On June 13th Elana's gym held their annual "show" for the parents. This is intended as a recital of sorts, mostly intended for the littler kids. The USAG level team performs some tumbling as well, probably just to show off a bit. This year, the gym honored Elana's Maccabi accomplishment and asked her to perform her floor routine. While not the cleanest of performances, it certainly was well done and well received. Enjoy!

Thank You Kris!

Thanking Kris is way overdue! Kris is Elana's coach and is responsible for getting her where she is. She was the first to mention Maccabi trials last summer and suggested changes in Elana's routine and programs to maximize her chances of making the team. They've been together since Elana was 6! She has been a rock thoughout, keeping Elana focused and motivated.

Serious props to anyone who can coach 18 teenage girls at anything for a living.

TV Coverage

Latest release from JLTV regarding coverage:

Here's the most recent update from JLTV. Click on the link ("here") at the end of the article and there are some cool animation/graphics they'll be usuing in the telecast.

JLTV Prepares For Its Live Maccabiah Coverage
JLTV Website
390 Athletes in Delegations from 18 countries paraded through Tel Aviv in 1932. Cheering crowds lined the route: the First Maccabiah had come to the First Hebrew City!
The Maccabiah Games coverage begins Sunday, July 12 on JLTV with a historic LIVE broadcast. For the first time, the Games will be televised outside of Israel to 100 million households across America, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Over 30 million of the homes are located in Moslem countries, including Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
Opening Ceremonies are being held on Monday, July 13th and coverage of the Maccabiah Games will continue through July 24th. Between the end of July and the end of September, JLTV will continue to run retrospective coverage of the 18th Maccabiah Games.
To date, the World's Jewish Television Channel has produced 74 historical short-features of past Games from 1932 to 2005 in our Maccabiah Moments program. In addition, the network is producing 63 Maccabiah Nation's program features, highlighting the countries represented in the Games, focusing on general information and Jewish community life.A sample of the hourly opening interstitial is included in this bulletin without narration (please click here).

Here's the "Geinger" Elana has been working on - watch the release and catch on the high bar. We're not sure if it will make an appearance in Israel, but she's working hard!

Here's a little video of Elana trying out some things on the beam at practice last week. Nothing special, just a little insight into practice sessions...

Opening Ceremonies - Rehearsals Begin

The following post appeared on the Maccabiah Israel website yesterday. Preparations continue.

The Rehearsals for the 18th Maccabiah Opening Ceremony get underway!

7000 of the Maccabiah participants are about to become an active part of the opening show, which will be starting with a cycling grad scene with 200 cyclers. Amongst the artists which will take part in the show: Shiri Maimon, Avraham Tal and Kobi Aflalo.
33 days before the Opening of the 18th Maccabiah games, the rehearsals for the spectacular Opening ceremony, which will take place at the National Stadium in Ramat-Gan, in the presence of the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, and the PM, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu,got underway in Rishon-Le'Zion's soccer pitch.
The show will be open with a grand scene of more than 200 cyclists on bicycles who will make demonstration shows. The 7000 athletes, which will enter into the stadium, will become a part of the show, directed by Jackie Bachar and produced by Gad Oron.
The Opening Show of the 18th Maccabiah is about to be youthful, contemporary and lively. The main artists which will perform at the show are Shiri Maimon that will renew Ofra Haza's song: "Chai", Avraham Tal, in a unique and surprising performance of Shoshana Damari's song: "Yamin U'Smol" (Right and Left), Kobi Aflalo and Ayala Ingadshat. The hosts of the show will be Galit Giat and Michael Harpaz.

We're Back!

Sorry for the absence, but we are back to blogging as Elana gets ready to depart for Israel. Team USA leaves in just over a month.

I hope to post lots more pictures and video now that I have a new camera. Here's a few gymnastics from the beach this weekend.