Former Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympians Surrender Athletic Careers for Degrees

World-renowned Olympic rhythmic gymnasts Alisa Kano and Natalie McGiffert have both aimed for Olympic gold medals before, but it seems like their goal has already changed, and now they’re focused on getting degrees as full-time students at Loyola.

21-year-old Alisa and 19-year-old McGiffert were both part of the American Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team, which advanced to the Olympic competition in Rio de Janeiro after beating Brazil – the host country of the 2016 Games – at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

The win earned them a qualification spot for the Rio Olympic Games. It was a historic achievement for the U.S., as it served as the first earned Olympic spot in rhythmic gymnastics team competition. The national team was filled with joy after knowing about the qualification.

“We finished our ribbon routine and we were so happy with how we did that we were crying of happiness,” Alisa said excitedly. “We were so happy we finished a clean routine and everyone else thought we were crying because we qualified [for the 2016 Olympics], but we had no idea.”

Group rhythmic gymnastics is a gymnastics discipline which has a distinct resemblance to synchronized swimming. Alisa explained that it is a combination of gymnastics, dance and ballet with apparatus work. The athletes perform leaps and turns while maintaining full control of their apparatuses. The sport focuses on flexibility and elegance instead of flipping, which is a bigger factor in other disciplines of gymnastics.

After the 2016 Rio Olympics came to an end, Kano and McGiffert both realized it was time to retire. 

“There was such a huge chapter of our life that was gymnastics,” said McGiffert. “There comes a time where you get to the highest point you can reach and you need to move on.”

With their days practicing in the gym long gone, Alisa and Natalie moved on to Loyola, refusing to grab the opportunity to perform with their teammates on the Kellogg’s Tour, which is a national tour that features various elements from both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics disciplines.

“You need to discipline yourself with the transition,” Alisa explained. “Being a gymnast, we never had any homework. Homework and studying is a lot different than training.”

Both athletes have gone through massive changes for the sake of the sport. They both recalled the adversity they’ve gone through when they decided to compete at a professional level.

“We’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I moved from New York and [Natalia] moved from California. We changed our whole lives to come to Chicago and train for the team,” told Kano. “It was a big change in my life.”

McGiffert expressed her excitement now she has a lot more free time to spend. She’s looking forward to making plans with her friends and not having to work them in around her hectic training schedule. 

Kano, currently a psychology major, said she’s looking forward to having a professional career in physical therapy. McGiffert haven’t decided yet which course to take, but she plans to pursue a major in social work. Despite not having any plans to come back to their athletic careers, they still plan to return to visit their old gym. 

Both gymnasts plan to make the same approach on their academics as what they did on their gymnastics training – with determination and focus.

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Son Yeon Jae to Perform at Rhythmic All Stars 2016 with 2016 Olympic Champions

South Korean rhythmic gymnastics star Son Yeon Jae is scheduled to perform with the most renowned and top performing rhythmic gymnasts, including the 2016 Olympic Games champion, at the All-stars rhythmic gymnastics gala show to be held in Korea next week (September 16-17), her agency confirmed Tuesday.

Galaxia SM, Son Yeon Jae’s sports management agency announced that Son, together with Margarita Mamun – the Russia rhythmic gymnast who acquired the individual all-around gold at the Rio Olympic Games, will perform at a gymnastics gala event named “Rhythmic All Stars 2016”. The said event will take place at the Goyang Gymnasium in Gyeonggi Province. 

According to Son’s management agency, Russia’s Aleksandra Soldatova, the world’s third best rhythmic gymnast, will also perform alongside Son and Mamun in Goyang. Other world-class rhythmic gymnastics athletes, such as Melitina Staniouta and Katsiaryna of Belarus, as well as Kseniya Moustafaeva of France, will also appear at the event.

At the Olympic competition in Rio de Janeiro, the South Korean gymnast acquired the top 4 spot in the individual All-around final after obtaining a total score of 72.898 points from the four apparatus event. Staniouta acquired the fifth spot at 71.133, while Halkina took the sixth spot with 70.932 points. Moustafaeva acquired the tenth spot.

