Poor Youna. She has had such bad luck on the uneven bars lately! First she lost a medal at the 2010 European Championships after French National Coach Eric Demay accidentally touched her while spotting her on the Def, incurring a 0.5 deduction. You can catch a clear view of this incident at 1:15.
Youna Dufournet, Uneven Bars, 2010 European Championships
That was a mistake. Demay is not Dufournet’s personal coach, and he probably just erred on the side of caution and ended up mistiming his spotting.
What gets me is the turn of events just a few weeks later at the French National Championships. This time it’s Dufournet’s personal coach in charge: Marc Chirilcenco. Never before have I seen a coach spot a gymnast in such a fashion. Could it be that he was sticking it to Demay and making a show of not touching his gymnast? Well that plan sure backfired; Dufournet slipped off the bar and landed awkwardly, injuring her meniscus.
Youna Dufournet, Uneven Bars, 2010 French National Championships
Athlete safety should be paramount. Dufournet showed some lovely gymnastics at the 2009 World Championships and at the 2010 European Championships, but before that she was inconsistent as all get out and an accident waiting to happen. One of the most alarming examples of this is her floor routine from the 2009 European Championships. The scary crashes at 0:17 and 0.58 prove that she was not ready to perform a double layout or a 1.5-twist through to double back.
Youna Dufournet, Floor Exercise, 2009 European Championships
Why push her? She is such a clean gymnast that she will still score well with easier routines. Case in point: Dufournet won the bronze medal on vault at the 2009 World Championships with a near-perfect Yurchenko-1.5 and a clean layout Podkopayeva. I hope Dufournet recovers in time to make a run for the 2012 Olympic Games. And maybe a change of coach wouldn’t hurt….
I was pleased to read that the FIG has decided to allow all three World apparatus medalists in a pre-Olympic year to be automatically guaranteed a spot in the Games. In the most recent Olympic cycle, Krizstian Berki (HUN), Yuri van Gelder (NED), and Aljaz Pegan (SLO) all had the “misfortune” of winning the silver medals on their specialties at the 2007 World Championships. Clearly contenders for Olympic gold, they were denied the opportunity to attend the Games in Beijing simply because they had not won the event and because they were not so fortunate as to represent a Top 12 team that automatically qualified 6 gymnasts.
Berki, van Gelder and Pegan were unsuccessful in obtaining the Wild Card despite their best efforts to secure one. They had the disadvantage of hailing from gymnast-rich Europe, knowing that the Wild Card would most likely be given to a gymnast from an underrepresented continent. Pegan had the additional disadvantage of Slovenia having already claimed an individual spot when Mitja Petkovsek won on Parallel Bars at the 2007 World Championships.
In the end, the Wild Card was awarded to a gymnast from…Yemen. Now don’t get me wrong; I am all for the participation of a variety of gymnasts from around the world, and I’m happy for Nashwan Al-Harazi in what must have been one of the most exciting moments of his life. It’s interesting (and usually very impressive) to see what sorts of skills the gymnasts from countries like Yemen can do, but surely not at the expense of three gold medal contenders.
I hope in the future we will be able to see gymnasts like Al-Harazi compete alongside gymnasts like Berki, van Gelder and Pegan. Of course, even with the new rule, there will always be the fourth-place gymnast who might not earn a spot to the Olympic Games, but at least this is a step in the right direction.
Krisztian Berki (HUN), 2007 World Championships, Pommel Horse
Yuri van Gelder (NED), 2007 World Championships, Still Rings
Aljaz Pegan (SLO), 2007 World Championships, High Bar
And just for fun, here are Nashwan Al-Harazi’s floor routine and his Rudi vault. He’s a great twister!
Nashwan Al-Harazi (YEM), 2010 MAC Open, Floor Exercise
Russia reigned supreme at the European Championships held this week in Birmingham, England. Junior gymnasts from this country won every single gold available, with Larisa Iordache of Romania tying for top honours on the floor exercise. Viktoria Komova and Anastasia Grishina packed a 1-2 punch in the all-around, and they even managed to split apparatus golds between them. Both have loads of difficulty and a style very much reminiscent of the Soviet greats that came before. Indeed, Komova is the daughter of 1986 Goodwill Games champion Vera Kolesnikova.
Viktoria Komova (RUS), 2010 European Championships, Balance Beam
The Russians all entered their beginning poses on floor exercise with a flourish. Grishina’s superior technique is evident at 0:27 with her floaty leg-up double turn to double stag jump and at 0:35 with her triple twist.
