Enjoy the Last Few Moments

The qualification rounds have come to an end...unfortunately with Alex's 18th placing, she didn't make it to the top 10, which would have brought her to the finals.

I managed to watch two of the four routines on TV...since Germany didn't qualify at all for this Olympic sport, they hardly show any of it. Eurosport is only showing 1 hour of the 4 day competition. Luckily there are other channels which seem to appreciate the most beautiful Olympic sport.

Both routines that I had missed (once due to channel surfing, trying to find out where they televised the sport, and the second time since the network decided to cut halfway through the 3rd round and show 3 hours of news) didn't seem to go as perfectly as she would have liked...Alex placed 8th at the Good Luck Beijing competition and now 18th...I guess with all the nerves and pressure...To see the preliminary individual results, click here. Group preliminary results are shown here.

Anyways, what counts is that she actually made it to the Olympics, a childhood dream of hers, and now she can finally relax and enjoy the moment for a few more days.

HOOP score 16.550 (14th)

CLUBS score 16.175 (18th)

The Final Warm Up

Alex's last competition before flying off to Beijing was the E-ON Cup 'Queen Margarita' in Varna, Bulgaria, where she ended up getting four bronze medals! =)

Hoop (16.575)


Clubs (16.300)


Ribbon (16.650)


Rope (16.300)

Sexiest Female Olympian....ALEX!

So I promised I would add some videos of Alex performing, and I just stumbled upon a recent video of her (from August 3rd). The video was taken place in the Sport Seneca gym where I used to train 6 days a week...and even my former coach who used to weigh us practically everyday, was interviewed! Quite shocking to hear her voice so suddenly, after 10 years. She still looks the same though.

Anyways, this blog IS about Alex and not any other past turmoil. =) The Olympics start in 3 days and I'm so excited!

It also happens that she was picked as the Sexiest Female Olympian competing at the Beijing Games, from an internet magazine list of 50, beating out Russian tennis star, Maria Sharapova!

Thanks to Alex, rhythmic gymnastics is finally making a better name for itself.

2008 Olympics Here We Come

I KNOW I haven't been posting in such a looooooong time, but things have just been really hectic the past few weeks.

My job has been outsourced, I've been running back and forth between unemployment offices, brushing up and sending out my resumés, getting interviewed, and most recently, gotten rid of living flies and maggots (ewww!). There's nothing more disgusting than insects. Especially flies and moths. Last year we had problems with moths and now this year it seems to be flies. I'm still disgusted by it all so maybe I'll touch up on this subject at a later date.

Actually, with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing coming up in less than a month, I am so excited to finally be posting about Alex Orlando! She's 21 and competing in Rhythmic Gymnastics for CANADA! Woohoo! I used to compete alongside her (she was a level below me) and so it's quite exciting to actually KNOW someone who's going to the Olympics. There have been other Canadian girls whom I've known in the past competing at the Olympics in Rhythmic Gymnastics, but there is something really special about Alex. She's got a great personality, beautiful, and just really great in the sport. She's even made it to the cover of Canadian's magazine CHATELAINE! The cover article talks about the history of women in the Olympics, and also includes Alex (in the middle).

Here are a few pictures of what I like to call, the Olympic Campaign for Alex! I'll be posting her videos soon.

Sport Seneca Closing It's Doors

I've been hearing rumours. Now it seems that it's partly true.

The sport school where I've grown up, spent hours training, met some of my best friends, and practically lived 9 years of my in, is closing - partly. I went to Sport Seneca, a place for Elite athletes, from 91 - 99. It's separated into three different areas: skating, artistic gymnastics, and rhythmic gymnastics. I started out in skating, then moved to pre-elite gymnastics and then finally decided to stick to rhythmics.

While on Facebook, I kept reading how Seneca was closing, which I really couldn't believe since it was so successful. As a place for training Elite athletes, it brought up many athletes who participated in World and Olympic competitions, including myself. So I finally decided to do some research on my own and came up with the following article:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/russell/column_080225.html

http://www.intlgymnast.com/news/2008/feb/020708_seneca.html

I find it quite sad that the only reason being for the close, is lack of finances. There has always been a problem with funding rhythmic gymnastics in Canada, but for it to be a problem for Sport Seneca's artistic program is really unbelievable, after reading the following quote from IG News:

The coaching duo over the past three decades, including Olympians Monica Covacci, Luisa Portocarrero and Michelle Conway and world team members Koyuki Oka, Leah Homma, Lydia Williams and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs.

I wish all the best to both Carol and Brian, and hope that someday, Sport Seneca will produce more World-class artistic gymnasts.