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10 FEBRUARY - USA GYMNASTICS NAMES 2006 MEN’S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM!
Following the completion of the 2006 Winter Cup Challenge, USA Gymnastics has named its 2006 Senior National Men’s Team.
The 2006 Senior National Men’s Team is comprised of: Guillermo Alvarez of Blackfoot, Idaho/Team Chevron; Alexander Artemev of Morrison, Colo./Team Chevron; David Durante of Garwood, N.J./Team Chevron; Jason Gatson of Mesa, Ariz./Team Chevron; Sean Golden of Houston/Team Chevron; Jonathan Horton of Houston/University of Oklahoma; Brett McClure of Mill Creek, Wash./Team Chevron; Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va./ University of California - Berkeley; David Sender of Arlington Heights, Ill./Stanford University; Michael Reavis of Tallahassee, Fla./University of Iowa; Justin Spring of Burke, Va./University of Illinois; Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif./Team Chevron; Todd Thornton of Pearland, Texas/Team Chevron; Yewki Tomita of Tucson, Ariz./Team Chevron; and Jimmy Wickham of Gulfport, Miss./Ohio State University.
At the 2006 Winter Cup, Durante won his second straight Winter Cup all-around title, edging out Horton by two-tenths of a point, and the parallel bars title. Other national team members who won individual apparatus titles are: floor exercise, Reavis; pommel horse, Artemev; still rings, Tan; vault, Wickham; and horizontal bar, Tomita.
Six members of the senior national team were taken straight from the all-around results at the Winter Cup; six more were determined using a points system applied to the Winter Cup results; and the remaining gymnasts were selected by the Men’s Program Committee.
Senior National Team members at a glance
• Guillermo Alvarez of Blackfoot, Idaho/Team Chevron; 10/24/82 in Denver, Colo.; a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, where he still trains; third in the all-around at the 2006 Winter Cup; first in team competition and second in the floor exercise at the 2005 Pan Am Championships; floor exercise champion at the 2005 Visa Championships; second year on national team.
• Alexander Artemev of Morrison, Colo./Team Chevron; 8/29/85; is coached by his father, Vladimir Artemev; at 2006 Winter Cup, won pommel horse and was fourth on parallel bars; just returned to competition following shoulder surgery last summer; 3.5 years on senior national team.
• David Durante of Garwood, N.J./Team Chevron; 6/26/80; trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.; a graduate of Stanford University; won his second consecutive all-around title at the 2006 Winter Cup, as well as the parallel bars crown; member of the gold-medal team at the 2005 Pan Am Championships; and the all-around bronze medalist at the 2005 Visa Championships; fourth year on senior national team.
• Jason Gatson of Mesa, Ariz./Team Chevron; 6/25/80; trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center; 2004 Olympic team silver medalist; at 2006 Winter Cup, was third on the parallel bars; was seventh in the parallel bars at the 2005 World Championships; missed most of 2005 recovering from surgery; seventh year on senior national team.
• Sean Golden of Houston/Team Chevron; 6/13/83 in Camden, N.J.; trains at HGA; is the youngest of six children; at the 2006 Winter Cup, was second in the still rings and vault; was the still rings and vault champion at the 2005 Visa Championships and a member of the 2005 World Championships Team; 1.5 years on the senior national team.
• Jonathan Horton of Houston/University of Oklahoma; 12/31/85; sophomore at Oklahoma; at the 2006 Winter Cup, was second in the all-around and third in the floor exercise and still rings and third on the horizontal bar; competed on the two teams that won gold medals at the 2005 Pan Am Championships and the NCAA Championships; 2.5 years on the senior national team.
• Brett McClure of Mill Creek, Wash./Team Chevron; 2/19/81 in Yakima, Wash.; trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs; 2004 Olympic team silver medalist; at 2006 Winter Cup, was second on the horizontal bar and tied for fourth in the all-around; just returned to competition following surgery; recently married 1996 Olympic gold-medalist Jaycie Phelps; 7.5 years on the senior national team.
• Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va./ University of California – Berkeley; 5/5/86; sophomore at UC Berkeley; All-American on pommel horse and vault as a freshman; was fourth on pommel horse and fifth on vault at NCAA Championships’ individual competition; at 2006 Winter Cup, finished third on the pommel horse; first year on senior national team.
• Michael Reavis of Tallahassee, Fla./University of Iowa; 8/5/83; is a senior, studying communication studies; at the 2006 Winter Cup, won the floor exercise title and was sixth in the all-around; holds University of Iowa records on floor, vault and the all-around; All-American in the all-around (2005), vault (2004-05) and high bar (2003); first year on senior national team.
• David Sender of Arlington Heights, Ill./Stanford University; 8/27/85; sophomore at Stanford, studying biology; at 2006 Winter Cup, tied for fourth in the all-around; was second in the all-around, floor exercise and vault at the 2005 Visa Championships and an alternate for the 2005 World Championships Team; second year on the senior national team.
