GYMNASTICS

Local gymnast Thema Williams, currently training for the 2016 Rio Olympics Test Event scheduled for April 16-19, has found herself at the centre of somewhat of a controversy over an Instagram photo from a year ago.

Happy Tuesday, #Gymnastics fans! From Norway to Trinidad and Tobago, here's the latest in the world of Gymnastics:
Combs-la-Ville: The annual tournament for promising juniors just outside of Paris took place in spite of the attacks on the city of light this weekend. France's Mélissa Poitreau, a budding Beam star who will become a senior in 2017, won the All-around competition in the junior division, while Switzerland's Leonie Meier took the Espoir title by nearly four points. Tributes to the victims of the events in Paris were held before both days of competition. http://goo.gl/tsW2ck (International Gymnast Magazine)

World Gym for Life Challenge 2017: Check out the recently opened website for the World Gym for Life Challenge, which is set for July 26-30, 2017 in Vestfold (NOR)! Like the World Gymnaestrada, World Gym for Life is a Gymnastics for All event that focuses on performance, creativity and collaboration. Unlike the World Gymnaestrada, participating groups are evaluated, albeit lightly, on their performances. http://gymforlife2017.com/ (World Gym for Life Challenge)

Shawn Johnson on marriage and returning to the gym: The 2008 Olympic Beam champion is hoping to perform on the post-Olympic Tour next summer. The idea of wearing a leotard again still gives her a bit of a fright, however. http://goo.gl/R6s6sI (People Magazine)

Thema Williams shoots for the stars: The Trinidad and Tobago gymnast, now training with coach John Geddert in the U.S., is on the road to Rio after finishing 59th All-around at the Glasgow Worlds and being selected to compete at next spring's Olympic Test Event. http://goo.gl/K9ixrz (Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)

Viktoria Komova battles back: Her up-and -down World Championships experience ended with a gold medal on Uneven Bars (shared with three other gymnasts), but Viktoria Komova (RUS) is already thinking ahead to Rio, where she hopes to compete in the All-around, the event where she is the reigning Olympic silver medallist. http://goo.gl/tfQsBY (International Gymnast Magazine)

Salma Hayek's Gymnastics throwback: The 49-year-old star recently shared a picture of herself at age eight doing a straddle jump on a Trampoline. "I wish I could still do that," she wrote. http://goo.gl/RRbRiL (InStyle)

Inspired by British success: Jay Thompson, one of Great Britain's top juniors during the past few years, wasn't able to try for the Glasgow Worlds due to an Achilles injury that's still healing. But the 19-year-old admits that his teammates's success has inspired him to get even better for the future. http://goo.gl/EEPZhB (Liverpool Echo)

The Great Gabby and Simone: An enthusiastic review of the accomplishments of the current World no. 1 and 2 in Women's Artistic Gymnastics...with .gifs! http://goo.gl/4uWeNn (The Frisky)

How gymnasts go to bed: This will have you bouncing on the bed like a kid again -- unless you're actually a kid, in which it will just have you bouncing on the bed. http://goo.gl/7ryv6t (Daily Mail)

Wishing everyone a terrific week!

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Trinidad and Tobago gymnastics continues to make great strides as the forty-four (44) young persons who journeyed to Jamaica this past weekend did not disappoint. The inaugural Caribbean Gymnastics Championships (CGC) took place on the 14th and 15th November at the National Indoor Sports Centre, Kingston Jamaica. Over 150 gymnasts from Barbados, Cayman Islands, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago and the host country put on a great show for those gathered to support.

Team Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) Level 4 Women’s Artistic Gymnasts (WAG), Amethyst Cuffy and Alexia John gave the team an impressive start on the score board with their performance in the first session. Both ladies earned the top 2 spots all round with scores of 34.625 and 34.350 respectively placing TTO first in the Bars, Beam and Floor. The session also saw TTO’s level 5 Male Artistic Gymnasts (MAG) medaling in all apparatus – Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars and High Bars. Clint Ramdial, our top performing male athlete, placed third with 53.20 behind the Cayman Islands who earned the top 2 spots overall at this level. Having the lone two gymnasts at the MAG Level 6 gave Team TTO’s scores a further boost as Isaiah Hall and Shane Ramsingh exchanged 1st and 2nd positions on the podium for the various events. Ramsingh managed to cop the number 1 all round position with 51.95.

This saw team TTO going into the afternoon session of day one, which included the Opening Ceremony, in high spirits. With greetings from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport and an exhibition from Jamaica’s Olympic hopefuls, the atmosphere in the sports centre was electric. Jamaica’s women’s team who formed part of the exhibition, like Trinidad and Tobago, earned a spot at the Olympic Test event in Rio in 2016 after the World Gymnastics Championships earlier this year. Our representative will be Thema Williams and Marisa Dick will be the alternate.

Our WAG Level 6, 7 and 8 gymnasts continued where their teammates left off mounting the podium in 1st place All-Round in all three levels. Level 6 (Jr) gymnasts Adrianna Housty with an overall score of 36.675 placed first in Vault and Bars and her Senior teammates followed suit. Tyshanna Beckles placed first in Vault and Beam and 2nd in Bars and Floor whilst Gabriella Thong and Trinity Sargeant earned 3 medals each and joined Beckles on the All Round podium with Thong mounting the 1st place position with 36.200.

The second day saw the younger ones in action, and they followed the example of their senior teammates giving the T&T parents and supporters gathered lots to cheer and scream about as the scores came up on the screens. To the average supporter, team TTO was well poised to win the championships. Sydelle Hines (37.95) and Keyara Prince (38.15), two of our Level 1 and Level 2 WAG gymnasts respectively, earned the team the top spot in their respective groups and the 2nd and 3rd place on the overall scores.

When the final results were in however, the method used to adjudicate saw team Jamaica being announced the winner with the Cayman Islands second and Trinidad and Tobago third. Despite TTO winning 7 of the 14 levels competed with Jamaica and Cayman Islands winning 5 and 2 respectively, the scores of their male athletes pushed them to the top 2 positions.

The TTGF is extremely proud of our gymnasts and their success at this competition. It wishes to thank CIMCO and Nestle for sponsoring the team’s uniforms for the trip and the continued support of the Ministry of Sport and the SporTT in developing our gymnasts. This competition is aimed at encouraging the development of gymnasts through team and individual competition and we look forward to having more of our gymnasts compete in the next installment carded to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2017!

Gymnastics has been one of the most popular sports of the Olympic games as it was one of the pioneering sports of the games in ancient Greece. The origin of the word gymnastics comes from the Greek word Gymnos which means naked. Competition events fall under one of three categories: Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampoline. Artistic Events are performed on apparatus. Men compete in floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Female gymnasts compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

The competition includes individual all-around events and team events, also scored over each apparatus. Rhythmic gymnastics, also referred to as “modern gymnastics,” is strictly a women’s sport. The gymnasts, perform on a 13-meter-square floor area to the accompaniment of music. This performance includes the use of rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. The use of a trampoline can be dated back to the 1800s. Trampoline competitions recently debuted at the 2000 Sydney Games featuring both men’s and women’s individual events.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is the international governing body for gymnastics with 129 national affiliates and 50 million licensed gymnasts.