MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

The Gymnastics world lost a legend on Wednesday.  Czech gymnast, Olympic medalist and political activist, Vera Caslavska passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 74.

It's all over. Gymnastics at the Rio Olympic Games concluded on third and final day of event finals. The last of the medals was handed out today, the last routine was performed. The Olympics are over for another four years. The memory is still fresh, so let me recap the final day of artistic gymnastics at the Rio Olympic Games and we can relive all the gymnastics glory.

I'm back for Day 2 of event finals.  Today, we have men's rings and pommel horse and women's balance beam sandwiched in between the two. I'll mostly be live blogging beam and men's vault. I'll provide live updates for Rings. Refresh the page every so often to follow along! Yao Hau China - low landing on double double dismount. Good positions, lines in routine.  15.4 (7.0 D, 8.400) Eleftherios Petrunias Greece - solid routine. Beautiful form, clean dismount. Effortless routine.16.00 Gossens Belgium 14.933 Denis Abliyazin of Russia is in 2nd right now, 15.7. He's a beast of a man and he's so strong. Liu Chin of China moves into 3rd with 15.6 So far, the podium is looking the same. But now we've got Arthur Zanetti, current Olympic champ. We'll see what he pulls out. 15.766 for Zanetti, great routine, but wasn't enough to beat Petrounias. Final Standings: 1. Petrounias 16.00 2. Zanetti 15.766 3. Abiliyazin 15.7 Well, we're

The internet isn't happy unless it has someone to hate on. For this Olympic Games, that person's been Gabby Douglas. 2012 Olympic team and all-around champion and 2016 Team Olympic Champ. Gabby has had the internet shit-storm thrown at her over the course of about a week. If it wasn't for her hair, it was for the way she stood during the medal ceremony during the US National anthem, or getting shit for allegedly not supporting her teammates enough. My eyes are rolling so hard I can see the back of my eyelids. Seriously, internet? The unfortunate part about all of this is the internet will move on to something even more stupid in two days and then Gabby is left to deal with the hate.

The event specialists get their chance to shine with the start of event finals. Today, men and women get their chance to show off their specialty events in four event finals: Men's Floor Women's Vault Men's Pommel Horse Women's Uneven Bars  Be prepared for some awesome gymnastics. Refresh the page every so often for all the updates!

The all-around final is upon us. The field is set for the competition. Aly Raisman is returning to the all-around after missing out in Glasgow at the World Championships and placing fourth in London in 2012. Also returning is bronze medalist, Aliya Mustafina. Then there is Simone Biles, three time world champion. Can she become the first world champion to win an Olympic title since Lilia Podkepaeva in 1996. Follow along with all the action in Rio, just refresh the page every 10 minutes or so for updates!

Long live the King. Kohei Uchimura cemented his status as the king of men's gymnastics, winning his second Olympic all-around title, narrowly beating out Oleg Vernaiev of the Ukraine.

Today, the ladies take to the floor to compete for team Olympic glory. So many questions float through our heads. Will Team USA dominate as per usual? Will Russia show up and pull of a medal, or will it be a repeat of Glasgow? Will Brazil, equipped with Alexander Alexandrov pull off a medal coup? What about China? SOOOO many questions and no answers. Well, you're in luck. I'll be live blogging this event (best I can) and I will bring you the answers to your questions you so desire. To make all your wildest dreams come true, click below the cut and refresh the page every 15 minutes or so for all the gymnastics action!

The men got their chance to duke it out for their chance at the coveted team gold. Team Japan with Kohei Uchimura was shooting for their first Olympic gold in twelve years. Team Great Britain wanted another shot at the podium. Team USA was hoping for a medal. How did the boys do?

Here are the team, all around and event qualifiers after five subdivisions of competition. Note - the highlighted names indicate the athletes qualified.  Per FIG rules, only two per country can advance to all-around and event finals.  In the event more than two athletes per country placed in the top 24/top 8, the next highest qualifying gymnast qualifies (so long as it's still in compliance with the two per country rule. Team

It's the home stretch! It's the fifth and final subdivision in the women's qualifications for artistic gymnastics. This subdivision we will see the Canadian team, lead by Ellie Black and former Georgia gymnast,  Brittany Rogers. We are also going to see team Japan, featuring Sae Miyakawa, and Mai Murakami. We will also see France and a mixed group featuring competitors from Cuba, Mexico, Portugal and Poland. Refresh the page every ten minutes or so to get all the action.

Reminder, these are not final standings. Final standings will be posted after the conclusion of subdivision 5. Team

Here are the results after three subdivisions of competition. Reminder, these are just half-way point results and there are still more teams to compete. This is just to get an idea of what the athletes in the next subdivisions will be competing against. Next up will be rotations 4 & 5. Final results will be posted following those subdivisions. 1. Vault

So far, the Rio Games have seen a splat fest on beam, Russia eeked their way through qualifications as expected. There is a lot more to come still. Preceding this subdivision, Great Britain, Brazil and Germany had their chance in the limelight. Now, it's time for team USA and the Netherlands.  USA is obviously the dominant team in the world right now and the Netherlands is an up and coming power. Follow along with me as I guide you through the Fourth Subdivision of the Women's Qualification rounds.  Refresh the page every ten minutes or so for updates.

Okay, so I lied. I'm back for Subdivision three. In this sub division we're following Great Britain, Germany and Brazil. Refresh the page every ten minutes or so follow along.

It's time for the first rounds of qualifications for the women. This morning, we'll be seeing teams China, Belgium , Italy and Russia in Subdivisions 1 & 2. Follow along here for all the action. Refresh the page every ten minutes or so for updates.

Tomorrow, the women will compete in the qualifying rounds of the Rio Olympic Games. The drama, the lights and the tears, all of it. So what can we expect from the women tthis morning? Keep reading and I will walk you through what really could be a bigger blockbuster than the latest Captain America movies. (Cap's got nothing on Simone, pssh).

Another future Olympian entered the world today.  2008 Olympian Alicia Sacramone (Quinn) and husband Brady Quinn welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Sloan, into the world.  Alicia made the official announcement via her Instagram account.

All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Savings Time (EDT) Team, All-Around and Event Finalists will be listed following the conclusion of qualifications on Sunday, August 7th. Qualification schedule is listed with starting event draws. All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (US). Men's Qualifications Saturday, August 6th Subdivision 1 - 9:30 a.m. EDT Subdivision 2 - 1:30 p.m. EDT Subdivision 3 - 5:30 p.m. EDT

So much to do so little time! I wanted to do a full post on podium training, but between work and social obligations and other things, my day was packed yesterday. Luckily, the wonders of the gymternet never ceases. There has been an explosion of podium training awesomeness on YouTube. What I have done is gather all these videos in a playlist to make it easier to go through later. I will do a full post on podium training thoughts, but for now, enjoy some delicious gym-nerdy footage. I will add to this as the day goes on and as time permits.

The favorite topic of discussion this quad (besides the hideousness of wolf turns) is the triple twisting Yurchenko. Many have been rumored to be training it, North Korean gymnast Hong Un Jong submitted the triple twisting yurchenko, (known about the gymternet simply as the TTY) at the 2013 world championships,