And the award for breakout American Cup performance goes to…

Barring something major, we knew Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and Paul  Hamm would do well at the American Cup.

It was easy to be less sure of Samantha Peszek, fifth at the 2007 Cup preliminaries, who also overcame a 10th place finish on day one at the 2007 U.S. Championships to make the World team and become the preeminent of the U.S.’s bubble girls for a spot on this summer’s Olympic team.

Peszek helped her Olympic cause a lot this weekend. And no routine punctuated it better than her beam set, a 16.1 effort that earned her a new title as a “beamer” from Marta Karolyi.

Samantha Peszek, 2008 American Cup, Balance Beam:

That title is probably more important than the one Peszek was competing for Saturday. Alicia Sacramone had her breakout beam moment at the 2007 World Championships, when she hit solid routines both days and proved she could be an asset to team USA on more than just vault and floor. Those happen to be Peszek’s best events as well, and she happened to have a similar day Saturday.

As a gymnast, Peszek is a little Sacramone, a little Vanessa Atler, a little Amanda Borden rolled into one. And she’s only getting better. At the Cup, she also showed a new floor routine which much improved music.

Samantha Peszek, 2008 American Cup, Floor Exercise:

Samantha Peszek, 2008 Olympian? Could happen.

Moceanu, Canales welcome a daughter

Let the “special Christmas gift” allusions begin.

1996 Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu and husband Michael Canales will remember Christmas Day 2007 as the day their first child — daughter Carmen Noel Canales — was born.

Moceanu seems to do most things in style, and giving birth seems to be no different — the “Noel” is a really nice touch. Carmen, who was born at MacDonald Women’s Hospital in Cleveland, weighed seven pounds, seven ounces, People magazine reported.

[Moceanu] added, “The miracle of baby Carmen being born on Christmas Day makes this wonderful time all the more special to us. This is the best Christmas present we could have ever received!”

Moceanu is the second member of the Magnificent Seven to give birth — teammate Amanda Borden and husband Brad Cochran welcomed daughter Kennedy Faith on July 29.

In an interview with Celebrity Baby Blog in November, Moceanu said she and Canales planned to introduce their daughter to gymnastics at a young age.

Mike and I definitely want to encourage the sport when she’s young. We believe it’s good for coordination and flexibility. The fundamentals you learn in gymnastics help prepare you for any sport that you choose later in life and overall physical health.

If she likes it, that would be great to be both her mom and her coach some day, but I would never force the sport on her. If she chooses to do it, I will protect her and guide her the best way I know how. I’d be thrilled if she loves it the same way that Mike and I do.

The Mag 7 hit The Today Show

…and 30 minutes later, The Today Show hit Youtube.

Kerri Strug would like the world to know that her ankle is doing just fine, thank you.

(via Gymnastics Coaching)

Mag 7 to ‘reunite’ on The Today Show

The Magnificent Seven — Shannon Miller, Kerri Strug, Amanda Borden, Dominique Dawes, Dominique Moceanu and Jaycie Phelps — will be appearing on The Today Show Nov. 17, Moceanu’s website announced today.

Join Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Dominique Moceanu, Shannon Miller, Jaycie Phelps & Kerri Strug to see where they are now. This one of a kind segment will highlight portions of their trip to Atlanta, visiting the Georgia Dome, a team interview and a look back at the magical moment in their lives that made history.

It’s uncertain if this means the 1996 Olympic gold medalists will all be appearing in studio, or if it’s going to be some sort of news segment. I imagine getting all seven of them in one place at one time is a logistical nightmare. They have certainly come a long ways from the Wheaties Box days of Atlanta.

Dawes was President of the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2004 to 2006 and now sits on the Board of the Sesame Workshop’s Healthy Habits for Life program. (Sesame Workshop was formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop — i.e. the people who brought you Sesame Street).

Miller graduated from Boston College Law School earlier this year and married Florida politician John Falconetti in August.

Strug, who graduated from Stanford, works in Washington D.C., while Moceanu coaches and is expecting her first child.

Borden runs her own gym in Tempe, Ariz., Chow is doing her medical residency in California with an eye to becoming a pediatrician and Phelps, who married 2004 U.S. Olympian Brett McClure, coaches in Colorado.

This terrific montage from Youtube user Doublelayout10 provides a wonderful summary of the 1996 Olympic team finals.

The nefarious full turn with leg held up

Amazing how this relatively low-value skill appears to be more difficult for many gymnasts than, say, a back handspring, layout stepout series.

In her commentary for WSCN at the 2007 World Championships, Tasha Schwikert noted that she’s seen so many people do full turns with their leg up on balance beam and either fall or take a major deduction that she’s wondering if it’s even worth the risk.

I agree. Few look truly calm doing this skill, even when they pull it off flawlessly. And that happens a lot less than one would think.

Koko Tsurumi, 2007 World Championships All-Around, Balance Beam:

Yang Yilin, 2007 World Championships Team Qualifying Round, Balance Beam:

Xiao Sha, 2007 Chinese Nationals Event Finals, Balance Beam:

Ekaterina Kramarenko, 2007 World Championships All-Around, Balance Beam:

Vanessa Ferrari, 2006 World Championships Event Finals, Balance Beam:

More sympathy should be given to Li Shanshan, who fell doing a much more difficult variation of this skill during event finals at the World Championships. Ferrari also often takes a small deduction for it, but props to both for doing something truly difficult.

Li Shanshan, 2007 World Championships Event Finals, Balance Beam:

Vanessa Ferrari, 2007 European Championships All-Around, Balance Beam:

One of the most beautiful, albeit slightly overrotated, turns with the leg held way up was done in 2001 at the American Team Cup by China’s Kang Xin. What’s most impressive, I think, is the way she sold it — and the rest of this marvelous routine.

Kang Xin, 2001 American Team Cup, Balance Beam:

The subject of deceptively hard skills on balance beam brings to mind the compulsory beam set from 1992 to 1996. The cartwheels, forward rolls and fouette jumps gave four of the Mag 7 (and numerous others, including Simona Amanar and Kui Yuanyuan) all sorts of problems in Atlanta.

Jaycie Phelps, 1996 Olympic Compulsories, Balance Beam:

Amanda Borden, 1996 Olympic Compulsories, Balance Beam:

Dominique Dawes, 1996 Olympic Compulsories, Balance Beam: