent, Ron, who was
conscientious, thorough and professional (remember that if you get a
GYMN credential!).
A few comments, corrections, opinions, etc., from one who was there:
Vitaly, just say NO to bright colors and light panels of stars where
one should have a waist! That said, he was more like himself by
finals, and Scherbo a little jaded, as it was once said of Nadia, is
still streets ahead of the rest of the world in top form.
Yes, Craig, that was Keith Avery coaching John Roethlisberger. Avery,
aka "Miles," is the assistant at Ohio State and did compete in the
'70s. Other college coaches (li ke John's dad) were tied up with meets
for the weekend.
re Podkopayeva's choreography, and her in general: The previous
routine was just as bad, but with worse music and no dance steps to
speak of. (And how many similarly bad-or worse-FXs have won world and
Olympic gold?) Lots of time to kill f or that piked full-in, or maybe
it's just a Ukraine trademark-think of Stovbchataya. With th e Pod,
it's as much *how* she does what she does. Her execution of (and
technique on) both her acrobatic and dance elements is second to none.
Just processed my film and have a shot of her at the barani-out phase
of her (superb) handspring pike front-half vault. She is completely
extended, and her toes are POINTED. What else do you need to know?
Wow!
Now for a decent leotard. Is it too late to get Clinton to add that to
his Ukraine-aid package?
Umm ... yes, the flip-flop across beam to back hip circle, as done by
the nifty Ms. Tsavdaridou, Li Li and others is called a "Yurchenko
loop", first shown by that lady in 1979.
Errata ... It wasn't the American Cup, but at Berkeley recently I saw
Keith Wiley of Stanford throw a PIKED Arabian double front on floor,
which he kicked out of and stuck. (He also did two full-ins and the
requisite front-full pass.)
Finally, thanks to other Am. Cup observers for a coupl e of details I
missed/forgot/couldn't scribble down while re-loading a camera to grab
a cool shot of Sharipov's vault (yes, it's an Ivantcheva, yes,
Omelianchik did it piked at the '87 Worlds and stuck it for a whole
9.90 when boring Yurchenko-fulls got 10.0s, and no, the ff-1/4 turn on
beam is NOT an Omelianchik--she did a 3/4 turn to back hip circle, and
wasn't she cool?)/etc. ... Smile when you read it in IG.
Comments, questions, etc., are invited, via GYMN or e-mail. (I'm not
here in any offic ial capacity, so be as nasty-or nice- as you like.)
--Nancy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 16:00:13 -0600
From: ***@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: American Cup stuff (Efton)
Hey all,
Well I had a great ten day escape into sunny Florida. Do I really
have to come back? OK, about gymnastics. This was a good meet...
(I'll just give a few comments since Ron got all the important stuff
:)
When I got there, I read in the paper that Shannon Miller might not
compete due to a torn stomach muscle. (I vaguely remember hearing
about this beforehand) Anyway, on prelims night, Shannon's first event
was vault, which was good since vaulting apparently bothered her the
least. She got a 9.475 on a set of pretty good vaults. Apparently
Nunno was put up the wrong number for the vault Shannon did, so she
got a .3 deduction. But later Simona Amanar had the same thing happen
to her so the judges agreed to penalize both girls only .15 Nunno was
rather comical waving his arms, pointing at Simona and the Romanian
coaches, and jumping up and down. All the while, the judge talking to
him was smiling and shaking her head in (apparent) agreement.
Anyway, Shannon needed either a top ten AA finish or a top six event
finish to qualify for the World Championship team next month. After
the reduced penalty, she had a 5th place in Vault, so she pulled out.
The crowd still loved her... she could have gone out and picked her
nose as her floor routine and gotten a standing ovation.
Amanda Borden nearly killed herself on vault. I was directly in front
of the vault (at up about fifteen rows) and from my point of view, she
jumped too hard off the springboard. When she reached out to shove
off the horse, her arms appeared to be about two inches short. OK
imagine someone just at the moment they shove off the horse. Freeze
frame. Now lift them up two inches Unfreeze. Now imagine them
staying in that position and glideing across the horse horse and out
into open space. That's what happened. Until her coach spoted her.
Elodie Lussac. This girl is amazing. She was by far my favorite to
watch (well OK Jennie Thompson was a lot of fun too but she didn't
make it to finals) (Elodie appears in the Aug/Sept _IG_ if anyone's
interested) Ron explained her moves very well. She's goood on UB.
What I liked most about her was She's from France [as opposed to
Romania or someplace that's *supposed* to do well], She's just moved
up to Senior, and still held her own against alot more experienced
competitors. Heck, she came in fourth, and beat Podkopayeva and just
lost to Piskun by .2. We'll be hearing more from her.
Tidbits
There are a lot of people doing double layouts off UB now! I think I
counted three or four in prelims (and Shannon didn't compete that
event).
A lot of different vaults were thrown this year. Last year it was a
test to see who could throw the best Yurchenko. But this year, I
think Tanya Maiers threw the only single twisting one. Dawes threw a
1 1/2 and Piskun (I think) threw a double.
As for what happened to the Dynamo girls... Well, three entered,
Shannon pulled out, Tanya looked like a YMCA gymnast, and Jennie
finished sixth in prelims. Sixth is good, but unfortunately, only two
Americans can go on to Finals and Dawes was first, and Fontaine came
in fifth.
Academically, Fontaine is 3rd out of a class of 650 in Deerfield, Ill.
