Over the years, Cuba has produced an array of highly talented gymnasts. Olympian Erick Lopez Rios springs to mind as the AA Champion in four consecutive Pan-American Games (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003). Annia Portuondo Hatch brought a Vault medal home to Cuba from the 1996 World Championships, and then won a Silver medal on the same event at the 2004 Olympic Games while competing under the American flag. Another Cuban World medallist who would like a chance to compete for the USA is Charlie Tamayo. Though he defected from his homeland in 2003 during the Anaheim World Championships, citizenship paperwork prevented him from striving for a spot on the 2008 American team. Now his goal is to represent his adopted country at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Annia Hatch, Vault, 2004 Olympic Games

Charlie Leon Tamayo, Montage

Here are all the Bits shown in this montage:

0:01 Press to Handstand Hop Half

0:03 Arabian Triple Front Half Out into pit

0:07 Triple Pike off Rings into pit

0:13 Press to Handstand Hop Full

0:16 Double Front off Parallel Bars on to mats stacked very high!

0:19 Double Front Pike off Parallel Bars

0:26 Layout Double Double

0:29 Standing Double Full

0:32 Triple Front off Parallel Bars into pit

0:36 Layout Front immedaite Front Double Double into pit

0:40 Layout Front immediate Triple Front into pit

0:43 Um…two flips and at least four twists…? Help!

0:46 Standing Half In Half Out into pit

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. –writer Emile Zola

Hard work made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win. –gymnast Nadia Comaneci

Gymnasts and gym fans alike know the amount of intense training it takes to reach the top. Starting from a young age, gymnasts learn the discipline that is required to put their bodies through hours of rigorous training each day.

Fans from around the world have produced some amazing training montages over the years, but there are a few in particular I’d like to point out. The first is a fantastic one I came across called Training Emotions. I like it because it covers a wide variety of skills, gymnasts and eras, and I enjoy the dramatic music too!

Training Emotions Montage, by Gymlover

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5IvKIoTgoE

My favourite parts:

-A pensive portrait of Yelena Mukhina at 0:42. She will forever be remembered as the 1978 World Champion, denied a chance at the 1980 Olympic Games after a terrible injury. She passed away due to complications from her paralysis in late 2006.

-Unique skills, such as the aerial cartwheel perpendicular to the beam at 1:48, the Gaylord at 1:58 and the German giants to Tkatchev at 2:06.

-The gymnast practising a layout Jaeger with a harness at 2:15.

-Jackie Bender at 3:06. She was a strong gymnast on the Canadian National Team in the early 1990s, but I believe her strength, flexibility and balance would have lent itself well to Sports Acro or a show such as Cirque du Soleil.

Jackie Bender, Former Canadian National Team Member

The next training montage includes all the gymnasts striving to be part of the Unified Team at the 1992 Olympic Games. This was to be the last time competing together under one flag.

Soviet Training Montage

I’ll leave you with a well-made montage about China’s training system. I’ll reserve comment, except to say that it’s hard to watch such young gymnasts and that perhaps raising the age limit in international competition wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

Gymnastics in China

Please leave a comment and tell me about other montages you enjoy watching. I’m always interested in discovering new ones!

Three years ago on Christmas Eve, the mysterious black-and-white videos of the 1984 Friendship Games in Olomouc were suddenly unveiled. Indeed, there had been question as to whether or not footage of this competition actually existed, and discussions surrounding its whereabouts frequently popped up on gymnastics message boards.

Gymnasts from behind the Iron Curtain gathered in the Czechoslovakian city as an alternative to the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. One notable exception was the Romanian team, which chose to compete in Los Angeles, but other strong teams such as the Soviets, East Germans, Czechoslovakians and Hungarians showed up in Olomouc to compete for medals.

Olga Mostepanova of the Soviet Union was the class of the women’s field in Olomouc, making history with her unbeatable score of 40.00! This is the first and only time a gymnast has achieved true perfection across all four events. Though there were still some memorable performances in Los Angeles, the Soviets’ winning combination of artistry and athleticism was sorely missed. Despite having the competition of her life to take the gold medal, Mary Lou Retton would not be the household name she is today had these Olympic Games been fully attended.

