Dutch Gymnast Wows With Horizontal Bar Routine
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Dutch gymnast Epke Zonderland’s knockout horizontal bar routine. The gold medal-winning performance has us questioning whether Zonderland is part-man, part-Peter Pan, as he acrobatically twirls through the air. Onlookers and judges — not surprisingly — dropped their jaws as Zonderland performed three back-to-back release maneuvers. What do you think: Best gymnastics routine you’ve seen this summer? BONUS: Must-Follow Athletes on Twitter 2012 Olympics: The Must-Follow Athletes on Twitter 1. Lolo Jones Jones, whose social media success we profiled in May, is the standard bearer for Olympians on Twitter. She’s honest, hilarious, tweets often, and is a world class hurdler for the United States. 2. Kevin Love A member of the American men’s basketball team, Love is one of the NBA’s cleverest players on Twitter. He should be an entertaining follow in London. 3. Usain Bolt Bolt will be one of the Olympics’ biggest stars. The Jamaican sprinter recently told us about his interest in tech and social media. He shares photos often on Twitter. 4. Juan Mata Mata helped Spain to the Euro 2012 title earlier this summer and will look to follow that up with an Olympic championship in August. He tweets in English and Spanish. 5. Caroline Wozniacki The Danish tennis star is engaging on Twitter, frequently posting her training and status updates. Even better, she dates pro golfer Rory Mcilroy — both are terrific follows when the other is competing. 6. Candace Parker The top women’s basketball player in the world suits up for the United States. Parker is active, humorous and down-to-earth on social media. 7. Ricky Berens The American swimmer told us in May that he uses social media to boost his visibility and marketing potential. His lighthearted tweets and frequent interactions with fans on Twitter helped him pick up sponsors like BMW and Got Chocolate Milk. 8. Jordan Burroughs A wrestler for the United States, Burroughs’ frequent updates, enthusiasm and humor have helped him rack up more than 20,000 followers. His handle, @alliseeisgold, is pretty cool too. 9. Dominik Meichtry Meichtry swims for Switzerland and is betrothed to American swimmer Jessica Hardy. He’s enthusiastic about sharing the Olympic experience with followers. 10. Nick Symmonds The American middle-distance runner spoke to us in June. He is super active on Twitter and is an outspoken advocate for Olympians’ rights to market themselves, despite IOC restrictions. 11. LeBron James Perhaps the 2012 Olympics’ biggest celebrity, James won his first NBA title with the Miami Heat in June and will look to follow up in London with his second gold medal. He took time off Twitter during the NBA Playoffs, but will likely be much more active during the summer games. 12. Neymar The soccer prodigy tweets mostly in Portuguese, but should be a fun follow as he tries to lead Brazil to its first Olympic title. 13. Natalie Coughlin An American swimmer, Coughlin is super friendly, funny and accessible on Twitter. 14. Rebecca Adlington In May, it was reported […]