GYMN-L Digest - 26 Aug 1995 to 27 Aug 1995

There are 14 messages totalling 563 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. new moves, old moves (2)
2. WUG RSG Results (1st day)
3. WUG Women's AA
4. WUG RSG AA
5. Fan Mail Responses
6. Thank You!
7. fan mail responses
8. Dominique Dawes
9. Women's Event finals press conference (2)
10. new, old moves
11. hmm (WUG W's AA)
12. double-twisting front, punch front

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Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 20:07:17 -0700
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: Re: new moves, old moves

<How about these moves on AB :

<* full twisting layout Pak
<* one arm giant performed by a female gymnast.

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't a Chinese gymnast do a one armed
giant in the Visa Challenge? Meng Fei possibly?
Also, what is a Pak?
Thanks!!!

Margi :)
and
Mardi ;)

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Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 23:23:26 -0400
From: ***@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU
Subject: new moves, old moves

Does anyone know whether a gymnast has ever competed a Tkachev on the LOW
bar? I know Yulia Kut did one in warmups at the '87 US-USSR meet, but she
didn't use it in the competition. But I've got her warmup on tape, and it's
really cool!

Beth

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 00:47:14 -0500
From: ***@NETCOM.COM
Subject: WUG RSG Results (1st day)

Results from the 1st day of the RSG competition:

1. Maria Petrova (BUL) 19.900
2. Diana Popova (BUL) 19.675
3. I. Gizikova (RUS) 19.600
4. Mikhailskaya (RUS) 19.275
5. Miho Yamada (JPN) 19.025
6. V. Frater (HUN) 18.900
6. Akane Yamao (JPN) 18.900
8. Lenka Oulehlova (CZE) 18.825

And, for those of you with access to Compuserve, there's a GIF of Petrova
available in the Reuters Pictures forum.

Debbie

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 10:45:54 -0400
From: ***@PANIX.COM
Subject: WUG Women's AA

From Reuters, the women's AA results from Fukuoka:

1. Oksana Sivovol (RUS) 38.625 (9.525, 9.75, 9.725, 9.625)
2. Olessia Shulga (UKR) 38.300 (9.35, 9.65, 9.60, 9.70)
3. Oksana Postavets (RUS) 38.200 (9.45, 9.675, 9.60, 9.475)
4. Heidi Hornbeek (USA) 38.150
5. Yuan Kexia (CHN) 37.925
6. Olga Yurkina (BLR) 37.875
6. Karin Lichey (USA) 37.875
8. Kyoko Seo (JPN) 37.800

Debbie

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 10:48:56 -0400
From: ***@PANIX.COM
Subject: WUG RSG AA

From Reuters, RSG AA results from Fukuoka:

1. Maria Petrova (BUL) 39.825 (RO 9.925, B 9.975, C 9.95, RI 9.975)
2. Inessa Gizikova (RUS) 39.275 (9.80, 9.80, 9.85, 9.825)
3. Diana Popova (BUL) 39.250 (9.775, 9.90, 9.80, 9.775)
4. Olga Mikhalskaya (RUS) 38.875
5. Akane Yamao (JPN) 38.125
6. Viktoria Frater (HUN) 37.900
7. Miho Yamada (JPN) 37.875
8. Hanna Laiho (FIN) 37.800

Debbie

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 14:10:00 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Fan Mail Responses

Dear Gymners-----

I have recieved a LOT of fan mail---72 responses so far (I'm still waiting on
maybe 25 or so) and I thought that I'd type a few up every now and then
because people seem to like to hear from the gymnasts here on gymn. I'm
typing 3 today---Vanessa Atler,, Tanya Maiers, and Alexis Brion. If you need
addresses, just e-mail me, I have a ton!!!

jessica

______________________________________________________
(from Vanessa Atler, written in print on flowery paper. Vanessa dots her i's
with a heart) July 23rd

Dear Jessica,

Hi!!! I'm Vanessa Atler and I'm just returning your letter. Thank you for
finding time to write to me. Did you know your're the first fan letter I have
ever gotten?

Now, It's time to answer your questions. I am 13 years old. I've been in
elite for 2 1/2 years, I think. My favorite event is beam. My next meet is
the Olympic Festival.

You must be very good to move up all those levels so very quickly. Good luck
in gymnastics and keep working hard. Be the best you can be!!!!! I gotta
go...busy, busy, busy!

Love,
Vanessa Atler
(heart)

PS I really appreciate you writing to me! THANK YOU!!!!

(she enclosed a picture of her from school, signed on the back:
Sorry, I don't have any small pictures of me doing gymnastics, but I will get
some soon, and I definately will send one to you. Love Vanessa. After the
olympic festival I recieved another letter with a gymnastics picture in it of
her on beam doing a Kim Z planche)

_________________________________________________________
(from Alexis Brion, written on notebook paper, neatly in small print)
7/20/95

Dear Jessica,

Hello! Thanx for your letter. It was nice. It is nice to know that you think
I am a good gymnast. It made me feel special.

