Favorite Routines of the Quad: Floor

Laurie Hernandez 2013 P&Gs Day 2

Remember when they didn't choreograph facial expressions into Laurie's routines and just let it come naturally? Remember when this was the routine everyone was talking about? Ah, good times.

Louise McColgan 2013 National Championships

This has to be some of the most creative choreography I've seen. It was wonderfully fun and playful for a little espoir gymnast, but it was still mature and unique. I could watch this routine every day and not grow tired of it.

Giulia Steingruber 2014 Europeans EF

Giulia's leaps are just works of art. She flies on them unlike anyone else. I just love the intensity of this routine.

Catherine Lyons 2014 Europeans EF

The modern dance masterpiece. She had any number of strong performances of this routine, but the way she got up from the floor before her third tumbling pass in this one really made this one stand out to me. This routine just flows so effortlessly, it doesn't have that separation of skills and performance you so often see.

Yesenia Ferrera 2014 Pan Am Championships EF

The tumbling in this routine was fab. It's a shame she disappeared the way she did, she was a brilliant gymnast. The choreography in this routine isn't super complex, but it was super enjoyable all the same.

Ruby Harrold 2014 Worlds Qualifications

I love the avant garde style of this routine. Ruby just works so well with the percussive music. I also really like the selection of tumbling- it has all the different styles of skills I like to see. It's just such a unique routine performed so well.

Celine van Gerner 2015 WOGA Classic

My favorite Dutch routine of the quad. It's just such a powerful music and presentation. I love the bit after her double L spin, it's just so well done. The tension in this routine is just fabulous.

Ellie Black 2015 Pan Ams EF

When it comes to gymnastics, one of the things I am most thankful for is Ellie Black's wonderfully unique and original tumbling. I'm also a sucker for combination tumbling passes, and so all of Ellie's tumbling passes being combinations is just like Christmas for me. Her choreography is also just so well done and beautiful.

Kyla Ross 2015 Jesolo PT

Yes, it's a cop out to use a podium training routine. But in this case, can you really blame me? It's just so beautiful, and after her crazy issue in competition, she never did it like this again...

Lisa Verschueren 2015 European Games EF

This routine is everything I never knew I needed. It's just so off-the-wall. I love Belgium on floor, their MO seems to be "let's win the prize for kookiness" and I can't get enough.

Giulia Steingruber 2015 Europeans EF

As always with Giulia, the tumbling and leaps are beautiful. This is just such a great modern routine, and her performance is so effortless. It's just so watchable.

Claudia Fragapane 2015 Europeans EF

I like out-of-the-box routines, in case you can't tell. Her choreography is just so different and cool. Her tumbling isn't pristine, but you can't deny it's exciting. Her DLO to wolf should by rights be hideous, but somehow I end up loving that connection. And that back spin to finish!

Bailie Key 2015 Secret Classic

This did not seem to be a terribly popular choreography, but this is my favorite floor routine of the quad. I like the swimming part! I don't know, maybe it's just Bailie's lack of expression, but she seems almost to be mocking the audience, and maybe I'm just weird, but I love when routines do that. And the tumbling's not shabby either. It was just such a different direction to go with Bailie, and I love it!

Marine Brevet, 2015 Worlds Qualification

First of all, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is one of my favorite floor music selections. Add to that a lovely DLO, great passionate choreography, and that ending pose, and bam, this routine is amazing.

Favorite Routines of the Quad: Vault

Dipa Karmakar, 2014 Commonwealth Games, Event Final Vault 2

Yes, this vault is rather terrifying, and possesses none of the qualities of a vault you would usually find in a list like this of mine. But like I said in my favorite vaults post, I was more in the moment when watching this vault than in pretty much any other piece of gymnastics in history, so it will always be in my heart.

Ellie Black, 2014 Commonwealth Games, Event Final Vault 2

She just appears to be floating in this vault, especially in the landing.

Bailie Key, 2014 Pac Rims, Team/AA Final

Just beautiful form throughout, and such a light, upright, stuck landing. Too bad she had to get injured, 2014 Bailie was just such a wonderful gymnast.

