Simone Makes History Again!

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Simone Biles keeps surprising the gymnastics world with new feats.  She just keeps getting better!  This weekend she won her 6th US National title and revealed two new skills that have never been done before.  When I watched her beam routine on night one, I literally said “wow” after her dismount.  I still can’t believe she did a double twisting double back off of the beam.  Insane!  Then night two she hit triple twisting double back on floor exercise.  She makes it look so easy, it is hard to actually count out three twists and two flips.  See history for yourself!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach
Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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2019 NCAA Championships

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I was definitely a super fan at the NCAA’s this past weekend. I decided this past Winter that I wanted to see Katelyn Ohashi’s floor routine live in person. UCLA doesn’t have any meets close to where I live so I ended up buying a plane ticket to Fort Worth! Forth Worth, TX is such a cool place by the way! I also wanted to see Coach Val’s last meet as the UCLA Head Coach. Being at the NCAA’s was a very fun experience that I recommend to anyone. Seeing the top four teams in the country compete in the same arena is a cool thing to witness. I was rooting for UCLA but Oklahoma had so many stuck landings that the rest of the field just couldn’t catch them. Seeing these athletes compete live was everything that I had hoped it would be. I was also excited to see some of the gymnasts and coaches along with other former gymnasts walking around the city or at the hotel. It was cool to see some of my idols from when I was competing at this event. I would definitely go again!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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Floor Routine Spotlight- Katelyn Ohashi

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Everybody is losing their minds over Katelyn Ohashi’s new floor routine.  She has been scoring perfect 10’s and has made national news.  She is such a positive role model for this sport and for any athlete out there. She has openly talked about finding love for the sport of gymnastics again in college and the support she has had from her current coaches.  Her routine has so much sass and she really shows off her dancing skills throughout this routine.  Not to mention her tumbling… wow!! I can watch this video over and over again.  I look forward to watching her throughout the season!  I am planning on going to the NCAA’s in April! Check it out here!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach
Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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Sam Mikulak Gets His World Medal

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Sam Mikulak finally did it!

I have been following the results of the 2018 Gymnastics World Championships this week and I was so happy to see Sam Mikulak come away from these World Championships with the bronze medal on the High Bar.  He has been a leader for the US Men for several years both as a member of two Olympic teams but also on the collegiate level.  He has always been the favored member of team USA to medal at an international competition such as the World Championships or Olympic games.  Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out as planned and I am glad to see him still competing and working harder than ever to be the best he can be and come away with some hardware.  Sam is very fun to watch. He flies high on the high bar and has a very impressive routine on the parallel bars. Things seem to be lining up just right for him and I hope he can continue to be a member of this US team.  His experience and positive attitude will continue to drive the men’s team to improve and be ready for the future.  It would be fantastic to see him at a third Olympics in 2020.

Check out Sam’s amazing routine on the high bar.

Check out Sam’s impressive Parallel Bars routine here!

Check out Sam Mikulak’s interview after his final day of competition here!

It is awesome to see how excited he was to win this medal.  It was clearly a long week for him and after having a disappointing finish of fifth place in the All-Around, Sam talks about the redemption he had on the last event in the meet, the High Bar event final.  The fact that he wants to strive to win more medals in the future shows that he could be a powerhouse in this sport.

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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2018 World Championships

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The US Women proved once again that they are dominant in the gymnastics world. It is great to have Simone Biles back in action but I was also happy to see Morgan Hurd return as a member of this World team again this year. The US women won the team final by over eight points which is unheard of.  Even crazier, Simone competed with a kidney stone and walked away with medals on every event. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her instagram post of her at the hospital.  I thought she was going to be out of the meet but she proved how tough she is. Simone now has 20 World Championship medals and is the only four time All-Around World Champion.  The exciting highlight of these Worlds is that the US team had two All-Around world champions on their team this year. Morgan Hurd won the All-Around event last year and proved to still be one of the best in this sport.  The US Women also secured their qualifying spot to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo at this competition.

Simone and Morgan also went 1, 2 on the podium for the Floor Exercise event.  Check out their stellar performances.

Morgan Hurd Floor Exercise: I love how dramatic Morgan is in her performance. Her lines are gorgeous and she has powerful tumbling. Her choreography really fits her style and shows off her grace. Although she is fierce during her routine, she has a smile when she finishes her awesome performance.

Simone Biles Floor Exercise:  What is there not to love about Simone’s floor exercise performance. She tumbles through the roof and looks like she is having so much fun.  Her smile lights up the arena.  She is fun to watch.  Her choreography is super cute. I get goosebumps hearing the crowd cheer for her.

Congratulations Ladies!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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Simone is Back!

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Is it be possible that Simone Biles can be any better than she was in 2016?

I was blown away when I watched Simone compete at the US Nationals this summer.  She is better than she was in Rio which is insane. I love how humble of a person she is.  She shows confidence but she is a genuine person and has great sportsmanship. I am currently reading her book and she has such a fascinating story.  Simone is so fun to watch! Her gymnastics skills are explosive and she always has a smile when she is performing. Simone won the All-Around at the National Championships by over six points. That is a huge and unthinkable gap between first and second place. Simone once again is proving that she is still the best. I can’t wait to see how she evolves leading up to the next Olympics. I am not going to lie, I was expecting her to come back and have watered down routines especially for her first competition.  Boy was I wrong.  She proved that she isn’t holding back and her hard work getting back into training is clearly paying off. People have asked her if she is human and you can see why.  She is the best gymnast ever and nobody can seem to come close to catching her.  I can only imagine what the next two years will bring for her and team USA.  I don’t know how her routines can be any more impressive but I know that somehow, she will find a way.

