Gymnastics blogs

UPDATED Feb/2011

There´s a lot going on in the world of gymnastics and fortunately a lot of people are blogging about all the exciting news to keep gymnastic fans everywhere up-to-date. My aim is to give you a pretty complete list of (English) blogs in the internet. So let´s start:

1. Gymnastics Coaching – It´s (one of) the biggest gymnastics blog in the internet with more than 4000 posts! Chapeau! He has always something new to tell about all kinds of gymnastics as well as a pretty good list of gymnastics pages. Of course he writes a lot about coaching, too.   “GymnasticsCoaching.com is edited by Rick McCharles from Canada. He is a career gymnastics coach and an occasional consultant to talent scouts with Cirque du Soleil.” (About)
2. The Gymblog / Gymnastics Examiner - Blythe Lawrence surely has a pretty long list of posts, too. It was the first gymnastics blog I started reading… till today. She posts every important news, or about gymnastic skills, competitions etc.
3. The Couch Gymnast – That´s a great blog with a lot of funny posts (best/worst leotard contest or writing, what the gymnasts really said) but also very interesting reports about gymnasts from different countries. And I absolutely loved the reports about the 2009 Worlds. Self-disclosure: “I am a self-confessed Gymnastics Couch Potato who never got to do the sport outside of school and the backyard lessons my next door neighbour gave me. I learned everything I know about the Code of Points from Lyssenko of You Tube gloriousness. And I love women’s gymnastics with a passion most of my fellow countrymen reserve for Australian Rules Football!”
4. About.com: Gymnastics – A lot of good stuff about the US gymnasts and gymnastics in general. Amy Van Deusen: “Gymnastics is an incredibly fun sport whether you’re a participant, a coach or a spectator. My goal is to improve your experience in gymnastics — whatever it may be!” (About)
5. Admiring Gymnastics From Afar – New Zealander Kary Kleiner blogs since June 2010 about gymnastics music, why she loves gymnastics and reflects about the last year. She doesn’t post daily but regularly.
6. American Gymnast – Andy Thornton has innovative ideas (made his own CoP), good analysis (World/Olympic Format) and a lot more!
7. Apex Technical Corner – Geoffrey wants to share some technical knowledge with parents and gymnasts (e.g. handstands, CoP…)
8. Australian Gymnastics Blog – Everything you want to know about the Australian stars of gymnastics. This blog is always really up-to-date!
9. Body Rhythm – Figure Skating, Dancing (DWTS!) & Gymnastics!
10. Chinese Gymnastics – Finally we have an English blog about Gymnastics in China which informs us about the current national team members, publishes pictures and videos of the Spring Festival…
11. Double Front - A very professional looking website with news about elite gymnastics meets, NCAA, the Olympics… Double Front started two month ago and is not just a normal gymnastics blog: By posting on her blog, Kristal S. Boulden also wants “to understand the intersection of artistic gymnastics, digital culture and social media“.
12. Elite Gymnastics Stars – “a look at the world of gymnastics from outside the box.  Okay – WAY outside the box.”
13. Exclamation Points – “The purpose of this “blog” is to increase and refine our knowledge of coaching strategies, biomechanics, and drills for the sport of Women’s Competitive Gymnastics.” But you can also read about perfection, gymnastics meets and elements. Especially active gymnasts can get good advice how to improve their performances.
14. Fangymnastics – Romanian gymnastics blog – Everything you want to know about the Romanian stars of gymnastics (some posts are Romanian).
15. Full In Full Out – “News, updates & speculation, peppered with my mostly informed opinion, about women’s artistic gymnastics.” – I couldn´t have said it better. Click to see the Fiercest Bitchfaces.
16. Full Twist - A regularly updated blog which you should really check out.
17. Gimnastas – Good Spanish gymnastics blog. Here´s a nice post about gymnastics in commercials with another clip (for Samsonite) I didn´t know.
18. GK Elite – All about the leotards and the gymnasts who wear them.