• Justin Spring of Burke, Va./University of Illinois; 3/11/84 in Houston; senior at the University of Illinois in Champaign; was the horizontal bar titlist at the 2005 Visa Championships; tied for second on the horizontal bar at the 2005 American Cup; was the 2005 NCAA parallel bars champion; member of the 2005 U.S. World Championships Team; All-American in parallel bars (2003-05), high bar (2004-05), all-around (2005) and floor exercise (2003); second year on the senior national team.
• Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif./Team Chevron; 9/24/81; is an assistant coach for and recent graduate of Penn State University; at the 2006 Winter Cup, won on still rings and was fifth on the pommel horse; was a member of Penn State’s 2004 NCAA championship team, the Nittany Lions’ first back-to-back NCAA champion on the still rings (2003-04) and a member of the 2005 World Championships Team; third year on the senior national team (also in 1996, 1999).
• Todd Thornton of Pearland, Texas/Team Chevron; 10/14/82 in Casper, Wyo.; 2005 U.S. all-around champion and all-around finalist at the 2005 World Championships; sixth year on the senior national team.
• Yewki Tomita of Tucson, Ariz./Team Chevron; 3/15/80; trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs; at the 2006 Winter Cup, won the horizontal bar title and was second on the parallel bars and sixth on floor; was the pommel horse champion at the 2005 Visa Championships and a member of the 2005 World Championships Team; fifth year on the senior national team.
• Jimmy Wickham of Gulfport, Miss./Ohio State University; 2/25/86; sophomore at Ohio State, majoring in exercise science; earned OSU Scholar-Athlete honors as a freshman; at 2006 Winter Cup, won the vault and placed fourth in the floor exercise; is his first year on the senior national team.
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10 February - NADIA AND BART ANNOUNCE BABY SON DUE IN JULY
BABY MARKS THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF NADIA’S PERFECT 10
Olympic legends Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner revealed that they are expecting a baby son in July! It is the first child for Nadia , 44 and Conner who will be 48 on March 28th. Thirty years after Nadia became the first gymnast to perform the perfect 10, at the age of 14 in that fabulous performance at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, the happy couple announced the perfect way to celebrate the anniversary on July 18th.
Nadia has just returned to the U.S. after a tour to Romania with Harry Potter author JK. Rowling to raise funds for European Orphanages, and said "Everybody there was asking me what I am going to do on July 18th to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first perfect 10. They wanted to have a special anniversary gala. I was thinking to myself that the only place I'm going in July is the delivery room!."
Nadia did not reveal her pregnancy to the media during the tour as she did not want to distract attention from the “Romania for Europe’s Children” Charity raised an incredible one million Euros for orphanages in Europe.
Nadia shot to overnight stardom after her sensational performance at the 1976 Olympics Games in Montreal where she scored seven perfect 10s and won five medals, including three Gold medals, at just 14 years old. She appeared on the front covers of many International magazines including Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Comaneci earned another four more medals, two gold and two silver.
She offically retired in 1984, and later defected to the United States shortly before the 1989 Romanian revolution, where she married Conner, who was a two-time 1984 Olympic gold medalist, in 1996. Today they live in Oklahoma where they operate several very successful gymnastics businesses, including International Gymnast magazine, the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, Grips, Etc., and Perfect 10 Productions. Nadia and Bart also carry out a large amount of Charity work including the Special Olympics, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Conner said "We're so excited for this next chapter in our lives. We've been so blessed with many exciting moments, but this tops the list."
In our recent gym poll, our visitors showed their appreciation of two true Olympic legends when Nadia was voted one of your all time favourite gymnasts. Congratulations to Bart and Nadia on your wonderful news.
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Alan Sommerville, CEO of British Gymnastics and Paul Pendergest, Managing Director of Milano Pro-Sport
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10 FEBRUARY - MILANO PRO-SPORT SIGN 7 YEAR SPONSORSHIP CONTRACT WITH BRITISH GYMNASTICS
British Gymnastics have confirmed that they have agreed a 7 year sponsorship contract with Milano Pro-Sport.
The company was launched in 1991 and have enjoyed incredible success and are now one of the World’s main players in Gymnastics clothing and leotards. Milano signed their first contract to supply the British National Squads and MD Paul Pendergest commented “ Our policy as far as kit for Great Britain is concerned has always been “what is needed” rather than “what is in the contract” and we believe that this sentiment has helped us build such a strong relationship with British Gymnastics. Although “Milano-Pro-Sport” has many sponsorship contracts throughout the world our contract with British Gymnastics has always and will always take absolute priority.”
