Bleh.

Sorry for the delays in posting, no news really.

Is December 7th here yet?

(That's the date of the Gymdog's sneak peek.)

Old news alert.

Sam Peszek and Bridget Sloan are now teammates. Woot. I'm off to make a montage about it.

New montage and "Workout Wedensdays" with The Gymdogs.

Gymnastike has posted a wonderful new video of the Gymdog's workout, training tumbling and beam.

Visit Gymnastike For More Videos

I made a new montage, and it took forever to upload!!



To comment/rate click HERE.

(:
Laytah.

More 'I Just wanted a brownie!' Stories.

As LBL Gymnastics has reported, lots of people affiliated with the Karoyli's have started talking about the abuse the gymnasts had to endure, and if they were gymnasts themselves, what they had to go through. Coaxed out of the darkness by Dominique "I just wanted a Brownie!" Moceanu, lots of new abuse stories have been coming out. Emelia Eberle said quote ""Nobody's perfect, so obviously we did mistakes. And we, you know, just got smacked everywhere from Bela -- on all our body parts. You know, he has huge hands and it hurts," Kollar said. "I had blood coming out of my body. I had my ears -- my skin ripped behind my ears. I had pus behind my ears, but, you know, nobody seemed to care." Rodica Duncam, a romanian gymnast has also come out of the Training Center, to tell her side of the abuse story. In an article in ProSport magazine, she said: "On certain days, we were hit until blood was pouring out of our nose. You can say it was a concentration camp. Or even a prison."

Let me interrupt there. **I have removed the statement written here, sorry.**

Geza Pozar, the choreographer for the Karoyli's gymnasts, also has claimed he's seen abuse in the gym from the Karoylis. (Maybe he baked delicious brownies and had no gymnasts to give them to?) "I saw all the activities that went on. Of course I saw the beating and the abuse, you know, as Trudi told you," Pozar said. (Hmm. He sounds like a smarty. Maybe he ate those brownies, and they "Accidentally" fell in to the green grass?)

I can see Marta Karoyli abusing, but not Bela. He seems too encouraging and whatnot to do that.
But defintely Marta. That lady scares the crap out of me.

Thanks for reading!!

Gymdog's Floor Intrasquad.

GymnastIke has posted the Gymdog's new floor routines! Ha! I told you Abby had a racer-themed floor! :p

Visit Gymnastike For More Videos

Hahaha!!

Is this not the cutest thing EVER?! (See below.)


She has a big head..and little arms.

International Assignments Announced.

USA Gymnastics names international assignments

Corrie Lothrop and Glen Ishino © John Cheng, Steve Lange INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Nov. 15, 2008 – USA Gymnastics announced athlete assignments for three international events in November and December. The assignments are listed below. Top Gym, Charleroi, Belgium, Nov. 28-30 Kamerin Moore, Bloomfield, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA Jordyn Wieber, Dewitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA Pan American Gymnastics Union Individual Event Championships, Rosario, Argentina, Nov. 19-23 Women Corrie Lothrop, Danvers, Mass./Hill’s Gymnastics Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA Olivia Courtney, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro Samantha Shapiro, Los Angeles/ All Olympian Gymnastics Center Men Glen Ishino, Santa Ana, Calif./SCATS-HB Danell Leyva, Miami, Fla./Universal Gymnastics International Artistic Gymnastics Challenge, Woluwe Saint-Lambert, Belgium, Dec. 13 Amanda Jetter, Milford, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy Corrie Lothrop, Danvers, Mass./Hill’s Gymnastics Olivia Courtney, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro

Head Count!

Just to get an approximate number of how many people read He Kexin = 14, I would love if everyone who reads would comment by clicking the comments button below this post. Thanks so much!

Ew, What's that smell?

Why, It's the stench of Anna Pavlova's knee injury! Joy. Another Post-'Lympic injury.
*Curses*
My two favorite Russian Gymnasts out. Boo!

In montage news, I'm working on a tearjerker, a Nastia and Valeri montage to Butterfly Kisses.

:)

EDIT:

Poor Pavs. I tear up when I see this picture:

New Montage.

To comment/rate the montage click HERE.

Hey, Hey, HEY!! Look at this!!!!

http://gymnasticscoaching.com/?p=6639&akst_action=share-this

Woot. He Kexin = 14 is getting popular! I googled Nightflare514, just to see if I'm up there, and Dun duh dah duh..There it was.