Aleksandra Soldatova was not present at the Rio Olympic Games because of the competition’s two-per-country rule. Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva were the two gymnasts who represented Russia, and won the gold and silver medal, respectively.

Galaxia SM also announced that the Italian rhythmic gymnastics team, who clinched the fourth spot in the group all-around competition in Rio, will also be present in Goyang.

Son plans to use songs of different genres at her performance in Goyang, which includes K-pop and ballet.

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Simone Biles to Part Ways with her Longtime Coach Aimee Boorman

When Simone Biles won five medals (four of which are gold) at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, there was one woman who always stood by her side. Many might not have noticed her, but Aimee Boorman, Simone’s coach of 11 years, was on the sidelines supporting her and giving her proper guidance. 

Boorman has been Simone’s personal coach for more than a decade and is no doubt the driving force behind the Olympic success of the 19-year-old gymnast.

On Monday, Aimee Boorman mentioned that she was about to leave the World Champions Centre, the 56,000 square feet gymnastics facility in Spring, Texas, owned by Simone’s parents, Ron and Nellie Biles.

The reason behind the end of their coach-gymnast relationship isn’t down to the differences between the pair. Boorman’s husband has been offered a job opportunity in Florida, causing the family to move out of Houston.

Boorman mentioned that it will not only be an opportunity for her husband, but for herself also. She will now work as the executive director of women’s gymnastics at Evo Athletics in Sarasota, Florida.

“My vision for what a gymnastics facility should be is reflected in Evo,” Boorman stated. “Not only having world-class equipment and staff, but the dedication to exceeding the needs of all members of the Evo family, athletes, their families’ coaches and staff while providing a platform for developing young athletes to reach their great potential.”

Simone Biles, who has trained under Boorman since she was eight, has experienced the fruit of her coaching. Ever since, the two trained together every day for years. Boorman’s outstanding coaching skills led the young gymnast to three world all-around championship titles and four U.S. All-around gold medals.

The 19-year-old American gymnast will take a brief break for now before deciding whether or not to return to the sport.

“We were both sad, but Biles understands that life moves on and she knows that if she plans to continue in gymnastics… I will always be willing to coach her,” Boorman stated. “I will be there as a mentor.”

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Son Yeon Jae arrives in Rio for the Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition

Korean rhythmic gymnastics star Son Yeon-jae has finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Monday after her training in Sao Paolo to compete at the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition in the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

The 22-year-old gymnast will compete in three rhythmic apparatus events (ball, hoop, clubs and ribbon). Each of her gymnastics routines will take approximately 90 seconds to finish, but that six minutes of her life would be the climax of her 17-year gymnastics career.

Son was only ranked 32nd after she made her debut in the senior circuit during the 2010 World Championships. However, she did not let it discourage her and instead used it as an inspiration to improve herself further. She challenged herself by participating in Russia’s Novogorsk Training Center, a facility filled with the world’s top performing rhythmic gymnasts.

The competition was fierce in the facility where the athletes had to line up in order of performance records even for ballet warm-up. Son, who has been at the end of the line at the beginning of her training, has endured great challenge (over 10 hours per day) for six years. With her extreme dedication and hard work, she eventually moved up to the front.

When asked whether she still wants to engage in the sport of rhythmic gymnastics if she was to be reborn, the 22-year-old nodded without hesitation. 

The South Korean athlete, without a doubt, has greatly improved over the recent years. In the previous World Cup cycle, the 22-year-old gymnast consistently broke her own personal record in every competition, and even won at least one medal in each of them.

As she arrived in Rio de Janeiro, she carried with her the dream of becoming the first Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. Should she achieve her ultimate dream in this competition, it would be marked as a historic achievement in Korea’s sports history.

The rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualifications in Rio will begin on August 19 at the Rio Olympic Arena. The competition will continue on Saturday (August 20) with the individual All-around finals and on Sunday (August 21), with the team All-around finals.

