Gymnastics continued today in the Hydro at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Two huge finals were contested today, vault and uneven bars. We were treated to some of the most difficult routines in the world on both events and very, very big gymnastics.
Vault Final
This is a great example of why I love vault finals at smaller meets better than at major internationals. Less crazy sloppy chucked vaults and more simply prettiness! Though there was some insane stuff on display today!
Georgia-Rose Brown got the day started of right with the beautiful vaults. She vaulted an FTY for a very high 14.100. FTYs rarely are able to break the 14.000 barrier. Her second vault was a fairly simple half-on tucked front. She scored a 13.566 to average 13.833 and take seventh place.
Hometown favorite Emma White was second up in the vault final. She began, like Brown, with a very nice FTY. It piked a bit into the ground, but was otherwise nicely executed and scored 13.800. White's second vault was the same as that of Brown's but in a piked position. She tucked her legs too early and was thrust forward. Christine Still said in her commentary that White had landed the vault with her legs locked in the training earlier in the day, which explained her issues. She earned a 13.300 for an average 13.550 and eighth place.
South African great Kirsten Beckett showed very powerful vaults in the final today. She had an amazing 1 1/2 Yurchenko for her first vault. Her only problem was a hop on landing, but it was an otherwise amazing outing, scoring her a 14.366. Her second vault was a Tsuk full which also showed great power for a 13.866. Her 14.116 average was good enough for sixth.
England's Kelley Simm had a very respectable outing on vault today in her first individual final of a major championships. Her first vault was a very powerful DTY, though it was rather sloppy. Her DTY scored 14.633. Simm's second vault was a half-on tuck front half, which she landed a bit low, but was otherwise solid for a score of 13.766, giving her an average of 14.199 for fifth place.
Maegan Chant of Canada placed fourth in the final with both vaults scoring 14.233. She had two very clean vaults but not enough difficulty to put her onto the podium. Her first vault was a handspring front 1/2, which was fairly piked. There was a fair bit of discussion among the commentators about whether it would be credited, which it was. Chant's second vault was a beautiful Tsuk full with only a small hop on landing.
The biggest surprise and the buzz story of today was India's Dipa Karmakar. Karmakar is a hugely powerful gymnast, which is well displayed in her vault work. Her first vault, a Tsuk full, was fairly sloppy. She had a significant leg separation, especially on the block, and also incurred a penalty for out of bounds. She scored a 13.633. However, she matched that vault with her Produnova. I was literally watching through my fingers as she vaulted, expecting a huge crash, when, to everybody's surprise- Karmakar stood her vault up! She likely incurred a deduction for brushing against the landing mat, for she landed in a very deep squat, but she definitely stood it up! Her Produnova earned her a 15.100, the highest score of the final, and earned a bronze medal, India's first in artistic gymnastics.
Elsabeth Black was able to put all prior misfortune behind her today for an amazing vault final. Black had the same first vault as teammate Chant, a handspring front 1/2. It was dead center and almoooost stuck! It was an absolutely beautiful effort. Black saved her more difficult vault, a Tsuk 1 1/2, for second. This time, there was nothing almost about it, she landed in a stick! She tucked her legs slightly coming in for landing and landed fairly deeply, but it was definitely a huge victory! Black scored 14.433 for both vaults to take the silver.
Claudia Fragapane continued her gold streak in her one event final of the day. Fragapane began with bit of a scraggly DTY which incurred a penalty for out of bounds, and on which her feet were flexed. Her DTY earned her a 14.766. Fragapane's second vault was a Lopez. Off the table, Fragapane had a very open layout position. She piked down a bit for the landing, on which she had a hop. The Lopez scored a 14.500 and gave her an average of 14.633.
I love Claudia as much as anybody else, but as much as I would love her to be rolling in gold medals, it was clear she didn't deserve this title. Ellie Black was simply robbed. She put up two textbook vaults of respectable difficulty and had much better landings than Fragapane, who has iffy blocking technique on her Yurchenkos especially and took hops on both of her landings. Black was the best vaulter of the day, and it was obvious.
Uneven Bars Final
Bars showed many very exciting routines with very unique and original combinations. The Brits are some of the best bars workers in the world, and Australia sent a team of many very talented bars workers, so it was quite competitive!
Sadly, the Welsh gymnasts did not see the success and consistency of the team final today. Both gymnasts had very rough outings on the uneven bars today. Lizzie Beddoe was the first gymnast of the final, and her problems began very early in her routine. After her toe-on full, Beddoe had a very well flighted Maloney, but she stalled on her cast out of it which resulted in an empty swing. She then fell on her next move, a Jager salto. Beddoe went on to have a good rest of her routine, and showcased gorgeous lines. Rear Theaker came into this final injured, so many questioned whether she would even participate. It was clear from the beginning of her routine she was not in top form after she stalled on her hop grip change. On an attempt for a Weiler, Theaker fell from the bar. She came back onto the bars for a beautiful Maloney. However, on a clear hip circle, Theaker fell again and chose to end her routine. Theaker was clearly not on top form and working through immense pain, but she put on a gutsy performance and made a wise decision when she saw she couldn't go on.
Ellie Black had a very clean routine today. She began with a clear hip circle into a beautiful Shang release. She had a very nice Jager into Pak down to the low bar. She was off handstand on her giant full, but absolutely PLANTED her Moors dismount, which showed a very good stretched position. I still never quite understand that weird half turn under the bar and how that doesn't kill her score, but it was a great routine otherwise. Black scored a 13.700 and placed fourth.
Kirsten Beckett also had a very clean going of it in finals today, but without much of any difficulty. She began her routine with a nice bail straight into a Ray back to the high bar. She had a giant full which landed beautifully in handstand and then went straight into a HUGE Tkatchev. She finished with a very nice double front dismount. Due to her low difficulty, Beckett scored only a 12.933 and placed in sixth.
Georgia-Rose Brown was once again able to put her difficulties of the past two days behind her and put on a beautiful routine which showcased her gorgeous lines. She brought the original difficulty immediately opening with her gorgeous Maloney+Geinger connection, but caught close with bent elbows. After her toe-on full, Brown executed another flight series with a Jager connected to a bail which hit perfect handstand. From a toe-on 1/2, Brown went straight into a beautiful stuck double front. She was short on handstand for most of her routine, which is where she incurred most of her deductions. Brown scored 13.566 for fifth place.
Ruby Harrold, the final performer of the day, had another of the routines of her life. She had great flight on her Maloney into her Bhardwaj, which she caught well. Then it was back to her Van Leeuwen into Zuchold, which she connected directly into her toe-on full. She had a good Jager, but was over handstand in her cast out. She went into a double front with just one step forward. Harrold had a fair bit of leg separation in her routine, but she hit all of her connections and was very solid. She earned a bronze with a 14.366.
Larrissa Miller of Australia also had unique connections in her routine, and beautiful execution. She had a very unique Ricna into Geinger connection. She had a beautiful toe-on into a Jager, but kipped out of it before her bail. On the high bar, she executed a Stalder full before her full-in dismount. Miller had beautiful lines and lovely execution, and this is definitely a routine that might be seen in the event final come Nanning. She earned the silver with a 14.566.
Becky Downie added a Commonwealth Games title to match hers from Europeans with a 14.666. Her routine opened with the ever-exciting Chow to Hindorff connection. She hit all her connections except for her Ricna into Pak. She went cleanly through the whole slew of releases and transitions very cleanly. Her only significant errors were two small steps on her dismount, but this was definitely unarguably the best routine of the day.
In other parts of the world, two gymnasts pulled out of big upcoming events. Ari Agrapides will no longer be competing in the Secret U.S. Classic this Saturday. According to MG Elite's Facebook, Ari hit her foot on the low bar which created an open cut and fractured her toe. However, word is she will be competing at Championships later in August. Sadly, a major name for the YOG who was expected to be a top contender, Rebeca Andrade will no longer be competing for Brazil and be replaced by Flavia Saraiva. Andrade has broken her toe according to Alexander Alexandrov, and he does not want to risk anything the season before she turns senior. The Netherlands' Wendy de Jong has also withdrawn due to a broken ankle in favor of Isa Maassen.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Commonwealths: All-Around Wrap-Up
England swept the podium at today's all around competition!! Claudia Fragapane was able to repeat her result from yesterday to win the title. She was followed by fellow English competitors Ruby Harrold, who had the bars routine of her life, and Hannah Whelan, who just barely scraped into the medals.