You never know what you'll find when you just look around... On
Finals night, I'm sittting in the stands, with the general populace,
and I look to my right... And sitting about three rows to my left and
front, is Simona Amanar (ROM) and her coach. There were a few people
getting autographs, but she was pretty much not being attacked. Of
course, she's not Shannon Miller :)
After Finals, I went around back to see if I could get in to talk to
the athletes etc. I doubt Bill Clinton could have gotten through the
security there. There was literally a small army guarding the
athletes. But I waited to see if they would come out to us. Nope. A
car was slowly trying to get out of the guarded drive, and I was smack
in it's way. I didn't *really* want to get run over for Gymn, so I got
out of it's way fast, but as I did, the driver rolls down the window,
and shouts for me to come over. I do. As I'm leaning over to look in
the the window, I get a face full of flowers! The driver says "Here,
a gift from Vitaly Scherbo." Then Scherbo takes my program signs it
and hands it back to John Roethlisberger, who signs it. So for those
of you who have the meet on tape, look at the flowers Vitaly holds up
on the awards stand... I have em'
Thats all I remember for now. It was a lot of fun. Efton
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 16:29:59 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: College Bars Better Than Elite?
I don't know. College bars perhaps have more variety, certainly, but
even the top college routines can't compare to the top elite routines
(Li Lu, Gwang-Suk Kim).
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 16:02:30 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: College Vault
Regarding college women's vault. Supposedly the reason they did not
downgrade the value of vaults to the new code was because college gymn
does not allow Yurchenkos.
This is ridiculous. They need to allow Yurchenko entry vault and
downgrade vaults such as the handspring front. It is clearly not
worth 9.7 (or is it still valued at 9.9?)
Also, does anyone know why they exclude the Yurchenko entry vaults?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 15:20:25 +0800
From: ***@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: College Vault
I believe the rationale for not allowing a Yurchenko style vault in
women's collegiate is that it is felt it is too dangerous. I'm not an
expert on collegiate rules, but if this is the rationale I'd have to
agree. At any rate, it doesn't really matter what the values of the
existing vaults are, as long as they're okay relative to one another.
Collegiate scores are a whole different animal from international
competition. The two really don't compare at all. Just last week at
a Cal meet I saw a few 9.9's and I believe that there was a 9.95 (the
average of a 10 and a 9.0). It was a nice routine, but it wasn't
*that* nice. But relative to what you see in the NCAA, sure it was
probably worth around a 9.95.
While we're on the subject, I think this business about comparing NCAA
uneven bars to international elite is probably doing a disservice to
both. Athletically I don't think that even the best NCAA women could
compete with your upper echelon elite, especially when it comes to
uneven bars. You put the top four NCAA women in the same meet with
some international competition and they'd probably get eaten alive.
Last year (if my memory serves me correctly) Beth Wymer and Agina
Simpkins tied for first at NCAA Nationals (I was there). They both
had solid routines and both scored tens. As solid as those routines
were, they don't compare to Lu Li's 10.0 performance at Barcelona! No
comparison would have been possible though, since Agina and Beth
wouldn't have made the U.S. Olympic team, anyway.
But as someone has already pointed out, they are like two different
sports. You need to judge them on their own merits.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 10:18:07 -0600 (CST)
From: ***@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
Subject: College Vault
On Fri, 11 Mar 1994 ***@aol.com wrote: > > This is ridiculous.
They need to allow Yurchenko entry vault and downgrade > vaults such
as the handspring front. It is clearly not worth 9.7 (or is it >
still valued at 9.9?) >
No no no no... Yurchenko vaults are really easy to learn and
just as easy to "brain" yourself on. Why should the rules give high
value to a simple vault. Go ahead and challenge me on this, but if
someone can do a strait roundoff, they can do a yurchenko full. This
is why the entire world of our sport has turned to this stupid vault
(I'm a bit opinionated). What do girls get for a layout tzuk full?
It ought to be about a point higher than a yurchenko. It is simply
harder to do a layout full. But the rulemakers seem to be giving more
points for risk than for difficulty. Does anyone remember ROV? Risk,
Originality, and virtuosity. For insurance purposes, we are not
allowed to give extra points for "risk" anyomore. It evolved into
"courage" and than into bonus points. It seems to me that too many
girls (and their coaches) have assumed that they can get very high
scores for not much work.
Handspring front is an important basic vault in our sport.
The fact that it is "imporant" probably plays into its value. I don't
see any problem not allowing yurchenko stuff in ncaa. Enough high
scores are given out without it.. If roundoff entry wasn't allowed in
international competition, wouldn't we see a lot more creativity by
the women? Probably not. This is because it is difficult to do more
traditional vaults. But enough girls have learned to do real vaults
and do them well. And have you noticed that they usually end up being
awarded pretty well for their work (Onodi and Retton for example).
But after saying all that, I do like Scherbo's (and Stover
from U. of Oklahoma) full on full off. This is cool. But these guys
are not human. Has anyone else heard the rumor that Scherbo is ready
to compete a yurchenko double back.
The ideas are great. I just don't want to see people get hurt.
david
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 14:57:21 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: College Vault
Re: roundoff vaults being too dangerous...
I can understand that being the case thru, perhaps, 1988, when
gymnasts had not trained these vaults during their previous careers,
but after that I would think that doing a Yurchenko that a gymnast had
been doing for a couple of years would be safer than learning an
absolutely new vault.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 17:43:27 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: College Vault
Regarding the value of a handspring front in college gymnastics for
the women. They go by adapted comp. 2A rules and they don't average
the vaults. I recently saw Karine (UCLA) fandspring pike front. It
was nice but a 10.0?
Susan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 22:46:10 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Collegiate Bars
I think the very top international routines may still be a tad ahead
(I'm thinking of Kim Gwang Suk). But I'd say top collegiate routines
are at least as good as, maybe better than, most top international
routines. The last time I saw a good college meet was the very stingy
TV coverage of last year's nationals, and before that, Stanford's
91-92 season, so I don't feel altogether qualified to comment.
