GYMN-L Digest - 21 Aug 1995 to 22 Aug 1995

There are 24 messages totalling 792 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. Gymnastics Exhibition
2. what is.....
3. Getting off of Gymn
4. Volume on Gymn
5. Host Country (was Brief thoughts on Nationals)
6. Coach Needed!!
7. Men's Event Finals
8. Nationals & Stuff
9. Introduction
10. Mary Lee Tracy
11. Nationals Videos In PAL
12. nationals and stuff
13. Peeling off UB
14. look-a-likes, etc
15. Please help
16. Host Country
17. If you missed some mail...
18. Dominique Dawes Scholarship issue... (2)
19. look alikes
20. US vs. Russian Nationals and the USGF.
21. CONFUSED
22. Why Mike Morgan made the team...
23. Hip Hip Hooray!

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Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 23:08:31 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Gymnastics Exhibition

Just a note for anyone in the Charlotte, NC area that there is an exhibition
coming up the 31st of August (a week from Thursday).

Participents are supposed to include a group of Romanian Jr. athletes from
Bucharest as well as Ionela Loaies (also ROM) who was a member of the gold
medal winning team in Dortmund. Others scheduled to attend are Valentin and
Olga (formerly Bicharova; the '81 World AA Champion) Mogilny, Kim Zmeskal,
Svetlana Boginskaya, Dianne Durham, Dominique Moceanu, Paul Hunt (the
gymnastics comedian) and others.

I'm not exactly sure yet where the event is taking place (meaning what arena)
but if you're in the area it might be worth checking out.

~Susan

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

Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 22:01:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: what is.....

>From: Martie Sammons <msammons@IX.NETCOM.COM>
>
>What is a Rulfova? I saw it describing someones routine and I was
>wondering what it is. Thanks!

A Rulfova is a back handspring with a full-twist, except that instead of
jumping back to her feet, a gymnast swings down to straddle the beam. A
full-twisting straddled swingdown is perhaps a more accurate description.

Rachele

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Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 22:03:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Getting off of Gymn

------------------------ Unsubscribing! --------------------------

To unsubscribe from Gymn:

send a msg to the address listserv@psuvm.psu.edu with the body (not
subject): "UNSUB GYMN-L"

Steps to follow if you lose these directions:

1. Look it up in your Gymn guide. - or-
2. Email Debbie Poe - or -
3. Email a frequent poster

Rachele

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Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 23:41:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Volume on Gymn

Recently we've been bombarding Gymn with posts -- most of this is great
stuff. However, I've received several polite requests now that I ask Gymn to
be a little more efficient in our habits:

1. Please do not repeat what other people say. With upwards of 20 msgs a
day, we don't need to hear the same opinion or answer four times(!).

2. Especially in this time of high volume, please make an effort to only
post msgs with content. On the other hand, please don't hesitate to post if
you feel that your information will add value to the forum. Remember that
every time you send a note to Gymn, this generates _500_ mail msgs. Let's
respect other people's mailboxes. I was honored to receive several
compliments at Nationals on the value of Gymn in regards to timeliness,
newsworthiness, etc. Make an effort to maintain Gymn's reputation as a high
info and low fluff mailing list!

Thanks,
Rachele

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Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 05:59:24 -0400
From: ***@ECLIPSE.NET
Subject: Host Country (was Brief thoughts on Nationals)

Kathy writes (in part):
>6. It looks like the US women have achieved enough depth that
>there are clearly more world-team caliber athletes than spots
>on the team. In the meantime, the US men's team is John Roethlisberger
>plus ??, depending on who's injured/inconsistent, but not a whole
>team's worth of heavy-duty world-level AA competitors. Tim Daggett
>is quoted in the EPSN article on the Web as saying the US men
>have a chance to medal in Atlanta. I'm wondering: How big
>is the chance that they might not finish in the top 12 at Worlds,
>and, if they don't, will that keep them out of the Olympics?
>Or does the home team always get to compete?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's the "Olympic tradition"
that the host country gets an automatic slot in every sport. Having said
that...and having read something in the last week or so about a US team
competing in a world handball tournament that determined the Olympic
qualifiers and noting that our team automatically gets to compete in
Atlanta despite its showing there...I'm wondering about the gymnastics
situation in 1996 in this respect.

