GYMN-L Digest - 1 Mar 1996 to 2 Mar 1996

There are 21 messages totalling 727 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. EQUIPMENT
2. Triplecast and Scam Cup
3. Ameerican Cup: Men's Prelims
4. American Cup: Men's Prelim Results
5. John Roethlisberger 1994
6. Coolest acro/gym/acro (3)
7. IRC for American Cup (3)
8. American Cup Judging
9. Olympic TV Viewing
10. TripleCast
11. GYMN-L Digest - 24 Feb 1996 to 25 Feb 1996
12. Kim Zmeskal
13. American Cup:Women's Prelims
14. American Cup: Women's Prelim Results
15. American Cup: Women's Press Conference
16. IRC for Europeans
17. San Francisco RSG Invitational

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 12:10:22 GMT
From: ***@FS1.HO.MAN.AC.UK
Subject: EQUIPMENT

Sorry to use this forum for this message but it is really only to the
several UK members but I do not know of any other way to contact them
all.

HELP....... I am based in Manchester in the UK. Does anyone out there
know of where I can hire a full sprung floor area for Saturday 27th
April 1996. I am desperate to get hold of one. CONTINENTAL SPORTS in
HUDDERSFIELD are booked up that day with the National British Teams
in Bognor Regis. There must be someone out there somewhere !!
Sorry to all non UK members
Barry

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 08:59:32 EST
From: ***@COMPUSERVE.COM
Subject: Triplecast and Scam Cup

NBC will not be doing the Triplecast thing again, unfortunately.
I bought the one channels simply for the gymnastics and really
enjoyed it. I can't stand the way the networks usually broadcast
meets, so it was refreshing. There were a lot of problems because
the"feed" was from some European network. For example, the
commentators did not know who they were going to show half
the time. That was nice in a way, though, too, because you
weren't forced to listed to bad commentating.

The thing I loved about the Triplecast was that I actually got
to see the routines of gymnasts I had never heard of before. They
showed optionals from all sessions and I got to see the routines from
gymnasts from Norway, Belgium, Great Britain, etc... Gymnasts we
would NEVER see on US network television.

What bothers me the most about network coverage of gymnastics
meets is the way they show 2 routines and then a 10 minute
bio segment of a top US gymnast. Then a commercial, then some
commentary about the meet, then 2 more routines followed by another
10 minute "Up Close and Personal" segment. I always want to
scream at the TV - "Just show us the gymnastics and shut the
hell up" If a gymnastics meet is on for 2 hours, like the Scam
Cup this weekend, we will probably only get to see about 40
minutes of actual gymnastics. The rest will be commentary and
profiles of gymnasts. If they interview Bela Karolyi about anything,
I'll get sick. Just show us the darned routines...

I'm acutally looking forward to the Scam Cup though. It's going to
be interesting to see if the foreign athletes get fair scores for
once.
It seems that being an American in the Scam Cup adds a few tenths
to the scores. The Americans seemed to be judges on a 10.3 or
10.4 scale. This is probably why other countries tend to send
"up and comers" as opposed to gymnasts with an established
reputation. With the WC and Olympics coming up, it wouldn't look
good to have Podkpayeva or Khorkina lose to 11 year old Suzy Q
from the US in her first international meet. Well, let's see what
happens....

Jillia

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 10:13:48 -0500
From: ***@CLOUD9.NET
Subject: Ameerican Cup: Men's Prelims

The Tarrant County Convention Center, site of the 1979 Worlds, once again
plays host to an international field of gymnasts. This year's American
Cup uses a slightly different format than in previous years: men and women
have qualifying competitions on separate evenings and compete together
only during the finals. This meant that the men's qualifying moved along
at a decent pace and was completed in 2.5 hours.

The US fielded a strong team which took the top 4 AA places at the end of
the night. Jair Lynch beat out John Roethlisberger by 0.1, with John
Macready only 0.099 behind that. The 4th US gymnast, Blaine Wilson, was
less than 0.2 behind Macready. Valery Belenky, one of 5 former "Soviets"
in the competition, was the highest placed foreign gymnast in 5th.

