Tag Archives: andy thornton

Cheng’s Chances

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Cheng Sacramone

With so much hype surrounding the American and Russian women’s teams – which have split the last two world team titles and are expected to battle for gold in London – it’s easy to forget that the defending Olympic women’s team champions are still the Chinese.  Perhaps it was the inspiration of a home Olympic ...

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Mikulak Makes His Move

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Andy Thornton
mikulak rings

I was a bit tough on Sam Mikulak when he dropped out of the Olympic Test Event in January.  I had watched recent training videos from the rising star who had won the 2011 NCAA all-around title as just a freshman at the University of Michigan, and I had begun to see his potential to ...

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Olympic Flashback – The Greatest Men’s Floor Team Of All Time?

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Andy Thornton
s soviet team

Vladimir Novikov…Vladimir Gogoladze…Dmitry Bilozerchev…Valeri Liukin…Vladimir Artemov…Sergei Kharkov. Some of the greatest names in men’s gymnastics history – all on the same team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.  You’ve heard of most – if not all – of them, but have you ever WATCHED them? Men’s Soviet Union Team Floor 1988 Olympics Why is it that I ...

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Olympic Flashback…Catalina Ponor Secures Gold For Romania

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Catalina ponor 2004

Catalina Ponor Floor 2004 Olympics Team Finals     It was one of the most decisive team victories in recent gymnastics history.  Romania, the reigning Olympic champions who had been beaten by the USA at the 2003 world championships and were not necessarily favored for gold in Athens, peaked together beautifully for the Olympic team finals and delivered ...

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Could Alicia Really Do It? A Realistic Look

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Andy Thornton
alicia sacramone split

If history is any indication, a 2012 Olympic comeback for Alicia Sacramone might just be possible.   Don’t get me wrong – it’s going to be incredibly tough.  But so was the case for Courtney Kupets, who made a stunning comeback from the exact same injury in 2003 to make the 2004 Olympic team.  And Courtney didn’t ...

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Olympic Flashback…Trent Dimas

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Andy Thornton
trent dimas

  It was the final event of the final day of competition at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.  Thus far, it had been a bit of a disappointing Olympics for the American men.  They had placed a disappointing 6th place as a team.  Scott Keswick was the highest American all-around finisher in 19th place.  Chris ...

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Flashback to Beijing…Rare American Footage

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Andy Thornton
nastia beam 2008

Was this team REALLY beaten? Shawn Johnson Beam 2008 Olympics Podium Training     Nastia Liukin Beam 2008 Olympics Podium Training     Alicia Sacramone Beam 2008 Olympics Podium Training     Samantha Peszek Beam 2008 Olympics Podium Training     Bridget Sloan Beam 2008 Olympics Podium Training     Chellsie Memmel Bars 2008 Olympics Podium Training     It’s easy to forget just how incredible this team was until you go back and ...

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Russians Unveil New Skills At Moscow Championships

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Grishina pose

  A while back I posted a blog entitled “Russia’s Ten Little Indians,” highlighting the ten female gymnasts I consider to be in contention for this summer’s Olympic team:     Aliya Mustafina: 2010 world all-around champion   Viktoria Komova: 2011 world all-around silver medalist   Ksenia Afanasyeva: 2010 world floor champion and 2008 Olympian   Anna Dementieva: 2011 European all-around champion   Anastasia Grishina: 2011 Russian ...

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Is Bross Back In The Mix?

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Andy Thornton
Bross split leap

In this weekend’s annual WOGA Classic, Rebecca Bross competed on bars and beam for the first time since dislocating her patella at the 2011 Visa Championships six months ago.  It wasn’t a perfect comeback meet for the 2009 world all-around silver medalist and 2010 world all-around bronze medalist, but it sure told us a lot ...

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Expect the Unexpected: A Look at Past U.S. Olympic Women’s Surprises

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Andy Thornton
mohini bhardwaj

It’s early in the Olympic year, and at this point it’s fun to begin to predict who will likely make the U.S. Olympic teams that will be announced in just a few months.  After all, how much can possibly change in such a short amount of time?  All of the world championships of the quadrennium ...

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