Anyone?
Helena

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Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 08:52:27 -0400
From: ***@INTERSERF.NET
Subject: Coach Needed!!

A growing gym in Virginia is in urgent need of an experienced coach for
the optional levels through 10. We are attempting to put a strong
emphasis on our competitve program and are worried our top level
girls aren't getting the training they need with our current staff.
Please respond by email or phone at (540) 898-5000 or by fax at (540)
663-0976. Any ideas from you GYMN listers are welcome.

Mike

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Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 06:47:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Men's Event Finals

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

Men's Event Finals, Compulsories
19 August 1995, Saturday

The first three events of the day were dominated by specialists. All of
them showed magnificent routines -- kudos to the USGF for allowing them to
compete at Nationals now.

Floor Exercise
--------------------
What I noticed the most about floor was the increasing level of difficulty
on this event. It seems that just last year, almost all guys dismounted
with a double tuck or less. This year, the dismounts included three
full-ins, an Arabian double front (Bryan), a whip immediate double tuck
(winner-Stover), and a double twist punch front (Macready). Four of the six
finalists mounted with double layouts (again, the winner did this directly
from a whip). Now, while the USA is not yet up to par with the ex-Sovs and
Chinese, who seem to regularly mount with twisting double layouts and
dismount with double layouts, I do think that this is a good improvement for
the USA men. Last year, it seemed like everyone fell in men's floor finals,
whereas this year there was only one outright fall (Macready's dismount).

I think Macready is awesome -- his scale is very pretty and he probably had
the best form of the four double layouts in the finals. He just lost steam
on his last pass and sat it down, unfortunately. Racanelli, the 1991 floor
champ, had several form breaks but had the highest full-in dismount. Hanks
threw two Thomas' - the first pass was laid out, the second pass was tucked
(Thomas is a 1 and 3/4 somersalt with 1/2 twist ... you land by rolling out
of the skill ... considered pretty dangerous, at least on the women's side
where it is banned). Stover, in addition to his whip immediate doubles
(layout on first pass, tuck on last), included some powerful front tumbling
with a 2nd pass of layout with 1/2 twist, front layout, front layout, front
full (immediate prone). His side was a front handspring, front full to
prone (many guys used this side pass). This routine brought Stover a
winning score of 9.675.

Pommel Horse
---------------------
Mark Sohn, I am convinced, has swivel joints for wrists. There is no other
explanation for his mount. I had seen it on TV before but it doesn't
compare to seeing it in person. He began by gripping the right pommel of the
horse with his right hand in an undergrip, his elbow more or less touching
the left pommel because of the awkward position. He then jumped up to do a
full circle on one hand without once touching the horse. (That's as
accurate as I can describe it.) All rightey. His routine was vaguely
marred by a couple small form breaks and lack of toe point (yes I know, that
_is_ a form break) but he was unquestionably best. His routine merited a 9.812.

Waller also still does his unique (at least to my eyes) mount by jumping
directly into flairs. Chris, 3-time pommels champ ('91-'93) really did hit
a wonderful routine with amplitude, but Sohn was just unbeatable.

The only other guy to stay on, Jason Bertram of Cal, actually finished in
second. Jason is also a pommels specialist. I thought he had less amplitude
than Waller, but I can't evaluate pommels difficulty worth a whit, so I'm
not sure how the scoring went there. But as has been mentioned, the first
three guys on were almost immediately off the horse (Lynch, Roethlisberger,
Bagiu-'94 champ), all losing their balance and spinning right off the horse.