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Russia’s Partial Ban to Have a Minimal Effect on South Korea’s Rhythmic Gymnastics

The decision of the International Olympic Committee not to impose a blanket ban on Russia from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will most likely have a little impact on the medal race of the South Korean athletes.

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee has decided to deny the calls from the athletes and anti-doping agencies to ban all the Russian athletes from the Olympic Games due to the alleged state-sponsored doping in the country. The IOC instead passed the decision to individual sports federations.

According to the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, the international sports governing bodies will have the full authority to disqualify athletes who will be proven guilty of the doping scheme.  

Some of the international sports federation has already started to test the eligibility of their athletes. Due to the rampant doping in the track and field event, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has already decided to ban the Russian team from the sport. Meanwhile, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) issued a one-year suspension on Russia in June.

The South Korean athletes, however, is not expected to compete in those sports, and will only compete against Russia on those sports where the country is less likely to be banned, thus minimizing the impact of the IOC’s decision.

A blanket ban will most likely have a huge impact in rhythmic gymnastics, where Russia has a lot of competitive athletes. The absence of the two Russian rhythmic stars, three-time World All-around Champion Yana Kudryavtseva and two-time World All-around silver medalist Margarita Mamun, would have made Korea’s Son Yeon Jae the second highest-ranking gymnast in Rio behind Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova, giving the Korean a chance to take home the country’s first rhythmic gymnastics Olympic medal.

Unfortunately for the South Koreans, but doping is almost non-existent in the sport, which means that the Russian athletes are less likely to be excluded in this event. Russia’s best rhythmic gymnast, Yana Kudryavtseva, will take this special opportunity to win her first Olympic title.

But the presence of the Russian gymnasts at the Olympic Games doesn’t mean that the medal podium is out of South Korea’s reach. Son Yeon Jae, South Korea’s top-performing gymnast is well known for displaying impressive performances in each of her appearances, allowing her to break her personal records at a consistent rate. We don’t know for sure how much she has improved by now, so be ready to be surprised at the Rio Olympic Games.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio will take place in Rio de Janeiro from August 5 to 21, 2016.

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Japanese Superstar Uchimura Determined to Win the Team Gold in Rio

Despite the extreme pressure that is weighed upon his muscular shoulders, Japanese artistic gymnastics superstar Kohei Uchimura remained firm and shrugged off the pressure. 

“I don’t think of it as a pressure”, the six-time World gold All-around medalist told the Japan times. “I don’t think about what will happen if I made a mistake – I think about how the team will benefit if I’m successful. 

“A lot of people wish me well and say to me: ‘Bring home the gold medal.’ I want to respond to those expectations and that makes me stronger. I only think in positive terms, and that’s why I have become good at dealing with the pressure.”

Uchimura’s goal is to lead his teammates to Olympic team gold – a feat last achieved by the Japanese team in 2004. Another objective of “King Kohei” is to defend his All-around title, while also cementing his reputation as the greatest gymnast of all time. 

The Japanese national team – which includes Uchimura, Yusuke Tanaka, Ryohei Kato, Kenzo Shira and Koji Yamamuro – advances to Rio with a high after finally achieving a feat never done in the past 37 years – to win a team title at a World Championship. 

The Japanese crowd is expecting another strong performance from the Japanese team in Rio in August, which will hopefully end China’s two straight winning streak at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012), but Uchimura is happy to stay above the fray. 

“It’s not that I try to make myself calm, it just happens naturally through experience,” said the Japanese superstar. “I don’t get so excited by the Olympics nowadays. There’s no special feeling. I even feel a little sad for myself that I’m not able to feel anything special about competing in the Olympics.”

“But I think that’s probably a good thing. I don’t think it’s good for your performance to feel different just because it’s the Olympics.”

In his third Olympic participation, Kohei Uchimura has been assigned as team leader of the Japanese men’s artistic team, and Tanaka has noticed a change in his teammate.

“He has more conversations with everyone now,” said the 26-year-old Tanaka, who was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London 4 years ago along with Uchimura, Kato, Yamamuro and Kazuhito Tanaka.

