Part of my daily internet ritual involves logging on to the Gymnastics Gossip Message Board (GGMB) to see what’s new in the world of gymnastics. Recently, I was intrigued by a thread entitled “Japanese Gymnastics Robot” posted by aevera. I clicked on the video and was amazed by what I saw: a robot doing a piked Kovacs on high bar! The Kovacs, first performed by Peter Kovacs (HUN) on his way to a silver medal on high bar at the 1979 European Championships, has since become a staple on this apparatus. It is described as a double back over the high bar, but by the time the bar is released and caught again, it’s actually a 1.5 back flip.

Starting from a dead hang, the robot managed to gain enough momentum to swing some rapid giants with great tapping action. Then the moment we were waiting for: the release move! Well, it was almost a Kovacs…he released just a fraction of a second too early and didn’t quite manage to swing out of it, but I was still thoroughly impressed that he caught the bar!

There were many revisions made to the gymnastics robot before it attained the level of success that the 6th incarnation has achieved with the piked Kovacs. This one is able to do several giants (with rather strange technique). I love the tuft of hair!

Here’s an earlier attempt at the Kovacs where the robot had to be helped into the handstand position. Had this one caught the bar, he would have had a nice swing out of the release skill.

2000 Olympic All-Around Champion Alexei Nemov competed many high-flying release moves in his day. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, his high bar included both a piked Kovacs and a tucked Kovacs. You can see them at 0:15 and 0:32, respectively.

Alexei Nemov (RUS), 2004 Olympic Games, High Bar

There are so many different versions of the Kovacs being performed on the high bar today: tucked, piked, layout, a Kolman (tucked Kovacs with a full twist), a Cassina (Kolman in layout position), and even a double-twisting Kovacs, as seen here in this video of Igor Cassina.

Igor Cassina (ITA) in Training, High Bar

I recently witnessed my favourite gymnast, Kohei Uchimura, training a DOUBLE KOVACS! He didn’t catch the bar, but the fact that he is even attempting this is unbelievable. It starts at 5:03. (On an unrelated note, I can’t help but point out the triple-twisting double back Uchimura does on floor at the 4:27 mark. The slow motion replays highlight this gymnast’s exceptional form.)

Kohei Uchimura (JPN) in Training

Let’s see if Uchimura can catch this release skill before a robot does!

Many of the floor exercise routines at the most recent World Championships were like a breath of fresh air, thanks to the updated Code of Points. In 2009, the number of required skills was reduced from 10 to 8. As such, gymnasts had more time during the 90-second routine to focus on dance elements instead of just trying to pack in as much difficulty as possible.

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In October, I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships, held at the beautiful O2 Arena in London, England.  I attended four sessions: women’s qualifications, women’s all-around, and both days of event finals.  Gymbit has asked me to share some of my observations from the stands….

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The 2009 World Championships in London have drawn to a close, and I must say I was extremely impressed with the quality of the gymnastics in this post-Olympic rebuilding year. This competition offered the first glimpse into the next Olympiad, which will culminate with the 2012 Olympic Games in the same O2 Arena.

Kohei Uchimura (JPN) was the undisputed king of the all-around, winning by a 2.575 margin. His form is simply impeccable, especially on the twisting skills. Even in slow-motion, you can see that his ankles stay together perfectly during this Yurchenko 2.5-twist. The direction was superb as well, as he landed square on the line. Note how he spots the ground while heading into the last half-twist.

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Last week I celebrated the first anniversary of Gymbits! I thought I would mark the occasion by picking out some of my favourite photos that I’ve collected throughout the years. I originally wanted to do a Top 10, but I simply couldn’t narrow it down. So here are 29 of my favourite pictures! Read the rest of this Gymbit post »

Over the years, North Korea has produced many fantastic gymnasts. Kim Gwang Suk scored a Perfect 10 on the uneven bars on her way to the gold medal at the 1991 World Championships. This was the last Perfect 10 the world will ever see at a World Championships due to the current open-ended Code of Points.

The highlight of Kim’s routine was the Tkatchev-Counter Kim combination at 0:11 and the lightning-fast 1.5 pirouette to Jaeger at 0:24. Read the rest of this Gymbit post »

In the 1990s, Dominique Dawes captured the attention of gymnastics fans around the world with many fantastic skills: a Hindorff on bars, three consecutive layouts on beam, two flip-flops to a full-in dismount, and back-to-back tumbling on floor. Though her lengthy competitive career spanned three Olympic Games and five World Championships, Dominique’s most successful competition was undoubtedly the 1994 U.S. Championships where she won all five available gold medals (Shannon Miller won all five silver medals, leaving only the bronze medals for all the other gymnasts!). Coached by Kelli Hill in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Dominique was the first Hill’s Angel to achieve national prominence.

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Three years ago, Toronto’s Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs made history as the first female Canadian to win a medal at the World Championships. In recent years, this country’s medal hopes had rested on Olympians such as Stella Umeh, Yvonne Tousek and Kate Richardson, but it wasn’t until 2006 that a Canadian gymnast stood proudly on the most prestigious podium of all. Only seasoned competitors Irina Krasnyanska (UKR) and Sandra Izbasa (ROM) scored higher than Elyse’s 15.475 on the balance beam.

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Gymnasts display so many difficult skills with such grace that it’s easy to forget just how tricky the sport really is. There are times, of course, when things don’t go quite as planned and a Blooper is born….

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Just for a bit of fun, let’s look back at gymnastics comedian Paul Hunt. He was at his competitive peak in the early 1970s, but took to a different kind of performance in the 1980s: creating parodies of women’s gymnastics. He performed in exhibitions under such names as Pauletta Huntescu (ROM) and Paulette Huntinova (URS).

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