A modern raised-relief world globe

A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth (terrestrial globe) or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon. It may also refer to a spherical representation of the celestial sphere, showing the apparent positions of the stars and constellations in the sky (celestial globe). The word "globe" comes from the Latin word globus, meaning round mass or sphere.

Terrestrial and planetary[link]

A globe is the only representation of the earth that does not distort either the shape or the size of large features; flat maps are created using a map projection that inevitably introduces an increasing amount of distortion the larger the area that the map shows. A typical scale for a terrestrial globe is roughly 1:40 million.

Sometimes a globe has surface texture showing topography; in these, elevations are exaggerated, otherwise they would be hardly visible. Most modern globes are also imprinted with parallels and meridians, so that one can tell the approximate coordinates of a specific place. Globes provide the best view of Earth today.

Celestial[link]

A German celestial globe c.1770

Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated.

A potential issue arises regarding the "handedness" of celestial globes. If the globe is constructed so that the stars are in the positions they actually occupy on the imaginary celestial sphere, then the star field will appear back-to-front on the surface of the globe (all the constellations will appear as their mirror images). This is because the view from Earth, positioned at the centre of the celestial sphere, is of the inside of the celestial sphere, whereas the celestial globe is viewed from the outside. For this reason, celestial globes may be produced in mirror image, so that at least the constellations appear the "right way round". Some modern celestial globes address this problem by making the surface of the globe transparent. The stars can then be placed in their proper positions and viewed through the globe, so that the view is of the inside of the celestial sphere, as it is from Earth.

History[link]

The "Erdapfel" of Martin Beheim is the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. The Americas are not yet included. 1491-1493. Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg

The sphericity of the Earth was established by Hellenistic astronomy in the 3rd century BC, and the earliest terrestrial globe appeared from that period. The earliest known example is the one constructed by Crates of Mallus in Cilicia (now Çukurova in modern-day Turkey), in the mid-2nd century BC.

No terrestrial globes from Antiquity or the Middle Ages have survived. An example of a surviving celestial globe is part of a Hellenistic sculpture, called the Farnese Atlas, surviving in a 2nd century AD Roman copy in the Naples Museum, Italy.^[1]

Early terrestrial globes depicting the entirety of the Old World were constructed in the Islamic world.^[2][3] According to David Woodward, one such example was the terrestrial globe introduced to Beijing by the Persian astronomer, Jamal ad-Din, in 1267.^[4]

The oldest surviving terrestrial globe is the Erdapfel, created by Martin Behaim in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1492.^[1] A facsimile globe showing America was made by Martin Waldseemueller in 1507. Another early globe, the Hunt-Lenox Globe, ca. 1507, is thought to be the source of the phrase "Here be dragons". Another "remarkably modern-looking" terrestrial globe of the Earth was constructed by Taqi al-Din at the Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din during the 1570s.^[5]

An unusually high proportion of vintage 20th century world globes feature the Australian town of Birdum, which no longer exists but once held an important position at the end of the Northern Australian Railway.

Globus IMP electro-mechanical devices including five-inch globes have been used in Soviet and Russian spacecraft from 1961 to 2002 as navigation instruments. In 2001, the TMA version of the Soyuz spacecraft replaced this instrument with a virtual globe.^[6]

Manufacture[link]

A short, 1955, Dutch film showing the manufacture of globes

Traditionally, globes were manufactured by gluing a printed paper map onto a sphere, often made from wood.

The most common type has long, thin gores (strips) of paper that narrow to a point at the poles,^[7] small disks cover over the inevitable irregularities at these points. The more gores there are, the less stretching and crumpling is required to make the paper map fit the sphere. From a geometric point of view, all points on a sphere are equivalent – one could select any arbitrary point on the Earth, and create a paper map that covers the Earth with strips that come together at that point and the antipodal point.

A thermoplastic globe hemisphere, before the excess plastic has been trimmed off.

Modern globes are often made from thermoplastic. Flat, plastic disks are printed with a distorted map of one of the Earth's Hemispheres. This is placed in machine which molds the disk into a hemispherical shape. The hemisphere is united with its opposite counterpart to form a complete globe.