Anastasia Grishina (RUS), 2010 European Championships, Floor Exercise
Sometimes I ask myself why I love it so much when the Russian gymnasts succeed. I think the main reason is that the Soviets from years past are the very epitome of what gymnastics should be, and I want that tradition to be passed along to the new crop of gymnasts. Unfortunately, the other former Soviet republics are struggling; former powerhouses such as Belarus have fallen off the gymnastics map. The results of the Ukrainian gymnasts at these European Championships are particularly upsetting given their rich legacy in the sport. They managed just one bronze from senior Natalia Kononenko on the uneven bars, and no junior gymnasts qualified to event finals at all. (Is it true that two of the Ukrainian junior gymnasts come from gyms where they still train on wooden balance beams?!).
Natalia Kononenko (UKR), 2010 European Championships, Uneven Bars
What a tricky routine, performed with fantastic form! It was lucky for Kononenko that she hung on to the bronze, as Youna Dufournet (FRA) would have bumped her to fourth place had her coach not accidentally touched her following her Def.
Another reason I want the Russians to achieve great results is that the routines they display show the winning combination of artistry and difficulty in a time when many gymnasts simply forgo choreography.
Viktoria Komova (RUS), 2010 European Championships, Floor Exercise
I really appreciate all that Beth Tweddle has done for British gymnastics, but she should have to show more than just spectacular tumbling to earn gold medals on floor exercise (2009 Worlds and now 2010 Europeans). Anyway, there’s no disputing that her uneven bars are among the best in the world. Unbelievable!
Beth Tweddle (GBR), 2010 European Championships, Uneven Bars
I hope these European Championships mark the start of an upward trend in Russian gymnastics. Komova and Grishina have proven they have what it takes to lead Russia to great success in the future. Davai!
“Shusuke Kikuchi!”…”Jad Mazahreh!”…the announcer put on some great accents as he presented the gymnasts at the second annual Montreal World Cup. Although the field was a bit sparse, there was some great gymnastics on display.
The class of the field on floor exercise was Japanese Shusuke Kikuchi, who won by 0.65 over teammate Kyoichi Watanabe and Canadian Kevin Lytwyn. His routine included three double layouts: layout Arabian double front, layout half-in half-out to punch front-1 1/4, and a double layout dismount. Throw in three more twisting passes, and there’s your winner!
Shusuke Kikuchi (JPN), Floor Exercise, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Jordanian Ali Al Asi showed some interesting skills as well, starting with a double-twisting double layout, showing off a really low planche hold, and ending with a double layout (hands down).
Ali Al Asi (JOR), Floor Exercise, 2010 Montreal World Cup
The Finns had two young gymnasts in the floor final, Sakari Vekki (who qualified in second place behind Kikuchi) and Tomi Tuuha. The Austrians also had two gymnasts at the Montreal World Cup: Marco Mayr, who qualified to most of the event finals, and Julian Egermann, who ended up only competing on vault. He was set to perform in the floor final as well, but he suffered a scary fall to his back during the general warm up and appeared to have the wind knocked out of him.
The crowd was treated to one of the international stars on pommel horse. Krisztian Berki of Hungary displayed superb extension and a lengthy routine on his way to the gold medal, 1.15 points over silver medallist Canadian Ken Ikeda.
Krisztian Berki (HUN), Pommel Horse, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Kevin Lytwyn gave the home crowd something to cheer for with his rings routine. He defeated Ali Al Asi, who led the field in qualifications, with steady iron crosses and a stick on his layout full-out dismount.
Kevin Lytwyn (CAN), Rings, 2010 Montreal World Cup (and Maria Karpova’s beam!)
Nathan Gafuik provided the other gold medal for the Canadian team on vault with his Yurchenko-2.5 (stuck!) and his tucked double front (just about stuck!). Kikuchi and Tomi Tuuha (FIN) were both close on Gafuik’s heels, each with a Kasamatsu-2.5 and a layout Rudi.
Nathan Gafuik (CAN), Vault 2, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Tomi Tuuha (FIN), Vault 1, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Kyoichi Watanabe showed a lightness in his clean work on parallel bars to win the title on this event. The two Canadians placed second and third, and they were the only gymnasts to perform double backs between the bars (a Belle for Ikeda and a Morisue for Lytwyn). Tomi Tuuha dismounted with a not-often-seen layout front full.