Top collegiate vaulting would probably be competitive too.
As for beam and floor, college routines are frequently better to
watch, in terms of style (artistry, if you will, but I hesistate to
use that term except in the rare case) but the top international
routines are also great to watch *and* have a lot more difficulty.
-- Gimnasta
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 10:38:56 -0600 (CST)
From: ***@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
Subject: Collegiate Bars
> > Top collegiate vaulting would probably be competitive too. >
Sure women's vaulting is competitive. If everyone throws a handspring
front and lands on their butt, they still score between 9.0-9.3 Am I
right that this is worth a 9.9 or 9.8? I still find it annoying that
ncaa gymnastics insists on keeping the scoring jacked up so high.
Does it really draw bigger crowds if the gymnasts are scoring above
9.5, or would the spectators show up to see the same gymnastics
scoring what it should in an international arena.
I see college level women's gymnastics as an entirely different sport
than what is competed internationally. Aside from the top few schools
(which I admit compete at a very high level) most women in college
programs are realizing that they are heavier than they were when they
were 14 and that they must maintain whatever skills they learned when
younger. Sometimes, this is not realistic. Personally, I prefer
seeing gymnasts perform whole routines that take into account their
development and maturity which has occured in the gymnast since she
was 10. I like the fact that many women "water down" their routine
from when they were 13 and emphasize less dangerous elements that can
be performed without making the crowd squirm on the bleechers
anticipating a blown knee or ankle.
I said this before, but our sport is called Artistic Gymnastics, and
this leaves room for different interpretations of the sport. Some
college woman's routines are equal to or competitive with other world
class routines, but as a whole they are not. And this is ok. I just
think that a lot of women need to make a reality check and ask if they
can be competitive without trying to immitate the prepubescent world
champions who most likely don't have final exams in the back of their
mind while setting up for their last tumbling pass on floor.
My short addition to this thread is that yes, college bars are
enjoyable. Probably the most enjoyable event for me to watch, but I
wouldn't start making any comparisons to world class routines.
Criticisms welcome.
david
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 17:32:18 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Collegiate Bars
David --
I think the operative word in this discussion is "top" -- top
collegiate routines. I don't think anyone is contending that on the
whole college and international routines are comparable. Dee Foster's
(when did she go from Dee Dee to just Dee?) pike front half *was* as
good, if not better, than anyone's in the world, Milosovici and
Podkopayeva included (but whether she could do a second vault from
another group I don't know -- that's not required in NCAA event
finals, right?).
But I agree with most of your other comments, especially about
scoring. I don't know whether 9.5+ scores draw bigger crowds, but I
suspect that if scores were where they should be, people would get as
excited about a 9.6 as they do now about a 9.9. Now that it's been
allowed to get out of control, though, I wonder what the effect would
be of bringing it under control (but I'd be more than willing to give
it a shot). Incidentally, international gymnastics suffers
considerably from inflated scoring too, though I suppose it's not *as*
bad.
I do think, though, that leaving the Code unchanged in some respects
is legitimate (I'm referring to the comment about how much a
handspring front is worth), in order to fit the collegiate skill
level. After all, by the terms of your argument, college women can't
do as many difficult tricks, shouldn't try, and it's a different sport
from international and shouldn't be compared.
One other thing -- I don't think too many college gymnasts are
concerned about measuring up to elites, though I think it *is* true
that many have some trouble adjusting to not being able to do the
stuff they used to do.
: ) Gimnasta
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 13:57:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu
Subject: Collegiate Yurchenkos
Possible reasons why the Yurchenko vault is not allowed in college:
1) While it may be easy to learn, when one makes a mistake or
balks, it is a VERY VERY dangerous situation. One only has to look at
such illustrious gymnasts such as Julissa Gomez, Trent Dimas, Alexhi
Tikohnkin (sorry, bad spelling...) and Mari Kosuge to see what can
happen. It might help some gymnasts score well, but I think the risk
far exceeds the advantage.
2) It would probably only take one or two serious neck
injuries from that vault to eliminate the ENTIRE gymnastics program
from all but a handfull of schools due to insurance purposes and
pressure from administration.
3) It would require any school that wanted to host a meet to
fork out another several hundred dollars to buy the wedge-shaped mat
to protect any gymnast that would want to do this certain vault.
These are just what I came up with off the top of my head.
I've seen too many dangerous situations with this vault to advocate
its use in collegiate competition. When an elite is training 8 hours a
day and has the time and the training to focus on it, fine. But I
don't see any reason to risk older gymnasts who have less time and
energy to focus on gymnastics to make college vaulting just like
international competitions. I like it when I can go to a college meet
and still see Cuervos, Tsukaharas, full-ons and other less-used
vaults.
Cara P.S. Is
Lynda going to Worlds?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 22:44:54 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Compulsories
>Secondly, the countries still place their best athletes in the final
>rotations and the judges know that And save scores accordingly.
The point of competing compulsories individually is not to equalize
early and late round scores, but to distribute stingy and generous
scores evenly (as much as possible) among all the countries. In other
words, not to make the slices of pie the same size (proportionally to
performance of course), but to make sure every team gets some big and
some small. The point is to prevent *all* the gymnasts from one
country all getting early round scores. When the gymnasts compete
individually, some Soviets and Chinese will get early scores and some
will get late scores. When they compete as teams, *all* the Chinese
will get early scores and *all* the Soviets will get late scores,
hurting the Chinese team's chances, as well as the individuals'
qualifying chances.
