English Gymnastics Championships 2011
I went to see some gymnastics yesterday! \o/ My dad asked me if I got a good seat. My reply: “The good thing about gymnastics is, very few people care, which means you always get a good seat!”
(Actually, this year, for the first time, they are holding the British National Championships in an actual arena in Liverpool - rather than in a sports centre - and on podium, presumably, which seems to be a sign that UK Sport is getting ready to start courting TV coverage for non-international gymnastics meets. Will it work? Ehh… probably not.)
Until then, some exciting (not exciting) notes from live on the scene at the English Championships. In summary: ouch, first big meet of the season is a motherfucker.
English Championships, a.k.a. world champions just chillin in a sports centre in Stoke-on-Trent
Gymnastics does not care how gay you think it is: George Michael’s greatest hits were playing during the warm-up.
The afternoon began with a big announcement saying that the warm-up was over, and everyone dutifully sloped off the floor to prepare for the start of the meet. Oh. Except Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith. Beth did a couple more bars run-throughs (more on that later) and left. Louis, meanwhile, just stayed and stayed and stayed, practicing pommel horse. Louis Smith is an Olympic medallist and he does not care that warm-up is over. ;)
This is the first co-located women’s and men’s event I’ve been to. It was nice in theory, because though I’d never make the effort to go to a men’s only event, I do follow men’s gymnastics in a vague sort of way. However, in reality, the meet was just gymnastics on speed. Eight apparatuses in constant, concurrent use. You always wish you had a second pair of eyeballs at gymnastics meets; I think I would have needed four pairs to keep up with everything at this meet. As it is, I mostly just watched uneven bars and beam, with occasional diversions into floor.
(I did manage to watch Kristian Thomas win on high bar, though, which was nice. I immediately like gymnasts better on high bar if they’re tall enough not to require assistance to mount the bar. :x)
Very first routine of the day was Beth Tweddle on bars, and it was a bit of a nail-biter, since, during warm-up, she literally did not manage one clean run-through. Well, behold the majesty of the world bars champion, because when the pressure was on, she fucking nailed it and won the bars title by a mile. *draws heart around her*
However, Floor was not so kind to Beth. She seemed to make the same mistakes that she made during qualifications at Worlds last year: landed her tumbling passes very low and messed up her jumps sequence completely. As a result, both her Liverpool club teammates - Hannah Whelan and Jenni Pinches - beat her. I’m chalking it up to this being verrry early in the season, but it does make me worry that Beth’s having problems with her ankles again. :/
At this meet, I realised that I cannot tell Hannah Whelan, Jennifer Pinches and Charlotte Lindsley apart. I mean, I could probably differentiate them in a line-up, but when they’re competing, they all look incredibly similar: pale skin, brown hair, young, super-skinny, petite.
Anyway, once I actually distinguished her, I was surprised to see Hannah Whelan there, since she’s going to the American Cup next weekend (side note: she’s going to the American Cup next weekend OMG! :D), but I guess where your coach goes, you go…
Whelan won the All-Around, followed by doppelganger Pinches, with Danusia Francis rather a long way behind in third, due to her appalling bar routine.
Incidentally - and this goes to show you how awful GB is on beam - the race for beam champion became a game of “who can actually stay on the beam?” (Hint: not many people. :/) Although Danusia came third, I have to give her kudos for staying on the beam against all odds. Literally, she had about three enormous bobbles that would have knocked practically anyone else off, and she still managed to stay on.
(As I was leaving, I encountered Danusia giving an impromptu autograph session in the corridor. I kept moving, however, because I did not want an autograph and all the things I wanted to communicate to Danusia were vaguely inappropriate. There’s really no non-creepy way to say: “You really are stunningly beautiful, Danusia.” And there’s really no non-rude way to say: “I wish you didn’t suck on bars, Danusia, because then you’d be a lock for the World team.”)
Whelan and Pinches were both excellent at the meet, but it still kind of worries me the lack of depth and consistency in British gymnastics - especially with Becky Downie out for the immediate future. Another one who had an unexpectedly bad meet: Nicole Hibbert. :( Maybe that was just another early-season malfunction. Hopefully things will improve as the season progresses - and I hopehopehope that Imogen Cairns has successfully upped her difficulty - so that we can put together a good world team.
