Gymnastics news on Oksana Chusovitina, Ivana Hong

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Gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has suffered a torn Achilles tendon while competing at a meet in Switzerland.

The 33-year-old athlete won a vaulting silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, where her performance for Germany was celebrated in part because of the contrast between Chusovitina, a mother, and the possibly under-aged Chinese gymnasts.

Chusovitina also was popular in China because she had used her gymnastics earnings to help find medical treatment for her son, who had leukemia.

Meanwhile, Ivana Hong, the 15-year-old who earlier had moved with her mother and siblings from Laguna Hills to Blue Springs, Mo. to train under coach Al Fong has left Fong’s gym.

Hong was a disappointed Beijing Games alternate on the U.S. Olympic team after winning a world team gold medal a year earlier. And, during last summer’s Olympic trials it seemed Hong had lost her spark.

Maybe Hong can regain some of the joy in her sport by changing coaches.

Gymnastics insiders are suggesting Hong might be interested in moving to Des Moines, Iowa to train with Shawn Johnson’s coach Liang Chow. Or maybe she’ll return home and work alongside summer sensation Mattie Larson with coach Galina Marinova at All Olympia Gymnastics Center in Los Angeles.

-- Diane Pucin