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Written by Admin
Friday, 16 September 2016 07:40 |
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| Liukin Named U.S. Women's National Team Coordinator |
4685
(10 votes, average 3.90 out of 5)
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From USA Gymnastics…
INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 16, 2016 – Two-time Olympic champion Valeri Liukin of Parker, Texas, has been named the U.S. Women’s National Team coordinator, USA Gymnastics announced today. Liukin, who has served as the elite developmental coordinator since 2013, is perhaps best-known as the personal coach for Nastia Liukin, who won the 2008 Olympic all-around title and has five Olympic and nine World career medals. Liukin, who will remain based in Texas, will report to Rhonda Faehn, senior vice president of women’s program for USA Gymnastics.
“Valeri has excelled as a personal coach, and he has demonstrated his ability to lead and guide other coaches through his efforts as the elite developmental coordinator,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “He will provide a smooth transition from the program that has been created, and Valeri is recognized as a capable and talented coach.”
Faehn said, “Valeri already has been working with future national team members for 2020 and 2024 as the elite developmental coordinator. He is known for his coaching techniques and his willingness to share that knowledge with upcoming coaches. As a personal coach and developmental coordinator, Valeri has been involved in the semi-centralized system that has achieved the USA’s greatest international results and already has a strong working relationship with the country’s top coaches on the senior, junior and developmental levels. Valeri and I share a vision for the continued success of USA Gymnastics.”
“I am very honored to accept the position of national team coordinator,” said Liukin. “I'm ready to put all of my knowledge and passion into leading the women's national team to continued success.”
As the U.S. Women’s National Team coordinator, Liukin will develop the strategic plan and training program for all members of the U.S. Women’s National Team, including conducting national team training camps; attending national and international competitions as needed; overseeing international competition assignments for athletes, coaches and judges; coordinating scheduling and activities for the developmental program and the Talent Opportunity Program (TOPs); and working with the national coaching staff. He is just the third person to serve as the U.S. women’s national team coordinator, following Martha Karolyi (2001-16) and Bela Karolyi (1999-2000).
Most recently, Liukin directed the women's athlete developmental program as the elite developmental coordinator.
Liukin is a co-founder and owner of the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA), which has produced more than 30 national team members and 35 World and Olympic medals, including Olympic all-around champions Carly Patterson in 2004 and Nastia Liukin in 2008 and 2016 Olympic team gold and uneven bars silver medalist Madison Kocian. He was the personal coach for Nastia Liukin, who won the 2008 Olympic all-around title and has five Olympic and nine World medals to her credit; Rebecca Bross, who has six World medals; Ivana Hong, 2009 World balance beam bronze medalist; and Katelyn Ohashi, 2013 AT&T American Cup champion and 2011 U.S. junior all-around gold medalist. His coaching accomplishments and accolades include: U.S. National Team coach, 1998-2011; International Coach of the Year, 2002, 2004; International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, 2005; USA Gymnastics Coach of the Year, 2006; U.S. Team head coach, 2007 Pan American Games; 2008 U.S. Olympic Team coach; 2009 International Gymnastics Coach of the Year; and USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame (2016).
As an athlete, Liukin was a member of the Soviet National Team from 1985-92. During his career, he won two gold and two silver medals at the 1988 Olympic Games; five gold medals at the 1990 Goodwill Games; two gold medals and one silver at the 1987-91 World Championships; and four gold, one silver and one bronze at the European Championships. He was the first gymnast to perform a triple back flip on floor and has a horizontal bar skill named after him.
Liukin earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Kazakh Academy of Sport and Tourism in Almaty, Kazakhstan. |
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Written by Amanda Turner
Thursday, 08 September 2016 14:15 |
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| Forminte Returns as Romanian Head Coach |
4681
(2 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
 The Romanian Gymnastics Federation reappointed Nicolae Forminte as head coach of the Romanian women's team on Thursday. Pictured: Forminte at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where Romania won the team bronze.Forminte, head coach of Romania from 2005 to 2010, will take charge and the senior national team will return to the training center at Deva, where only the juniors have trained for several years. Larisa Iordache, Cătălina Ponor and Anamaria Ocolișan, however, will remain at the training center in Bucharest with their personal coaches.
