Twenty-year-old American gymnast Shawn Johnson is a four-time Olympic gold and silver medalist; a national- and world-champion athlete. Already a popular role model to all ages, in 2009 she captured the national spotlight again when she won the widely popular Dancing with the Stars. Yet Shawn is no stranger to hard work and adversity. Her loss of the major gymnastics prize everyone expected her to win in Beijing, the all-around Olympic gold medal, was the loss of a dream she’d worked for since childhood. And later, she suffered a potentially career-ending injury in a skiing accident that forced her life to a halt and made her rethink what was really important. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore. She wasn’t sure what her goals were. And she wasn’t sure she was satisfied with where she was with her faith and God. Could she find the right kind of success in life—the kind that doesn’t involve medals or trophies, but peace, love, and lasting joy? This is the amazing true journey of how the young woman who won an Olympic gold medal on the balance beam became even more balanced.

Speculation in regards to Johnson’s Olympic bid is now rife among fans following an article in the Des Moines Register. It was already known that Johnson would not compete in this months Secret US Classic but would be aiming for the VISA Championships in June (7th – 10th), however her Coach Liang Chow is quoted as saying that she still recuperating from her knee injury, and wasn’t sure if she would be able to compete at VISA’s. If Johnson misses VISA’s, she would not be eligible for the Olympic Trials in San Jose at the end of June, meaning her attempt at making a second USA Olympic squad would be over. Many are also discussing why Johnson seemed to be the only gymnast not photographed in a leotard at the USA Olympic Media Summit on Monday, speculating that she is uncomfortable with her body.

The odds are strongly against Johnson, seeing as the Olympic Team rules have changed.Teams will only consist of five gymnasts instead of the six or seven allowed in past Olympics.Personally, I would love to see her competing in London but with the likes of Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman primed and ready I’m not sure if I see it happening. Shawn would want to have some serious tricks up her sleeve if she is to have one last shot.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/brian_cazeneuve/05/16/shawn-johnson-allyson-felix/index.html#ixzz1v7GEQQkA

What do you think? Is this publicity? Does Shawn have some tricks up her leotard sleeve? Or is this finally the end of the road for Johnson’s second Olympic dream?  Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Image via Getty Images. 

Let’s take a look at who made the floor final at the 2011 European Championships and who has a shot at the 2012 title:

1. Flavius Koczi (ROM) 15.500
2. Alexander Shatilov (ISR) 15.400
3. Anton Golotsutskov (RUS) 15.325
4. Kristian Thomas (GBR) & Thomas Bouhail (FRA) 15.300
5. Denis Ablyazin (RUS) 15.250
6. Daniel Purvis (GBR) 14.400
7. Philipp Boy (GER) 14.275

Just missing qualification for the floor final last year was the Greek 2010 World Floor Champion Eleftherios Kosmidis who could be in contention for a medal this year. Great Britain could possibly have three gymnasts in contention for a spot in the floor final, if the two per country rule didn’t apply, Daniel Purvis should make the final as could Max Whitlock and Kristian Thomas. Ireland’s Kieran Behan has been working some impressive upgrades which could see him in the final. Germany also have some great floor workers but only 2010 European bronze medalist Marcel Nguyen will compete at this years competition. Of course 2011′s silver medalist Alexander Shatilov cannot be forgotten nor can Romania’s Flavius Koczi. Europe has a whole host of  excellent floor workers who could potentially step foot on the Olympic Podium in London this summer. With so many gymnasts excelling on floor, it is hard to pin point the 3 gymnasts who will make it to the podium.

What do you think? Who will be our 2012 European Floor Champion?

In 2011, City of  Liverpool Gymnastics Club took the team title with a total score of 167.200, with Cardiff Central and Heathrow in second and third place respectively. Liverpool are highly tipped to win this years team title again.

Sunday 20th May

• 08:45 – Registration Round 1
• 09:00 – Warm Up
• 10:30 – Competition Start
• 10:45 – Registration Round 2
• 13:30 – Registration Round 3
• 14:30 – Lunch
• 15:45 – Competition Restart
• 16:50 – Presentations

Expect coverage from British Gymnastics on Facebook and Twitter and possibly live streaming in the UK.

