Women’s All Round Artistic Gymnastics Finals at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games

i’m glad i got tickets for this event!

truth be told, it’s more exciting seeing it on tv because of the commentaries provided – i think i learn a lot more about the strengths and weakness of the routine from the commentary – but it was just really cool to be there in person and to be able to see the gymnasts up close (kind of) in the flesh.

the hall is a lot smaller than i thought it’d be, and all the mats and apparatus seemed so new and fresh:

i really liked this guy’s get up:

the announcers’ table:

before the competition began, the commentators tried to get the crowd going and gave some explanation of the apparatus. Some children from 9 –12 years of age also gave a hip hop performance:

the gymnasts report to the judges:

some of the competition action:

 

A lot of the gymnasts seemed to be rather weak on the uneven bars, as they appeared to lack the strength to do the rotations and accomplish the transitions between bars, especially from the lower to upper bar. It’s interesting to watch the YOG because it highlighted which apparatus are more challenging, as you can see gymnasts who’re still only stars in the making.

Bishan Sports Hall was quite packed:

there was a guy with huge muscles. i think he might be a gymnast himself:

 

My favourite two were the balance beam and the floor in this competition. Partly because the beam was right before my seat, and the floor had great musical accompaniment.

check out the Russian’s amazing performance. She was so skilled, so steady – she and China’s Tan Sixin were the only two to complete three back flips – and graceful on the beam. I thought she was better than Tan Sixin but the latter scored a higher score of 15.35 compared to 15.25:

Now watch Tan Sixin’s performance:

Some floor action:

Italy’s gymnast – each country was only allowed one representative – had a fairly solid floor routine, and came in third place overall. She beat Japan’s Sasada Natsumi by only 0.25 points; i think Japan would have won if Sasada did a clean landing on the vault.

Tan Sixin was touted in the papers as the favourite, but she lost to Russia by almost 3 points – 58.5 compared to 61.25.

Here you can clearly see that Komova is a class above the rest – just watch how high she jumps! It’s utterly amazing and the crowded loved her. She reminds me a little of another famous Russian gymnast – Svetlana Khorkina – because of the little flairs in her routine, and she’s certainly a gymnast to look out for at London 2012!!

the proud medallists:

2010 Youth Olympic Games, Singapore

i got my tickets to watch the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Finals!  \(^o^)/

i was initially not too keen on watching the games, as i was sceptical of the quality of the athletes (not to be unsupportive or anything, but i have seen the SEA Games), but i was reminded that the Russians and Chinese are gonna be there too. I’ve actually been a US supporter for women’s artistic gym, but i don’t think they did that well at the last Olympics (i didn’t really follow it Japan doesn’t broadcast the events where there’re no Japanese taking part).

actually, i was only reminded of YOG upon returning home last monday. i vaguely recall there having been some hype about singapore bidding for the right to host the games, but there has been absolutely NO publicity for these games in the past 2 years.

If there has been any, it never even found its way to Straits Times Online – which i used to try to keep up with happenings back home (its not very effective mainly cos ST requires paid subscription for the more interesting articles) – much less the major newspapers or broadcast websites in other countries. no wonder that ticket sales have been abysmal.

anyway, the purchase of tickets entitles you to a free prepaid card plus 1 day’s complimentary travel (ie 4 train rides and unlimited bus rides), which presents a certain draw when deciding whether to catch YOG events or not:

the card basically works as a touch-and-pay stored-value card, and can be used for public transport for up to 5 years. i’m not sure why this wasn’t advertised as part of ticketing, as it’s quite a good deal considering ezlink cards for public transport now cost a non-refundable $5. i suppose it can be attributed to the poor promotion of YOG in general, perhaps.

interestingly, i have acquired 3 cards that can double up as ezlink cards in 1 week of being back in Singapore – one of which was paid for too! grrrrrr.