© Volker Minkus
GLASGOW, Scotland, Oct. 12, 2008 – Kristin Allen and Michael Rodrigues, both of Livermore, Calif./West Coast Training Center, won the silver medal in mixed pair at the 2008 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, held at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. This is the USA’s fourth straight world medal in mixed pair.
Allen and Rodrigues posted a score of 28.801 for their combined routine to tie for the silver medal with the Russian mixed pair of Anastasia Gorbatyuk and Alexander Barleben. Russia’s Olga Sviridova and Stanislav Babarykin won the gold medal with a score of 28.812.
"We were very excited to win the silver medal and represent the United States of America well,” Allen said. “Competition was tough and intense, but we didn’t let our nerves affect our performance.”
Other champions at the 2008 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships were: men’s pair – Mikola Cherbak and Sergei Popov, Ukraine, 28.622; women’s pair – Alina Yushko and Katsiaryna Murashko, Belarus, 28.740; women’s group – Tamara Turlacheva, Irina Borzova and Tatiana Baranovskaya, Russia, 28.758; and men’s group – Denis Cherevatov, Anton Danchenko, M. Chulkov and Teymuraz Gurgenidze, Russia, 28.751.
Acrobatic gymnastics, previously referred to as sport acrobatics, combines the beauty of dance with the strength and agility of acrobatics. Gymnastics skills add excitement to the routines, while intense acrobatic balances show grace, strength and flexibility. Routines are choreographed to music and consist of dance, tumbling, and partner skills. At the elite level, each pair or group performs a balance, dynamic and combined routine. Pyramids and partner holds characterize the balance routine, while synchronized tumbling and intricate flight elements define the dynamic routine. The combined routine unites elements of balance and dynamic.