“Everyone has more experience as a team. Of course when you’re performing you’re on your own, but really, you’re not alone. Because everyone has more experience as a team, it creates an atmosphere that makes it easier to perform.”

Four years ago, the Japanese national team took the silver medal from Britain after lodging a last-gap appeal against a low score awarded to Uchimura after he failed to properly dismount from the pommel horse. 

At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Uchimura believes that this same apparatus can make or break Japan’s gold medal winning potential. 

“We start on the pommel horse, and if we’re successful, we can ride the momentum for the rest of the competition,” he said. “That’s the apparatus that’s easiest to fall off, so if we can do well it will help us to relax as a team. 

“On the other hand, if we fail at the start it could end up being the same as in London. But we’ve picked up a lot of experience since then and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

In the upcoming Olympic Games, the crowd’s focus will be on the Japanese superstar Kohe Uchimura as he tries to create another historic feat at the competition that will take place this August. 

Uchimura believes that Rio will be the last Olympics where he is at the peak of his physical condition, and the world will be watching with bated breath. 

“I’ve grown up a lot” said the 27-year-old gymnast “I’m usually calm but also I’ve learned how to get people fired up when they need to be fired up. I feel like I’ve become a lot wiser.”

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Canada Names 8-member Gymnastics Squad for 2016 Olympics

On Thursday, Canada named the five female artistic gymnasts and the three trampoline gymnasts that will battle for the Olympic team title in Rio this summer.

Canadian National Championships vault gold medalist Shallon Olsen and 2014 Junior National Champion Rose Woo join Ellie Black, Britanny Rogers and Isabela Onyshko, who were previously named at the national selection camp in Gatineau, Quebec on Wednesday.

They are selected based on the total amount of points they have acquired from the 2015 World Championships, 2016 Elite Canada, 2016 Canadian Championships, some selected international events in February and March, and the camp that took place this week. 

The competition program of women’s artistic gymnastics comprises of Vault event, Uneven Bars event, Beam event and Floor exercise.

In the trampoline gymnastics discipline, three female gymnasts who will be a part of the Olympic team were also named. They were Rosie McLennan, the reigning Olympic Champion in trampoline, and the returning Olympian Jason Burnett, who obtained the silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Scott Morgan, who managed to acquire two gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, will make his Olympic debut in men’s artistic gymnastics. 

2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games Champion Rosie MacLennan secured an Olympic spot in March with her success at the Canada Cup in Kamloops. B.C.

“I am incredibly excited to be heading to my third Olympic Games,” said the 27-year old athlete in a statement released by Gymnastics Canada. “It’s always an honor to represent Canada in a sport that I am truly passionate about and to join a team of such amazing athletes and people.”

2008 Olympic silver medalist Jason Burnett will participate in his third Olympic competition after acquiring one of the eight available Olympic berths at the Aquece Rio Test Event in April. 

27-year-old Scott Morgan is the only male artistic gymnast to compete in Rio after the team failed to finish among the top four of eight national teams at the Rio Test Event in April. He finished fourth in the vault apparatus in that event after qualifying for the final at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

“Six years ago, seeing the 2010 Olympians in my hometown of Vancouver sent shivers down my spine” he stated. “Now I can’t wait to be part of the team I looked up to… showing the world Canada’s best.”

Reigning Pan Am Champion

Ellie Black, the reigning champion in the Pan Am Games, finished first in the all-around competition in the opening day of the National Camp on Tuesday. She placed first with her vault and floor routine, and placed third on the beam and uneven bars.

23-year-old gymnast Britanny Rogers represented the University of Georgia at the NCAA Championships which took place this year. She managed to obtain the top spot in the uneven bars. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she helped Canada to achieve a best-ever fifth-place finish in the team competition. 

The 18-year old Isabela Onyshko became the champion in the 2016 Elite Canada competition.

Rose Woo, 16, was the junior national all-around champion in 2014.

Shallon Olsen, 15, who became the junior national all around champion in 2013, is the youngest member of the Canadian national team. 