Rings
----------------------
O'Neill vs Lamorte -- what else can you say? This had to be the most
anticipated showdown in recent years. O'Neill and Lamorte both dominated
the collegiate rings finals in their years of NCAA competition, but they
never competed against each other. (O'Neill is 30, Lamorte is probably about
20.) Finally, these two fine ringmen went head to head.

The first competitor up, Mike Moran, threw one of the hardest dismounts
(full-in laid out). However, Moran only managed fifth place (out of six).
Next up was Roethlisberger, who included a high invert, some pike on his
handstand, but a great double double dismount. Jarrod Hanks, in third
included two Malteses and a straight-body planche (which actually piked on
this go-round) press to handstand. His dismount I have recorded as a piked
full-in (Lisa said it was a layout full-out). Not sure anymore exactly what
I saw...

Lamorte, had he not crashed his double layout dismount (what a pity) would
have edged out Paul O'Neill for the gold. He opened with an incredible
strength sequence: Maltese, press/raise to planche (this is HARD, folks),
push to handstand, lower to invert (head below shoulders, held), front swing
to invert.

O'Neill, who trains on his lunch hour, was quite excited to win first place.
Like Lamorte, O'Neill does a Maltese press to planche (actually didn't
O'Neill do this first? Seems like I read that recently). O'Neill also does
the "O'Neill", a laid out Guzhocghy (sp), ie a laid out double back between
the rings. His double layout dismount was well landed for a 9.812 and the gold.

Vault
------------------------
David St. Pierre impressed me with the most unique vault, a front handspring
with full twist off the horse into a front somi to land. It is a
full-twisting front flip, in a sense, but the twist and flip are completely
distinct and separate. Macready sat down again, this time on his first vault
of Yurchenko with 1.5 twists. Yee stood up his two vaults (I think tucked
Kas 1/2 and layout Kas 1/1) with only a step to gain second place, and
Macready despite his large deduction placed third. Which tells you how well
the other three guys stuck *their* vaults...

It was announced that Steve Marshall (4th in vt) was the only junior to
qualify to event finals. This is not true -- Marshall is a senior on Team
2000. I guess the announcer just figured that Team 2000 was the junior
team, but Marshall is one of the five senior members.

Parallel bars
--------------------------
At this point in time, (before pbars finals), over the course of his career
at USA Champs, John Roethlisberger had won five titles: four of these were
all around, and incredibly he had won only one event (rings, '93) in all
that time. However, this changed on the parallel bars when Roethlisberger
won his first of two titles for the night.

The rotation began with Jair Lynch, the 1992 USA Pbar champ. His routine
hasn't changed a whole lot but he is so different from today's gymnasts that
his "old" routine is refreshing. His mount was a huge Tippelt to the middle
of the bars (the move that is similar to a Tkatchev except ends with the
gymnast in a straddle over the pbars). Unfortunately, though, he bounced
heavily on this thighs when he caught the move. He has gorgeous Diamadovs
and high back tosses. His dismount was a double front with 1/2 twist (step).

Waller then competed, among other skills, consecutive Stutz's with 1/4 turn
to one bar, and dismount with a relatively tight double pike. His routine
scored a 9.425, which was good enough for silver. He was followed by Brian
Yee, who fell off the bars after a Healy, Healy, hop 3/4 to one bar (I think
it was 3/4). Blaine Wilson then swung two *huge* Tippelts each traveling
almost the entire length of the pbars. He also threw consecutive Stutz's to
one bar, but took a step on his double pike dismount for a 9.40.

Hanks hit his routine fairly well, but with my limited knowledge it struck
as an easier routine than the other finalists. He did change directions
more than any of the other guys. His double pike also landed with a step,
and he scored a 9.375.

Roethlisberger included lots of one bar work in his routine, including a
great Healy, Healy immediate hop 3/4 to one bar (is this a new combo?) and
also consecutive Stutz's with 1/4 turn to one bar. His dismount was
initiated from a front giant, and consisted of a 1/2 twist immediately upon
release into a double tuck somersault.