With 3 rotations going on at once, it was impossible to catch every
routine, naturally. :-) Here are some highlights from each event:

Floor
-----
Roethlisberger put his hands down on his closing full-in for
9.175. Kan (BLR) opened with a huge piked double Arabian (9.05).
Giogadze (GEO) began with a double layout and ended with a tucked full-in
(9.275). Ianculescu (ROM) showed 2 passes of 2.5 twi st immediate punch
front (9.50). Kizmin (RUS) ended with a double tuck, hence a score of
"only" 9.15. Chen (CHN) must have had some sort of injury, as his last
tumble was only a layout back (8.825).

Pommels
-------
Darrigade (FRA) works PH like Mogilny, with super toe point, leg form and
incredible speed. Unfortunately, he came off on his flairs sequence
(8.9). Belenky (GER) also had the bad luck of doing a beautiful routine,
only to completely miss his handstand b efore the dismount (9.425).
Lynch's routine was very solid (9.612) but Wilson had hesitations before
his handstands (9.4).

Rings
-----
Lynch did a cool dismount of double pike front 1/2 (9.387).
Roethlisberger's dismount was a double twisting double tuck with a step
(9.625). Goncharov (UKR) did piked Guczoghy immediate tucked Guczoghy
(9.125). Other than that, there was nothing too exciting on this event.

Vault
-----
Lynch did a great full-twisting layout Cuervo (9.60). Belenky
stuck a 1.5 twisting layout Tsuk (9.475). Burley did an Omelianchik (RO,
1/2 on, piked front off) for 9.55. Egyptian gymnast Abdelraouf did a very
high piked front and stuck it (9.20).

Parallel Bars
-------------
Coolest move of the entire meet came from Acosta (ESP) who performed a
"back toss" without releasing the bars -- ouch! For this he got 8.975).
Lynch dismounted with a tucked double (9.275) and Roethlisberger
disounted his front with 1/2 twist to back tuck (9.487). Belenky
and Giogadze showed a lot of single bar work and the best toe point in
the meet (along with Darrigade).

High Bar
--------
Goncharov was well on his way to qualifying for the AA, but took a very
nasty fall which caused him to withdraw from the meet. He performed a
Kovacs to immediate hop full (excellent), but while attempting
a Gaylord II he took it too close to the bar, hit his chin and fell to the
mat. He jumped up immediately but was bleeding quite badly. But remember
his name, as his other 4 events were strong and his form was great
throughout. Giogadze could be another gymnast to watch, as he did 2
Tkachevs to immediate Gienger and dismounted with a double twisting
double layout (9.45). Darrigade's impeccable form was beautiful to watch
(layout Tkachev; front layout; double tuck dismount) for 9.325.

Debbie

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 10:15:48 -0500
From: ***@CLOUD9.NET
Subject: American Cup: Men's Prelim Results

McDonald's American Cup
Men's Preliminary Results
February 29, 1996

1. Jair Lynch (USA) 9.587 9.612 9.387 9.600 9.275 9.625 57.086
2. John Roethlisberger (USA) 9.175 9.612 9.625 9.350 9.487 9.737 56.986
3. John Macready (USA) 9.475 9.425 9.587 9.500 9.450 9.450 56.887
4. Blaine Wilson (USA) 9.537 9.400 9.737 9.562 9.537 8.925 56.698
5. Valery Belenky (GER) 9.025 9.425 9.637 9.475 9.512 9.425 56.499
6. Ilya Giogadze (GEO) 9.275 9.275 9.075 9.425 9.462 9.450 55.962
7. Sigeru Kurihara (JPN) 9.325 9.325 9.600 9.300 9.100 9.275 55.925
8. Andrei Kan (BLR) 9.050 9.125 8.950 9.375 9.175 9.412 55.087
9. Adrian Ianculescu (ROM) 9.500 9.487 9.125 9.325 8.675 8.825 54.937
10.Oleg Kizmin (RUS) 9.150 9.400 9.500 9.200 9.500 8.150 54.900
11.Diego Lizardi (PUR) 9.225 8.500 9.325 9.350 9.050 9.425 54.875
12.Kris Burley (CAN) 9.100 8.625 9.075 9.550 9.250 9.075 54.675
13.Ortzi Acosta (ESP) 9.150 8.875 9.075 8.850 8.975 9.000 53.925
13.Sebastien Darrigade (FRA) 8.675 8.900 9.125 8.800 9.100 9.325 53.925
15.Francisco Lopez (MEX) 9.325 8.850 8.725 9.175 8.775 9.000 53.850
16.Chen Zhenyu (CHN) 8.825 8.100 8.950 9.200 8.350 8.575 53.587
17.Raouf Abdelraouf (EGY) 8.675 8.100 8.950 9.200 8.350 8.575 51.850
18.Abdelouahab Mammari (ALG) 8.475 7.175 8.375 9.300 8.050 8.750 50.125
19.Valery Goncharov (UKR) 9.350 9.400 9.125 ----- 9.375 6.675 43.925

