Russia suspended European champions Maxim Devyatovsky and Yulia Lozhechko - Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko said they are suspended from the national team through the end of the year, and then their status will be re-evaluated - suspended for their attitude, not rankings. Maxim for not finishing his routine and events after a fall: [quote]Deyvatovsky was suspended for his behavior during Friday's all-around competition, when he left the arena before the sixth rotation. It is a violation of FIG rules for a non-injured gymnast to leave the competition area before the end of the tournament. In the all-around final, Devyatovsky had been second in the rankings before he fell on the parallel bars in the fifth rotation. He did not finish his routine and he received a score of 3.725. Rodionenko said the team doctor examined Devyatovsky and, finding no injury, cleared him to compete on the high bar. Devyatovsky, however, having lost all chance of a medal, shrugged off the last event, saying, "I don't have any interest in finishing outside of the top three. There's no difference to me between seventh place or 24th." Rodionenko said the national team coaches declared Devyatovsky's attitude "unworthy" of the Russian team. He singled out 2005 world champion Hiroyuki Tomita (Japan) as an example of a gymnast who performed with dignity in the men's all-around final. In the sixth rotation, Tomita fell heavily from the high bar, and yet finished his routine despite also having no hope for a medal. "(Tomita) finished the way you'd expect from a world champion," Rodionenko said in an interview posted on the Russian Gymnastics Federations official Web site. "Maxim just doesn't have these same qualities. He could have finished an honorable 24th place, and now it is a shameful 24th place." [/quote] Yulia's suspension because she changed her beam element for individual qualifiers, not for the team; team priority: [quote]He said Lozhechko was disciplined for defying her coaches and altering her balance beam routine in qualifications. Lozhechko, the 2007 European champion on beam, fell on the dismount. He said her goal was to reach the individual final and that she instead ended up costing the team points. Rodionenko, a senior trainer for the Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s, said the current generation of Russian gymnasts needs to understand that the team comes first. "I have come to the conclusion: if athletes are unable to put aside their personal interests for the sake of the team, they need to leave," he said. "To keep up team moral is much more important than the whims of a single, even a very talented, individual." [/quote] Article: "Devyatovsky, Lozhechko Suspended through 2007" http://intlgymnast.com/news/2007/sept/091007_russia.html The coaches always teach you to finish your routine after a fall, just to get back up and do the rest of your routine, and not think about your fall, just stay focused on what you are doing, and relax. Most of the competitiors say they wanted to finish their competition clean after a fall, even if they didn't think they could medal, to show what they can do. Plus, you never know, maybe you can still medal - like Paul Hamm at the 2004 Olympics.

Another example of bad sportsmanship, Alicia Sacramone's crying about coming 2nd to her teammate Shawn Johnson on event finals for floor, and not congratulating Shawn afterwards - Shawn is waiting for Alicia to finish hugging and getting consoled by her coach Mihai to congratulate her on her silver, but then Alicia just walks away, passing her. Before they announce the scores Alicia is shown hugging Shawn and Nastia, happy and laughing etc. Her coach Mihai is shown congratulating Shawn's coach afterwards though. Here is the video of Alicia Sacramone's floor final and the video after it: [youtube]qWkDopXXFtE[/youtube] Nastia and Shawn are both waiting to hug Alicia, they kind of feel awkward, not knowing what to do, Nastia leaves, gives her space, Shawn waiting to hug Alicia, but Alicia just passes by her. Shawn seems really nice and understanding. As the blogger from Wordpress Gymblog puts it: [quote]The competition in Stuttgart is obviously not going to medal in the World Championships of Sportsmanlike Conduct. In addition to the Russians

The good sportsmanship at the 2007 Gymnastics World Championships was clear on the NBC broadcasting of the Worlds: Shawn Johnson winning the AA, her teammate Nastia Liukin comes in 4th, out of the medals, congratulates Shawn, Vanessa Ferrari fights through an ankle injury too, messes up on floor and is out of the medals on the event she won last year, and hugs and congratulates Shawn. As do the others...Jade Barborosa of Brazil...she finds out later at the end of the AA competition that she wins the Bronze. Her vault was the hardest! Alicia Sacramone seems really tense, high-strung...even during the pep-talk she was giving during the USA women's team meeting or conference as Shawn puts it before the floor exercise, the last event for the USA women's team for the Team AA Finals. She's going for it. The way that she knows. Everyone's different. She should have congratulated Shawn after the floor event final though. Looks like she has a great coach Mihai and they make a good team together. No wonder she drives an hour from Brown University each way to practice with him. You can tell Alicia likes her coach a lot, as she looks for Mihai for a hug after her floor during team finals, the closing exercise for the USA women's team, and knows they won the gold.