High Bar
------------------
Jim Foody did not have a great high bar routine, slipping up midway through
(I didn't write the skill down and I fail to remember, sorry!). His
dismount of a double double laid out was one of the hardest of the night,
however. He was followed by Casey Bryan, who caught consecutive Tkatchevs
completely stretched out and at shoulder level. He dismount with a double
layout with one twist.

Chainey Umphrey then missed his release sequence. I know that in AA finals
he competed a piked Tkatchev, two straddled Tkatchevs, to a Gienger. I
didn't catch it too well here, but I think he may have thrown an additional
Tkatchev in -- sorry, I just can't count that high. ;) Anyways, he lost it
on the Gienger. His dismount was no doubt supposed to be a double layout
but with that much pike, I'd say it was an open pike/layout dismount.

Bagiu demonstrated the first one arm work of the night, by competing a one
arm giant to Gienger. His Kovacs was *way* too close to the bar (everyone
held their breath, some fully expecting him to crash into the apparatus)
which certainly had to shake him up a bit. He took a step on his triple for
a 9.30.

Macready competed a fairly "standard" routine -- consecutive Tkatchevs (very
pretty, natch) and a double layout dismount with one twist. He did it all
very nicely though, to score a 9.612 and win 2nd place in this event.

John Roethlisberger's key to winning high bar was his one-arm work. He
threw both a one arm giant to Gienger, and a one arm giant, pirrouetting one
arm giant to Jaeger (too close). His dismount is unique (but not that
difficult, really) -- he is different because he flips _over_ the bar in his
twisting and flipping. He normally competes a double back with 1.5 twists,
but for some reason I have a picture in my mind of him landing facing the
bar, which would be 2 twists, not 1.5. Sorry John, I'll pay more attention
next time. At any rate, Roethlisberger easily outdistanced the competition
with a 9.837 for his first high bar championship, his second event
championship of the night, his third title of the championships, and his
eight national title overall.

Yours in Gymnastics,
Rachele

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 09:37:52 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Nationals & Stuff

Hi Everyone!!!!!!

I have a couple of questions. First, does anyone have complete results of
both seniors and juniors (women and men) I am dying to know who won juniors,
and how all the seniors did. And also--who ever was going to send me the tape
of the coverage---I have returned home so e-mail me. Thanks a lot!!!!!! GO
JAYCIE, ALEXIS, VANESSA, and JAMIE!!!!!!!!

---jessica

ps-----Katie McFarland was 3rd alternate but she did end up competing. Does
anyone know who else pulled out in juniors besides Gail Kachura?? Why did
Gail pull out??? Just wondering!!!

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 09:14:28 -0500
From: ***@CIC.NCHE.EDU
Subject: Introduction

Hi all!
I am new to the list and this is my first post. I, like most of you,
was a gymnast growing up and of course had my sights set on the
Olympics and becoming the next Nadia but managed to tear my ACL and
other things at the tender age of 12. Thus ended my gymnastic
career. I waited 15 years to have the reconstructive surgery
(because the surgery wasn't as perfected back then) and am just now
recovering from it. Anyway, through all these years I have remained
extremely interested in gymnastics and have followed it closely. My
question for the list is what does it take to become a judge (just on
the local level). I live near Hill's Angels and would be interested
in judging at the many gymns in the area. Thanks for your help in
advance.
Kelly

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 07:28:02 -0700
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: Mary Lee Tracy