Event Winners
-------------
FX: Jair Lynch
PH: Jair Lynch and John Roethlisberger
R: Blaine Wilson
V: Jair Lynch
PB: Blaine Wilson
HB: John Roethlisberger

Each event winner received $1,000.00

Debbie

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 14:03:28 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: John Roethlisberger 1994

Reading over the 1995 USAG Men's Program meeting minutes, I noticed "There
was a great deal of discussion about... equipment failure during John's
optional floor routine..." during the 1994 USA Championships but I don't
recall any equipment failure on floor that caused an over-time deduction. His
grievance was accepted, but does anyone remember if this was due to failed
stopwatches or what? Just one Minnesotan looking out for another... Thanks
for responses.

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 15:30:30 CDT
From: ***@PROCTR.CBA.UA.EDU
Subject: Coolest acro/gym/acro

I had never seen this combination before, until I went to the Bama/LSU
gym meet @ LSU last weekend. Anyhow, Jennifer Wood of LSU does a
Roundoff, switchleap, punch front-full (tucked) to her seat. Very
cool. Thought I'd share.

Shawn
***************ROLL TIDE ROLL***************

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 17:03:30 -0500
From: ***@MUSS.CIS.MCMASTER.CA
Subject: Re: Coolest acro/gym/acro

How does she switchleap out of a roundoff? Or is it a jump? Just trying
to get a picture....
Sam

> I had never seen this combination before, until I went to the Bama/LSU
> gym meet @ LSU last weekend. Anyhow, Jennifer Wood of LSU does a
> Roundoff, switchleap, punch front-full (tucked) to her seat. Very
> cool. Thought I'd share.
>
> Shawn
> ***************ROLL TIDE ROLL***************
>

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 17:05:17 -0500
From: ***@GNATNET.NET
Subject: IRC for American Cup

Christopher Scott and I want to get together a special irc Gymn chat to
discuss the American Cup.
We would like to meet tonight at 10pm EST on #gymn Dalnet, and Saturday
at 6pm EST on #gymn Dalnet.
Hope to see you there!
Kerry

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 16:17:24 CDT
From: ***@PROCTR.CBA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: Coolest acro/gym/acro

On Fri, 1 Mar '96, Sam asked:

>How does she switchleap out of a roundoff? Or is it a jump? Just trying
>to get a picture....

I forgot to mention, for people who haven't figured it out, that this
occurred on the floor excercise. Anyway, she punches out of the roundoff also.
So, its RO, punch switchleap, punch front-full to her seat.

Shawn
***************ROLL TIDE ROLL***************

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 17:25:38 -0500
From: ***@GNATNET.NET
Subject: Re: IRC for American Cup

Ooops!
I'd like to make a correction to that.
How about if we meet on Saturday at 10pm EST instead of 6pm EST. I just
realized that 10pm would probably be a much more convenient time for
most people. 6pm is probably in the middle of your dinner hour. :)
So, our special American Cup IRC Chats will be at:
Friday 3/1 10pm #gymn Dalnet
Saturday 3/2 10pm #gymn Dalnet
Happy gymming!
Kerry
>
> Christopher Scott and I want to get together a special irc Gymn chat to
> discuss the American Cup.
> We would like to meet tonight at 10pm EST on #gymn Dalnet, and Saturday
> at 6pm EST on #gymn Dalnet.
> Hope to see you there!
> Kerry

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 16:55:48 -0600
From: ***@VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU
Subject: Re: IRC for American Cup

Does anyone have the women's prelims yet?

Or at least the USGF WWW site so I can check it out?

