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Affichage des articles du novembre, 2015

Top Gym 2015: Belgium shines in finals!

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Yesterday, Belgium shone at the 2015 Top Gym to end what was one of the best edition of the competition so far. The Belgian Juniors won 6 medals in finals. Credit: Belgian Gymnastics One of my favourite things at the Top Gym is the team competition. The concept is simple : to pair together two countries which will compete together. This year, Russia and the Netherlands won gold. Belgium won two more medals as Belgium 1 (Senna Deriks and Axelle Klinckaert) and South Africa, as well as Belgium 2 (Maellyse Brassart and Julie Meyers) with Spain, won silver and bronze. France, paired together with Gymnos Charleroi, came in 4th. Credit: Belgian Gymnastics In apparatuses finals, Belgium once again showed how great the Juniors are as  Axelle Klinckaert  (GymMax) won two gold medals and  Senna Deriks  (Gymgroep AS) won one silver and one bronze. On vault,  Axelle  performed a Yurchenko full twist and a front handspring piked somersault with half turn. She scored 14.266. I

Top Gym 2015: gold for Axelle Klinckaert!

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Next stop for our Junior gymnasts: the Top Gym in Charleroi, one of the most prestigious international competitions in the World. And here in Charleroi, a Belgian gymnast won the all-around title for the first time! Credit: belgian Gymnastics I admit it, I was super excited to come back here. I realized I didn’t come in 13 years! When I was still a gymnast, this competition was the one to go to and I hoped that one day I would compete there. But this article is not about me. This 18th Top Gym was organized in a strange situation. Because of the terrorist attacks in Paris and because our country was in maximal alert, the United States, Canada, Czech Republic, Romania and Israel cancelled their participation. And the tournament was one somersault away from being cancelled too. But the organizers fought for it. And they were right. For the first time ever, a Belgian gymnast won the all-around title: Axelle Klinckaert (GymMax). And the fact that several countries withdrew

Top Gym 2015: find out who will be there!

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The gymnastics season continues for our Junior gymnasts! After Combs-La-Ville and Marseille and before Arques, they will compete in Charleroi for the Top Gym. Find out here which countries will be there.  Credit: gymnoscharleroi.be The Top Gym is one of the most prestigious international junior competition in Europe. This event has seen the participation of amazing gymnasts who then became European, World or Olympic champions.  This edition is not different, even if there will take place under particular conditions. Due to the recent events in Europe and in Brussels, the organisation had to face with withdrawals such as the ones of the American gymnasts Jordan Chiles  and  Ragan Smith . The american website Gymnastike was also set to livestream the competition but cancelled its venue.  However, there will be a fierce competition, as the organisers will count on the participation of the great Belgian juniors gymnasts, as well as some of the best gymnasts from Spain, Que

Élite Gym Massilia: 3 medals for Team Belgium in finals!

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In Marseille, our young gymnasts once again shone during the event finals! Three medals: two silvers and one bronze! Here is my thoughts about their performances.  Credit: Photografeuz I have to admit, I was very excited to see how Nina Derwael  (TK Sta Paraat - P. H. H. Hasselt vzw) and  Axelle Klinckaert  (GymMax) would perform in finals. In less than two months, they will be Seniors and this competition in Marseille was a good opportunity to compete against some of the best gymnasts in Europe.  Axelle qualified for two finals: vault and floor. A fall on balance beam during the Master competition prevented her from a 3rd final that could have been a good one for her. But let's stay positive. Belgium is not really known for its vault skills. Our gymnasts usually present a yurchenko full twist. And it is rare to see a second vault from them. Axelle  also presented a yurchenko full twist, no real surprise here, but wih a superb execution (9.167 E score)! Her seco

Élite Gym Massilia: Videos!

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Here are some videos I found on AureliaGym YouTube Channel! They were taken during Saturday's Master Competition. Enjoy and thank you to AureliaGym! * Nina Derwael UB: * Nina Derwael FX: * Nina Derwael BB: * Axelle Klinckaert FX: * Axelle Klinckaert BB: * Axelle Klinckaert UB: * Julie Meyers UB: * Julie Meyers FX: * Julie Meyers BB: * Senna Deriks FX: * Senna Deriks BB: * Senna Deriks UB:

Élite Gym Massilia - Master Competition: 4th place for Team Belgium and four finals!

