day three, Demy takes beam and Izbasa stays in bounds

It was a naturally slow start for a Sunday morning but it got interesting very fast, with a boat trip on the Spree river. Beautiful! 

Then I rushed to get to the Max Schmeling Halle I had four more finals to see (three and a half actually because the last train to Dutchland leaves at 4:50pm from Central Station. Boo!). So, I was saying, I left the boat in a rush to get there in time for the MAG vault final. After the people at the entrance checked all the corners of my backpack, and I was finally inside, as I was trying to put back in all my stuff, I saw Bellu and Lucian Sandu quietly walking towards the stands. Hm... I was holding my camera. Should I take a picture? I decided to ask them first if it was ok. It seemed silly to just jump in front of them and take pictures. So I asked. "Yes, sure" Bellu answered, but then he decided it was even better if I were in the pictures too. It seemed the logical thing to do :)

So now I have a picture with The Man.

I enjoyed so much the MAG vault final that I forgot to take pictures. 

Then there was the women's beam. Given the fact that there were no Romanians in the final and Aliya was out (which sounds like the end of the world...$*%$$ !!) I couldn't have asked for a better podium.

Anna Dementieva managed to pull off her best routine in ages. 

Carlotta Ferlito was fabulous. Love her mount!

Preziosa was simply beautiful (a not very nice man didn't allow me to take pics anymore when she competed sigh). Maybe my only wish that did not come true was for Vasiliki to medal too. She did a great job!

In the end the Italian family was delighted.

Then there was the Floor final. I could only watch the first five competitors (and I pushed my luck because I  literally had to run to catch the train). Looking back, I can say that Izbasa has done better routines this spring. I think Diana Chelaru should have had a slightly better E score. It's hard to say who was better that day, but Diana Chelaru said it better. "I am happy when the Romanian anthem plays even if I'm on the second or third spot."

So, after three days, I left the Fabulous City much in the same condition I was when I first arrived there: hungry and exhausted. Those were among the best days of my life!

Favorite moments of 2010 - The best floor routines

Anastasia Grishina

or watch it here

Anna Dementyeva

or watch it here

Celine Van Gerner - she was the first reserve for the FX final at Worlds, with this routine:


or watch here

Ksenia Semenova



or here

Raluca Haidu - Worlds 2010



or watch here.

Tan Sixin



or watch here

Anything else you would add?

Favorite moments of 2010 - Best of Balance Beam

Anna Dementyeva - Worlds qualifications

I had seen Anna Dementyeva a few times before. My impression was that, although she had good difficulty and exquisite lines, she could not hold it together for an entire routine. In the qualifications at the worlds she demonstrated that she can. Maybe next time she will be able to pull it off in the finals as well. 

or watch here 

Aliya Mustafina - Worlds AA

I love uneven bars and beam rotations in team finals and all around competitions. Particularly in Mustafina's case... we all knew that if she had a weaker event, that was the beam. And with so many things going on in this routine, frankly it is difficult not to make mistakes. This is how Aliya showed that she is destined for greatness: 

or here

Ana Porgras Ghent World Cup 

I love this routine for a number of reasons. Although not as difficult as the one she competed at Worlds, this beam set contains virtually no wobbles. The dismount is also nicer.

or here

Gabriela Dragoi - Romanian nationals

The moment I saw this routine was the moment I really believed Gabriela was back and capable of great things:

or watch here

Lauren Mitchell Worlds EF

I remember watching the podium warm-up of the balance beam finalists - an hour before the final. Mitchell was the last one to finish her warm-up. She  had problems with the two footed layout (as she had all week long) but she wouldn't give up on it. I watched her doing it a little better every time: from falls after each one, she corrected it a bit... big wobbles, then smaller wobbles. And then that was it: stuck layout to two feet.

Raluca Haidu and Anna Dementieva are officially more than cute

just watch Haidu on bars:

and floor

As for Dementyeva... just watch her beam (here) and her floor (here) from the qualifications.

Lovely gymnasts! It seems to become an increasingly interesting sport with kids like this around.

Many videos of the Romanian in the qualifications can be found on the channel mondialegym2010 on youtube.