Radio Australia is rating the U.S. men's Olympic team pretty high, even though they must have forgotten that Paul Hamm was not on the 2007 USA men's team. They mentioned that Team USA finished fourth last year "with Hamm on the team, and if no major mistakes are made, [...more]
Zhang Peiwen, the spokesman for both the men’s and women’s Chinese Olympic Gymnastics team, says that no competitor of either gender is troubled by any recent body hurts. Zhang admits that it is common for gymnasts to become injured, but he doesn’t think anything should faze China’s team at this crucial time. Until Sunday, the […] [...more]
Gold Medal Olympian Hannah Teter (Halfpipe, 2006 Turin Winter Games) definitely had a secret weapon hidden in her breakfast arsenal. She brought her family's homemade Vermont maple syrup with her to Italy, and the competition didn't stand a chance. Sure, it was comfort food, sticky and sweet and made from her family's own maple trees. But maple syrup also has the health benefits of manganese and zinc, and is filled with antioxidants. Could breakfast really play a role in an athlete's competition results? [...more]
International Gymnast's Editor, Dwight Normile, posted another good one yesterday. Dwight posited whether or not Paul Hamm would officially hang up his grips. Good question. Hamm will only be 29 in 2012. He also compared the Paul Hamm-Yang Wei rivalry to the [...more]
The last few days were incredible. Paul Hamm gracefully bows out... Raj Bhavsar hits the jackpot... Raj is going to Beijing! Team USA is now in China. Is something special about to happen? They are the underdogs. They will be competing for medals that most believe are unattainable. The Chinese are everybody's favorites. After all, they will be competing on home turf. [...more]
NBC has put all gymnastics coverage into their nightly prime time show. This means it will be sharing that time with other sports, and there may be no way to pinpoint the exact times gymnastics will be broadcast (so, to TIVO the events, one will probably have to TIVO the entire prime time show). All times are in both Eastern and Pacific time (so West Coasters will need to avoid news sources for a few hours if you don't want to hear any results). The broadcasts will be on both NBC and NBC HD. Here is the full schedule: [...more]
How will the newly composed team fare in Beijing? The first thing to understand is how the Olympic scoring works. In the qualifying rounds, the 6-5-4 system is used. This means that six athletes will be on each country's team, five athletes will compete on each event, and only the top four scores will count. For the teams that make it to the team finals, [...more]
From China View, 7-30-08 The Chinese men's team eyes most of the gymnastics medals at the Beijing Olympics but Ukraine has also sent its Olympic and European champions to Beijing, head coach of the Ukrainian men's team said on Tuesday. Igor Korobchynsky, the four-time world championships gold medallist and the bronze medallist at the Barcelona Olympics, accompanied his two-member men's team having the pre-game training here on Tuesday. Korobchynsky told reporters after the training that the Chinese gymnasts are strong and will be playing on [...more]
The era of the Perfect 10 is now officially over. Many gymnastics fans will soon experience the International Gymnastics Federation's (FIG) new scoring system for the first time when they tune into the 2008 Beijing Olympic gymnastics coverage. The new system is based on two separate panels of scores. [...more]
The Hamm family will be well represented even in the absence of twin brother Paul at Beijing’s summer games. Morgan Hamm, who was publicly warned by the USADA for testing positive for a prohibited substance, received final qualification for the USA men’s gymnastics team by the International Gymnastics Federation. This all stemmed from Hamm’s not […] [...more]