Milano has also sponsored and supported many competitions including the British Gymnastics Women’s Championships, and Glasgow Grand Prix, as well as Personal Sponsorships. Milano-Pro-Sport had a major role in 3 Commonwealth Games and 2 Olympic Games, with the highlight at the Manchester 2002 Games where out of the 14 nations who entered, 9 countries wore Milano kit on the podium.
“We are delighted to announce the continuation of the Sponsorship deal with “Milano-Pro-Sport” and we are confident that it will make a big difference for our sport on the exiting road leading to London 2012”, said Alan Sommerville, CEO of British Gymnastics.
“I am absolutely delighted that our relationship with “Milano-Pro-Sport” will continue until 2012.. The new lines of clothing to be introduced at the forthcoming European Championships are fantastic. I know that British teams will be the envy of every other country when we march into the competition arena”, concluded Matthew Greenwood, BG Technical & Performance Director.
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7 February - Durante wins second straight Winter Cup All Around title! Top 80 Male Gymnast’s in USA Battle for Gold!
First 6 men in All Around Selected for USA Senior Men’s Team!
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!
David Durante of Team Chevron won his second straight Winter Cup Challenge all-around title by just two tenths of a point ahead of Jonathan Horton of Houston from the University of Oklahoma. Durante had a two-day all-around total of 177.700, with Horton claiming Silver on 177.500! Durante also took Gold on the Parallel Bars in the Individual Apparatus Finals and followed his Gold Medal in the All Around at the 2005 Winter Challenge and Bronze Medal in the All Around at the 2005 Visa Championships. This was the first Men’s USA Meet to use the sport’s NEW SCORING SYSTEM which incorporates credit for the routine’s content and execution, and a gymnast’s score is no longer limited to a maximum of the “Perfect 10”. The Event was particularly important as the top 6 gymnasts in the All Around Competition gained automatic selection to the 2006 USA Men’s Senior Team.
The 12 current members of the men's senior national team who are seeking to retain National Squad places were:-
- · Guillermo Alvarez of Team Chevron, the floor exercise champion at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · Alexander Artemev also of Team Chevron, who is competing for the first time since shoulder surgery last summer;
- · Raj Bhavsar of Ohio State University, the alternate for the 2004 U.S. Men's Olympic Gymnastics Team;
- · D.J. Bucher of Mason from Ohio State University, the parallel bars gold medalist at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · David Durante from Team Chevron, the defending Winter Cup champion and the all-around bronze medalist at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · 2004 Olympic silver-medalist Jason Gatson of Team Chevron;
- · Sean Golden of Team Chevron, the rings and vault champion at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · Jonathan Horton from the University of Oklahoma, who competed on the two teams that won gold medals at the 2005 Pan American Championships and the NCAA Championships.
- · 2004 Olympic silver-medalist Brett McClure of Team Chevron;
- · David Sender from Stanford University, who was second in the all-around, floor exercise and vault at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · Justin Spring of University of Illinois, the horizontal bar Champion at the 2005 Visa Championships;
- · Yewki Tomita also from Team Chevron, who won the Pommel Horse Title at the 2005 Visa Championships.
The 2006 Championships were a nail biting affair with only 4 gymnasts reaching the Individual Vault Finals as Coaches, Judges and Gymnasts had to adapt to the new Code’s requirements. For the six apparatus, the leaders going into tonight’s final round were floor exercise, Michael Reavis from University of Iowa, pommel horse tieing in first place Durante and Ted Brown from the University of Illinois, on rings Kevin Tan from Team Chevron, vault, Jimmy Wickham from the Ohio State University; parallel bars, Jason Gatson of Team Chevron; and horizontal bar, Chevron team mate Yewki Tomita. 42 gymnasts advanced to tonight’s final round.
The Individual Apparatus Champions for the 2006 Winter Cup are Floor Exercise, Michael Reavis from University of Iowa, pommel horse Alexander Artemev of Team Chevron. On still rings, Kevin Tan who is also from Team Chevron, on vault Jimmy Wickham from the Ohio State University, parallel bars David Durante and on horizontal Bars Team Chevron celebrated their fourth Title as Yewki Tomita won Gold. All Champions were determined by the sum of both days of competition, after the preliminary event on February 2nd.
Durante led the all-around going into the final day of competition, starting with an 89.550, with Jonathan Horton in second place. Guilermo Alvarez won the Silver Medal in the All Around Finals in 2005, and was in 3rd position going into tonight’s Finals. But Alvarez performed strongly in the second Event posting the Competition’s highest score of 89.350 and clinching the Bronze Medal, with Horton in second place on 89.150 which moved him into second place overall. Durante’s second day score of 88.150 was enough to hold on to the lead and clinch the All Around Title for the second year in a row. Team Chevron’s Brett McClure and Stanford University’s David Sender tied for fourth, with Reavis rounding out the top six.
