Brenna Dowell breaks hand

Property of John Cheng

Okay, so I'm starting to like lose my mind due to lack of sleep, so please excuse any typos in here.

So, Brenna Dowell was originally on the rotation schedule today but mysteriously disappeared. I said "I sure hope that she didn't break." Guess what? She did.

I'm not sure how or when, but Brenna Dowell is suffering from a fracture in her hand. Sad, right? As of Wednesday, the Dragon Gymnastics Facebook page was wishing Brenna (and the other girls) good luck this weekend and she trained in yesterday's morning session. It seems like it must have happened last night.

No word as if she'll be back for Championships or not. I'll let you all know if I find out.

If you're not too familiar with her, Brenna has like, the prettiest tumbling ever. Seriously.

Shawn to possibly not compete at Championships...

Property of Brad Penner

So today, the wonderful folks at GymNewstics posted a link from the Des Moines Register stating that Shawn Johnson may not be ready to compete at Championships.

The reason that Chow gives is that she's still recovering from a knee injury. Which, honestly, she's been recovering from for two years! So I don't really get it. I can't say I'm surprised since she seemed to be the only girl at the media summit refusing to be seen who we didn't see in a leotard.

I'm confused. What do you have to lose by competing in a meet that you've already qualified for that could possibly qualify you for Trials AND comes out right around when your book does? Even if she were to do a Make it or Break it-esque beam routine, they'd still show it on TV, likely mention her book and BAM, sales go up. But if she doesn't even compete, from a marketing standpoint, she's not even relevant. So I don't get why she wouldn't at least go and try, unless her leg is falling off or she is having legitimately scary weight issues. I'm not saying that either of those are the case and I certainly hope that they aren't. But, how does someone go from Marta declared "#8" in the country a year after an injury to being possibly unready to even compete a year after that? I don't know. I just hope we get to see her fight for a spot. She's talented and I'd love to see her at least be an alternate. 

Based on her recent tweets though, she seems more excited about the possibility of returning to Dancing with the Stars. Bummer. 

Catching up down the "Roe-d" to JO Nationals

So Miss Haylee Roe has been up to quite a lot since we last talked to her. Let's take a look meet by meet and see how things went!


Alamo Classic - January 27 & 28th - San Antonio, TX
Successes: Qualifying to Event Finals & Winning both Beam & Floor!

Challenges: Falling on her first vault in All Around Finals, although she did land her second one well.

Interesting Moment: "I was a little cold when I competed (beam in event finals) so I was more tight. I had a wobble on my series and a step on the dismount but other than that it was a good routine. I scored a 9.7. In the middle of my routine the crowd went wild because Mack Brannan scored a 10.0 on her bar routine before I went. They actually went crazy when I was on my switch leap and I was like 'why are they cheering, it's just a switch leap?' But then I realized she went before me and did a great routine."


Event Final Results: (Out of 51 Total Jr. Level 10 Gymnasts)
BB: 9.7 (1st Tie)
FX: 9.75 (1st)


All Around Results: 
VT: 9.525 (2nd)
UB: 9.425 (1st)
BB: 9.75 (1st)
FX: 9.7 (1st) 
AA: 38.4 (1st)



Watch more videos on Gymnastike


Manhattan Classic - February 4th & 5th - New York, NY

Property of Kelsey Aucoin

Successes: "Beam was great. I love to compete beam. I get a little nervous but I definitely love it. I had a great routine."


Challenges: "My competition vaults weren't very good. I fell on my full, so I did a layout for my second vault and took a
 couple steps back.'


Interesting Moment: "After the meet I hung out with most of my team and had a blast. We went to a pizza place and after we went to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate. It was one of the best things I ever had. On Sunday we were up early to go to Carlos Bakery. It was quite the experience. We took the subway to get there and stood in line for about an hour. The desserts were so yummy. Afterwards we took the subway back to New York and stopped at the World Trade Center. It was an awesome experience."


All Around Results:
VT: 9.0 (6th)
UB: 9.1 (3rd)
BB: 9.575 (2nd)
FX: 9.6 (1st)
AA: 37.275 (2nd)

Metroplex Challenge - February 18th & 19th - Fort Worth, TX
"Metroplex Challenge didn't go quite like how I planned. I rolled my ankle the Thursday before the meet. I ended up having a sprain and a old fracture I never knew about. I was disappointed I couldn't compete but loved supporting my team. The whole weekend was a blast though I hung out with my team and old teammates. It was awesome."