A globe is usually mounted at a 23.5° angle on a meridian. In addition to making it easy to use this mounting also represents the angle of the planet in relation to its sun and the spin of the planet. This makes it easy to visualize how days and seasons change.

Notable examples[link]

• The Unisphere in Queens, New York, at 120 feet (36.6 m) in diameter, is the world's largest global structure.
• Eartha, currently the world's largest rotating globe (41 ft or 12 m in diameter), at the Delorme headquarters in Yarmouth, Maine
• The Mapparium, three-story, stained glass globe at the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, which visitors walk through via a 30-foot (9.1 m) glass bridge.
• The Babson globe in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a 26-foot-diameter (7.9 m) globe which originally rotated on its axis and on its base to simulate day and night and the seasons
• The giant globe in the lobby of The News Building in New York City.
• The Hitler Globe, also known as the Führer globe, was formally named the Columbus Globe for State and Industry Leaders. Two editions existed during Hitler's lifetime, created during the mid-1930s on his orders. (The second edition changed the name of Abyssinia to Italian East Africa). These globes were "enormous" and very costly. According to the New York Times, "the real Columbus globe was nearly the size of a Volkswagen and, at the time, more expensive." Several still exist, including three in Berlin: one at a geographical institute, one at the Märkisches Museum, and another at the Deutsches Historisches Museum. The latter has a Soviet bullet hole through Germany. One of the two in public collections in Munich has an American bullet hole through Germany. There are several in private hands inside and out of Germany. A much smaller version of Hitler's globe was mocked by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator, a film released in 1940.^[8]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Top view of 1765 de l'Isle globe

• 

  The Unisphere, attributed to "uribe"/Uri Baruchin

• 

  1594, Mechanised Celestial Globe

• 

  A Globus IMP navigation instrument from a Voskhod spacecraft.

• 

  Eartha, the largest rotating globe in the world.

• 

  A map of Mars that circulated commercialy in the 19th century. It is an example of how maps are printed in order to be folded around a sphere to form a globe.

• 

  Muhammad Salih Tahtawi of Sindh, headed the task of creating a massive, seamless celestial globe using a secret wax casting method in the Mughal Empire, the famous celestial globe of Muhammad Salih Tahtawi is inscribed with Arabic and Persian inscriptions and was completed in the year 1631.^[9][10]

• 

  Multitouch spherical Globe with digital EARTH based on multitouch software

See also[link]

• Armillary sphere
• Cartography
• Dymaxion map
• Emery Molyneux
• Google Earth
• NASA World Wind
• Johannes Schöner globe
• Virtual globe
• Voskhod Spacecraft "Globus" IMP navigation instrument

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2003.
2. ^ Medieval Islamic Civilization By Josef W. Meri, Jere L Bacharach, page 138-139 - available via google books - http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=al-Ma%3Fmun%3Fs+globe&source=bl&ots=TSmSiEUZXk&sig=NGzhTsbRRoSmH4UiPQCh0Y1sO_c&hl=en&ei=NMxYSvbsBeS6jAfNjNwa&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8
3. ^ Covington, Richard (2007), Saudi Aramco World, May–June 2007: 17–21, http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200703/the.third.dimension.htm, retrieved 2008-07-06 
4. ^ David Woodward (1989), "The Image of the Spherical Earth", Perspecta (MIT Press) 25: 3–15 [9], JSTOR 1567135 
5. ^ Soucek, Svat (1994), "Piri Reis and Ottoman Discovery of the Great Discoveries", Studia Islamica (Maisonneuve &#38) 79 (79): 121–142 [123 & 134–6], DOI:10.2307/1595839, JSTOR 1595839 
6. ^ Tiapchenko, Yurii. "Information Display Systems for Russian Spacecraft: An Overview". Computing in the Soviet Space Program (Translation from Russian: Slava Gerovitch). http://web.mit.edu/slava/space/essays/essay-tiapchenko1.htm. 
7. ^ http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/globe.jpg
8. ^ "The Mystery of Hitler's Globe Goes Round and Round", by Michael Kimmelman, September 18, 2007. Accessed September 18, 2007.
9. ^ Savage-Smith, Emilie (1985), Islamicate Celestial Globes: Their History, Construction, and Use, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 
10. ^ Kazi, Najma (24 November 2007). "Seeking Seamless Scientific Wonders: Review of Emilie Savage-Smith's Work". FSTC Limited. http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=832. Retrieved 2008-02-01. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Globe