The women’s team will conduct a final Olympic preparation camp in Sarnia, Ontario one week before proceeding to Rio.

The competition for artistic gymnastics will take place at the Rio Olympic Arena from August 6-16, while the qualification and final round of the women’s and men’s trampoline are scheduled for August 12 and 13, respectively. 

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Australian Artistic Gymnast Beams on Brave Balancing Act

“Survivor” is the description that Peggy Liddick, the head coach of Australian women’s gymnastics used to describe Mary-Anne Monckton

Monckton, a 20-year-old Australian gymnast, is a member of Australian women’s team for the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow. She came back from a severe ankle injury after undergoing a left ankle reconstruction surgery last November, following the devastating selection disappointment in the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she was selected as one of the two travelling athletes. 

The persistence of the young athlete caught the attention of the women’s national head coach.

“Mary-Anne was never really a superstar in her junior career, but she just has staying power,” Liddick said. “She’d get some injury that took her out for six months, and then she’d pop back up and would win something, and then she’d get another injury, she’d disappear, and then pop back up. So it was just her refusing to give up that really caught my eye, and then I thought ‘you know, she’s actually got some good gymnastics’.”

Her gymnastics skills are competitive enough to finish with a silver medal in the balance beam and team event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and to take part at the 2014 World Championships in China regardless of her ankle injury that undermined her training and performance for the year 2014. Also, good enough to be the most experienced Victorian artistic gymnast who will compete for the upcoming World Championships in Glasgow next week, October 23.

"People always see the end result, and that's only about five minutes of performance. A lot of hard work goes into it, so I'm just really excited that hanging in there after last year is really starting to pay off now," said Monckton, a 20-year-old gymnast who started gymnastics at the age of five, whose family moved to Canberra at the age of seven and to Melbourne, at the age of 15, and currently attends her tertiary studies and part-time work while training for more than 30 hours a week simultaneously.

"I knew that I could come back, but it was just to which kind of level was uncertain. But I just kept pushing and I was really determined to get back to the level that I was at last year's world or even better, and this year I've had a much better preparation and I'm feeling in great shape physically and mentally, so I'm really excited for the next couple of weeks."

As of now, her ultimate goal is to claim an Olympic berth by being a part of the top eight teams in the upcoming world championships, which would guarantee an Olympic team slot for next year’s Rio Olympics. On the other hand, her personal goal is to make it to the apparatus finals, and if by any chance, win a medal. Beam remains to be her best apparatus event, in which she has a top-10-quality routine and an elite 6.4 start value. On such an unstable and terrifying apparatus, she can do anything as long as she remains calm during the execution of the routine. 

"A lot of other girls find it quite scary," Monckton admits. "I mean, it's one-and-a-half metres in the air and it's 10 centimetres wide, so it's as wide as your iPhone.”

"When I was younger, I just would do skills on the floor and then my coach would say 'go to the beam' and I didn't really have much fear, and it's always been like that with me. There's some things that I get a little bit scared or anxious about, but when I go for it I just have this exhilaration that I can't find anywhere else. I just love being able to do flips up there; it's really fun."

However, her coaches, Peggy Liddick and Tracey Penaluna, a senior coach at the VIS, must sometimes protect perfectionist Monckton against her own self. Not physically, as her dedication and diligence guarantees that she’s never idle in the gym. The adjustment lies more on the psychological side; to prevent the young athlete on dwelling with minor slip-ups and mistakes, and rather focus on the process and not on the outcome. 

"She's a joy to have around but, if anything, she's too hard on herself," says Liddick. "I have to sort of protect Mary-Anne from Mary-Anne sometimes because she's her own worst critic." There are, however, no issues with her professionalism. "She's probably one of the hardest workers in the gym, and I don't mean just when I say do 10, she'll do 11, it's not that. It's when nobody's watching … she really wants to do this."

If ever the Australian team fails to make it on the top eight teams, there is still a chance to secure a berth at the Olympic test event on April, on which four more teams will get the chance to claim an Olympic qualification. Furthermore, if ever Monckton would be a part of the selection team, she would be required to add a floor routine to her repertoire as the members will be reduced from seven to five in the Rio Summer Olympics.

