Gymnix 2013 has come and gone for another year. Here are some of my sister’s observations:

-Romanian Andreea Munteanu stuck a very nice back-handspring to tucked-full on beam

–Heaven Latimer (CAN) did a very high back-handspring, back-handspring, layout-full on beam

It was even better here in this training video:

-my favourite floor routine was the very charming Maria Bondareva‘s (RUS) performance to music from “The Artist”…age appropriate cuteness and great presentation

-a French gymnast got no distance on her double pike bars dismount and clipped her feet on the bar…quite scary but she landed without injury (in a heap but not on her head or neck)

–Shallon Olsen‘s double-twisting Yurchenko was by far the best vault of the competition. Most gymnasts competed a Yurchenko-full and if they did a second vault, it was often a layout Yurchenko.

-prior to marching in for event finals, Russians Maria Bondareva and Anastasia Dmitrieva seemed to be chatting with Canadians Shallon Olsen and Aleeza Yu…I’m not sure how well they could communicate, but there were smiles and laughs aplenty!

-after the medal ceremonies, all gymnasts participated in a Flash Mob (some were more enthusiastic than others, but all seemed to know the choreography)

–Laura Jurca (ROM) and Marine Boyer (FRA) both suffered injuries on floor…Jurca hurt her ankle and had to stop her routine, while Boyer gave herself some major rugburn on her final tumbling pass

–Toni-Ann Williams from Jamaica showed some very difficult tumbling passes (double layout, full-twisting double back, two whips to double back) as well as a running double front dismount from beam. She will be a great addition to NCAA gymnastics next year!

-the three Romanians sported some very snazzy black leg warmers throughout the weekend

-2004 Olympian and former Gymnix competitor Amélie Plante was on hand to present awards, including one named after her

-the Japanese team displayed their trademark elegance and lovely presentation, and were hugely popular with fans, who rushed down to high five them whenever they walked by the bleachers

-the young team from Belgium showed very nice routines on all events and have tons of potential (remember, Belgium just missed out on full team qualification to the 2012 Olympics)

-the three Romanians (including the injured Laura Jurca) and the four Russians posed happily for photos after the competition

FINAL RESULTS:

Team

1. Russia (Maria Bondareva, Anastasia Dmitrieva, Ekaterina Sokova, Polina Spirina)

2. Canada (Brianna Clark, Heaven Latimer, Shallon Olsen, Aleeza Yu)

3. Japan (Yuna Hiraiwa, Marina Kawasaki, Sae Miyakama, Yuki Uchiyama)

All-Around

1(t). Maria Bondareva (RUS) and Anastasia Dmitrieva (RUS)

3. Yuki Uchiyama (JPN)

It’s always interesting to see how things pan out in a post-Olympic year. Sometimes the stars lose their brilliance, while the new kids on the block step up to prove their mettle. It’s always sad to see favourites retire, and sometimes you don’t even realize how much you like a gymnast until they’re gone. Take Sandra Izbasa (ROM), for example. Unless Bellu and Bitang can lure her back, it looks as though she is finished…

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Random tidbits from the three days of Apparatus Finals, where 30 medals were up for grabs: – There’s something about Enrique Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda (CHI) that reminds me of a Soviet gymnast from the 1980s. It’s either the moustache or his stylish choreography on floor. He displayed a tremendous degree of difficulty and execution on that event and on vault, but was unlucky to end up in 4th place both times. – As expected, Kohei…

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The day we’ve all been waiting for – the day the new queen of gymnastics would be crowned! With many more potential winners here than in the Beijing All Around finals, this competition promised to be exciting from beginning to end. Early favourite Viktoria Komova (RUS) and new star Gabby Douglas (USA) were neck and neck all afternoon long, but in the end it was Douglas who reigned supreme. Gabby Douglas (USA), 2012 Olympic Games,…

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Kohei Uchimura Sets Sights on Olympic Gold I woke up this morning like a kid on Christmas Day, and boy, did Santa deliver! Kohei Uchimura (JPN) had the gold medal wrapped up heading into floor. With pommel horse under his belt, it was smooth sailing through rings, vault (perfect 2.5-twisting Yurchenko for a 16.266) and parallel bars. He wisely removed the Kovacs from his high bar routine, staying on the apparatus for a 15.600. The…

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