(Actually, this year, for the first time, they are holding the British National Championships in an actual arena in Liverpool - rather than in a sports centre - and on podium, presumably, which seems to be a sign that UK Sport is getting ready to start courting TV coverage for non-international gymnastics meets. Will it work? Ehh… probably not.)
Until then, some exciting (not exciting) notes from live on the scene at the English Championships. In summary: ouch, first big meet of the season is a motherfucker.
English Championships, a.k.a. world champions just chillin in a sports centre in Stoke-on-Trent
Gymnastics does not care how gay you think it is: George Michael’s greatest hits were playing during the warm-up.
The afternoon began with a big announcement saying that the warm-up was over, and everyone dutifully sloped off the floor to prepare for the start of the meet. Oh. Except Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith. Beth did a couple more bars run-throughs (more on that later) and left. Louis, meanwhile, just stayed and stayed and stayed, practicing pommel horse. Louis Smith is an Olympic medallist and he does not care that warm-up is over. ;)
This is the first co-located women’s and men’s event I’ve been to. It was nice in theory, because though I’d never make the effort to go to a men’s only event, I do follow men’s gymnastics in a vague sort of way. However, in reality, the meet was just gymnastics on speed. Eight apparatuses in constant, concurrent use. You always wish you had a second pair of eyeballs at gymnastics meets; I think I would have needed four pairs to keep up with everything at this meet. As it is, I mostly just watched uneven bars and beam, with occasional diversions into floor.
(I did manage to watch Kristian Thomas win on high bar, though, which was nice. I immediately like gymnasts better on high bar if they’re tall enough not to require assistance to mount the bar. :x)
Very first routine of the day was Beth Tweddle on bars, and it was a bit of a nail-biter, since, during warm-up, she literally did not manage one clean run-through. Well, behold the majesty of the world bars champion, because when the pressure was on, she fucking nailed it and won the bars title by a mile. *draws heart around her*
However, Floor was not so kind to Beth. She seemed to make the same mistakes that she made during qualifications at Worlds last year: landed her tumbling passes very low and messed up her jumps sequence completely. As a result, both her Liverpool club teammates - Hannah Whelan and Jenni Pinches - beat her. I’m chalking it up to this being verrry early in the season, but it does make me worry that Beth’s having problems with her ankles again. :/
At this meet, I realised that I cannot tell Hannah Whelan, Jennifer Pinches and Charlotte Lindsley apart. I mean, I could probably differentiate them in a line-up, but when they’re competing, they all look incredibly similar: pale skin, brown hair, young, super-skinny, petite.
Anyway, once I actually distinguished her, I was surprised to see Hannah Whelan there, since she’s going to the American Cup next weekend (side note: she’s going to the American Cup next weekend OMG! :D), but I guess where your coach goes, you go…
Whelan won the All-Around, followed by doppelganger Pinches, with Danusia Francis rather a long way behind in third, due to her appalling bar routine.
Incidentally - and this goes to show you how awful GB is on beam - the race for beam champion became a game of “who can actually stay on the beam?” (Hint: not many people. :/) Although Danusia came third, I have to give her kudos for staying on the beam against all odds. Literally, she had about three enormous bobbles that would have knocked practically anyone else off, and she still managed to stay on.
(As I was leaving, I encountered Danusia giving an impromptu autograph session in the corridor. I kept moving, however, because I did not want an autograph and all the things I wanted to communicate to Danusia were vaguely inappropriate. There’s really no non-creepy way to say: “You really are stunningly beautiful, Danusia.” And there’s really no non-rude way to say: “I wish you didn’t suck on bars, Danusia, because then you’d be a lock for the World team.”)
Whelan and Pinches were both excellent at the meet, but it still kind of worries me the lack of depth and consistency in British gymnastics - especially with Becky Downie out for the immediate future. Another one who had an unexpectedly bad meet: Nicole Hibbert. :( Maybe that was just another early-season malfunction. Hopefully things will improve as the season progresses - and I hopehopehope that Imogen Cairns has successfully upped her difficulty - so that we can put together a good world team.