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Since yesterday, Marseille hosts the Élite Gym Massilia, one of the most popular and prestigious international competitions. Today, Belgium competed in the Master Competition! Credit: elite-gym-massilia.com This Master Competition gathered the best teams in the World: Russia, Romania, Italy, Belgium and France, which was represented by four different teams as three of them qualified yesterday, after the Open Competition.  Nina Derwael  (TK Sta Paraat - P. H. H. Hasselt vzw),  Axelle Klinckaert  (GymMax),  Senna Deriks  (Gymgroep AS) and  Julie Meyers  (TK Sta Paraat - P. H. H. Hasselt vzw) started on vault, with beautiful scores, particularly from Axelle who got a 14.400! On her second vault, she scored 14.000.  Nina  got 14.050,  Senna  scored 12.350 and  Julie  got 14.000. On the uneven bars,  Nina Derwael  had the highest Belgian score on this event, with 14.050. Senna Deriks  had a rough routine(12.750).  Axelle Klinckaert  got 13.300 and  Julie Meyers  scored 13.6

Élite Gym Massilia - Open Competition: 7th place for Team Belgium

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From Friday to Sunday, Marseille is hosting the Élite Gym Massilia! This competition gathers Juniors and Seniors gymnasts from all around the World. Today, it was the Open Competition! Three Belgian gymnasts competed.  Credit: elite-gym-massilia.com For years, the Élite Gym Massilia is one of the most important international competitions and it is also a good springboard, especially for young Juniors, that get to compete against teams from Canada, Romania, Italy or Russia! The Belgian junior team had some badluck in Marseille. Two of its gymnasts had to withdraw: Vanina Vallée  (Club Boussu Gym), at the beginning of the week, and then Oriane Jungers  (RASG Jemelle), who got injured during training. Those injuries are not too serious but the coaches and gymnasts didn't want to take any risk.  In this Open Competition, Belgium was thus represented by Chloé Leblicq  (La Nivelloise),  Maellyse Brassart  (Gym Phénix) and  Myrthe Potoms  (Gymflex vzw). And with only th

Combs-la-Ville: great results from our gymnasts!

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This week-end, 8 gymnasts competed at the Tournoi International de Combs-la-Ville! For most of them, it was the very first international competition. The Fédération francophone de Gymnastique sent 6 gymnasts in France, in the Espoirs category: Amy Lejeune (Gym Club Malmédy), Sophia Kola (NAG), Luna Cassart (NAG), Chloé Storey (Gym Phénix), Neïla Damri (NAG) and Noémie Louon (Gym Club Malmédy). The GymFed was represented by two of its gymnasts: Manon Muller (Espoirs - Gymplus) and Rinke Santy (Juniors - Sportiva Sint-Gillis-Waas). On Saturday, the Espoirs gymnasts competed in the team and all-around finals. The FfG team 1, composed with Noémie Louon , Amy Lejeune and Sophia Kola placed 8th with 92.417. The FfG team 2, with Luna Cassart , Chloé Storey and Neïla Damri , ranked 11th (88.083). Switzerland won the gold medal (106.717) ahead of Czech Republic (99.800) and the French team from the Pôle Espoir Dijon (98.883). Credit: ffgym.be Individually,

2015 Worlds: Top 20 for Lisa and Rune, first final for Florian

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Our Belgian gymnasts made history once again at the 2015 Glasgow World Championships. Three gymnasts, two girls and a boy, reached the all-around final. Credit: Full Time Gymnastics Let's start with the girls. After the qualifications,  Lisa Verschueren  (Sportiva Sint-Gillis-Waas) and  Rune Hermans  (Gym Haacht) both qualified for the all-around final. It is only the second time that two Belgian gymnasts reach the final. The last time was in 2013 when Gaelle Mys (OTV Nazareth) and Laura Waem (Sportiva Sint-Gillis-Waas) placed 18th and 21st. Last year in Nanning, Laura Waem was the only representative in the final, finishing in 24th place. And this year,  Lisa  and  Rune  did even better! By placing 17th and 19th, they both placed in the top 20. This is the best result ever for two Belgian gymnasts in the all-around final. And again, the two Belgians have been very strong, not committing any mistake.  Lisa scored 55.299 and Rune got 54.965. Credit: Full Time Gym