I just found this great photo of evergreen US gymnast, Ivana Hong, on the bars at the recent US Nationals. Hong trains at WOGA, although I'm convinced she originally competed out of GAGE in Missouri. Anyone?
In Dallas during Nationals, thirteen athletes and coaches, including my longtime hero and idol, Carly Patterson, were inducted to the Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Carly is one of my favourite people of all time, ever. In 2004 I watched her win the Olympic All-Around gold, and silvers on beam and in the team final. She's the only person to have ever landed a double Arabian front dismount from the beam, especially difficult because it's a blind landing. It's called the "Patterson", so effectively she's up there with Yurchenko, Chusovitina, Tsukahara and Comaneci. It's pretty mean to have a skill named after you. Since her retirement, she's embarked on a mildly successful singing career. Can't say I'm a huge fan, but I love Carly and everything she does, so yeah. It's not like she could do gymnastics forever, after all. She's so wrecked from years of flipping and contorting that she can't even run anymore. Price to pay, eh?
Hercules! Hercules! Carly Rae at her induction.
One last photo for today: Kytra Hunter, my new fave. Here she is performing on floor exercise on day two of Nationals.
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