After staying up till 11:30 to watch the 11:00 news because of the Reds
vs. Cardinals game (the Reds lost :) ) the new FINALLY came on and
thay had an interview (story) with Mary Lee Tracy. They asked her about
her goals for the Olympics and she says that she hopes that her top
athletes can made it (Amanda Borden, Jaycie Phelps). She also said
that seeing her athletes on the victory stand with the American Anthem
being played she gets a feeling that she's never felt before and she is
great full that God gave her the talent to coach them and them the
talent to do gymnastics. Mary Lee won the U.S. coaching award for the
2nd time in two years.
Through out this story/interview they showed clips of the gymnasts
working out. Amanda Borden was having a bad day and was crying over at
the chalk bin. Mary Lee said that Jaycie move to Cincinnati 2 years ago
and she is thankful for it because since she is younger she pushes
Amanda to work harder and keep up with Jaycie. They had some clips of
Jaycie on the bars and then Mary Lee was asked how she felt about the
death of gymnasts and how she controls it in her gym. Mary Lee said
that every sport has at least one death and she teaches her gymnasts
that if they eat junk or nothing at all than they won't have enough
energy to do the sport that they love..."
Then the closed up the story and the two anchors started talking about
how amazing they were and how Mary Lee could become one of the two
coaches for the Olympics and they'll find out by the 1st next year.
I just thought you might enjoy that. Bye!

Margi :)

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:24:43 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Nationals Videos In PAL

My aplogies to everyone, I tried to send this personal e-mail to
_evdrijst@dds.nl_ but couldn't get through so I'm posting it in general.

Eddy,
Yes, when the time comes to send out copies of the videos from U.S. Nationals
and U.S. Congress I can put them on other world TV systems other than NTSC.
All of USAG's other videos I am producing can also be transferred to PAL.
Thanks for your interest.
Dawn

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 11:53:22 -18521200
From: ***@MADRAD.RADIOLOGY.WISC.EDU
Subject: nationals and stuff

Hi all! Our email was not working over the weekend, so
I'm giving my thoughts on nationals now.
Dominique M.- yes, she needs work on her form and even
her difficulty, but I find her smiles and attitude
refreshing. Her peel off uneven bars was really scary
to me (as I think most peels are), but Bela didn't even
seem concerned. He made light of it, and Dominique tried
to smile, but you could see that she was shaken up a bit.
I'm glad Miller and Dawes competed; they bring maturity
to the competition. I also think Miller has the best
form (with Phelps) on all events.
One thing I didn't like was the vaulting bonus. I understand
it was added to encourage difficulty and variety, but it sure
didn't work like that at nationals. Dawes' 1.5 Yurchenko had
gross form- legs were crossed and bent, toes unpointed, and
she had a hop on her landing. 9.95???!!! Puh-lease, I've seen
her do it better (without the 9.95 score). The same with
Miller's vault (piked with a step on the landing).
Enough said on nationals.
The ESPN Sports zone has had a couple of gymnastics articles in
it. The latest one said that Nadia has kind of "adopted" Dominique
M., and when Dom sat on Nadia's lap, the similarities were scary.
Finally someone agreed with me! I've told my husband (from the
beginning) that Dom M. looks a lot like Nadia at age 14. (He, of
course, disagreed). They also had an article (and I'm sorry I
didn't save it, so I can't tell you the details) about Amanda
Borden writing back to a certain magazine which had printed some
of the excerpts from Joan Ryan's book. One such excerpt was that
Borden has been battling injuries and has had to compete injured?
(Correct me on this, as I have not read the book). Anyway, Borden
wrote back saying, basically, that she understands the risks
involved in gymnastics, and that she still does the sport because
she loves it (no one is making her do it). Yea Amanda!!!
Did the gymners get to meet in New Orleans? Which gymners (who)
are going to the World Championships in Sabae? I'll be one of
them (Beth, you too?).

Lani.

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 13:04:34 -0500
From: ***@ASTRO.OCIS.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject: Peeling off UB

>Guess it might have shaken her up a bit, but I find it hard to believe that
>someone that trains 30 hours or so a week hasn't peeled off the bar before.
>Gymnasts out there, what do you think? Think peeling is really such a rare
>occurrence, or were old Tim and Elfie just playing it up?