Hong Un Jong, 2014 Worlds, Event Final Vault 1

When she competed through 2013, her vaults were so helicopter-ish, but since 2014 she has just been the floatiest of floaty vaulters (okay, maybe not the most ultimately floaty vaulter, but very floaty nonetheless). Her Amanar went from a storm center to effortless.

Simone Biles, 2015 P&Gs Day 1, Vault 1

Why this scored lower than day 2, we'll never know. But regardless, about as perfect as any gymnastics has ever been.

Rebeca Andrade, 2016 Olympics

Just look at that wonderful Amanar.

Giulia Steingruber, 2016 European Championships, Qualifications Vault 1

Such an utterly effortless Rudi. She just flies on this vault.

Zsofia Kovacs, 2016 European Championships, Qualifications Vault 1

Also known as the DTY so leisurely I couldn't tell she twisted twice.

Rant/USA depth analysis

So, I saw some idiot saying that the US doesn't really have depth right now, and because I'm irritable like that, I decided to do a little combination rant/analysis post to prove 'em wrong.

And because some idiot also recently submitted a confession to GFC saying the US was putting all of its eggs in one basket with Simone, let's start by talking about how there are still near limitless options with her gone. Without Simone, there are still Gabby, Aly, Maggie, Laurie, Ragan, Maddie, Ashton, Brenna, and Mykayla at the top, and then Alyssa, Bailie, Rachel, and Meals (she killed it at Classics and VT/UB workers are well suited to the team and her floor is awesome and I'll totally get all Hagrid don't-insult-Albus-Dumbledore-in-front-of-me when it comes to Meals) on the outside as well. That's 13 totally viable options to choose from. And a combination of options that would make picking out of a hat a viable option for a gold-contending team.

To prove my point, I had a little fun with a random generator and here are the five gymnasts I got: Aly, Bailie, Alyssa, Brenna, Rachel
VT: (Bailie) Alyssa, Brenna, Aly
UB: (Aly) Bailie, Rachel, Brenna
BB: (Rachel) Bailie, Aly, Alyssa
FX: (Alyssa) Bailie, Brenna, Aly
This team is definitely not close to as strong as the one that will be named assuming some plague doesn't befall the team or VRod doesn't hire the Russian mafia to Tanya Harding everyone, and China would definitely be narrowing in on it, but it would still be in the hunt for the top prize.

Too easy? Of course. Alright, let's constrain the team only to gymnasts who turned senior this quad, so not only eliminating Gabby and Aly, but also Brenna and Mykayla. So that leaves Maggie, Laurie, Ragan, Maddie, Ashton, Alyssa, Bailie, Rachel, and Meals.
I'd pick a team of Maggie, Laurie, Ragan, Maddie, and Alyssa
VT: Alyssa/Ragan, Laurie, Maggie
UB: (Ragan) Maggie, Laurie, Maddie
BB: (Maggie) Alyssa, Laurie, Ragan
FX: (Alyssa) Laurie, Ragan, Maggie
And this one is stronger than my random generator team (not that surprising, really), so again, strong contenders for gold.

Still too easy? Maggie and Laurie carried that last team- let's get rid of them too. So now the group is reduced to Ragan, Maddie, Ashton, Alyssa, Bailie, Rachel, and Meals.
So the team I'd pick now is Ragan, Alyssa, Bailie, Maddie, and Meals
VT: Alyssa/Bailie/Ragan, Alyssa/Bailie/Ragan, Meals
UB: (Ragan) Bailie, Meals, Maddie
BB: (Meals) Bailie, Alyssa, Ragan
FX: (Alyssa) Bailie, Meals, Ragan
Still four strong lineups, still expected to medal, still potential for gold.

So name me another team where you could constrain selection to only gymnasts who turned seniors this quad and THEN cut out the top three remaining AAers and still have a team that would be considered as much a lock for a medal as a team can ever be in this sport.

China:
Alright, so out goes Shang Chunsong, Tan Jiaxin, Liu Tingting, Wang Yan, and Mao Yi.
The team: Chen Siyi, Fan Yilin, Huang Huidan, Zhu Xiaofang, Liu Jinru
VT: Zhu Xiaofang, Liu Jinru, Chen Siyi
UB: Zhu Xiofang, Huang Huidan, Fan Yilin
BB: Zhu Xiaofang, Huang Huidan, Fan Yilin
FX: Zhu Xiaofang, Chen Siyi, Liu Jinru
Bars is still great, and beam is fine enough, but they're stuck with an FTY on vault and floor is once again a weakness.

Russia:
For the Russian we-expect-80%-of-our-team-to-be-repeat-Olympians Federation, out go Aliya, Vika, Afan, Maria Bee Farm, Angelina Melnikova, Seda Tutkhalyan, and Maria Kharenkova.
The team: Natalia Kapitonova, Evgenia Shelgunova, Daria Skrypnik, Anastasia Dmitrieva, Daria Spiridonova
VT: Shelgunova, Skrypnik, Dmitrieva
UB: Skrypnik, Kapitonova, Spiridonova
BB: Spiridonova/Kapitonova, Skrypnik, Shelgunova
FX: Kapitonova, Dmitrieva, Shelgunova
Three DTYs for them and the bars lineup is still killer, but relying on Spiridonova, Kapitonova, or Skrypnik on beam is never a good idea and Shelgunova has been very up and down there this year as well, so who knows how many would stay on. Floor also has three okay routines, but is lacking any standout and would be outstripped pretty easily.

Even with these ridiculous eleventh plague of the Exodus plague on the gymnasts constraints, China and Russia would still be able to put together pretty good teams that would acquit themselves well, but with Brazil and GB mounting fierce offensives, both of them would have stiff competition for a place on the podium. But compare them to the US plague on the gymnasts team, who would still be a practical shoe-in for a medal and could mount a good offensive for gold, and it's ridiculously obvious that the US does, in fact, lead the world in depth.

How do you solve a problem like America?

Not because the US is in bad shape at all. Because they're just so good. How the heck is a decision supposed to come together? The US is in the enviable position of not having a bad choice. Any combination of gymnasts going to the Worlds selection camp would stroll away with the gold. Martha is not needed this year- the US could just draw names out of a hat. But of course, this is Martha we're talking about, and there will be a long series of observations and calculations before coming to a decision. Ultimately, there are two strategies most people seem to be speculating: take all the top five AAers with a sixth member who may or may not be used, or maximize total medal haul since the team gold is fairly well in the bag.

In terms of the first strategy, I don't think it makes sense to have the sixth member compete in qualifications if all five of the top AAers are brought. It just doesn't make sense to bring Gabby, Bailie, or Maggie if she weren't to compete all around in qualification, and while Aly is the gymnast whose strengths would most suit competing as a specialist in qualification (especially if the standard strategy of bringing a bar worker for the sixth member is utilized), she makes the least sense to drop from the AA lineup, in my opinion. If the accepted strategy of bringing a bars specialist happens, it would also make no sense for Gabby or Bailie to drop bars, and Maggie makes the least sense to bring if she's not going to compete AA, in my opinion. However, I would rank Aly as more important than Maggie to compete AA, and if a bars specialist is going to compete, one of those two would be the choice to drop bars. In terms of this strategy, it just makes more sense to me for the sixth member not to compete. For this strategy, the team I would pick: Simone, Aly, Gabby, Maggie, Bailie, Maddie K, alternate Mykayla Skinner. I think this is probably the most likely scenario.