The decision comes after a nightmare year for Romania, in which the team failed to qualify a full team for the Olympic Games for the first time since 1968, ending a streak in which the Romanian women won a team medal at every Olympic Games from 1976 to 2012. The team had been decimated by injury and retirements, particularly among the "lost" generation: the two dozen or so juniors identified in 2012 as hopefuls for 2016 squad. There were numerous coaching changes, and coaching legends Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang returned for a brief period in 2016.
Adrian Stoica, president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, said the federation had examined its own responsibilities for the problems.
"We've had an extremely cruel recent period with what has befallen our gymnastics," Stoica said. "Sure, there were some mistakes, and perhaps more than a few of our own, that had direct repercussions on the overall results, errors which we want to avoid going forward. Above all, we decided for greater responsibility for the athletes and team coaches to maximize the process of training and competition for the national team … and to bring to the fore new talents from the club."
The immediate goal is to prepare the contenders for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and the new plans in place should maximize Romania's chances, Forminte said.
"The new organizational principles will ensure gymnasts training with a unified concept of preparing methodologically and technically, especially on the apparatus that gives us the most troubles, uneven bars," said Forminte, who was the personal coach of three-time Olympic champion Simona Amânar. "We have a program capable of meeting the rigors of intense talent whose value can climb."
Forminte will return to Deva, where he will be assisted by Liliana Cosma, Florin Cotuțiu, Daniela Nicolai, Remus Nicolai and Adela Popa. The national team of seniors and juniors set to train at Deva was identified as Olivia Cîmpean, Alesia Botnaru, Carmen Ghiciuc, Ioana Crișan, Carmen Glăvan, Denisa Florea, Alexandra Mihai, Andra Anghelescu, Beatrice Butunoi, Denisa Golgotă, Laura Iacob, Nica Ivănuș, Ariadna Stanciu, Laura Jurca, Dora Vulcan, Maria Holbură, Denisa Stanciu, Camelia Anghel, Alexia Borăscu, Ioana Stănciulescu and Antonia Duță.
The youth team in Onești is coached by Raluca Bugner, along with Ioana Grava, Florin Uzum, Ramona Micu and Marius Vintilă. The gymnasts currently training there are Iulia Berar, Maria Pană, Diana Mandrea, Ana Maria Puiu, Ioana Oprea, Teodora Manolache, Coleen Tătaru, Silvia Sfiringu, Daniela Trică and Luiza Popa.
The federation said that Iordache, Ponor and Ocolișan, who expressed their desire to keep training in Bucharest, will be given full support for their training. The federation also decided that Diana Bulimar, Daniela Ciurusniuc and Silvia Zarzu will be released from the national team to continue training at clubs, but can return if they make progress.
External Link: Romania Gymnastics Federation |
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Written by Amanda Turner
Friday, 02 September 2016 11:37 |
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| Romania's Nicolae Vieru Dies at 84 |
4678
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
| Long-time gymnastics official Nicolae Vieru, former president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, died Friday in Bucharest after a six-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 84.
 Nicolae VieruFor four decades, Vieru held leadership positions at the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
With more than 70 years in the sport, Vieru "dedicated his entire life to gymnastics and its people," judge and Olympian Anca Grigoraș said Friday.
Vieru was born April 21, 1932, in Buhuși, Bacau. He competed in gymnastics, winning the National School Championships in 1947 and the National University Championships in 1953. From 1962 to 1965 he was a professor of sport, specializing in gymnastics, and a coach at the CSS Triumf Bucharest club. Among his gymnasts were Olympians Anton Cadar, Gheorghe Condovici, Petre Miclăuş, Frederic Orendi, and Gheorghe Tohăneanu. He served as head coach of the Romania men's national team from 1965 to 1966.
From 1967 to 1983, Vieru was secretary-general of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, and president of the federation from 1987 to 2005. During this time he oversaw Romania's transformation from a relative outsider into one of the pre-eminent powers in the sport of gymnastics for both women and men.
From 1976 to 2008, he was a vice president of the FIG and member of the FIG Executive Committee. From 1991 to 1998, he was a vice president of the Romanian Olympic Committee. He remained an honorary president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.
Starting in 1962, he participated as a coach, judge or official at 11 Olympic Games, 42 World Championships, 34 European Championships and 32 FIG Congresses.
He retired in 2008 and was elected an honorary vice president of the FIG. "Nicolae Vieru is not just a person but an institution at the International Gymnastics Federation," FIG President Bruno Grandi said at the time.
In 2015, he published his memoir, Calatorie in lumea gimnasticii (Journey into the World of Gymnastics).
Vieru is survived by a son, Stefan, and granddaughter, Catinca. His wife passed away last year.
"A great man – we will miss you, dear Nicolae Vieru," Romanian legend Nadia Comaneci said Friday. "God rest his soul." |
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Written by Amanda Turner
Wednesday, 31 August 2016 01:01 |
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| Gymnastics Legend Věra Čáslavská Dies |
4676
(3 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
 Two-time Olympic all-around champion Věra Čáslavská has died Tuesday after a fight with pancreatic cancer, Czech media reported Wednesday. She was 74.Two-time Olympic all-around champion Věra Čáslavská has died, Czech media reported Wednesday. She was 74.
Čáslavská, the 1964 and 1968 Olympic all-around champion, died Tuesday after fight with pancreatic cancer, according to reports.
A native of Prague, Čáslavská was one of gymnastics' greatest heroes. Along with Larisa Latynina, she is one of only two women to win two Olympic all-around titles. From 1958 to 1968, she won 11 Olympics medals (seven golds and four silvers), 10 world championship medals (four golds, five silvers, one bronze) and 13 European championship medals (11 golds, one silver, one bronze). She is the only gymnast, male or female, to have won an Olympic gold medal in the all-around and every event. She is the most decorated Czech athlete in Olympic history.
 Věra ČáslavskáČáslavská made her Olympic debut at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where she won silver with her team. She placed second all-around at the 1962 World Championships held in her hometown. She won three gold medals at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo: all-around, vault and balance beam. At the next world championships in 1966 (when worlds were held every four years), she led a major upset as Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviet Union in the team event, and she added gold medals in the all-around and vault.
Her final competition was at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Prior to the Olympics, Čáslavská's training had suffered after the Soviet Army invaded Czechoslovakia, and she was unable to train in her gym.
In Mexico City, she charmed the audience with her performances, particularly her floor routine to "Jarabe Tapatío" ("The Mexican Hat Dance"). She won her second all-around title as well as gold on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
However, Čáslavská felt wronged in the apparatus finals where she finished second on balance beam to Soviet Natalia Kuchinskaya, and then again in the floor exercise finals, where judges bizarrely upgraded the preliminary score of Larisa Petrik to put her in a tie with Čáslavská for the gold medal. During the two medal ceremonies, Čáslavská put her head down and to the right in silent but visible protest when the Soviet anthem was played.
Though Čáslavská's actions made her a hero with her countrymen, her protest against the Soviets and open support for the "Prague Spring" democratization efforts led to her being outcast by the communist government in Prague. She was forced into retirement and denied the right to travel or even coach. Only in the 1980s was she allowed to return to gymnastics as a coach and judge.
After the fall of communism, Čáslavská was allowed to fully rejoin Czech life. In 1989, she was awarded the International Olympic Committee's Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Medal. She was elected president of the Czech Olympic Committee and a member of the IOC, and in later years was honorary president of the Czech Olympic Committee.
Shortly after she returned from the 1968 Olympic Games, Čáslavská married athlete Josef Odložil, who won the silver medal at the 1964 Olympics in the 1500 meters. In 1993, Odložil was killed during an altercation with their son, Martin, who was convicted of his father's murder. Depressed, Čáslavská again withdrew from public view for many years while she grieved. In 1997, Czech president Václav Havel issued a pardon for her son, who was released from prison.
In recent years, she has been more visible, granting interviews about her storied life and career. Čáslavská was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1998, but was not able to attend the ceremony until 2012. |
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