Nicole Artz - A Maize and Blue Legacy

As she steps onto the floor for the first time in her senior year, a rush of adrenaline rushes through her. 4 years has gone by like 1 day, and in the blink of an eye, it will all be over. But in a way, it's just the start. The start of a new season. And on the smaller span of things, the start of a new routine. And that's the way you have to look at it, one step at a time. One breath at a time. The green flag is raised and a deep breath in is all it takes. Nicole Artz is now the captain of the Michigan Gymnastics team.

Full in, stick. Front layout front full, stick. Double pike stick. Perfect. But what's new? The floor exercise has always come easy to Nicole Artz. The floor is in a way, her home. She steps on to the blue carpeted springs, and a new chapter begins. She's not just going through the motions, she's putting on a Cirque De Soulei performance. Nicole even says that when she is on floor, she gets to relax a bit. But the work behind her floor routine has to be done before anything good can happen on the competition floor, let me take you behind the scene's and we will discover what make's Nicole Artz so good on floor.

Years and years of training and still, she uses the same choreographer she used when she was 8. Years and years of training and still, she performs to her music the same way she did 10 years ago. Years and years of training and still, she tumbles with the ease she always has. That's what makes her so good. After all these years of training and consistency, she's able to relax more now. She loves to see her team on the sidelines dancing along and it helps her perform here tumbling with ease and land cleanly. Catch Nicole Artz easing her way through her floor routine this Saturday @ 2 at Michigan State.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more! :)

Photo via The Michigan Daily.

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Feature of the Week: Nicole Artz, Perfect 10!

After a stunning performance in her final first home meet of the year, Nicole Artz proved to us that she's up to some good when she pulled off a perfect 10.0 in yesterday's meet against Illinois. The first meet this year for the big UM in the Crisler Center, and they sure proved to us what they're really worth. Take a look at our standout routine from the meet, obviously, Nicole Artz's floor:

Stunning. Nicole is now tied for the 2nd place ranking on her best event and we can't wait to see what she has in store for next week's meet against Nebraska which is once again, a home meet. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!! :)

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10 Routines I'm Thankful for in 2016

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what you're thankful for and what is special in your life. For many of you reading this blog, I'm sure gymnastics fits somewhere in the discussion at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Hence, in the spirit of the season, inspired by flogymnastics I present to you, 10 routines that I'm thankful for from 2016...

10. Trinity Thomas' Floor

Junior international elite and USA national team member, Trinity Thomas has a floor routine full of high fly high flying passes and leaps. One that really gave us a wow and a giggle was her routine from P&G Championships this year. Take a look below:

VIA USA GYMNASTICS

9. Oleg Vernaiev's Parallel Bars

One routine that I don't allow myself to miss while watching a competition is, Oleg Vernaiev's p bars. Full of difficult releases and consistent stuck landings it is not one to miss. Check it out:

VIA OLYMPIC YOUTUBE

8. Paul Ruggeri's High Bar

Paul Ruggeri proved just how outstanding he is on high bar throughout this year. One of his most impressive routines was on the final day of the P&G Championships where her broke the 16 mark. Here it is:

VIA USA GYMNASTICS

7. Aly Raisman's Floor

Aly Raisman has always been an outstanding performer on floor but my all time favorite for her routines was the one she performed in the Olympic all around final to win silver. It was simply perfect...

*Source could not be found.

6. Ragan Smith's Floor

Continuing on the thought of floor, we must mention Ragan Smith's adorable routine to The Addam's Family. Watch below:

*Source could not be found.

5. Danell Leyva Vault

Daniel Leyva came back from a leg injury to perform a beautiful vault at the 2016 Olympic Trials. It was amazing and he stuck the landing and everything. However, the most amazing part was his dad's reaction... you have to admit it!

*THE VIDEO COULD NOT BE DOWNLOADED ONTO THE POST BUT IT CAN BE FOUND here.

4.  Sophina Dejesus' Floor

Sophina Dejusus' performed a college floor routine that put us all on our feet this year. I don't think anything else is needed to say, just take a look...

VIA NASTIAFAN101TAKE12 YOUTUBE

3. Laurie Hernandez's Floor

Laurie Hernandez performed a spunky routine on floor this year full of amazing dance and tumbling. Her dance was so good that it was even enough to get her onto Dancing with the Stars. Check it out below:

VIA TEAM USA YOUTUBE

2.  Igor Radivlov Vault

Igor Radivlov performed an extremely difficult vault at this year's Olympics! The four rotations in the video should explain itself...

* (IGOR PERFORMS AT 3:38)

VIA ALINA ZHYM YOUTUBE


1. Simone Biles' Floor

We just thought Simone Biles was too good to leave off the list, so, her incredible, high flying, floor routine is definitely our number one pick for this year's routine that we're most thankful for. Our personal favorite was where she won the Olympic all around final, ending on floor. It was a story telling, picture perfect moment (she scored a 15.933)! It even put her to tears (happy tears)! Check it out here:

*(SIMONE'S FLOOR STARTS AT 4:54)

VIA ALINA ZHYM YOUTUBE


I hope that you enjoyed a terrific Thanksgiving full of thankfulness and of course, gymnastics, with you're family. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more! :)

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KELLOGG'S TOUR!