Well, I am 12 years old and my favorite event is floor. I like floor because
it's the easiest for me.

So, How old are you? What grade are you going into? I'm going in the 7th
grade.

Well, I don't have anything else to say, so see ya later!

Your friend,
Alexis Brion

Ps-could I have a picture of you?

(Alexis send a picture of her & Katie McFarland, signed on the back)
________________________________________________________
(from Tanya Maiers, send over night delivery, written on flowery paper in
neat print) January 17th, 1994, so it's kinda old.

Dear Jessica,

Thanks so much for your nice letter. That was really nice you thought of me.
I'd be more than happy to answer your questions.

I like all 4 events. My favorite is whichever is going best for me at the
time. For some reason, I normally score best on beam. I just got a brand new
floor routine that Geza Pozar gave me, "Rockin Robin" My teammates in
international elite are Kerri Strug, Shannon Miller (senior) and Jennie
Thompson and Soni Meduna are the 2 other juniors.I like all of my teammates a
lot. They are really sweet. I couldn't just pick one as my best friend. I do
have 2 best friends at school who don't do gym. Andrea and Christie and I
have fun together on the weekends. We love to go to the moves or play
miniature golf. My hometown is Atlanta, GA. I would love to go to the
Olympics, especially since they are being held in Atlanta. My favorite foods
are Italian & Chinese, I LOVE them!! I recieve about 10-15 letters per week.
Many are from countries like Sweeden, Japan, Australia, and Canada. I love
recieving mail and answer all my letters. I do tell everyone to send their
letters to the gym, though, not my home.
I hope I answered all of your questions. If not, you may of course write me
back. Enclosed are 2 extra phots I have-you may keep them.

Thank you for thinking of me.
Your friend,
Tanya Maiers

PS Please write back!!!!

(Tanya sent me a 8x10 of her national team picture, and 1 5x7 of her doing
her special scale holding her leg on beam. I wrote her back shortly after,
and she responded on the way to the olympic festival (she had just switched
to Aerials) I'll type that letter sometime soon.)
_________________________________________________________
That's all 4 now. Untill next time....

jessica

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 15:04:48 -0400
From: ***@STUDENT.UMASS.EDU
Subject: Thank You!

A month or so ago I posted asking about gym schools in the Lock Haven
Area (PA). I have been moving around quite a bit, so I don't have the
addressess of everyone who wrote back to me. At any rate, I wanted to
thank everyone who wrote me with information!!!!! You have all been
extremely helpful, and I passed on all of the gym names to my friend.
I'll post again when I find out where she ends up.

Thanks Again!
erica

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 12:23:24 -0700
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: fan mail responses

January '94 we wrote to Michelle Campi and recieved a response shortly
after. I guess I'll write if for you. (We asked a lot of questions)

The note was written on small sheets of paper shaped like a cat.

Dear Mardi,

Hi! Thanks for your letter. To answer your questions, my favorite:
color=blue
food=Italian
tv show- comedy shows, Northern Exposure, The Simpsons ( I never see it
though!)
I satrted gym was I was 8 yrs. old & was a Jr. B Elite Nat'l Team
Member when I was 12. I have no brothers or sisters. I have a dog & 2
cats, I love animals! :) I started gym b/c my friend was in it & I went
w/ her to class one day and that was it- I loved it! I don't really
have a favorite event- I like everything.
Well- I hope that is it :)
Take care!
Love,
Michelle Campi '94


With it she enclosed a photograph of her w/ Elena Piskun and Oksana
Fabrichnova and autographed the back of it. She is reallllly nice!
Well, that and Vanessa Atler;s note are the only ones that I have
recieved although I have written to many. I will be writing to more
today. Bye! I hope you enjoyed it!

Margi :)
and
Mardi ;)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 16:35:11 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Dominique Dawes

On August 25 corriet wrote:
> I heard that Dom was taking classes at U of Maryland
> doesn't she have a scholarship to Stanford

Dominique Dawes is taking classes at the University of Maryland because she
found it hard to focus on just gymnastics.After the '96 games she will go on
to Stanford.

Hope that helped
Patrice

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 17:17:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Women's Event finals press conference

Well, I'm just beginning to dig up my press conference tapes. Not sure what
order they're in on my tape or if I even have all the tapes still ... but as
I find them, I'll send them in, of course. If some of the answers don't
seem to match the questions, it's because almost all the questions are
almost inaudible on my tape, so I kind of made up a question that seemed to
go with the answer. ;)

Rachele
--------------------------------------------------------------------

1995 U.S. Championships
Superdome, New Orleans, LA

Press Conference

Women's Event Finals

Q: "Did you lose your concentration tonight, or were you so excited from
winning last night... what happened?"