Zenith Spring Invitational - March 10th & 11th - McKinney, TX

Successes: Although she didn't compete her hardest routines, Hayley hit AA!


Challenges: "This was my first meet back since I injured my ankle, so I was a little nervous."


Interesting Moment: "The level 8s, 9s & 10s were all in the were all in the session so there was so much excitement & fun."


All Around Results: 
VT: 9.525 (2nd)
UB: 9.6 (1st)
BB: 9.65 (1st)
FX: 9.5 (1st)
AA: 38.275 (1st)

So that brings us to today, where Haylee is currently preparing for the State meet and hopefully beyond! Things are looking good for her so far. She's won the Beam, Floor & All Around Titles in all of her meets but one a piece.

Here she is talking with Gymnastike about goals, upgrades, college & more at the Alamo Classic

Watch more videos on Gymnastike

Hugs for Avery

We'll be back to the usual posts next week, but in the mean time I wanted to draw your attention to a young girl who could use our thoughts, prayers and support right now.

Avery Downing, a gymnast at River City Gymnastics in Memphis fell earlier this week in practice and is experiencing paralysis from the waist down.  Doctors have said that once the swelling goes down, she may regain feeling in her legs.

Her friends are asking for thoughts, prayers and support in this particularly troubling time.

While she doesn't have a public support website, you can tweet #hugsforavery and hopefully the support of the gymnastics community can trend and reach her. Let's band together as a community and really support this young girl.

10 things that our favorite gymnasts MIGHT be doing this Holiday Season!

After I published the Thanksgiving Edition of this post, many of you asked for a Christmas or "Holiday Season" version. Here are 10 things that our favorite Gymnasts MIGHT be doing this Holiday Season!

(Brigid McCarthy)

10. Mexican national team members decorate their gyms with their 2011 Podium Training Leos. 

9. Aly Raisman develops carb and fat free latkes, made entirely of air.  

8. Shawn Johnson gives Jordyn Wieber the cursed "World Champion" fruitcake that Khorkina gave her 4 years ago. Marta suggests that she regift it to Komova. 

7. We finally discover something with more glitter than the Rockefeller Christmas Tree: A Parkette's hair. 

6. Mary Lee Tracy recommends leaving celery out for Santa to encourage "Clean Eating"

5. Nastia Liukin surprises St. Nick when she leaves her 7 inch platform heels out for him to leave treats in. 

4. For some reason, your Christmas Hamm begins assaulting the green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. 

3. Bela Karolyi dresses up for a "Breakfast with Santa" event for children under 12. No one is surprised when Yao Jinnan shows up. 

2. An anonymous donor sends Al Trautwig, Elfi Schlegel and Tim Daggett the Gymnastics for Dummies book for Christmas. Chapters include: "How wide is the balance beam?!", "Nastia Liukin has Russian Parents" and "Losing sight of the beam is hard!!" 

1. The US National Team bonds by decorating gingerbread men. Unfortunately, it seems that all the cookies ended up breaking prior to the big decoration day. 

(Property of National Geographic, Candy Caldwell)

Bridgey Caquatto's Injury

On November 23, Anna Li posted the following picture on her twitter with the caption "Crutch Buddies":

The picture of Bridgey on crutches worried many fans and many considered her injury long term and concerning. Here's what Bridgey had to say about her injury: 

"I had to get surgery on my knee after Pan Ams. If you saw it was taped up pretty big at the meet! and I had to water down some stuff but I made it through! But recovery is going very well so far!"

This makes sense, if you'll remember, she only competed a Full Twisting Yurchenko at Pan Ams when she's been competing a beautiful Double for years now. 

Bridgey's currently taking it one day at a time in order to prevent future injury and is currently spending a ton of time on conditioning and training bars. Get Well Soon Bridgette! 

Your Questions Answered - Will Bross Make the Olympic Team?

Nicole Asked: "I was just wondering what is your opinion on the chances of Rebecca Bross making the Olympic team? And just all around what you think of her."

(Property of Vanessa Steck)

I'll be honest when saying that Rebecca Bross is not my favorite gymnast, nor has she ever been. While her form, specifically on bars, has always bothered me, I do appreciate her determination and talent. Had you asked me if I thought that she'd make the Olympic Team a year ago, my answer would have been a definite "yes".

I wish that I could say that I still thought that Rebecca Bross would make the Olympic Team. I wanther to make the Olympic Team. If I had to give her a percentage, I’d say she has a 50/50 shot.

