MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

 Alicia performs her pike front to standing back tuck mount. Black and white makes everything an instant classic. From: Gymnastics GIFS

Larisa Iordache walked out of this year's Euros the most decorated female gymnast.  The coup-de-gras of her time in Moscow is her magnum opus, the balance beam finals. Larisa exuded confidence and poise from every pore in her skin. Her routine went beyond a mere routine and was a performance with diva caliber. Larisa's E score was the highest of all the contenders at a 6.4. Her performance exhibited a perfect blend of artistry and difficulty as she glided across the length of the balance beam, performing amazing skills such as a full-twisting back tuck on her first acro series. Without further adieu, here is Larisa's European Championship beam routine:

This week, TMZ.com featured the University of Georgia's Women's Gymnastics team talking about Bradley Cooper. TMZ's camera's caught up with the lovely ladies at LAX (Los Angeles Interantional Airport) and asked about actor Bradley Cooper which apparently they all have a crush on. The man is pretty sexy, so I am not going to argue there. Check out the video for yourself Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.   UG Gymnastics Team - All the Single Ladies?   - Watch More   Celebrity Videos   or   Subscribe

So the results are in from the Euros and everyone is preparing now for their big World Championships reveal. As promised, I am posting recaps of the Euro's events in case you missed it or just want to relive the glory. The first thing I have to say is it was a fierce competition. Aliya Mustafina, Anastasia Grishina, Larisa Iordache were the triumphant victors on the podium stand after a fierce battle. For most of the competition, Larisa was the leader. Musty clawed her way up from third place to take her rightful place on   Larisa Iordache  came out in her yellow and black Pikachu leotard.

Bridget Sloan has been a busy girl. The 2008 Beijing team silver medalist added another title to her already impressive gymnastics resume: National College Athletics Association (NCAA) Gymnastics All-Around Champion.

The 2013 European Championships were a success, however it was not without it's surprises. There were favorites expected to medal who didn't medal at all, a withdraw by Princess Musty and others stole the scene. Yes, Green Day, the Euros were certainly unpredictable and I'm pretty sure Larisa Iordache is definitely having the time of her life. Here are the results of the event finals.

Aliya Mustafina added the title of European All-Around Champion to her already stellar resume. Coming off a successful Olympics, Musty beat out teammate, Anastasia Grishina and Romanian team silver medalist Larisa Iordache.

Qualification results are in from day two of the European Championships. Lots of surprises and upstarts. Aliya Mustafina had a fantastic bar routine and floor exercise and vault, the beam was a shaky event for her and she allegedly fell twice. She qualified for the all-around in fourth behind Anastasia Grishina and beating out Ksenia Afanaseyva due to the two per country rule. Aliya qualified first for the uneven bars final ahead of   Britain's Rebecca Downie who came in second. Ksenia Afanaseyva did not make the all-around, but she did qualify in first for the floor final. Maria Paseka beat out Anastasia Grishina for the bars final and she qualified behind Giulia Steingruber in second for the vault final. Larisa Iordache qualified in first for the all-around and teammate Diana Bulimar came in second. They both qualified for the floor final. For full results, visit: http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2013/moscow.html

Today, Stirile TV posted this video of the Romanian team during podium training for the Euros. We see head coach Octavian Belu speaking with a reporter. Unfortunately, I do not posses skills in speaking Romanian so I can't tell you what he said. (If you speak Romanian and English and want to provide me with a GOOD translation, I'd appreciate it) This is what we see: we see Diana Bulimar warming up on the floor exercise and doing a beautifully executed double twisting Yurchenko. Larisa Iordache is showing some gorgeous lines on the uneven bars. See for yourself:

Alt-Rock band, 30 Seconds to Mars debuted a trailer for their new music video for their upcoming single "Up in The Air," featuring Fierce Five members Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney. Jared Leto? How 1998...

Aly Raisman is hoping to go Brazilian... For the Rio De Janiero Olympic Games in 2016!

The European Championships are only five days away! We know who is going to be competing. But when are they competing? Yesterday, the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) posted the schedule for the competition and the broadcast information. The UEG is also keeping up with the digital age by posting a live stream of the competition on their website. Remember, the rules are the same as in the Olympics or the Worlds, only two per country may qualify for an individual all-around final or event final. The top 24 athletes will advance to the all-around finals and the top eight athletes on each event will advance to the event final.  Here is the competition schedule for the championships:

This edition of Favorite Routines features Romanian upstart, Larisa Iordache. Larisa was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the London Olympics and Romania is the defending European Championship team. The Romanians have suffered a depletion of their team, Catalina Ponor officially resigned from elite gymnastics, and Diana Chelaru and Raluca Haidu throwing their hands up at elite gymnastics, they are scrambling to find replacements.On the upside, it's the perfect opportunity for Larisa to take center stage.

The Federation International de Gymnastique (FIG) released the final code of points for the 2013 quad today after a final approval. Since the code has been out and floating around for a while, there isn't much that is new per say. But there are a few notable insertions that are noteworthy:

This week on Dancing With The Stars, Aly Raisman performed a contemporary dance representing the best year of her life, 2012 and the summer games. While 18 was a very good year for Aly Raisman, the years leading up to it, where she sacrificed a lot of things that other kids were enjoying. The life of an elite athlete is a lot of hard work and Aly knows that life and the sacrifices and the anxiety that comes with the job description.

Week Four of Dancing With the Stars turned out to be a lucky week for Fierce Five team captain, Aly Raisman. This week, the gold medalist topped DWTS's leader-board with her contemporary dance. Her Fierce Five teammates, Gabby Douglas and Kyla Ross showed up for a mini-fierce five reunion of sorts. This week's theme was "The Best Year of My Life". No surprise, Aly chose 2012 as the best year of her life. The routine this week also had to include a 15 second solo. Her partner, Mark Ballas told her to represent the years of repetition and hard work going into the Games. "No one expected her to place and she walked away the most decorated US Gymnast of the Olympics," Mark said of Aly's Olympic journey.

Tentative teams have been named for the 2013 European Championships in Moscow. Many returning are favorites and a few are looking to make a senior debut. Here is the lowdown, like the World Championships this year, the Euros will be an individual only competition- meaning there will be no team competition, only an individual all-around and event finals. Since this competition is being held in Moscow, let's look at the home team:

In this edition of Favorite Routines, I'm featuring America's most decorated gymnast and one of my childhood idols, Shannon Miller. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the United States women's gymnastics team had won their first ever team gold medal.