the ‘D’ value so I can arrive in London to com-
pete in the all-around with chances of a medal,”
she told IG. Ferrari said she is finally out of the
injury-induced slump that started prior to the
2008 Olympics. “In Beijing I arrived with a lot of
problems and was impossible to be myself. In
London I want to be the true Vanessa Ferrari,
that one that likes to work, and, if possible, to
win something!”
Becky Downie/GBR: Twelfth all-around at
the 2008 Olympics, the British team regular says
focus and confidence gave her a quick recovery
from a torn right Achilles’ tendon only nine
months before last fall’s worlds, where the British
team placed an all-time-best fifth.
“I’m naturally very self-motivated, and within a
few days after my surgery I was back in the gym
starting rehab to make sure I didn’t lose strength
from any other areas,” she told IG. “I knew that it
wasn’t going to be easy but I didn’t ever doubt
that I would come back. I feel I still have so much
left to offer, as I haven’t hit my best on all four
pieces internationally since Beijing. So I’m very
excited to see what I can do.”
Ronny Ziesmer/GER: Despite a busy agen-
da which includes running his “Alliance of Hope”
foundation and training for the 2016 Para-
lympics, the former German champion who was
paralyzed in a training accident in 2004 main-
tains his gymnastics ties.
“My relation to gymnastics is still very close,”
says Ziesmer, who recently earned a degree in
biotechnology. “I visit my home club, SC Cottbus
Turnen E.V., and go to all national competitions,
so I feel like a part of the big gymnastics family.
Furthermore, I am the co-commentator as
expert for gymnastics at the ZDF (Second Ger-
man Television), and I really enjoy it. Gymnastics
didn’t lose any fascination for me, and it’s as
awesome as it was before my accident. I love
gymnastics, and I think that, without a doubt, the
very big gymnastics family might be also a great
platform to link foundation interests and build up
necessary networks.”
Isabelle Severino/FRA: Awarded France’s
National Order of Merit last fall, the two-time
Olympian says she learns from history—others’
and her own.
All Around the World
athletics. I am incredibly honored to have had the
opportunity to represent Armenia. ”
• Rita Wieber/USA: The mother of 2011
world champion Jordyn Wieber is writing a
book with the working title of “Gym Mom:
Surviving your daughter’s gymnastics
career,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Rita plans to self-publish the book, and says
her daughter is fine with it. “Now that she
knows that it’s real, she’s excited…,” Rita told
the paper. “Before, she just thought it was
another one of my crazy ideas.”
• Vladimir Kondratenko/RUS: Co-
owner of Dynamo Gymnastics in Cambridge,
Ontario, Canada, with his wife, Elvira
Saadi, the Moscow native succumbed to can-
cer Dec. 10. Kondratenko was 57.
• Darijo Moznik/CRO:
The 22-year-old Croatian gymnast died Nov. 22 in his native
Zagreb. “We still don’t know
the reason,” said Iva Murat
Koic, Croatian Gymnastics
Federation Secretary General.
“He just went to rest and didn’t wake up.”
Moznik’s older brother, Marijo, is in the
Code of Points for his Tkatchev-half turn
regrasp in mixed elgrip-undergrip. IG
Los Angeles resident John Crumlish has covered three
Olympics and 12 world championships.
