We still can't get over the fact that Shawn Johnson is going to appear on Dancing with the Stars, but for Shawn herself, it's all too real. She has begun rehearsing with partner Mark Ballas, who won the show two years ago with then-partner Kristi Yamaguchi. ABC Medianet has posted some pics of Shawn and Mark practicing (see below). Meanwhile, Shawn reportedly told Inside Gymnastics that she intends to return to gymnastics after Dancing with the Stars. "Definitely," she said of her return to the gym. "After the show, I'll get back in the gym, start with gymnastics again and see where it takes me." The eighth season of the show will premiere on March 9 with a live, two-hour special.
Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (photos: ABC Medianet)
Great Britain
Last year, Becky Downie was crowned British champion and finished 12th in the Olympic all-around final in her first year as a senior gymnast. Now she will start her competition year earlier than ever in a bid to make 2009 equally successful, competing at the American Cup on February 21. This is what Downie told British Gymnastics about her upcoming assignment: "We’ve been working towards the American Cup since New Year, getting solid routines ready for competition. I think Britain was keen to send somebody to this competition, and Claire (my coach) felt it would be a good competition to get me going and focus my training towards. It will be the first time I’ve competed in America and the first time I’ve competed so early in the year, so it has definitely helped me to get into good shape, ready for the European Championships at the start of April.”
Becky Downie, looking forward to going to America
(Photo: Bernhard Schwall/Gymfan)
Australia
Gymnastics Australia reports that 14-year-old Emily Little, who recently won the AYOF vault final, will be Australia's sole representative at the annual Gymnix competition in Montreal, Canada, to be held March 5-8. Little is profiled here. Meanwhile, Little's WAIS club mate Lauren Mitchell will not compete at the Doha World Cup, as previously reported, but at the Salamunov Memorial in Maribor, Slovenia, to be held April 17-19. No news as yet of any upcoming international assignments for Dasha Joura, who hasn't been seen in action since the Olympics.
Emily Little (photo: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Upcoming competitions
International Gymnast has a list of participants of the WOGA Classic, which will be held in Frisco, Texas, tomorrow. The host club, which has produced the last two Olympic champions in the women's all-around, will be represented by Christa Tanella, Briley Casanova, Sophia Lee, Lily Hardin, Grace McLaughlin and Taylor Spears. We look forward to seeing which of these young ladies will be WOGA's next star (Rebecca Bross and Ivana Hong are not competing). Foreign competitors in Frisco include Canada's Sydney Sawa (a beam finalist at last year's DTB Cup), young Lithuanian standout Laura Svilpaite, Russians Kristina Kruglikova and Anastasia Karpova, and Ukrainians Yana Demyanchuk, Natalia Kononenko and Yevgenia Cherniy. The same Russian and Ukrainian girls will take part in the Nadia Comaneci Invitational the week after, along with Sandra Izbasa and Dana Druncea of Romania (Andreea Grigore appears to have been taken off the list). Nastia Liukin will reportedly be on hand in Oklahoma to commentate the competition.
Exciting newcomer Laura Svilpaite will also start her competitive year in America
(Photo: Bernhard Schwall/Gymfan)
Just an FYI, you have to have a media id to see the pics from DWTS!
ReplyDeleteThat's why we helpfully included a couple of photos in our post. :) You can see thumbnails of the photos without a media ID, to get a vague idea of what the rehearsal looked like.
ReplyDeleteShawn looks great!! I hope she wins DWTS.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting what Shawn does after. She has been talking about going back to the gym for a while now. Good for her for taking advantage of her olympic publicity, gymnasts arguably go through more pain and suffering than tennis players and golfer, spend about just as much on training but get paid a pittance in comparison
ReplyDeleteMy pick for the next WOGA star is Briley Casanova. She's 14, and would be just shy of 18 years old in London 2012. I very much wish for Becca Bross to overcome her injury issues, but I'm not sure its possible to return to the level she was at.
ReplyDeleteHaha, so much for all of our hopes that he wouldn't be too tall for her! He's got her beat by at least a head, and that's with those gigantic heals. They look nice together, though, at least from the photo. I hope she wins too!
ReplyDeleteAAAH Shawn and Mark Ballas! Mark is my absolute favorite dancer on the show.
ReplyDeleteBest. DWTS. Couple. EVER!
BTW- my best friend and I are going to WOGA Classic tonight. We'll be sure to share any good pics/videos!
I know but I moderate a Dancing with the Stars group and was hoping to post the rehearsal pictures for everybody else :(
ReplyDeleteKayla, those are actually normal size. Ballroom dance shoes for the higher levels are 3 inches on average (though any more and it extremely effects a woman's balance). Mark actually is a really good fit for Shawn. The only other pro who is "short" is Louis Van Amstrel who is five foot eight inches. Any of the other pros would have looks even worse.
Thanks Katrina. Your and Gina's comments are reassuring, haha. :)
ReplyDeleteKatrina, someone posted all the rehearsal pictures on the IG forum. If you're a member there, you should be able to get hold of all the pictures.
ReplyDeleteMS, we've seen a bit of Briley Casanova, and we agree she's quite promising. We look forward to seeing more of her.
Kayla, we agree that Shawn and Mark look nice together, despite the height difference. We have a good feeling about them.
Gina, we'd love to hear about the WOGA Classic! Please send any impressions and whatever else you may wish to share to mightymihaela at gmail dot com. Thanks in advance!
Thanks but I meant the rest (their not all of Shawn) :)
ReplyDeleteYou can follow Shawn's progress (and the rest of the stars) on my blog... I'll either do a CoverItLive (which you're more than welcome to participate in) or a recap of the nights dances
Shawn & Mark seem enjoying and practicing seriously. They may rock in this season. :)
ReplyDeleteRe Daria Joura, I don't think she will be back for a while since her injury was quite severe. In January she wasn't even fully recovered, and she said she will just continue to train bars and work on upgrades there since it doesn't require use of the ankle. I'd be guessing she probably won't compete again until Australian nationals in July.
ReplyDeleteThanks, nade00. That's sad news. We hope she will emerge from all this with a kick-ass bar routine...
ReplyDelete