As you watch the first clip, take note of Mostepanova’s extension and amplitude. Her opening sequence is as difficult as any performed today, and though the skill at 0:14 is credited to Henrietta Onodi in the Code of Points, Mostepanova was in fact the first to perform this Arabian handspring in international competition. (Even Onodi herself refers to the “Onodi” as a “Mostepanova”!)

Olga Mostepanova, 1984 Friendship Games, Balance Beam

Irina Baraksanova, also representing the Soviet Union at the Friendship Games, displayed some exquisite floor work. Her team won the gold medal with a total of 395.25 out of a possible 400.00 points.

Irina Baraksanova, 1984 Friendship Games, Floor Exercise

The long lines of the Eastern bloc gymnasts stand in stark contrast to the powerful performances of Olympic Champion Mary Lou Retton. She was able to take advantage of the home crowd and the absence of many top gymnasts in order to secure the title.

Mary Lou Retton, 1984 Olympic Games, Balance Beam

Though true fans of gymnastics are undoubtedly thrilled that the rare footage of the Friendship Games has been released two decades later, one can’t help but wonder how the Olympic medal tallies would be different had all the countries of the world participated. It would have been nice for the Soviet, East German, Czechoslovakian and Hungarian gymnasts to showcase their talent on the biggest of world stages, and to have their efforts appreciated on a global scale.

At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci was the talk of the town. Olga Korbut may have put gymnastics on the Olympic map four years earlier, but Comaneci continued its run as one of the most popular Olympic sports when she captured headlines by scoring seven Perfect 10s.

Nadia Comaneci, 1976 Olympic Games, Uneven Bars

Though Nadia’s name remains one of the most recognized in the sport, there is another gymnast who could be considered a hero from same Olympic Games. The Japanese men were engaged in a tough battle with the Soviet Union for the team title, and they had a rich heritage to defend; Shun Fujimoto’s team was attempting to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal. During the team competition, Fujimoto fractured his kneecap competing on his first apparatus of the day, Floor Exercise. He didn’t acknowledge that the injury had occurred, lest he discourage his teammates or show weakness to the judges. He continued on to Pommel Horse and finally the Still Rings, where he would have to land a half-in half-out dismount on a hurt leg. In a brave display of Olympic spirit, Fujimoto performed his Ring routine for a career-high 9.70. He landed in agony on the mat below, dislocating his fractured kneecap and tearing ligaments. Fujimoto could no longer hide his injury, Fujimoto was forced to withdraw. He did, however, contribute to Japan’s 0.40 victory over the Soviet Union. Shun Fujimoto: An Olympic Hero.

Shun Fujimoto, 1976 Olympic Games, Still Rings

“Fujimoto took home two souvenirs – a gold medal and a cast on his leg.”  –Sports Illustrated

Hello everyone! I am pleased to see that I’m getting a fair amount of traffic to my blog, and I want to give a special shout out to my friends from St. Catharines, Tallahassee, West Hollywood and New York City!

There are a few important tidbits of news circulating in the gymnastics world this week. To begin with, it has come to light that former gymnast Emilia Eberle (now known as Trudi Kollar) and choreographer Geza Pozsar are writing a book describing the alleged physical and emotional abuse they suffered or witnessed in Romania at the hands of Bela and Marta Karolyi. They have American Dominique Moceanu in their corner, too. She has been speaking out against the Karolyis’ training methods since before the Beijing Olympics, and has now encouraged others to do the same. More to follow when the tell-all book is eventually published….

Emilia Eberle, 1979 Chunichi Cup, Uneven Bars

Now for a bit of bad news: over the weekend, Anna Pavlova (one of my favourites!) tore her ACL on her 2.5-twist Balance Beam dismount at the DTB Cup in Stuttgart, Germany. She was carried off the podium by her coach/mother. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Here’s a montage which highlights her career up to and including the injury. Interestingly, it’s set to her Floor Exercise music from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Anna Pavlova Montage