Merry Christmas!

Flawless…

Click play or watch the mixed pair from Ukraine at the Unive Gymgala on YouTube:

Fantastic Acrobatic Gymnastics at Gym Gala

Belgium has some of the best acrobatic gymnasts in the world. And every year, they perform as a group and individually at the Gymnastic Gala; this year they even showed their new routines for 2012 – very entertaining and excellently executed! Enjoy!

My favourite mixed pair at the moment: Laure de Pryck and Nicolas Vleeshouwers!

Click play or watch them on YouTube:

Here’s the highlight of the whole show, the group acrobatic – watch out, Spelbound! (YouTube)

Julie van Gelder, Ineke van Schoor and Laure Maes are a promising junior women’s group who really know how to dance. Click play or watch them on YouTube:

Last but not least Nikki Snel and Eline de Smedt with one of the best choreographed routines I’ve seen! (YouTube)

Gymgalas: Dementyeva, Ponor, Koczi and more

Belgium has one of the best gym galas (if not the best) in the world. They always invite some of the best rhythmic gymnasts, acrobatic gymnasts, normally they have trampoline, tumbling (not this year), “show acts” and, of course also artistic gymnasts. This year, Anna Dementyeva as well as Vasiliki Millousi (who replaced Jessica Lopez) performed floor, bars and beam (or better said: piano & beam ). While Dementyeva fell at the Akasha Gym Gala on floor and twice on beam (here’s her fall-free bar routine from that show) she got it right at the Gym Gala in Gent and entertained the audience with a beautiful floor routine.

Click play or watch her on YouTube:

Here’s Anna Dementyeva’s bar routine (or on YouTube):

At the very same show, Vasiliki Millousi performed on beam and the piano…

Click play or watch her beautiful, elegant and exact lines on YouTube:

Meanwhile, Flavius Koczi proved why he is one of the best tumblers and twisters.

Here’s his floor routine (or on YouTube):

Another Romanian, comeback-queen Catalina Ponor, mixed it up a little bit at the Unive Gym Gala in the Netherlands and chose a unitard for her routine on and under the beam.

Click play or watch her on YouTube:

Catalina Ponor also performed on floor (YouTube):

And if you haven’t seen this gala from the recent competition in Mexico with Ksenia Afanasyeva, Danell Leyva + Dad/Coach and many more in full length and in a good quality, you can do it now!

Here or on YouTube:

Chanel models chill on the bars in the sea

How about a giant!?

Zombies on the floor

I missed to post this combined routine of the Ukraine women’s group at the 2010 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in Poland on Halloween. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Click play or watch them on YouTube:

What’s up with the line-up for the World Cup in Stuttgart????

UPDATE: More changes at the DTB-Pokal. Elisabeth Seitz is out (due to an infection of her foot) – Kim Bui is in.

Next weekend the third 2011 FIG AA World Cup in artistic gymnastics will take place in Stuttgart. If you check the line-up for the actual all-around competition there’s been added the name of a gymnast I haven’t heard of before: Caroline van Gerner (NED). Could this be Celine van Gerner?? But Celine van Gerner was injured after Worlds… So do you know who Caroline van Gerner is??

Female participants in the all-around are Ksenia AFANASYEVA (RUS) Yulia Belokobylskaya (RUS), Qiushuang HUANG (CHN), Nadine JAROSCH (GER), Lauren MITCHELL (AUS), Emily Little (AUS), Elisabeth SEITZ (GER) Kim Bui (GER), Giulia STEINGRUBER (SUI) and the mysterious Caroline VAN GERNER (NED) Marlies Rijken (NED).

Hannah Whelan and Jessica Lopez are out, but Giulia Steingruber is in.

Male participants in the all-around are Philipp BOY (GER), Samuel HUNTER (GBR), Mykola KUKSENKOV (UKR), Rafael MARTINEZ (ESP), Marcel NGUYEN (GER), Daniel PURVIS (GBR), Emin GARIBOV (RUS) and Shogo NONOMURA (JPN).

More importantly, the additional team competition (not part of the actual World Cup) might give us a first look on Mustafina’s post-injury and post-rehab routines. Yes, Aliya Mustafina as well as Maria Paseka and Alena Polyan are on the Russian team. Word is, Mustafina will compete in Mexico in December. But maybe she’s already ready and if so, we all know she must be hungry to finally compete again.

Here’s a complete list of all the teams (changes are still possible) – the line-up looks pretty good on both sides, the women’s and the men’s:

WOMEN

MEN

official website / list of participants in the all-around / international teams: women & men

Swiss Cup 2011 – Report and Videos

Swiss Champions: Giulia Steingruber and Claudio Capelli

Go over to The Couch Gymnast to read my report about the 2011 Swiss Cup! And watch some videos!