USA Gymnastics will announce the 14 members of it Senior National Team later this week. Based on the competition’s results, the top six from the all-around finals automatically qualify for the 2006 senior national team. Six more gymnasts will qualify based on a points system established by the Men’s Program Committee, which will select the remaining two gymnasts.
2006 Winter Cup Challenge
Top six by event
All-around
1. David Durante, Garwood, N.J./Team Chevron, 177.700
2. Jonathan Horton, Houston, Texas/University of Oklahoma, 177.500
3. Guillermo Alvarez, Blackfoot, Idaho/Team Chevron, 176.700
4T. Brett McClure, Mill Creek, Wash./Team Chevron, 173.900
4T. David Sender, Arlington Heights, Ill./Stanford University, 173.900
6. Michael Reavis, Tallahassee, Fla./University of Iowa, 172.300
Floor exercise
1, Michael Reavis, U. Iowa, 30.200
2, Dylan Carney, Stanford, 30.150
3, Jonathan Horton, U. Oklahoma, 30.050
4, Jimmy Wickham, Ohio State, 29.950
5, Guillermo Alvarez, Team Chevron, 29.850
6, Yewki Tomita, Team Chevron, 29.500
Pommel horse
1, Alexander Artemev, Team Chevron, 29.650
2, Curtis Kleffman, U. Iowa, 29.100
3, Tim McNeill, UC Berkeley, 29.000
4, Guillermo Alvarez, Team Chevron, 28.850
5, Kevin Tan, Team Chevron, 28.700
6, David Durante, Team Chevron, 28.550
Still rings
1, Kevin Tan, Team Chevron, 31.350
2, Sean Golden, Team Chevron, 30.700
3, Jonathan Horton, U. Oklahoma, 30.550
4, Alex Schorsch, Stanford, 30.400
5, David Sender, Stanford, 29.300
6, Jamie Henderson, U. Oklahoma, 29.250
Vault
1, Jimmy Wickham, Ohio State, 32.450
2, Sean Golden, Team Chevron, 31.800
3, Steven Legendre, WOGA, 31.150
4, Thomas Kelley, Buffalo Grove, 30.575
Parallel bars
1, David Durante, Team Chevron, 30.450
2, Yewki Tomita, Team Chevron, 30.200
3, Jason Gatson, Team Chevron, 30.050
4, Alexander Artemev, Team Chevron, 29.850
5, Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, U. Oklahoma, 29.550
6, Adam Pummer, U. Illinois, 29.450
Horizontal bar
1, Yewki Tomita, Team Chevron, 31.150
2, Brett McClure, Team Chevron, 30.800
3, Jonathan Horton, U. Oklahoma, 30.350
4, David Durante, Team Chevron, 29.450
5, Gerry Signorelli, U. Michigan, 29.100
6, Kyson Bunthuwong, UC Berkeley, 29.000
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USA Senior Men’s National Team Members Jason Gatson from Team Chevron and Raj Bhavsar from Ohio State University, who competed in the USA Winter Challenge. Photos are copyright of Steve Lange / USA Gymnastics and must not be copied or reproduced.
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7 February - Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs wins Canadian Commonwealth Games trials!
Canadian Women’s Team named for Melbourne Games
Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, from Sport Seneca, completed her first All Around competition since October and placed first at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Artistic Gymnastics. The selection for the Commonwealth Games was not based on the All Around results but on a points system per events taking into consideration rankings on each apparatus and the all around. Gymnasts accumulated points over 2 days of competition, with Day 1 counting for 65% and Day 2 for 35%.
Five gymnasts earned a nomination to the Team for the Games which take place from 15-25 March in Melbourne, Australia.
Hopfner-Hibbs, who placed 10th on Bars at the 2005 World Championships and won the Commonwealth Trials with a total of 71.050. Alyssa Brown of Gymnastics Mississauga finished in second place on 68.700 after tying with Elyse on Friday after the first round. Gael Mackie of Omega Gymnastics came third, Brittney Habbib of Gemini Gymnastics and Jenna Kerbis of the Brandon Eagles finished fourth and fifth with the top-five gymnasts automatically earning a place on the Commonwealth Games Team.
16 year old Elyse has not been able to perform her Floor Routine since October due to injury and said ‘’It feels great to make the team. I’ve worked really hard especially with the new code of points. It’s not so much the new code is challenging but we were interested to see how it would all play out.’’ Hopfner-Hibbs’s coach Carol-Angela Orchard of Sport Seneca was delighted with the performance and felt the new code helped Hopfner-Hibbs. She commented ‘’The new code appears to appreciate her high skill level. The marks emphasized the quality of her work.’’
Alyssa Brown said after her second place finish ‘’Making the Games team is a huge step forward. Except for the beam, my second day was a lot better and I was really pleased to see my vault routine go so well. We don’t have any major events until the Games so there’s some time to fine tune our routines.’’
The men’s trials, which will feature the return of Olympic champion Kyle Shewfelt, will take place from February 8-10 at the University of Calgary.
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Winner of the Canadian Commonwealth Trials Elyse Hopfner - Hibbs shown at the World Championships in Melbourne. The Finals took place in the same arena which will stage the Commonwealth Finals next month.
Photo copyright World Gym Art.
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7 February - CELTIC CUP TAKES PLACE THIS WEEKEND!
WALES, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND IN FINAL COMPETITION BEFORE COMMONWEALTH GAMES!
Don’t miss your final chance to see the Welsh Team take on Scotland, Northern and Southern Ireland this Saturday February11th before the Teams compete in the Commonwealth Games! The top class annual International challenge competition will take place at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff where the best of the junior and senior male and female artistic gymnasts take on their Celtic cousins.
To add to the spectacular, immediately after the Celtic Cup there will be a competition for the Welsh Commonwealth Games Women’s Artistic Team and Commonwealth Games gymnasts from the visiting nations. This will be the final event leading up to the departure of the teams for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Also included during the day will be displays from the Welsh Rhythmic and Acrobatic disciplines.
The Event begins at 9-20 on Saturday and tickets are selling fast but a few are still available for what promises to be a great competition. Look out for all the results and news from the Celtic Cup here on Gymnastics Online!
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Above - The winning Team from Neath-Afan proudly show off their Team Gold Medals Coach Sian Lewis, Back row L to R - Ashley James, Charlotte Arbourne, Britani Thomas, Front row L to R, Lowri Thomas, Jasmyn Watkins , and Elaine Giddings. And right Individual overall Gold medallist, Elaine Giddings. Photos copyright of Nicola Lewis and must not be copied or reproduced without permission.
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7 FEBRUARY - WELSH JOY AT PREP COMPETITION!
NEATH-AFAN CELEBRATE FANTASTIC RESULTS AT GYMNAST’S FIRST COMPETITION!
Neath-Afan Gymnastics Club in South Wales are celebrating some fantastic results from the West Wales competition last weekend. Six of the youngest gymnasts from the Club entered their first Artistic Preparation Competition and won Gold Medals in the Team competition in the West Wales 6 & 7 year old five piece event! The gymnasts compete in tumbling, vault, bars, bench and on their range and conditioning.
Elaine Giddings also won the overall individual Gold Medal after a fantastic performance where she collected two individual apparatus Gold medals, plus Silver and Bronze, to win a total of five medals including three Gold’s in the competition! Three other members of the team also won Medals on individual apparatus including one Gold and two bronze medals, in a fantastic performance. Neath-Afan finished ahead of other well respected Welsh Clubs for the first time in their ten year history which is a great achievement.
Overall three of the Neath- Afan girls finished in the top five as they placed 1st, 4th and 5th, to round off a great result for the Club, and for very proud Coaches and parents.
Senior Coach Nicola Lewis said “We are really thrilled at these results. This was the first time that the girls' coach Sian Lewis took her own group of gymnasts into competition, which is a fabulous achievement as she is only 15 years old and is currently studying for her GCSE's. Her hard work and dedication with this group of young gymnasts has really paid dividends. Nicola said that the Team have really worked hard and Sian is delighted with their success and is very proud of all the girls. Sian also passed her Women’s Artistic Club Judge’s Exam with a distinction last year at just 15 years old.
Neath-Afan have also achieved strong results in other groups too. Sarah Brown who is 12 next week is already in the Welsh Elite Squad, and Caitlin Morgan and Elaine Giddings have recently won places in the Welsh Preparation Squad. They, and four other girls have also been selected for the West Wales Squad.
Congratulations to all the girls on your fantastic results, we are delighted to include this great news just one week before the Club’s tenth birthday! What a great way to begin the celebrations at Neath-Afan!
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5 February - SUNDAY PEOPLE REPORTS THAT £450 MILLION POUNDS STILL NOT PROVIDED FOR BRITISH SCHOOL SPORTS TO FIND FUTURE OLYMPIANS!
The British newspaper the Sunday People reported yesterday that a key election promise by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to deliver £750 million pounds in Lotto cash to help find Britain’s future Olympic Stars has been broken. The article states that five years after the Premier pledged the massive boost to school sports, less than half the money has been handed over and a massive £450 million pounds remains in Government hands which will outrage our visitors who are also fighting for funding for our Olympic hopefuls.