 Schedule:

Monday 21st May

• 10am – 9pm: Junior Podium Training

Wednesday 23rd May 2012: Qualifications Juniors

• 10am  - 1pm: subdivision 1 (CYP, BLR, NOR, RUS, CRO, ITA, CZE, ISL, GRE, TUR)
• 2pm -  5pm: subdivision 2 (POR, IRL, GBR, DEN, AUT,  BUL, FRA, ISR, BEL, SUI, GER, ESP)
• 6pm - 9pm: subdivision 3 ( LAT, SVK, ROU, UKR, HUN, SRB, LTU, FIN, SLO, AZE, POL, ARM, SWE, NED)
• 9:15pm Medal Ceremony for Team placings

Thursday 24th May 2012: Qualifications Seniors

• 10am - 1 pm: subdivision 1 (POR, LTU, ROU, IRL, CYP, AZE, NED, BLR, GEO, GRE, GBR, ISL)
• 2pm – 5pm: subdivision 2 (HUN, NOR, POL, SLO, GER, RUS, CRO, CZE, ESP, TUR, AUT, BEL)
• 6pm – 9pm: subdivision 3 (ITA, DEN, UKR, ISR, SUI, FIN, FRA, BUL, ARM, LUX, SVK, LAT)

Friday 25th May 2012

• 3pm – 5pm: All Around Final Juniors

Saturday 26th May 2012

• 2pm - 5pm: Team Final Seniors

Sunday 27th May 2012

• 10.30am – 1pm: Apparatus Finals Juniors

• 2pm- 5pm: Apparatus Finals Seniors

Scoring

The scoring is as follows:

• Junior Qualification: 5 on a team, 4 up and 3 scores count.
• Senior Qualification: 5 on a team, 3 up and 3 scores count.
• 24 gymnasts will compete in the Junior All Around competition (2 per country rule applies).
• Senior Team Final: 5 on a team, 3 up and 3 scores count.
• Junior & Senior Apparatus Finals: 8 gymnasts compete per apparatus (2 per country rule applies).

Participants

The nominative list has been released, although some Federations may have changed their line ups in the mean time.

Start Order for Qualification

Coverage

Should online streaming become available, we will endeavor to post this on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Please “like” and “follow”  Full Twist for this information.

Online Coverage

The following will be reporting live from Brussels:

• Full Twist Facebook - Twitter
• Gymnastics Ireland –  Facebook – Twitter
• Gymnastics Examiner – Twitter – Facebook
• Gym Power – Twitter – Facebook
• The All Around – Facebook – Twitter
• As always keep an eye on the FIG Youtube Channel and also the Twitter and Facebook for videos and photographs.
• British Gymnastics will have their Media team there also – follow for British updates on Twitter and Facebook.
• Keep an eye on the official website and the UEG YouTube Channel .

Make sure to follow, like and subscribe by RSS to the above sites for up to the minute live action from Montpellier. We will all work hard to bring you as much information as possible from the different nations competing. Please feel free to ask if you are unsure of how to use an RSS Reader.

• Abigail Millet
• Jordyn Wieber
• Sabrina Vega
• Mckenzie Wofford
• Mckayla Maroney
• Brandie Jay
• Anna Li
• Brenna Dowell
• Kennedy Baker
• Sarah Finnegan
• Gabrielle Douglas
• Mykayla Skinner
• Kyla Ross
• Chellsie Memmel
• Grace McLaughlin
• Rebecca Bross
• Casey Jo Magee
• Nastia Liukin
• Mackenzie Brannan
• Amanda Jetter
• Bridget Sloan
• Brianna Brown
• Alexandra Raisman
• Elizabeth Price

More information via USA Gymnastics.

Heading up the Senior team are three of Ireland’s most experienced gymnasts Luke Carson, Rohan Sebastian and Kieran Behan. 22 year old Luke, a Commonwealth Games All Around finalist was forced to withdraw from last years Europeans due to injury. He regularly competes as a guest on the British circuit, last year placing an unofficial 10th at the MAG British Championships AA competition ahead of Sam Oldham who was 11th.  It was in fact new Irish team mate Andrew Smith who beat Carson to 9th place. Smith has been making his mark on the International stage since declaring for Ireland this year. At his first World Cup in Cottbus, he placed 4th in the Floor final and again two weeks later in Doha. Rohan Sebastian (21) may be more well known to some as a gymnast of  the University of Michigan in the USA, he was  a member of the 2010 NCAA champion team. He last competed for Ireland at the 2011 Tokyo World Championships. Born in Ireland to Indian parents, Sebastian grew up in Oklahoma City, training at Dynamo Gymnastics with coach Binh Le and at Bart Conner Gymnastics with ’94 and ’97 All Around World Champion Ivan Ivankov. Of course, Kieran Behan is now a household name among the Irish. Behan made his mark on the International scene towards the end of 2010, winning the World Cup Series Floor title. In January, he earned his Olympic berth, becoming the first ever Irish gymnast to do so without the means of a Wild Card.

Joining these four gymnasts are travelling reserve Anthony O’Donnell and 2012 European Team competitor Chris O’Connor.  O’Donnell (21) most recently won Ireland’s first Northern European medal, finishing third on floor in Uppsala last November. At the same competition O’Connor also made the floor final. O’Donnell has previously competed at both European and World Championships, this will be both gymnasts second European Championships.  The Senior Team will be coached by Barry Winch and Darren Gerrard.

