Gymnasts get ready for competition

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

Ropes, hoops, balls, clubs and ribbons will gracefully fly through the air today as competitors in the 2007 USA Gymnastics Rhythmic Group Championships take over the Wytheville Community Center.
Gymnasts from across the nation will be competing in a variety of skill levels in the event co-hosted by USA Gymnastics and Princeton Gymnastics and Dance Academy.
Kristina Sklioutovskaya and her husband, Manny Lopez, run the Princeton, W. Va., academy and Sklioutovskaya said they found out in October that their bid won to host the competition.
“It is the first time in history it will be in Virginia,” she said. “It’s a lot of preparation.”
Sklioutovskaya grew up in Russia as a gymnast, and even earned a graduate degree in sports psychology of gymnastics before coming to the United States in 1994.
Today’s competition is open to the public with tickets available at the door. Tickets are $12 for adults (ages 12 and older) and $7 for children, and the admission price includes a day pass for use of the facilities at the community center. Children ages four and under can enter free of charge.
In addition to the group championships, the Princeton academy also is hosting the Mountaineer Invitational today, which will feature individual performances immediately following the group competition.
The competitions will be held in the community center’s gymnasium and will go all day, from approximately 8:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Sklioutovskaya said 10 groups are set to compete, with teams from as far away as California and New York. She also said the team from North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center in Illinois, who was the U.S. representative at the 2007 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Greece, will be competing.
Caroline Hunt, director of the rhythmic gymnastics program for USA Gymnastics and a former National Team member, is also scheduled to be on hand for the event.
Rhythmic gymnastics – an Olympic sport since 1984 – has some of the same elements as traditional gymnastics, but puts a greater emphasis on artistic flair.
In addition, all rhythmic gymnastics routines take place on the floor, while traditional women’s gymnastics has events using the floor, vault, uneven bars and balance beam.
“It takes a lot of flexibility, coordination and strength,” Sklioutovskaya said about rhythmic gymnastics. “It’s really amazing stuff to watch.”
In group competition, up to five team members simultaneously perform using some of the various apparatuses – ropes, hoops, balls, clubs and ribbons. Individuals also incorporate the objects into their performances.
Dance and ballet skills are also important for the artistic element of the routines.
The Princeton gym will have 12 girls competing today at the beginner and intermediate levels, including Sklioutovskaya and Lopez’s three daughters. Their two eldest children, ages 10 and 12, will compete at the intermediate level and their youngest, age 5, will do an exhibition routine.
Intermediate group competition is scheduled for the first morning session starting at 9 a.m., while beginner and elite group routines are scheduled to take place from 10:15 a.m. until just after 11 a.m.
Individual performances are set to begin at noon, with the top levels competing first.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .