In 2009, less than one year after the Olympic Games in Beijing, I began contemplating how to bring to life a second new gymnastics skill of mine. My first “Bhavsar” is on rings, but I had always played around with the Tippelt (existing skill) and wondered if I could do a high bar style release move on parallel bars.
Being an older athlete, I knew my time was short. In the gym I began tinkering with it and eventually had a few successful launches. It was then time to compete it on the world stage. I was assigned to the World Stars meet in Moscow, Russia, that March. Funny thing, was that meet was the first meet of my senior career 10 years ago from 2009. It would now be my last. I couldnt think of a better way to finish my tenure in the sport than by bringing a new skill to the world.
When I got to Russia, I warmed it up in the practice sessions and turned a few heads. One fellow gymnasts came to me and in a Russian accent asked, “is dis new skill….?”
“Yes.” I responded.
“Its nice new skill,” he added. “I will try at home.”
“Please do.”
And with that I successfully competed “The Bhavsar” on parallel bars, ended up sticking the dismount, and winning a silver medal. To this day, it is one of my greatest achievements because it deals with innovation. As athletes we must never be satisfied with the status quo, we must always be looking to push the sport to new levels. The greatest compliment I receive is seeing it done by many athletes around the world, at world championships, and current Olympic Games.
Check out video progressions of the skill below. This first one is the actual p-bar routine in Russia, where I launched the Bhavsar for the first time in competition.
Here is what it looks like in the recent FIG Code of Points (column E)
