Waiting for "The Sacramone"

Picture: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/6/68674823_a37f28fec7.jpg

During the next few days, somewhere in Houston, Texas, a piece of gymnastics may be performed that the world of die hard fans waits for with baited breath. I am talking, of course, about what may come to be known as “The Sacramone”, the first eponymous skill of the fantastic vault world champion Alicia Sacramone.

I would be surprised if fans of the sport have yet to hear about this, but if not, check out this training video which surfaced a few weeks ago:

As we can see, “The Sacramone” is a handspring straight 1 and a half somersault with two twists: TWO TWISTS. Thats the same number as a DTY, but flipping forwards and set up only by a handspring entry. You can see why this person chose to put Katy Perry’s firework over the top of this video: to even attempt this vault would require huge levels of explosive power, but luckily that is one of Alicia’s strong points.

But that isn’t all Alicia has to her name. In a time where we see freeze frames of gymnasts blocking on difficult vaults resembling squashed insects, Alicia has impeccable form – pencil straight from head to toe. Matching such explosive power with such control and attention to detail is what makes Alicia such an exciting vaulter to watch. Even in this training video her form is great....imagine what it looks like now (if it is still being trained).

At the moment I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. There is nothing better than watching gymnastics coverage, crisp quality and good commentary, and knowing that the next thing a gymnast will throw is something you have never seen before. It is hugely exciting. Take, for instance, the 2000 Olympic team finals when Khorkina first threw the Khorkina II - what a moment. I am never reserved about my less than favourable opinions on NBC commentary, but in this moment I have some fondness for them and their excitement.

Now let’s just hope, if Alicia does submit this vault, that it gets the huge D score it deserves. Bringing this to worlds would most definitely help Alicia’s cause of repeating as vault world champion: something I would love to see happen as I am sure would fans of difficultly and preciseness the world over. Good luck, Alicia!