Category Archives: Andy’s Angle

Men’s Winter Cup and My Top Ten Olympic Contenders

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Orozco flair

My new current top ten U.S. Men's Olympic contenders (in order), based on the results of this weekend's Winter Cup:   1.  John Orozco – Currently America’s best male gymnast.  Orozco had an even more stunning performance on Day 2 than he had on Day 1, including 15’s on five out of the six events.  His next ...

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London Stockwatch…A Look at Men’s Winter Cup Day 1!

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Andy Thornton
chris brooks profile

What happened to the Olympic “stock” of some of the top Olympic contenders on Day 1 at the Men’s Winter Cup in Las Vegas?   Stock Went Up   John Orozco:  Any performance that simply re-demonstrates the gymnastics and composure that he showed at last year’s nationals and world championships will continue to solidify his value to Team USA.  ...

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Men’s Winter Cup Underway…Paul Hamm Competing Now!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Andy Thornton
paul hamm 2

I don’t have any videos yet, but just wanted to make sure everyone knew that the first session of the Men’s Winter Cup is taking place right now, and live scoring can be followed at http://live.usagym.org.  Paul Hamm is competing, as is Jonathan Horton (it appears on just one event), as well as Chris Brooks, ...

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Hamm and Sender Confirmed For Vegas…Plus 13 Gymnasts To Watch!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Las Vegas

The official roster for the upcoming Winter Cup, to be held February 2-4 in Las Vegas, has just been released.  Many fans will be extremely excited to see that both 2004 Olympic champion Paul Hamm and 2008 national all-around champion David Sender are currently slated to compete.   Below are a total of 13 gymnasts – including ...

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Welcome Back Paul Hamm!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Andy Thornton
paul hamm

"Good workout today!  Getting ready to compete."   That was the comment left by Paul Hamm on his facebook post from yesterday, which featured a training video showing routines on floor, pommel horse, vault, and parallel bars.   Paul Hamm has managed to stay on the “down-low “since being arrested for alleged assault and refusal to pay a cab ...

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Some Thoughts On Porgras’ Retirement

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Andy Thornton
ana porgras

I was definitely surprised to see this, even despite her obvious struggles last year – including injuries, failure to upgrade any of her routines (aside from her nice double layout on floor), and failure to medal at the worlds in Tokyo.  Her gymnastics still had an elegance and level of beauty that made her one ...

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Stunning UCLA Videos!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Andy Thornton
hopner-hibbs

UCLA vs. Cal 1/15/12   Final Team Scores:   UCLA                        196.675 Cal                             192.500   Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs Floor   9.90   WOW!  No double Arabian, but choreographically, this is another masterpiece.  Absolutely love watching her.     Samantha Peszek Floor   9.825   To Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle.”  She hardly even ran into that double layout!     Elyse ...

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A Fan Of Afanasyeva

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Andy Thornton
afanasyeva floor

Ksenia Afanasyeva All Routines 2011 Mexican Open     Afanasyeva has been one of the more popular gymnasts in the world over the last three years.  One of the biggest reasons is simply how beautiful she is to watch – she has that classic, balletic Russian style that seems to show through in almost everything she does.  Even ...

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Who Marta Should Have Sent To The Olympic Test Event…

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Andy Thornton
kyla ross fx

Kyla Ross Sarah Finnegan   With the Olympic Test Event now serving as an additional Olympic qualifying competition for the first time ever, this year’s competition carries a whole new level of significance.  In fact, one could easily consider this year’s Olympic Test Event to be like a “mini world championships.”  There will be numerous teams vying for ...

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Men’s Videos…Recent Valeri Liukin Invitational

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Andy Thornton
orozco fx

Below are ten routines you may or may not have seen from the recent Valeri Liukin Invitational, where Japan’s Jumpei Oka took first all-around (88.60), and America’s John Orozco and Jesse Silverstein tied for second (87.50).  Edward Mesa, a 21-year-old teammate of Danell Leyva’s at Universal Gymnastics in Florida, had an impressive meet, finishing 4th ...

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