Semenova, McCool, Chusovitina injured.

Ksenia Semenova has suffered a post-Olympic wrist injury, not being able to train to her full potential. This will have her out of Madrid World Cup Final, later on in December. Ksenia and her coach are trying to let it heal as fast as it can, while still training, trying to keep her skills. Rumors say this may be because of a growth spurt. No, Ksenia, please don't grow! You're so cute!!


(I mean, seriously, how could you NOT like this girl?! I like her and she beat out Nast on bars!)

Over in NCAA, Courtney McCool, a member of the 2004 Olympic Team, has a stress fracture in her foot, as Online Athens reports. McCool will be out a minumum of eight weeks. She will not be able to perform in the Gymdog's annual Sneak-A-Peek, December 7th. (Boo!)



(Courtney McCool, executing a beam routine with grace, style and flexibility.)


Also, Oskana Chusovitina has, in fact, torn her ACL. How come this is the first I've heard of it?!




(She really needs to grow her hair out.)

2009 Tyson American Cup To Be Hosted in Chicago.

Boo, it's far away from me. :(

Found this article on usa-gymnastics..org.

CHICAGO (November 13, 2008) –USA Gymnastics and World Sport Chicago (WSC) today jointly announced that the 2009 Tyson American Cup will be held at the Sears Centre Arena in metropolitan Chicago on Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets went on sale today for the Tyson American Cup, one of the most prestigious international, invitational gymnastics events. Legendary gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi was on hand for the announcement.

"The Tyson American Cup has a long tradition of showcasing and previewing the world’s top gymnasts, and it is a great way to show the gymnastics community that Chicago is the perfect city to host the 2016 Games," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "We are excited about starting our 2012 road to London in the Chicago area."

“We are honored that Chicago will welcome the gymnastics community to this prestigious international competition,” said Bill Scherr, chairman of World Sports Chicago. “We are thrilled that Chicagoans will have the opportunity to come out and see these top athletes from around the world compete.”

The 2009 Tyson American Cup features an all-around format, and the field for the event will be announced at a later date. The list of former champions includes some of the sport’s best-known names, including Bart Conner, Paul Hamm, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Mary Lou Retton and Peter Vidmar.

“The Tyson American Cup features gymnastics at its highest level and will be a great experience for the fans,” said Dave Hogberg, senior vice president of Tyson Foods. “We are proud to sponsor this prestigious event and to communicate the importance of protein and nutrition to those who attend, as well as the millions of Americans who tune in.”

Ticket prices range from $19.50-$125 and are subject to applicable fees. Tickets may be purchased charge by phone at 312-559-1212 or 1-888-SEARSTIX; online at www.ticketmaster.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; at the Sears Centre Arena Box Office; or through participating area gymnastics clubs. Visa is the preferred method of payment.

“We are excited to be part of this prestigious event, especially with the success of the U.S. teams in Beijing,” said Jeff Bowen, president of the Sears Centre Arena. “The Tyson American Cup once again will prove to be an exciting competition for both the athletes and fans.”

Karolyi spoke about the Tyson American Cup, as well as expressed his thoughts on Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Games.

“The Tyson American Cup has always been an indicator of great Olympians,” said Karolyi, who has coached 28 Olympians and nine Olympic champions, including Nadia Comaneci, Kerri Strug and Retton. “Mary Lou won the American Cup in 1984 and Kerri won it in 1996, and both went on to win gold medals at the Olympics that same year. Two of the greatest moments of my career are when Mary Lou won at the Olympics in Los Angeles, and when Kerri helped the U.S. women win the title in 1996.

“I’d love for the USA to host the Games on the 20th anniversary of our victory in 1996, and Chicago would be an excellent site for the Games,” said Karolyi, who is currently the director of the U.S. Women’s National Training Center and an ambassador for the sport.

Bela Karolyi speaks to the crowd at the kickoff event.

Tanella, Breazeal, Couch, Worley Sign With Gymdogs.

It's official. Shayla's a Gymdog. I'm also excited about Tanella signing with them too, because she could bring a lot to NCAA competition.