I really enjoyed this format of the competition. The bottom 12 qualifying gymnasts competed an entire round of competition on two events at a time, with the top 12 qualifying gymnasts following in the same manner. I liked how it meant that the competition was twice as long(!!) and we got to see all the bottom qualifiers.
In the first subdivision, both hometown favorite Scots competed, and displayed their on-point music selection! Both had strong competitions. Emma White placed tenth, a great accomplishment for Scotland, and Amy Regan finished her competition in fourteenth. Brittany Robertson of New Zealand also had a great competition, scoring above 11.000 on every event. She finished in a very respectable twelfth. Georgia-Rose Brown's problems on beam and floor came back to haunt her today, but her vault and bars were beautiful and should be a highlight of tomorrow's finals. Her floor was also much improved from yesterday, and her Memmel was gorgeous!
There was plenty of great gymnastics from some of the lesser-known gymnasts as well. Stelutsa Savvidou had a rough start on bars and beam, but pulled it together for the leg events, earning her high score of the day, a 13.733 on her last event, the vault. Claudia Cummings and Bianca Mann of South Africa both had great vault rotations, earning their high scores of the day. Cummings and Mann placed twenty-third and twentieth, respectively. Dipa Karmakar had a great competition today, with a nice beam routine featuring a gainer layout dismount and a great powerful vault. Sadly, she fell and rolled out of her final tumble, a double tuck. The Isle of Mann's Grace Harrison had beautiful elegant floor work. Singapore's Janessa Dai and Heem Wei Lim placed in eighteenth and nineteenth with beautiful beam work, despite errors on the event. Nicole Mawhinney of Northern Ireland had a very pleasant floor routine to "Wild Dances Part 2", placing well at seventeenth.
The second subdivision was a nail-biter, with lots of big gymnastics on display.
Charlotte Sullivan, who wins the competition for the best leo of the day, had a bit of a rough go of it, falling down the rankings to sixteenth. However, she finished the event solidly on vault with her beautiful Yurchenko 1/2. Can more gymnasts do this please? It's such a pretty vault! Kirsten Beckett started off the day wonderfully on vault, but unfortunately fell apart on the other events to place fifteenth. On her final event, floor, her foot caught on the carpet and she was unable to execute the second leap in her series. She was visibly devastated and we hope she can put up some stronger performances in the event finals tomorrow and Friday.
Malaysian princess Farah Ann Abdul Hadi had a day of beautiful gymnastics. She had an unfortunate fall on her tumbling series on beam, but pulled it together for the other tow events. On floor, she put on a beautiful performance, and she had a great FTY which scored a 13.933. She was delighted with herself, and especially her score on vault!
Canadians Isabela Onyshko and Maegan Chant placed seventh and ninth, respectively, after a much better outing than yesterday. Both had errors on bars, where each received her lowest score of the day. However, Onyshko caught her Hindorff today. Chant had a beautiful double layout on floor and handspring front 1/2 on vault.
The gymnasts from Wales proved yesterday was no fluke, and came out with some incredible performances. Both had errors on their third event, floor for Georgina Hockenhull and beam for Elizabeth Beddoe, but proved themselves elsewhere. Hockenhull had a high 13.733 on beam for a beautiful routine with a nice switch leap+Johnson connection. Beddoe had an engaging floor with music from Chicago!
Olivia Vivian placed an exciting fifth today, but what really made her stand out was her sparkling attitude! Vivian was constantly addressing the camera between rotations to send out messages to her fans and family and dancing on the floor. Her vault was a bit piked, but the rest of her work was amazing! The standout was her gorgeous beam which should be a model for everyone's in terms of choreography.
Ellie Black had a rough go of it today. Black started out strong with a great Tsuk 1 1/2 and hit bars set (though I still don't get how she doesn't get a huge deduction for that half turn under the low bar). Beam got the best of her, though. After nailing the double spin which got the best of her yesterday, she fell on her BHS+tuck full connection. Floor was also a hard one for her. After a beautiful double layout, Black put her hands down on her double pike and stumbled forward on her double tuck. It's so frustrating, she has such an artistic routine with the most creative tumbling in the world and it's gotten to her both days! However, as she's qualified to all event finals, Black has the chance to redeem herself the next to days. Best of luck to her!
Hannah Whelan was able to capitalize on rough rotations today and earn the bronze. She had a bit of an error on her double pike bars dismount, but held it together in the beam rotation when everyone else fell apart. She hit her Onodi which she erred on yesterday and added a second layout after her aerial. She put everything she had into her floor routine to earn a 13.500 and the bronze by less than .7.
Ruby Harrold had a very strong performance today. She earned the high vault score of the day, a 14.800 for her powerful DTY. Getting past the mistakes of Monday, Harrold caught her Bhardwaj perfectly and put together the best routine on the event of her career. She hit all her connections and had some of the best execution she's had. A routine like that tomorrow could definitely earn her a medal! Ruby sadly fell on her punch front on beam but earned the silver after an amazing floor routine. England should be looking forward to their floor rotation in the team final in Nanning!
Claudia Fragapane to the gold no one would have thought she was anything close to a contender for before this competition. Fragapane took the gold with a 56.132, enough to place in the top ten at Worlds last year in Antwerp! Fragapane had her usual powerful DTY to start the competition. She was able to complete a secure bars routine with none of the problems from Monday. She had a fall on beam on her BHS+layout to two feet connection, but was otherwise solid. Fragapane's final event was her best, her astounding floor. She hit all her tumbling runs out of the park as well as her incredibly exciting breakdance. Her third run was her double Arabian, which so wonderfully is not cowboyed!! Fragapane has really made a name for herself this year in every competition in which she has taken place. This title definitely affirms her stardom and proves she will be an asset to Team GB at Worlds this year!
I really enjoyed this format of the competition. The bottom 12 qualifying gymnasts competed an entire round of competition on two events at a time, with the top 12 qualifying gymnasts following in the same manner. I liked how it meant that the competition was twice as long(!!) and we got to see all the bottom qualifiers.
In the first subdivision, both hometown favorite Scots competed, and displayed their on-point music selection! Both had strong competitions. Emma White placed tenth, a great accomplishment for Scotland, and Amy Regan finished her competition in fourteenth. Brittany Robertson of New Zealand also had a great competition, scoring above 11.000 on every event. She finished in a very respectable twelfth. Georgia-Rose Brown's problems on beam and floor came back to haunt her today, but her vault and bars were beautiful and should be a highlight of tomorrow's finals. Her floor was also much improved from yesterday, and her Memmel was gorgeous!
There was plenty of great gymnastics from some of the lesser-known gymnasts as well. Stelutsa Savvidou had a rough start on bars and beam, but pulled it together for the leg events, earning her high score of the day, a 13.733 on her last event, the vault. Claudia Cummings and Bianca Mann of South Africa both had great vault rotations, earning their high scores of the day. Cummings and Mann placed twenty-third and twentieth, respectively. Dipa Karmakar had a great competition today, with a nice beam routine featuring a gainer layout dismount and a great powerful vault. Sadly, she fell and rolled out of her final tumble, a double tuck. The Isle of Mann's Grace Harrison had beautiful elegant floor work. Singapore's Janessa Dai and Heem Wei Lim placed in eighteenth and nineteenth with beautiful beam work, despite errors on the event. Nicole Mawhinney of Northern Ireland had a very pleasant floor routine to "Wild Dances Part 2", placing well at seventeenth.
The second subdivision was a nail-biter, with lots of big gymnastics on display.
