Imogen Cairns out of Selections for World Championships

Imogen at the 2005 World Championships in Melborne. Photo copyright of Etsuko Ikeda and must not be copied or reproduced without permission.

Unfortunately, Great Britain’s Imogen Cairns has had to withdraw from selection for the World Championships Team. After winning the first trial on September 20th, Imogen then went to train at Lileshall with the National Squad but she developed increasing back pain. An X-Ray later revealed a stress fracture and she has returned home to rehabilitate.

Imogen was a finalist in last year’s World Championships in Melbourne and is also a European and Commonwealth Finalist on Vault. She won the Gold Medal in the Individual Vault Final against Romania last month and finished in 4th place in the All Around.  

Imogen announced on her Web Site that she is very sad at not being able to represent Great Britain in Aarhus but wishes the British Team all the best of luck! She will now concentrate on rehab for her back and learning to drive! She looks forward to competing again in 2007.

All the best Im for a speedy recovery and get well soon from us all.

ROSALIE HUTTON ANNOUNCES HER RETIREMENT

Great Britain and Scotland gymnast Rosalie Hutton has announced that she has retired from gymnastics after achieving her ambitions earlier this year, and wants to try new things.

Born on December 29th, 1989, Ros from Pipers Vale Club in Ipswich, was the highest scoring gymnast in the Scottish Team which placed 5th at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on 2006 with Ros receiving 51.850. She placed 11th in the All Around Finals qualifying for both Beam and Floor Commonwealth Finals.

Ros began gym at the age of 6, and by age 7 was coached by Andy and Elaine Wood at her local Club in Lynnsport in Kings Lynn. She followed her Coaches when they moved to Ipswich in 2000 making a return journey of 150 miles for each training session! In 2002 Ros came 4th in the British Espoir Championships and won Silver on Bars and bronze on Beam.  

Ros fought back from a serious hip injury in 2003 and was advised by doctor’s to give up gymnastics. But she showed great determination and fought back to make her International debut in 2004 where the GB A Team defeated France. Ros was then selected for the Great Britain Junior Team which won a record 4th place in the Junior European Championships. She went on to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Melbourne in 2004. Scotland won the Team bronze medal with Ros placing 10th in the All Around, plus 4th on Bars and 5th on Floor.

In 2005 she represented Great Britain in Internationals against Italy and Switzerland in a 3 way International where the GB Team won Silver Medals. She also competed against China helping the Team win Gold Medals. She scored 34.175 from Ros with her highlight being an 8.875 on Vault. Ros also became Scottish Champion and competed in her first Senior British Championships where she came 6th in the All Around, and won bronze in the beam Finals plus 6th in the Floor Finals. She was then sidelined with injury for much of the remaining year but once more fought back to be selected for the Scottish Team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006. 

Ros also competed in her second Senior British Championships in Guildford this year placing 6th in the All Around with another fine performance.

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Good luck Ros in your future career from us all and thanks for some great gym memories.

USA WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS TEAM FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TO BE ANNOUNCED ON 5TH OCTOBER!

The USA Women’s team for the 2006 World Artistic Championships will be named following the U.S. Women’s Team Selection Camp which takes place from Sept. 30-Oct. 5, at USA Gymnastics Women’s National Training Center in Huntsville, Texas.

The U.S. Team will be chosen from the participants at the Selection Camp: Jana Bieger, Coconut Creek, Fla./Boca Twisters; Jacquelyn Johnson, Westchester, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics; Natasha Kelley, Katy, Texas/Stars Houston; Nastia Liukin, Parker, Texas/WOGA; Hilary Mauro, Hamilton, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics; Chellsie Memmel, West Allis, Wis./M&M Gymnastics; Ashley Priess, Hamilton, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics; Britney Ranzy, Chesapeake, Va./Excalibur; and Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass./Brestyan’s with Martha Karolyi as the national team coordinator.

The six-woman squad will be announced on Oct. 5, following the Selection camp.

A World Champion is crowned! Chellsie Memmel is crowned 2005 World Champion in Melbourne wuth US team mate Nastia Liukin claiming the Silver Medal! Photo copyright of Etsuku Ikeda and must not be copied or reproduced wuthout permission.

Based on the results of the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, the USA is the world’s number-one-ranked country in women’s gymnastics. At the 2005 World Championships, the U.S. Women’s Team turned in the most dominant performance by a country since 1987, winning nine total medals (four gold, four silver and one bronze). Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin and Alicia Sacramone won world titles, with Liukin picking up two. This is the USA women’s best performance ever at a World Championships, bettering the five medals collected in 1993 (three gold and two silver).