(ATHENS, Ga. – Christa Tanella, Kati Breazeal, Noel Couch and Shayla Worley have signed national letters of intent to compete for the Georgia gymnastics team, according to an announcement Wednesday by Gym Dogs head coach Suzanne Yoculan and associate head coach Jay Clark.

Tanella, Breazeal, Couch and Worley will make up the first freshman class for Clark, who will succeed Yoculan as Georgia’s head coach for the 2010 season.

“We all are thrilled with this class,” Yoculan said. “These young women will be a great addition to the program. I can’t imagine a better class of freshmen coming in for Jay’s first year. This class has a little bit of everything in terms of gymnastics, but the young women also have great character. They understand the tradition of Georgia gymnastics, and they will be great stewards of it. We are excited that they are going to be a part of that tradition and that they will be starting their own.”

Tanella, a native of Plano, Texas, trains at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy under Valeri Liukin and Natalya Marakova. Tanella qualified for the United States Championships the last three years. Known for her exquisite lines and perfect form, Tanella took first on bars at the United States Classic. At this year’s Metroplex Challenge, Tanella won the all-around title as she swept the four events.

“Christa’s gymnastics is very strong,” Clark said. “She’s unlike anyone in collegiate gymnastics right now. She’s an outstanding addition in the all-around and will help us right away. She has great character and is a natural leader.”

Breazeal, who hails from Frisco, Texas, is a teammate of Tanella’s at WOGA where she is coached by Laurie Dix and Yevgeny Marchenko. Breazeal has reached the Junior Olympic Nationals four times, including 2007 when she took first in the all-around and floor. At the 2008 Texas state championship, she won on beam.

“Kati is another one of the WOGA gymnasts with clean lines and strong performances,” Clark said. “She’s a brilliant student, and she will provide a real boost to our program. She’s also best friends with Christa, so their chemistry and camaraderie will be evident right away.”

Couch will arrive in Athens from Boonton, N.J., where she trains at North Stars Academy. She was the Level 10 Nationals beam champion and has appeared as an exhibition performer in the 2008 Tour of Superstars.

“Noel is a powerful athlete,” Clark said. “The first thing you notice about Noel is her power and her explosiveness. There’s not a skill she can’t do, and she’s especially strong in vaulting and tumbling.”

Worley, who is a native of St. Cloud, Fla., trains at Orlando Metro Gymnastics and is coached by Jeff Wood and Christi Barineau. Worley participated this past summer at the Olympic Trials and Selection Camp. Her accomplishments include finishing third at the 2008 American Cup on bars and claiming silver in the all-around and on bars at the United States Nationals. Worley also was a member of the 2007 U.S. team that won the World Championship in Germany.

“Shayla has a lot of experience internationally, and that experience is going to mean an awful lot to us,” Clark said. “She’s got that star quality you look for. She’s got that ‘it’ factor. She’s very good in what she does and the way she goes about her business.”)

I'm so excited to see everyone compete in NCAA! Go Dogs!

USA Gymnastics announces athlete assignments for November, December 2008 .

Sorry for posting twice in a day!

Anyways, I was searching usa-gymnastics.org for any news about ANYTHING, and I came across this piece:

USA Gymnastics announces athlete assignments for November, December 2008.

Women

[Pan American Gymnastics Union Individual Event Championships, Rosario, Argentina, Nov. 19-23]
(This is the training squad for the event. The four team members will be selected from the training squad and named at the national team camp, Nov. 12-16.

Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla./Bieger International Gymnastics
Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA
Mackenzie Caquatto of Naperville, Ill./Naperville Gymnastics Academy
Olivia Courtney of Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro
Corrie Lothrop of Danvers, Mass./Hill’s Gymnastics
Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s Gymnastics Academy
Cassie Whitcomb of Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy

[Top Gym, Charleroi, Belgium, Nov. 28-30]


Kamerin Moore of Bloomfield, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA
Jordyn Wieber of Dewitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA

[International Artistic Gymnastics Challenge, Woluwe Saint-Lambert, Belgium, Dec. 13]
(Two additional athletes will be named to the team at the national team camp, Nov. 12-16.)


Amanda Jetter of Milford, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy
Cassie Whitcomb of Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy




I hope Bross, Bieger, Sloan and Wieber kick some butt.

Claire Hom, and Confirmation.

