THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070478
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FIGHTING THE AIR
Alexis Brion of Virginia Beach is a world-class gymnast at the age of
12. The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star are following her through
the summer with an occasional series of stories.
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Age has its privileges. One is having a gymnastics move named after yourself.
``The Brion.''
``The Alexis.''
``The Alexis Brion.''
For a 12-year-old, however, that privilege might not apply.
Last month, Alexis performed a novel tumbling move during an international competition in Colombia. The move, done during her silver-medal performance on the floor routine, had never been performed in international women's competition.
That should be enough to tag the Virginia Beach girl's name on the move, officially described as a ``double full-in, back out.'' But age may intervene, just as it did with her chance to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Alexis is too young to perform her move in a world championship or the Olympics. And that's traditionally been a requirement for having a move named after a person.
The Pacific Ocean Games in Colombia, although an international competition, was not a world championship, said Gary Warren, special projects coordinator for USA Gymnastics in Indianapolis, the sport's governing body in this country.
``I don't know of any other female that has done that move,'' Warren noted. ``I've never seen it and I've never heard of anybody else doing it in actual competition.''
But, he added, ``She's still too young for the world championships.''
Alexis is also too young for the 1996 Olympic Games. Although her skill has already placed her on teams that represent the United States in international events, her age will keep her from becoming a household name next summer.
Her coaches at Gymstrada, the Virginia Beach gym where she trains, will submit a tape of Alexis' new move to the gymnastics' technical board so it can be assigned a point value and added to the scorebooks. But it may bear a technical name when it appears in print, rather than a personal name.
In a sport where household name is separated from wannabe by tenths of a point, Alexis' having her own move could be an advantage.
The double full-in, back out is a back flip with two twists in the air, followed immediately by another back flip.
Just one twist is a high-level gymnastics move, Warren said. ``To add another twist on the front end is pretty tough.'' ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Gymnast Alexis Brion's "double full-in, back out" is a move that nop
other female has done, but she's too young for the 1996 Olympics.
by CNB