International Gymnast - January/February 2009

Leaping for Lebanon

All Around the World

LEBANON is not exactly a world gymnastics power, but in just two years of her own solid international results, Katja Bou Orm has provided the foundation for a gymnastics legacy there.

“As Lebanon isn’t a great athletic country, this is a good opportunity for me to prove I’m one of the best ever for Lebanon,” says Bou Orm, the 2007 Pan Arabic Games champion and a bars finalist at 2008 World Cup meets in Maribor and Glasgow. “And maybe I can create a gymnastics tradition for the future.”

Born in Germany to a Lebanese father and a German mother, Bou Orm competed for Germany until 2007. She says she is pleased with her decision to represent Lebanon, and the progress she is making as Lebanon’s key competitor in major competitions.

“I had the choice to pick between Germany and Lebanon, and I chose Lebanon because it gave me the optimal opportunity,” says Bou Orm, who earlier in her career competed under her stepfather’s name of El-Halabi but now uses the original name on her passport. “I didn’t realize all the opportunities I had if I competed for Lebanon. Basically, I do gymnastics for myself, but I could be the first successful female gymnast for Lebanon, and that’s great for me.”

Bou Orm, 21, lives and trains in Ulm (near Stuttgart), and still benefits from her bond with German training partners. In Glasgow, Germans Susann Herbst, Jenny Brunner and Kim Bui gave Bou Orm plenty of vocal support

at the ’08 Junior Europeans.

Women’s Team: 1. WAL (Beddoe, Hogg, Romano, Olivia Bryl, Bethan Mercer) 156.60; 2. SCO 151.15; 3. FIN 146.60.

AA: 1. Jordan Lipton WAL 53.25; 2. Lizzie Beddoe WAL 52.75; 3. Dora Sappaneva FIN 52.70; 4. Jessica Hogg WAL 51.25; 5. Venus Romano WAL 49.65; 6(t). Caroline Dolen NOR, Sandra Ostad NOR 49.05. Men’s Team: 1. SCO (Purvis, Daniel Keatings, Adam Cox, Andrew Mackie, Christopher Chalk) 251.15; 2. DEN 241.70; 3. WAL 240.10. AA: 1. Daniel Purvis SCO 86.55; 2. Helge Vammen DEN 82.60; 3. Viktor Kristmannsson ISL 81.85; 4. Clinton Purnell WAL 80.95; 5. Espen Jansen NOR 80.40; 6. Florin Purge DEN 78.20.

THOMAS, PURVIS TAKE CROWNS Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis won the senior and junior all-around titles, respectively, at the British men’s championships, held Oct. 31- Nov. 2, 2008, in Goresbrook. Thomas, who will turn 20 on Feb. 14, trains under coach Michelle Bradley at Earls School of Gymnastics. 2008 Olympic pommel horse bronze medalist Louis Smith competed only on pommel horse ( 15.70), and ’08 Junior European all-around champion Daniel Keatings competed on three events.

Senior: 1. Kristian Thomas 88.90; 2. Luke Folwell 86.05; 3. Steve Jehu 85.20; 4. Robert Payne 85.15; 5.

during her bars routine in prelims, which helped her to qualify for the final in third place.

“I have trained my entire career in Germany, and with them for quite a while, so they cheer for me and I cheer for them,” says Bou Orm, who is coached by Hungarian native Gabor Szucs. “It’s a really good atmosphere for us.”

Now working to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, Bou Orm says she already senses the impact that her personal achievements mean to Lebanon. “Since we haven’t had much of a gymnastics profile, it’s quite hard to start one,” Bou Orm says. “But I think a little movement has started because of the success I’ve gained.” —J.C.

Katja Bou Orm
with her coach,
Gabor Szucs

Danny Lawrence 84.70; 6. Thomas Rowlinson 82.65. Junior:1. Daniel Purvis 87.75; 2. Theo Seager 85.05; 3. Richard Michrie 80.20; 4. Matthew Hennessey 80.00; 5. Anton Hudson 78.80; 6. Ben Taylor 78.70.

ROMANIA ROMPS AT BLANC-MESNIL Winning 14 medals, including the team title, Romania ruled the 18th annual Tournament of Blanc-Mesnil/Daniel D’Amato Memorial, held Nov. 7-8, 2008, in France.

Team (women/men combined): 1. ROM 274.50; 2. UKR 270.75; 3. SUI 268.25.

Women’s AA: 1. Natalia Kononenko UKR 55.45; 2. Diana Bulimar ROM 53.85; 3. Ana Maria Baicu ROM 52.50; 4. Marina Sergiyenko UKR 52.50; 5. Linda Stämpfli SUI 50.90; 6. Diana Baibak UKR 50.70; 7. Carina Furst SUI 50.40; 8. Patricia Tiron ROM 49.50; 9. Katarzyna Jurkowska POL 48.80; 10. Sabine Orlando FRA 48.55.