• ppmglobe - generate strips to glue onto a sphere
• 3D VRML globe
• 3D Java Globe with coastlines, parallels, meridians, etc.
• How to orient a globe in homothetic position to the Earth

Rosannagh MacLennan
Rosannagh MacLennan (right) with Karen Cockburn in Hamilton, Ontario at the Canada Cup in August 2007
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Rosie
Country represented	Canada
Born	(1988-08-28) August 28, 1988 (age 23) Toronto
Discipline	Trampolining
Head coach(es)	David Ross
Medal record World Championships Gold 2007 Quebec Synchro Silver 2011 Birmingham Individual Silver 2011 Birmingham Synchro Silver 2009 St Petersburg Synchro Silver 2007 Quebec Team Silver 2005 Eindhoven Synchro Bronze 2011 Birmingham Team Bronze 2010 Metz Individual Bronze 2009 St Petersburg Team Bronze 2007 Quebec Individual Pan American Games Gold 2011 Guadalajara Women's trampoline Silver 2007 Rio de Janeiro Women's trampoline

Rosannagh (Rosie) MacLennan (born August 28, 1988) is a Canadian trampoline gymnast. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she won the Canadian National Women's champion in 2005, 2009 and 2011. She has competed internationally at various levels since 1999. In the 2007 World Championships in Quebec City, MacLennan earned a Women's Trampoline place for Canada in the 2008 Olympic Games^[1] and came in third in the Individual trampoline event.^[2]

MacLennan trains at Skyrider's Trampoline Place in Richmond Hill, Ontario with coach David Ross who has coached all of Canada's Olympic trampolinists. In 2006 she paired with her training partner, the double Olympian Karen Cockburn, in synchronized trampoline and since then the pair have dominated the event internationally winning eight consecutive World Cup events including the World Cup Finals in Birmingham in 2006. In the 2007 World Championships in Quebec City they again won the event^[3] The pair hold the current female synchronized trampoline routine world record for difficulty with a DD of 14.20^[4] which they scored in April 2007 at the Lake Placid Trampoline World Cup.

Rosie MacLennan with Jason Burnett and Karen Cockburn at the Beijing Summer Olympics 2008

Following the 2007 World Championships, MacLennan came in second place in the Good Luck Beijing International Invitational Tournament, a competition held to test the facilities and organization for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In June 2008, she was selected to join Karen Cockburn and Jason Burnett as one of Canada's three trampoline gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the trampoline preliminary competition, she qualified in 3rd place for the Finals but eventually finished in 7th place.^[5]

Since the Olympics, MacLennan has won the 2009 Canadian Women's Individual title. She came in 4th place for individual trampoline in the 2009 Trampoline World Championships in St Petersburg and 3rd place for individual trampoline in the 2010 Trampoline World Championships in Metz. In 2011, she won the Canadian Championships and came in 1st place at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico and 2nd place in the 2011 Trampoline World Championships in Birmingham which won a place for Canadian women in the Trampoline event for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

References[link]

This biographical article related to Canadian sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article related to trampolining is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Stephen Brunt (born March 20, 1959 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian sports journalist, well known as a leading columnist for The Globe and Mail and as co-host to Bob McCown on Prime Time Sports.

Journalist[link]

Stephen Brunt started at The Globe as an arts intern in 1982, after attending journalism school at the University of Western Ontario. He then worked in news, covering the 1984 election, and began to write for the sports section in 1985. His 1988 series on negligence and corruption in boxing won him the Michener Award for public service journalism. In 1989, he became a sports columnist.