I'm sure Dom has peeled off UB several times, but probably most of them
were over a pit. Also, there's a big difference between peeling off in
your own gym and peeling off at your first Senior Nationals.

From memory, peeling off is one of the scariest mistakes you can make, even
if you don't get injured. _Controlled_ flying is great, but uncontrolled
flying...ugh!

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 12:49:47 CDT
From: ***@PROCTR.CBA.UA.EDU
Subject: look-a-likes, etc

Look-a-likes:
Dom. M---a young Nadia
Kerri Strug, before her haircut---Elodie Lussac(France)
Marta Karolyi----judge Judy Dobransky
Rachelle Rochelli, from a distance----Kim Zmeskal

There are others, but I can't think of them right now.

Does anyone remember Tami Taylor's floor routine at Nationals? I think she had
the best expression and dance of anyone in the competition.
At least there was no commentation during any of the floor
routines!!!!
Does anyone know where Nationals will be next year?

Shawn

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 14:54:49 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Please help

Hi.
I was not connected to gymn for a few days because of a problem with the
server to AOL (that's what I heard, anyway) I did manage to kind of keep in
touch with gymn through another address, but that had problems of it's own.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone would forward commentary of the Sr. Women's
EF, as well as the scores of that competition.
Thanks in advance!!
Emily

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 17:24:04 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Host Country

>Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's the "Olympic tradition"
that the host country gets an automatic slot in every sport.

Not in gymnastics. The US teams must finish in the top 12 to qualify for
Atlanta. If you recall, the Spanish men did not qualify for Barcelona.

Mara

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 16:57:00 MDT
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: If you missed some mail...

You can read all of what you missed by getting to our "Recent Digests".
Those with a web browser can get to them by webbing to
http://rainbow.rmii.com/digests.html

Those who are unwebbed can retrieve the digests by ftp or gopher to
ftp.cac.psu.edu, then going to the pub/gymn/Digests/Recent directory.
Perhaps someone on AOL who is familiar with the keywords and/or methods as
to how to do this on America OnLine can post this info to the list. (Raise
your hand if you'd rather have one post with instructions rather than ten
posts asking "how do I do it?")

Thanks, =)
Rachele

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 19:11:12 -0400
From: ***@GOOFY.UMD.EDU
Subject: Dominique Dawes Scholarship issue...

>Dominique Dawes will be attending Univ. of Maryland (fallout from losing
>her scholarship at Stanford) - does anyone know exactly what happened and
>what her personal feelings are...

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Steve. My daughter Erin is
eight years old and is a level 6 gymnast at Hill's Gymnastics in Gaithersburg
Maryland, the "home" of Dominique Dawes.

Dom never lost her scholarship from Stanford! Dom initially decided to defer
her scholarship as she wanted to stay in the area and continue working towards
the last World Games. After she turned 18, *she* made the decision (although
I'm sure with input from Kelli) to sign with Len Elmore. Once she signed with
an agent, she was no longer eligible for a College Scholarship. As far as I
know, Dom still intends to go to Stanford after the Olympics. She is
currently attending the University of Maryland to get some college experience
while she is working towards the Olympics.

As far as what kind of person Dom is I have two stories to relate...

One Saturday while Erin was working out, several of the level 8s came by to
pick up their grip bags and stuff as they were going to travel to a meet.
Dom, who was also working out, came out of her workout, made mention that the
eights were going to a meet and went over and gave each girl a hug and a few
words of encouragment. I don't know if that is the way things work in all
gyms, but I am amazed at how close the upper level gymnasts are to the lower
levels.