Charlotte Sullivan, who wins the competition for the best leo of the day, had a bit of a rough go of it, falling down the rankings to sixteenth. However, she finished the event solidly on vault with her beautiful Yurchenko 1/2. Can more gymnasts do this please? It's such a pretty vault! Kirsten Beckett started off the day wonderfully on vault, but unfortunately fell apart on the other events to place fifteenth. On her final event, floor, her foot caught on the carpet and she was unable to execute the second leap in her series. She was visibly devastated and we hope she can put up some stronger performances in the event finals tomorrow and Friday.
Malaysian princess Farah Ann Abdul Hadi had a day of beautiful gymnastics. She had an unfortunate fall on her tumbling series on beam, but pulled it together for the other tow events. On floor, she put on a beautiful performance, and she had a great FTY which scored a 13.933. She was delighted with herself, and especially her score on vault!
Canadians Isabela Onyshko and Maegan Chant placed seventh and ninth, respectively, after a much better outing than yesterday. Both had errors on bars, where each received her lowest score of the day. However, Onyshko caught her Hindorff today. Chant had a beautiful double layout on floor and handspring front 1/2 on vault.
The gymnasts from Wales proved yesterday was no fluke, and came out with some incredible performances. Both had errors on their third event, floor for Georgina Hockenhull and beam for Elizabeth Beddoe, but proved themselves elsewhere. Hockenhull had a high 13.733 on beam for a beautiful routine with a nice switch leap+Johnson connection. Beddoe had an engaging floor with music from Chicago!
Olivia Vivian placed an exciting fifth today, but what really made her stand out was her sparkling attitude! Vivian was constantly addressing the camera between rotations to send out messages to her fans and family and dancing on the floor. Her vault was a bit piked, but the rest of her work was amazing! The standout was her gorgeous beam which should be a model for everyone's in terms of choreography.
Ellie Black had a rough go of it today. Black started out strong with a great Tsuk 1 1/2 and hit bars set (though I still don't get how she doesn't get a huge deduction for that half turn under the low bar). Beam got the best of her, though. After nailing the double spin which got the best of her yesterday, she fell on her BHS+tuck full connection. Floor was also a hard one for her. After a beautiful double layout, Black put her hands down on her double pike and stumbled forward on her double tuck. It's so frustrating, she has such an artistic routine with the most creative tumbling in the world and it's gotten to her both days! However, as she's qualified to all event finals, Black has the chance to redeem herself the next to days. Best of luck to her!
Hannah Whelan was able to capitalize on rough rotations today and earn the bronze. She had a bit of an error on her double pike bars dismount, but held it together in the beam rotation when everyone else fell apart. She hit her Onodi which she erred on yesterday and added a second layout after her aerial. She put everything she had into her floor routine to earn a 13.500 and the bronze by less than .7.
Ruby Harrold had a very strong performance today. She earned the high vault score of the day, a 14.800 for her powerful DTY. Getting past the mistakes of Monday, Harrold caught her Bhardwaj perfectly and put together the best routine on the event of her career. She hit all her connections and had some of the best execution she's had. A routine like that tomorrow could definitely earn her a medal! Ruby sadly fell on her punch front on beam but earned the silver after an amazing floor routine. England should be looking forward to their floor rotation in the team final in Nanning!
Claudia Fragapane to the gold no one would have thought she was anything close to a contender for before this competition. Fragapane took the gold with a 56.132, enough to place in the top ten at Worlds last year in Antwerp! Fragapane had her usual powerful DTY to start the competition. She was able to complete a secure bars routine with none of the problems from Monday. She had a fall on beam on her BHS+layout to two feet connection, but was otherwise solid. Fragapane's final event was her best, her astounding floor. She hit all her tumbling runs out of the park as well as her incredibly exciting breakdance. Her third run was her double Arabian, which so wonderfully is not cowboyed!! Fragapane has really made a name for herself this year in every competition in which she has taken place. This title definitely affirms her stardom and proves she will be an asset to Team GB at Worlds this year!
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Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Commonwealths: Gymnastics Day 2 Wrap-Up
We were treated once again to some very exciting gymnastics at the Hydro this morning! The team final results were totally unexpected, with Wales taking home the bronze! Wales definitely raised their profile yesterday, but few expected them not to be overtaken by Canada! England won the title by almost 6 points, with Australia, Wales, and Canada came in places 2-4, just over 2 points apart. This is very exciting news for British gymnastics, because it shows that they are developing depth outside of England.
Canada was not able to pull it together after their disastrous first two rotations yesterday. They counted several falls on beam and were not able to put up the routines they are capable of on floor. Yesterday's rock, Ellie Black, had some errors, the biggest being a fall on her double turn on beam. Black was able to pull it together for floor, but had two low landings on her double pike and double tuck, both done in connection. However, it was great to see her 2 1/2 twist into 2 twist upgraded to a 2 1/2 into double pike. When will FIG get their heads on straight and make this a .3 CV!
Wales put on a magnificent performance! Wales has qualified four gymnasts- Elizabeth Beddoe, Rear Theaker, Georgina Hockenhull, and Jessica Hogg- into seven spots in four finals. Two Welsh gymnasts will be in the bars, beam, and all around finals and Wales will be represented by one gymnast in the floor final. No one- including the gymnasts- expected this success, and it was a wonderful surprise!
Australia was not as steady as yesterday, but did well to take home the silver. It was an unfortunate day for Georgia-Rose Brown, who made errors on both pieces, but she will have the chance to redeem herself in tomorrow's all around and Thursday's vault and uneven bars finals. Lauren Mitchell did well to qualify into both beam and floor finals despite a large step on her beam dismount. She made an inquiry on her beam score which was slightly confusing to some, seeing as it wouldn't have made a difference to the team standings or her own personal beam qualification, but it was accepted. Mary-Anne Monckton also did well on beam to just qualify in eighth.
England was the clear leader and no one could argue their win. Beam was bit of a shaky rotation with Becky Downie falling (she appeared to have some ankle or heel discomfort) and scary moments from both Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan. After floor got off to a rocky start with Kelley Simm falling, Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan both put on solid routines with great performance quality. The highlight routines of the day, however, belonged to Claudia Fragapane, who proved herself a clutch performer putting on incredible routines as the anchor on both events. She has qualified first into the all around final, where she has now made herself into a favorite for a medal, perhaps even the title itself, and into vault, beam(?), and floor finals. British gymnastics should be very pleased with Fragapane and her potential for the team!
In other news, Kirsten Beckett has qualified for all around, vault, bars, and floor finals! Great job for her and South Africa! Also, Malaysian angel Farah Ann Abdul Hadi qualified into the all around final! Georgia-Rose Brown and Isabela Onyshko both changed their floor music. I was sad about both, because I loved Brown's Nessun Dorma, and I thought Onyshko's routine was in some ways nicer than Moors's to the same music.
I was quite annoyed with the BBC commentary in the final subdivision. They seemed a bit to eager for Canada to make major mistakes in favor of Wales.
Let the all around final begin!!
Canada was not able to pull it together after their disastrous first two rotations yesterday. They counted several falls on beam and were not able to put up the routines they are capable of on floor. Yesterday's rock, Ellie Black, had some errors, the biggest being a fall on her double turn on beam. Black was able to pull it together for floor, but had two low landings on her double pike and double tuck, both done in connection. However, it was great to see her 2 1/2 twist into 2 twist upgraded to a 2 1/2 into double pike. When will FIG get their heads on straight and make this a .3 CV!
Wales put on a magnificent performance! Wales has qualified four gymnasts- Elizabeth Beddoe, Rear Theaker, Georgina Hockenhull, and Jessica Hogg- into seven spots in four finals. Two Welsh gymnasts will be in the bars, beam, and all around finals and Wales will be represented by one gymnast in the floor final. No one- including the gymnasts- expected this success, and it was a wonderful surprise!
