2010 Nadia Comaneci
INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL
February 20, 2010 • Oklahoma City
pike). But her bars score of 12.650 proved the
difference, as it was 1. 40 lower than Cholod’s.
She stayed on beam, but a few wobbles kept her
score at 12.900.
Gheorghe, who stood even shorter than
Sankova, began well, too, winning her first
event, beam (side aerial; side somi; front aerial to
flip-flop, layout; and double twist dismount), and
placing second on floor ( 21⁄
2 twist, double tuck,
double pike). Gheorghe finished 12th on vault
and sixth on bars. In fact, uneven bars was a
challenge for many of the juniors, except for all-around champion Cholod.
Alberta’s Samantha Ward placed fourth, while
Mexico’s Ana Lago edged Romania’s Andreea
Tufa for fifth by .050.
Mexico’s Karla Salazar, seventh, showed beautiful form but had an off night, and Krafft’s
Gabby Bowling, eighth, won vault (
Yurchenko-full) and impressed the large, appreciative crowd
with her full-twisting double layout off bars.
Hosted by Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy,
the competition was held in conjunction with the
“Strong and Healthy Oklahoma” weekend. One
of the most inspirational fans in the audience
was “The Biggest Loser” winner Danny Cahill,
a resident of Broken Arrow, Okla. Cahill, 40,
began the eighth season of the show at 430
pounds, and dropped all the way to 191 seven
months later. He set a new record for the program and won $250,000 in the process.
The Nadia Comaneci International Invitational
TEAM COMPETITION
1. Canada-Gemini/Venezuela . . . . . .109.750
2.Ukraine ....................107.950
3. USA-Krafft Academy . . . . . . . . . .103.300
4. Romania-Steaua Bucuresti . . . . .103.050
5. Mexico-Regio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102.500
6. Canada-Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101.200
7. USA-Bart Conner Academy . . . . . .99.900
8. Israel-Hapoel Tel-Aviv . . . . . . . . . .96.600
SENIOR ALL-AROUND
1. Kristina Vaculik/CAN-Gemini . . . . .55.000
2. Angelina Kysla/UKR . . . . . . . . . . .54.650
3. Jessica Lopez/VEN . . . . . . . . . . . .53.900
4. Madison Mooring/USA-Krafft . . . .50.550
5. Brittany Harris/USA-Krafft . . . . . . .50.150
6. Sapir Cohen/ISR . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48.050
7. Paula Martinez/MEX . . . . . . . . . . . 46.300
8. Emily Barrett/USA-Conner . . . . . . 45.800
JUNIOR ALL-AROUND
1. Riley Cholod/CAN-Gemini . . . . . . .53.350
2. Krystyna Sankova/UKR . . . . . . . . .52.600
3. Georgiana Gheorghe/ROU . . . . . . .52.150
4. Samantha Ward/CAN-Alberta . . . .51.900
5. Ana Lago/MEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50.700
6. Andreea Tufa/ROU . . . . . . . . . . . .50.650
7. Karla Salazar/MEX . . . . . . . . . . . . .50.550
8. Gabby Bowling/USA-Krafft . . . . . .50.200
9. Reagan Hemry/USA-Conner . . . . .49.700
10. Diana Rusu/ROU . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49.600
offers no such material reward, but participants
continue to praise the friendly atmosphere and
comfortable venue. “We’re happy that we came,
not only because [we did well], but I was happy
to come back to Oklahoma to see everybody,”
said Davydova, a native of Russia who was
inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall
of Fame in Oklahoma City in 2007. “And I was
especially happy to come to the Nadia Comaneci
competition and support her, and my kids were
so excited.”
Meet host Bart Conner was particularly
pleased by the meet’s encouraging start. “Over
the next several years, we hope to grow this
event into a multi-sport competition, fitness and
wellness event,” he said. “Oklahoma City and
our generous corporate sponsors are very enthu-
siastic in welcoming more Olympic-type events
to the city.”
Comaneci, who scored seven perfect 10.0s at
the 1976 Montreal Olympics, agrees. “The fact
that we can bring together so many countries
makes me think we can grow,” she said. “And I
want to spread the word that it’s a meet where
you can have fun, and also to learn more about
Oklahoma, because there are so many nice peo-
ple here.”
As Nadia has learning already, people really
do like to return to Oklahoma. And that bodes
extremely well for the future of her meet. IG
For information on the 2011 Nadia Comaneci Interna-
tional Invitational, visit BartConnerGymnastics.com.