Shawn is really the most outgoing and social of the group. And she also knows when to give her teammates space, to concentrate on what they're doing. Like when Shawn is finished with her floor routine and comes down the steps from the podium, Nastia Luikin's dad/coach congratulates her, and Shawn looks at Nastia who is concentrating on her floor routine coming up next and notices that and gives her that space. Floor/vault must be the hardest on Nastia's ankle. Then after Nastia is done with her floor routine she comes and congratulates Shawn. Alexei Nemov at the 2004 Athens Olympics stands out for good sportsmanship, class and character: Alexei Nemov 2004 OG EF HB + audience booing [youtube]ZeMHDniJumI[/youtube] [quote]Alexei Nemov performs his HB routine receives a way too low score and the ten minutes after that the crowd just keeps on choosing his side (Russians and non russians great to see) after a week of unbearable judging the crowd stood behind the gymnasts. (more)[/quote] Yay Alexei! ...And so comes the new scoring system! 2004 Olympic High Bar / Aleksei Nemov [youtube]77-8tpfde6E[/youtube] [quote]Although never regaining his form of 2000, Nemov competed through to the 2004 Athens Olympics, mainly as an anchor for the fledgling Russian team. Though unable to defend his all-around title, Nemov's performances brought the house down in Athens, and placed him in the middle of a judging controversy. After performing a routine with several release skills in the high bar finals, the judges posted a score of 9.725, placing him in third with several athletes to compete. The Greek crowd erupted in chorus of boos and cheers upon seeing the results and interrupted the competition for nearly 15 minutes. The judges felt the pressure of the crowd, reevaluated the routine, and increased his score to a 9.762, still placing him out of the medals. The crowd continued their raucous protest, which only subsided after Nemov stepped up to the podium and pleaded with his supporters to quiet down for the sake of the other athletes. This scandal was finally credited as one of the last straws after several judging controversies in the competition, and fueled a massive reconstruction of the scoring system which was implemented in 2006. Nemov rarely criticised the judges or the situation. The Russian Olympic Committee later awarded Nemov $40,000 in recognition of his class and character, and he retired from gymnastics soon after.[/quote] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nemov He is commonly referred to as Sexy Alexei! Sexy personality too! :D

Alexei Nemov is cool! :D Alicia Sacramone talked about being upset about not winning the gold on the floor even final on the nbcolympics interview afterwards, and also how her coach Mihai and Marta Karolyi were talking together after the mistakes from Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin on beam and they told her when she went up to them that she should go to the team and talk to them. The thing is though that maybe it's not such a good idea for a role model leader to make those pep talks and also be so tense when doing it, and then the next day being unhappy that she didn't win the event finals on floor and that her teammate, or anyone as she put it, wins gold over her. It's just a weird dynamic, you know. Here are some excerpts from the interview: Sac not feeling ready for her floor routine, a lot of pressure to lead the team and give them the pep talk, etc. [quote]JS: Probably the most intense moments, for you, came between beam, which you watched, and floor, which you anchored, during the team final. Sacramone: Watching beam was like watching a train wreck unfold before you. I just kept thinking, "Oh, no, this can't be happening." The girls were pretty upset. I went over and looked at Mihai and Martha and just said, "What do I do?" And they said, "You must go and talk to them." So I did, I just kept saying, "All right guys, pull it together, pull it together. We still have floor." I had to convince them they were fine. Actually, I spent so much time convincing them they were fine that I completely forgot about myself. So we're on floor, and I was so glad [Shayla Worley and Shawn Johnson] hit their routines. But all of a sudden

Good sportsmanship: [quote]"I do have a lot of friends on the Chinese team," said Chow, who coaches with his wife, Li. "On the personal side we are still friends, and on the competition floor we're competitors. And I believe my friends and I [handled] it very professionally. Before we go to the competition floor we say good luck, and afterward we congratulate each other." [/quote] http://intlgymnast.com/news/2007/nov/111607_johnson.html Chow and Li, Shawn Johnson's coaches. That 's good since the 2008 Summer Olympics are in Beijing China! :D