Sloan, Bross take 1st and 2nd place

at the World Championships!

This past week at the O2 Arena in London, Great Britain, Bridget Sloan won the women’s all-around title at the 2009 World Championships, finishing just 0.050 ahead of teammate Rebecca Bross.

The battle for the title went down to the last event, the floor exercise. Sloan, the reigning U.S. all-around champion, earned a 14.200 for her floor routine. Bross went last, and a bad landing on her last tumbling pass gave her a 12.875, which moved Sloan into the top spot.

“I honestly am not surprised (about going first and second), but I am very happy,” said Martha Karolyi, the U.S. women’s national team coordinator. “We knew we were prepared, but that it is not enough. You have to have the consistency to go out there when the most pressure is on. We are doing a lot of mental preparation with the girls, and I think this is the result of that."

“Both of the gymnasts are really good,” said Karolyi. “One needs a little bit more experience. One of them is extremely young and very promising. I foresee a fantastic future for Rebecca, even with the mistake in this meet, and she will be a front-runner in the years to come. I am proud of Bridget to have come from an alternate in 2007 (on the World team) to a team member on the 2008 Olympic Team to this year stepping up as an individual (competitor) and taking over the responsibility to earn the medals for the USA. I am very proud.”

Every little bit counts!

On September 12th, during our Fall Open House, Exxcel hosted the 2nd Annual Helping Handstand Fundraiser to help fund a life-saving heart surgery for Yulia Nosenko, a 9-year-old girl, who spent the summer of 2008 at Exxcel. Yulia has a form of heart disease that requires surgery to patch a hole that has developed in her heart.

Yulia lives in a region of Russia devastated by a nuclear disaster. Her poverty-stricken family cannot afford the surgery, resulting in medical bills in excess of $100,000. Yulia was hosted in the U.S. by the family of Kasey King, an Exxcel gymnast and coach.

One-by-one, participants held handstands to make the longest group handstand possible. This year, we collectively held handstands for 11 minutes total! As a result, the contributions from parents, students and coaches, with a match by Exxcel totaled $1284.00, which went directly to the Helping Handstands Fundraiser!

The motto, every little bit counts, became clearer to all of us here at Exxcel, due to the kindness and generosity of Ilya, a student here at Exxcel. Ilya immediately had questions about Yulia's situation. When he was told that every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference, he thought about donating his own money.

The following week Ilya came back with the money he saved, $1.27 which he generously gave to the Helping Handstands Fundraiser. When asked why he donated his own money to a young girl he didn't know, Ilya responded, "Because she is sick and her heart is ripped." "It would be awesome if everybody gave money." Ilya said, "I think everybody should give money because it's nice and it's going to help her."

It's because of the compassion and generosity of people like Ilya that Exxcel was able to donate over one thousand dollars to the Helping Handstands Fundraiser. Thanks to everyone for your support!

2008 Olympic team silver-medalist Chellsie Memmel has withdrawn from the selection process for the U.S. Team for the 2009 World Championships, Oct. 13-15, in London, England.

Memmel had ankle surgery in 2008 and has been training hard to return to competitive gymnastics since. Memmel, a former world champion, said: “I have run out of time, and I am not quite where I want to be gymnastics-wise. I haven’t been able to do the number of routines and repetitions that I need to represent the USA at the highest level. Also, I thought this would make it easier for Martha and the selection committee in naming the team, because we have so many talented gymnasts who deserve the chance to go to London. My Dad and I met with Martha, and she is very supportive of this decision. I am going home and will spend the time getting my routines ready for next year.”

We wish you luck Chellsie and hope to see you back and ready for Worlds next year!