GYMN-L Digest - 5 Mar 1995 to 6 Mar 1995 - Special issue

There are 28 messages totalling 1123 lines in this issue.

Topics in this special issue:

1. your comments (fwd)
2. intro (2)
3. American Cup (3)
4. Bonus on bars (2)
5. Gymn on _Gym Stars_
6. American Cup - women's
7. replies to American Cup stuff
8. Instructions for Registering (correction)
9. lots of stuff (3)
10. Mixed Pairs (2)
11. your mail (2)
12. Intro
13. American Cup--a few thoughts
14. American Classic Revisited
15. A U D I T I O N S Cirque du Soleil
16. Am Cup Questions (2)
17. Am Cup Questions , part II
18. Bican at Press Conference
19. '95 Intl. Mixed Pairs

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Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 23:08:35 -0500
From: ***@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU
Subject: Re: your comments (fwd)

On Sun, 5 Mar 1995, asuarez wrote:

> >On a personal note, I
> >find it very weird and discomforting to see a girl I've never met
> >compete on my team.
>
> I don't understand your position...i'm pretty sure you competed for
> puerto rico but are you trying to say that you actually know every
> member of there team since you stopped competing? What is so
> discomforting about the fact that you don't know her?????

Yes, that's what I'm saying. Makes me feel kind of out of touch and old.
Btw, folks, the part of the bio that Rachele posted that says Diaz won
the PR National Championship is not exactly accurate. We have three
"national" meets every year. The one in June is the National
Championship, and the ones in the fall and spring have the same format
but not the same significance. Diaz was at and won the one in the
fall. She wasn't at Nationals (I judged that meet, so I know for a fact
she wasn't there).

> Here is another comment you made:
>
> 3) Nyeste reminds Elfi of Onodi?! The resemblance escapes me...except
> maybe for the usual hyperextended Hungarian elbows...
>
> Actually i missed the intro and even before elfi said it i made a mental
> comment that the movements reminded me of Onodi.

So she reminded you (and a few others, as Rachele's message mentioned) and
she didn't remind me. There's not much can be said about that. The
only thing I can say is that Onodi was a superior gymnast, but
that, of course, doesn't mean Nyeste can't remind one of her. She just
didn't remind me at all.

> One last comment were you the one who referred to the american cup
> as the scAM cup? if so what was the reasoning...i've seen the telecasts
> for the past couple of years and i haven't really seen a contender
> other that a US women who should have won. Perhaps you can fill
> me in on a particular instance. OUt of curiosity are the judges
> only from the US for this event?????

What might affect a decision of which gymnast to send (which is, after
all, what I was talking about, because I thought the reason Elfi gave
for countries not sending their stars was rather unlikely) is not the
reality of the judging but the perception of what it is, and there is
definitely a perception that the judging at Am Cup, especially on the
women's side, is very favorable to Americans. I am always one pointing
out to my more cynical friends that the judging is skewed in every other
country, but Am Cup has a worse reputation. The fact that an American
woman has won every time for approximately 15 years contributes to
that. You've gotta admit a run like that is a little suspect
(especially when until recently it was always a Karolyi gymnast too), or
at the very least will be perceived that way.

As to the judges -- it's always a counterargument to charges of favorable
treatment that not all the judges are from the home country. That
doesn't stop judges from helping each other out. Judges from countries
competitive with each other won't do it, but judges from a really good
country and one not nearly so good can work something out. Also, at some
meets (I don't know about this one), the host country invites judges from
elsewhere and pays for their expenses, so they end up feeling obligated
to the hosts. Even if the expenses weren't paid, a judge who is there
without a gymnast competing has nothing to lose in terms of her own
country's results, doesn't want to get blacklisted, and she has
something to gain at future meets from the countries she boosts now.

:)
Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 23:36:06 -0500
From: ***@EMERALD.TUFTS.EDU
Subject: intro

Hi everyone! I have been reading along with all of you for a while now
and I realized I never properly introduced myself! My name is Melissa and
I am a grad student at Tufts Univ. In my younger years I competed at
Class III (remember those days?) and in College I was the pres. of the
gymanstics club. These days I am sidelined with tendonitis in the
shoulders and miss working out terribly! I've enjoyed hearing what all of
you have to say and I look forward to sharing more thoughts with you!

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 23:38:49 -0500
From: ***@EMERALD.TUFTS.EDU
Subject: American Cup

I have one question:

Does anyone know who the French girl in fourth place was? They didn't
even show her once!

Well, maybe two questions:

Do you think the sale of Kristy's twisties will go up now that Kristy
Powell has won?

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 06:40:00 UTC
From: ***@GENIE.GEIS.COM
Subject: Re: Bonus on bars

Adraina wrote about inverts on bars being D's (right) and being eligible for
D/E bonus (right). However, they would not qualify for connection bonus
because they do not have a twist or flight in them. It is one of those
example that they love to throw at you on the judging test. (grin)


Kathy E.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 10:51:16 GMT
From: ***@IC.AC.UK
Subject: Gymn on _Gym Stars_

Hi all,

Just received the March issue of _Gym Stars_ magazine and
boy, are we Gymners "swarming" all over the place here.
First off under the "with thanks to" column, there are
only 11 persons being acknowledged and amongst those
include Rachele, Susan, Beth, Alix (though I don't
actually know whether she is on Gymn...), and yours truly.

