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.

Favorite moments of 2010 - Uneven Bars

These are some of my favorite uneven bars routines of 2010:


Wu Liufang - Ghent event finals

or here


Amelia Racea Ghent Qualifications



or here 


Becky Downie - Europeans



or here


Anastasia Grishina - Europeans EF



or watch here 


Komova at YOG



or here


There have been many more great moments, leave a comment if you have a favorite one that was not mentioned.

Favorite moments of 2010 - The surprising VAULTS

It was fun watching vault this year despite the controversies. We must admit  that there were some pretty vaults too, here and there. But what I liked the most were the spectacular improvements: take for instance Mustafina- she didn't even attempt two vaults at Euros and five months later she throws two of  6+.

Other surprise evolutions: Raluca Haidu (from FTY at Euros to DTY at Worlds), Sandra Izbasa (from 1.5 Yurchenko at Nationals to DTY - 3 weeks later),  and, of course, Vanessa Zamarripa's Cheng - stuck in the first day of US Nationals. 

When I say great vaults I am also thinking about Larisa Iordache. In 2009 she had a FTY and  a round-off half on tuck (4.6) while in 2010 she presented a FTY and a 1.5 Yurchenko.  She had successfully competed  the  1.5 Yurchenko since the beginning of the year but during the fall she managed to stuck it on numerous occasions. I consider her vaults extraordinary, given the general level of the Romanian juniors.

Any other vaults that surprised you? Here are some of my favorites:

Larisa Iordaches' vaults at Romanian Nationals

or watch here.

Mustafina's Amanar from Waalvijk

or watch here

Sandra Izbasa's DTY from Worlds

or watch here

Vanessa Zamarippa's Cheng vault:

or watch here

or watch here

Lili, I already miss you!

Lili coaching Ana Porgras during 2010 Romanian International

Everybody is talking about it... Two months ago Lili Cosma has left the National Team returned to Deva. I was hoping she was on a vacation or something. This is a bad news... she was invaluable to the team!

Gabriela Dragoi, Anamaria Tamarjan, Ana Porgras, Sandra Izbasa, Stela Nistor, Raluca Haidu, Amelia Racea - all these gymnasts have won medals at Worlds or Europeans with Lili Cosma as their beam coach. 

Especially after 2008 Cosma has been the mastermind behind many original beam sets with  nice dance elements here and there and difficult combinations of elements.

Of course, all these gymnasts were well trained and had good routines before they came to the national team. Still, Lili has added, in many cases, that final touch that made all these routines memorable.

Some of my favorites:

Favorite Moments (of 2010)

Jade's promised comeback!

Jade was eating ice-cream when I asked if I could take her pic
unfortunately the team mates took it out of the setting

Most of us thought that her career was finished in the beginning of 2009.  It was announced then, that there seemed to be no cure for her wrist condition. People were amazed at how optimistic she looked while declaring she will probably not be back until 2010. There were two things she seemed to ignore: 1 - there was no cure and 2 - 2010 was very far away, how could she still be so positive she would still want to do gymnastics?

Luckily, no one told her that and if they did, she did not listen. Jade made a successful appearance at Brazilian Nationals in November 2009, placing first on floor. Throughout 2010 we did not see much of her in competitions. At the 2010 Worlds she quietly managed to qualify in for the all around finals vault finals (with the third score). 
In the finals she pulled off two great vaults and showed us what she meant by "I won't be able to do well in competitions until next year"

 2010 World - two nice clean vaults

or watch here.

2007 - a young Brazilian showed us how to throw an Amanar:


or watch it on youtube.

Catalina Ponor - coqueting with gymnastics

According to Prosport

I'm not not holding my breath, other people have attempted comebacks as well. As we have seen, it does not only depend on how badly you want to return but also on how your body reacts to intense training.
In the summer of 2010 Catalina said that Mariana had invited her to join the national team but she declined (for medical reasons and because she had other plans). I wonder what made her change her mind...

Sources in Izvorani have said that her purpose would be either to return to elite gymnastics or to be able to participate in shows, for which top physical shape is necessary.

Adrian Stoica has declared: "these are not rumours, regarding Catalina Ponor. All I know is that a possible comeback is discussed and we don't know if she will be healthy enough to be able to make it. In the future, we will know more."

Mariana Bitang has refused to comment.

Izvorani Training Camp: In the Holiday Spirit

These are taken from an article published in Romanian rag magazine Click. The pics are nice though the content of the article is "light". The title of the article is "The gymnasts, like princesses on New Year's Eve!".

the gymnasts and the most successful coach of all times next to the Christmas tree:

 And, the gymnasts are (from left): Diana Trenca, Amelia Racea, Larisa Iordache, Dana Andrei,
Ana Porgras, Diana Rusu, Raluca Haidu, Beatris Margarit, Georgiana Gheorghe

It seems that they were allowed to enjoy more the "holiday atmosphere" than the specific foods. Euros are just three months from now... we can't be surprised.

Diana Rusu and Ana Porgras

The author of the article notes: "Ana Porgras was in the spotlight, giving fashion advice to her younger team mates". That's what I call team spirit!

Source: Click!

part two of the almost lost pics

Mona Lisa smile:

Happy to be leaving smiles:

Diana Chelaru, on the other hand seems very comfortable:

Amelia Racea reminds me a bit of Gina Gogean. (and I also remember Sarah's take on Gina Gogean's serious face: "I'm a doctor, not smiley face". which I would link but her site is not available at the moment)
I have no idea how Amelia really is... she does seem a bit sad at times.
Even when she won the gold at Euros. See this face on the podium?

After this routine:


Maybe when she manages to overcome all injuries and be the best in the world we will see a big smile. But it's not mandatory... Amelia is a champion, not a smiley face :)

La multi ani 2011! Happy new year!

Today I remembered I have on my computer some pictures taken by a dear friend of mine that loves gymnastics as much as I do. She gave me these pictures she took at the Worlds but I forgot to publish them (I am ashamed of myself).

So, here they are... (part one) Some lovely pics of Raluca Haidu:
-the dance moves

Raluca Haidu - Worlds 2010 AA

 - the pointed toes:

 - And she is so small... Nabieba looks like a giant next to her (I can assure you that she is not, although her determined look may indicate something else)

Year In review for Romania

Read my article on The Couch Gymnast website!