Kyoichi Watanabe (JPN), Parallel Bars, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Ken Ikeda (CAN), Parallel Bars, 2010 Montreal World Cup
High bar was as exciting as always, with a field that included Slovenian Aljaz Pegan performing his signature release skill. It’s funny to see Pegan in training with his legs everywhere, but then in competition he showed the Montreal crowd the routine and the excellent form that has won him so many medals. This time he lost the title by just 0.1 despite putting his hands down on his triple back dismount.
Topping the field was Kohei Kameyama, bringing home the third gold of this competition to his native Japan. The highlight of his routine for me was not so much his super Kolman or the layout full-out dismount, but his exquisite toepoint! It’s hard to see with his competition socks on, but I have never seen a male gymnast with such a great toepoint before. It was reminiscent of Lilia Podkopayeva and the Fraguas sisters! Canadian Jackson Payne grabbed the bronze medal despite a fall after an Endo-full to layout Jaeger. He ended with a stuck double twisting double layout.
Kohei Kameyama (JPN), High Bar, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Aljaz Pegan (SLO), High Bar, 2010 Montreal World Cup
Jackson Payne (CAN), High Bar, 2010 Montreal World Cup
And there you have it…. This is only the second time this city has hosted the Montreal World Cup event, and I’m looking forward to attending in years to come. Last year the women’s side had a very small field and it was cancelled altogether this time around, but hopefully in the years to come this meet will develop into a competition as great as the DTB Cup and the Glasgow Grand Prix.
Last week the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique made its announcement: Dong Fangxiao will have her individual Olympic results from Sydney 2000 nullified (the FIG has yet to rule on the team bronze won by China). She was found to be 14-years-old at the 2000 Olympic Games, two years short of the age requirement of 16. Teammate Yang Yun, who later admitted she was also only 14 at the time, will retain her bronze medal on bars, due to insufficient proof that she was underage.
Dong Fangxiao, 2000 Olympic Games, NBC Fluff
Dong Fangxiao, 2000 Olympic Games, Floor Exercise
This scandal is the third in a string of blemishes marking the women’s competition in Sydney. The all-around was marred first by the vault setting error, and then by all-around champion Andreea Raducan’s positive test for pseudoephedrine (no longer a banned substance).
Cheaters do need to be punished, but what is the appropriate punishment in this case? Is this really fair to strip Dong and her teammates of their medal when she was just a young gymnast who likely played no role in the deceit? And 10 years later, it’s hardly fair to punish the new generation of gymnasts by banning them from FIG competitions, as happened to North Korea in the early 1990s. (Then again, that’s not to say that this kind of cheating is a thing of the past…we all know of the controversy surrounding He Kexin and Deng Linlin at the 2008 Olympic Games!)
And what about all the other gymnasts who have later admitted to being underage at major competitions? If Dong and Yang’s cases were only investigated because they fell in the 10-year time frame, does that not seem a bit arbitrary? What about looking into the real birth dates of other gymnasts who have admitted being underage, most notably Romanians stars Gina Gogean, Sabina Cojocar, Alexandra Marinescu, Daniela Silivas and Ecaterina Szabo? (I find it amusing that Bela Karolyi was one of the most vocal critics during the age controversy in Beijing!)
A Brief History of Underage Gymnastics
Unfortunately, it’s the countries that play by the rules who suffer most when others cheat. Canada had some wonderful junior gymnasts in 2008 (most notably Charlotte Mackie, Peng Peng Lee and Brittany Rogers) and along with Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Kristina Vaculik and Nansy Damianova, we most likely would have qualified a full team to the Olympics had they been allowed to contribute routines at the qualifying World Championships the year before.
Perhaps the best solution is a proactive one: birth dates for gymnasts should be checked carefully by the FIG before they start competing internationally, and national federations should be warned that there will be more severe sanctions should they try to cheat.
Part of me thinks there shouldn’t be an age limit at all, thus eliminating this dilemma, but I acknowledge the importance of protecting young children from the pressures of international competition. Raising the age limit from 15 to 16, as the FIG did in 1997, might have actually increased the incidence of cheating since many female gymnasts are often in top form well before age 16.
I feel sorry for Dong Fangxiao since she is embroiled in this mess that she surely didn’t create. It’s also a shame that her career was cut short due to her hip dysplasia. Stay tuned for the FIG’s ruling on China’s team bronze medal….