Even so, expect that the young athlete will do whatever is needed, as this young athlete whose love for the sport originated from being capable of doing what other kids couldn’t, is still managing a degree of difficulty that most would see as too great. "She has every reason to say it's all too hard, but she still comes to the gym every morning, never misses a day," says Liddick. "It's just something that she wants, really deep down, and that's why she's here. And I'm glad she is."

The 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will take place at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. The Australian team is comprised of Georgia-Rose Brown, Georgia Godwin, Madelaine Leydin, Emily Little, Larrissa Miller, Mary-Anne Monckton, Kiara Munteanu.

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Karen Cockburn Aims to Secure Another Olympic Berth

Canadian trampoline gymnast Karen Cockburn proves that age is just a number.

At the 2015 Pan American Games held at the Toronto Coliseum last July, the 34-year-old trampoline gymnast managed to finish in first place through the first two qualifying routine  of the women’s trampoline competition.

Cockburn, a three-time Olympic medallist, finished with a total score of 97.465 points after posting a score 51.870 in the first routine and 45.595 in her second.

26-year old reigning World Trampoline Champion, Olympic and Pan Am Games champion Rossanagh MacLennan, finished with 6^th place after getting a score of 47.555 in her 1^st routine and 22.710 for the second one, to post a total score of 70.265.

"It's awesome. I have my family and my daughter here watching. For the first time she's watching me compete at an event like this, so it's special, gives you that extra energy and support." She said.

21-year-old Brazilian gymnast Camilla Lopes Gomes finished second after garnering a score of 95.765.

Still recovering from a broken left ankle obtained during her training in preparation for the 2014 World Trampoline Championships in Daytona last November, Karen Cockburn attributed her success to the motivation she got from the crowd, which included her friends and her “immediate family” members – her spouse, former Olympic medallist Mathieu Turgeon, and also her one-year-old daughter, Emilie.

"It's awesome. I have my family and my daughter here watching,” Cockburn said after the competition’s first two qualifying routines “For the first time she's watching me compete at an event like this, so it's special, gives you that extra energy and support."

Additionally, Cockburn also pointed out that her quick recovery and training preparation for the Pan American Games has gone off pretty well.

Should the 34-year-old trampoline gymnast continue to perform very well at the upcoming World Championships in Odense on November, we cannot see any reason on why she won’t compete at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics next year.

Canada can earn two Olympic places in the 2016 Women’s trampoline Olympics should they get two top-eight places at the World Championships.

“I'm coming off injury so if I continue to feel better and my training goes well, hopefully we'll earn some Olympic spots at the World Championships this fall, and if so I'll move forward to next year and definitely try for that,” Cockburn said.

Cockburn also has some unfinished business to deal with after she was pulled out from the 2011 Pan Am Games prior to the final in Mexico because of an illness.

On the other hand, in the men’s trampoline event, Jason Burnett, a 28-year old gymnast from Nobleton finished with fourth place with a total score of 101.560.

Jason Burnett was .295 points behind Columbian gymnast Recalde Hernandez, who ended up in the third place and gaining a spot on the medal podium.

Canadian trampoline gymnast, Keegan Soehn, acquired the first place with his score of 103.870.

Recovering from an ACL injury, Jason Burnett stated he is gradually rounding into form that aided him to secure a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Taking that into consideration, Burnett stated that he plans gradually steer right back into action with a moderate level of difficulty

 “I’m only 10 months post ACL surgery, so I'm taking some time to come back from that. So I'm fairly strong, just not 100 per cent yet,” he said.

He also stated that he is looking forward to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics in order to represent Canada.

“We'll have our Olympic qualifier in November at the world championships over in Denmark. With any luck I can place within the top eight there to qualify Canada for the Olympic Games in Rio and then I'll compete for the spot internally back home."

The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held at Rio de Janerio, Brazil starting on August 5, 2015.

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