A pair to watch: Laure de Pryck and Nicolas Vleeshouwers

Belgium’s junior mixed pair, Laure de Pryck and Nicolas Vleeshouwers, won every possible gold medal at the recent European Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics in Varna, Bulgaria. They follow in the footsteps of retired acrobatic pairs from Belgium, Julie van Gelder & Menno Vanderghote and Amber van Wijk & Nik de Roeck. They’ll win more medals in the future and not only because of their high difficulty in both routines – balance and dynamic – but also because of their incredible artistry, execution and synchrony. They blend extremely well together! Enjoy their routines!

Click play or watch their balance routine (28.700 – one of the highest scores of the competition) on YouTube:

Click play or watch their dynamic routine on YouTube:

Click play or watch their combined routine on YouTube:

After watching almost all of the routines at the European Acrobatic Championships I’m convinced more than ever: If you want artistry in gymnastics you have to judge artistry in gymnastics - if “artistic” gymnastics doesn’t start to give points for artistry as rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics does, nothing will change. (It does not have to be worth one third of the overall score – in rhythmic and acrobatic you have at most 10.0 for difficulty, 10.0 for execution and 10.0 for artistry – but at least enough to “force” coaches and gymnasts to put more effort in choreography, dance, expression, creativity – so maybe some tenth!?)

2011 European Acrobatic Championships – All-Around Results & Photos

Today, the 2011 European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships in Varna (BUL) concluded with the combined routines of the junior and senior gymnasts.

In the senior division, Russia won with the women’s group and the men’s pair two more gold medals in the all-around. Great Britain took gold with the women’s pair and the men’s group. And Portugal surprisingly won the mixed pair title.

detailed results all-around: mixed pair / women’s group / men’s pair / men’s group / women’s pair

In the junior division, the mixed pair from Belgium Laure de Pryck and Nicolas Vleeshouwers won their third gold medal ahead of Alice Upcott and Dominic Smith of Great Britain and Charlotte Deneuville and Maxime Rolland Jacob from France. All of the other gold medals went to Russia.

detailed results all-around: mixed pair junior / women’s group junior / men’s pair junior / men’s group junior / women’s pair junior

Overall, Russia dominated the field, followed by Great Britain, Belgium, Belarus and the Ukraine:

RUS 13 gold / 12 silver

GBR 6 gold / 4 silver / 3 bronze

BEL 5 gold / 2 silver / 3 bronze

BLR 3 gold / 8 silver / 7 bronze

UKR 2 gold / 2 silver / 6 bronze

POR 1 gold / 1 bronze

BUL 2 silver / 5 bronze

POL 4 bronze

FRA 1 bronze

Alice Upcott and Dominic Smith (GBR)

Great Britain's men's group

Cirque de Soleil

2011 European Acrobatic Championships – More Results & Photos

On the second day of finals at the 2011 European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships in Varna (BUL), the top nations still dominated the field.

In the junior division, Belgium won gold with the women’s pair and mixed pair – Nicolas Vleeshouwers and Laure de Pryck got (one of ?) the highest execution scores: 9.400. Russia took the title with the men’s group, Great Britain won with the men’s pair and Belarus with the women’s group. Silver and bronze medals also went to these nations and Ukraine and Bulgaria.

detailed results: mixed pair junior – static / women’s group junior – static / men’s pair junior – dynamic / men’s group junior – dynamic / women’s pair junior – dynamic

Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Great Britain shared the gold medals in the senior division. Ukraine won with the men’s group, Belarus with the mixed pair after the Russian pair (Revaz Gurgenidze and Tatiana Okulova) had to take some steps on their balance elements), Great Britain took the title with the men’s pair (Spelbound’s Edward Upcott and Adam Mcassey won their second gold at the Championships). And Russia dominated the women’s group and women’s pair final. In addition, Ukraine won four bronze medals and Portugal surprisingly ended up on the podium (third place) with the mixed pair.

detailed results: mixed pair – static / women’s group – static / men’s pair – dynamic / men’s group – dynamic / women’s pair – dynamic

 

Click here to watch today’s grand final with the combined routines!

And there were also some excellent new photos uploaded!

Belgium juniors Nicolas Vleeshouwers and Laure de Pryck - second gold

Russia's Revaz Gurgenidze and Tatiana Okulova - "only" silver

juniors Maryna Samkevich and Darya Nestsiaruk (BLR) - bronze medal

Adam Mcassey and Edward Upcott (GBR) on top of the podium