There is a little box which describes the details on how
to subscribe to Gymn (although the info was slightly
wrong!), there's a page of pictures and story from Reese's
by Susan, and half a page of "Dortmund Diary" by Alix.

There are the usual pics and things in this issue but I
won't spoil it further for those who are waiting for it
so I'll stop here.

Sherwin

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 08:52:56 -0500
From: ***@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU
Subject: Re: Bonus on bars


> Adraina wrote about inverts on bars being D's (right) and being eligible for
> D/E bonus (right). However, they would not qualify for connection bonus
> because they do not have a twist or flight in them. It is one of those
> example that they love to throw at you on the judging test. (grin)

Inverts are eligible for connection bonus because the only elements that
have to have flight or twist to be eligible for connection bonus are
C's. D's and E's get connection bonus regardless (a D or E element that
doesn't have flight or twist is rare, though).

:)
Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 09:06:58 -0500
From: ***@DELPHI.COM>
Subject: American Cup - women's

1995 McDonald's American Cup
Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA
March 4, 1995 - Finals

Women's competition

Kristy Powell vs. Ana Maria Bican

Well, obviously, many of you who saw the Cup on TV don't think that
Powell was the rightful victor. I must say that I disagree to a
certain extent. I thought Bican and Powell were very equal and would
not have argued with results that had either on top. The comparison
is inevitable, I suppose. I guess I'm just saying that yes, Powell
was overscored on floor, but when all events are considered, I do
not think Bican was significantly better than Powell to warrant
disputing the victory.

1. Powell

Kristy has a great ability to delay her twists in the air. Her vault
is a Yurchenko-1.5, with all of the twisting done on the last somer-
sault. Spectacular. She hopped to the side on the first one, and
took a smaller hop on the second, but her form in the air was good
and her height and distance were up there. On bars, she opted to leave
out her Jaeger 1/2-out, but she did compete an invert, a Tkatchev, a
back uprise into _high_ and tight Gienger, and a gorgeous full-out.
Unfortunately, she took a step, however, on the dismount.

Kristy's weakest event is beam -- she is good, not great. Her punch
fronts are great -- lots of lift; but she had two slight balance checks
and was a bit heavy on her Rulfova. Her leaps need more amplitude.
Still, she dismounted with a secure and sky-high double tuck.

I haven't met anyone yet who has said they disliked Powell's choreo-
graphy on floor. I think Powell's routine suits her well. When
she hits, she's fantastic, with a double layout mount, a tucked
full-in middle pass, and front handspring, front full, piked
punch front dismount. This time, she took a too-quick lunge
on the double layout mount and stuttered out of her triple turn
near the beginning of the routine. Her 9.85 was too high but
by this time she had won the meet and so the score is debatably
irrelevant.

An eerie similarity -- in 1983, a pre-Olympic year, alternate
Mary Lou Retton was substituted into the American Cup and won
the competition. Next year she won the Olympics on her home
turf. (Yes, Powell was an alternate to the American Cup -- she
competed because Moceanu pulled from the meet.)

2. Bican

March 3rd was both Ana Maria's birthday, and her coach's birthday.
Just thought that was interesting.

Bican began the competition extremely well with a planted Yurchenko
double full. The vault was lacking in height and her knees were
not tight, but her twists were 100% complete and she landed without
a quiver. Her second vault was better in the air, both in height
and form, but she took a step. Again, though, the twists were 100%
complete. On bars, Bican noticeably bent her legs on both glide
jams to the high bar. The highlight of the routine was a pretty 1.5
pirrouette to wrong way Tkatchev. Her Gienger was caught a little
bit heavy (maybe she was too close to the bar) but her pike-open
double layout dismount was just beautiful. Bican's bars were fairly
typically Romanian, complete with hollow handstands.

Ana Maria's high point on beam was probably her ff, ff to two feet,
layout to two feet acrobatic pass. Her punch front onto the beam
produced a wobble, and her second punch front, which was cowboyed,
needed an arm circle to maintain balance. Her dismount was
strong, however, with two ff's into a stuck double tuck.

Bican's floor had more dance (in my opinion) than we've seen from
Romania. This was still a weak point in her routine, however.
Her tumbling, however, was untouchable in execution. Try a
tucked full-in, STUCK. She also executed a front tumbling pass
well (I think it was a front, front handspring, Rudi, punch front),
and her dismount of a triple twist was completed as well as her
Yurchenko double fulls were.

Bican's routines were excellent all-around and I look forward to seeing
more of her work in the future.

3. Amanda Borden

To have an off day and still rightfully place third is a pretty good
accomplishment, I would say. Borden was warming up pretty well but
just didn't put it all together for the competition. She did well
to keep herself under control however and not let the wheels spin off
or allow herself to be rattled. Vault produced two HIGH pike fronts
with excellent form, and two hops (one per vault, that is). Borden's
usual bars set ended with a bouncy double front. Beam was her worst
event in terms of her score, but the best event in terms of displaying
her maturity. Weaker or more inexperienced gymnasts would have fallen
off the beam at some point, but Amanda merely righted her
positions to compensate for any mistakes, and so she managed to
stay on the beam. She checked herself three times that I counted:
a bend at the waist after her 1/2 twisting straddle leap; a quick
check after her double stag leap; and another check after her straddle
leap. Her double tuck also produced a step. (Her punch fronts, I
might add, are sky high.)

Borden's floor proved to be more of the same type of performance as
beam. Her first pass (Arabian double front) caused her to step out
of bounds. Her second pass (2.5, punch front) was clean but her
third pass was really pushing the gas gauge on empty.

Still, Amanda's steady improvement is evident, and at this rate, she'll
be a shoo-in for '96.

4. Cecile Canqueteau, France

I really, really like this gymnast. So light and soft, yet very unique.
Her bars included a giant, blind change, front giant, full pir., Jaeger.
Her Rulfova on beam was landed light as a feather (albeit a bit off
center) and her triple twist dismount couldn't be much better. Her
floor choreography was Very Different, although I don't know if the
music really suits her. All the same, in this day and age, different
is good. She again displayed her triple twisting talent, mounting
with a whip through to this skill, and dismounting with another triple
twist. Cecile's style was very delicate and yet defined, and many
people enjoyed her gymnastics.

5. Monica Martin, Spain

The tallest gymnast of the competition. Some of the skills she
completed considering her height were impressive: double layout
dismount off bars, a _high_ Yurchenko-half. Her mount on beam was
unique: back 1/2 dive to handstand on beam into immediate Yurchenko
loop (back hip circle around the beam). She also had a pretty
gainer ff, ff, layout pass.

6. Elena Dolgopolova, Russia

This gymnast invited comparisons to Boginskaya from some writers on
press row. Her vaulting run is "gazelle-like", which is the biggest
similarity in my mind. Others noted that her movements were reminescent
of Bogi's, but I couldn't form the connection in my mind. Her run
though was inexplicably elegant. It's of course more important
(judging wise) what one does after, not during, the run, and so I guess
I should say that she vaulted a Yurchenko, 1/2 on, pike front off.
Her second vault really made the mark on distance, with her landing
beyond the 1" soft mat. Her singularly most outstanding skill, however,
must be her legs-glued-together Def on bars. I have never seen this
skill performed better. A pity that she took an extra swing after her
piked Jaegar. Her beam produces a few wobbles, and we already discussed
the redundancy of her floor passes in another msg.

7. Adrienne Nyeste, Hungary

Whether or not she resembles Henni Onodi, one key similarity is that she
is the Hungarian National Champ (Martin is the champ of Spain). Many
people were intrigued by Nyeste, especially by her ... unusual? ...
bar routine. After her (beautiful) piked Jaegar, she swung forward
under the high bar and executed a quick half turn between the bars to
swing back in the other direction. The most interesting part though was
her second Gienger, which went into a stand on the low bar, then half
turn and jump to catch the high. In this "low bar transition", her hands
never touched the low bar! (I wonder, does this count for a transition,
then?). Floor tumbling is probably one of her brightest spots with
a sky-high piked full-in, a double twist punch front, a Rudi, and a
front handspring, front handspring, full. Her leaps were surprisingly
weak, though.

8. Eileen Diaz, Puerto Rico

Vault was very scary for Diaz, when on her first attempt she nearly
missed the board and also the horse. The second vault did not get much
better, but at least my heart stayed out of my mouth. Bars was her
high score (9.65) and included a Healy into straddle back to low, and
a layout-full-out dismount. Beam also went well, with a double
pike dismount.

Men's comments, and full transcript yet to be written (hopefully
tomorrow).

Oh yes, correction to my Am Classic report: Shannon Miller mounted floor
then with a RO, whip, whip, ff, ff, piked full-in (not three whips and
a ff).

Yours in gymnastics,
Rachele

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 09:35:58 EST
From: ***@MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: replies to American Cup stuff

John Roethlesberger dose a one-arm Delchive (I'm not sure how to spell
that) he swings through the bottom forward, then half-turn to a
one arm eagle position, then front flip.

The way it is diffrent from a Gienger or a Jaeger
is that he turns after going throught the botton but
before he lets go.

I grew up in Minnesota and many years ago
askes some one I knew on there team waht it was

Chris
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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 08:29:20 -0700
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Instructions for Registering (correction)

Oh, the woes of registering. Please note that when you send
your command to the listserv, the command is "REGISTER Your
Name", not "REGISTER GYMN-L Your Name" as I said below. I'll
fix the mistakest hat have beensent so far, so don't worry
about changing anything you've sent. New subscribers do not
need to register if they included their full name when
Subscribing.

Again, if you want to register, please send your command to
***@psuvm.psu.edu. I'll have your head if you send your
command to Gymn!

Rachele

| A bit of confusion as to how to register your name, so here's the
| directions...
|
| 1. Begin a new email msg (don't reply!) and address your msg To:
|
| ***@psuvm.psu.edu
|
| 2. Leave the subject blank. (If it amuses you, write a message in
| there, but whatever you write in the subject is ignored by the
| listserv.)
|
| 3. In the actual body of the message, write:
|
| REGISTER GYMN-L Your Full Name
|
| Then just mail your message. Please note that you are sending a
| command to the listserv -- you are talking to a computer, not to Robyn
| or some other magical human, so a message such as "My name is so and
| so" won't make sense to the computer. "REGISTER" is an actual command
| that you are sending to another computer.
|
| A listserv is software that many mailing lists choose to use because
| it makes Robyn's job a whole hell of a lot less painful. Now, for a
| person to unsubscribe, you only need to send the command "SIGNOFF
| GYMN-L" to the listserv address (NOT THE GYMN-L ADDRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
| and you are unsubscribed immediately. Also, you can tell your friends
| to subscribe by having them send the "SUB GYMN-L Full Name" command to
| the listserv (again, not gymn-l). There are lots of other listserv
| benefits too as the software is designed to maintain mailing list
| forums such as ours.
|
| Rachele

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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 12:22:44 -0500
From: ***@SIDWELL.EDU
Subject: Re: lots of stuff

> 2.Can anyone describe the following skill to me:
> -Rulfova on beam-is it a full twisting straddle down? If so
> why was it named this?

It's a full twisting straddle down. It was probably named this because
someone named Rulfova was the first to do it, but I don't know for sure.
If you're asking "Why isn't it just called a full-twisting Chen?" then
the answer is that when you add a twist to something, it's called
something else (like a Def on bars. It's a full-twisting Gienger, but
it's called a Def, not a full-twisting Gienger)

> -Shaposhnikova om bars

It's a skill that comes out of a free hip on the low bar. You do the free
hip the wrong way (so as you shoot out at the end, your toes are going
towards the high bar--does that make sense? It's not the same way as in
the level 6/7 routine, if that helps you more) and as you come out, you
push off the low bar, do a .5 flip so that you're right side up instead
of upside down, and grab the high bar. Your momentum is going away from
the low bar, so most gymnasts swing out and then swing back in and do a
kip or something on the high bar facing the low bar. Dominique Dawes
used to have it in her routine, if that helps any.

> -Chanae turn(sp) in the new compulsary floor

It's a turn done with your legs apart (a little more than shoulder
width), usually in a series (at least, that's the only way I've seen them
done). Pretend like you're doing it down a straight hallway, with one
wall painted blue and the other painted red, and start with your right
foot in front facing the red wall. Now, you would step onto your right
foot and do a half pirouette (either way) so that you land with your left
foot in front, facing the blue wall. Then you'd do a half pirouette on
your left foot so you land with your right foot in front facing the red
wall. You can do various things with your arms--in the compulsory floor,
they start with their arms down and move them up gradually as they
pirouette. BTW, it's spelled chaine, which I always think of as being
like a chain.

Anyone, feel free to clarify, correct, whatever :).
Lisa

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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 11:45:43 CST
From: ***@ADMIN.STEDWARDS.EDU
Subject: Mixed Pairs

Anyone know the results? My hometown newspaper ran a brief newsclip this
morning but all they mentioned was that Rob Kieffer and Mohini Bhardwaj won
third place (Kieffer is from Austin) Anyone attend the meet?

Cole

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 13:58:13 -0500
From: ***@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU
Subject: Re: your mail

>
> > 2.Can anyone describe the following skill to me:
> > -Rulfova on beam-is it a full twisting straddle down? If so
> > why was it named this?
>
> It's a full twisting straddle down. It was probably named this because
> someone named Rulfova was the first to do it, but I don't know for sure.
> If you're asking "Why isn't it just called a full-twisting Chen?" then
> the answer is that when you add a twist to something, it's called
> something else (like a Def on bars. It's a full-twisting Gienger, but
> it's called a Def, not a full-twisting Gienger)

Someone named Rulfova (CZE, I'm pretty sure) was the first to do it, but
Shushunova (URS) popularized it. I just wanted to note that it is a
full-twisting back dive (aka back handspring swing down, straddle down,
splash down), or full-twisting Korbut, not a full-twisting Chen, because
a Chen is a tuck-open swing down. A full-twisting Chen (theoretically,
since I'm not sure it's realistically possible) would be different from a
Rulfova.

> pirouette. BTW, it's spelled chaine, which I always think of as being
> like a chain.

I think the word does actually mean "chained", in the sense of "strung
together", since it's a series of 1/2 turns strung together; maybe someone
who knows more French can verify this?


:)
Adriana

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 15:03:16 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: intro

Hi, I'm not sure if I ever introduced myself so I'm going to now. My name's
Courtney and I'm a level 8 in MD. I'm kind of an old fogey in competitive
gymnastics. I started gym when I was 11, and didn't start competing until I
was 14. I'm 17 now, and next year I'm going to U.Penn. I'm not sure if I
want to join the team there, because I've heard that college gymnastics takes
a really really big commitment, and I'm not sure if I'm up for that, but I
definitely want to stay involved with gymnastics, coaching or something. I
really enjoy being on the list. Well, thats it. :)
Courtney

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Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 16:02:00 EST
From: ***@PRODIGY.COM
Subject: Intro

Hi, I have been lurking for 3 weeks now, so I'll finally
introduce myself. I am Deb and I have never done
formal gymnastics. My friends and I pretended to be Nadia
nad Olga in 76 though. I have been a fan for years, but I
could not tell you specific moves, most of them are too
similar to my unknowledgable eyes.
I am a retail manager for Software Etc in Ann Arbor,
Michigan and this weekend I attended the Wolverine Classic.
Got to see the level 6's and the Level 10's.

Thanks for reading, Deb

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:47:43 EST
From: ***@BBN.COM
Subject: American Cup--a few thoughts

What did NBC have against Canqueteau of France and Tanaka (sp?) of Japan.
These were the only two gymnasts we saw none of on the TV coverage.

During the coverage of the women's floor ex on NBC,
you could sometimes see the men's high bar in the background.
At one point I saw someone (who I thought was all in blue
and therefore an American) break badly on a giant swing,
but it obviously wasn't either Roth or Roethlisberger.
Was someone else all in blue? Was I just hallucinating?

The scoring did seem a bit odd at times, in some ways
reminiscent of figure skating scoring--if you give A
a high score, and B comes along and is clearly better,
then you have to give B a higher score, even if the
score seems impossibly high for the routine. I thought
Dogopolvoda (sp?? the Russian girl) was scored generously
on beam, and this may have led to other too-high
scores on beam for other competitors. Or maybe the
judges were just being too generous overall.

I agree with those who thought that Powell should have
won over Bican, although I also agree that Powell's
score on floor ex was high. Bican's floor ex routine
was pretty risky choreographically in that at least two of
the tumbling passes's final landings and a number of the
dance elements were timed to specific percussive beats of
the music. She pulled it off beautifully on the first
tumbling pass, but was off a little bit on the other
occasions, and had to take a noticeably long pause
before her final tumbling pass to get back into
synch. This may have cost her something in the
marks, especially since she looked like she was
expending a lot of effort to try to stay exactly
on beat, at the expense of expressiveness.
But it's a neat idea, and will probably
score really well if she can hit all the beats;
she certainly can tumble to the stick!
(I'd get rid of that strange shuffling dance business
after the first tumbling pass, though--forced, and
not very attractive, IMHO.)

Watching Borden's three televised routines
brought home to me how far she's come in
her steady improvement over the last two
years. Hope she continues this way for
another year. (But her leotard was
extremely unflattering :-(.)
And it's always a treat to see a new
gymnast like Powell come into his/her own.

Speaking in favor of originality in routines, I
found Roethlisberger's PB and HB routines different
and interesting. And I was happy that he
put it all together for the win, although
I hope Roth and Belenky have better days.
Did Belenky injure his right shoulder in
his fall off PB? He looked like it was
causing trouble in his HB routine.

>>Kathy

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 16:06:05 -0700
From: ***@ASU.EDU
Subject: Re: American Classic Revisited

> > me the FX was choreographed by a Bulgarian but I don't believe it. Unless
> > it was a 6 year-old Bulgarian.
>
> I think I remember hearing the FX was done by an American. In fact, I
> don't know why, but I have this notion that someone told me it was Donna
> Strauss. But I really don't know. Anyone?

You now what occured to me this weekend while we were drinking $3
sodas and watching tapes (thanks Alix :-))? The FIG should make Mukhina's
floor routine from the 78 USSR Display the new compulsory (with easier
tumbling). It could be a way to honor her (with her permission of
course), and plus it would make a great compulsory, as well as seperate
the gymnasts from the non-gymnasts. I forgive the FIG for everything
pathetic they've ever done if they did this, but of course it's too cool.
Besides, compulsories will be in rigamortis :-( soon.

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 18:27:36 -0500
From: ***@MHC.MTHOLYOKE.EDU
Subject: Re: lots of stuff

I can't say much about the moves named for people, but in a chaine turn,
according to my ballet teacher, you're supposed to do all the turning on
one foot. Well, half of the turn is going onto that foot, and half going
off, but my teacher always refers to one as your "standing" leg and the
other as your "turning" leg.

-Emily

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 16:26:38 -0700
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Mixed Pairs

Debbie will post a description of the competition soon, but until
then, here's the brief results from AP:

1. Ana Bican, Romania, and Marcello Barbieri, Italy, 56.9 points.
2. Irina Bulakhova and Rustam Sharipov, Ukraine, 56.461.
3. Mohini Bhardwaj and Rob Kiefer, United States, 55.625.
4. Mari Kosuge and Hikaro Tanaka, Japan, 37.812.
5. Cecile Canqueteau, France and Jat Thornton, United States, 37.587.
6. Ji Liya and fan Bin, China, 37.487.
7. Mina Kim and Brian Yee, United States, 37.325.
8. Adrienne Nyeste and Zoltan Supola, Hungary, 36.250.
9. Jaycie Phelps and Josh Stein, United States, 18.500.

Rachele

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:43:15 -0600
From: ***@TTACS.TTU.EDU
Subject: Re: lots of stuff

Please tell me what BTW means.

thanks'
Misti

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:50:47 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: your mail

>Someone named Rulfova (CZE, I'm pretty sure) was the first to do it, but
Shushunova (URS) popularized it

Jana Rulfova (CZE)

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:50:51 -0500
From: ***@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: American Cup

>Does anyone know who the French girl in fourth place was? They didn't
even show her once!

Cecile Canqueteau. I really enjoyed her performances at Worlds. She
reminded me of her teammate, Lussac.

Mara

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:58:30 EST
From: ***@EOS.NCSU.EDU
Subject: Re: American Cup

> >Does anyone know who the French girl in fourth place was? They didn't
> even show her once!
>
> Cecile Canqueteau. I really enjoyed her performances at Worlds. She
> reminded me of her teammate, Lussac.
>
> Mara

Speaking of Lussac, how is she doing? I remember seeing posts about her
suffering from some injuries. Has she recovered?

--Brent

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 20:49:21 -0500
From: ***@INTERLINK.NET
Subject: A U D I T I O N S Cirque du Soleil

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performances enchant over a million spectators annually.

This is your opportunity to dive into a new challenge wich combine physical
excellence, spectacle and setting new performance standards!

If your specialty is artistic gymnastics, tumbling, trampoline, diving or
sport acrobatics, dance based on a strong background in modern or ballet,
send us your resume and a video cassette today (any standard):

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Fax : (514) 527.7522

***@interlink.net

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:30:34 -0700
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Am Cup Questions

I was asked two good questions so I thought to reply to all of Gymn:

1. A Def is a full-twisting Jaeger.

2. Explanation of Nyeste's stand on the low bar: she did your normal
Gienger, regrasped, swung under the low ba, went to stand on the
low bar (almost as if she would then bend over to grab the bar for
a sole circle) and then simply turned around to grab the high
bar. The pause when standing on low was long enough to make me
wonder if she was just off balance and decided to skip a sole
circle, but those who had wtched her in practice said that her
routine was choreographed that way.

Thanks for the compliments I've gotten thus far on my reports!

Rachele

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:46:11 -0700
From: ***@ASU.EDU
Subject: Re: Am Cup Questions

> I was asked two good questions so I thought to reply to all of Gymn:
>
> 1. A Def is a full-twisting Jaeger.

A Def is a full-twisting Gienger, technically called a Hristekieva
when done on the unevens. But since there is also a Hristekieva vault
which is often discussed, let's call it a Def to avoid confusion! :-)

Amanda

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:41:43 -0700
From: ***@RMII.COM
Subject: Am Cup Questions , part II

| 2. Explanation of Nyeste's stand on the low bar: she did your normal
| Gienger, regrasped, swung under the low ba, went to stand on the

That would be, of course, swung under the high bar, not the "low ba".

Chaine turns -- in ballet you ideally do them with your heels
touching. I don't know about gymnastics. But yes, it is related to
the word chaine', the idea being that each step (half turn) puts
another link the the chain. In ballet, ideally you are turning so
smoothly that you look like you are twirling like a top across the
floor, but in reality, most people get a very half/half look to them,
that is, you are more conscious that the steps are a series of half
turns than you should be.

Rachele

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 02:37:00 UTC
From: ***@GENIE.GEIS.COM
Subject: Bican at Press Conference

Briefly, following are some questions asked of Bican at the press
conference following the Mixed Pairs meet:

Q: Are you happy today in light of finishing 2nd yesterday?

A: It was a very tough competition; I'm happy to finish 2nd. I'd be
happier if I had finished 1st.

Q: How did you pair up with the Italian gymnast? Why did you choose him?

A: I didn't choose him, there was a draw.

Q: How important is winning this event?

A: I'm very proud because I represented Romania.

Q: Where do you rank in Romania?

A: It's my 1st year as a senior. [The interpreter added that this
competition was a "test" for her.]

Q: What did you do while you were here?

A: I know very well the road from the hotel to the gym. One day I
went shopping for a few hours.

Q: Do you think you should have won yesterday?

A: I don't know, I didn't watch Kristy Powell.

[At this point, Marcello Barbieri, his coach and his interpreter -- who were
all standing near me -- started commenting on my "horrible" handwriting
(which was really steno squiggles), so I missed the rest of it.]


Debbie

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 02:38:00 UTC
From: ***@GENIE.GEIS.COM
Subject: '95 Intl. Mixed Pairs

Since most of the American Cup's US participants were on the Pan Am Games
team, we got to see 4 "new" US gymnasts (Mohini Bhardwaj, Jay Thornton,
Brian Yee and Rob Kieffer).

The meet went fairly quickly without many judging conferences, and a few
local rhythmic gymnasts performed between rounds (one of whom was coached by
Anelia Ralenkova).

Belenky (GER) had taken a nasty fall from PB the previous day so didn't
compete here. Alexander Kolyvanov ('86 and '88 jr. European champ.) was
here, too, as a spectator.

ROUND ONE:

The RUS pair began -- Dolgopolova chose to begin on FX. Her double layout,
full-in, and triple twist went well, but she fell after a front layout full
to punch front (8.75). Vasilenko's R were strong, with 2 great inverted
crosses and a full-in pike out (9.425). TOTAL: 18.150 (10th)

Next were the first of 4 truly "mixed pairs" (Natalia Mendy of ARG and
Darren Bersuk of CAN). Both chose FX: Mendy did a full-in; front layout
full; and front layout full to front handspring for 8.55. Bersuk completed
a double layout and paused for a moment as if he had hurt an ankle. He
began his 2nd pass of punch front to front handspring and collapsed to the
mat, clutching his left leg. He was able to limp off with the help of his
coaches. His score was 4.0. TOTAL: 12.550 (12th)

Bulakhova (UKR) also began on FX, using the same routine as in Dortmund.
Her full-in; 2 front hands, rudi, punch front; and rudi were solid for a
9.475, but the choreography was weak, IMO. Sharipov on R did lots of
strength moves (nice inverted crosses) and ended with a layout full-out
(9.437). TOTAL: 18.912 (5th)

Bican (ROM) was teamed with Barbieri (ITA). If you guessed that she began
on FX, congratulations! :) She did a full-in; punch front, front hand,
rudi, punch front; and triple twist for a 9.775. Barbieri chose V and did a
nice layout Tsuk full (9.175). TOTAL: 18.950 (4th)

For the US, Phelps' and Stein's first appearance would also be their last,
due to Phelps' fall on UB. Her Tkachev and double front dismount went well,
but she missed the regrasp after a front giant to Jaeger (9.10). Stein was
solid but rather unmemorable on PH for a 9.40. TOTAL: 18.500 (only 2 US
pairs advance to 2nd round)

The next US pair of Bhardwaj and Kieffer did a better job. Bhardwaj's UB
had a Gienger, Tkachev, and a double layout dismount (with only a small hop
backwards). She received 9.675. Kieffer's Yurchenko layout full V got a
9.30. TOTAL: 18.975 (3rd)

The 3rd US pair of the ultra-tiny and ultra-cute Mina Kim and Brian Yee
were next. Kim's B was pretty impressive for someone so young. From the
end of the B, she mounted with a straddle L press to planche. Other
elements: FF, LO, FF, LO; oak tree to V-press; lay back on B, almost
over-balancing before grabbing one leg like Li Li; Popa jump; and a stuck
double tuck dismount (9.775). Yee's PH was fairly stock but performed
securely for a 9.30. TOTAL: 19.075 (1st)

Next came the HUN pair, with Nyeste starting on UB. She did 3 release
moves: piked Jaeger, Gienger, and her "Nyeste" (a cool move but impossible
to explain - it *does* resemble a straddled/piked Gienger). The dismount
was "only" a front 1/2 (9.475). Supola absolutely stuck his Kasamatsu
layout full for 9.35. TOTAL: 18.825 (6th)

MEX/ESP was next, and Magana (MEX) chose FX. She did a piked full-in; Popa
to immediate Shushunova (neat); 2.5 twist (over-rotated, with a hand on the
mat and out of bounds); and double twist for 8.675. Her partner, Fernandez
(ESP), performed on HB. He did a 1-arm giant to Gienger and dismounted with
a double layout (the second salto being slightly tucked) for 9.425. TOTAL:
18.100 (11th)

FRA/USA made up the final "mixed mixed pair". Canqueteau's B contained a
press handstand mount; fish jump to oak tree; FF, LO, FF; Rulfova (landed
slightly off to the left); and triple twist dismount (well, a 2 7/8) for
9.625. On FX, Thornton's passes were: front hand, front LO, front LO, front
LO 1/2; tucked Thomas (!!); front layout full; double twist to punch front.
His score was 9.175. TOTAL: 18.800 (7th)

Kosuge's UB was strong in spite of her advancing age (this was her 5th time
competing in an American Cup): piked Jaeger; giant full to Tkachev; tucked
full-in dismount with a step forward (9.45). Tanaka was strong on PB, doing
a couple of skills twice (i.e., double back between the bars; back toss 1/4
to glide) and dismounting with a double pike (step back) for 9.537. TOTAL:
18.987 (2nd)