Australia was not as steady as yesterday, but did well to take home the silver. It was an unfortunate day for Georgia-Rose Brown, who made errors on both pieces, but she will have the chance to redeem herself in tomorrow's all around and Thursday's vault and uneven bars finals. Lauren Mitchell did well to qualify into both beam and floor finals despite a large step on her beam dismount. She made an inquiry on her beam score which was slightly confusing to some, seeing as it wouldn't have made a difference to the team standings or her own personal beam qualification, but it was accepted. Mary-Anne Monckton also did well on beam to just qualify in eighth.
England was the clear leader and no one could argue their win. Beam was bit of a shaky rotation with Becky Downie falling (she appeared to have some ankle or heel discomfort) and scary moments from both Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan. After floor got off to a rocky start with Kelley Simm falling, Ruby Harrold and Hannah Whelan both put on solid routines with great performance quality. The highlight routines of the day, however, belonged to Claudia Fragapane, who proved herself a clutch performer putting on incredible routines as the anchor on both events. She has qualified first into the all around final, where she has now made herself into a favorite for a medal, perhaps even the title itself, and into vault, beam(?), and floor finals. British gymnastics should be very pleased with Fragapane and her potential for the team!
In other news, Kirsten Beckett has qualified for all around, vault, bars, and floor finals! Great job for her and South Africa! Also, Malaysian angel Farah Ann Abdul Hadi qualified into the all around final! Georgia-Rose Brown and Isabela Onyshko both changed their floor music. I was sad about both, because I loved Brown's Nessun Dorma, and I thought Onyshko's routine was in some ways nicer than Moors's to the same music.
I was quite annoyed with the BBC commentary in the final subdivision. They seemed a bit to eager for Canada to make major mistakes in favor of Wales.
Let the all around final begin!!
Monday, July 28, 2014
Commonwealths: Gymnastics Day 1 Wrap-up (Plus Team Japan)
The Gymternet posted the qualifiers to vault and bars EFs. Gymnastike also has the full score sheet, but organized by team standings.
I was only able to watch the last three subdivisions, but there was quite a bit to be amazed by in just those three rounds! I am now in love with Malaysian gymnastics and add Mackenzie Slee to my list of favorites!
The big news is that Canada is currently in fourth behind Wales after having to count an FTY on vault and a disastrous bars rotation. Replacing Victoria Moors sure looks like a good decision now!! In other news, Becky Downie is also only competing bars and beam. Word is she didn't have as much training time as she was studying for finals, so she decided to focus only on the two events.
Australia was definitely the most solid team of the day. They were the on team to really rock bars, with gymnasts qualifying in 2-4, but Olivia Vivian will miss out on the final due to the 2-per-country rule. England had an uncharacteristically weak bars rotation. Both Claudia Fragapane and Hannah Whelan had shaky routines while Ruby Harrold had an unusually large error, Nastia's-Pak-at-2012-Visa's-ing her Bhardwaj. However, Ruby was able to muscle through it without hitting the ground and still scored a 13.400 and made the final. We will hope for a solid routine there, myself especially as it's my personal favorite! However, with their superior difficulty on vault- where Kelly Simm proved herself well- England is still in the lead ahead of Australia.
Canada's fourth-place position at the midway point was certainly a huge upset. I do believe they will be able to overtake Wales tomorrow, seeing as Ellie Black has a killer beam routine and floor is the team's strongest event, but I do think a silver is now out of the question for them now barring an implosion from Australia. Moors's removal is looking a bit suspect now, or at least the official reasoning for it. Bars was a mess anyway with only one score over 13, and certainly her DTY, full-in dismount on beam, and big floor would be welcome score-boosters for the team? If it really was because of unreadiness, which was evident at selection, why was she selected anyway? Anyway, enough speculation.
With Downie now out of the all around race, the title is basically Black's to win or lose. Though she's currently in fourth, she still has her two best events to come. The others in medal contention are Georgia Rose-Brown and fellow Englishwomen Fragapane and Harrold.
Let's get ready for beam and floor tomorrow!
Across the world, Japan has followed in their trend of naming a Worlds team before the US elite season has even started. Yu Minobe, Asuka Teramoto, Mai Murakami, Natsumi Sasada (she of the layout full beam mount!!), Inoue Wakana, and Hiraiwa Yuna will be making the trip to Nanning this October.
I was only able to watch the last three subdivisions, but there was quite a bit to be amazed by in just those three rounds! I am now in love with Malaysian gymnastics and add Mackenzie Slee to my list of favorites!
The big news is that Canada is currently in fourth behind Wales after having to count an FTY on vault and a disastrous bars rotation. Replacing Victoria Moors sure looks like a good decision now!! In other news, Becky Downie is also only competing bars and beam. Word is she didn't have as much training time as she was studying for finals, so she decided to focus only on the two events.
Australia was definitely the most solid team of the day. They were the on team to really rock bars, with gymnasts qualifying in 2-4, but Olivia Vivian will miss out on the final due to the 2-per-country rule. England had an uncharacteristically weak bars rotation. Both Claudia Fragapane and Hannah Whelan had shaky routines while Ruby Harrold had an unusually large error, Nastia's-Pak-at-2012-Visa's-ing her Bhardwaj. However, Ruby was able to muscle through it without hitting the ground and still scored a 13.400 and made the final. We will hope for a solid routine there, myself especially as it's my personal favorite! However, with their superior difficulty on vault- where Kelly Simm proved herself well- England is still in the lead ahead of Australia.
Canada's fourth-place position at the midway point was certainly a huge upset. I do believe they will be able to overtake Wales tomorrow, seeing as Ellie Black has a killer beam routine and floor is the team's strongest event, but I do think a silver is now out of the question for them now barring an implosion from Australia. Moors's removal is looking a bit suspect now, or at least the official reasoning for it. Bars was a mess anyway with only one score over 13, and certainly her DTY, full-in dismount on beam, and big floor would be welcome score-boosters for the team? If it really was because of unreadiness, which was evident at selection, why was she selected anyway? Anyway, enough speculation.
With Downie now out of the all around race, the title is basically Black's to win or lose. Though she's currently in fourth, she still has her two best events to come. The others in medal contention are Georgia Rose-Brown and fellow Englishwomen Fragapane and Harrold.
Let's get ready for beam and floor tomorrow!
Across the world, Japan has followed in their trend of naming a Worlds team before the US elite season has even started. Yu Minobe, Asuka Teramoto, Mai Murakami, Natsumi Sasada (she of the layout full beam mount!!), Inoue Wakana, and Hiraiwa Yuna will be making the trip to Nanning this October.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Commonwealths Predictions
Tomorrow, the artistic gymnastics competition of the Commonwealth Games will finally be upon us! Qualification rounds will begin with all teams and individual gymnasts competing on vault and bars, with beam and floor qualifications on Tuesday. The qualification round also serves as the team competition. The all around final (which is 3-per-country!!!) takes place Wednesday, vault and bars finals Thursday, and beam and floor finals on Friday.
The last Commonwealth Games took place ridiculously soon before the World Championships, so most teams sent maybe one or two of their A team. In Glasgow, however, England, Australia, and Canada are all bringing their big names.
Rebecca Tunney was not named to the Commonwealths team due to an elbow procedure. Victoria Moors was recently pulled from the Canadian team to be replaced by Victoria-Kayen Woo. Word is Moors is not injured.
Team
1. England
2. Canada
3. Australia
With Rebecca Tunney out, I was thinking Canada might have had a chance at taking the title, but now Victoria Moors's absence pretty much cements this in England's favor. Team Australia, which elected to make a bit of a risky move and stack its team with specialists, may be able to steal the silver, but I think Canada is the superior team.
All Around
1. Becky Downie
2. Ellie Black
3. Georgia-Rose Brown
The bronze was pretty much a shot in the dark, and honestly my favor for her is what made me go with Brown. I would not be at all surprised if I was incorrect, in fact, I'd probably be more surprised if Brown took the medal, but I'm sure she'll be competing in the AA and pretty much at a loss for everyone else. Unless Downie implodes, she's pretty firmly the favorite. Ellie Black is the only other serious AA contender.
Vault
1. Ellie Black
2. Claudia Fragapane
3. Maegan Chant
Ellie Black is easily the favorite to take the title, adding to her 2014 collection with the Pac Rims gold. I think Claudia Fragapane's superior difficulty should be able to put her into silver position. The bronze is definitely between Chant and New Zealand's Courtney McGregor. I think Chant's precision should put her into the medals, but McGregor beat Chant at Pac Rims this year.
Uneven Bars
1. Becky Downie
2. Ruby Harrold
3. Larrissa Miller
England is totally dominant on bars. Downie is fresh off her recent Euros win on the event and had a breathtaking routine, both in its difficulty and execution. Harrold is actually Britain's #3 UB gymnast right now behind Downie and Tunney, but with Tunney out, it's Harrold in. Harrold's routine contains two stunning transition combinations. Miller is Australia's reigning UB champion and a 2012 Olympian.
Balance Beam
1. Ellie Black
2. Becky Downie
3. Lauren Mitchell
Black has a 6.6 difficulty beam which qualified first into the Pac Rims finals with a 15.000. However, she has also displayed inconsistency on this particular event. Downie has displayed strong consistency on this event so far this year and scored in the low- to mid-14s at Europeans. Mitchell comes into this competition with the most prestige, being the reigning Commonwealths champion and 2010 World silver medalist. She has a potential 6.6 difficulty and has scored in the mid-15s at home in Australia.
Floor Exercise
1. Claudia Fragapane
2. Lauren Mitchell
3. Isabela Onyshko
Fragapane's floor took the gymternet by storm earlier this year at Europeans. It qualified second into the finals and has some great break dancing in the choreography! The silver and bronze positions will be a fight between Mitchell, Onyshko, and potentially Black. Mitchell made her debut in Doha this year, as did Onyshko, where they came 4th and 3rd, respectively. Though Moors's absence takes some of the excitement out of this final (as well as the potentially awkward situation of having two teammates use the same music), it should still be a good fight!
Let the gymnastics begin!!
The last Commonwealth Games took place ridiculously soon before the World Championships, so most teams sent maybe one or two of their A team. In Glasgow, however, England, Australia, and Canada are all bringing their big names.
Rebecca Tunney was not named to the Commonwealths team due to an elbow procedure. Victoria Moors was recently pulled from the Canadian team to be replaced by Victoria-Kayen Woo. Word is Moors is not injured.
Team
1. England
2. Canada
3. Australia
With Rebecca Tunney out, I was thinking Canada might have had a chance at taking the title, but now Victoria Moors's absence pretty much cements this in England's favor. Team Australia, which elected to make a bit of a risky move and stack its team with specialists, may be able to steal the silver, but I think Canada is the superior team.
All Around
1. Becky Downie
2. Ellie Black
3. Georgia-Rose Brown
The bronze was pretty much a shot in the dark, and honestly my favor for her is what made me go with Brown. I would not be at all surprised if I was incorrect, in fact, I'd probably be more surprised if Brown took the medal, but I'm sure she'll be competing in the AA and pretty much at a loss for everyone else. Unless Downie implodes, she's pretty firmly the favorite. Ellie Black is the only other serious AA contender.
Vault
1. Ellie Black
2. Claudia Fragapane
3. Maegan Chant
Ellie Black is easily the favorite to take the title, adding to her 2014 collection with the Pac Rims gold. I think Claudia Fragapane's superior difficulty should be able to put her into silver position. The bronze is definitely between Chant and New Zealand's Courtney McGregor. I think Chant's precision should put her into the medals, but McGregor beat Chant at Pac Rims this year.
Uneven Bars
1. Becky Downie
2. Ruby Harrold
3. Larrissa Miller
England is totally dominant on bars. Downie is fresh off her recent Euros win on the event and had a breathtaking routine, both in its difficulty and execution. Harrold is actually Britain's #3 UB gymnast right now behind Downie and Tunney, but with Tunney out, it's Harrold in. Harrold's routine contains two stunning transition combinations. Miller is Australia's reigning UB champion and a 2012 Olympian.
Balance Beam
1. Ellie Black
2. Becky Downie
3. Lauren Mitchell
Black has a 6.6 difficulty beam which qualified first into the Pac Rims finals with a 15.000. However, she has also displayed inconsistency on this particular event. Downie has displayed strong consistency on this event so far this year and scored in the low- to mid-14s at Europeans. Mitchell comes into this competition with the most prestige, being the reigning Commonwealths champion and 2010 World silver medalist. She has a potential 6.6 difficulty and has scored in the mid-15s at home in Australia.
Floor Exercise
1. Claudia Fragapane
2. Lauren Mitchell
3. Isabela Onyshko
Fragapane's floor took the gymternet by storm earlier this year at Europeans. It qualified second into the finals and has some great break dancing in the choreography! The silver and bronze positions will be a fight between Mitchell, Onyshko, and potentially Black. Mitchell made her debut in Doha this year, as did Onyshko, where they came 4th and 3rd, respectively. Though Moors's absence takes some of the excitement out of this final (as well as the potentially awkward situation of having two teammates use the same music), it should still be a good fight!
Let the gymnastics begin!!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Bailie Key Withdraws from Classics
The big news regarding this year's Classics is that Bailie Key will not attend! She is out due to a "minor arm procedure."
On the one hand, this is unfortunate news, because Bailie is easily the best of the American juniors. On the other hand, this could provide for valuable experience for some of out other juniors who now suddenly find themselves in contention for a medal, or even the title, when they might not have before. This provides for a higher pressure meet for up and coming juniors.
With Bailie now out of the running, the main contenders are considered Nia Dennis and Norah Flately. Nia and Norah have come in second and third, respectively, in the all-around at both this year's Jesolo and Pac Rims. Nia has had a history of some inconsistency, and it should be good experience for her to have to compete for a title with another gymnast hot on her heels. Other gymnasts who may benefit from Key's absence include Ragan Smith, Emily Gaskins, and Jordan Chiles. The fight for medals suddenly got a whole lot more interesting!
Best wishes to Bailie for a speedy recovery and that she is back again for Nationals!
On the one hand, this is unfortunate news, because Bailie is easily the best of the American juniors. On the other hand, this could provide for valuable experience for some of out other juniors who now suddenly find themselves in contention for a medal, or even the title, when they might not have before. This provides for a higher pressure meet for up and coming juniors.
With Bailie now out of the running, the main contenders are considered Nia Dennis and Norah Flately. Nia and Norah have come in second and third, respectively, in the all-around at both this year's Jesolo and Pac Rims. Nia has had a history of some inconsistency, and it should be good experience for her to have to compete for a title with another gymnast hot on her heels. Other gymnasts who may benefit from Key's absence include Ragan Smith, Emily Gaskins, and Jordan Chiles. The fight for medals suddenly got a whole lot more interesting!
Best wishes to Bailie for a speedy recovery and that she is back again for Nationals!
Monday, July 21, 2014
Classics Guide
The beginning to the US elite season, the Secret US Classic, is almost upon us! Some of these gymnasts we have yet to see in 2014, and there are lots of big names. Classics is traditionally an unsteady meet for lots of gymnasts who use it as a testing ground for upgrades for the season. This year, there are just SO MANY juniors that nine- including Bailie Key, Nia Dennis, Norah Flately, Emily Gaskins, and Ragan Smith- will compete in the senior session! Sadly, Laurie's out with a new knee injury. So, here's who to watch, where to watch them, and the burning questions we will seek to answer on the second!
Juniors
Bailie Key: Obviously the junior with the biggest hype, and for great reason! Famously won every competition she entered last year and is set to achieve the same this year. One of the best beam workers in the world. The super exciting thing about Bailie is that everything she does looks incredibly easy. Tons of upgrade potential! Not to be missed ANYWHERE! Her routines are those to be re-watched on the USAG YouTube channel over and over again.
Questions to be answered: By how much will she win the junior title? Will we see the double layout and/or Dos Santos I we saw in her training videos?
