Chad is coach and owner of Metro South Gymnastics Academy, Canton, Mass.
At a competition in Tennessee, 9-year-old gymnast Cherrish Remy barrels her way toward the vault and launches herself off the springboard, but she’s off the mark.
Luckily, her quick-acting coach Chad Buczek appeared out of nowhere and caught little Cherrish before her fall could go really badly.
“I instantly broke out into a sweat,” said the girl’s mother. “It’s definitely not the first time he’s saved her,” she continued, speaking of Coach Buczek.
He’s not happy the International Olympic Committee decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag.
Canada’s Minister of Sport, Carla Qualtrough, this afternoon announced a national commission to address safe-sport issues, but stopped short of calling a national inquiry.
… a suite of measures, including a Future of Sport in Canada Commission that will hold a summit and produce two reports during its 18-month mandate.
An independent commissioner and two special advisers will head the commission.
Among other measures announced were moving the new Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) and its abuse-free program out of the Sports Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC), increasing the capacity of AthletesCan, elevating Sport Canada’s athlete advisory committee to a ministerial committee, modernizing Sport Canada’s funding framework and developing a sport integrity framework, with policies around match manipulation and safeguarding children.
Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev and Abdulrashid Sadulayev are 3 of the eight athletes already named as eligible by IOC.
Attending a war rally with Putin did not disqualify.
Article from September 19, 2023:
Three Olympic champions from Russia were cleared to compete at the world wrestling championships this week because they were judged to have been pressured to appear at a pro-war rally in Moscow last year.
The United World Wrestling governing body explained Tuesday why Zaurbek Sidakov, Zaur Uguev and Abdulrashid Sadulayev were among the Russian wrestlers who passed vetting to compete as neutral athletes in Belgrade, Serbia.
All three won Olympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games held in 2021 and were paraded on stage at a flag-waving rally at Luzhniki Stadium in March 2022. It was attended by President Vladimir Putin three weeks after he ordered the military invasion of Ukraine.
The athletes’ presence there seemed likely to bar their return to competition with neutral status ahead of the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee advised the governing bodies of each individual sport in March to exclude those who publicly supported the war.
However, a vetting process for the three wrestlers concluded “their participation in certain events is not (of) their own will,” United World Wrestling said in a statement.
The governing body’s vetting panel did bar 30 athletes, coaches and support staff from Russia and its military ally Belarus from coming to the Sept. 16-24 championships. …
After dragging their feet for as long as possible, the IOC made it official.
Still, it’s unlikely any in Gymnastics sports will be able to qualify. Valentina Rodionenko said the coaches of the National Team had decided they didn’t want to try for Paris under these restrictions.
“The executive board of the IOC has decided that individual neutral athletes (AINs) who have qualified through the existing qualification systems of the International Federations on the field of play will be declared eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in accordance with the conditions outlined,” the Olympic body said on Friday. …
… six “strict eligibility conditions” for AINs at Paris 2024 reflecting the same conditions under which they have qualified.
It said among the 4,600 athletes who have so far qualified for the Games, only 11 were AINs – eight with a Russian passport, three with a Belarusian passport.
The conditions for their participation are as follows:
Qualified athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will be entered as, and compete as AINs.
Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will not be considered.
Athletes and support personnel who actively support the war will not be eligible to be entered or to compete.
Athletes and support personnel contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies will not be eligible to be entered or to compete.
Any AIN, like all other participating athletes, must meet all anti-doping requirements.
The sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments remain in place, including: No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications of Russia or Belarus will be displayed in any official venue or function at Paris 2024, and no Russian or Belarusian government or state officials will be invited or accredited.
It makes no sense for the Gymnastics Canada Suspended/Expelled Members list to include people who are in prison alongside some who are under investigation — who might yet be found innocent.
At minimum, there should be two lists.
Next, there should be more detail attached to why the guilty individuals were suspended / expelled.
Here’s a news report from the U.K. on this issue.
As British Gymnastics unveils new safeguarding rules, the author of a report which found 'systemic' abuse and a 'coach-led culture of fear' tells @stevescott_itv long delays in resolving hundreds of complaints threatens to deter future whistle-blowers pic.twitter.com/j6sLXGjKtK
The General Assembly of European Gymnastics has voted against allowing athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus to return to official European Gymnastics competitions from 1 January 2024 onwards, thus not following the FIG decision.
This begs the question whether it’s feasible for RUS athletes to compete in Europe at FIG World Cup qualifying meets.
***Breaking News***
The General Assembly of European Gymnastics has voted against allowing athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus to return to official European Gymnastics competitions from 1 January 2024 onwards, thus not following the FIG decision.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 