The cause of the accident was under investigation....

After retiring Diego LIZARDI worked as a gymnastics coach and owned a chain of children's gyms.
He also organized a competition, ''Lizardi's Gymnastics Invitational,'' which was held most recently in San Juan three weeks ago and draws athletes from around the world.
Puerto Rico's Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said to the press, that the island mourned ''a young man who was a model of perseverance and discipline in his athletic career and of service and commitment to the people of Puerto Rico.''

At his third Olympic Games and the gain of three bronze medals with the team, he surprisingly beat favorite Nikolai Andrianow and also the unlucky Japanese Eizo Kenmotsu and Sawao Kato.
After a life-threatening vessel disease in 2005, which he fortunately survived, he slowly found back to the gymnastics apparatuses and trains regularly as the youngest in a seniors' squad in Leipzig

Of course he has become much more careful after his disease, but for the champion of the German gymnastics festival Klaus Köste only became fit for everyday life again with the help of his gymnastics apparatuses.
The gymnastics legend is a welcome guest at a lot of gymnastics and sports events and always an ambassador for his beloved discipline.
E. Herholz, GYMmedia

... read more at our German GYMmedia portal on
>> www.gymmedia.de

Comaneci said:  "Women's competition will be very close. Of course the best will win. But it's a great advantage to have Olympics in your country. You'll have a lot of support, which is great. It will be difficult for everybody else to get a hand on the medals," she added.
But the 1976 Olympic heroine believes that other sides still have a chance to compete with the hosts:
"I know the Chinese team wants to take everything. It's a huge opportunity to have the Games in your country," she said.
"We'll just have to see. It's one thing to be good in the paper, and it's another to perform the best in that particular day."

She anticipated strong performance from Chinese multi-world champion ...

Comaneci, the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of ten in an Olympics, was one of the 44 members of "Laureus Award' jury in St. Petersburg last weekend, said that the sport today was very different from what it used to be:
"Equipment is safer and better; gymnasts do a lot more difficult skills; and of course, the points are different, the '10.0' exist only in execution. "Now it's open scoring, a little confusing for the fans. But I'm sure gymnastics will attract much attention in Beijing."

At the age of 14, Comaneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars was scored at a 10.0.
Over the course of that Games, she earned six additional 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise.
*source: Xinhua News Agency

 * ... read more on www.gymmedia.de

2008 Winter Cup Challenge
Las Vegas Sports Center ; Feb. 9, 2008
Final results (second of two days of competition; scores are two-day totals)

All-Around
1. Paul Hamm, Waukesha, Wis., 185.850
2. Raj Bhavsar, Houston, Texas, 178.600
3. Alexander Artemev, Morrison, Colo., 178.100
4. David Durante, Garwood, N.J., 177.200
5. Joseph Hagerty, Rio Rancho, N.M., 176.450
6. David Sender, Arlington Heights, Ill., 175.200
7. Sean Townsend, Dickinson, Texas, 174.250
8. Luis Rivera, Puerto Rico, 171.250
9. Paul Ruggeri III, Manlius, N.Y., 171.100
10. Guillermo Alvarez, Denver, Colo., 170.550
11. Danell Leyva, Miami, Fla., 168.750
12. Wesley Haagensen, Belleville, Ill., 167.850
13. Bryant Hadden, Wichita, Kan., 167.700
14. Jake Bateman, Kingsport, Tenn., 166.850
15. Ryan Lieberman, Lake Forest, Ill., 165.900
16. Alexy Bilozertchev, Hilliard, Ohio, 165.050
17. Tyler Mizoguchi, Houston, Texas, 164.750
18. Derek Helsby, Orlando, Fla., 164.350
... of 25 gymnasts
* Source: USA Gymnastics

The 2008 "IGHoF"  Inductees will be:
- MA, Yanhong  (CHN),
- Stoyan DELTCHEV (BUL)
- Lilia PODKOPAYEVA (UKR)
- Shuji TSURUMI (JPN).

The International Order of Merit, presented from 2003 on annually by the International Gymnastics Hall  of Fame, is an award to reward individuals who have had an extraordinary impact on the sport of gymnastics:
* ... the 2008 recipient:
- Scientist Ludwig SCHWEIZER, University of Freiburg, (GER)
* GYMmedia Report from the Ceremony will follow Monday, Februar 11

Oksana Chusovitina,
Patron of the 1st Pre-Olympic Youth Cup 2008":
"Here in Germany I have found my new home. The regional gymnastics federation 'Rheinischer Turnerbund'  (RTB) , gives me the conditions to realize my big Olympic targets.
And because the RTB does the same also for all the German talents of artistic gymnastics, it is easy for me and a matter of my heart, to hold the patronage of this new international event.
See you in Bergisch Gladbach, in May -
... and 'See you in Beijing!"

Doha meet assumes importance in view of it being first of the series for 2008 and also will help the participants to judge their performance before the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August.
* Source: DQF, press release

< GYMmedia will offer a proposal for a special GYMmedia Event Service to the Qatar hosts...

Training is held in the gymnasium three times weekly and is attended by 10 to 15 boys and girls. "I am sure that promising gymnasts will soon appear in Balakan who will, in the future, be included in the national team,” Safar Ganjiyev said. 

Partnership with Oil Comapny
"We are very glad to contribute to it,"  the head of the branch, Rasim Pachalov said. “All the equipment was obtained with the assistance of the State Oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the executive power of Balakan helped to repair the gymnasium".
The executive power of the Balkan region fully supports the initiative. The fundamental approach is required to develop the gymnastics in Balakan, Nazakat Rustamova, deputy head of the Balakan executive power said: “All parents interested in the training bring their children to the gymnasium and they are keen to take part in the training,”

At the 1970 Artistic gymnastics Worlds in Ljubljana 
she defeated such gymnastics giants as Karin Janz (GDR) and Ludmilla Touricheva (URS).
By winning the silver medal on balance beam, Rigby's diverse career went on to include performances in the title role of the Broadway play "Peter Pan".
She is also one of the best-known broadcasters with her long alliance with ABC Sports.