Men’s AA: 1. Cristian Bataga ROM 84.60; 2. Kimon Wegmann SUI 82.70; 3. Andrei Muntean ROM 82.40; 4. Nils Haller SUI 81.70; 5. Dmitry Girenko UKR 81.00; 6. Pascal Bucher SUI 80.85; 7. Andrei Ursache ROM 80.75; 8. Oleg Stepko UKR 80.25; 9. Mathieu Jordan FRA 79.30; 10. Maksim Kavalenka POL 77.05.

GASSER, ROSSI TAKE AUSTRIA Barbara Gasser and Gabriel Rossi won the women’s and men’s all-around titles, respectively, at the 62nd annual Austrian championships, held Nov. 7-9, 2008, in Kirchdorf. Gasser repre-

sents Turnerschaft Lustenau but trains at Blue-water Gymnastics in Ontario, Canada. Rossi, 18, was the 2006 and 2007 Austrian junior all-around champion. Marco Baldauf, who turned 29 on Nov. 12, won three event finals and thereby increased his total number of Austrian titles (all-around and events) to 30. A veteran of eight world championships, Baldauf did not compete in the all-around this year.

Women: 1. Barbara Gasser 53.732; 2. Lisa Ecker 52.967; 3. Kathrin Nussbacher 52.566; 4. Andrea Ruehrlinger 50.367; 5. Denise Karahodzic 49.066; 6. Lisa Stoeckl 48.734.

Men: 1. Gabriel Rossi 79.90; 2. Sebastian Boesch 77.35; 3. Lukas Kranzmueller 76.70; 3. Alexander Leidlmair 72.95; 5. Bernhard Hoeller 66.00; 6. Thomas Bauer 65.25.

CHINESE SWEEP MASSILIA CUP Sixth all-around at the 2008 Olympics, Jiang Yuyuan led a Chinese sweep of the all-around and team titles at the 20th annual Massilia Gym Cup, Nov. 21-23, 2008, in Marseille, France. Jiang won the Palmares division all-around gold medal by 0.15 over 2008 Australian Olympian Lauren Mitchell.

Palmares AA: 1. Jiang Yuyuan CHN 59.40; 2. Lauren Mitchell AUS 59.25; 3. Guo Wei CHN 59.20; 4. Kristina Goryunova RUS 58.25; 5. Viktoria Komova RUS 57.90; 6. Aliya Mustafina RUS 57.30; 7. Amelia Racea ROM 57.05; 8. Youna Dufournet FRA 57.00; 9. Bruna Costa Leal BRA 56.70; 10. Ethiene Franco BRA 56.05; 11. Manon Erre FRA 55.75; 12. Khiuani Dias BRA 55.60.

Team: 1. CHN 118.60; 2. RUS 117.95; 3. AUS 115.40. Open AA: 1. Xiao Kangjun CHN (Shanghai) 57.70; 2. Zhang Yujiao CHN (Shanghai) 57.10; 3. Dominique Pegg CAN 55.60; 4. Briley Casanova USA (WOGA) 54.80; 5. Madeleine Gardiner CAN 54.40; 6. Geng Ruowei CHN (Shanghai) 53.35; 7. Sarah Gusmaroli FRA (Marseille) 53.15; 8. Jessica Dowling CAN 53.05; 9. Anysia Unik CAN 53.00; 10. Sophia Lee USA (WOGA) 52.85; 11. Alexandra Olsson SWE 52.45; 12. Alysa Samaratunga CAN 52.40. Team: 1. Shanghai (CHN) 115.90; 2. CAN-1 109.85; 3. CAN-2 108.00.

U.S. SHINES AT PAN AMS Led by double winner Samantha Shapiro, the U.S. women swept all four events in accounting for four of the Americans’ five gold medals at the Pan American individual championships, held Nov. 21-23, 2008, in Rosario, Argentina.

Women’s VT: 1. Corrie Lothrop USA 14.375; 2. Olivia Courtney USA 14.313; 3. Ayelen Tarabini ARG 13.863.

UB: 1. Samantha Shapiro USA 15.425; 2. Lothrop 14. 35; 3. Juliana Santos BRA 14.05. BB: 1. Shapiro 15.725; 2. Lothrop 15.575; 3. Yesse-nia Estrada MEX 14.925. FX: 1. Courtney 15.175; 2. Lothrop 14.975; 3. Virginia Deluzio ARG 14.575. Men’s FX: 1. Mario Berrios PER 14.875; 2. Sebastian Melchori ARG 14.575; 3. Arthur Zanetti BRA 14.375.