Moceanu: "I'm not exactly sure. You know, I slipped off and I was just, I
guess, not as focused as I was supposed to be. But this is going to be a
good experience for me to learn and go on to Trials... try to do better next
time."

Q: "Bela, what do you say to Dominique after a night like tonight?"

Karolyi: "I would say that she is 13 and a half, still. On the very first
senior competition of her life, which is among the best in the country, it's
hard for anybody, after a very high night to come back and do it again,
another great night. I know the reality. But I'm still saying 'this is not
the way we are competing...?' so next time of course, it has to be taken
differently. She still was coming out with good spirits, her nose was up,
but that takes physically out of you a pretty large chunk of your energy...
she made mistakes that I did not expect, the slip off the bar, the step next
to the beam, struggling to stay on that event... but she will be better for
it, it's all a learning experience."

Q: "Dominique Dawes, how would you describe tonight?"

Dawes: "Vault went ok; I should have been competing a better vault for my
first vault. Bars went pretty well for me. Beam, my beam really hasn't been
what it should be. I had a 9.8 start value yesterday because I haven't been
really training my acro-gym that well, or my dismount. Floor went ok... it
was one of the first times I'd performed the new floor routine of mine, so I
was really proud after it."

Q: "How many flips are in your first pass?"

Dawes: "It's 11 tricks."

Q: "Did you accomplish what you set out to do?"

Dawes: "If I had accomplished what I set out to do I would have done a lot
better in compulsories, tried harder to defend my title from last year. So
no, just because I did better tonight, it helped a little bit, but I wish I
could have started over."

Q: "What's your floor music?"

Dawes: "It's called 'Fantasy Quick'."

Q: "Why was your beam start value only 9.8?"

Dawes: "It was because I didn't connect my acro-gym, and I didn't do my
full-in dismount. So that's two tenths off right there."

Q: "Was that because you were injured?"

Dawes: "No, it wasn't because of injury at all, it's because I was a little
off, and didn't go for it right away."

Q: "How bad is your wrist?"

Dawes: "Well, I have a stress fracture in my [left] wrist. I just wear a
brace when I'm not in gymnastics. When I do gymnastics I try to not do
things that hurt, which is mostly bars."

Q: "Dominique, after you flew off the bars, you didn't seem really upset,
were you stunned or were you just like 'oh well, next event'..."

Moceanu: "I was stunned. I just peeled off. I tried to get my thoughts
together afterwards..."

Q: "Shannon, you've made it to vaulting finals in the past but is this the
first time you've ever won vaulting in a major meet [she nods] and how does
it feel?"

Miller: "Well I think it was different this time because this is the first
time I've been in vaulting finals where I've had two different vaults. For
finals you have to do vaults from two different families. So it was really
exciting. This is the first time I've won vault in any major competition in
event finals."

Q: "Was that hard on you to be in only two event finals?"

Miller: "A little bit. I guess the hardest part is not making finals in
your best two events, because I really enjoy competing and that's another
half hour of competition. But I think I did a nice job on floor, a good
floor routine."

Q: "What happened on your first pass?" [whip through to piked full-in]

Miller: [she smiles] "I just went a little too hard and stepped out of
bounds. But hopefully... this is the last time I'll compete that, hopefully
next time I'll have a new skill."

Q: "Shannon and Dominique, is this the revenge of the older girls tonight?"

[They both look amused at the question.]

Miller: "I don't know that it's so much revenge, as opposed to just going
out and doing the best that we can."

Dawes: "Yeah, it's not revenge, it's going out and hitting my sets and
thinking positive."

Q: "Shannon, when you leave this competition, what do you walk away with?"

Miller: "Well, I'll walk away with a lot more experiences, and a lot more
things to work on. I haven't competed since the Pan Am Games, and I haven't
done a full compulsory/optional and event finals since then. It's nice to
get this competition in, and it helps me to prepare for Worlds, and World
Trials. I know what to work on when I go back to the gym now."

Q: "Are you disappointed that you didn't win? How does that affect you?"

Miller: "I don't think winning was the more important thing over the
weekend. I think the most important thing was going out there and trying to
hit my routines as best as I can. And also I had to try some new skills. It
was nice to be able to compete those for the first time, get those a little
bit more solid before Trials. And I've got a new floor routine, so I've got
some bugs to work out in that."

Q: "Dominique and Bela, was it hard going up first on every event?"