Ireland also has a bright future ahead with the Juniors coming through. The team is made up of 2012 Celtic Cup gold and bronze medalists Jack Neill and Adam Dalton.  Joining them will be Dalton’s Douglas team mate Daniel Fox, Luke Pearce and Shane Lyndon. This will be a second outing to Junior Europeans for both Fox and Dalton. The team will be managed by Tom Dillon and coached by Simon Gale and Tim O’Donovan.

The team will continue training and will compete in some control competitions this week. Full Twist will be joining Team Ireland in Montpellier next week. Fans and friends can leave their messages of good luck in the comments below, we will ensure that the boys see them.

Let’s take a look at last years results and winning routines:

1. Krisztian Berki (HUN) 15.625
2. Cyril Tommasone (FRA) 15.050
3. Harutyum Merdinyan (ARM) 14.950
4. Vid Hidvegi (HUN) 14.725
5. Sebastian Krimmer (GER) 14.325
6. Louis Smith (GBR) 14.150
7. Alberto Busnari (ITA) 13.875
8. Pierre Yves Beny (FRA) 12.450

Schedule:

• 10am – 1.10pm – Level 8 & 9 Individual Apparatus Competition
• 1.15pm –  Medal Presentation
• 2pm – 5.50pm – Level 10 and FIG Minor, Junior and Senior Individual Apparatus Competition
• 5.55pm – Medal Presentation

Competitors

*g = guesting for a score

FIG Minor

• Ellen Hynes (Renmore) VT UB BB FX
• Niamh Rogers (Excel)  VT UB(g) BB(g) FX
• Suzy Crowe (Trojan)  VT UB BB FX
• Taylor Coyle (Trojan)  VT(g) UB BB(g) FX(g)
• Jessica Ryan (Nadia)  VT UB BB FX
• Shauna Kelly  (Old Bawn) BB FX
• Katie O’Hara (Old Bawn) BB FX
• Hannah Morrison (Abbey)  VT UB(g) BB(g) FX

FIG Junior

• Hayleigh Bradley (Excel) VT BB FX
• Kristen McKenna (Trojan) VT UB (g) BB FX
• Ciara Melia (Excel) VT(g) UB BB FX
• Denise Moloney (Nadia) VT(g) UB(g) BB FX
• Gemma Mullan (Shooting Starz) BB FX

FIG Senior

• Sophie McCoo (Abbey) VT UB BB FX
• Emma Lunn (Excel) VT UB BB FL
• Sarah Buckley (Douglas) VT UB BB FL(g)
• Beth Gillmor (Old Bawn) VT UB BB(g) FL
• Ali Kavanagh (Old Bawn) VT UB BB FX
• Daragh Matthews (Muckross) VT UB(g) BB FX
• Hayley Moore (Nadia) VT UB(g) BB(g) FL
• Julie Sadlier (Old Bawn) VT
• Laura Farrell (Janz) BB FX
• Daire De Hora (Janz) FX

A full report will follow this competition.

Image of Emma Lunn via Grace Chiu

Read the full article here.

Image via Getty Images North America.

This European Championships was without an All Around finals, in the “unofficial” AA competition, Whelan placed third behind two new seniors, Russia’s Anastasia Grishina and Romania’s power house Larisa Iordache. A firm favourite of Full Twist, we were delighted to see Hannah qualify to both the floor and beam finals.
In yesterdays Event Finals, Hannah did not make the mistakes made on beam during the team final. A tight beam routine with minimal wobbles earned her a bronze medal on one of her specialties. She stuck her beautiful combination of Front Aerial, Switch, Onodi with just a small check on landing. Her double turn in wolf position was also cause for some wobbles, the routine was finished off with a nice roundoff, 2.5 twist with a hop forward earning Great Britain their first beam medal in a major championships.

Rebecca Tunney joined Whelan in the floor final, a fantastic achievement for her first European Championships. Whilst her routine was not without mistakes, she showed massive potential for the future of British Gymnastics. Whelan’s Adi Pop choreographed routine is always a crowd pleaser, Jennifer Pinches remarked on how the crowd reacted and smiled to her quirky choreography and dance. The nineteen year old showed great confidence, and maturity to score 14.533 which brought her into third, knocking Italy’s Vanessa Ferrari back to fourth.

Whilst Whelan brought home two bronze European medals, for now she is Britain’s golden girl. She shows great potential as an Olympic Event and All Around finalist.