The People reports that at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, 2000 Blair said “Today we set out our plans to invest £750 million pounds of lottery money in schools and community sport as part of a £1 billion pounds investment over 3 years. It’s a policy we have put together with Trevor Brooking, Chairman of Sport England, who believes passionately as I do, that this is not just a sports policy, it’s a health policy, an education policy, an anti-crime policy, and an anti-drugs policy”. The harsh reality is that FIVE YEARS later, only £300 million has been spent! Last week the Government announced the appointment of double Olympic Gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes as first National School Sport Champion” with a brief to get more children involved in sport and physical activity in the years before London 2012. But it is clear that she will need ALL the money promised if she is to succeed. The Lib Dem Sports spokesman Don Foster said that “It’s appalling that more than 5 years after Tony Blair announced his flagship sports policy, thousands of schools haven’t yet been paid”. Mr Foster obtained official Government figures which show that out of the £776 million pounds earmarked from the New Opportunities Lottery Fund, a colossal £452 million pounds remains unpaid!
The Department of Culture and Sport later revised the deadline to next month but that has now also slipped. A spokeswoman said “All the money has been committed but not all of it has been spent”. In the past year £79.3 million of the cash has been allocated, but it is clear there remains a serious underspend. A Sport England Spokesman told the newspaper “School Sport is now heading in the right direction but we always want more investment”
Interestingly today a Survey on Truancy revealed that one in 5 children had admitted to playing truant because they were bored in School and many children become involved in petty crime whilst “bunking off” school. Surely one way to engage disaffected students is through sport in Schools where they get an opportunity to use their skills and talent constructively whilst learning life skills such as team work and more importantly seeing other role models who can hopefully help to show them what a good education can achieve. At the same time our P.E. Teachers must be incredibly frustrated at the lack of money which is available, particularly as some schools have steered away from competitive sport in recent years. It is a sad indictment of this Government and one which we as Parents, Teachers, Coaches and Students should all be demanding to know why almost half a billion pounds has still not been released to our Schools to help find and prepare our children and future Olympians!
The Sunday People should be congratulated for printing the story as once more we are forced to ask “ Where is the money you promised Mr Blair?”
Are you a Teacher, School, Parent or Student who has been affected by delays in funding? E-mail your stories and views to us at Gymnastics Online and we will print a selection of your views.
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Great photos from the American Cup 2005, top left Vault Ceremony, 1st Alicia Sacramone, USA, 2nd Melanie Sinclair, USA and 3rd Cheng Fei from China.
Top right the Official American Cup 2006 Poster, above the USA Team, and left Alicia Sacramone during her Silver Medal winning performance on Floor.
All photos are copyright of Philip Morton and must not be used without permission.
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4 February - Liukin named to U.S. Women’s Team for 2006 American Cup
Chellsie out of contention after Ankle Surgery! 9 women vie for remaining three spots at Selection Camp!
Nastia Liukin the 2005 World Champion on bars and beam, and Silver Medalist in the All Around World Championships has accepted an invitation to represent the USA in the 2006 American Cup on March 4, at the Temple University in Philadelphia. Nine other women are attending a selection camp from February 22-25, at the USA Gymnastics’ National Team Training Center in Huntsville, Texas, where three will be selected for the Team.
The gymnasts attending the Selection Camp are the 2005 World Floor Champion Alicia Sacramone of Brestyan's American Gymnastics, 2005 U.S. Women’s World Team member Jana Bieger of Boca Twisters Gymnastics Academy, Annie DiLuzio of Byers Gymnastics Center, Bianca Flohr, Ashley Priess and Monica Shoji from Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, Natasha Kelley from Stars Gymnastics Houston, Kassi Price and Shayla Worley from Orlando Metro. Liukin, who competes for WOGA, will also be attending the camp to demonstrate her readiness for the event. Sadly the 2005 World All Around Champion Chellsie Memmel had to decline the invitation to compete in the American Cup because she is recovering from minor surgery on her ankle, but Chellsie will still attend the Camp.
The American Cup, is one of the sport’s premier international events, is an all-around invitational competition showcasing the top male and female gymnasts in the world. This year’s American Cup is also the first premier international event in the USA using the sport’s new scoring system. As well as the USA, the American Cup field is expected to feature top gymnasts from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Romania and Russia. Participating athletes will be announced closer to the event.
In 2005, the American Cup was a World Cup event and its format named individual event champions; the USA's Alexander Artemev, Alicia Sacramone, Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin won gold medals. But in 2006, the American Cup returns to its traditional all-around format, which is my favourite format, where eight men and eight women will compete in the finals on March 4, which will be televised live on NBC Sports at 1 p.m. ET.
Some of the sport’s biggest names are former American Cup all-around gold medalists, including 2004 Winner and Olympic Champion Carly Patterson, 2000 Winner Elena Zamolodchikova, Shannon Miller in 1993, plus Jason Gatson, Blaine Wilson, John Roethlisberger, Vitaly Scherbo (Belarus), Tim Daggett, Peter Vidmar, Mitsuo Tsukahara (Japan), Kurt Thomas and Bart Conner. Top female past winners also include Kerri Strug, Dominique Dawes, Kim Zmeskal, Mary Lou Retton, Stella Zakarova from the USSR, and Olympic legend Nadia Comaneci.
