Our Favorite Gymnasts_ Jordyn, Beth, Catalina, et al

Yes, Bob Costas fatigue has set in here at the offices of "The Daily Vampire" in Hartford, Connecticut*, USA (*-not the American city we're actually blogging from), but rather than watching the closing ceremonies with George Michael and pop/rock stars, we thought we'd blog about some of our favourite** gymnasts at the 2012 London Olympics (**-British spelling):

1) Jordyn Wieber, 17, USA, (pictured center) London: Won gold in team competition. Missed out on all-around due to controversial rule that only allows two gymnasts per country in the finals. Finished seventh seventh in the floor final with a 14.500 score. In total, Wieber has 14 career medals, 11 of which are gold.

2) Beth Tweedle, 27, Great Britain/England, London: To the delight of the home crowd, Tweedle won individual bronze on uneven bars, which is considered to be her specialty. Aliya Mustafina (Russia) and He Kexin (China) won gold and silver respectively on the apparatus. Prior to the 2012 Olympics, Tweedle had won three golds at individual events at two separate world championships. In 2006, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

3) Catalina Ponor, 24, Romania, (pictured below): London: Won team bronze and silver on floor at the Olympics, but she was denied another bronze when judges overturned an earlier decision that had her place third ahead of American gymnast Aly Raisman, who ended up with the bronze for the balance beam instead. Prior to London: Ponor arrived at the Olympics as one of the most-decorated gymnast in competition. She helped Romania win team gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where she won a total of five medals, three of them gold. Ponor retired in 2007, but she came back in 2011. She has reportedly told various media outlets that she will retire for a second time after London.

4) Victoria Komova, 17, Russia. London: Komova won all-around and team silver, but she told the press she was very discouraged with her Olympic experience because mistakes in the team and all-around cost her and her teammates potential gold. Prior to London: Komova won gold on bars and silver in all-around at the 2011 Tokyo World Championships.

5) Gabby Douglas, 16, USA. London: Douglas, who is known as the Flying Squirrel in reference to Rocky the Flying Squirrel who was Bullwinkle the Moose's sidekick in a 1960s American cartoon, won both team and all-around gold at the Olympics. She is on the cover of the current issue of "People" magazine, and she will be on Corn Flakes boxes this fall.

6) Brittany Rogers, 19, Canada. London: Rogers helped Team Canada finish fifth, the country's all-time highest result in team competition. Rogers scored a 14.666 on vault and 14.500 on balance beam; she finished eighth on the beam in event competition. After London: Rogers will compete for the University of Georgia, a traditional college powerhouse which has won 10 NCAA titles. Ironically, an American athlete with her name played softball several years ago for the University of Alabama, which is UGA's main rival in gymnastics.

http://www.jordynwieber.com

http://www.bethtweedle.com

http://www.romanian-gymnastics.com

http://www.victoriakomova.com.ru/english

http://www.rewritingrussiangymnastics.blogspot.com

http://www.gabrielledouglas.com

http://www.gymcan.org

http://www.georgiadogs.com

Olympic Stories- Beth Tweedle of Great Britain

The age of 27 is a prime age for many athletes, including those who play basketball, baseball or soccer. But, that is not the case for women's gymnastics as American gymnast Alicia Sacramone, 24, and Nastia Liukin, 22, are likely finished with the sport after not qualifying for the U.S.A women's gymnastics team, which won gold at 2012 London Olympics.

Enter Beth Tweedle. The British/English gymnast reportedly wanted to hang in to compete at the Olympics in her home country. Tweedle is a three-time world champion on bars and the 2009 world champion on floor exercise. She is the most recognized British gymnast in her history, and one of the most famous female athletes in the entire United Kingdom.

Yesterday, NBC, which is televising the Olympics in the United States, focused solely on Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, the two Americans vying for gold, which Douglas received as well as their two Russian competitors Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina, who won silver and bronze respectively.

NBC did not even show one event with Tweedle, who finished an impressive sixth in the all-around competition with a 170.495.

On Monday, Tweedle seemingly has a respectable shot at winning an individual apparatus medal on the bars, her specialty. And, according "The Daily Mail," an English newspaper, gymnastics icon Olga Korbut thinks Tweedle has an outstanding shot at winning gold on bars.

http://www.bethtweedle.com

Olympic Stories- Romanian Gymnastics Veteran Catalina Ponor

Team Romania did not repeat their 2004 Athens Olympics' feat, which was winning a team gold medal in women's gymnastics. But, thanks to the efforts of Catalina Ponor, 24 (she turns 25 on Aug. 20, shortly after the games finish) the team will leave London with a team bronze medal in the sport.

Along with British gymnast Beth Tweedle, 27, Ponor, is one of the oldest Olympic gymnasts competing in London and her achievement is made more remarkable because she completely missed out on the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to injuries, in fact, four years ago, she was actually retired from the sport.

But, in early 2011, she back to train with Ocatavian Balu, who is considered to be one of the best gymnastics coaches in the world. Ponor had a major setback along the way as she was hospitalized as she underwent a medical procedure to correct a heart defect in August of 2011.

Romania's chances of winning gold in the team competition, which ultimately went to Team America, were diminished from because of an injury to one of the team's key gymnasts Larisa Ioardache, 16. But, along with fellow gymnastics veterans Sandra Izbasa, 22, and Diana Chelaru, 18, the team pulled together for a bronze medal.

Russia got the silver, and the defending Olympic champion Chinese team actually finished fourth.

Ponor's honors also include winning four European titles on balance beam 2004-06 and again this year. Ponor hails from the Black Sea port city of Constanta.

http://www.thecouchgymnast.com

http://www.romaniatourism.com