Go Simone!

You can watch the full broadcast of day 1 and 2 of Women’s US Nationals here!

The World Championships are fast approaching. She and the US Women are favored to win.  I can’t wait to watch!

Great job to all of the ladies who competed at this competition.  You are the best of the best.

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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NCAA Team Field Trip

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This past spring, University of Illinois Chicago hosted the 2018 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics National Championships and of course my boys gymnastics team had to take a team field trip to watch the competition.

This was the perfect team bonding experience for our team.  We took a bus down to the venue and got to see some of the best gymnastics in the country, live. We sat right in front of the high bar and parallel bars and my athletes were blown away by what they were seeing.  These athletes defy gravity and throw big skills. It certainly is fun to watch. It was great to see many teams from the Chicagoland area come together for such a major event.

I am glad that my boys were able to have such a rare opportunity to make memories with their teammates.  UIC put on a spectacular event! If there is a big gymnastics event in your area, I suggest getting your teammates together for a fun night of big gymnastics.  Team bonding makes for the best memories!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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Dancing with the Stars- Laurie Hernandez

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Have you been watching Laurie Hernandez on Dancing with the Stars? If you haven’t, then you need to start watching! She just scored a perfect 10 on her dance this week! She is doing so well and I hope she wins.  Laurie made a huge impression this year competing for Team USA to help them win the Gold medal in the Team Final event at the Olympic games.  She is a first year senior gymnast and certainly peaked at the right time. As soon as Laurie started competing as a senior gymnast, I could instantly tell that she was going to be a force to be reckoned with for the US team. She didn’t let her fellow competitors who had more experience intimidate her. She shines in her own way and brings a style that I haven’t seen in a while. Her sassy floor routine proved that she would be a great contestant on Dancing with the Stars. If people didn’t already know who Laurie Hernandez was, they certainly do now. I am glad that she agreed to be a part of such a fun experience and show the world her talents. Laurie is such a positive person and you can’t help but smile when she performs.  She has such awesome facial expressions and you can see them even on a small tv screen. They call her the human emoji. Check out her dances so far on Dancing with the stars and tune in on ABC to watch her the rest of the season! Be sure to vote for her too!  She has worked super hard and should win the mirror ball trophy. That would be a nice little addition to her Gold and Silver medals from the Olympics. Good luck to Laurie and the rest of the contestants on Dancing with the Stars this season!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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All-Around Divas

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Simone Biles and Aly Raisman tore it up today in the Women’s Gymnastics All-Around event! High expectations have been set for Simone leading up to these Olympic Games and she did not disappoint. Simone rocked it and brought home the Gold medal after an amazing performance today. Simone sealed the deal on her last event which was floor exercise. Her floor routine is through the roof.  She tumbles higher than anyone I have ever seen. As soon as she landed her final tumbling pass, everyone knew this was her moment, the moment that she had been working her whole life for.

Aly Raisman had a stellar competition tonight as well. Aly is one of my favorite gymnasts of all time. She was so poised and ready to get her redemption medal. Back in 2012, Aly finished fourth in the All-Around just missing the podium and a medal. Like Simone, Aly also finished the meet of her life on the Floor Exercise. Her routine was so spectacular and as soon as it was over, she was overcome with emotion which was so wonderful to see.  I am so happy for her! It is so difficult to train and come back to a second Olympic games. She was the team leader once again and I was glad that her persistence paid off for her.  She is awesome! You can tell she has given it her all and is even better than she was in London in 2012. Aly ended up winning the Silver Medal. How exciting for them to be on the podium together in the top two.

Congratulations Aly and Simone! You are so deserving of your success and are incredible role models for young gymnasts out there. There is still plenty of competition left here at the Rio Olympics.  I will be watching the event finals for sure!

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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Rio Qualifying & Men’s Team Final

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The Rio Olympics have certainly been exciting and it has only been a few days! The Men’s gymnastics team really impressed during the qualifying round beating Japan and qualifying for the Team Final in 2nd place.

On night two of gymnastics qualifying the U.S. Women rocked the arena and crushed the competition.  They started out on Floor and wowed the audience with their powerful and exciting routines. The U.S. Women continued the competition hitting 16 for 16 routines and finished strong on beam to bring their lead to nearly 10 points. That kind of separation is unheard of. It is an amazing accomplishment that all five members of the U.S. Team qualified for an event final which will take place later this week. Simone Biles and Aly Raisman will represent the United States in the All-Around competition.

Unfortunately in the Men’s Team Final, the U.S. Men had some mistakes that kept them from getting redemption from the 2012 London Games. They will once again come in fifth place. This is disappointing considering the fact that they looked so great during qualifying. It just wasn’t their night.  There is still plenty of action coming up throughout the week and plenty of opportunities to increase the US medal count.

Make sure you tune in tomorrow night for the Women’s Gymnastics Team Final! Team USA is the team to beat.  If they can hit all of their routines, they have a very strong chance at winning another gold medal.  It will be an outstanding competition to witness. Good luck to Simone Biles and Aly Raisman in the All-Arount Final. They have been incredible leaders to this team and this is the moment that have been working towards.

I am also anxious to see their leotards because the leotards from qualifying were absolutely adorable. That’s what it’s all about right?

 

Christina Tardy Gymnastics Coach

Christina Tardy
Founder/Principal
GymnasticsTracks.com

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