It is true that the way to equalize as much as possible individual
chances *within* a given team is to do a random draw rather than allow
coaches to select the lineup. But the same would be necessary if they
competed as a team.
It is also true that there still is a better and a worse draw, but
it's not as bad as it would be if everyone from one team were in the
earlier session and everyone from another team were in the later
session. I also think that might be corrected by reducing the number
of sessions and increasing the number of gymnasts in a rotation (like
AA finals) or increasing the number of rotations (collegiate gymnasts
compete with byes and seem to do fine) so every team has the same
number of gymnasts per session.
I haven't really looked that closely at the difference it makes. It
may not make a huge difference a lot of the time, but I think it
probably makes some difference, which can mean a lot in gymnastics. I
wonder if it wouldn't have been better for the Chinese men to compete
like this, even with a worse draw, rather than have all of them
compete early. I think it probably makes a difference to "weaker"
countries, especially to their better individuals, and *most*
especially to those there without a team who are going to get stuck in
the early optional round no matter how good they are (another
problem).
-- Gimnasta
PS When I mentioned the Soviets' always drawing the last session, I
was referring to the '80's, and in any case, when I said the potential
was always there, I meant for abuse by anyone, not just the Soviets.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 01:21:33 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Goodwill Games Formatl
I was asked about the format for the Goodwill Games by someone else so
I thought I'd post what I know here . . . (note: a good source of
format and trials info is "Technique" magazine put out by the USGF
they also have a very good calander) . . .
In St. Petersburg (formerally Leningrad) there will be a team, AA, EF,
& Mixed Pairs competition plus an exhibition. It will be shown on a
daily tape delay on TBS (Petersburg is 7 hr. ahead of EST - 10 out
here on the West Coast).
Susan
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 15:08:55 -0800
From: ***@pollux.usc.edu
Subject: great trivia qn
--Q7. Who was the only gymnast to have her floor music renamed for
her?
A. Nadia, whose floor music is now generally referred to as Nadia's
Theme. (Actually I don't know if she was the only one)
====
I've heard the Ventures play this tune and always wondered who was the
Nadia!
Rachele, is your Rice account no longer in service?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 21:17:44 EST
From: ***@QUCDN.QueensU.CA
Subject: Hi!
Hi! My name is Bryan. I just subscribed today to Gymn. I am attending
first year at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, doing a
BScH in Biology. I did gymnastics about five years ago, but trained
mostly with girls, and so, d id mostly girls events since there were
no extra instructors. Anyways, I got to Queen's and got on the
Competitive Cheerleading team. It was fun for a while, but I needed
something new, so I picked up gym again two weeks ago to learn how to
do a back handspring and a back tuck for cheerleading, since tumbling
is pr etty important in that sport. Any suggestions for progressions?
So here I am, a nd I want to learn it all. I'm really looking forward
to Gymn.
Bryan
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 12:57:36 EST
From: ***@QUCDN.QueensU.CA
Subject: Hi!
Hi, my name is Bryan. I'm submitting my intro for Gymn. I'm 19, and am
in first year Biology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario,
Canada. I got into gymnastics just recently tryingto learn how to do a
back handspring for cheerleading, but now, I think I'm here to stay.
My address is 3btc@qucdn.queensu.ca . I'd be happy to talk to anyone
about anything. I'm looking forward to Gymn, and I hope I enjoy it as
much as the rest of you.
Bryan
P.S. Does anyone KNOW any progressions for a back handspring or a
standing back tuck?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 08:49:46 +0800
From: ***@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: Kerri Strug in _IG_
Just put down this month's IG and thought I'd start up a discussion on
the Kerri Strug series of interviews. (Kerri looks to be a real crowd
pleaser on gymn, so it's a good bet no one will mind;^)
I thought those interviews were really interesting, especially Bela's.
For those of you who don't get IG (Is there anyone on gymn who fits
this profile?) they had interviews with Kerri, and her former coaches
Steve Nunno and Bela Karolyi (as if we need to use his last name.)
At any rate, what I found especially interesting about Bela's is the
glimpse into coaching a young elite. You always see coaches pacing
around and spotting and stuff, but it sounds like the most difficult
part of the job (besides not being the focus for too much negative
gossip ;^) is the subtle psychological element. From the interview it
appeared that Bela had a pretty good bead on Kerri's psyche and had to
massage it effectively to help her perform up to her true potential.
Didn't sound like she adjusted all too well to Dynamo.
Well, all that really impressed me. When I was a kid and was doing
sports, all the coaches needed to do was yell at us a lot to get us
motivated. Sounds like coaching young girls, especially young
athletically gifted girls, can be a lot different. Any one else have
any insight into this? I once spoke to a fairly successful men's
coach who told me that he coached for a high school girl's team once
and regrets it to this day. He was frustrated as were the girls.
There wasn't a good match there.
-George
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 16:30:20 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Kerri Strug in _IG_
I apologize if this is a duplicate message for anyone. I'm pretty
sure I zapped my original by mistake...
re George's message:
"I thought those interviews were really interesting, especially
Bela's. For those of you who don't get IG (Is there anyone on gymn
who fits this profile?) they had interviews with Kerri, and her former
coaches Steve Nunno and Bela Karolyi (as if we need to use his last
name.)
At any rate, what I found especially interesting about Bela's is the
glimpse into coaching a young elite. You always see coaches pacing
around and spotting and stuff, but it sounds like the most difficult
part of the job (besides not being the focus for too much negative
gossip ;^) is the subtle psychological element. From the interview it
appeared that Bela had a pretty good bead on Kerri's psyche and had to
massage it effectively to help her perform up to her true potential.
Didn't sound like she adjusted all too well to Dynamo."
I was very surprised to read Kerri's comments that she (implied if not
said outright) needed Bela. My impression of the 92 team finals was
that Bela sold out Kerri to get Kim into AA (having Kerri leave out
her full-in 3rd pass on floor and acting really thrilled when Kim beat
Kerri's total). Therefore I was very surprised that she still held
such loyalty to Bela.
Any comments, or anyone know anything about this situation that I have
missed?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 18:56:26 +0200
From: ***@cornell.edu
Subject: Kerri Strug in _IG_
they had interviews with Kerri, and her former coaches Steve >Nunno
and Bela Karolyi (as if we need to use his last name.) >
Did I miss something? Kerri Strug left Dynamo and Steve Nunno?
Didn't sound like she >adjusted all too well to Dynamo.
How was this evident?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 00:35:44 +0800
From: ***@Eng.Sun.COM
Subject: Kerri Strug in _IG_
I really liked your opinions about the Kerri Strug interview
in IG. I was impressed by a USA Gymnastics article about Bela and a
very detailed interview he gave about the four phases of training that
his gymnasts go through. Many people forget that while he is a showman
on the floor, his schooling in sports training is excellent and the
reason why his gymnasts do so well is because of the training. I
thought his comments were really thoughtful and caring.
Many people don't realize that Kerri didn't come through a
powerhouse program. She trained alone in the gymn for four hours a day
with two coaches to herself until January of '91. I thought that
Nunno's comments about her "adapting to our system" were fairly
insensitive and while he helped increase her difficulty level, he
forgot about the overly sensitive kid inside a little bit.
I'm not sure about men being that different to coach than
women, but when one is training a ten or eleven year-old for top level
competition, factors such as family life, personal difficulties and
others come into play a lot more than when a college-age male is
involved. It's very traumatic for a father-type male figure to yell at
a girl in practice if it isn't done in the right way.
You are welcome to forward my comments if you feel they are
worthwhile to any discussion. I would like to say, however, that I
think that Nunno is a wonderful coach for many kids, but that it
sounds like the situation didn't work out between the two of them. He
also mentioned her sister Lisa. Lisa is MUCH older than Kerri and from
what I remember of her, has a much different personality and work
ethic. I have no idea whether that played a role or not, but it may
have been a factor.
Cara
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 16:59:09 -0600 (CST)
From: ***@owlnet.rice.edu>
Subject: Kerry Huston -- update
The following was released on USA Gymnastics' Delphi BBS:
KERRY HUSTON, INJURED IN WINTER CUP, IMPROVING
THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED BY USA GYMNASTICS 3/11/94 FROM THE
REHABILITATION CENTER KERRY HUSTON IS ATTENDING IN HOUSTON, TEXAS.
Kerry suffered an injury while participating in the Winter Cup nation
team qualifying meet held in Colorado Springs last month.
"Kerry Huston, considered by the gymnastics community as a definite
Gold Medal candidate for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, is facing
the biggest challenge of his career -- overcoming a career-threatening
injury that has him paralyzed, and now has him undergoing, for an
undetermined length of time, medical rehabilitation for spinal cord
injury at TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) in
Houston.
"After 13 years of training and development, Kerry had begun to
solidify his position as a true contender for the Gold Medal. During
the August 1993 USA Gymnastics National Competition, Kerry won the
gold on Floor Exercise, tied for third on vault, and finished eighth
all-around in the national results, making him the number 1 collegiate
athlete. Those finishing ahead of Huston have completed their NCAA
eligibility. Prior to his injury Kerry was considered to be the
leading contender for the all-around title for both the Big Ten and
the NCAA championships.
"Now, just 23 days following surgery to repair a broken neck at both
vertibrae C6 and C7, Kerry is making a miraculous recovery. R. Edward
Carter, MD, Director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at TIRR is
Kerry's Physician. 'Since his admission to TIRR on February 16, Kerry
has shown continued improvement,' Dr. Carter said. As of March 3,
Kerry has been riding a stationery bike, and is beginning to ambulate
with a walker, progressing to a cane.
"Kerry wants the Gold Medal and his unquestionable faith in God is his
driving force. 'I do not want my gymnastics career to end like this,'
Kerry said during a recent weekend pass visit to his home in Spring,
TX, where kerry's bedroom is filled with medals, plaques and awards he
has earned over the years. He is a 1991 graduate of Klein High School
and attends the University of Minnesota on a gymnastics scholarship.
"'Like some of the all-time great athletes Jesse Owens and Hank Aaron,
I have always wanted to represent the United States through my sport
to the best of my ability. Also, I want to be a role model for young
people by setting and achieving goals academically and athletically,'
Kerry said. 'That is my dream. That is my prayer.' "
NOTE: If you wish to send a card or letter to Kerry, address it to
Kerry Huston, c/o USA Gymnastics, 201 South Capitol, Suite 300,
Indianapolis, IN 46225.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 12:54:46 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Larissa Fontaine
I was just editing my American Cup tape and it occurred to me that
Larissa Fontaine reminds me more and more of Chelle Stack,
particularly on floor. Anyone else see the resemblance?
Mara
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 00:24:37 -0800 (PST)
From: ***@engr.ucdavis.edu>
Subject: new life
I was wondering. What exactly is "new life"? I've seen it in
about six recent posts, but I've never heard of it before.
-Michael
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 09:02:01 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: new life
In response to Michael's post asking what new life is (I'm posting it
to everyone since there might be others who are also wondering):
To see who qualifies to all-around and event finals, they add up the
compulsory + optional scores. It used to be that half of that total +
the gymnasts' score in finals would determine the final result.
Starting in 1989, they started counting only the score in finals to
determine the results. So all the gymnasts who advance to finals
start again from 0, and that's known as "new life."