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 18:53:21 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: American Cup Judging

Now it's true that there may be some bias towards the American gymnasts,
however, last year I was one of the auxiliary judges for the women's meet and
I did not see anything overt. There were six judge panels. 1 STC and 1
Expert, and four panel judges. Since we never did more than one event at a
time there was no need for more than two complete panels. The Experts were
FIG Committee members, Simonescu (ROM) and Hoffmann (LUX). They along with
the STC determined the start value of the routines. The STC's were both
American, Mulvihill and Grossfeld. One panel had only one US judge on it,
the other three were from AUS, MEX, and UKR. The other panel had 2 US, 1 SWE
and 1 CAN. So there really can't be much, if any, bias towards the US. I
can tell you that at least the women's competition was very fair and the
right athletes scored appropriately. The level of that competition was very
favoured towards the USA, with other countries sending nearly unknown
athletes who had a great deal of execution problems. This is not always
evident through television coverage or commentating.

just my thoughts....Dean

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 16:15:54 -0800
From: ***@TELEPORT.COM
Subject: Re: Olympic TV Viewing

> I remember during the '92 Barcelona Games there was a huge pay-per-view
> 'special' where you could order the 'Red Channel' the 'Blue Channel,' or the
> 'Yellow Channel,' or all three.

Those were the channels in Romania :-) Over here they were "red, white,
and blue." I ordered the Triplecast and really enjoyed seeing gymnastics
and track in their entireties with no commercials. Too bad it won't be
offered this time.

-Ben

Ben

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 16:13:31 -0800
From: ***@VPL.VANCOUVER.BC.CA
Subject: TripleCast

I was wondering if there was anybody on Gymn who had the women's
gymnastics coverage off the 1992 Triplecast and could make a copy for
me. It was not available in Canada and I was always sorry I missed it.
I will pay all costs.

Thanks,
Lorraine

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Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 20:31:33 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: GYMN-L Digest - 24 Feb 1996 to 25 Feb 1996

Please do not send me any more mail. Thank you so much!

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 20:18:20 -0800
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: Kim Zmeskal

You wrote:
>
>
>I severly doubt that Kim will be at the US Classic, Nationals, or
*THE* Trials.
>I think she's just doing exhibitions. I doubt that ANYONE who was
serious
>about the Olympic would only attend two to three meets prior to the
games.
>Think about it people? I thought she'ld make it, but now I realize
it's
>a pipedream.
>
>


I thought about it and I still think that she's
gonna make it. I know that she has taken some time off lately but I
also know that she's training full time now so your statement about
only doing exibitions is wrong.
I wish that she would hurry up and come back
just like everyone else but you have to relize how long it takes to get
back into your competitive form. I think that she is just being careful
so that she's REALLY ready when she does reappear. I'm sure that she
wouldn't want to go into a competition before she was ready and make
mistakes and have people totally count her out.I know that she does
want to go in a competition but Bela thinks that it's too soon.
I say: Have some faith in her. She is a
great gymnast. Hasn't she always been known for her determination and
will to never give up. She's Kim Zmeskal for cryin' out loud. Bela is
the coach of champions and I'm sure that he knows what he's doing. Have
some Faith!!!!



Laura

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

Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 01:20:05 -0500
From: ***@CLOUD9.NET
Subject: American Cup:Women's Prelims

Perhaps some expected this year's women's competition at the American Cup
to be weakened by the last-minute withdrawls of Shannon Miller and
Dominique Moceanu, but this was not the case. Tonight's competition
featured one of the strongest and most talented fields in years, with a
very high level of skills from all the gymnasts. It was an exciting meet
and a close meet, with the AA finalists not being decided until the last
performances.

Round One
---------
Rocchi (ITA) began on FX and to "Goldfinger" did a double twisting front
layout; 2 front layouts; and a 2.5 twist (sat down). Magana (MEX) did an
Omelianchik vault (RO, 1/2 on, piked front off) but sat down on her
second attempt. Lan Sang (CHN) showed a stock UB routine, with a high
Tkachev and double layout dismount. Her bar transitions were the
stand-on-the-low-bar kind. Zelepukhina (UKR) started off poorly on B,
falling off while attempting an aerial cartwheel to immediate LO, LO.
She remounted an d performed the pass again, perfectly this time. She
also did a RO, tucked full (shades of Dudnik). The Russian girl,
Korostileva, looked very frail but turned out to be a strong tumbler
(very high arabian double front; 2.5 twist punch front layout; triple
twist). Her dance was lovely; it's obvious that she's had years of
ballet lessons. Tousek's (CAN) B featured a neat front handspring punch
front; Pickens (USA) dismounted with a FF stepout, FF to 2 feet, double
tuck on the same event. Powell (USA) started on FX and opened with a
double layout (step forward) and also did a piked full-in and closed
with a front full to punch front. Her music was classical and dramatic,
as was her dance. Strug (USA) vaulted a Hristakieva and had a small hop
on both landings. I missed most of Boginskaya's (BLR) UB, but her
Tkachev was very high and she stuck her double layout dismount. Krausz
(HUN) was one of only 2 gymnasts to vault a double-twisting layout
Yurchenko. Both landings were a bit low. Dobrescu (ROM) vaulted an
excellent full-twisting front tuck.