Awards and Nominations[link]

Nominated for several National Newspaper Awards, Brunt is also the author of seven books. His work Facing Ali, published in 2004, was named one of the ten best sports books of the year by Sports Illustrated. Brunt makes frequent appearances on sports talk radio shows such as Prime Time Sports and Melnick in the Afternoon on the Team 990 in Montreal. He has been the lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989 and was a frequent sports panelist on TVOntario's now-defunct current affairs programme Studio 2.

Home Life[link]

He currently resides with his wife and children in Hamilton, Ontario, spending much of his summer vacation in Winterhouse Brook Newfoundland.

The Team 1050 Toronto[link]

In 2001, CHUM Radio Network launched an all-sports radio network in major markets across Canada. The flagship station was to be created in Toronto from the previously formatted oldies station CP24 Radio 1050. The Team 1050 was launched on May 7, 2001 at 3pm. In an attempt to compete with the existing all-sports radio station in Toronto, the Fan 590, Jim Waters and long-time sports executive Paul Williams (who launched the Fan 590 and The Score Television Network)^[1] worked to lure talent away from the competition. Previously unsuccessful at luring Bob McCown (Fan 590's highest rated show) to The Score Television Network, Williams went after his co-host, Stephen Brunt. Williams and Waters were able to attract quality on-air talent including Paul Romanuk for the morning show, and Jim Van Horne and Stephen Brunt for the afternoon drive slot. Van Horne and Brunt represented roughly a $375,000 investment in annual salaries.^[2]

The Team 1050 performed poorly out of the gate, garnering just 0.7% of the male 25 to 49 market share (compared to the Fan 590's 4.6% share in the mornings and 6.4% during the afternoon drive show), which made it difficult to attach a cost to advertising or attracting advertisers. Just one year after launch, ratings showed little improvement with a 0.9% share of the male 25 to 49 demographic.^[2] Brunt stepped down as co-host in spring 2002 but was still heard regularly on air until the Team 1050 was cancelled and reverted to an oldies station on August 27, 2002 at 3pm.

It took sometime before Brunt was brought back into the Fan 590 fold as McCown's co-host and foil. Presumably, McCown was perturbed by Brunt's leaving to compete directly against Primetime Sports on the Team 1050. The two appear to have resolved any past issues and are arguably the best Canadian radio personalities on-air today.

To this day when the Team or Brunt's leaving the Fan 590 comes up on the radio, Brunt notes that he did it for the nice cheque, something McCown should understand.^[3]

Author[link]

Stephen Brunt talks about Gretzky's Tears on Bookbits radio.

Stephen Brunt has authored several successful books including Facing Ali, Gretzky's Tears and the #1 Canadian best seller Searching for Bobby Orr.^[4]

His other works include: The Way it Looks from Here: Contemporary Canadian Writing on Sports; Mean Business: The Rise and Fall of Shawn O'Sullivan; Second to None: The Roberto Alomar Story (which he famously wrote in a single month) and Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics[link]

Torch Relay Controversy[link]

As the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium won the broadcast rights to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Stephen Brunt became a central journalist leading up to and during the games. A minor controversy arose when it was announced that Brunt would be carrying the Olympic torch in Newfoundland. Brunt was initially singled out by the Toronto Sun and by the Toronto Star as being unethical as a journalist for carrying the torch. When confronted by the question of integrity and ethics of the relay on Primetime Sports, the conversation unfolded as follows:

Brunt “This is a commercial endeavor. The torch relay, God love it, which is going to make people tear up and is a lovely thing, and a way of including people in the Olympic process, is sponsored. And it is corporate and underwritten. And spots were sold as part of the sponsorship package... This is all part of the machinery of the Olympic Games.”

“You don’t see an ethics problem?” asked Bob McCown.

“No,” Brunt said, “because nobody is telling me what to say or what to do.”^[5]

The issue quickly subsided as it became clear a wide variety of people were to carry the torch, including 25 other journalists from the Olympic Consortium.

