Happy 2014!

I received a most wonderful, surprising gift in the mail today, a calendar from Aura Rhythmics in Canada! It has wonderful pictures and plenty of room where I can write down the information of international competitions.

2014 promises to bring a lot of excitement in the gymnastics world. First, Yana Kudryavtseva has made an absolutely breath-taking climb to the top spot in the world in 2013 and I expect to see more of her strength and elegance. Second, with Maksymenko's retirement, we can expect new stars in the Ukraine, and, hopefully, they will bring a lot of expression to the carpet once again. Bulgaria also said "good bye" to a long-standing star, Silvia Miteva. My personal hopes for the continuation of the Bulgarian style are with Neviana Vladinova and Sara Staykova. I would have loved to see Simona Peycheva compete again,a pleasure all fans deserve. Time will tell if we will have this honor.


In the meantime, let us all rejoice in the beauty and strength of our favorite gymnasts. We value their talent and hard work very much, and they value us, too. After all,  they, too, "live for the applause, applause, applause..."

So, cheers! Here is to shining medals, loud ovations, to unforgettable performances, and to fair competition!

First Steps

Our daughter Nadia started walking and I have to share some pictures of her with some gymnastics-like equipment.


She seems to like tennis balls much better than gymnastics, though, much to the delight of her father.


I have been reading a lot about toddler yoga, ballet classes and other dance classes but I think I would like her to grow more and explore on her own.

The picture with the veils is from the summer so she is much more grown up now and she is definitely developing her own taste and preferences.

Well, hugs to all gymnastics fans and I wish you a wonderful month of December.

I am hoping to prepare a more substantive Christmas blog post soon.

2014 Bulgarian National Team: No Simona Peycheva, Some New and Old Faces

The Bulgarian Federation has announced that Maria Mateva, Neviana Vladinova, Anastasia Kisse and Radina Filipova are the four gymnasts on the national team. Three more gymnasts are in the "expanded" group as alternates: Sara Staykova, Kristina Tasheva and Katrin Taseva.

Maria Mateva and Anastasia Kisse have already represented Bulgaria in many international competitions. Their spots on the team are no surprise to anyone. While both of these gymnasts have achieved a good level of performance, I am sad to say I have not seen great improvement from either of them in recent years. To me, Sara Staykova was the more promising athlete but, unfortunately, she was not stable and clean enough in 2013 to solidify her spot. Kristina Tasheva from "Akademik" had an injury but I I hope to see her recover.

Neviana Vladinova to me is the only gymnast who has consistently improved in difficulty, confidence, and expression. Here is one of her latest routines at the Italian Championships. Pretty good!





The new face is Radina Filipova, a very talented young girl with long legs and overall a great figure for gymnastics. I think she has a lot to learn but I am glad she has made the team. Here is the routine that I have so far liked best. A lot needs to improve, though, especially in terms of her knees,releves, jumps:



I wish the girls the best of luck and hope they show the world what true Bulgarian gymnastics style means!

As you may have heard, Simona Peycheva did not make the national team. As you watch Radina's routine above, ask yourself how many light years ahead of her Simona is. The answer is: too many. Simona should have been on the team. I really hope she keeps competing, whether for Bulgaria, or not.