Catalina Ponor: Her Events

Lets just say there's some stuff going around at my place, including having a very annoying brother who thinks he has free reign of the place. I'd like to show him something. Instead of retaliating, I decided to calm down and hide. Thats why I'm blogging this afternoon, It might take me awhile to cool down, which is good for you, my fans, because I've been away. So, instead of thinking up new segments, I decided to do one of the classics, Her Events. Today, I will be doing this with Romanian Legend, Catalina Ponor. Catalina was known for her gymnastics, especially those on beam and floor. I will talk about those two events, along with the other two, vault and bars.


Vault: As we saw in London, Cata can do this event very well, but only had a 1 1/5 twisting Yurchenko. But what Cata does, she does well. She could be counted on on this event if Romania was in a pinch.

Bars:  Every gymnast has her weak spot, and this is Cata's. She, along with the rest of the Romanian squad, had to get through this event. The Romanian Coaches would not put her on this event unless they were really desperate.


Beam: As her 2004 Gold Medal proves, Catalina is state of the art on this event. She can definitely be counted on to give Romania some major points. Sure, Catalina's beam might have gotten a little rusty in 2012, with Aly Raisman winning bronze over her, but in 2004, when Aly was just a wee little tike, Catalina Ponor won the gold. To us older gym fans, Catalina is one of the best on beam.

Floor: Once again, Catalina's Athens gold Medal prvoes how great she is on this event. She had packed tumbling. I was so amazed when she won her third gold medal. Catalina went home with three gold medals: Team, Beam, and Floor. Catalina was truly amazing in 2004, and I loved her floor routine back then, I loved it in London, when she gave her final one in Finals, giving her the silver medal. Aly did have the harder routine, but Cata closed off the silver medal from the other 6 girls, saying: The silver's mine.


So, as we remember the retired Romanian Gymnast that brought so much pride to her country in both 2004 and 2012, we must emphasize how great she actually was.

Devastating News

1. Polina Schennikova's Injury-Polina was injured. She announced that when she came back to train in January, she couldn't even do the simplest move on bars: The Kip. Which was really sad. This would've been an awesome year for Polina, she was going to be one of those first years, the first year senior. 2014 was not a bad year to start as a senior. Aly Raisman turned senior the second year after Beijing and look where it got her! Two golds and a bronze! So if Polina hadn't injured herself, she would be right on target for Rio.


2. Anastasia Grishina's ACL Tear- It was a devastating day for all as we watched as Anastasia Grishina, 2012 Olympian, who just came back from a back injury, tore her ACL at Russian Nationals, her club, Moscow, would have come in first by a comfortable margin if they weren't forced to count Grishina's devastating 13.2 floor routine. But the girls from the club weren't concerned with the fact that they only won silver, they were concerned with the fact that Anastasia Grishina was down for the count. Grishina is having surgery, and like her teammate, Aliya Mustafina was in 2011, will probably be out for the rest of 2014, rehabilitating her knee. But once again, like Aliya Mustafina, be training bars and making the depth of Russia on this apparatus, stronger.

3. Aly Raisman's Comeback Pushed To Next Year- This crushes me so much that I can't say much. Aly decided to push her comeback back until '15.

Looking Forward To Nationals

Hey guys, if you haven't noticed, I have kinda lacked off on blogging. Because of vacationing, summering, swimming, blah blah blah. But with the school year starting soon, as you know, that is when I blog the most. Anyway, with Nationals right around the corner, and Classics wrapping up, its time to blog.



Classics may be wrapped up, but the commotion has not. I saw Classics, and one word for Simone's Floor: Awesome. Maybe this star didn't peak to early, but then again, Rio's two years away, point is, I was amazed by not just Simone's floor routine (even though THAT was pretty amazing) I was just wowed by her performance in general. Here's what I am looking forward to for Nationals in less than 3 weeks



1. Simone Biles and Kyla Ross fighting it out for the National AA Title- Am I the only one who am amped for this? I mean, sure there's the other girls competing at this competition, but the National Gold and Silver Medals are off limits for them, because for the last year, Kyla Ross and Simone Biles have been slugging it out for Titles. Simone winning the AA over Kyla, who recently became a true all arounder. Simone's drive is to defend her National and World AA Titles, and the floor title she claimed at Worlds as well. Not only does Simone want to make the National Team, She wants to make it as the number one girl. Kyla's motivation: To finally get a gold to put on her wall of silver that Kyla won last year, AA silvers (Worlds and Nationals) Bars silver (Worlds) Beam Silver (Worlds) and a whole bunch of others. Kyla did win beam and bars at Nationals last year and Classics this year, and of course Classic AA medals last year, but in the big stage, nobody takes "Classics" seriously. Kyla wants a World Gold Medal.

2. How Simone Fits in On Vault- As we know, McKayla Maroney is truly the queen of the vault. She will always be, but this year, she wouldn't able to prove it to all those first time gymnastics watchers. Thats right, we lost the World's favorite vaulter to injuries. McKayla said that she will be out for the rest of the season. Which saddens us. But as gymnastics experts, we can't think about one sole gymnast, so let me talk about Simone Biles again, she is the silver medalist in the vaulting finals. But with the gold medalist gone, how will Simone fit in? She is trying to get the Yurchenko double back done. Can this be Simone's year to win vault, and get one named after her without having to fight for the spotlight with McKayla? We'll just have to wait and see.