-- Gimnasta
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 16:11:18 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Piskun
Piskun has REALLY cleaned up her bars from last year. They were
always great in terms of difficulty, but now she executes the
difficulty well too.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 22:45:53 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Qualifying -- My Final Note
I was asked to stick to discussing limits on AA and event finals
without questioning the number of gymnasts the FIG decides to let each
country enter in the first place. I see no reason why I can't bring
those limits up too, since I think they're relevant to the discussion,
and even if they weren't, I see no reason not to discuss them as well.
As far as I'm concerned, anything the FIG does is open to debate, and
as far as I know, anything concerning gymnastics can be discussed on
Gymn.
To clarify why I brought the entry limits in at all:
Entry limits, like finals limits, *do* have the effect of keeping
out some individuals who are better than others based on nationality.
If the finals limits are questioned because of that effect, then
it makes perfect sense to question the entry limits too. In
principle, any limit based on nationality is susceptible to question
on that ground. That's not to say one can't conclude that there is a
difference which warrants keeping entry limits while eliminating
finals limits.
Maybe this will help explain:
At the individual AA Worlds, countries are limited to entering 3
gymnasts. I don't see a difference between that and, in AA finals at
a "full" Worlds, taking out three gymnasts who were there for the team
portion. Either way, only 3 gymnasts represent each country in the
AA. If 3 is too few at a full Worlds, then, it seems to me, 3 is too
few at the individual Worlds (the same gymnasts -- not personally, but
whoever are #4 etc. at a given moment -- are excluded). I think the
full Worlds can be viewed as three separate competitions with
different entry limits for each, the same way there are separate team,
AA, and event Worlds.
But Susan says there is a relevant difference: that the gymnast is
excluded when s/he is already at Worlds. Maybe each country could
designate ahead of time (at trials) who will compete in the AA (making
team and individual competition kind of like group and individual
competition in rhythmic). Or a country could have the option of using
prelims as the "trials" (or would that be too close to the same thing,
just with a different name?).
Equating the phases of the full Worlds with the separate AA, event,
and team Worlds fails to address the issue of an individual AA or
event Worlds narrowing the number of entries per country after prelims
(as with Strug's situation at Birmingham). I agree that's
problematic. At best, it's an FIG-mandated prelims-trials and I don't
see a justification for it, except to prevent a medal sweep, and I
don't think that's good enough.
As I've mentioned before, I think 3 is a significant number because of
the medals, and I've always had more of a problem with the event
finals limits than the AA limits for that reason. I always used to be
uncomfortable with both finals limits, but when they started doing
individual Worlds with fewer entries per country, and I started
thinking about how so many other sports have similar limits, the AA
finals limit (the 3, not the 2 at Birmingham) started bothering me
less. If the limits are eliminated at full Worlds (which is fine by
me), then they should allow a greater number of entries (as an option)
at the individual Worlds. I haven't thought about the skating model
enough yet, so I don't know.
I guess between all my posts I've said everything I have to say on
this subject.
: ) Gimnasta
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 1994 15:44:33 +0200
From: ***@cornell.edu
Subject: Question
When and Where will the team for the '96 Olympics be selected?
Thanks in advance,
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:22:28 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Question (1996 Olympic Trials)
> When and Where will the team for the '96 Olympics be selected?
The 1996 Olympic Trials will be June 22-30 in one of four cities:
Seattle, San Jose, Nashville, and Boston.
The final city is supposed to be announced this month, actually.
Rachele
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 11:11:42 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Results to Gymn Poll #1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gymn Poll #1 - Results
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Total number of people responding: 30
Approximately a 25% response rate (not bad, not bad)
*** Questions 1 and 2: gender and age group
The following chart lists the number of responses in each category.
Age | Male | Female | Total =====================================
under 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 _________|________|________|_________ 18-21 | 2 |
3 | 5 _________|________|________|_________ 22-30 | 6 | 8 | 14
_________|________|________|_________ 31 & up | 5 | 4 | 9
_________|________|________|_________ Total | 14 | 16 | 30
=====================================
*** Question 3: type of involvement
Note that one response can fit in more than one of the following
categories; for instance, a parent can also be a former athlete.
Athletes (including former): 13
Coaches: 4
Judges: 3
Parents: 4
Fans: 24
Other: 7
...Did you know: Athletes include a former World Championship
competitor; there seems to be many former collegiate competitors, a
few of whom competed at NCAA Nationals at some point. Our judges
include at least one FIG Brevet, and one inactive FIG Brevet. For our
parents, we have two parents of TOPs team members (current and former)
and also a parent of a gymnast on the US Nat'l team. "Other" includes
scorekeepers, interpreters, journalists and photographers,
choreographers, and so forth.
*** Question 4: length of involvement
Under 5 years: 7
5-10 years: 3
11-20 years: 13
over 20 years: 5
AVERAGE: 12.96 years
*** Question 5: comments on Gymn
Included are comments that were mentioned more than once.
The BEST parts:
---Mentioned most often was: news, meet reports, and interviews; the
friendly atmosphere; the open discussion; the knowledge of Gymn
members.
---Also mentioned was: the calendar and TV alerts; meeting new people
and making friends; trivia sets
The WORST parts:
---Mentioned most often was: the occasional flamer and/or lack of
courtesy to other members; discussions that get out of hand and should
be taken to private email; sometimes too much mail; discussion is
often too technical for members who are new to gymnastics [Hey! feel
free to ask questions!]
Most common answer was "I have no complaints". (whoo hoo!)