Nia Dennis: Like Bailie, Nia is in her last year as a junior. Has beautiful work everywhere. Her DTY is among the best of the junior ranks. The air she gets on her releases rivals that Gabby got. She has the best standing Arabian on beam- ever! She also has gorgeous tumbling on floor and engaging choreography. The one thing that mars her performances is inconsistency. Not to be missed on vault and bars!
Questions to be answered: Can she keep it all together mentally? If she does, how close can she make this competition? Will she upgrade that double pike bars dismount?
Alexis Vasquez: Alexis is a junior from Chow's. She turns senior next year. She stands out from her teammates for having a nice block and her FTY is much better than teammate Norah's. Her beam is beautiful, and has a beautiful scale! She has nice bars work, but her routine is fairly simple and she had a meltdown on the event at last years Nationals, scoring only an 8.6. We will hope to see her with renewed confidence and fulfill her potential this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she still be competing an FTY with her imminent senior career? How well can she place on beam?
Norah Flately: Norah is another Chow's student. She has placed third in the all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy and Pac Rims this year. She is known for her incredibly difficult and solid beam, the event on which I believe she is the best in the world. She also does lots of el-grip work on the uneven bars, showing a ton of potential for the future. She also has a gorgeous straight double layout. Her weak spot is vault, where her block keeps her work on that event from matching her other events. Not to be missed on beam especially, it will be one of the routines of the night! Her floor is one to watch as well.
Questions to be answered: Will any seniors be able to touch her beam score?
Emily Gaskins: Emily is the bright new star of CGA. She began in ballet, but switched after she saw gymnastics. Her background gives her gorgeous carriage and choreography. Her video from camp displayed a DTY, upgrading her vault from last year. Her floor made waves last year for it's wonderful balletic style and technique. Bars can be a weak spot for her, with problems with handstands. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she have a new floor routine? If she does, will her style remain intact in its pure form? With a DTY, could she topple Norah in the all-around?
Ragan Smith: Ragan recently transferred from Northwind gymnastics to mega gym Texas Dreams. Based on the camp footage we see (I'm not a Gymnastike Gold member, so I don't know what she looked like in Jesolo) the change was great for her! Her bars have made huge improvements and she showed nice stalder work. Last year she had a super-duper cute floor routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz." She shows great potential to have a strong senior career. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her standings improve after the gym change?
Christina Desiderio: Christina, a 2000-born, is a great new face for Parkettes. Unlike recent Parkettes prodigy Ebee Price, she has a weakness on vault. Her bars also leave a lot to be desired, but she has a gorgeous Tkatchev. Beam and floor is where her potential can be most clearly seen. Christina has the goods for a successful senior career, it all just has to come together. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: How well can she do on beam?
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf: Sydney is famously daughter to former US gymnastics great Brandy Johnson. She is known for being a firecracker performer and really drawing in the crowd. The performance events are where she really shines. She was known for saying vault hurt her feet because she was so small! Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Have her bars improved at all?
Jordan Chiles: Jordan is a 2001 born, and as such, is not eligible for the Rio Olympics. She does, however, have difficult and stylish gymnastics. She has the potential to be a strong all-arounder, but lots of concern has been expressed regarding burnout. She showed huge upgrades at camp, including a 3 1/2 twist. She made the vault final at Jesolo this year. Not to be missed on vault and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she actually show the crazy upgrades from her camp video? If she does, will she survive them without major injury?
Delanie Harkness: Delanie also is not age-eligible for Rio. Delanie comes from Twistars, the gym which gave us Jordyn Wieber. She took home the junior all-around, bars, and floor titles from JO Nationals this year. Her bars routine currently contains a standing transition, which will need to be changed for elite. She could definitely be part of a bright future for USAG! Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her bars be now she has to change them for the elite Code? How will she be able to place on bars?
Shilese Jones: Another youngling, Shilese made a name for herself at JO Nationals after she performed the 1 1/2 twisting double tuck. This skill is super exciting and has yet to be included in to elite Code. Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her new skill on floor help her on that event?
Seniors
Simone Biles: Simone is the reigning World all-around and floor champion, and so comes into this competition the odds-on favorite. She has, however, been struggling with her shoulder this year, and word is her bars will be less difficult than those from last year. Her vaults are unbelievable and she is stellar on floor. If she hits, no one can touch her. Not to be missed ANYWHERE!
Questions to be answered: Will her shoulder affect her performances? How strong is she heading into Worlds this year?
Kyla Ross: Kyla is known for her clean, precise gymnastics which lacks the difficulty of her competitors. She was a triple silver medalist at Worlds last year and is the nation's best bars and beam gymnast. Kyla had a back injury earlier this year which forced her to downgrade and caused her to be a bit sluggish earlier this year. In the private training video posted in May, a toe-on was seen directly connected out of her Pak. Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will her difficulty be back to last year's level? Will she be able to hold onto a second-place spot? Will that toe-on amount to anything?
Brenna Dowell: Brenna earned attention last year when she debuted a new Tweddle in her bars routine, which she has now connected to an Ezhova! A new floor could be seen for her in the camp videos, and a change from "Sabre Dance" will be one welcome to many. She has an Amanar on vault and an awesome pike double front on floor. Beam is her vice, and she scored in the low 13s at American Cup this year. Not to be missed on vault, bars, and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she be able to be strong enough on vault and bars to make a strong statement for herself in the running to Worlds? Can she get her beam together?
Peyton Ernst: Peyton is a strong all-arounder with talent on bars and beam. She has beautiful back flexibility which she displays in her floor. Peyton really doesn't have a weak event. She has a layout which may not be credited on beam. She has very elegant gymnastics and performs everything with ease. Peyton was last year's Classics beam champion. Not to be missed on bars and especially beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she make a strong enough showing on bars and beam to make a statement for Worlds selection?
Mykayla Skinner: Mykayla is known for her highly daring gymnastics though she often sacrifices execution. However, she has made great strides in this regard. She performs the very difficult Amanar and Cheng vaults and a laid out double-double. Bars and beam can cause big difficulties for her, however. If she can put it all together, she can definitely be in the top three in the all-around. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: How good will her block on vault be? Will she stay on bars and beam?
Madison Kocian: Madison makes her name among the American seniors for her strong bars set. She won the event earlier this year at Jesolo. She also has nice beam work, but can be dogged by inconsistency. Word from camp is that she has beaten Kyla earlier this year, but Brenna also beat Simone and Kyla last year, so who knows what that means. Not to be missed on bars!
Questions to be answered: If Kyla comes with her inbar stalders back, will Madison be able to take the the title ahead of her?
Alyssa Baumann: Alyssa is considered a contender for the Worlds team this year due to her strong beam, where the US has weakness this year. She won the silver on the event Jesolo this year. Alyssa also has a strong floor which could potentially take the first spot on the event in the team final. Alyssa came from nowhere last year to be in strong running this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she win the beam title? Can she have a strong enough showing on floor to make a case for the first TF floor spot?
Lexie Priessman: Lexie caused a stir earlier this month by leaving longtime gym CGA to train at Perfection Gymnastics. We last saw Lexie at Classics last year, and she was taken out of Nationals running due to injury. Lexie is known for powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but also having slightly messy form. She had an Amanar as a junior, which she competed in Jesolo last year but not Classics. Her floor last year exhibited both a full twisting double layout and a double-double. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: What will Lexie display on vault? How has the gym change influenced her gymnastics? Can she make a strong statement for Worlds selection?
Amelia Hunley: Lexie's longtime teammate at CGA, Amelia is finally a senior this year after having been on the junior level for seemingly ever! Amelia also displays powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but without the big-name skills of Lexie. She also has a very strong bars set, the event on which she won the National title last year. Beam is her weakest event, but she can score in the 14s when she hits. Not to be missed on bars and floor!
Questions to be answered: Despite her strong potential and talent, will Meals be left behind in the pool of talent? How will her bars fare against the likes of Kocian?
Maddie Desch: Maddie came in second in the all-around at the 2012 Nationals as a junior, but had a lackluster first senior year in 2013. In January, her camp video displayed many upgrades, such as a whip+double Arabian+stag pass and a Downie! At Jesolo, she came in last of the Americans who competed all four events, making several costly errors. She displayed her Arabian combo, but not the Downie. If she cleaned up, she could be scoring significantly higher. Not to be missed on floor, and her bars may be interesting!
Questions to be answered: Can she put together a solid performance and up her all-around standings? Can she put herself in Worlds contention?
Felicia Hano: Felicia made a gym switch earlier this year to Gym-Max. This makes her performance at Classics rather interesting. Last year at Nationals, Felicia had a terrible go of it on bars day 2 and had to pull out of the rest of her performances. She also has a new floor this year choreographed by Dominic Zito. Felicia displayed a strong DTY last year. Not to be missed on vault!
Questions to be answered: How has her gym change influenced her gymnastics?
Maggie Nichols: Maggie Nichols was a first year senior last year. Maggie was on the Jesolo team and came in third in the all-around. Maggie also competed in this year's Tokyo Cup. In her May camp video, Maggie displayed some very exciting upgrades, including a Seitz on bars and a Grigoras on beam. Her floor also displays a double layout. Not to be missed on floor, but an eye should be kept open for her upgrades!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her upgrades from her camp video? Will they help her move up the standings and possibly help her Worlds chances?
Nica Hults: Nica has been a gymternet favorite for years, and is finally a senior this year! Nica is hunting for a bars and beam spot on the Worlds team this year. She can show inconsistency, somewhat surprisingly usually on bars rather than beam. On vault, she's not capable of high difficulty.Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she put up a strong performance on bars?
Rachel Gowey: I intentionally kept this Chow's pupil for last. Rachel made her international debut earlier this year at Jesolo and will be making her national debut at Classics! Rachel is the wildcard of the team without a doubt. At Jesolo, Gowey had some problems in her performances but was able to place fifth in the all-around. What makes her a real possible dark horse is what we saw in her camp video. Rachel had huge upgrades, including an Amanar and 3 1/2 twist on floor (however, these particular upgrades I would rather not see on a competition surface). If Rachel hits in the US season, all Worlds predictions go straight out the window. Rachel has the potential to really shake things up this year! An eye should be kept out for her everywhere!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her camp upgrades? Will her knees survive if she does? What the heck will she do to Worlds contention?
Juniors
Bailie Key: Obviously the junior with the biggest hype, and for great reason! Famously won every competition she entered last year and is set to achieve the same this year. One of the best beam workers in the world. The super exciting thing about Bailie is that everything she does looks incredibly easy. Tons of upgrade potential! Not to be missed ANYWHERE! Her routines are those to be re-watched on the USAG YouTube channel over and over again.
Questions to be answered: By how much will she win the junior title? Will we see the double layout and/or Dos Santos I we saw in her training videos?
Nia Dennis: Like Bailie, Nia is in her last year as a junior. Has beautiful work everywhere. Her DTY is among the best of the junior ranks. The air she gets on her releases rivals that Gabby got. She has the best standing Arabian on beam- ever! She also has gorgeous tumbling on floor and engaging choreography. The one thing that mars her performances is inconsistency. Not to be missed on vault and bars!
Questions to be answered: Can she keep it all together mentally? If she does, how close can she make this competition? Will she upgrade that double pike bars dismount?
Alexis Vasquez: Alexis is a junior from Chow's. She turns senior next year. She stands out from her teammates for having a nice block and her FTY is much better than teammate Norah's. Her beam is beautiful, and has a beautiful scale! She has nice bars work, but her routine is fairly simple and she had a meltdown on the event at last years Nationals, scoring only an 8.6. We will hope to see her with renewed confidence and fulfill her potential this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she still be competing an FTY with her imminent senior career? How well can she place on beam?
Norah Flately: Norah is another Chow's student. She has placed third in the all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy and Pac Rims this year. She is known for her incredibly difficult and solid beam, the event on which I believe she is the best in the world. She also does lots of el-grip work on the uneven bars, showing a ton of potential for the future. She also has a gorgeous straight double layout. Her weak spot is vault, where her block keeps her work on that event from matching her other events. Not to be missed on beam especially, it will be one of the routines of the night! Her floor is one to watch as well.
Questions to be answered: Will any seniors be able to touch her beam score?
Emily Gaskins: Emily is the bright new star of CGA. She began in ballet, but switched after she saw gymnastics. Her background gives her gorgeous carriage and choreography. Her video from camp displayed a DTY, upgrading her vault from last year. Her floor made waves last year for it's wonderful balletic style and technique. Bars can be a weak spot for her, with problems with handstands. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she have a new floor routine? If she does, will her style remain intact in its pure form? With a DTY, could she topple Norah in the all-around?
Ragan Smith: Ragan recently transferred from Northwind gymnastics to mega gym Texas Dreams. Based on the camp footage we see (I'm not a Gymnastike Gold member, so I don't know what she looked like in Jesolo) the change was great for her! Her bars have made huge improvements and she showed nice stalder work. Last year she had a super-duper cute floor routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz." She shows great potential to have a strong senior career. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her standings improve after the gym change?
Christina Desiderio: Christina, a 2000-born, is a great new face for Parkettes. Unlike recent Parkettes prodigy Ebee Price, she has a weakness on vault. Her bars also leave a lot to be desired, but she has a gorgeous Tkatchev. Beam and floor is where her potential can be most clearly seen. Christina has the goods for a successful senior career, it all just has to come together. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: How well can she do on beam?
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf: Sydney is famously daughter to former US gymnastics great Brandy Johnson. She is known for being a firecracker performer and really drawing in the crowd. The performance events are where she really shines. She was known for saying vault hurt her feet because she was so small! Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Have her bars improved at all?
Jordan Chiles: Jordan is a 2001 born, and as such, is not eligible for the Rio Olympics. She does, however, have difficult and stylish gymnastics. She has the potential to be a strong all-arounder, but lots of concern has been expressed regarding burnout. She showed huge upgrades at camp, including a 3 1/2 twist. She made the vault final at Jesolo this year. Not to be missed on vault and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she actually show the crazy upgrades from her camp video? If she does, will she survive them without major injury?
Delanie Harkness: Delanie also is not age-eligible for Rio. Delanie comes from Twistars, the gym which gave us Jordyn Wieber. She took home the junior all-around, bars, and floor titles from JO Nationals this year. Her bars routine currently contains a standing transition, which will need to be changed for elite. She could definitely be part of a bright future for USAG! Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her bars be now she has to change them for the elite Code? How will she be able to place on bars?
Shilese Jones: Another youngling, Shilese made a name for herself at JO Nationals after she performed the 1 1/2 twisting double tuck. This skill is super exciting and has yet to be included in to elite Code. Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her new skill on floor help her on that event?
Seniors
Simone Biles: Simone is the reigning World all-around and floor champion, and so comes into this competition the odds-on favorite. She has, however, been struggling with her shoulder this year, and word is her bars will be less difficult than those from last year. Her vaults are unbelievable and she is stellar on floor. If she hits, no one can touch her. Not to be missed ANYWHERE!
Questions to be answered: Will her shoulder affect her performances? How strong is she heading into Worlds this year?
Kyla Ross: Kyla is known for her clean, precise gymnastics which lacks the difficulty of her competitors. She was a triple silver medalist at Worlds last year and is the nation's best bars and beam gymnast. Kyla had a back injury earlier this year which forced her to downgrade and caused her to be a bit sluggish earlier this year. In the private training video posted in May, a toe-on was seen directly connected out of her Pak. Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will her difficulty be back to last year's level? Will she be able to hold onto a second-place spot? Will that toe-on amount to anything?
Brenna Dowell: Brenna earned attention last year when she debuted a new Tweddle in her bars routine, which she has now connected to an Ezhova! A new floor could be seen for her in the camp videos, and a change from "Sabre Dance" will be one welcome to many. She has an Amanar on vault and an awesome pike double front on floor. Beam is her vice, and she scored in the low 13s at American Cup this year. Not to be missed on vault, bars, and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she be able to be strong enough on vault and bars to make a strong statement for herself in the running to Worlds? Can she get her beam together?