The primary reason right now, is of course, the knee injury which she sustained at the 2011 Visa National Championships. People have said that she may not have time to prepare before the Olympics. That’s not my only concern. I’m more worried about the fact that she may be pacing herself too quickly and not taking enough time off. (Becca was at camp in late November conditioning and working bars.) She could hurt herself a second time.

Bross is known for her reoccurring injuries. Back, foot, knee, it seems like the only person who’s injured more than Becca is Chellsie Memmel. While she had relatively healthy seasons in 2009 & 2010, in her current state, I, unfortunately, anticipate Becca being injured again.

If Becca is healthy in 2012, I truly hope that she can compete consistently. I’d suggest that she get rid of the Patterson dismount. As you’ll see in the video below (with highly dramatic background music), she's struggled with it for years. 

I can't see Marta putting up this kind of risk in an Olympic Team Final.

Her strong Bars and Floor could help her to earn a spot, but will it be enough?

Here are the 4 things that I think Becca needs to make the Olympic Team:

1. She needs to get back to 100% health wise. 

2. She needs to get rid of the Patterson dismount, or she needs to hit all of the time. 

3. Her Double Twisting Yurchenko needs to be consistent. (This is the least important of the 4)

4. She HAS to stay healthy for the rest of the season. 

Your Questions Answered - What happened to Keely McNeer?

KB asked: "Do you know what happened to Keely McNeer?" 

Keely McNeer was a 2010 National Team Member who gained the attention of the gymnastics world when she moved to Chows in late 2009. Her 2010 season went well, and she placed 9th on bars at Championships.

(Property of Brigid McCarthy) 

When we saw Keely next, she was at the 2011 Classics, competing for Gymsport USA. She only competed 2 events after falling off bars. I've seen a lot of stuff, but when this girl was limping in the hotel lobby post competition, she looked like she was in SO much pain. It really was disheartening.

So, back to KB's question...

While I'm not sure where Keely currently stands, here's what I know about her leaving Chow's.

Keely never really "clicked" with any of the other girls in her training group. Apparently this is often the case with girls who transfer into Chow's late in their careers. Chow and Li didn't seem to "click" with Keely either. He also had concerns about her safety while training.

Finally, Keely's mom was overprotective, coming to nearly every practice, and that didn't sit well with Chow. Keely even would sometimes direct her attention to mom when Chow or Li was talking to her.

When all of these factors came to light, everyone involved concluded that Chow's wasn't the right place for Keely.

This all came from an insider at Chow's. I have been unable to reach Keely McNeer for her own comment.

Where does Keely stand now? I'm not sure. I'd love to see more of her because she's unbelievably talented. Is that's possible at Gymsport? I don't know.

Do you have a Gymnastics Question you want answered? Just ask!

Physical Struggles keep Moore out of Elite Competition

Earlier this year, rumors widely circulated about 2008 Junior National Team Member Kamerin Moore returning to Elite competition after spending this season as a Level 10. Other blogs have even reported that she confirmed her comeback on several social networking sites.

Unfortunately, it looks like circumstances have changed.

I spoke with coach John Geddert who said the following:
"Kami is focusing on gaining a scholarship. She would love to do elite gymnastics, but it's just not in the cards. Her mind is willing, but we can't get the body to cooperate."

(Property of Geddert's Twistars)

Kamerin has experienced numerous physical challenges in the past including a torn labrum, a hip socket issue, and a foot surgery late this spring.

I wish Kamerin the best in her future endeavors, wherever gymnastics may take her. Best of Luck in 2012!

WOGA - The Few, The Proud, The Injured?

Earlier today, I was looking for a specific picture of WOGA gymnasts for a post I have coming up later this week. While looking on WOGA's website, I came across a few albums of training pictures shot in early September of this year by Ruth Judson. In addition to finding a few pictures of Nastia training a month or so prior to Worlds, I also found that at this point in time, a number of girls at WOGA were injured enough to be in casts or braces, and not just wrapped or taped.

Here are a few:
(All pictures are property of Ruth Judson & WOGA Gymnastics. I cropped some faces out, because some of these girls are like, 10, and I felt weird about posting pictures with faces.)

Rebecca Bross of course. (Also, notice the scale in the background...) 

Jessica Howe 

This is what I've always done when I've broken toes, but it could be something less. 

I don't know, are this many girls ALWAYS injured at gyms like this? It just struck me as odd. It's also worth mentioning that I didn't see any pictures of Sophia Lee at all. What do you think?

Rebecca Bross returns to Camp

Earlier this week, I had several people inform me that Rebecca Bross had been invited to camp. Until today, I was unsure if she was attending. However, a video on Polina Shchennikova's Facebook proves that she is at camp. (Thanks Rivka719 for the link!)

I've been told by a reliable WOGA source that Bross has been working some bars and doing a lot of conditioning. She's seen running with a knee brace in the video. I've also been told that Valeri likes his gymnasts "in the gym watching" even if they cannot actually participate.

If you were under a rock this summer, Bross dislocated her kneecap at the 2011 Visa National Championships on a Double Twisting Yurchenko Vault.

You can see an updated list of the girls at camp here. 

10 Insiders' Opinions of Camp and Marta's System

The premise of the feature was to find out what the coaches, gymnasts and USA Gymnastics staff really think about the National Team Training camp. Of course, no one would say their true feelings if their names were released along with their opinions so each respondent was promised anonymity. 

All of these are straight out of the mouths of Elite Gymnasts, Coaches and Other Staff Members. Answers have only been edited for spelling, grammar and to ensure anonymity. 

“I think the results speak for themselves. The camps serve a very valuable purpose and are instrumental to the success of the USA program.”

“I look forward to the training camps and so do my athletes. It is an incredible learning environment and it is where we bond as a team.”

“All good. [The person I coach with and I] are both supportive of the camps and their obvious results. The ‘rumors’ are so hyperbolic.” 

“I definitely feel the camps are beneficial. Without them, I don't think the U.S. Would be as great at gymnastics as we are today. The trainer that is there does a very good job with helping everybody stay healthy.”

“I feel like the gymnasts getting injured is not because of Marta or her Training Camps, but because of the gymnasts own destiny. Plus that's the name of the game sadly, it's keeping your body healthy, and training very hard at the same time. I wouldn't blame anybody because that's just mean.”

“Of course the sport of gymnastics will always have injuries and all of coaches and athletes are aware of this. The US team is by far one of the strictest, if not the strictest team, out of all the countries, which can take a tough toll on all of the gymnasts bodies during a big competition time. Not only physically, but the mental aspect of it is what is exhausting. With Marta's system, it is extremely tough, but that's what it takes to be the best athlete and the best team in the World. Being prepared physically and mentally to become the best that you are capable of being. Having the confidence of knowing you've pushed through the worst of workouts and can still make your routines, you're mentally prepared for the routine at a competition. The training camps are intense, but if you don’t train and practice with that intensity, how can one feel fully prepared and confident going into a competition with any circumstances that may come about. People got injured, but it didn't matter because every girl on the Worlds team was prepared in every even that they trained. It's the nature of our sport to have injuries. We train and compete on broken bones, torn muscles, or ligaments, but its all the hard work and dedication that we've put into it Every single day, that makes no one want to give up when you're finally reaching your life long dream and goal. The National Team Training Camps and Marta's system is brutal but I know it's her ways and opinion on reaching success and it has proven to do so. She tries to do what's best for the team and USA always ends up on top, regardless of injuries.”

"Well, I think that having two selection camps was probably not necessary. Maybe one would have been better. ...  But it was definitely interesting hearing Martha say that having the mock competitions at the camps helped decide whether or not to put Gabby Douglas on the team, and she clearly benefited from that. I mean I don't have an answer to what would be better, but I feel like there has to be other options. ... Most people tend to do better when they're enjoying what they're doing. Why not make them a little more fun and semi-enjoyable? It's still possible to work hard and get things accomplished in that setting. I mean, that may not be the answer either but that's just my take on it. At least that's my personal preference.

I will add though, that obviously something worked, since we just won Gold even after losing  Alicia two days before and the other injuries and circumstances." 

“From all my experience, it's no one's fault anyone gets injured. Its the nature of the sport and sure there are smarter ways to train and less smart ways to train but everyone has a personal coach who ultimately makes their training decisions and knows their body. It just stinks that the human body isn’t made to with stand the numbers and training required to succeed at that level. Its brutal but its what it takes and we are all so willing to do it!!”

“I don't think it has to do with training camps, or Martha. I think it just has to do with the numbers you put in your body and what you do when you train at home. At the training camps your body does get sore but it's just because you try different things. Injuries just happen sometimes.”

“Personally I don’t think has anything to do with Marta and the training camps I think sometimes injuries just happen. It may be because of all the hard hits you take while training at home. Even though we do have many camps I know that does make our bodies hurt a little, but not a ton, at least not for me.”

