Danny Rodrigues - Impossible is Nothing

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Above is an excellent video clip showcasing French Olympian Danny Rodrigues, the first athlete in history to compete what many considered an impossible strength element on the still rings; the Victorian. In fact he is so incredibly strong, that he has two variations of the Victorian in his routine. Be prepared for a little drama in the middle of the clip.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I have huge admiration for anybody that has the guts, drive and strength to mix things up in their sport and make people question what is possible or where the limits are. On the rings, I guess this means the Victorian. I remember seeing the other competitors faces when Danny does the Victorian, they are just as amazed as we are! Hats off to the guy for raising the bar.

By the way, there is also a good "Impossible is nothing" video with Diego Hypólito. I don't want to change the subject but here's the link if anyone's interested.

I'll show off my ignorance. What is the Victorian?

Demond Thompson said:

I'll show off my ignorance. What is the Victorian?

See 57 seconds into the video. Its like a maltese but you are chest towards the sky!

The ring mount at 2:15 is really, really cool! Also, the fact that he can actually press out of/into the Victorian is absolutely amazing. 8)

Simply awesome. Thank you for sharing this, Coach: the link will go out to our people today—inspiration is exactly what's needed today.

Wow, that is quite impressive!

Unbelievable!!!

Thank you for the post, that is an incredibly well executed Victorian.

Is this the first Victorian cross competed ever, or in the olympics?

Bohdan

Well, he still has bent arms and a bit of a pike in his body position.. plus torso is either a bit high or the legs are a bit too low.

but he is the closest and being close still requires absurd strength so not to take away from it or anything. I'd love ot see him get a perfect body position hold though with straight arms.

Aren't the two other guys who are doing this much bigger than Danny? I know one was Peter Derman who is 5'5 145 but Rodrigues is 5'3 126.

I did notice the bent arms and slight pike but decided to wait it out till you called him on it. There is also the false grip which without would make the victorian impossible. It's also possibly one of the reasons for the slight bent arms.

Peter Derman's attempted Victorian, is not even remotely as clean as that of Rodriquez. In fact, the video clips I have seen of his attempts are so marginal that only in a lightly judged NCAA competition would it even be given credit.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I see that his ( Derman's ) shoulders are higher than rings with feet lower and hips piked to about 15 degrees possibly. I can't make out his arms in the one video I looked at. Wouldn't that be a 2 or 3 10ths deduction even if he got credit?

If his hips were not piked, the angle of his body out of alignment would be greater than 45 degrees; which alone is cause for non-recognition of skill. In addition each of those (improper alignment, pike hips) are a separate deductions. All deductions are now .1, .3, .5; there are no longer individual .2 deductions. Although the judges may certainly combine two .1 deductions.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Blairbob said:

Aren't the two other guys who are doing this much bigger than Danny? I know one was Peter Derman who is 5'5 145 but Rodrigues is 5'3 126.

I did notice the bent arms and slight pike but decided to wait it out till you called him on it. There is also the false grip which without would make the victorian impossible. It's also possibly one of the reasons for the slight bent arms.

I've noticed Danny's build is not like the other ring specialist.

Is he built differently because of the victorian training?

Small guy probably tries to stay as small as possible which makes Victorian easier.

The best Victorian ever made, was on European Championship 2009 by the Danny. Only the first one, the second one was not that good.

Danny is somwhere near the Gelder's height. But as you may know in gymnastics is important relative strength and not maximal!

Coach Sommer said:

Peter Derman's attempted Victorian, is not even remotely as clean as that of Rodriquez. In fact, the video clips I have seen of his attempts are so marginal that only in a lightly judged NCAA competition would it even be given credit.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Guard Young pulled one off

Guard is a friend of mine and I can assure you that he never did a victorian. That photo is not showing a victorian, but simply a transition between strength elements.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer