If Somebody Ever Told Her This Could Not Be Done, She Would Have Kept Spinning

Teodora Alexandrova is the 1995 European Junior Champion, who also won gold with hoop, and silver with rope, clubs, and ribbon at this European Championship. She started rhythmic gymnastics in 1986, which is before the time current gymnasts were born, but she has a lot to show in terms of her pirouette technique, her risks with the apparatus, and the overall brilliant, perfect control and confidence she demonstrated.

I have watched Teodora in practice for many hours and I always felt amazed to see that her enthusiasm keeps shining in her eyes even after 8 hours of doing the same elements. The same elements, which most gymnasts in the world would never dare to try. I have two amazing routines for you. In one of them, you can barely hear the music because of the Japanese fans screaming. Well deserved. Unforgettable.






Many theories attempt to explain why some gymnasts have better technique than others in terms of pirouettes. Does height have to do with it? Is it natural, or all learned?

In Teodora's case, we can say that she had all the natural talent imaginable, but it would not have been enough for her to execute these routines if she didn't have the impenetrable psychological preparation that came with them. Can you tell that her center of gravity is somewhere deep in her beautiful mind, so nothing can shake it out of balance? :-)

Favorite Leotards - World Championship 2015

The leotards I loved the most this year at Stuttgart were those of the Italian Bertolini and the Spanish prima Rodriguez.  I like this orange, gold, and black, though the combination is not for everyone:

I would wear this leo Bertolini showed with clubs, but where would I go? :-)

As usual, it seemed like Nazarenkova just looked gorgeous in anything, but there is black and blue for the rest of us, and then there is Nazarenkova's black and blue:

Also, the Japanese girls had some truly elegant ones, like this:

Then, there is Victoria Mazur, who is so beautiful, even without glitter:

Finally, from two of my favorite gymnasts: Varvara and Salome. I loved the leotards but not the choice of ribbon to go with them:

United States Strongest Rhythmic Gymnasts Ever Ready for Their Most Important 2015 Event

The United States has taken a firm position as one of the world's leading nations in artistic gymnastics with the great and unforgettable stars from the 1990s, Shannon Miller and Kim Zmeskal, followed by the astonishing Olympic champion Nastia Likuin, a true personification of both strength and grace, and the new generation of female super heroes: Gabbie Douglas, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and all the other girls on the national team.

I believe that the only reason rhythmic gymnastics has not followed into the glorious footsteps of its artistic sister discipline is quite simply because rhythmic has not gained enough popularity in the United States (yet!). I think rhythmic might just be biding its time before thousands of girls in America discover its charm. I have written about some terrific American gymnasts in the past, such as Rebecca Sereda and Ronit Shamuilov. I liked some of their work quite a bit, but this year, at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, which are about to start on September 7th, the United States is going on the world gymnastics carpet with its best foot forward because the two gymnasts who represent us are Laura Zeng and Jazzy Kerber.

Laura and Jazzy have both gone very far in developing all the qualities that a rhythmic gymnast needs: from flexibility and natural elegance to apparatus work to sheer strength of body and mind. I would like to take this moment to wish them luck, but, more importantly, to share with the fans that, as a true fan, I expect many great achievements from both for them and I do hope that this World Championship will mark the start of an upward-climbing path. Keep going forward and on to the next milestone! Both of you are ready, and you are wonderful!

Laura Zeng in Moscow

Jazzy looks elegant from any angle