MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

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.

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!

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

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.

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).

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,

The ladies of Team USA have arrived in Rio and have begun preparing for their expected Olympic domination. Photos and videos are beginning to surface of the team. Instead of donning the traditional hot pink training leos that have been associated with team USA since the dawn of time, the ladies sport a patriotic red leo with a blue stripe with white stars. Simple, minimalist and definitly not hot pink. #RipHotPinkNation. Photo via Gymternet Clan

After two days of competition at the Men's Olympic Trials in St. Louis, the men of USA Gymnastics have their 2016 Olympic Team.

Queen Elizabeth of Rewriting Russian Gymnastics has posted a translation of a recent interview with the glorious Aliya Mustafina. She talks about everything from her experiences at worlds, winning the beam gold medal in Antwerp to losing Alexandrov as a coach. I've posted some of the highlights here. It gives great insight into what her life is like and her thoughts on winning the gold medal. She talks about what her plans are for her post gymnastics life. She says she has the option to become a coach, but isn't sure she'd be successful because she "loves children too much" to be what they need.  Surprising, because she's a bright girl and could really do anything she wants. Read more of Aliya's thoughts after the cut.

This junior to watch,Jazmyn Foberg is teammates with junior dynamo, Laurie Hernandez. Young Jazmyn, aka Jazzy has a few tricks up her leotard sleeve. Full Name: Jazmyn (Jazzy) Foberg Date of Birth: February 2, 2000 Age: 14 Club: MG Elite Coach: Maggie Haney Hometown: Bayville, New Jersey, USA Jazmyn became an elite in 2013 after a strong showing at the Parkette's Elite Qualifier, but 2014 is the year she came out as a contender in the international elite scene.

For this edition of juniors to watch, the featured gymnast is Texas Dreams' Bailie Key. Source: USAgym.org  Vital Statistics: Date of Birth: March 16, 1999 Birthplace: Augusta, GA Current Residence: Montgomery, TX Club: Texas Dreams Coaches: Chris Burdette and Kim Zmeskal-Burdette  Fourteen-year-old Bailie trains under the tutelage of former World Champion, Kim Zmeskal and her husband, Chris Burdette. Bailie started gymnastics much like many gymnasts, as a child she had lots of expendable energy and was doing tricks of the couch on her head and her parents enrolled her in gymnastics so she'd have a place practice her tricks safely.

Kohei Uchimura is pretty much "Mr. Men's Gymnastics". He wins almost everything and every male gymnast in the world, heck the galaxy, dreams of beating him one day. Sometimes, I wonder if they give him a gold for simply breathing in the arena. The person that manages to beat him at something is McKayla Maroney who does a higher Amanar (Shewfelt MAG) than he does. I wonder if he loses sleep at night with that fact? If I could only do a higher Amanar than McKayla Maroney

Today, the Brazilian Gymnastics posted photos of the first official Brazilian national team training camp  with new head coach, Alexander Alexandrov on their Facebook page. The gymnasts convened this week for the first week long training camp that is being held July 15, Monday through this Friday, July 20. From what I gather from the translation that Bing translate told me, this training camp is supposed to be targeting potential athletes for the Rio 2016 team.  The present gymnasts included Daniele Hypolito,    Adrian Garcia, Flávia Saraiva, Isabelle Cruz, Leticia da Costa, Maria Cecília Cruz, Milena Tan and Rebecca Andrade.   The photo that is making it's way around the Gymnternet is a photo of Alexandrov greeting each of his new athletes after a morning practice.

For this edition of Gymnast Profiles, I am featuring Anastasia Grishina. Olympic Team Silver Medalist and 2013 All-Around Bronze Medalist at the European Championships. Vital Statistics: Full Name:Anastasia Nikolayevna Grishina Date of Birth: January 17, 1996 Age: 17 Height: 146 Centimeters, 4'9" Hometown: Moscow, Russia Current Residence: Moscow, Russia Club: CSKA Moscow Current Coaches: Victor and Irina Razumovsky Parents: Nikolai Grishin and Galina Grishina Anastasia, also known as Nastia, is one of Russia's up and coming gymnasts. In her first year as a senior, she was a part of the silver medal winning teams at the 2012 European Championships and the Olympic Games in London.  Anastasia was born in Moscow, Russia to Nikolai and Galina Grishina. The couple already had three sons, Vadim, Yuri and Evgeniy. Little Anastasia began gymnastics at the age of seven. Her mother, Galina said that they were going to have her do figure skating, but go...

Like the rest of us, Gabby Douglas returned to work this Monday after the weekend. For Gabby and coach Liang Chow work means Gabby has returned to the gym to resume training and for Gabby the "weekend" has been a several month hiatus while she has been touring, walking red carpets. making guest appearances on   The Vampire Diaries  among other things.