Things are looking dire for the Russian Federation yet again for the next Olympics. The never-ending doping scandal has resurfaced in the headlines, after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said last month Russia could be banned from all major sports events over “discrepancies” in the Moscow lab data. Now Yuri Ganus, the director of the Russian anti-doping agency, said Russia must expect to be banned from the 2020 Olympics. As a reminder, already only certain Russian athletes who could prove they were clean, were allowed to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea under a neutral flag.
When Gymnastics Meets Synchro
The American team held a training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado. The U.S. men’s gymnastics team had some fun with them one day, as this video shows up-and-comer Asher Hong casually pull off a double double as a newly trained synchro flyer. This has got to be my favorite crossover ever.
International Collaboration, Part 531
The Czech Republic is the latest country to call on Stephan Miermont to choreography its new routines, although they have worked together many times before already. The duet of Alzbeta Dufkova and Vendula Mazankova was just in Palm Springs, Calif., to work on its Olympic choreographies in the hopes of qualifying to Tokyo.
The new duet from Aruba with Kyra Hoevertsz and Meghan Tromp wrapped up a choreography camp with legendary Canadian coach Julie Sauvé.
This is more an international training camp rather than collaboration, but the Russian team who competed in Gwangju (minus the duet) is in Dubai for 11 days to recharge the batteries and enjoy training in the sun before gearing up full-speed for Tokyo.
Got Skills?
Jessica Sobrino, member of the Mexican team and the flyer of the team, showed off how she trains some of her impressive acrobatic skills on land… and a fail (don’t worry, she’s alright).
Another day, another barracuda from Aleksandr Maltsev, this time with a two-ish full spin afterwards.
Weekly Reads
Canada’s Claudia Holzner has published two posts on her blog over the last few weeks. The first one takes us into the three-weeks bootcamp the national team just did in Stoneham, Quebec, while her second one discusses the clubs the team will visit on its road to Tokyo.
Marie-Lou Morin, a former Canadian national team member from 2009 to 2017, offered a completely different perspective on her own road to the Olympics last quad. She wrote for Radio-Canada about her heartfelt and honest experience after the missed qualification of team Canada to the 2016 Olympics. The article is written in French, but well worth the read and the translation.
