The Good
- The meaningful night 2 leos. Jordan with her theme leo (Baby Celine!!) and Simone's teal "hey USAG you may want to recognize that survivors of the abuse you allowed are still people" leo.
- Speaking of Jordan's Wonder Woman leo, she kept her commitment to the superhero theme in her arms-crossed Wakanda salute/doesn't WW do that too? (I don't watch superhero movies guys) beam choreo
- NBC honored Elena Shushunova
- The solidest nationals in as long as anyone is patient enough to check
- This was just a really strong competition. With so many fewer juniors it seemed like maybe there wouldn't be as awesome a group, but HOO BOY this was a GROUP and I stan all of them. They will all make at least one Worlds team and I don't even care that I'm not connected to reality.
- All the good decisions to rest and protect gymnasts' health (COUGH)
- MORGI WAS STEADY
- LEVI JUNG-RUIVIVAR WAS PRESENT
- I love watching Trin and Marz rewrite the rules about elite and NCAA competition. And the fact that it's Marz doing it is also so great given her role in the national team as the one who speaks up for the athletes.
- Kara and Trin both got included on the national team, honoring actual FIG scoring and not just USAG vault values
- GAGE girls. These girls are on fire.
- Sloane Blakely and Konnor McClain finished in the top five!! These kids are new favorites of mine! (Oh who am I kidding, ALL of these juniors are new favorites of mine. But these two making the top five particularly was great to see.)
- Leanne the national champion
- DANG Sunisa
- I'm not scared watching Riley anymore. (Mostly.)
- I don't care that it failed this time, the attempt at a second Wolfkino was glorious
The Bad
- The fact that the Wolfkino attempt failed. And that Jordan went on to fall on her wolf turn on floor.
- WHY IS RAGAN'S ANKLE STILL SO BUSTED? Why didn't they get surgery? I mean, didn't she have a good amount of time for surgery and recovery? ISN'T HER PHYSICAL HEALTH FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE MORE IMPORTANT?
- Jordan Bowers and Sydney Barros having to bow out of day 2. But still well done making health-conscious decisions.
The Ugly
- That MG Elite corset leo. Or as Spencer put it, the "baby prostitute leos."
- Speaking of MG Elite, Riley's horror dismount. Can we please have her do a double full or front full and swallow the difficulty loss instead of this hellish dismount combo?
Overall, I really enjoyed this competition. So many people did really well and I loved a lot of the gymnastics we saw. Like I said above, I STAN ALL THE JUNIORS. I thought we saw really good form from most of the gymnasts and I also thought the artistry was looking pretty good too. I'm a much bigger fan of Ragan's new floor routine than her previous two. It feels more mature to me and cohesive. I'm also loving watching Morgan perform her new routine. I think the choreography isn't quite as strong as some others, but I really love what an engaged performer she's become. Riley's isn't my favorite, but I don't understand why a lot of people hate it so much. It's fine, in my eyes. I also really enjoyed both the NCAA gymnasts' routines. They were fun and full of verve. The GAGE girls didn't have the most intricate and interesting choreography, but they are so pristine. And GAGE takes me into the juniors and how many of them are so beautiful. I'm really excited about the future of US floor routines. I also think the beam composition was a step up this year. They seemed to move smoothly to me and felt more like a whole than I was used to.
It also seemed to me like this was a more positive atmosphere at this Nationals. The girls were in good form and seemed like they weren't under as much pressure. I hope that's a genuine reflection of the nature of this competition and atmosphere. Let's make a good environment for our athletes.
Also, this is way too late as well, but with me being glad USAG honored Elena Shushunova, I want to highlight one of my favorite floor routines of all time. RIP, Elena.
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