The gymnastics world received the horrible news that Russian gymnast Yury Ryazanov was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning just outside of Moscow. Ryazanov, the recent bronze medal winner in the all-around at the World Championships, was returning to his home in Vladimir when tragedy struck. He was Russia’s brightest star over the past […] [...more]
The 2009 World Gymnastics Championships have come and gone. The all-around finals did not excite much except for Kohei Uchimura. Although Tim McNeill and Jonathan Horton qualified, neither seriously challenged for the top spot. In fact, Horton's session was disastrous, given his falls on floor, pommel horse and high bar. His bad luck continued on high bar in the event final where he once again tumbled doing a Kolman. Knowing Horton, he will be highly motivated to make 2010 a season to remember, with a lot fewer distractions. McNeill had a solid 7th-place finish and is now poised for another [...more]
Romania's Marian Dragulescu has done what Brett Favre probably won't be able to do, which is to retire, unretire and win a title. Dragulescu not only won a title, he won two! He was the surprise winner on floor, easily overcoming the heavily favored Kohei Uchimura. He then topped things off by hitting two outstanding vaults to capture yet another world championship. The 28-year-old Romanian was the only gymnast to [...more]
Japan's Kohei Uchimura started the evening with a brilliant 15.625 floor routine, and after he turned in a 14.90 on pommel horse, it became a foregone conclusion that the World title was all his. Uchimura blitzed the field of twenty-four to win his first world men's gymnastics all-around championship with a big score of 91.50. His nearest competitor was Great Britain's Daniel Keatings, who finished a staggering 2.575 points behind. Uchimura hit on all six events in a dominant display of consistency, style and confidence. He was clearly in a world of his own. Although American Tim McNeill [...more]
After a marathon of three qualifying sessions in London, Japan's Kohei Uchimura was the leading qualifier going into Thursday's all-around finals at the 2009 World Men's Gymnastics Championships. Uchimura was at the top of his game tallying the day's highest score of 90.925. Hitting on all six events, Uchimura had scores of at least 15.00 on every event except for pommel horse (14.75). His floor and high bar routines were outstanding, and his 15.775 was the highest score of the day on floor. Uchimura undoubtedly remains the prohibitive favorite to win the all-around title. Tim McNeill and Jonathan Horton finished in the top five in the [...more]
The Chicago area is a hotbed for men's gymnastics, and one of the top gyms in the country is Buffalo Grove Gymnastics. Former home of 2008 USA National Champion and Stanford All-American David Sender, Buffalo Grove is now home to one of the top men's club teams in the country. Head Coach Don Osborn is grooming an impressive crop of Level 10 (16-18) gymnasts that includes Wasef Burbar, Danny Berardini and Jacoby Rubin. Another important member of that team is Craig Hernandez. We have a soft spot in our heart for Hernandez because he happens to be [...more]
In the aftermath of last week's vote in Copenhagen, what is now apparent is a lot of hand-wringing and finger pointing. Chicago got knocked out in the first round, obtaining only 18 votes, which was one fewer than New York City received four years ago in their bid to host the 2012 Olympics. USOC is getting most of the blame in the wake of controversial management changes at the top. Another issue is the amount of money [...more]