Round Two
---------
Korostileva performed the Phelps V: a step on the first attempt and
sitting down on the second. Zelepukhina's troubles continued on FX,
sitting down after her 2nd tumbling pass of 2.5 twist punch front. She
opened with a piked full-in and closed with a double tuck. Still, her
dance was nice. Juarez (ESP) showed a super Jaeger and double layout
dismount on UB. Over on V, Powell did a 1.5 twisting Yurchenko on her
first attempt but performed only a layout on her 2nd attempt. She
explained at the press conference that she felt she was too high on the
horse and decided not to twist it... Chusovitina (UZB) was steady on
B. She did a cool punch front to back tuck (and made it look so easy);
her RO double tuck dismount was stuck solid. Boginskaya's B was
confident: FF to 2 layout stepouts; a double turn; and double tuck
dismount (small step). Lan worked B in the style of Mo, with very
precise movements and excellent form. Her tumbling pass was a FF, LO,
FF; she did a Yang Bo jump; an oak tree; and took a step on her double
tuck dismount. Best routine of this rotation (IMHO) was Tousek's FX,
not only showing good tumbling (arabian double front; triple twist;
front full punch front) but *great* choreography. Also on floor, Hughes
(AUS) showed a full-in; triple twist; RO whip whip FF double twist; and
closed with another double twist. Carvalho (BRA) had pretty dance on FX
but her closing 2.5 twist was short and she had to put her hand down.
Her other passes (full-in; front hand, front hand, front full, piked
front) were good.

Round Three
-----------
Destefano (ARG) used ragtime music on FX, with cute choreography. Her
passes were 2.5 twist; front hand, front full, piked front; and front
hand, front full, tucked front (sit). Powell dragged a foot on the mat
during her UB, but the rest of the routine went well -- soaring Gienger;
Tkachev; full-out dismount (big hop). Tousek maintained her challenge
with a Hristakieva. Her 1st attempt had a step forward, but the 2nd try
showed much better form in the air and a slightly better landing.
Boginskaya was leading the pack at this point and it looked like she
would have no trouble keeping it until she overcooked her last pass of
2.5 twist (3 or 4 huge steps out of bounds, she came close to the edge
of the podium). She used the same routine and music as in Sabae, but
everything seemed sharper here. Hughes did a full-twisting layout
Yurchenko, and Pickens (USA) showed 2 gorgeous double-twisting
Yurchenkos, finishing the twists with enough time to drop out of the
sky. I can't figure out why she didn't win the V title... Krausz
showed herself to be a strong B worker, with a punch front on, 2 FF to a
high 2-foot layout; and a RO, FF, double pike off. Korostileva's UB was
full of difficulty, with consecutive hop fulls, Gienger (legs separated
on regrasp), piked Jaeger, and double front dismount (step). Carvalho
vaulted a piked front, while Zelepukhina used the Hristakieva.
Chusovitina's FX, done to "Phantom of the Opera" was fantastic. She
opened with a double layout and came back with a tucked full-in; front
hand, front full, punch 1/2 layout; front hand, front full, punch
front. Only a 9.75. Lan's routine on this event also opened with a
double layout. She also did 3 whips, FF, double twist; and ended with a
2.5 twist. Her dance was quite good, IMO. Ohata (JPN) looked very
comfortable on the FX mat, smiling throughout her routine. She was
unlucky to sit down after a punch front, but her closing pass was neat:
rudi to Shushunova.