Tickets are $25, $35 and $75 and may be purchased through several different avenues: via phone at 888.OWLS.TIX; online at liacourascenter.com; or in person at the Liacouras Center Box Office. Competition on March 4 starts at 11:30 a.m.
CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS AND RESULTS FROM THE 2005 AMERICAN CUP AND HERE FOR 2003 PHOTOS!
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4 February - LYNX TO OPEN SECOND GYM IN AYLESBURY
Lynx Gymnastics have announced on their Web Site that they are to open a second Gym in Aylesbury which will be used as a Performance Centre for Gymnastics and provide Women’s Artistic, Tumbling and Trampoline plus Pre-School groups. Lynx was founded 20 years ago, and was recently voted your favourite Women’s Artistic Club of 2005 in our Gymnastics Online Poll.
Lynx also announced the appointment of Sally Filmer who will form a new Junior Tumbling Squad. 3 British Tumblers moved to Lynx from Milton Keynes before Christmas including Samantha Palmer who is a former World Age Group Champion and won a Bronze Medal in the 2005 World Championships. Sam was joined by Conor Maloney and Megan Green who are both members of the GB Tumbling Teams.
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Two of your All Time Favourites in our Gym Polls! Yelena Zamolodchikova and Alexei Nemov at the Debrecen 2002 World Championships. Don’t miss over 150 great new photos coming next week! Photos are copyright of World Gym Art and must not be copied or reproduced.
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4 FEBRUARY - FANTASTIC PHOTOS FROM 3 WORLD ARTISTIC CHAMPIONSHIPS HERE NEXT WEEK!
Don’t miss our amazing new photo galleries from 3 World Artistic Championships coming next week on Gymnastics Online! Over 150 fantastic photos of all your favourite Gym Stars with over 20 pages of incredible new photos from Melbourne 2005, Debrecen 2002 and the 2001 World’s from Ghent, plus our amazing photos from Anaheim! Just look at the famous names below coming next week on Gymnastics Online!
- Melbourne 2005 - 50 fantastic photos from Melbourne 2005 including World All Around Champion Chellsie Memmel, PLUS Nastia Liukin, Catalina Ponor, Daiane Dos Santos, Alicia Sacramone, Imogen Cairns, and top male gymnasts including Ross Brewer, Todd Thornton, Qin Xiao, Selariu, Mizutori and many more!
- Debrecen 2002 - Over 70 great new photos including Svetlana Khorkina, Yelena Zamolodchikova, Natalia Ziganshina, Courtney Kupets, Andrea Raducan and Elena Gomez, PLUS top male gymnasts including Urzica, Dragulescu, Nemov and Jovtchev!
- Ghent 2001 - 23 Fabulous photos including Svetlana Khorkina, Elena Gomez & , Andrea Raducan, plus Furnon, Cojocar and the All Around Ceremonies as new World Champions are crowned! Don’t miss these great new Galleries here soon!
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4 February - Tickets on Sale Today for Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Championships in Honolulu!
Russia, China, USA, Canada and Japan all expected to Compete!
Tickets for the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships go on sale today February 4th for the 3 day International Event in Honolulu featuring some of the World’s top Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnasts plus top Trampolinists! The Events take place from April 13-15. The three-day event features competition in artistic gymnastics at the Neal Blaisdell Center and rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline at the Hawaii Convention Center.
The Pacific Alliance Championships are expected to attract include Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea and Russia as well as the USA. The competition was last held in Honolulu 2 years ago where gold medalists at the event included Carly Patterson and Paul Hamm, who went on to become 2004 Olympic all-around champions, and Nastia Liukin, the recently crowned world uneven bars and balance beam champion.
Tickets are $15 and $30 for artistic gymnastics, with all-session packages for $45 or $75. For rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline, tickets are $15. Tickets may be purchased at the Neal Blaisdell Center Box Office, ticketmaster.com
NBC Sports will televise action from the Pacific Alliance Championships on Sunday, April 16, at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
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Some of the English Gymnasts selected for Melbourne, top Shavahn Church from Heathrow,
Left Ross Brewer who is set to lead the English Men’s Challenge in Melbourne. Photos are copyright of World Gym Art and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without permision.
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1 February - ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH TEAMS NAMED FOR MELBOURNE!
BETH AND ROSS LEAD ENGLISH TEAMS BID FOR COMMONWEALTH GOLD!
British Gymnastics have named the English Artistic & Rhythmic Teams who will challenge for Gold at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games! World Championship double bronze medallist Beth Tweddle leads England's gymnastics challenge in her second Commonwealth Games after Beth won a gold medal on the uneven bars at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, plus the individual all-around silver and a team silver.