I was given the wonderful opportunity to attend the Kellogg's Tour last week. On behalf of Double Full Gym Blog, I was able to record some performances for you guys! However, there was great difficulty when we tried to publish them into this post. So, I will be presenting to you, the same performances I saw, just through the eyes of another recorder. Without further ado, I present to you, the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions!

At the beginning of the show, a nice dance, performed by local gymnasts, was shown as well as exhibition from high level gymnasts around the area.

Next, you will see a performance by the Final Five gymnastics team, as well as some beam solos by the gymnasts.

Lastly, I present to you, a fan favorite performance by the men's Olympic team!

Thank you for reading (and watching some scenes from the Kellogg's Tour with us)! Stay tuned for more........ :)

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Where are they now? - Nastia Liukin

Welcome to the 1st edition of "Where are they now?". This time featuring, 2008 Olympic All Around Champion, Nastia Liukin. This segment will include not only facts about a former gymnast's career, but also their personal life today. Enjoy!


BEIJING, CHINA - 2008 Olympic All Around Championships:

      It's the final rotation of the all around final. Nastia. One of the final competitors. It's going to be close and everyone knows it. What it comes down to is who can stick the most passes. Yang Yilin of China performs shortly before Nastia mounts the floor exercise podium. After Nastia, Shawn Johnson, her teammate, rival, best friend, will go. This is what counts. The music starts and the crowd stops. The tension can be felt, the intensity is insane. This is the make it or break it moment. First pass. Handspring, front full, front double full. Beautiful. She follows this with some beautiful leaps. Liukin finishes the rest of her routine efforlessly. After her last pass, the arena can breathe again. The score comes in and it's a big one. 15.525. This makes it nearly impossible for Shawn Johnson to beat her. Nastia Liukin was shortly afterwards crowned 2008 Olympic All Around champion.


   Following her moment to shine in Beijing, Liukin tried to make a comeback to the sport that she loves and yet she failed to make a second Olympic team. Thus, she decided to pursue a normal life outside of gymnastics. Successes in media and other sorts include:

• Her own meet, the Nastia Liukin Cup.
• A leotard line and equipment line.
• She was on the hit reality TV show, Dancing with the Stars!
• She has a book, Finding My Shine.
• Nastia now commentates for NBC.
• She is a public speaker.
• Liukin is currently starring in the Kellog's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.

Nastia Liukin so far has had an extremely successful career and I wish her the best of luck in future assignments and jobs (also congrats to Nastia *she is getting married very soon*)! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

Photo via Getty Images. :)

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Ashton Locklear - Not to be Underestimated

  You may know her as that bar worker that was beat by Madison Kocian to the Olympic team. Or, you may not know of her at all. But that is why everyone that does know who she is, loves her. She is what you might call an underdog. Sneaky but steady. With only one fall this season,  Ashton Locklear, bars and beam specialist, is surely not one that is ready to leave the sport.

    After just barely missing the Olympic team this year, Ashton Locklear was forced to settle for an alternate position. Many wouldn't be the most happy with this, but Ashton made the most of it. Heading to Rio with no regrets about what she had left on the floor in California at trials, Ashton was ready to give it her all in Rio. Although her chances at even getting to compete were slim, Ashton didn't give up. Eat. Gymnastics. Sleep. This was how Ashton's time in Rio went. With occasional time for exploration in there somewhere. However, train. Train. Train. That was she spent most of her time doing. Because the alternates are not considered a part of the team by the IOC they are not allowed to live in the village, train in the actual training facilities, or be transported the same way as the Olympic athletes. This may have made it a bit more difficult but Ashton continued to train as she always does and showed some great work on bars as you can see by clicking here . Ashton has mentioned that she has given up her scholarship to Florida to continue competing elite and has high hopes of competing in Tokyo. We wish the best of luck to Ashton on her trek to Tokyo!!

Photo via Getty Images.

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Nikita Nagornyy Throws Triple Back on FLOOR!

Russia's Nikita Nagornyy is already right back in the gym and ready for Tokyo. Only weeks after the conclusion of the Rio Olympics, Russian Olympic team member and silver medalist, Nikita Nargornyy who is known for his world-class tumbling is already upgrading his tumbling passes. In fact, just recently he threw a triple back and made it look effortless. The video link is below:

https://www.instagram.com/nikushkarus/

                                                        you can also find it here:
http://www.flogymnastics.com/article/46519-nikita-nagornyy-lands-triple-back-on-floor

Thanks for reading! Also, I'd like to briefly apologize for shorter articles lately, school has been busy and I'll try to get back into the swing of things in the upcoming months (not much is going on in the gymnastics world either).

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