The second story actually involved my daughter. The Hill's Angels Parents
Association puts on a meet every January called the Maryland Classic. This
meet is run over Martin Luther King's birthday weekend. Dom usually either
competes, or in the case of last year, does a couple of exhibitions. In any
case, Dom was there signing autographs (for hours, it seemed) while Erin
competed. Later that day I saw Dom in the hall and asked her how things were
going. She said fine, and then surprised the heck out of me by saying how
well Erin did. She told me that Erin did real well even with her one fall and
she even knew each of her scores. She obviously watched each of her team
mates, even the lower levels.

One final note...

If anyone is interested in seeing some pretty high level competition and is in
the Maryland area, you might want to come see the Maryland Classic. You can
email me for more details.
--
Steve

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 17:14:22 -0700
From: ***@IX.NETCOM.COM
Subject: Re: look alikes

Here are some look alikes:

Kerri Strug(Olympics)- Kim Zmeskal(Olymics)
Claudia Presacan-Simona Amanar
Annika Reeder- Tatianna Gutsu
Yulia Yurkina- Olga Yurkina :)
Marianna Webster- Shannon Miller
All the Chinese!!

Thought I'd share.


Also, Did anyone else watch the Mary Lee Tracy story last night? If so,
what were your thoughts?

Thanks!

Mardi and Margi:)

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 19:45:56 -0600
From: ***@ZEPHYR.MEDCHEM.PURDUE.EDU
Subject: US vs. Russian Nationals and the USGF.

It is interesting that the Russian and US nationals were held at about the
same time of the year. Now we can compare the two meets. I never saw the
Russians, but from the scores I can see that it was probably a better meet
to have seen.

Khorkina is finally the Russian champion, a well deserved title that she
barely won over Kotchekova. Her score was less than 77 pointsm but was
enought for victory. Now in the US, Monceanu won with 78.45 points.
Does this mean she is a better gymnast? I don't think so [I KNOW that you
can never compare scores between meets; don't flame me!]

It appears that in Russia taxation is super strict. This practice,
I believe, is great for building great teams and gymnasts. The gymnast
MUST learn how to perform to the fullest and don't get "gimme" points.
The USGF's current policy of "encouraging" harder vaults, for example,
is not helping. They should not "encourage", but REQUIRE. When is a 9.95
not a 9.95? Ans: When it is the result of 0.1 bonus and a halved landing
deduction. The same vault would have scored in the 9.6s at an interantional
meet. Does this encourage gymnasts. Perhaps, but it makes for infalted
scoring and sometimes incorrect winners. The USGF needs, if it wants the US
to get to be GOLD medal contenders (not just "on the podium"), to get tough
with gymnastics scoring and stop making bad rules. If it wants to
increasing vaulting consistency, perhaps it should REQUIRE that gymnasts
average the two vaults in AA at all USGF sanctioned meets. In the
"real world" of gymnastics, they are required to, but not in the US.
They could even require TWO different vaults, to better prepare
gymnasts for EF.

Perhaps I am just being picky. Perhaps. BUt the USGF did wonders with the 60/40
rule. It made gymnast REALIZE that medals are won in compulsories
and everyone plays catch in optionals. The US has greatly improved in
compulsories because of this. Perhaps if the USGF got tougher and stopped
rewarding gymnast for flawed attempts and REQUIRED them to perform skills
with good technique and form and landings, then perhaps we might see the US on
the top of the podium. I doubt it under the current system of judging.


My thoughts only. Jeff

Peace

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 20:53:19 -0400
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: CONFUSED

Is something wrong with my computer or is ther not as many posts due to
nationals and people being out of town?

I missed NBC's second day of coverage, did they show womens event finals or
highlights from the men's all-around or both?

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 19:07:50 -0600
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Why Mike Morgan made the team...