19. Going for Gold – The Home of Gymnastics, Figure Skating and other Olympic Sports.
20. GRACEful Gymnast – “I am a region 2 coach and gymnast. Currently coaching at Grace Gymnastics and healing from an injury. I am absolutely OBSESSED with gymnastics related anything!” Read what she has to say about Al Fong, Ivana Hong & gymnasts who train with injury.
21. Gymfever (editor recently changed the blog’s name) - A newly found (see comments) Romanian blog. Though I don´t know the language, I really liked some new photos of Khorkina wearing black fashion or a great collection of Romanian leotards.
22. Gymnastics and Stuff – Good blog about elite gymnastics with a lot of great pictures.
23. Gymnastics Leotards – All about girls gymnastics leotards.
24. Gymnastics Meet Reviews and Tips – “If you’re anything like us, we spend a few thousand dollars a year traveling to meets, not to mention the rest of the costs. I will share with you the information I use to save money, keep trips enjoyable and turn some of them into ultra mini family vacations…” (What this Blog Covers)
25. Gymnastics, No Ceiling – Features female Romanian gymnasts (in English).
26. Gymnastics Perfection – A very new blog (3 posts so far) that follows the news and events of gymnastics.
27. Gymnastics the Great – Nicole writes about US gymnastics, equipment, why you should put your child into gymnastics, Shawn Johnson…
28. GymNiceTic –
29. Gymtruthteller – The title of the blog describes exactly the bloggers way of writing about gymnastics: “I have an opinion and I am not afraid to use it. If you don’t like that don’t read my blog. (About)” or “…if you want 100% honesty and no bias then stop here at my blog. I will hold NO punches…”
30. I-Gym – (short for Internet Gymnastics) Chrissy (mother) and Ben (son, eight years old) from Scotland started writing about gymnastics in January 2011.
31. It’s About Artistic Gymnastics – Since September 2009 Norma puts tons and tons of photos on her blog.
32. Level 4 and Rising – “To share, commiserate, and celebrate the thrills and spills of coaching gymnastics, especially the compulsory and prep-optional levels. Upward we go!” – some funny gym-dialogues among other things
33. littlemissgymnast - Sarah had the great idea to start a blog about the up and coming new talents in the gymnastics world.
34. Mielastic Gymnastic – This blog (formerly ChimGym and then Keishlieta Gymnastique) already exists since two years but it never came under my radar.
35. Official Website of Sho Nakamori – ´Follow Him Follow His Dreams: Olympics 2012.´
36. Recreation Gymnastics – Rick from GymnasticsCoaching just opened this new blog about recreational gymnastics and has already posted a lot.
37. Rewriting Russian Gymnastics – “Personal reflections on the beautiful Russians – repository of links and references – reviews of the literature and media – contemporary and historical issues relating to Russian women’s gymnastics.”
38. Spanny Tampson’s Big Fake Smile – I love this funny & ironic blog, the gymnastic-themed-cakes, and especially all of the gymnastics montages! My favourite: The Gymnast is a Vamp, She’s a Vixen Not a Tramp – check them all out on the YouTube-channel!
39. StickItMedia – Men´s Gymnastics in the USA.
40. STOI! – I guess you all know Bronwyn and Clara’s blog which started in November 2010. They write mainly about Russian gymnastics – it’s funny and they always have a strong opinion.
41. The All Around – Covers a lot of big gymnastics competitions (World Cups, Worlds, Olympics…).
42. The All Around – Amy who works for Gymnastike just started her own blog.
43. The Split Leap – The blogger’s effort to compile a list of results and linked videos of the US Junior Nationals 2010 really impressed me.
44. The World of Gymnastics – Gives some basic informations about the apparatus or how to select a music or leotard.
45. Tsukahara tucked – A Spanish blog about elite gymnastics. The blogger lives in Argentina.
46. wild/precious – Not all of Vanessa’s posts are about gymnastics, but I especially liked the portaits she did at U.S. Nationals 2010.
47. World Gymnastics – Mainly about American elite & college gymnasts.

“Old” gymnastics pages, not updated since January 2011:

1. addicted2gym – A college gymnast who started her blog fresh in 2010 after almost one year of absence.
2. All Gymnastics, All the time
3. Ask Al Fong – Dragon Gymnastics – You want to ask Ivana Hong’s former coach something? Or your just want to take a look at Vega, Ross & co. doing a light workout in the hotel corridor?
4. Brazilian Gymnastics
5. Coaching Gymnastics in the new Millenium – Self-description: “This blog is dedicated to the discussion of training strategies, development, and growth of the sport of artistic gymnastics.”
6. Cosmic-Corinne – Did the blog “why i don’t like elfi schlegel” and in case you wonder, the blogger “still hate elfi schlegel”.
7. Dead Hangs R Us – A relatively new gymnastics and figure skating blog: “This blog will be focused on both the classic and the lesser known routines.”
8. Difficulty plus Execution – Not too many posts in the last months, but still worth to read. “For those of you expecting something intelligent, you will probably be very disappointed; all observations made are superficial, and dare we say ignorant, as the blogger knows nothing about the technicalities of the sport; she does not even know how to distinguish a Gienger from a Jaeger. But then, she believes that the true beauty of gymnastics comes not from the skills themselves but from the people who do them.” (About)
9. Double Salto
10. ET Gymnastics Coaching – Interesting thoughts and informations about his life as a coach.
11. Folger’s Gymnastics – “Youth Sports Blog for Coaches, Parents, Gymnasts and Gymnastics Fans”
12. Gymchat – Kayleigh´s last post is an essay entitled “Nastia Liukin – My Hero“.
13. Gymnastics In Europe
14. Gymnastics Issues – New interesting blog (see comments), writing for example about the high difficulty level for young gymnasts. The editor, a gymnastics coach and sport psychologist, is also the author of the blog “Gymnastics in Europe” (see above).
15. Gymnastics: It´s an obsession – Good posts about US elite gymnasts & other famous gymnasts around the world.
16. gymnicetics
17. He Kexin = 14 – Will the blogger be consequent & change the title next year into He Kexin = 15?
18. Inspired by Nadia – A Nadia fan who dedicated this blog to Nadia Comaneci and her Romanian fellows today.
19. Japanese Gymnastics
20. Kunstturnen – That’s my own brandnew blog about gymnastics in Germany & the world. It will be similar to GymNiceTic except for my goal to cover more German gymnastics news and of course the fact that it’s in German.
21. Kyle Shewfelt – Olympic gymnast Kyle Shewfelt shares his thoughts with us.
22. MunchTheSilivasFan – The 18-year old editor not only sweetens our gymnastics life with great montages on YouTube, but also started a blog recently.
23. perfect 10
24. perfection is possible
25. Past & Present Gymnastics
26. Piked
27. Polished Gymnastics 101
28. Shergymrag
29. Should have been. A Blog about Gymnastics
30. The C Score
31. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Leotards
32. The Gymnut
33. Tkatchif-your-lucky - This and that about gymnastics.
34. Triple Full – A lot of people loved this blog. Unfortunately there aren´t any new excellent researched articles since February.
35. Viola Roadkill
36. why i don´t like elfi schlegel

Other gymnastics pages worth to watch:

1. Couch Gymnast Magazine – A new project of the one and only Couch Gymnast (blog above). Q&A, opinion, interviews, technicalities, features, quiz…and a lot more!
2. Gymnastike – Gives us a fantastic inside look behind the doors of gyms in the USA. Technique Tuesday, Workout Wednesday and a lot of great interviews with elite gymnasts sweetens our week.
3. Moss News – Gymnastics News – Wanna see all the new posts without opening every blog? Moss News collects them for you.
4. International Gymnast – The online version of the gymnastics magazine.
5. IG Online Forum – A lot of interesting topics are discussed in the International Gymnast´s Forum.
6. Inside Gymnastics – Another gymnastics magazine.
7. Gymnastics Results – Complete results of gymnastics competitions ready to download!
8. GymSmarts Community – Compiles a number of coaches blogs, for example Mary Lee Tracy, Mas Watanabe or Tammy Biggs.
9. Links to Gymnastics – Collection of links to videos, photos, rhythmic, artistic & acrobatic blogs…

I forgot a/your blog? – Please leave a comment!

An “old” blog should be switched to the “updated-blogs-section”? – Please leave a comment!

I wrote something absolutely wrong about a/your blog? – Please leave a comment!

I´ll keep this post updated!

TRIPLE twisting double back!

Click play or watch it on YouTube:

More about the tumbling power of the Japanese men on the American Gymnast Blog.

Russian SuperPower

After I did the last post about the Romanian girls, I thought about the other Eastern European / Asian gym country -  Russia – and their big pool of talented young gymnasts.

Who might be in the 2012 team?

Ksenia Semenova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Aliya Mustafina, Anna Myzdrikova, Tatiana Nabieva, Viktoria Komova… & the list is not concluded yet!

By the way, there´s an interesting translation of an interview with Viktoria Komova in the IG Forum:

“- Do you remember how she entered the gym?
She unexpectedly becomes embarrassed: “No”. Her coach, Gennady Elfimov, smiles:
- How do I remember her? She was born in the gym. Her parents would carry her here to the gym and let her hang out. Then gradually she started to work. This still happens now.

- Is it difficult for you? You know, when you work with her parents, who does the girl heed advice from?
G.E. – No. We became friends with her family. Verochka asked me to coach her daughter, and she trusted me. Of course, we discuss a great deal. But neither her mother nor father interfere with the training process. I take full responsibility for their daughter.

- When did you guys realize you were capable of winning?
V.K. – I haven’t realized that yet. I’m just training…”

Click here to read the full post.

Romanian Strength

Sandra Izbasa, Amelia Racea, Ana Porgras, Diana Bulimar & Larisa Iordache

Wouldn´t this be a good Romanian team for the 2012 Olympics? Or do you have someone else in mind who might be better? And yes, I don´t think either Sandra Izbasa will continue till then.

Gymgala 2009

Christmas break is the time when even the superhuman, everyday training gymnasts take a break from their passion and enjoy some days with their non-gym-family. Every gymnast? No, a little group of athletes resists and decides to perform to our all pleasure even in the late December.

Gymnastic fans can visit several gymgalas, for example the Dutch Gymgala Van Vlaanderen presents all kinds of high-class gymnastics:

• ARTISTIC: Yann Cucherat (FRA), Krisztian Berki (HUN), Ana Porgras (ROU), Anna Myzdrikova (RUS), Aagje Vanwalleghem (BEL)
• ACROBATIC: European Champions Julie Van Gelder & Menno Vanderghote (BEL)
• RHYTHMIC: European, World and Olympic Champion Evgenia Kanaeva (RUS)
• TUMBLING: Andrey Krylov (RUS)
• TRAMPOLINE: Yuriy Nikitin (UKR)…

I personally love the acrobatic group exercises. Click play or watch it on YouTube:

The 2007/2008 exercise isn´t bad either.

2009 photos

Chuso comes back in 2010

Merry Christmas!!

Here´s a very nice present: Oksana Chusovitina plans to compete in 2010! At the moment, she trains everyday on vault, which she will hopefully show at the World Cup in Cottbus next March (in three month!), as well as on beam for the Worlds in Rotterdam. In January she will return from Tashkent to Cologne and continue her training at the age of 34 (!) with her longtime coach Shanna Poljakova.

Well, she can´t get enough… 

external source (German)