BLR's Tarasevich had a difficult time on UB, missing her hecht to HB and
putting her hands down on her layout full-in dismount. On the positive
side, she successfully completed a Tkachev and tucked Jaeger (8.675). In
spite of the fact that they had no chance of advancing, Shostak performed a
beautiful PH routine, showing super form and amplitude throughout (9.75).
TOTAL: 18.425 (9th)

The last pair were CHN. Ji's FX showed off some power, which you'd never
guess by looking at her: double layout; 2.5 twist to punch front; full-in
(fall) for a 9.30. Her partner, Fan, did some great flairs on PH, only to
semi-fudge his handstand prior to dismount (9.275). TOTAL: 18.575 (8th)

ROUND TWO:

Bican performed 2 double-twisting layout Yurchenkos, taking a small step
sideways both times for an average of 9.75. Barbieri's R routine included a
swing to inverted cross and a stuck double layout dismount (9.375). He's no
Chechi, but no slouch, either. :) TOTAL: 38.075 (1st)

Canqueteau vaulted 2 Hristakievas, showing a straight body line both times.
The first was stuck, the second had a tiny hop forward. Average: 9.762.
Thornton did a cool Maltese on PB, a double front between the bars, and
dismounted with a double pike (low, and I think his knee touched the mat)
for 9.025. TOTAL: 37.587 (5th)

Bulakhova's weakest event is V, IMO. Her piked front had nice height but
her knees were bent on both attempts. Average: 9.512. Sharipov did a
non-stop PB routine, ending with a double pike (small hop) for 9.562.
TOTAL: 37.961 (2nd)

Ji's V was a 1.5 twisting layout Yurchenko. The first was under-rotated
with a large step to the left. Her 2nd try was much better, although she
still had to take a step to the left. Average: 9.562. Fan's FX was fairly
stock but ended with a nice double tuck (legs together) for a 9.35. TOTAL:
37.487 (6th)

Mina Kim can swing giants without bending at the waist (or anywhere else).
Her wrong-way Tkachev was low and kind of flat, but her double layout
dismount floated to the mat (tiny hop) for 9.525. Yee chose FX, highlights
of which were: double layout; front hand, front LO, front LO, front tuck
(under-rotated); excellent legs-together planche; front hand, front layout
full; and another double layout to end (under-rotated, hands down). Still,
it was a great routine! He received 8.725. TOTAL: 37.325 (did not advance)

Kosuge on B -- RO, LO mount (slight wobble); FF, LO, FF; tuck jump to
oak tree; punch front; RO, double tuck dismount (low with a big step
forward) for 9.525. Tanaka did a piked double back and a tucked double back
in the rings, and dismounted with a double LO (9.30). TOTAL: 37.812 (4th)

Nyeste did only a layout Tsuk on V for an 8.675 average. (Perhaps she had a
sore ankle? She performed a piked Cuervo for the American Cup.) Supola ran
out of steam towards the end of his PH, not falling but just coming off, for
8.75. TOTAL: 36.250 (7th)

Bhardwaj was *solid* on B -- FF, FF, LO; side somi; punch front; switch
leap to oak tree; stuck double tuck dismount. The 9.75 was well
deserved. Kieffer wasn't as lucky on FX. His opening pass of full-twisting
double layout was super, as was the 2nd pass (front LO, front LO, front LO
full). While performing flairs, he touched a leg to the mat which obviously
stopped his movement, but he covered with a split. He didn't get enough
height on his closing double layout, so put his hands down for a 9.225.
TOTAL: 37.95 (3rd)

FINAL ROUND:

Bhardwaj looked kind of tight and tense in her dance; the music was that
steel drums melody that everyone has heard. :) Her opening tucked full-in
went out of bounds and she fell on a 2.5 twist (was it meant to be a triple,
which she warmed up?) to score 8.85. Kieffer missed a Kovacs on HB, but
successfully completed a Tkachev/Gienger combination. The score: 8.825.
TOTAL: 55.625 (3rd)

Bulakhova's piked Jaeger flew away from the bar just enough so that she
couldn't regrasp. Remounting, she did a high Gienger and a double front 1/2
dismount (9.10). Sharipov's HB had a piked Gaylord and a soaring Tkachev.
His triple back dismount was a bit under-rotated (step forward) for a 9.40.
TOTAL: 56.461 (2nd)

Bican's final event was UB. Her 1.5 pirouette to immediate wrong-way
Tkachev was good, but the Gienger was fairly flat compared to some of the
other girls'. Her pike/open double layout was stuck for a 9.75. Barbieri
almost gave the title to UKR by taking 2 huge steps backwards (and nearly
falling) after his double back from PB. Luckily, he got 9.075 for a 56.900
total and 1st place.


Debbie

------------------------------

End of GYMN-L Digest - 5 Mar 1995 to 6 Mar 1995 - Special issue
***************************************************************