Some of you may remember that I was wondering by what rules Mike
Morgan made the Jr Team 2000 when the "qualified" seniors did not make
the Sr Team 2000. I got the following explanation in my email:

| USA gymnastics didn't want to penalize Jr gymnasts from trying to go for
| senior, so if a junior went senior but didn't make team then his optional
| score could qualify for team 2000. This also happened at Winter Nationals
| where Mike Moran, Jeff Lavalee and Jason Katsampes all competed senior but
| made the junior team. They want to protect the best juniors but still allow
| them to compete against the big boys - so to speak. At this nationals it
| worked out strange since Michael Morgan was the only junior to qualify to
| compete in the Senior Division, and since he scored the almost a point higher
| than the other juniors its pretty obvious that he deserves a spot on the
| National Team -especially considering most of the juniors were already
| national team members having competed at JO nationals. They also got rid of
| the senior development team which used to comprise of the top 3 19 and under
| gymnasts competing in the senior division - this was how they protected the
| young gymnasts in the past.
|
| I don't know why they don't allow true senior scores to also drop down. I
| guess they just figure after you're 19 you're on your own.
|

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

Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 11:22:11 +1000
From: ***@STUDENT.GU.EDU.AU
Subject: Hip Hip Hooray!

It's so rare in gymnastics at present, that we get to see an
interview with a former top junior gymnast, who is positive about her
experiences. So, I'd like to congratulate an Australian gymnast by the
name of Kelly Stevenson, who appeared last weekend on a national sports
programme, that was doing a story on burnout & pressure in our Olympic
hopefulls.

I doubt any of you have heard of her, but she and Joanna Hughes trained
and competed together until 1990. In fact, in 89 Junior Nationals, she
beat Joanna.

The show 'Sports Sunday' did a profile piece on the two of them in 1989,
as at the time they were considered Australia's first real gymnastics
hopefulls. You know the clips they show, an 11 year old saying she wants
to compete in the 1996 Olympics, then the interviewer asks what she
thinks her chances are, and she sais 'if I work hard enough I'll get there'.
Of course that is followed by the comment "Kelly Stevenson did work
hard, but she won't make it to those Olympics........."

Well, the same show did a follow up, and instead of the bitter, anorexic,
abused child they went looking for, they found a well adjusted, happy,
and non regretful teenager, enjoying her senior year in high school. Of
course, this completely messed up the slant of their story, but
thankfully they showed it anyway.

As for asking her about doing gym when she was younger, she said "I'm
really gald that I did elite sport when I was young, no I don't regret that
at all". After leaving gymnastics, she took up diving, and won Junior
Worlds in 1993. But she's quit that too, and has no regrets. She
admits, she just wasn't having fun with it anymore, and wanted to find
out what normal kids do.

The fact that this girl had nothing to gain or lose by doing this
interview, and no reason to defend a programme she's no longer a part of,
makes her happy and content personality, even more impressive. Even when
being asked patheitcally slanted questions about pressure, burnout,
coaches, parents etc, she kept a smile on her face, and never blamed
anyone or anything.

Australian gymnastics owes alot to this kid, who gave the public, that's
been bombared with negative comments throughout the year, a chance to see
the positive side of the sport. And that although not every kid who's
'talent identified' at 8 is going to the Olympics, not all the ones who
don't make it, are going to end up crushed and depressed with an eating
disorder!

My personal thanks to Kelly Stevenson, and Channel 9 for helping to
salvage the sports image down here......

Onto another couple of topics, anyone know what Laschenova is doing
know? Is she still with Tickonovich after the whole 'post Barc
incident'? Last thing I've seen or heard was a copy of thier wedding
photo (she looked great by the way!)

And finally, on the subject of look alikes, just wait till you guys see
Aussie Junior Champ, Sarah Drovandi, she's the reincarnation of 87 Dobre!!!!
If there's a movie maker out there wanting to do a story of Dobre's life,
act now, before she grows up!

Michelle :)

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

Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 22:39:11 -0400
From: ***@UMICH.EDU
Subject: Re: Dominique Dawes Scholarship issue...

Sorry about the mistake...Thanks for the clarification.

Anjel

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End of GYMN-L Digest - 21 Aug 1995 to 22 Aug 1995
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