Peyton Ernst: Peyton is a strong all-arounder with talent on bars and beam. She has beautiful back flexibility which she displays in her floor. Peyton really doesn't have a weak event. She has a layout which may not be credited on beam. She has very elegant gymnastics and performs everything with ease. Peyton was last year's Classics beam champion. Not to be missed on bars and especially beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she make a strong enough showing on bars and beam to make a statement for Worlds selection?
Mykayla Skinner: Mykayla is known for her highly daring gymnastics though she often sacrifices execution. However, she has made great strides in this regard. She performs the very difficult Amanar and Cheng vaults and a laid out double-double. Bars and beam can cause big difficulties for her, however. If she can put it all together, she can definitely be in the top three in the all-around. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: How good will her block on vault be? Will she stay on bars and beam?
Madison Kocian: Madison makes her name among the American seniors for her strong bars set. She won the event earlier this year at Jesolo. She also has nice beam work, but can be dogged by inconsistency. Word from camp is that she has beaten Kyla earlier this year, but Brenna also beat Simone and Kyla last year, so who knows what that means. Not to be missed on bars!
Questions to be answered: If Kyla comes with her inbar stalders back, will Madison be able to take the the title ahead of her?
Alyssa Baumann: Alyssa is considered a contender for the Worlds team this year due to her strong beam, where the US has weakness this year. She won the silver on the event Jesolo this year. Alyssa also has a strong floor which could potentially take the first spot on the event in the team final. Alyssa came from nowhere last year to be in strong running this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she win the beam title? Can she have a strong enough showing on floor to make a case for the first TF floor spot?
Lexie Priessman: Lexie caused a stir earlier this month by leaving longtime gym CGA to train at Perfection Gymnastics. We last saw Lexie at Classics last year, and she was taken out of Nationals running due to injury. Lexie is known for powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but also having slightly messy form. She had an Amanar as a junior, which she competed in Jesolo last year but not Classics. Her floor last year exhibited both a full twisting double layout and a double-double. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: What will Lexie display on vault? How has the gym change influenced her gymnastics? Can she make a strong statement for Worlds selection?
Amelia Hunley: Lexie's longtime teammate at CGA, Amelia is finally a senior this year after having been on the junior level for seemingly ever! Amelia also displays powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but without the big-name skills of Lexie. She also has a very strong bars set, the event on which she won the National title last year. Beam is her weakest event, but she can score in the 14s when she hits. Not to be missed on bars and floor!
Questions to be answered: Despite her strong potential and talent, will Meals be left behind in the pool of talent? How will her bars fare against the likes of Kocian?
Maddie Desch: Maddie came in second in the all-around at the 2012 Nationals as a junior, but had a lackluster first senior year in 2013. In January, her camp video displayed many upgrades, such as a whip+double Arabian+stag pass and a Downie! At Jesolo, she came in last of the Americans who competed all four events, making several costly errors. She displayed her Arabian combo, but not the Downie. If she cleaned up, she could be scoring significantly higher. Not to be missed on floor, and her bars may be interesting!
Questions to be answered: Can she put together a solid performance and up her all-around standings? Can she put herself in Worlds contention?
Felicia Hano: Felicia made a gym switch earlier this year to Gym-Max. This makes her performance at Classics rather interesting. Last year at Nationals, Felicia had a terrible go of it on bars day 2 and had to pull out of the rest of her performances. She also has a new floor this year choreographed by Dominic Zito. Felicia displayed a strong DTY last year. Not to be missed on vault!
Questions to be answered: How has her gym change influenced her gymnastics?
Maggie Nichols: Maggie Nichols was a first year senior last year. Maggie was on the Jesolo team and came in third in the all-around. Maggie also competed in this year's Tokyo Cup. In her May camp video, Maggie displayed some very exciting upgrades, including a Seitz on bars and a Grigoras on beam. Her floor also displays a double layout. Not to be missed on floor, but an eye should be kept open for her upgrades!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her upgrades from her camp video? Will they help her move up the standings and possibly help her Worlds chances?
Nica Hults: Nica has been a gymternet favorite for years, and is finally a senior this year! Nica is hunting for a bars and beam spot on the Worlds team this year. She can show inconsistency, somewhat surprisingly usually on bars rather than beam. On vault, she's not capable of high difficulty.Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she put up a strong performance on bars?
Rachel Gowey: I intentionally kept this Chow's pupil for last. Rachel made her international debut earlier this year at Jesolo and will be making her national debut at Classics! Rachel is the wildcard of the team without a doubt. At Jesolo, Gowey had some problems in her performances but was able to place fifth in the all-around. What makes her a real possible dark horse is what we saw in her camp video. Rachel had huge upgrades, including an Amanar and 3 1/2 twist on floor (however, these particular upgrades I would rather not see on a competition surface). If Rachel hits in the US season, all Worlds predictions go straight out the window. Rachel has the potential to really shake things up this year! An eye should be kept out for her everywhere!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her camp upgrades? Will her knees survive if she does? What the heck will she do to Worlds contention?
Hello and Blogger Survey
Hi anyone who may come along! Welcome to Modern Gymnastics Musings! I'm mainly looking for an outlet for all my thoughts on gymnastics, especially including my musings about the COP and how to improve gymnastics for the future, but also including team predictions, competition reviews, etc. I'm not a gymnast, my only experience being the most basic rec classes possibly in existence which weren't even held in conjunction with a gym and were set up in my school's cafeteria. However, I love the sport. I might make an occasional RG post, but I haven't watched much RG since the new Code was released and the sport went to pot.
As a "get to know me" type thing, I decided to do a quick survey of my "favorites" in gymnastics:
Favorite gymnast: Chellsie Memmel
Favorite currently competing gymnast: Kyla Ross
Favorite gymnast from outside Big Four: Oksana Chusovitina (she's competed more not for the USSR than she did for it)
Favorite team: Yep, the US. Being patriotic. I also love GB, Canada, China, Brazil (have you seen their juniors!?), and basically everyone else.
Favorite event to watch: Beam. Under the current Code, bars.
Favorite vault: Yang Yun 2000 Olympic TF
Favorite close-bars routine: Nellie Kim 1980 Olympic EF
Favorite wide-bars routine: Ruby Harrold 2013 Worlds Q
Favorite beam routine: Li Li 1993 Worlds AA
Favorite floor routine: Oh, gosh- I'll go with Ksenia Afanasyeva 2012 Olympic Q
Favorite leo:
I'll go with this one. Love the blue and red. Other favorites include the Pikachu leo and Ferrari's red one. I'm totally down with the shoulder cutouts.
Bonus RG- Favorite rhythmic gymnast: Irina Tchachina
So, welcome!
As a "get to know me" type thing, I decided to do a quick survey of my "favorites" in gymnastics:
Favorite gymnast: Chellsie Memmel
Favorite currently competing gymnast: Kyla Ross
Favorite gymnast from outside Big Four: Oksana Chusovitina (she's competed more not for the USSR than she did for it)
Favorite team: Yep, the US. Being patriotic. I also love GB, Canada, China, Brazil (have you seen their juniors!?), and basically everyone else.
Favorite event to watch: Beam. Under the current Code, bars.
Favorite vault: Yang Yun 2000 Olympic TF
Favorite close-bars routine: Nellie Kim 1980 Olympic EF
Favorite wide-bars routine: Ruby Harrold 2013 Worlds Q
Favorite beam routine: Li Li 1993 Worlds AA
Favorite floor routine: Oh, gosh- I'll go with Ksenia Afanasyeva 2012 Olympic Q
Favorite leo:
 |
| source: intlgymnast.com |
I'll go with this one. Love the blue and red. Other favorites include the Pikachu leo and Ferrari's red one. I'm totally down with the shoulder cutouts.
Bonus RG- Favorite rhythmic gymnast: Irina Tchachina
So, welcome!
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