Former Olympian and Collegiate Gymnast Courtney Kupets poses with Olympian Shawn Johnson at the 2009 Annual Salute to Women in Sports. Kupets was the recipient of the individual award.

The Women’s Sports Foundation held its 30th Annual Salute to Women in Sports in New York City last night.  The annual dinner brings together some of the most iconic women in sports as well as up and comers, too. Last night was no exception – seen on the red carpet were legends Billie Jean King, Annika Sorensam, Michelle Kwan, Jackie Joyner-Kersey along with Wendy Hilliard, Jennie Finch, Melanie Oudin, Allyson Felix, Shawn Johnson, Courtney Kupets, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome and more.

Former Olympian and NCAA Champion Gymnast Courtney Kupets was awarded the 2009 Sportswoman of the Year award for an individual sport. Courtney’s list of achievements over the past 4 years while she was competing for University of Georgia are just staggering. Courtney came back from a torn Achilles tendon in her junior year to lead the Gymdogs to a fifth straight NCAA team title and she won the all around, bars, beam and floor titles as well.  Throughout her collegiate career, she earned nine individual NCAA championship titles – more than any other gymnast – ever.

In the team category, ice hockey player Jessie Vetter of the University of Wisconsin won the award, while Tiffara Steward was presented with the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. Tiffara is an amazing young lady – she is a mere 4’6″ and is partially blind and plays basketball for Farmingdale State College on Long Island.

Here are some links to more coverage of the event:

• LPGA Golfers and the “Salute to Women in Sports”
• Photos from the Women’s Sports Foundation Red Carpet (Megan also gave me permission to use her photo of Courtney and Shawn)
• Former Dogs Gymnast Kupets Honored in New York
• Jessie Vetter Named Sportswoman of the Year by Women’s Sports Foundation
• Annika Inspiration Award created to honor young female athletes

This year’s Teen Choice Awards will take place August 10 on FOX tv. The awards show which celebrates the hottest teen icons in film, television, music, sports and fashion is now open for voting.  There are 11 female athletes nominated for this year’s award:

For Choice Female Athlete the choices are:

Shawn Johnson (also nominated for Choice Female Reality/Variety Show Star)
Nastia Liukin
Danica Patrick
Kerri Walsh and Misty May Treanor
Serena Williams

For Female Action Sports Athlete the nominees are:

Gretchen Bleiler (Snowboarding)
Torah Bright (Snowboarding)
Stephanie Gilmore (Surfing)
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins (Skateboarding)
Carissa Moore (Surfing)

You can vote daily from now until the awards show, so cast your vote for your favorite athlete (and movie, tv show, etc)!

Additionally, the WSF put together a video featuring seven outstanding female athletes (like Natalie Coughlin and Jennie Finch) in celebration of Title IX’s anniversary:

Opportunities in sports are so important for our girls! The lessons they learn through sports make them such better citizens, develops self esteem, fitness, and empowers them in all aspects of their lives.

How has Title IX benefited your participation in sports?

In celebration of Title IX, I would like to share some of my favorite women’s sports websites with you:

• Women Talk Sports
• Because I Played Sports
• Pretty Tough
• Girls Are Champions
• On Being a Sports Girl
• Women Like Sports
• Womens Sports Blog
• Women’s Sports Nation

Now doesn’t this sound right up Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson’s (and every kid I know) alley? Today (May 7, 2009) Shawn and thousands of others in Shanghai, Paris, London and New York are going to participate in the World’s Biggest Bed Jump on the World’s Biggest Bed to help set the record for the world’s biggest bed-jump and mark IHG hotel group’s five million free nights giveaway.

The jump in Shanghai has already occurred. Chinese trampolinist, Jiang Yi Qi, who was the 2008 Trampoline World Cup Champion was one of the jumpers. (Photo Flickr) The London jump featured Team GB Olympic gymnasts Jaime Moore & James Higgins.

Check the World Biggest Bed Jump site for more photos of Shawn Johnson and others from around the world as they try to set records and help promote the IHG Priority Club free nights giveaway.

UPDATED: Here is the YouTube video of Shawn kicking off the NYC Bed Jump.

After putting in years and years of gymnastics training, many gymnasts wonder what they will do with their lives. Former UGA gymnast and USA National Team Member, Ashley Kupets is done with her competitive gymnastics career, but has found a way to take all her training and skills to a new level as a member of the cast of La Reve at the Wynn Theater in Las Vegas.

Ashley, the older sister of the newly crowned 2009 NCAA All Around Gymnastics champion Courtney Kupets, wasn’t sure what to do job-wise when she graduated from UGA. Even with a degree in graphic design, she just felt the need to act or perform – something she had been doing since she was a little girl in the gymnastics arena.

According to the Online Athens story,

When Kupets told Suzanne Yoculan her aspirations, the Georgia gymnastics coach put her former athlete in contact with a casting director, who had e-mailed her the day before.

Two weeks later, Kupets was on a plane to Las Vegas for her first audition.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” she said.

Kupets was put through a series of tests – strength, choreography, improvisational dance, tumbling and trapeze work. But the most grueling part was the swimming portion.

She had to swim 250 meters without stopping, swim 65 feet underwater without coming up for air, drop 30 feet from a trapeze into the water and tread water for 10 minutes.

“It was just crazy stuff that I’ve never done before,” Kupets said. “It was exhausting, but it was so much fun.”

A week later, the 24-year-old was told she had the job. She picked up and moved to Las Vegas in November to begin training for the show.

“It’s not a place where I would have thought I would ever move,” she said. “I didn’t know anybody here. I didn’t know where I was going to live. It was really scary. But I felt like it would be a really good time for me to grow and become the person who I’m going to be for the rest of my life. It’s an incredible experience to be on your own so far away from home and not know anyone.”

Kupets’ sudden move surprised her former coach.

“I’m very proud of her because she’s very introverted. She’s very shy,” Yoculan said. “For her to just break out and go out there, it’s not something that you would have expected Ashley Kupets to do.”

After two months of training, including scuba diving certification, Kupets performed in her first show in late January. She dances, does aerial acrobatics, tumbles and swims in at least two major acts in back-to-back shows five nights a week.

Its neat to see the different career paths collegiate athletes take, and this one seems to be such a natural fit for Ashley while still challenging her in many ways. I can only wonder if little sister Courtney will follow again in her footsteps, return to Elite competition or forge a completely different path all together.

Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson has another accolade to add to her resume – she was awarded the AAU Sullivan award this evening at the New York Athletic Club in New York City. (Photo – AAU Sullivan Award winner Shawn Johnson seen here with Mitchell Musso on the set of DWTS from Flickr)

There were five finalists for this year’s award – Shawn Johnson, fellow Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin, Volleyball player Cynthia Barboza, Basketball player Tyler Hansborough, and the members of the US men’s Olympic 4×100 swimming team.

The AAU Sullivan award is considered to be the Oscar’s of the sports world. It is used to recognize outstanding amateur athletes who show excellence in their sport, leadership, character and sportsmanship.

Congratulations Shawn!

The Women’s Sports Foundation has some very interesting facts on women’s sports participation in 1987 compared to now – the numbers are impressive, but we still have areas for improvement.

A look at how far we have come….

Then…..  One in 27 girls participated in high school varsity sports
Now…… 1 in 2.5 are playing

Then…. 300,000 young women participated in interscholastic athletics
Now….. There are presently more than 3 million female scholastic athletes

Then…. NGWSD was a single event in Washington, D.C.
Now….. NGWSD will be celebrated in many cities across all 50 states

Then… Women participated in only 13 of the 24 events of the 1984 Olympic Games
Now….  In Beijing in 2008, female athletes competed in 28 of the 32 Olympic events

Then…. The Women’s Sports Foundation was the sole organization promoting of NGWSD
Now…   NGWSD is supported by an entire coalition of organizations that combines the experience and resources of the five premiere girls- and women-serving organizations in the United States: Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Incorporated, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, National Women’s Law Center, and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Then…. Title IX was the only legislation pertaining to the involvement of girls in sports
Now….  As of October 2006, 34 states have additional legislation that involves minimum requirements for school physical education programs

Then…. Female professional athletes received far less prize money compared to their male counterparts
Now…   At Wimbledon in 2007 and the Winter X Games in 2009, identical purses were given to both men and women winners.

While these numbers and facts show great strides being made, there is still a huge gap to overcome. Do your part to spread the word by celebrating NGWSD on February 4, 2009.

The female nominees are

• Nastia Liukin, USA, gymnastics
• Rebecca Adlington, United Kingdom, swimming;
• Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe, swimming;
• Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopia, track and field;
• Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia, track and field;
• Guo Jingjing, China, diving;
• Lorena Ochoa, Mexico, golf;
• Candace Parker, USA, basketball;
• Paula Radcliffe, United Kingdom, track and field (marathon);
• Lindsey Vonn, USA, skiing;
• Chrissie Wellington, USA, triathlon; and
• Serena Williams, USA, tennis

You vote for your top 3 female and male nominees and the athletes with the most votes will be awarded Female Athlete of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, and Overall winner.

Support your favorite athletes and vote!Any guess as to who my first choice is?

(photo)

Do you think this is right? Helpful? Would you pay for it?

Personally, I would not. It is very evident to me that my 6 year old who has always been on the top 5% of the growth chart is not really suited for gymnastics. That doesn’t mean she can’t try it, benefit from it, or feel good about doing it. She just so happens to get gymnastics because she is always at the gym when I am teaching it, but she really prefers other sports – like swimming, basketball, and I’m sure she will add others to her list as she grows.

Why pigeon hole kids into certain sports based on what science tells us? Why not let them experience a variety of sports and focus on the ones that they get the most enjoyment out of?

Nastia won 5 medals this summer at the Beijing games including Gold in the All Around. Teammate Shawn Johnson, who won her fair share of medals, too, was also in appearance this evening.

U.S. softball player Jessica Mendoza was honored as Team Sportswoman of the Year at the foundation’s 29th Annual Salute to Women in Sports.

Others nominated for the individual Sportswoman award were: Mao Asada, figure skating; Veronica Campbell-Brown, track; Natalie Coughlin, swimming; Ashley Fiolek, motocross; Allison Fisher, billiards; Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vault; Lorena Ochoa, golf; Lindsey Vonn, downhill skiing; and Rebecca Ward, fencing.