2011 World Championships: What to expect from team Brazil?

The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are just two days away. Not much has been said about Brazil at the other blogs or even in International Forums. Both the Men's and Women's teams are considered, at the very best, dark horses for the Team Finals. But both teams can actually surprise non-believers and deliver strong performances that could secure a couple of spots in the finals.

Half a year ago, there was not much we could expect from the WAG team. Veteran Daiane dos Santos was still a doubt; we did not know if she would make the Worlds team or not. Daniele Hypólito and Jade Barbosa seemed to be the only gymnasts we could rely on. Adrian Gomes was still a relatively unexperienced athlete that could barely help the team. Bruna Leal, Letícia Costa, Ana Claudia Silva, Laís Souza and Priscila Cobello were all suffering with different kinds of injuries. There was hardly any hope for the team at the 2011 World Championships.

Things have changed, though. Daiane dos Santos has returned. Jade Barbosa and Daniele Hypólito are still important assets for the team. Adrian Gomes has finally unleashed most of her potential. Bruna Leal and Priscila Cobello are not injured anymore. There is a team for the Worlds, after all. There is still hope. Sadly, Ana Claudia Silva still seems to be injured. She was taken to Tokyo and will be the alternate to the team, but she can hardly compete on the level she is used to. Too bad, but the show must go on.

And what a show this is supposed to be. Daiane dos Santos is back with a very strong floor routine (shown in Podium Training: Laid out Tsukahara, Dos Santos I, Front pike through Double Pike, Double Layout (!!!) to finish-off). She can also contribute to the team with her bars routine and on vault. Daniele and Jade are strong in every piece of apparatus. Adrian Gomes contributes a good deal on vault and on beam. She will probably perform on all four apparatus during qualifications, though, since she still has a strong chance to qualify for the AA final in case something goes wrong with Daniele or Jade. Bruna Leal will contribute on vault (one and a half twisting Yurchenko) and bars. Priscila Cobello is a beam specialist.

The team has the potential to reach the Team Final. It will not be easy, but they can do it.

I will continue this update when I return home. Now, I have to finish my work. Stay on.

Back to blogging

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog. A lot has happened, actually. Jade Barbosa won the bronze medal on Vault at the 2010 World Championships, Diego Hypólito got injured and then came back to physical form and Daiane dos Santos is back to the sport. I have been following Gymnastics all this time. I just decided not to update the blog anymore because I had a good deal of things to take care of in my personal life. Now that most things have been settled, I believe I will have the time to update the blog again. And what a great time I chose to do that! The 2011 World Championshis are going to start in a couple of days. I will try to bring news and post information as things happen. Keep tuned and expect more frequent updates. It is good to be back to blogging after these years, after all. :D

Zanetti 4th at the Still Rings, Sasaki 19th at the all-around

Great news for gymnast Arthur Zanetti. He finished fourth at the Still Rings, tied with renowned Stanescu from Romania. Way to go, Arthur! Sergio Sasaki also had a great meet and finished 19th at the all-around, the best position a brazilian male gymnast has achieved at the Worlds.

In sad news, at the women's competition, gymnast Jessica Gil from fellow neighbor country Colombia fell on her head and shocked the whole world. I started to cry when I saw her laying on the ground holding her head with her hands... very, very sad. Hopefuly she is ok now. I was really rooting for her, wishing that she could win Colombia's first medal at the Worlds. Hope she gets better and manages to win a medal at next year's World Championships. I will not link to the video of her fall because I think it is very shocking and, besides, if I see the video one more time I will weep again. Life can be unfair sometimes.

Zanetti and Sasaki make it to the finals!

What a great surprise! After seeing Diego miss the floor finals by 0.025, it was great to see that Arthur Zanetti and Sérgio Sasaki Junior made it to the rings and individual all-around finals respectively. Good luck, boys!

Diego misses the floor finals at the Worlds 2009

What a shock! I can not even say how much I am disappointed by that. Diego is the reigning World Champion and would attempt to defend his title had he made it to the finals. That is too bad. Nevertheless, I am very proud of Diego because he is still recovering from a shoulder injury. I hope that he can fully recover and regain the title next year.

Rio wins the right to stage the Olympic Games in 2016

President Lula crying after the announcement of Rio as the host city for the 2016 Olympics*

Yay! The image above translates exactly what I was feeling during the votation. I could not stop crying before, during and after the moment Rio was announced as the host city for the 2016 Olympics. I am a native of Rio and I am extremely happy with the fact that we will be able to witness the world's biggest sports competition here in South America! It will be seven years of hard work, but in the end I am sure that Rio will stage the most exciting Olympics ever! Congratulations to the city and THANK YOU president Lula! You are AMAZING! Truly an inspiration for us brazilians!

*Credits of the image: http://www.chippewa.com/content/articles/2009/10/03/ap/sports/oly_2016_bids_rio.jpg

And the all-arounders for the Worlds are...

Bruna Leal and Ethiene Franco! What a surprise that Khiuane Dias, the all-around champion at the recent Troféu Brasil (the closest to a "Nationals" we have had this year) will not compete in the all-around! Khiuane will perform on the Uneven Bars and Balance Beam events and Priscila Cobello will perform on the Balance Beam Vault and Floor. Good luck to the girls (and the boys as well)!

EDIT (on Oct. 3rd): Priscila Cobbelo will perform on the Vault and Floor. This is intriguing since Priscila is far from being one of Brazil's best vaulters. Rumors are that her most difficult vault will be a Front Twisting Yurchenko.