I haven’t posted lately because I’ve been busy with my little daughter who was born last summer. I’ve still kept up with the world of gymnastics, though, and while there are some exciting things that have happened during the past months, artistic gymnastics seems to be going through a bit of a dry patch, particularly on the women’s side. Gone are the days when 10 or 15 gymnasts were legitimate contenders for all around medals. Simone Biles and Kohei Uchimura are dominating right now, as they deserve to, and they appear set to continue their trends of defending their crowns in upcoming competitions. The men’s side is a lot more exciting with all the apparatus specialists, but if the FIG reduces teams to 4 members then we can say goodbye to a lot of that excitement too.

Here are some bright patches I’ve come across lately:

The mother-daughter duo of Natalia Laschenova and Sasha Tsikhanovich performed floor routines with matching choreography 26 years apart. I love it! That 1989 Soviet team is one of my all-time faves, and it’s wonderful to see Tsikhanovich’s tribute to her mother.

Natalia Laschenova (URS), 1989 World Championships, Floor Exercise, All Around

Sasha Tsikhanovich, University of Bridgeport, 2015 Floor Exercise

Kenzo Shirai, Japan’s twisting machine, was criticized in the past for winning floor titles without showing any double saltos. Well, he has been working on several new tumbling passes, including a triple twisting double layout and a whip immediate triple-double. Wow! Oh, and he also throws a front full punch front 3.5 and a whip immediate quadruple twist….

Kenzo Shirai (JPN), training

Romania looks to be back in the running for Rio with the comeback announcements of Catalina Ponor and Sandra Izbasa, and with Larisa Iordache looking great on all events. This team is more and more stylish all the time. Never count Romania out!

Larisa Iordache (ROU), 2014 Glasgow World Cup, Uneven Bars

Catalina Ponor (ROU), 2012 European Championships, Balance Beam, Qualifications

Sandra Izbasa (ROU), 2012 Olympic Games, Floor Exercise, Team Final

Diana Bulimar (ROU), 2012 Olympic Games, Floor Exercise, Team Final

Andreas Bretschneider (GER) has mastered the double twisting Kovacs on high bar! Here he is performing it in his home country. The sky’s the limit!

Andreas Bretschneider (GER), 2014 DTB Cup, High Bar

And finally, a shout out to one of the most underrated gymnasts of this era: Jessica Lopez (VEN)!

Jessica Lopez (VEN), 2014 World Championships, Uneven Bars

Jessica Lopez (VEN), 2014 Glasgow World Cup, Floor Exercise

Did anyone else think the “Aging Beauty” headline on her International GYMNAST cover was a tad bizarre? I mean, she hardly looks like she’s “aging.” She may be 29, but you’d never guess it looking at her gymnastics, and she appears more physically fit than some gymnasts half her age! Oh well…at least the cover also said she “has never looked better.”

What other cool stuff has caught your eye lately?

The 2010 edition marked the third time I have attended the Gymnix International and Junior Cups, and while the field was not quite as deep as in years past, it was still lots of fun for me, my sister and our friend Catherine. This year I recognized two judges, Romanian star Gina Gogean and Pam Collett of Canada, who judged me when I was a high school gymnast!

Judge Gina Gogean (ROU) Marches In

The highlight was seeing the up-and-coming juniors from Russia and Romania, but truth be told, the Canadian juniors showed just as much potential! For the most part, they displayed great form and adequate levels of difficulty. With all these fantastic gymnasts, I couldn’t help but wonder why the Canadian ladies haven’t been so successful on the world stage in recent years (with the exception of Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs’s medal on beam at the 2006 World Championships, of course!). Maybe this new generation is the one that will launch Canada into contention for team finals at Worlds.

Madeline Gardiner won the all-around portion of the competition ahead of Riley Cholod, who was fresh off her victory at the Nadia Comaneci Invitational. In third place was Maria Karpova, the youngest of the four Russian gymnasts. Rounding out the Top 10 was a talented field: Diana Bulimar, Ekaterina Baturina, Ekaterina Shtronda and Mikaela Gerber (tie), Victoria Moors, Alena Marchenko and Shae Zamardi. It’s interesting to note that Cholod, Gardiner and Gerber allowed for a Canadian sweep of the uneven bars medals!

Madeline Gardiner (CAN), Uneven Bars, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Riley Cholod (CAN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Mikaela Gerber (CAN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

I particularly enjoyed the floor exercises of the Russian gymnasts, as they displayed the polish that has become the hallmark of their national program. Their technique on even the most basic skills was beyond compare, but these gymnasts are so young that they won’t be eligible for senior competition until 2013 and 2014.

Maria Karpova (RUS), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Ekaterina Baturina (RUS), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Alena Marchenko (RUS), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

It was interesting to see how high Ekaterina Shtronda set before pulling around the delayed double back. You can see it in the video, but it seemed even more dramatic live.

Ekaterina Shtronda (RUS), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Young Maegan Chant showed great potential with difficult skills including a double layout mount on floor exercise followed by a full-in. She is coached at World Class Gymnastics by Cristina Bontas, who achieved much success for Romania in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With just a little more polish, Chant will be a major player on the Canadian scene.

Maegan Chant (CAN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

I was looking forward to seeing the Romanian juniors that I’d heard so much about: Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Ana Maria Baicu, and a new name for me, Tatiana Geamparoiu. They suffered a few falls on balance beam, but as usual they shone on floor exercise. I enjoyed Iordache’s piked full-in off bars.

Larisa Iordache (ROU), Balance Beam, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Diana Bulimar (ROU), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Ana Maria Baicu (ROU), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Tatiana Geamparoiu (ROU), Vault, 2010 Gymnix Junior Cup

Unfortunately, the International Cup portion of the competition wasn’t very well attended this year. Apart from the Canadians, the only gymnasts from abroad were some Parkettes (coach Donna Strauss was spotted with a knee brace of her own!), two Finnish girls and a South African.

Kristina Vaculik (CAN) was in a league of her own, winning the all-around by more than four points, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. I had a chuckle when I saw her coach, 1980 Olympic Champion Yelena Davydova, judging her on balance beam. Vaculik later went on to achieve great success (two golds and two silvers) at the Cottbus World Cup in Germany.

Kristina Vaculik (CAN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix International Cup

Olympian Nansy Damianova (CAN) showed off a nice Spanish floor exercise to place third.

Nansy Damianova (CAN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Gymnix International Cup

Anysia Unick (CAN) performed well in her first year as a senior, winning the gold on vault and the silver on floor exercise. Cynthia Lemieux (CAN) always manages to gather quite a collection of medals, and this time she brought home silver in the all-around and bronze on uneven bars. Annika Urvikko (FIN) was the only foreign athlete to break into the medals with her third place on vault.

During the awards ceremony, former Olympians and Gymnix alumnae Cathy Giancaspro, Mylène Fleury, Julie Beaulieu, Amélie Plante and Nansy Damianova were on hand to present the medals to the winners. After the competition, the gymnasts and the audience enjoyed a performance by Cirque du Soleil (during which the Romanian gymnasts munched on apples!).And so, another year of Gymnix has come to an end. I hope that by next year the field will be prestigious enough to include a Women’s World Cup event to go along with the Men’s World Cup.