However, I have more sympathy with the second strategy. The US will have a strong second AAer regardless, and with the order changing every time they compete, putting them all up in qualification still won't meant that the gymnast competing in the final is the one who would score the highest that day. The US is head and shoulders above the rest in the team, any second AAer would be likely to finish with a medal, and even make it a 1-2 finish (especially with these rumors Aliya might not compete), and so it would seem that bringing home the most medals possible would make sense as a top priority. And ultimately, why bring Maddie Kocian to Worlds just to have her not compete her bars routine, but it still wouldn't make sense to bring all the top five AAers and cut one out of the AA. To pick gymnasts for this strategy, we need to look at the "open" EF spots. On floor, Simone and Aly pretty much have the two spots on lockdown. They have their names on the beam spots as well, though I think Aly could be kicked out of her spot. On vault, there's only Simone. On bars, Gabby I think would probably be able to scrape in, but she also might not if the US puts up a bars specialist. On vault, Mykayla is the only one who could step into the second spot, and she has a nice history of scoring better on vault internationally than domestically. She also has a killer floor which likely wouldn't make the final but could be a great addition to the TF lineup. However, she did also tie with Bailie at P&Gs, so that makes her floor less of a commodity. Maddie and Ashton would both be gunning for a UB final spot and could compete for a medal, but I don't see both on the team this year. Maddie has won domestically, though I think Ashton might be more favored internationally. If she can add upgrades into her routine for camp, that might set her over Maddie. However, we know Martha likes AAers. But, there are already lots of AAers who can fill in wherever. For beam, I think Alyssa Baumann has a good shot of beating Aly, as does Kyla if she competes like she did day 2. If Kyla can get her routines together for camp (PLEASE), she could definitely have an edge for her combination of bars and beam, which Alyssa can't provide. I do think beam will be the hardest place for a specialist to make it, though.
Of course, for this strategy to go through, not all of the top five AAers can go. Aly is set for the team, I'd say. Her floor is medal-worthy, she has an Amanar, she hits for the team, I'd pick her for the second AAer, and her experience and leadership is highly valuable. The other three become more tricky. Gabby has bars (Bailie was very lucky to get the bronze with her error night two, I'd say), but she'd be a second pick everywhere else. She has proven that she can stay on beam now, but she was fairly tentative both nights. Her vault is good but she doesn't have the Amanar, and her turns that count toward her D score on floor aren't always solid. Bailie might have gotten lucky to come in third on bars, but they are strong. Her scores are comparable to Gabby's there and she could have more sway with her total AA set. Her floor can be a top routine, and her beam can be stronger than Gabby's. However, if Mykayla goes Bailie's floor would be less valuable and her beam composition (the layout especially) is dragging her down and can cause hiccups for her. And then there's Maggie. She has an Amanar, though that's the only event where she'd really be gunning for top position. However, she has good utility player advantages. Her beam especially could prove to be useful in a team final setting. Her floor also has the potential to be usable, though Bailie has the upper hand of the top AAers, and Mykayla does of the specialists. I think I'd say that Maggie makes more sense than Bailie. She has an Amanar, her bars aren't as good but they're usable, and I trust her more on beam. Bailie is stronger on floor, but if Mykayla goes, her floor wouldn't be necessary. And then there's Gabby. Somehow, it seems much easier to compare Maggie and Bailie than to trow Gabby in the mix. Her bars are strong, but I'm not sure where else she'd be used. If she'd only be used on bars in the TF, Maddie and Ashton might as well both go and have Maddie do AA in qualification. Actually, I think that might make more sense to me.

So, the team I'd pick (but which I doubt Martha will): Simone, Aly, Maggie, Maddie K, Ashton, Mykayla, Bailie/Gabby alternate (dang, what an alternate!)
VT: Maggie, Mykayla, Simone (quals: Maddie, Aly)
UB: Maggie, Maddie, Ashton (quals: Aly, Simone)
BB: Maggie, Aly, Simone (quals: Maddie, Mykayla)
FX: Mykayla, Aly, Simone (qals: Maddie, Maggie)

Six is starting to feel like an awfully small number.

Classics Wrap-Up

The Good

• SABRINA'S BACK!!!!!
• Dang Maggie
• The comebacks!
• Christina came in second on floor and stayed on beam!!!!
• Laurie is back
• Gabby Perea had awesome bars and beam
• Three juniors had standing fulls!
• THE PATTERSON
• Gabby's being consistent on beam?
• Simone's new floor is wonderful
• Kyla upgraded?!?!
• And is doing a Chow (I've wanted her to do that for so long!!)
• And a Bhardwaj
• Bailie got a new floor
• Texas Dreams in general took risks on floor
• Ragan came in second!
• Morgan Hurd has gorgeous bars! Such an improvement on last year!
• Simone has one balance check on beam and that was her only big error anywhere?!
• All the gymnasts on the podium scored over 60

