It is Day Seven of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Team GB has achieved its first medal on the snow since the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and is in line for more medal success in the Women’s Skeleton today. On February 9th British snowboarder Jenny Jones made history with her bronze medal win, breaking the Northern European monopoly on Winter sports. Jones represents a new wave of British Winter Olympians brought up on dry slopes, indoor ski domes and apparently the gymnastic beam!
In his top tips for snowboarding success GB snowboarder Dom Harington suggests that would-be champions perfect their gymnastics in order to improve their snowboarding skills. Indeed as the queen of gymnastics Beth Tweddle announces her retirement and looks towards a new career training the next generation, it seems that when you give up the bars not everyone has to give up sports all together. Jenny Jones, Billy Morgan and Aimee Fuller all have a background in gymnastics.
Like Jenny Jones who was an aspiring gymnast during her teens competing in the South-West Championships, Billy Murray acquired the techniques behind his infamous flips and tricks not on the slopes but in the gym. The first snowboarder to land a triple backside rodeo (a triple roll-over in the air) Murray began his training as an acrobatic gymnast. This not only helped him develop his aerial awareness but provide him with a scientific understanding of jumps that many snowboarders lack- the only difference is the extra ten kilograms of boots and board!
Team GB are not the only ones to recruit from the rings the Greek/Australian snowboarder Stephanie Magiros who reached the semi-finals was originally a national gymnast. In fact this is Magiros second Olympic appearance. In 2000, at the age of nine, she performed at the Sydney Olympic’s Closing Ceremony. She too attributes the ease with which she approaches jumps to her gymnastic background. Gymnastics and trampolining has now been incorporated into the GB Olympians everyday training and as Britain continues to collect medals in both the Winter and Summer games gymnastics will continue to play a significant role in its success. So if the bars are a little too tame for you why not try transferring your skills to something a bit more extreme.
From Sochi with a Triple Backside Rodeo
Ciera McGill |
It is Day Seven of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Team GB has achieved its first medal on the snow since the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and is in line for more medal success in the Women’s Skeleton today. On February 9th British snowboarder Jenny Jones made history with her bronze medal win, breaking the Northern European monopoly on Winter sports. Jones represents a new wave of British Winter Olympians brought up on dry slopes, indoor ski domes and apparently the gymnastic beam!
In his top tips for snowboarding success GB snowboarder Dom Harington suggests that would-be champions perfect their gymnastics in order to improve their snowboarding skills. Indeed as the queen of gymnastics Beth Tweddle announces her retirement and looks towards a new career training the next generation, it seems that when you give up the bars not everyone has to give up sports all together. Jenny Jones, Billy Morgan and Aimee Fuller all have a background in gymnastics.
Like Jenny Jones who was an aspiring gymnast during her teens competing in the South-West Championships, Billy Murray acquired the techniques behind his infamous flips and tricks not on the slopes but in the gym. The first snowboarder to land a triple backside rodeo (a triple roll-over in the air) Murray began his training as an acrobatic gymnast. This not only helped him develop his aerial awareness but provide him with a scientific understanding of jumps that many snowboarders lack- the only difference is the extra ten kilograms of boots and board!
Team GB are not the only ones to recruit from the rings the Greek/Australian snowboarder Stephanie Magiros who reached the semi-finals was originally a national gymnast. In fact this is Magiros second Olympic appearance. In 2000, at the age of nine, she performed at the Sydney Olympic’s Closing Ceremony. She too attributes the ease with which she approaches jumps to her gymnastic background. Gymnastics and trampolining has now been incorporated into the GB Olympians everyday training and as Britain continues to collect medals in both the Winter and Summer games gymnastics will continue to play a significant role in its success. So if the bars are a little too tame for you why not try transferring your skills to something a bit more extreme.