---Also mentioned was: American subscribers forget there are "foreign"
subscribers; "I went to the meet and was only 50 feet from Shannon
Miller!!!" -- i.e., public worshipping of gymnasts; too few posting
too much; too many postings concerning local meets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: the aformentioned "friendly" nature of our forum prevents me
from posting some of the more, shall we say, "interesting" replies to
the survey. =) Thanks for the laughs though!
Thanks for your replies. Next poll will be in about a month. If you
have any suggestions, feel free to mail me.
Cheers! Rachele
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 13:40:19 -0800
From: ***@pollux.usc.edu>
Subject: Ronald's reports on Am Cup ...
... were just awesome! Thanks Ron.
====
**Tim Daggett told me that lots of big-name male gymnasts smoke,
including Scherbo. ====
I believe smoking kills appetite (when smokers quit, they eat a lot).
Could this be a reason why some of these gymnasts smoke - to keep 'in
shape' by not eating much? Of course,some smoke to reduce the tension
- another possible reason. But isn't the stamina reduced by smoking?
Anil.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 16:56:48 -0600 (CST)
From: ***@owlnet.rice.edu>
Subject: The Gymn Pub
So, here's that promised update on stuff that's been going on in the
lives of some Gymn members... I guess I'll just do this every so
often, whenever people mail me with good stuff, no set dates or
anything... I named it "The Gymn Pub" because so few of us are
under-age (grin)... here's to the "friendliness" of our forum...
Bottoms up, Rachele
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Alison
I started a new school in September (Bowdoin College) and as for
travel, I am going to St. Martin with my track team to train in 3
weeks!!!!!!!!! Also, re the message from Brent Perry about the
Gymcarolina- Marriott Classic: one of the teams competing was my
former gym, Hampshire Gymnastics. They've really improved
tremendously in the last 3 years or so.
From: Robin
I started a new job in January at MetaWare, Inc. I'm in the technical
support department for this C/C++ Compiler company in Santa Cruz, CA.
I've gotten into a new hobby....knitting socks. My mom has done it
for years, and once I learned I got totally hooked. They're pretty
wild looking. My new motto: "Life is too short to wear cheap socks".
From: Robyn
> --pass your oral exam (you know who you are) Yeah, that was me. :-D
The Oral Qualifying Exam is the first big hurdle in the PhD program,
once you finish your Master's. I'm in Computer Science (Artificial
Intelligence), for those who don't know. Also, Ryan is already 6
months old -- his half birthday was Monday (3/7). He's sitting up,
babbling da-da, and sleeping throught the night!
From: me
Well, aside from bouncing around email accounts, I've spent the last
couple months job searching, and have accepted an offer from BSG
Consulting, a firm specializing in information systems. It's a way
cool company, so I'm psyched. I'll still be in Houston, though there
is a definite chance of being transferred... to Atlanta... in 1996!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anything interesting happening in your life? Your friends on Gymn
want to know about it! Mail either rachele@rice.edu or
gymnmgr@aol.com a short description of what's going with you and we'll
collect it with others and send it out to Gymn every so often.
Rachele
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 1994 17:05:37 -0600 (CST)
From: ***@owlnet.rice.edu
Subject: Trivia Set #13, topic
Hey friends, yes indeed, I have picked up my rice account again.
Sorry to be confusing everyone so much. I *expect* to be using this
one through May 7, then my AOL account through mid-July, and then this
one again until they cancel it (probably in December), and then AOL
again for good. (Sorry to keep switching! I'll be checking AOL every
now and then to make sure I don't miss any mail -- both my rharless
account and my gymnmgr account.)
The topic for Trivia Set #13 will be Unlucky Gymnasts. There are lots
of gymnasts who, for some reason or another, did not get to achieve
all they could or should have... if you can remember any particular
stories, send it my way.
Rachele
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 94 20:52:06 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: UF-Illinois-Iowa State
University of Florida Freshman Chrissy Vogel received a perfect
vault score and stole the show on Senior Night, leading the Gators
(193.625) to victories over Illinois-Chicago (188.300) and Iowa
State(186.45).
Vogel, who grew up just a few miles from the university, not only
received a 9.9 for her handspring-front (tucked) vault but also
upgraded her floor tumbling on her way to a 38.95 all-around victory.
Gator Kristen Guise took second with a 38.825, and teammate Lisa
Panzironi inserted a double-back in her last floor pass (replacing a
full twist ) to take third with a 38.600.
And while the Gators were happy with their win, the Flames of
Illinois-Chicago were joyous. The team managed to score its
second-highest score in school history and put on a dazzling floor set
that included difficult and unique tumbling passes. Illinois' Rebecca
Keiffer threw one of the most difficult floor pass combinations in the
country when she connected a whip with 1 1/2 twists to a stuck
double-back. And for good measure, she followed that with a Rudi (an
"E" move) in her second pass and double-full in her last.
The unique combinations for Illinois continued when Wendi
Farquharson connected a double-back to an immediate back-handspring
into dance elements. Following her was teammate Heather Brockwell,
who threw a whip to a Rudi.
"We had a pretty good day," Illinois-Chicago Coach Peter Jansson
said. "Our goal is to keep improving, and we wanted to do that
tonight. This is the only top-10 team we'll face this year."
Illinois' Brockwell was the only non-Gator to break into the top
three on any event, taking third on beam with a 9.575. Guise won bars
(9.85) and floor (9.875), while teammates Colleen Johnson and Kari
Robidoux won beam (9.6) and Vogel won vault.
One other interesting note: Iowa State has triplets: Freshmen Karen,
Kim and Katie Mazza.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 11:25:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu
Subject: World Qualifying
I would think that Dom would've also qualified to Worlds since
she must have finished in the top five in at least one event in
prelims at the American Cup.