Video Essay: What these Games mean to Canada[link]

Stephen Brunt worked throughout the Olympics writing stories, doing sports radio, and enjoying the games. His work culminated in a video essay which he wrote and performed the voiceover for, which aired just after Canada won Gold in Men's Hockey. The piece was entitled What these Games mean to Canada^[6] and summed up the Canadian experience during the Olympics.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1188961767/
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.WireFeedRedirect?cf=GlobeInvestor/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20030228&archive=gam&slug=RO3CHUM
3. ^ Heard on numerous episodes of the Fan 590's Primetime Sports
4. ^ "Author Spotlight: Stephen Brunt". Random House of Canada Limited. http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=3596. Retrieved 2006-04-27. 
5. ^ http://www.truthandrumours.net/2009/10/27/brunt-on-his-conflict-of-interest/
6. ^ www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz8tzP3oeDg

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2008)

Alexandre Despatie

Alexandre Despatie (right), He Chong (center) and Qin Kai (left), 2008 Olympic medalists
Personal information
Full name	Alexandre Despatie
Born	(1985-06-08) June 8, 1985 (age 27) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Residence	Laval, Quebec, Canada
Height	173 centimetres (5 ft 8 in)
Sport
Country	Canada
Event(s)	3 m springboard, 3 m synchro
Partner	Reuben Ross
Former partner(s)	Arturo Miranda
Medal record Men's diving Olympic Games Silver 2004 Athens 3 m springboard Silver 2008 Beijing 3 m springboard World Championships Gold 2003 Barcelona 10 m platform Gold 2005 Montreal 3 m springboard Gold 2005 Montreal 1 m springboard Silver 2001 Fukuoka 10 m platform Silver 2007 Melbourne 3 m springboard Silver 2007 Melbourne Springboard synchro Bronze 2009 Rome Springboard synchro Bronze 2009 Rome 3 m springboard Commonwealth Games Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 10 m platform Gold 2002 Manchester 3 m springboard Gold 2002 Manchester 1 m springboard Gold 2006 Melbourne Springboard synchro Gold 2006 Melbourne 3 m springboard Gold 2006 Melbourne 1 m springboard Gold 2010 New Delhi 1 m springboard Gold 2010 New Delhi 3 m springboard Gold 2010 New Delhi Springboard synchro Bronze 2002 Manchester 10 m platform Bronze 2006 Melbourne 10 m platform Pan American Games Gold 2003 S. Domingo 3 m springboard Gold 2003 S. Domingo Springboard synchro Gold 2003 S. Domingo Platform synchro Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 3 m springboard Bronze 2003 S. Domingo 10 m platform Bronze 2007 Rio de Janeiro 10 m platform Bronze 2007 Rio de Janeiro Springboard synchro

Alexandre Despatie (born June 8, 1985) is a Canadian diver from Laval, Quebec. He was the World champion at the 1 and 3 m springboards from 2005 to 2007 and is the first, and so far only, diver to have been World champion in the three categories (1, 3 and 10 m platform). He is also a 37-time Canadian senior diving champion, and 9-time junior champion. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Diving career[link]

Despatie began diving at the age of 5 in his own backyard pool.

He first came to public attention at the 1998 Commonwealth Games with an extremely impressive gold medal on the 10 meter platform (which included an unprecedented score of perfect 10s). He was only 13 years old at the time, and the achievement was recorded in the Guinness Book Of World Records 2000.

At the Olympic games in Sydney in 2000, with a 4th place finish at the 10-metre platform, he was offered the chance to compete in the springboard event in those Games as well, when one of the Canadian divers had to withdraw from the meet due to complications with his citizenship, but declined because he had not been training for that event.

He won the silver medal at the world championships in 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan in the same event, and in 2003 won a gold medal at the World Diving Championships in Barcelona, Spain in the 10 meter platform. He recorded 107.1 for his last dive, which set a new record.

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Despatie won the gold medal in the three-meter springboard event, followed by three gold medals at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, he won the silver medal in the men's 3 meter springboard competition, but finished out of the medal standings in fourth place in the 10 meter platform. This result was contrary to expectations going into the games, where he was expected to win silver or gold in 10 meter platform and not place in the 3 meter springboard.