So what I understand from these responses: Camps are a necessary evil of being an elite. They help the team as a whole, but the girls often leave sore.


This can also be found on the International Gymnast Forum here.

Pan American Games - Sandra Collantes' Injury

(Photo property of Grace Chiu, USA Gymnastics)

EDIT: The lovely person in the comments below shared this video of Sandra's injury. Her injury was on her double pike dismount on which she hit her neck on the bar. It IS a little disturbing, so if you're the queasy type I don't recommend that you watch it. Anonymous in the comments makes a good point saying that the entire routine looked out of her ability.

I'm currently about halfway through my blog about the All Around Final, but I wanted to go ahead an touch on a potentially very serious injury that occurred today. Sandra Collantes, a competitor from Peru fell on bars and according to the associated press suffered injuries to her legs, neck and back. (There are pictures of her on the link that are a little bit disturbing, so just prepare yourself.)

I'd like to start off by saying that my heart goes out Collantes, her family and her coaches. It isn't my intent to play the blame game, I just want to start a conversation.

In prelims Collantes scored a 48.625, which leaves her over 5 points short of what is needed for a senior to qualify to USA's Visa National Championships. In the USA, Collantes would have never qualified as an Elite.

But you can't compare the two! Things are different in Peru. It's like comparing apples to oranges, right?

Wrong. Sandra Collantes competed at this year's JO National Championships for Excalibur, the gym which produced Gabrielle Douglas, Marcia Newby, Randy Stageberg and many others. Although she's competed internationally for Peru since at least 2009, she's also been competing for the Virginia gym and she even won the Senior B division of Region 7.

When looking through her scores, both Elite and JO, one thing is fairly consistent throughout: her bars scores. From her 10.25 in Pan Ams Prelims to a 6.6 at an invitational this spring, Sandra has consistently had low scores on bars. She has had a few 9.1s & 9.2s, but these are outnumbered by the lower scores.

While I'm not, nor have ever been a gymnastics coach (I did sub for Cartwheeling Cubs classes when I worked at the Y, haha,) I have to wonder: if you have a gymnast who is struggling at the JO level on bars, why would you encourage her to compete bars at an even higher level? Plenty of Gymnasts don't compete all four events and Sandra could have just as easily competed 3 events and spared herself possibly career ending injuries. She also could have stayed a Level 10, and potentially received a college scholarship.

There's not very much information on Collantes out there, so I'm not completely sure if she was born in the US and competes for Peru in a similar way that Gebeshian or Church did or if she moved from Peru to train with the coaches at Excalibur. Regardless, I think that USA has a good system to qualify for elite. In addition to reaching an optional score, girls are forced to get a minimum of an 8.75 average on compulsory routines. That way they make sure that you can hold a cast handstand before encouraging you to do a tkatchev.

I admittedly have not seen a video of the injury, and do not even know what skill it was on. Perhaps it was a freak accident and had nothing to do with coaching or skill choices. In any case, I wish Sandra a speedy recovery and a quick return to the sport.

A Sneak Peek for an IGF Feature!

I'm currently working on a really cool feature to post on the International Gymnast Forum but I wanted to give everyone who's been kind enough to follow my blog a sneak peek! 

The premise of the feature was to find out what the coaches, gymnasts and USA Gymnastics staff really think about the National Team Training camp. Of course, no one would say their true feelings if their names were released along with their opinions so each respondent was promised anonymity. 


While I haven't finished compiling and formatting all of the responses, I wanted to give you all a sneak peek of one of my favorite responses. 


The following is the opinion of one US Elite Gymnast: 


"Well, I think that having two selection camps was probably not necessary. Maybe one would have been better. ... 


But it was definitely interesting hearing Martha say that having the mock competitions at the camps helped decide whether or not to put Gabby Douglas on the team, and she clearly benefited from that. I mean I don't have an answer to what would be better, but I feel like there has to be other options. ... Most people tend to do better when they're enjoying what they're doing. Why not make them a little more fun and semi-enjoyable? It's still possible to work hard and get things accomplished in that setting. I mean, that may not be the answer either but that's just my take on it. At least that's my personal preference.

I will add though, that obviously something worked, since we just won Gold even after losing  Alicia two days before and the other injuries and circumstances." 

This is just one of the many responses that will be coming soon!

Join the  International Gymnast Forum if you haven't yet. It's free and open to everyone!