My take on the new life rule - it stinks. But I thought it was
interesting that it helped Boguinskaya win the AA at '89 worlds but it
probably cost her the title in '91. I think she had better
compulsories than Kim. I know that the compulsories were averaged in
w/ the team optionals score and then added to the finals score before,
but it still would've given her a slight edge. But remember, the
Worlds before the rule went into place ('87) a big suprise - Aurelia
Dobre - won. I thought the new life rule stank in Olympic competition
in '92.
College - I'll disagree with the comment that college bars are
better than elite bars. And beam as well. But a lot of the floor
choreography, connections and performances in college are far better
than international elite routines at the moment. The only area where
they are behind in floor is the difficulty of the final tumbling
passes. Gosh, rudis are an E on floor? I could work up a level 10
floor routine within 6 months, and I haven't competed in eight years.
Anyone else remember what Lussac's floor music was? I may be
mistaken - I was watching with a high fever. What an amazing beam
routine she has...
Cara
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 11:59:32 +1000
From: ***@education.canberra.edu.au
Subject: Worlds programme - April
Competition programme for the April worlds is
Tuesday April 19th
Qualification sessions all apparatus, mens and womens (afternoon and
evening sessions.
Wednesday April 20th
Same as Tuesday.
Thursday April 21
All-round championship competition mens Floor, Pommel, Rings, Vault, PB and
Horizontal Bar (evening session).
Friday 22nd April
All-round championship competition womens vault, uneven bars, beam and floor
(evening session).
Saturday 23rd April
Final mens Floor, Pommel Horse and Rings
Final womens Vault, Uneven Bars
(evening session)
Sunday 24th April
Finals mens Vault, Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar
Finals womens Beam and Floor
(afternoon session)
Lynda
'Sleep is better than medicine'
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:22:20 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Worlds qualifying procedures for women
Cara said:
> Does anyone know if Kerri Strug has qualifyed to next month's
> Worlds or not?
She has not yet qualified. The only female gymnast that has qualified
is Shannon Miller, which she did by placing 5th on vault at the
American Cup in prelims. Miller had to finish in the top 10 AA or top
5 in any event at the Cup to qualify.
Here is a short summary of the 1994 Worlds Qualifying Procedures:
A. Miller qualifies if, at the Am. Cup, she gets top 5 in any event or
top 10 AA.
B. The Am Classic serves as the Trials. All-around score is 60%
compulsories, and 40% optionals.
C. Gymnasts finishing first and second in the OPTIONAL RANKING ONLY
will be on the team if they ALSO finish in the top six combined AA
ranking. Ties broken by the highest ind. event score.
D. If Miller doesn't qualify, then the third person is selected this
way too.
E. The last position on the team will be determined by the ind. event
opt'l ranking. The gymnast who finishes first on an event and no
lower than 6th AA, and who is not already on the team, will be the 4th
team member. If there is more than one Ind. Event winner not on the
team, the athlete with the highest event score will be the fourth
position. If there is a tie for the highest event score, then ties
are broken by the highest counting score on that apparatus.
[Some mumbo jumbo about how one wins the vault, since they use Comp II
rules for vaulting in AA but Comp III rules for everything else.
Gymnast must do a second vault under CIII rules at a designated time.]
F. If all four apparatus winners are already on the team, the next
highest opt'l athlete in optional rank order that is also in the top 6
combined AA will be on the team.
G. There are no petitions onto the team
H. The four athletes will compete according to the coaches line-up.
The qualifying procedures can be found in the January 1994 Technique,
on page 33.
Rachele
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 00:52:11 EST
From: ***@sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov
Subject: Worlds qualifying procedures for women
Why is Miller the only female to have already qualified. What has she
done/won that has her already qulalified? Any news as to wether or not
Strug is going to try out for Worlds? When are the trials and is any
GYMN member going to be in attendance?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 13:33:37 EST
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Worlds qualifying procedures for women
Dennis asked:
> Why is Miller the only female to have already qualified. What has she
> done/won that has her already qulalified? Any news as to wether or not
Why is Miller already qualified? Because she's a three-time World
Champion (AA, UB, FX)! She's also won six other World and Olympic
medals, and she was undefeated in all of 1993. Their making her
"qualify" to be on the Worlds team would almost be an insult-- after
all that she's done for American gymnastics, I guess the USGF thought
it would be nice to just let her bypass the qualifying rules and
train. They did the same for her last year. Also, it would be silly
if she missed qualifying due to some random mishap, say falling off of
beam. I think they know how valuable her reputation is and they don't
want to risk losing her on the team; she's enough of an asset that
they are making an exception for her.
There's lots of potential explanations as to why Miller gets/deserves?
special treatment.
Cara said:
> I would think that Dom would've also qualified to Worlds since she must
> have finished in the top five in at least one event in prelims at the
> American Cup.
The rules were not that *whoever* is in the top five of any event or
top 10 AA at the American Cup qualifies to be on the Worlds team. The
rules were that if the "1993 World Champion" met those requirements,
she was on the team. It was a special clause written in specifically
for Shannon Miller (tho it only referred to her as the World Champ,
not as "Shannon Miller").
Dawes is an outstanding gymnast, but she's "only" won three
World/Olympic medals (team bronze 92, silver UB and BB 93). Miller
won medals in 91, 92, and 93, not to mention that she qualified for
all four event finals at both the 91 and 93 Worlds and the 92
Olympics. The other countries would probably *laugh* at the USA if
she wasn't on our team. (As if the other countries don't laugh at our
selection procedures already.)
No news as to if Strug will try to qualify, and I have not heard of
any Gymn person who will be there.
Rachele
------------------------------
End of gymn Digest
******************************