Favourite gymnasts

[gymnastgrace]

Who is or are your favourite gymnasts?? :) :D

[shoegirl]

Nadia Comaneci is my all time favourite gymnast, even though she is old now. Who are yours?
:)

[gymnastgrace]

Mine are Beth Tweddle and Olga Korbet she is old to now!!:) :D

[Chris B]

Hey I have a few favourite gymnasts and here are my top 5

1. Carly Patterson (USA)
2. Steliana Nistor (Romania)
3. Emilie Le Pennec (France)
4. Verona Van De Leur (Netherlands)
5. Veronica Wagner (Sweden)

all european I know but Carly Patterson is the best

I also secretly like Svetlana Khorkina (Russia) but unfortunately she decide to retire so good luck in your retirement Ms Khorkina you are a gymnastics legend.

[gymnastgrace]

I liked Svetlana to. But i don't see how she was as good as she was because she is really tall!!lol:)

[Chris B]

Hi Gymnastgrace

Yeah Svetlana was a bit tall but I don't thinks she was too tall for the sport. She was a fantastic gymnast in my opinion

The Russians have a strict training regieme that's why the are so good, the Russian coaches don't take prisoners when they coach their gymnasts. If Russia's Gymnasts don't perform well then The Gymnast has a lot to answer for

Other countries have a strict training regieme like Romania and China

The Gymnastics coaches here in the UK are a bit on the soft side which is annoying to the gymnasts who take Gymnastics seriously like I do That's why our women's and mens team went to Russia last Summer to be trained by the hardcore Russian coaches,.

This January the teams are going to Romania to go to a training camp there and I may be interested in going.

[stephlitman]

Oksana Omelianchik

She is classic... I love her! :p

[ApolloCarey1015]

:mad::) :( :confused: ;) :p :mad: :D :o :rolleyes: :eek: :cool: :)

[~Liz~]

Hello... well first I'm new here :P and I'm Australian ... which means that most of the gymnastics I watch actually has to come through YouTube because I don't have pay tv and they barely ever air gymnastics here :( but besides that...


Cheng Fei (or Fei Cheng) is my favourite gymnast... I really hope that she has a perfect health trip all the way to the Olympics in China... I love her vault and floor routine (though I think the one in Athens... was the best... it was beautiful and had lovely dance quality... but she didn't win gold with it so obviously her new one is better ;) )

The Russians have a strict training regieme that's why the are so good, the Russian coaches don't take prisoners when they coach their gymnasts. If Russia's Gymnasts don't perform well then The Gymnast has a lot to answer for

Other countries have a strict training regieme like Romania and China

That's really true... I'm not sure if its all that necessary though... the Americans don't train in the same manner and they still have world champions... I play the violin and just started with a Russian teacher a little about a year or so ago. And what's interesting is that I have gotten heaps better results with her but I haven't actually increased my practice... she's just qualified to give really good advice and can teach... it all comes from small adjustments in technique that only a master on it can show you... I wonder if its a bit like that with gymnastics too... the coaches have a huge influence.

What is sad about it though... for example Cheng Fei... she has been on the National team since she was like 13... living away from home and barely ever seeing her parents... trains all year around six days a week... 7 hours a day... but she is now financially independent of her parents... and her parents are quite poor if the interviews are to be believed... she says she saves her pay for them for when they come to visit. Imagine the pressure of being 13/14 years old and knowing if you don't keep making the cut, you are going to be a burden on your family. But on the other hand she probably gets good health care, food, and is in a safe environment plus an education. But I don't know... I guess I live in Australia so the whole thing is a new concept to me.

[Chris B]

Wow I didn't know that about Cheng Fei she is very well comitted being away form here parents all the time.

I know I maybe wrong aboout some oft the Eastern European coaches for example Evgeny Marchenko Coach of Olympic all around champion Carly Patterson and 2003 joint world champion on uneven bars Hollie Vise is either Russian or Ukrainan and he seem a very friendly guy.

Also Nastia Liukins's coach Valeri Liukin is a Russaian born and he seems a nice guy too although he is Nastia's father.

But the Chinese coaches an Romanians are very srtict and Hardcore. Unfortunately I couldn't go to Romania to train as I was injured before we went but the my friend Caroline from our women's team said that she could not believe how the Romanian Coaches were treating young boys and girls from five years old upwards she had heard of pushing the limit but she said that was awful and she would never go to Romania for a training camp again.

[dazeddarla]

nadia- her routines still have a grece and amplitude that few exhibit. and at the time, her bars and beam had so much more difficulty than anyone else.

mary lou- her vault and floor were very difficult for the 84 Olympics. but it was how she worked the crowd that was really unforgettable.

shannon miller- for her compulsory routines in 92, which were by far the best.

dominique moceanu- a lot of natural talent, too much hype (which was bela's fault anyway). don't call a gymnast "nadia" until they win. I think you really saw her potential in 1998 at the goodwill games & at 98 nationals. wish she had been able to make 2000 olympics.

svetlana khorkina- for bringing so much drama and actually vocalizing that she thought she was entitled to win all the time. but she was still great.

[Chris B]

Hey

I also kinda like Steliana Nistor of Romania too, she is a bit to young for me but she is still one of my favourites

[disneydance]

Shawn Johnson

[KipGirl91]

Aisha Gerber(She used to train at my gym but switched last year.)

Daria Joura

Nastia Liukin

Elvira Saadi('72 & '76 Soviet Union Olympian. Head coach of my gym.)
I also enjoy Nadia Comaneci and Elena Zamolodchikova.

[Martina]

Wow KipGirl91 - you used to train with Aisha? That`s awesome!! :) I just saw Aisha live in Cottbus less than 2 weeks ago! :) She competed on vault and floor there. :)

My favorites would be:

- Anna Pavlova
- Steliana Nistor
- Sandra Izbasa
- Dasha Joura

...and just loads more current and past. :)

[KipGirl91]

Well I'm a rec. coach there, and I do gymnastics at her old gym. My mom knew her mom when they were homeschoolers.

[metermaid212]

wow thats really cool

[eddiego65]

My all-time favorites are Shannon Miller, Olga Korbut and Svetlana Khorkina.

Shannon Miller, because of her consistency, flawless technique and form, and perfect landings.

Olga Korbut who broke the stereotypical stoic image of eastern bloc athletes.

And Svetlana Khorkina for her being innovative, using her height to great advantage.

:)