The Bad

• Jazzy has new floor music. Bah, loved the Jesolo music.
• Laurie needs better variety in her bars composition
• No Marissa Oakley!
• Aly missed the Dos Santos punch front!
• Kyla fell twice on bars- what???
• CHRISTINA FELL ON BARS!!!! NO!!!!
• Brenna fell on her Van Leeuwen
• I was really excited for Alyssa Baumann's floor after podium training and then it was unremarkable in competition

The Ugly

• Skinner still vaulting off one hand
• Jordan Chiles WHY IS SHE DOING AN AMANAR?
• What my sobbing will be when the Rio and Tokyo teams are announced THERE ARE TOO MANY AMAZING GYMNASTS!

Trends I don't understand that need to die

Elsa the Ice Queen leotards with light blue fabric and nude mesh: Laurie and Jazzy were preparing to be Gators with that leo and imitating some of their worst. This was only among the juniors- I was going to say Mykayla improved her fashion sense but then I remembered she turned up in metallic pepto pink.
Archery choreography: Bailie was the only one with it here but I've seen it elsewhere and it should not be a thing anymore.
Choreographed facial expressions in floor routines: It's especially bad when they're given to the most expressive and magnetic gymnasts (like, say, Laurie and SJS, maybe?). Expression is important, but I'm a firm believer that a) expression =/= facial expression and b) it should be natural! When it's choreographed, it's just cheesy.

I'm impressed!

Aria Brusch: This girl has power! She had some rough moments, but she's got a ton of potential! Her vault was beautiful and powerful. Aria has a standing full on beam! Her bars were my favorite, even though she flew off the mat on the dismount. She has a Ray+Pak combo and a DLO 1/1!

Gabby Perea: And another standing full here. Her beam work in general is way ahead in difficulty and I personally thought her E score on beam was a bit low. Her bars are also beautiful and her swing is sooooo smooth!

Morgan Hurd's bars: She went from not even having a high-low transition and just a 4.2 D score last year to a 5.8 D score this year! And her execution has improved! I seriously can't believe it! She was just so gorgeous.

Aly's Patterson: THAT PATTERSON! She stuck it. She landed it upright. Better than Carly's famous 2004 AA landing! Amazing.

New Amanars: In the senior session, that is. Chiles needs to stop that RIGHT NOW! Maggie's was easily better, but Aly didn't even do one in PT?!

Gabby Douglas's beam: NOT the same athlete we saw in 2012

Twin City Twisters: In general. So much good from this gym! Both the juniors caught my eye. Tori Tatum has some difficulty she needs to build, but she's got a lot of great work! Abby Paulson was the biggest surprise to me of the competition. She only has an FTY, which isn't too good since she turns senior next year, but everywhere else she was great! Her bars remind me a lot of Maggie's last year- not the cleanest, not the most difficult, but very workable. And she does a double arabian dismount! Her floor was one of my favorite from the juniors. Beam was definitely her biggest standout- even with the fall, she packed that routine full! And Maggie. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. What a crazy update on last year! And I love this new floor.

The podiums (/top 5)

Juniors

Jazzy- I was definitely a fan of her bars. The Maloney+Geinger was my favorite! And her releases don't all three come in a row! And again, I miss the Jesolo music. I was obsessed with that music! Nothing special about this new cut. But she busted out the tumbling! Both H elements in her routine. Impressive. She had the top beam, but nothing about it really stood out to me. she proved her national title was no fluke. As for next year, she looks to be heading for a utility player spot which, honestly, I don't see being used on the team.

Ragan- RAGAN DID IT!!! She landed on the podium! Her bars are still frustrating, and I think they should try to include more Stalder variation pirouettes.She definitely is going all-out with the difficulty. I don't know what's going to happen with that standing full- we know from Amy Chow that the pike full isn't going to be a thing, but it's not really a layout? If she tumbles in, maybe it could be more laid out. It took me a few watches to go for her floor, but now I love it! With the exception of the waving and whistling, they make it too chintzy. And I love the DLO!