Round Four
----------
Boginskaya redeemed herself on her last event, sticking both her
Hristakieva vaults. Chusovitina chose to vault a Phelps (big step on
the 1st, a tiny hop on the 2nd). Dobrescu's FX was nice, both tumble-
and dance-wise. She's a strong-looking girl and opened with a double
layout. Krausz outdid her in both departments, IMO, using music from
the "Lambada" album and a triple twist to open and to close. She
sandwiched in a full-in in the middle. I missed Pickens' UB, catching
only her full-twisting Comaneci dismount. Powerful! Powell mounted B
with a punch front; had a wobble on her full turn; did a FF, LO, Chen (!);
punch front (big wobble); Rulfova; double tuck dismount (step). Whew,
packed full of difficulty. Korostileva fell off after a FF, LO, FF.
She also did 2 oak trees and showed the best form on her double tuck
dismount (she was the only one who didn't cowboy it). Over on UB, while
hanging from and chalking up the high bar for Tousek, Saadi remembered
to point her toes! :-) Once again, Tousek showed a very interesting
routine: front giant to high Jaeger; Hindorf to immediate Pak salto;
double layout dismount (big step). Coolest routine of this rotation had
to belong to Lan, though. This tiny girl, who doesn't even come up to
Boginskaya's shoulder, vaulted a layout Cuervo! She is not a muscular
gymnast; where she gets the power to perform such moves, I don't know.
Strug was the final performer of the night and debuted a new FX. The
music was 50's rock-n-roll (with a brief section of slower music),
choreographed by Poszar. The tumbles are impressive: double layout
(slight leg separation and slightly bent knees); front hand, front full,
front layout; full-in. It was obvious that she really enjoyed performing it.

Results and press conference notes are to follow. :-)

Debbie

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

Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 01:21:26 -0500
From: ***@CLOUD9.NET
Subject: American Cup: Women's Prelim Results

Women's Preliminaries
McDonald's American Cup
March 1, 1996

1. Kerri Strug (USA) 9.625 9.750 9.775 9.775 38.925
2. Oksana Chusovitina (UZB) 9.500 9.750 9.700 9.750 38.700
3. Svetlana Boginskaya (BLR) 9.687 9.800 9.775 9.100 38.362
4. Joanna Juarez (ESP) 9.400 9.575 9.575 9.625 38.175
5. Kristy Powell (USA) 9.312 9.450 9.600 9.775 38.137
6. Lan Sang (CHN) 9.612 9.300 9.575 9.625 38.112
7. Alexandra Dobrescu (ROM) 9.350 9.475 9.650 9.575 38.050
8. Andree Pickens (USA) 9.625 9.600 9.475 9.025 37.725
9. Yvonne Tousek (CAN) 9.425 9.150 9.425 9.475 37.475
10. Yulia Korostileva (RUS) 9.075 9.575 9.175 9.625 37.450
11. Orelie Troscompt (FRA) 9.362 9.300 9.450 9.150 37.262
12. Soraya Carvalho (BRA) 9.312 9.200 9.550 8.975 37.037
13. Nikolett Krausz (HUN) 9.150 8.800 9.525 9.400 36.875
14. Joanna Hughes (AUS) 9.350 8.950 9.300 9.225 36.825
15. Svetlana Zelepukhina (UKR) 9.400 9.400 9.150 8.800 36.750
16. Yuki Ohata (JPN) 9.300 8.875 9.325 8.550 36.050
17. Ana Destefano (ARG) 9.100 9.250 8.575 8.650 35.575
18. Brenda Magana (MEX) 9.062 8.975 8.225 8.900 35.162
19. Giordana Rocchi (ITA) 9.012 7.900 9.100 8.575 34.587

Event Winners:

V: Boginskaya
UB: Boginskaya
B: Boginskaya and Strug
FX: Strug and Powell

Debbie

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

Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 01:24:36 -0500
From: ***@CLOUD9.NET
Subject: American Cup: Women's Press Conference

Press Conference
McDonald's American Cup
Women's Preliminaries


Kerri Strug, on her FX: "Floor is one of my best events. I was a bit
nervous because it was a new floor exercise and I hadn't competed in a
while. This was my first time competing it."

Svetlana Boginskaya: "I love a crowd and I think they helped me a lot
today. My endurance is not so strong. I'm working on a high-level vault
and a new mount on UB. I had difficulty on FX."

Kristy Powell: "I'm just starting to compete again and get my confidence
back. I think I'm ready for tomorrow."

Oksana Chusovitina: "I tried to do my best, but tomorrow I will try to do
even better than today. I feel great because I have a lot of energy. I
hope to get a medal at the Olympics." [Boginskaya acted as her
interpreter.]


Debbie

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

Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 03:16:00 -0500
From: ***@GNATNET.NET
Subject: IRC for Europeans

A few people have asked me about setting up an official IRC time for
Europeans, since our chats currently scheduled are inconvenient for them
in their time zones. Since I am here on North America, I am looking for
a European (Shers? Ljutko?)who would like to take charge of getting
together an IRC time.
If you would be interested, please e-mail me, so that I can register you
as an operator on #gymn and make sure that you know basic things about
opping on irc.
Kerry

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

Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 23:49:56 +0000
From: ***@ALOHA.NET
Subject: San Francisco RSG Invitational

Thanks to Patrick Tower for posting results of the 1996 SF RSG
Invite. I got back from San Francisco Monday evening to find out
that my computer crashed and was unable to access my email/Inet
account until today.

The meet was truly spectacular especially during the "premiere"
events--the level 10 junior and senior competition which were held
during the evening hours both days on 2/24 & 2/25. Like Patrick, I
was really impressed with the Kazakhstani girl Assel Moustafina.
This girl has speed. Her best routine was hoop which was ironically
a slow and lyrical exercise compared to her rope, clubs, and ribbon.

For the seniors, the best gymnast no doubt was Belarussian Evgenia
Pavlina who is ranked tenth in the world. After a shaky start on
rope(3 messy catches, 1 drop) she redeemed herself by hitting her ball,
clubs, and ribbon. All her exercises showcased her superior dance
and body technique. She works so high up on her toes that her feet
are pointed perpendicular to the floor.

Kasumi Takahashi of LA Lights also was spectacular in this
competition. Her ball exercise is packed with "mucho" difficulty.
Despite a horrendous warm-up, she hit her ball routine by making all
her blind trap catches. Unfortunately, she was not so lucky in her
clubs and ribbon routines, dropping both apparatus.

Also impressive was the Czech gymnast Andrea Sebestova, the defending
champion of this meet. Sebestova took advantage of Pavlina's failure
with the rope and hit her routine thereby winning the rope event.
Like Pavlina, Sebestova has wonderful body technique which explains
her incredible muscle tone especially in her legs. Drops in her
clubs(after a back flexion--3 steps to retrieve apparatus) and
ball(arch catch-slight drop) resulted in a third place finish for
her.

Her teammate Lenka Oulehlova-a seasoned Olympic veteran had a great
meet considering her disastrous finish in Worlds last year. Although
her exercises lacked the difficulty of those of her teammate and
Pavlina or even Takahashi for that matter, they were more or less
cleanly executed. Notable breaks were her failure to complete a
consecutive turning leap series in her ball routine-I thought she
sprained her ankle here, and some minor fumbled catches with clubs
and ribbon.

The Russian girls both juniors and seniors, I found were somewhat
uninspired in this meet. While their technique was superior their
performances were quite bland compared to their rivals.

The Kazakhstani seniors-Yurchenko and Popova had very similar styles
--fast, furious exercises punctuated with extreme shows of flexibility. Both
girls
looked so similar that one would think they were twins. Their poor
showing in this meet was due to drops again of the clubs and ribbon.

For my first live rhythmic meet, this was truly an eye-popping
experience for me. It seemed the entire US RSG community turned out
for this meet. Jessica Davis-the current US champion watched the
meet from the stands no doubt scoping out the competition. The only
downside to the meet was the faulty sound system during the first day
and the lack of scoring devices to post scores after each routine.
Spectators, gymnasts, and coaches alike had to wait for the end of
competition before entire results would be posted. Another odd thing
about the meet was the dual role some judges played. It was really
odd to see the Kazakhstani and Russian judges get up from the judges
table and come to the floor during warm-ups to coach their gymnasts.

The Scherba Sports Center really put a lot of heart and soul into the
organization of this meet. This was really evident in the effort put
forth by everyone from Svetlana Scherba down to her gymnasts to
accomodate everyone and make them feel comfortable. I will
definitely be back next year.

To fellow Gymners: Alix Sutton, Amanda Turner, and Orion Burdick-it
was really great meeting you folks. Special thanks to Alix Sutton
for introducing me to John Crumlish and Nancy Raymond
and for giving me a ride back to my hotel Sunday evening-hope
John did not miss his flight back to LA. If its any consolation, I got a
little bit lost finding my way back.
To Patrick-sorry we were not able to meet-were you the guy with
glasses who came with Nancy Raymond?

Next meet-Atlanta!!!

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End of GYMN-L Digest - 1 Mar 1996 to 2 Mar 1996
***********************************************