Gymnastics competition

[GTRS Fiero]

Raydar reminded me of my motivation.  Since the chance presented itself, I entered.  The events are as follows:
1. Pommel horse (I will attempt 1 event)
2. Bulgarian pull-ups (only attempting 4 still rings exercises)
3. Multi-rope climb (actually, I will attempt several rope events)
4. Vault (10 events)
5. Floor exercise (17 events)

I will not be attempting the iron cross, or the Maltese cross, nor anything on the parallel bars or the high bars.  I'm a bit worried about my right arm and my broken thumb, but we'll see.  We did 101 events, years ago.  2 semesters of practice, then a competition.  I attempted 32 events.  Never tried since.

This is a charity event.

[Raydar]

Not motivated. Riiight.

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, i'm not motivated to polish my wheels, or sand down paint.

Here's the thing.  I have competition-level recognition for the following:
1. Drag racing, pro series
2. Road course, track racing, pro series
3. 200-meter dash, division AAA
4. 400-meter dash, division A
5. 300-meter hurdles, division A
6. High jump, sectional
7. Long jump, regional
8. Triple jump, division A
9. 1600 meter relay, division A
10. 800 meter relay, division A
11. Saber fencing, intercollegiate
12. Epee fencing, intercollegiate
13. Mixed martial arts, adult level 1
14. Endurance hike, midwest
15. Obstacle course, level 1
16. Obstacle course, level 2
17. Motorcycle endurance racing, junior series
18. Kayak individual, white-water, level 5
19. Handgun demonstration, multiple moving targets, level 8, tri-state
20. BMX, level 1

Note that the list does not include anything for gymnastics.  I was marked as completed, years ago.  No scoring.  Actually, I used to have boxes of awards for racing.  Some of the other items were 1-off events.  Most of these were from back between 1986 and 1996.

Points for the gymnastics competition are scored as follows:
1. Name the event - 1 point
2. Describe the event - 2 points
3. Attempt the event - 1 point
4. Various artistic/skill scoring - 10 points
5. Perform the event named - 1 point
6. Perform the event as described - 5 points

Each competitor is allowed 1 attempt per event.  The events probably only total less than 1 hour of actual competition time.  The competition is only a few hours in length.  I go last, for each event.

Since I get 3 points, just for trying, I entered most of the events.  No one else has entered nearly as many events.  In theory, I could name the event, describe it, then go touch the vault, horse, mat, rings, or rope, and get 3 points.  Having done many of these at least once, my hope is to score at least 12 points for each event.

[GTRS Fiero]

Add gymnastics, amateur division to the list.  My showing was disappointing.  My right arm just would not cooperate.  The strength was there, but so was the pain.  I sacrificed a lot of points.  For the last half of the events, I was packing my arm in ice.  To make up points, I did one overhead bars event, which only netted me 3 points: not worth it.

Maybe I favored my arm too much.  It burns, now.  If I was to do it over again, I'd forego the ropes and overhead bars events, and attempt more floor exercises.  There were tumbling exercises.  Maybe those would have been easier, but I found out about those just today.  Maybe we tried those, years ago.  I did not have a tumbling partner, though.

I have a bit of water in one ear, which messes with my balance.  I felt dizzy on one of the somersaults, and fell off the vault.  For two of the springboard mounts to the vault, I missed, and landed very awkwardly.  No damage to the family jewels, but certainly points loss.  I was docked a few points for dismounts.  One of the penalties could probably have been challenged, but they did not dock me for supporting my right arm by grabbing my right wrist with my left hand on one of the still rings events, so I figure they were more than fair.

For balance beam events, my strategy was to just charge my opponent, and knock them off the end of the balance beam.  FYI, apparently this is called cheating.  They docked me 3 points.  If you charge them, but use the stick to physically push them off the end, all is good, so I got 2 events with 19 points, and 1 with only 11 points.  My opponent in those events only received 9 points and 13 points, so they did not advance.

There was a thunderstorm during the event.  Nothing to which I would swear, but several of the gymnasts seemed to be affected by the thunder.  Maybe it was just my perception, but the judges did allow several gymnasts to make multiple attempts after severe claps of thunder.  One of the gymnasts missed a step, and her springboard launch looked terrible.  She did not transfer her weight properly, and hit her back on the vault.  Several other gymnasts also fell off the vaults.  I was not the only one who did not get a clean dismount.  Probably half of us did not land cleanly, or lost our balance and took a step.

All the jumping events netted me 19 points, except one.  Either I slipped or the mat moved (my story), and I tagged the obstacle, resulting in my being docked 1 point.

The pommell horse.  That is for people who are built the opposite way I am built.  I tried it.  Never again.

I wore my comfy jeans and T-shirt, rather than those funny outfits.  Several people thought my outfit was humorous, but the judges ruled that my outfit did not violate any rules.  Maybe we wore sweat pants years ago.  Who knows?

It's probably a good thing they did not score on grace.  The women would have won everything.  Almost no one tried the crosses.

Next time, I'll let Raydar try this.  Certainly, if Raydar did it, my arm would not hurt as much.  Just FYI, it probably helps to be limber.