The USA has both the first- and second-ranked women in the world. Memmel narrowly edged out teammate Liukin to become the all-around world champion at the 2005 World Championships. Memmel is the first U.S. woman to win the world all-around crown since Shannon Miller claimed her second title in 1994.

Liukin led the squad’s medal collection with two gold (uneven bars and balance beam) and two silver medals (all-around and floor exercise), followed by Memmel with one gold (all-around) and two silver (bars and beam). Sacramone claimed one gold (floor) and one bronze (vault). Jana Bieger was the fourth member of the 2005 World Team and was precluded from advancing to event finals due to the two athletes per country rule.

Held at NRGi Arena in Aarhus, Denmark from the 13th - 21st October, the 2006 World Championships features team, all-around and individual event competition. Qualification rounds are Oct. 14-15 for the men and Oct. 16-17 for the women. The men’s team finals is Oct. 17, with the women’s team champions determined on Oct. 18. Both all-around finals are on Oct. 19, with the individual event finals divided over Oct. 20-21.

 Don’t miss all the latest news from the USA Team as we head towards Worlds here on Gymnastics Online!

STICK IT GYM MOVIE TO BE RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS ON OCTOBER 13TH!

Fantastic news for British gym fans as the film we have all been waiting for is finally released in UK Cinemas! The hit gym movie Stick It comes to the UK 6 months after it was released in the USA to rave reviews!

The UK Cinema magazine Unlimited describes Stick It as “ Haley Graham ( Miss Peregrym) is a rebellious 17 year old who has one too many run-ins with the law and is sentenced to her ultimate nightmare - VGA, an elite gymnastics academy run by Burt Vickerman( Jeff Bridges).

A former Junior Finals gymnastics champion, Haley walked out in the middle of a prestigious competition betraying her team - mates. At VGA, Haley’s headstrong approach wins her both friends and enemies - the latter including the Academy’s rising star Joanne Charis ( Vanessa Lengies ). Coach Vickerman however, knows talent when he sees it, and after an initial battle of wills, becomes committed to helping Haley fulfill her awesome gymnastics potential”.

Unlimited says “ You should see it because - The gravity defying gymnastics stunt sequences are simply breath taking”.

Stick It is released on 13th October by Buena Vista and is rated PG and has a fantastic hip-hop soundtrack. If you loved Bring It On which was also directed by Jessica Bendinger, don’t miss this film!

The movie was rated 14 in the USA so please bear this in mind when allowing children to see the movie.

NEWSFLASH - If you can’t wait to October 13th you can order the DVD of Stick It now from our USA Gym Store! The DVD is an American release so is Region 1 which means you will require a multi - region DVD player to watch this outside the USA.

Click here to order your copy of Stick It in our fantastic new USA Gym Store out on DVD on Region 1 now!        

British Gymnastics Olympic Rhythmic Training Academy is announced!

• Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy Targeting Success At The 2012 London Olympic Games!

British Gymnastics released the following Press Statement on their Web Site on September 27th regarding exciting new plans for Rhythmic Gymnastics in Great Britain!

“As part of the preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games, British Gymnastics is delighted to be able to announce proposals for the creation of an Academy for the most talented Rhythmic gymnasts to be given the best possible training and support during the next five years to secure a direct qualification for Games.

Further to the announcement of the additional funding made available by Government for Great Britain’s preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games, British Gymnastics has been giving serious consideration to the most appropriate way to accelerate the development of performance Rhythmic gymnastics in the coming six years. The level of international competition is exceedingly high and therefore the challenges facing British gymnasts are very significant, considering the lack of dedicated facilities and full time training situations available in the UK. Following a comprehensive and searching assessment by the Senior National Coach of the current crop of National Squad gymnasts, a very small number will be receiving an invitation in the next few days to attend a formal interview with the Chair of the Technical Committee, Director (Performance & Technical), Senior National Coach and Programme Manager, to consider their possible involvement in the proposed programme.

Having analysed all of the options carefully, it is felt that the only way to realise a direct qualification for the London Games at the 2011 World Championships is to create a Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympic Academy at Lilleshall. This full time training programme will be very exclusive. The purpose of the forthcoming interviews will be to explore whether these gymnasts who have been identified as having the necessary talents are willing to make the necessary sacrifice and commitment to such a demanding training regime, in pursuit of Olympic glory. The majority of gymnasts who are currently in National squads will not be receiving such an invitation. The existing National training and competition programme will continue as at present and it is hoped that in time those gymnasts who are showing the necessary improvement will be able to be considered for future inclusion in the Academy. All squad members are therefore strongly encouraged to continue to improve their level of performance and challenge their current training programme in place.

Such is the level of international competition it is strongly believed that this no compromise approach is the only viable way to achieve a competitive performance in the home Games. It is important that a consensus of support from amongst the Rhythmic Community is achieved, as no other programmes are deemed capable of achieving the necessary outcomes and therefore this is the only programme that will be implemented with the additional Lottery support. If there is sufficient support for the programme, an implementation strategy will be agreed with the Technical Committee and the programme will be rolled out over the next few months, becoming fully operational in spring 2007”.

 

 ROMANIA OVERCOME GREAT BRITAIN IN FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL

GOLD FOR IMOGEN ON VAULT, PLUS 2 SILVER & 3 BRONZE FOR GB AGAINST ROMANIANS!

Three times Olympic Champions, seven times World Team Champions and four times European Team Champions with numerous individual World and Olympic Titles, the mighty Romanian Team have an unrivalled reputation in International Gymnastics. But the team have undergone enormous changes since Athens 2004 with the retirement of triple Olympic Champion Catalina Ponor and loss of coaching legend Octavian Belu plus the loss of centralised training. A new generation of talented young gymnasts have now emerged. The Romanians already boast several European Senior and Junior Medalists, and won the Silver medal at the European Team Championships this year in Volos. With eight weeks to go before the World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, could this new generation maintain their country’s outstanding record as they rebuild towards Beijing 2008?

A packed arena in Newcastle watched eagerly as the new look Romanian gymnasts took on a Great Britain Team who were also missing Beth Tweddle who is continuing her preparation for the World Championships. GB made three changes a week before the competition with Imogen Cairns and Melanie Roberts the most experienced International gymnasts, with Aisling Williams, Lynette Lisle, Emma White, Kerri Upton and Olivia Bryl also selected.

Romania won the Team Competition by 231.80 to 223.45 plus Gold in the Individual All Around Event.

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16 year old Sandra Izbasa became the 2006 European Champion on Floor and Silver Medalist in the All Around in Volos, Greece in June this year and could be the most likely successor to Catalina. Steliana Nistor the 2004 Junior European All Around and Floor Champion is also one of the names to watch as she continues to build her experience at Senior level. 

The Team Event was the 6-5-4 format with GB opening on vault with Romania on Bars. Sadly Great Britain’s 2006 European Champion on A-Bars Beth Tweddle, Shavahn Church and Amy Nunes did not compete, but GB still dominated on this apparatus by 56.15 to 55.20.

The highest score in Saturday’s competition was awarded to Sandra Izbasa on Floor with an excellent routine included full in, double pike, 2 ½ punch front into 1 ½, with a triple twist finish to score 15.50 with a Start Value of 6.3. The highest individual score for Great Britain went to Imogen Cairns with 14.60 for her great performance on Vault.

In the All Around competition Romania took Gold, Silver and Bronze as Steliana Nistor scored 59,450, followed by her teammates Sandra Izbasa 58.750, and the 14 year old Romanian junior Aluissa Lascusteanu with 57.10. City of Liverpool gymnast Aisling Williams was the top British competitor with 56.700 in fourth place, with GB Team mate Lynette Lisle 55.700 ranked sixth.

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Sunday’s Individual apparatus Finals were dominated by the Romanians as Steliana Nistor won Gold on A-Bars with Great Britain’s Lynette Lisle taking Silver. Another excellent floor routine from Sandra Izbasa scored an impressive 15.60 to take Gold with GB’s Melanie Roberts winning Silver.

Imogen Cairns secured the Gold Medal on Vault scoring 14.325 performing Yurchenko 1 1/2 and a second vault of Round-off 1/2 turn on - front pike. Izbasa finished just one tenth behind to take home the Silver medal with 14.225. The Beam brought Sandra to the Podium once more with a competition high of 15.900, Steliana Listor in Silver position and GB’s Emma White the bronze.  

INDIVIDUAL APPARATUS FINALS

Vault
1. Imogen Cairns (GBR)- 14.325
2. Sandra Isbasa (ROM)- 14.225
3. Emma White (GBR)- 13. 825

A. Bars
1. Steliana Nistor (ROM)- 15.200
2. Lynette Lisle (GBR)- 14.700
3. Aisling Williams (GBR)- 14.250

Beam
1. Sandra Isbasa (ROM)- 15.900
2. Steliana Nistor (ROM)- 15.550
3. Emma White (GBR)- 14.150

Floor
1. Sandra Izbasa (ROM) - 15.600
2. Melanie Roberts (GBR)– 14.300
3. Loredana Sukar (RОМ)- 13.950