3. The Polina Schennikova Devastation- I have waited forever to see Polina turn senior, but like Mac, she is out. What other New-Year Senior will replace the talent?


4. Gabby Douglas Returns?- I've heard some rumors about Gabby coming back, and even though I am about 22% behind her comeback, it'll be interesting to see how this London AA Champ bounces back.

Rumors Around the Gym: Rebecca Bross possibly planning a return

So I was just cruising around the internet looking for Rebecca Bross photos  to put on Tumblr. And it said that Bross hasn't ruled out coming back to gymnastics. She has a sold coaching job at WOGA, training the littler girls, and occasionally, the elites like Katelyn Ohashi or Maddie Kocian. But mainly the little ones. She then said that she might return and start training for Rio de Janeiro 2016. I love Becca, but I have to admit, she's been an eligible senior for 7 years, and has been competing for longer. Becca might be getting too old for the sport. But then again, Oksana Chusovitina will be 41 in Rio and will probably be competing for Uzbekistan. Bross really struggled at Trials 2012, I dont count that as a takedown, but as a motivation for her return. And also, rumor has it, if she does return, she will train with the coach who trained Gabby Douglas to gold, Liang Chow. If Bross returns, she will start training with Chow, and I would love to see what Chow does with Becca. I cant wait to hear what Bross's official announcement is, but I cant wait to find out. It will be hard, but I think Bross can stick it out.

Gymnasts I Like: Brenna Dowell

 In my last post, I shared Brenna Dowell's beam routine. Did you like what you saw? Well so did I. With Alicia Sacramone being retired, we miss the unique front tuck mount onto the beam that she once did. But, Brenna took it over. She does that mount that we all loved when Sacramone was still involved in gymnastics. Brenna is an artistic, powerful gymnast. The two hardest things you can couple together in gymnastics, artistry and power. Brenna does it though. Her vault is awesome, she isn't too bad on bars either, using the artistry part of her gymnastics to hit the handstands on bars, and nail the transitions. And her release moves are good as well. She is great on beam, starting with a front tuck mount, and ending with a gorgeous DP (Double Pike) On floor, she intros a whole different view of what we know as a standard floor routine, she has exquisite passes, and really molds together the artistry AND the power. She is a phenomenal athlete, despite struggling with consistency sometimes. I say, that she has a good chance if not great, to be a Rio Contender. But then again, as we saw Elizabeth Price retire because of injury, and the fact that she wanted to attend college instead of actually trying to get to the Olympics, instead of being an alternate, anything can happen. Dowell's desires can switch from Olympic Stardom,  to a guaranteed collegiate gymnastics career. Who knows? With Rio De Janeiro only two years away, anything can happen, some greats can fall, some underdogs can rise. And if you ask me, one of those underdogs, will be Brenna.

Favorite Routines: Brenna Dowell's awesome Beam, Nationals 2013

  Brenna Dowell....... One of the old seniors (2012 or earlier), shocked me when she performed a stomach-churning beam routine at Nationals. Up to this point, I had never seen Brenna. She had a good bars routine, but her beam was a great routine, I loved it! Especially on night two, she was right on with the mount, the flip-on, the same mount that Alicia did for most of her career. I don't want you guys to miss out on the routine, so I have copied a link below, Brenna's night two competition, beam. It is a great routine to watch, at least in my opinion. Tim Dagget hates it, but it seems that Tim Dagget hates everything, so time for your opinion! Because, lets face it, its nearly impossible to please that NBC nincompoop.


Brenna Dowell - Balance Beam - 2013 P&G Championships - Sr. Women - Day 2

Elizabeth Price: Not A Good Nationals for promising Athlete, and a stinging retirement.

   Well, I was watching the 2013 Nationals, working my way up to the Worlds (For the 2nd time, maybe even 3rd.) And I was excited to see how my main girl Ebee recovered from her injury, a broken toe (Remind you of anyone? 2012 Gold Medalist (Team) McKayla Maroney? Mac acquired the same injury in London, preventing her from competing floor exercise, her second best event. Anyway, Elizabeth had injured her toe after the City of Jesolo. In addition to the broken toe, or as I like to call it "Mac's London Injury" Ebee had also had a strained hip muscle. Ebee decided to withdraw from the 2013 American Cup, wanting to rest her hip for more important competitions down the road, like the Visas or the Worlds. Ebee was able to get the rest she needed and resumed training in April of 2013, but unfortunately, after she resumed training, she severely injured her other hip, and flared up the other one, giving Ebee two bad hips. Ebee was able to compete at Nationals, only doing vault and bars because of her injury. Ebee was then deemed the stay at home alternate,

   In early 2014, Elizabeth Price retired from elite gymnastics, as well as the National Team, to go to Stanford University, I am sure that the rest of the gymternet, and myself, are wishing Ebee a lucky first year of college, and all are sending her a tearful goodbye. I will never forget how much power Ebee brought to the stage. I loved Ebee, and hope that her dreams of actually being an Olympian, and just not an alternate, drag her back to the Olympic Process, sometime soon.