MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

Lots of former elite gymnasts move on to the world of NCAA gymnastics, but very few go from the college world to the elite scene. Here are four athletes who embarked on the elite path after their NCAA careers.

At 33-years-old, Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu is making a go for Rio.

Gymnastike's popular web series, Beyond the Routine  is debuting the latest series this month. The subject of the newest subject is a former world all-around champion, a member of the 2003 World Championship team that brought home the first ever world team gold. She's also an Olympian, and has recently reinvented her gymnastics life. Have you figured out who it is yet? She was a member of the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing... She was a world champion on the uneven bars.... If you haven't figured it out yet, you never will.

I've been a complete slacker this week on the blogging. But, when you come down with a cold, your priority is getting better. Anyways, I am doing my usual Tumblr trolling for things to blog about. I found this GIF of the glorious Sandra Izbasa on the floor exercise during the world championships in Antwerp, working it in her floor routine.

Who doesn't love vintage footage of their favorite athletes?

Vasiliki Millousi is known for her elegant beam work. She is so light on her feet and she carries herself with beautiful presence.

I thought I had featured this routine a long time ago, but apparently, I did not. So I am featuring it now. This is Sanne Wevers' gold medal winning balance beam routine from the Osijek Cup back in September. Her routine is probably the most unique beam routine of the quad so far. Sanne knows what her strengths are and she uses the code to her advantage with connections of front aerials, side aerials, double turns and twisting elements.

Anna Pavlova may not be competing at World Championships or Olympic Games anymore, but she's still in the sport and still fabulous. Earlier this year, 26-year-old Anna represented "Team World" at the inaugural  Pro-Gymnastics Challenge, put on by ESPN. Just a few months ago, she added a couple of Russian Cup medals, an all-around bronze and a beam silver to her medal collection. This weekend, Anna was in Schilitgeim, France for a gymnastics invitational.

At 29, Vasiliki is the ultimate gymnastics unicorn, a beautiful, mythical creature that people talk about in legend but never see. Vasiliki put the woman in women's gymnastics during the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

It's no secret that Oksana Chusovitina has an impressive gymnastics career that has spanned over 20 years. The 2012 London Olympics were her sixth Olympic games and she is making a bid for Rio in 2016 which will be her impressive seventh consecutive games.

The much hyped debut of the Pro Gymnastics Challenge has finally arrived. All this talk about "gymnastics as you've never seen it" piqued my attention for sure.  This is the deal. It's a skill for skill challenge, literally like the promos said. It's supposed to be in the spirit of X-Games and things like that. The format is two teams, seven rotations. Team USA vs Team World, which is exactly what NBC wants to make every televised international competition seem like, but I digress. Besides, this is ESPN and ESPN is actually owned by Buena Vista or ABC. That's beside the point. How it works: each team selects the gymnasts they want to compete on each event. It's not scored with the CoP you'd see at an FIG event. Each athlete performs a skill and the athlete from the defensive team must match the skill. The team that completes the skill the best, gets a point. The first team to get to six points, wins the rotation and a handsome $16,000. First ev...

Sandra Izbasa has won gold medals at two Olympic games.Won multiple World and European medals and now, she's achieved yet another honor. The Romanian Ministry of Defence announced via their Facebook page, today that Sandra was promoted to lieutenant ranking.

My over 30 idol, Oksana Chusovitina is going for Rio! The Federation International de Gymnastique (FIG) announced Friday 37-year-old World and Olympic champion and medalist many times over would be going for her seventh Olympic championships

This Gymnast Profile, 2004 Olympian Annia Hatch lived a past life as a member of the Cuban National Team before she competed for the United States. It was when she fell in love and moved to the US to be with her husband, she achieved her Olympic dreams. Vital Statistics: Date of Birth: June 14, 1978 Age: 34 Birthplace: Guantanamo, Cuba Current Residence: Northern Virginia Spouse and Head Coach: Alan Hatch Club: Stars Elite Known for: Being powerful vaulter Current Occupation: Fashion Designer, Gymnastics Coach Annia Portuondo Hatch was born in Guantanamo, Cuba, where she spent the first two years of her life.

I have a secret. I'm turning 30 on Monday. I've been mourning this fact for about a month now and Alicia Sacramone had a birthday and turned 25. This made me even sadder. I love gymnastics, but every year, the gymnasts get younger and younger and everyday inching closer to 30 makes me feel even older. With only three more days left of  being my 20's and in the effort of making myself not feel so old, I thought I'd round up gymnasts over 30 who are still competing and kicking ass. My favorite gymnast over 30 is world and Olympic Medalist, Oksana Chusovitina.

Today, Chellsie Memmel is retiring.... from gymnastics. She's not collecting Social Security since she is only 24 years old.  It's more like moving on to the next phase of her life.

Alright kids, I'm back after a slight break. I took a break from my gymnastics obsession to focus on my Motion City Soundtrack obsession due to an up coming concert. For this installment of favorite routines, I'm featuring Great Britain's Beth Tweddle on the uneven bars. Beth is a rarity among female gymnasts. She's a three time Olympian, and at the age of