In front of his home crowd at the 2005 World Aquatic Championships in Montreal, he became World Champion on the 3 meter springboard. He won with a world record score of 813.60 points, his "worst" dive being rated an average 8.5. Despatie followed up on that performance by winning the 1 m springboard, with a world record score of 489.69. His victory meant that he had won FINA World Titles on both springboard and platform.

Despatie successfully defended his three-meter springboard title at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and also won gold medals on 1 m springboard and 3 m synchronized with Arturo Miranda. He finished 3rd in the 10m platform.

Returning to Melbourne, this time for the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, Despatie went head to head with the best divers in the world, including the top-ranked Chinese diving team. Finishing 8th in the 10 m tower event and winning silver medals in the 3 m event and the 3 m synchro with partner Arturo Miranda, Despatie proved that he is still one of the best divers in the world.

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he claimed a silver medal in the 3m springboard event^[1] and finished in 5th place in the 3m synchro event.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Alexander got 3 gold medals for Canada, in the 1 meter and 3 meter springboard, and 3 meter synchronized springboard dive. He thrilled Canadian audiences and made himself one of the best divers in the world. This also brings his total medal count to 9 medals.

Personal life[link]

Despatie attended Collège André-Grasset and lives with his parents in Laval-sur-le-Lac. In an interview with the CBC in the lead-up to the 2004 Olympics, he said he was interested in acting and television/movie production, and may pursue that as a career once he is no longer diving, although he is also known to support groups and aspiring divers and to help them fulfill their dreams through private contributions to youth diving leagues. He has held diving clinics which aim to give young divers lessons and valuable experience. Young divers who have been involved include Sam Hood (from Perkiomen Valley High School in Arizona), Ryan Fagan (from Thomas Jefferson High School in California), Dean Frias (from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Texas), Cassidy Krug (from Montour High School in California), Katie Lewis (from Central Bucks East High School in Georgia), and Grace Coyle (from Pocono Mountain HS in Pennsylvania).

In August 2006, Despatie started shooting his first feature film in Montreal. The movie, a teenage romantic comedy called À vos marques! Party! (On your mark! Party!) was released in Quebec in March 2007. Despatie played a small but important part of a diver who is the friend and confidant of a young female swimmer. Quebec actress Louise Laparé coached Despatie for his role and told a Montreal newspaper that the popular

He has since moved towards a career in broadcasting, joining the broadcast team for Canada's French-language television coverage of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver during a brief break from training for the 2012 Games. He co-anchored the coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies alongside legendary Quebec hockey commentators Richard Garneau and Pierre Houde, narrated numerous athlete profiles, and took viewers on a tour of Granville Island, where many francophone musicians performed during the Olympics.

See also[link]

• CAMO Canadian National Training Centre
• Diving
• Philippe Comtois

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Alexandre Despatie on Real Champions
• Alexandre Despatie at the Internet Movie Database

Bridget Sloan
Bridget Sloan performs on the balance beam at the 2008 U.S. National Championships in Boston, MA.
Personal information
Full name	Bridget Elizabeth Sloan
Country represented	United States
Born	(1992-06-23) June 23, 1992 (age 20) Cincinnati, Ohio
Hometown	Pittsboro, Indiana
Height	1.50m (4'11")
Weight	47kg (104lbs)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Elite
Club	Sharp's Gymnastics Academy
College team	Florida Gators
Head coach(es)	Marvin Sharp
Medal record Women's gymnastics Competitor for the  United States Summer Olympics Silver 2008 Beijing Team World Championships Gold 2009 London All-Around Silver 2010 Rotterdam Team Pan American Games Gold 2011 Guadalajara Team Pacific Rim Championships Gold 2010 Melbourne Team

Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American gymnast. She is the 2009 All-Around World Champion and the 2009 All-Around U.S. National Champion. Sloan was a member of the silver medal U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics.