20 year old Beth from City of Liverpool will lead the English Team into the Rod Laver Arena which also hosted the World Artistic Championships in November, where she won a bronze medal on Bars. Beth also won bronze in the same discipline at the Anaheim World Championships in 2003 and has also proved herself to be much more than a Bars specialist after sensational performances in the All Around Events recently.
Ross Brewer will lead the English Mens Team in his third successive Commonwealths, aiming to make it a hat trick of Gold Medals for the England Team, after the England teams won the Commonwealth team titles in both Manchester 2002 and Kuala Lumpur in 1998!
Team England also name some exciting young talents who won medals at the 2004 Bendigo Commonwealth Youth Games in their team for Melbourne 2006, and have already represented Great Britain on the International and World stage.
Imogen Cairns won a pair of individual gold medals in Bendigo she won the vault and jointly won the gold on the floor. Imogen also made a very successful World Championships debut last year, where she finished eight in the World in the Vault Finals. The English Champion will be one of the favourites to medal in Melbourne. Shavahn Church is also selected after winning the final Commonwealth Trials in Lilleshall last weekend, and making her GB debut at the World Championships. Shavahn qualified despite having to change gyms where she is based in the USA only a month ago.
The Junior European Pommel Horse Champion, Louis Smith also won an individual gold on the pommel horse at the Bendigo 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games. He will be joined by his Huntingdon Team Mate and the current British Under 18 Champion Luke Folwell. Huntingdon will have 5 of their gymnasts at Commonwealth’s after Daniel Payne was named as a reserve, and Daniel Keatings and Emma White were selected for the Scotland Team! Matthew Cosgrave from Northern Ireland and Alex Hedges from the Isle of Man are also training at the Club as they prepare for the Games in a hugely impressive display of the crop of gymnasts at Huntingdon who are coached by Paul Hall.
Rhythmic Gymnastics makes a welcome return to the Commonwealth Games after missing out in Manchester. Double British Champion Hannah Chappell, winner of three individual silver medals in the rhythmic events in Bendigo in the rope, the ball and the ribbon. Hannah also won the Junior British Title in 2004, and then the Senior All Around Title as well as three British Apparatus Titles in Ball, Rope and Clubs in 2005!
The English Team will be determined to improve on their impressive haul of three gold medals, five silvers and a bronze in the gymnastics events at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games to finish third behind Australia and Canada in the overall medals table. Australia, who will benefit from being at home in Melbourne, won six golds, five silvers and four bronzes in Manchester, with Canada taking four golds, two silvers and six bronzes. In the overall Medal Table in Manchester, Team England finished second with 54 Gold, 51 Silver and 60 Bronze Medals.
Ann Hogbin, Team England's Chef de Mission for Melbourne 2006, said: ‘I’d like to congratulate members of the England gymnastics team on their selection and wish them the very best of luck for Melbourne 2006.’
The Team England gymnastics team for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games is as follows:
ARTISTIC
Men's team
(format: name home/ date & place of birth)
Ryan Bradley Dudley, West Midlands/17.09.84, Dudley
Ross Brewer Wallington, Surrey/ 01.10.79, High Wycombe
Luke Folwell Huntingdon, Cambs/ 15.05.87, Northampton
Louis Smith Peterborough/ 22.04.89, Peterborough
Kristian Thomas Wolverhampton/14.02.89, Wolverhampton
Coaches:
(name lives)
Paul Hall - Spaldwick, Cambs
Simon Moore - Carshalton, Surrey
Women's team
Imogen Cairns Colyton, Devon/ 26.01.89, Bristol
Shavahn Church Los Angeles/ 03.05.89, Van Nuys, California, USA
Hannah Clowes Macclesfield, Cheshire/ 24.02.91, Macclesfield
Becky Downie Nottingham/24.01.92, Nottingham
Beth Tweddle Bunbury, Cheshire/ 01.04.85, Johannesburg, RSA
Coaches:
Liz Kincaid - Portishead, North Somerset
Amanda Kirby - Liverpool
RHYTHMIC
Hannah Chappell Coventry/16.06.90, Coventry
Rachel Ennis Ruislip Middlesex/21.06.87, Hillingdon
Heather Mann Brighton/09.07.89, Southview RGC
Coach:
Marion Sands - Coventry
Team manager: Mike Weinstock Newport, Shropshire
Physiotherapist: Jean Denton - Shrewsbury
The Team departs on 27th February 2006 and begin competing in Melbourne on 16th March.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ENGLISH TEAMS AND GOOD LUCK IN MELBOURNE!
CLICK HERE FOR SCORES FROM LAST WEEKEND’S FINAL COMMONWEALTH TRIALS AND THE 1ST EUROPEAN MEN’S TRIALS AT LILLESHALL!
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