1. Sandra Raluca Izbasa (ROU) (14.900, 14.866) 14.883
2. Oksana Chusovitina (GER) (14.933, 14.433) 14.683
3. Giulia Steingruber (SUI) (15.216, 14.033) 14.624
4. Valeriia Maksiuta (ISR) (14.700, 14.300) 14.500
5. Anastasia Grishina (RUS) (14.533, 14.000) 14.266
6. Wyomi Masela (NED) (14.500, 13.833) 14.166
7. Erika Fasana (ITA) (14.241, 13.766) 14.003
8. Dorina Boczogo (HUN) (12.733, 12.733) 12.733

BARS:

1. Victoria Komova (RUS) 15.666
2. Anastasia Grishina (RUS) 15.200
3. Nataliya Kononenko (UKR) 15.133
4. Kim Bui (GER) 14.700
5. Celine Van Gerner (NED) 14.633
6. Lisa Katharina Hill (GER) 14.425
7. Ruby Harrold (GBR) 14.366
8. Youna Dufournet (FRA) 14.066

BEAM:

1. Catalina Ponor (ROU) 15.200
2. Larisa Iordache (ROU) 15.133
3. Hannah Whelan (GBR) 14.333
4. Anastasia Grishina (RUS) 14.066
5. Youna Dufournet (FRA) 13.366
6. Viktoria Komova (RUS) 13.100
7. Vasiliki Millousi (GRE) 12.900
8. Valeriia Maksiuta (ISR) 12.066

FLOOR:

1. Larisa Andreea Iordache (ROU) 15.233
2. Catalina Ponor (ROU) 14.633
3. Hannah Whelan (GBR) 14.533
4. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) 14.400
5. Rebecca Tunney (GBR) 13.800
6. Mariya Livchikova (UKR) 13.466
7. Marta Pihan-Kulesza (POL) 13.400
8. Julie Croket (BEL) 12.866

VAULT:

1. Chantysha Netteb (NED) (14.100, 14.166) 14.133
2. Alina Stanila (ROU) (13.600, 14.133) 13.866
3. Maria Kharenkova (RUS) (13.433, 13.966) 13.699
4. Ana Derek (CRO) (13.683, 13.666) 13.674
5. Enus Mariani (ITA) (13.900, 13.316) 13.608
6. Elisa Meneghini (ITA) (13.800, 13.233); Roxana Popa Nedelcu (ESP) (13.766, 13.266) 13.516
8. Noemi Makra (HUN) (13.466, 13.333) 13.399

BARS:

1. Sophie Scheder (GER) 14.566
2. Victoria Kuzmina (RUS) 14.466
3. Evgeniya Shelgunova (RUS) 14.366
4. Dar’ya Matveyeva (UKR) 14.000
5. Dayana Hryhoryeva (BLR) 13.866
6. Evangelia Plyta (GRE) 13.833
7. Elisa Meneghini (ITA) 13.200
8. Olena Vasylieva (UKR) 12.733

BEAM:

1. Maria Kharenkova (RUS) 14.766
2. Andreea Eugenia Munteanu (ROU) 14.433
3. Elisa Meneghini (ITA) 14.233
4. Tea Ugrin (ITA); Evgeniya Shelgunova (RUS) 14.133
6. Gabrielle Jupp (GBR) 13.700
7. Maelys Plessis (FRA) 12.833
8. Eythora Thorsdottir (NED) 11.166

FLOOR EXERCISE:

1. Maria Kharenkova (RUS) 14.233
2. Silvia Zarzu (ROU) 13.933
3. Gabrielle Jupp (GBR); Andreea Eugenia Munteanu (ROU) 13.900
5. Elisa Meneghini (ITA) 13.833
6. Evgeniya Shelgunova (RUS) 13.566
7. Charlie Fellows (GBR) 13.466
8. Enus Mariani (ITA) 13.133

1. Romania 176.288
2. Russia 175.536
3. Italy 171.430
4. Great-Britain 167.763
5. France 164.295
6. Belgium 163.821
7. Spain 163.522
8. Germany 160.497

The competition concludes tomorrow  with the Apparatus Finals from 9h30 – 12h05 for the juniors and from 14h00 – 16h35 for the seniors.

Post with videos to follow.

1. Mariani 56.265 FX – UB – VT – BB
2. Shelgunova 55.199 FX – VT – BB – UB
3. Andreaa Munteanu 54. 857 BB – FX – VT  – UB
4. Meneghini 54.782 FX – VT – BB – UB
5. Jupp 54.698 FX – VT - BB – UB
6. Kharenkova 54.631 FX – VT – BB – UB
7. Fransolet 53.049 FX – VT – BB – UB
8. Scheder 52.998 UB – FX – VT – BB
9. Makra 52.932 FX- VT – BB – UB
10. Thorsdottir 52.731 FX – VT – BB – UB