Early life and career[link]

Bridget Sloan was born on June 23, 1992, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She began gymnastics in 1996 when she was 4. She currently lives in Pittsboro, Indiana, and graduated from Tri-West Hendricks High School.

2007[link]

In her first year as a senior, 2007, Sloan placed 5th all-around and 3rd on Bars at the U.S. National Championships. She served as the alternate on the American team for the 2007 World Championships. Sloan also represented the United States at the Good Luck Beijing Olympic test event in December 2007, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around and a silver on floor exercise.^[1]

2008[link]

In March 2008, Sloan suffered a torn meniscus while warming up at a meet in Italy.^[2] She was forced to sit out the competition and returned home for surgery and rehabilitation, but recovered in time to compete at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, where she competed only on beam, bars and floor; and the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sloan was named to the U.S. team after the final selection camp in Houston in July 2008.^[3]

At the 2008 Olympics, Sloan competed in both the qualifying and team final rounds of competition. Her contributions to the team became critical in the qualifying round, where the Americans were forced to put up only four athletes on three events, and count all four scores, due to injuries to Chellsie Memmel and Samantha Peszek. Sloan made small errors on floor and uneven bars but performed well under pressure.^[4] Her all-around scores placed her 11th overall among all competitors.^[5] In the team finals, Sloan competed on vault, contributing a 15.200 score to the American team's silver medal win.^[6][7]

2009[link]

In February 2009, Sloan competed in the Tyson American Cup and placed second to 13-year-old Jordyn Wieber. In August, Sloan competed in the US Nationals and had a shaky preliminary competition. However, her consistency in the finals won her the gold medal in the All-Around, Floor and Uneven Bars.

In October at the 2009 London World Championships, after a shaky preliminary round, Sloan qualified 5th for the all-around and 7th for the uneven bars final. She competed like a champion in the all-around final and won the gold medal over teammate Rebecca Bross by only 0.050. Sloan earned her place in gymnastics history as the fifth American woman to win the World all-around title. In the bars final, she performed a solid routine and placed 6th.

2010[link]

Injuries plagued Bridget throughout the year, greatly limiting her in competitions. An ankle injury early in the year limited her participation in the Pacific Rim Championships to bars. The same injury kept Sloan to the beam at the CoverGirl Classic. A new pectoral injury prevented her from defending her National all-around title. At Nationals she performed two tentative beam routines, one that included a fall, and placed 11th on the apparatus. However, Sloan impressed National Team Coordinator Márta Károlyi with her improvement at the selection camp, and was brought to the World Championships to perform on bars and floor, placing fourth in the bars final.^[8][9][10]

2011[link]

Sloan sat out the majority of the competitive season while recovering from surgery on her bicep. She stated that it is unlikely she would take part in the 2011 National or World Championships in an effort to stay healthy for the 2012 season, her ultimate goal being the 2012 Olympics. ^[11]

Although Sloan did not compete in the 2011 National Championships, she later headed to the Karolyi Ranch in New Waverly, Texas, to participate in both selection camps for the 2011 World Championships team. She was subsequently named to the team for the 2011 Pan American Games.^[12] She competed only on the uneven bars and floor exercise in Guadalajara, and scored in the thirteens on both apparati. She failed to qualify for either of the event finals, even though on uneven bars it was due to the "two [athletes] per country" rule (Bridgette Caquatto and Shawn Johnson both scored higher than her)

College[link]

Sloan has committed to attend the University of Florida, signing her national letter-of-intent with the Gator Gymnastics team.^[13] Sloan will defer enrollment at UF until the 2012 fall semester to allow her to seek her second consecutive spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[14] Sloan will rejoin 2010 World Championship teammate Mackenzie Caquatto on the Florida team.

Competitive history[link]

Senior Career History[link]

Floor music[link]

2008: Araba (Instrumental Version) by Mustafa Sandal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bridget Sloan

• Official Website
• Sloan on Twitter
• Bridget Sloan at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• Bridget Sloan at USA Gymnastics
• Bridget Sloan at the United States Olympic Committee