Let me just say this now:

Claire freakin' Hom reads He Kexin = 14. I was like. "Wooow." If you haven't already heard from CcCam's blog, Claire is an up and coming gymnastics superstar, with a unique style of gymnastics. Just google her. You'll find out. (To Claire: Heyy, how are youu? :D)

Anyways, Wikipedia has posted confirmation that Shayla Worley HAS been kicked off the tour for underage drinking.

(Copied from Wiki below:)

Cast

[edit] Female athletes

(in alphabetical order by last name)

• Shawn Johnson
• Nastia Liukin
• Chellsie Memmel
• Shannon Miller
• Ashley Postell
• Samantha Peszek
• Bridget Sloan
• Shayla Worley (removed from cast list after refusing to comply with underage drinking rules)
• Alicia Sacramone (placed for Shayla Worley)

Hmm.
This is something to think about. Will it screw up her NCAA?

An Interview with an amazing gymnast.

Brianna is a Level 10 gymnast, hoping to receive a scholarship for her amazing gymnastics. She trains 25 hours a week, with a long 1 hour commute to the gym. One thing you don't know about this talented athlete is that she is deaf, but never fails to give an amazing performance, while inspiring other gymnasts to do the same. Brianna's role model(s) for gymnastics are Aimee Walker Pond, a BYU gymnast who was also deaf and blind in one eye. Brianna also attends her school's cheerleading practices after school, and afterward, heading straight to the gym. Read her interview she so kindly agreed to give to He Kexin = 14.



(HK14 is me, B is Brianna.)

HK14: What is your favorite event?
♥
B: Fave event is definitely floor! I'm not a very graceful gymnast, but I'm a powerful tumbler. Also learning my routine is so hard, but once I start to see the visual rhythm its very rewarding. And I'm super outgoing and love performing.

HK14: What is the hardest skill you've ever competed?
♥
B: Hardest skill, technically, is a full in full out, its an E skill. But since I have no cochlea and my inner ears are messed up anything on beam is hardest to me. My fave skill to compete is a Double Arabian Front because I love twisting, LOL.

HK14: Have you ever had any mental blocks? If so, how did you overcome them?
♥
B: Hmm, yeah. I had a hard time doing on flight series on beam. I just kept doing them over and over on the floor until I got it. I've had people say I can't do gymnastics because I'm deaf. Like, I had a high school coach who thought I belonged in the Special Olympics.

HK14: How do you overcome obstacles in Gymnastics that you face because of being deaf?
(Example: Hearing floor music, communicating with coaches.)
♥
B:
Well, I started gymnastics when I was 3, back when your parents are still around. My mom was allowed on the floor to help interpret what the coaches said for me, but really at that age it's more like 'Follow The Other Kids'. As I got older, my mom was still allowed on the floor. By the time I turned 7 and was invited to compete for the team at level 5, my coach had picked up on basic sign so my mom didn't need to be around. I've had the same coach since I moved when I was 5 and he's great. He promised to learn more sign as I learned more skills and he has. He went with me to TOPs National Camp when I was 9 and pretty much interpreted for me. I'm really lucky to still compete for him. As far as gym stuff, on floor my coach chooses my music and choreographs my routine. Then I start to learn it by practicing over and over and watching him. I'm pretty good at following visual cues and seeing visual rhythm. If I want to change a part of my routine because I think it looks better, my team helps me decide if it goes with the music. My teammates are a lot like my coach. We've been together since we were pretty young, since we're at a small town gym, and a lot of them picked up sign. When I compete in floor I get a visual cue from the judges when my music starts. On beam instead of a buzzer I get a flag from the judges for a time mark. Other than that I follow the rest of the gymnastics rules, when you're competing you don't really need to hear.

HK14: Are you training any new skills?
♥
B: Not right now, I'm just retraining my old skills. My one new goal is to get my full-in full-out consistent so I can put it in a tumbling pass for my floor exercise.

HK14: What is your gymnastics schedule usually like?
♥
B: I'm training extra right now. If I'm not sick, the weather isn't too bad, and I can borrow my mom's car or get a ride from my godfather, I'm in the gym about 25 hours a week. 4 every day after school and 5 on Saturday. At our gym you only have to practice 20 hours a week for level 10, I just want to be ready to go when season starts in January, and hopefully boost my chances of being allowed to compete in college someday.

HK14: What is some of the basic conditioning you do?
♥
B: All sorts of stuff. We run about once a week, do a lot of jump roping too, for cardio. I do so many handstand presses, and chin ups, and crunches, and v-sits, and l-sits I can't even count that high! Then a lot of stuff like squat jumps and rope climbing.

HK14: What are your Expectations/Goals for the upcoming JO season?
♥
B: I'm mostly just really excited to compete again. I don't know if I'll be able to qualify for nationals like I did 5 years ago, but it'd be cool if I did. By the end of the season I'd like to be competitive enough to place at state in the all-around and top three in floor.

HK14: What Colleges are you applying to and hoping to attend on a Gymnastics Scholarship?
♥
B: Well, I don't think I'll start off school with a gym scholarship. It's a long story but the Utah State coach got a hold of me and said that if I went back in the gym this year and really competed well, they'd love to have me come out and train with them and maybe as a sophomore compete. I'm also applying to Mesa State and Ft. Lewis which are both in-state schools for me and I can pay for through VR (Vocational Rehabilitation, it's this government program for people with disabilities). I also applied to CSU-Northridge (California) and Gallaudet. CSU-N has a notorious great program for Deaf students and Gally, in DC, is the county's only Deaf liberal arts school. Unfortunately only USU has gymnastics. If I don't get in there, I'll probably cheer at Mesa State, but the other schools don't have good programs. I've been mainstreamed in regular schools my whole life and for a while wanted to go to a Deaf school, but recently have changed my mind. So yeah, *crosses fingers for Utah State* It's my dream school!! Close to home but still far, a Deaf Ed program so a lot of ASL on campus, an awesome gym team... I'm pretty excited.


HK14: Okay, last question. Why do you love Gymnastics and why do you do it?
♥
B: Well, other than the usual, I had way too much energy as a kid, my mom put me in gymnastics because she thought it'd be a good way for me to be involved with a team but still do an individual sport where communication isn't an issue. That's still really true. I love my team more than anything else in the world, but when it comes to compete it's just me and whatever event I'm doing. I'm not the Deaf girl, I'm just another gymnast. I can really push myself as hard as anyone else. It's made me work harder in life and school and not think about my Deafness. Gymnastics is also an incredibly difficult sport that's even harder because you're supposed to make it look easy. I'm the kind of girl who will train her butt off and be all sweaty and tired, but still want to have glitter and cute ribbon in her hair. So yeah, pretty much I love everything gymnastics offers.

Thanks so much, Brianna, we hope to see you in College!


(Brianna in Cheerleading, executing a Back Tuck.)

Shayla Worley: Born To Be Bad?

Well, rumors are going around around that A) Shayla's been kicked off the Superstar Tour, and B) It's because of underage drinking.

W.T.F!?
WTF, WTF, WTF, W.T.F?!

I can never see her drinking.
I guess that explains why she wasn't there Oct. 18th when I went to go see the tour.

In other Shayla news, SHE'S GOING TO SIGN WITH GEORGIA!!! AHHHHHHH! *Does happy dance*

Anyways. I'm sooooooo excited about that, because we're getting season tickets for this season and next season..I get to frigging SEE HER COMPETE in frigging PERSON. *Does happy dance again*.

*coughs*

Aight, well in news about me (I can hear y'all booing now.)...I might be going back to gymnastics. My coach wants to discuss it with me at 3:15 today, and frankly, I'm terrified. She says that If I want to I can just do Vault and Floor because I'm no good at bars, and I'm terrified of beam. Seriously. I get butterflies whenever we go to beam. Every. Single. Time.

I love competing floor, and I love my floor routine, so I'll probably be headed back to the gym. *Sighs* Right when I thought I'd ditched it..

But I'm not sure if I should, given that my knee and scoliosis are a problem...

My mom's trying to push me into going back, but right now I just need time to think.

If anyone hears anything about Shayla, e-mail me at magic.taurus@gmail.com or just comment here. :)

Thank you for reading He Kexin = 14! Come back next time!

Oh, P.S. is this not the coolest avatar thingy ever? (See below)

Too bad that I can't find where to change your display picture on Youtube anymore.

I like this one, too:

Demented little Shawn. :P

Any news?

I've been trying to dip up some Gymnastics gossip but haven't found any. Hmmm.

Anyone?