Karolyi: "Well, you're looking at the draw, and three times in a row you are
to be first... that's a hard thing... but that's the reality, and there's
nothing wrong with it. She has to learn to deal with that. It's not a
manipulating thing, it's not people conspiring, it's just a random draw.
She draws three times first place, so what? It can happen at the Olympic
Games too, so she can learn to cope with it now. She can learn the hard
part, the very frustrating part of the sport. I'm not disappointed because
like I mentioned yesterday, she has a long way to go, to get a lot of
experience. And it's a little bit of incentive to go back into the gym and
work harder. [he laughs] and you know, if the head starts to swell, you
just remind her... [he laughs again]... is that right Dominique?"

Moceanu: "Yes [she smiles too, everyone laughs]."

Q: "Bela, were you scared when she came off the bar?"

Karolyi: "I was surprised! I thought it was a brand new dismount... I
thought it would be appreciated. [he laughs] Thank God there was no injury
and, you know, that is the most important part. Something like that can end
up with much worse surprise than landing on your knee and looking around,
and saying 'thank God, I'm still in one piece.'"

Q: "Dominique, were you able to sleep last night after the excitement?"

Moceanu: "Well, last night was really exciting for me. I slept just fine.
But I wanted to go out today and do better than I did but that's what
happened and I have to look forward and get experience from this."

Q: "Kelli, what was tonight like?"

Kelli Hill: "Well, tonight was a interesting night with Dominique. She
wanted to go out and do all four events. That was a little bit of
disagreement between the two of us. I know she's a little sore with the
ankles and the wrist so that was a major discussion before march-out.
Obviously [she smiles] she won the argument and did all four events. And the
one I was the most worried about was floor and it was her best performance
of the year. A lot of times in an argument you let the gymnast go ahead and
make the decision. She followed through with her decision and she did it for
herself, knowing that I was allowing her to scratch. I thought it showed a
lot of maturity on her part."

Q: "Was that the only one you wanted her to scratch? Floor?"

Hill: "Yes."

Q: "Doni and Monica, winning beam tonight, considered by most people to be
the most difficult event, does that give you confidence [on beam] for your
next events?"

Thompson: "Knowing that I hit all three beam routines at this meet gives me
a lot of confidence for my next competition."

Flammer: "In my last international competition I had a little bit of problem
with my front. Yesterday we took it out because we knew I really needed to
hit. Today I did it and I did a really great job, I thought. I was real
proud of myself for that and it gives me confidence going into my next
routine, knowing that I can do it."

-------------end

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Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 10:21:09 +1000
From: ***@STUDENT.GU.EDU.AU
Subject: Re: new, old moves

> Irina Golub (odd she gets a mention on gymn *twice* in one day) does this or
> at least did. She was a part of that incredible bars team Russia fielded at
> the 92 Jr Euros, but unlike most of her teammates (Khorkina, Fabrichnova,
> Kochetkova) has not gone on to win any major titles (Sorokina was the other
> one).

Irina Golub is one of my all time favourite gymnasts, and I had the
opportunity to see her compete twice, in 1991 in Brisbane and 1993 in
Sydney. In 91 she was a total charmer with classic artistry and form,
but a fall from BB after consecutive layouts, left her in 7th place (add
the .5 and she would've challenged Milosovici for gold). She easily had
the best UB in finals, but going up 2nd, with pathetically biased home
town scoring (Monique Allen beating Yang Bo and Lavinia Milosovici on
UB & BB - oh please!) erased her chance of a medal. I had the chance to
meet her afterwards and take a photo and she was a total charmer........

By 1993, the USSR breakdown had taken a toll on her career......she was
out of shape and carrying an ankle injury. She fell off BB again in the
AA, but went on to win the UB silver in event finals behind Grosheva.
Her Tkatchev remains one of the highest I've ever seen, and she swung it
into an immediate giant.

As for the question on Galieva, up until Barcelona she did a Tkatchev
into immediate giant.

Michelle

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 20:33:47 -0400
From: ***@UMICH.EDU
Subject: Re: Women's Event finals press conference

Hi. First, thanks for Rachele for this...It was great to hear their
responses. I have never read from a press conference for gymnastics
before so it was cool to see their commentary.

Also, I was impressed with Shannon and Dominique D. Not only have they
matured in age as well as physically, but their comfortability with the
reporter's questions has improved. They give detailed responses and
concise answers, as opposed to saying " i missed my routine/pass" or "i
just wanted to hit everything".

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 17:31:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: hmm (WUG W's AA)

Interestingly, the AP reports different results from the WUG's women's AA
than does Reuters:

1. Shulga, 38.187
2. Lichey, 38.100
3. Gyan Yuqing, 38.087
4. Kalinina, 38.075

What gives?

Rachele

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 22:29:40 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: double-twisting front, punch front

Oh yeah, Svetlana Tarasevich (Belarus) does this as well--running (no front
handspring)!

Amanda

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End of GYMN-L Digest - 26 Aug 1995 to 27 Aug 1995
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