Laurie- I was expecting to be more excited having Laurie back. I do like her beam choreography. I'd like to see her add another LOSO to her series, I think it would look beautiful. She has really good swing on the bars and is still the Stalder queen, but can she please change up the composition? Same thing as with Brenna in 2013. She changed hers! Oh, her floor. Those facial expressions! Stop them! Otherwise, such a great routine. And I love her combination front tumbling pass! I'm favoring her over Norah for the national title.

Seniors

Aly Raisman- Because there's too much to talk about in these top five just to do the podium. I still can't believe she busted out the Amanar without even training it! I think this is a good bars routine for Aly. She looks better than I remember from before. I love all the connections in her beam routine! She definitely is still steady Aly. And that Patterson!!! And ugh, her floor! The mount!! Such a ridiculous pass and she's just floating it. I'm still sad about that fall on the punch front out of the Dos Santos. I really like the DLO, and it's way better than the triple it's replacing. I just love the tumbling in this routine! Her double L spin was also amazing! Aly is just incredible and she's gunning hard for the Worlds team.

Bailie Key- Is it just me, or is her DTY not as good as when she was a junior? This was also not the Bailie I remembered on beam- what happened to the triple? It was such a pretty triple too! Definitely my favorite part of her beam was the super light leaps and jumps. That whip layout still is doing her no favors and I still want to see her change it to something different, but to no avail it seems. Smooth and steady though. Bars has somehow become Bailie's big event. She's so floaty! I especially love the Ricna+Pak. She had lovely execution. Her new floor is pretty controversial, but I love it! Even though I'm not for this whole archery choreography thing. I still think that wolf turn is butt ugly, but at least it isn't just randomly thrown in in this routine. Love this new DLO! Her tumbling is class. I don't see why everyone hates the slide so much? I think it's cool and different and suits the music and the whole style of the routine. I do wish she had a bit more of a statement ending. I'm becoming a little obsessed with Bailie's floor!

Maggie Nichols- The Amanar! She's really busting it all out. She's really made a huge improvement on bars. She's so much crisper now! I really like what she's doing with her new floor routine. I still think the choreography is a little mish-mashed, but she is really rocking it. The ending is definitely my favorite part. Her double-double is an amazing addition. Maggie has just blossomed so much in the last year.

Gabby Douglas- I'm a little underwhelmed by her DTY. She doesn't have the same explosion. However, her blocking technique seems to have improved. So that's good! Hers is another floor routine that's had controversy. I personally was not too excited about her Jesolo floor, and I think this is more up Gabby's alley. I really like the staccato parts, but I don't know about the rest of it. Her bars also leaves me underwhelmed- I don't get all that into a bunch of empty Stalder variations. Can they add some pirouettes in there? I'd love to see her Amy Chow it with that Endo on the low bar. And the piked Tkatchev+Pak! Love it! If they do something with all those Stalder variations on the low bar, I think this would be a cool routine. I still can't get over her beam! Not the same gymnast we saw in 2012! She's got so much more confidence now. And the standing full is still so upright! It's just beautiful. I really think it's sad that Gabby seems aware that haters have been doubting her comeback, and even sadder that she seems to feel the need to prove herself to them. Just another reminder that even the older gymnasts are still young. I think Gabby is going to have a harder time making Worlds than Aly, even if she keeps up her second place at Nationals. She's a great all arounder, but she doesn't have the standout events right now to push her to the forefront.

Simone Biles- What to say, really? Two sixteens, lowest score 15.1, 6.9 D score on floor, 62.4, just another day's work. Is it odd that the more she does the less I find to say? I love that she brought back the 2013 connections on bars. Her technique and form have really tightened up. Her flight is also getting really smoothed out. She seems to be prepping for another beam title. She's never had issues on the wolf turn, but that as the best she's done last night! The barani is fabulous and she strolls into it. I really am feeling this new choreography. My favorite is definitely the toe rise. I love the changes in levels and it really is one of the most artistic beam routines in the world right now. The new floor is out of this world! I honestly don't think it's quite there yet- she didn't seems to perform the whole thing all out and it felt a little empty, and the end was out of time with the music. I really liked the choreography before the double-double, though. I'll reserve judgement for Nationals. The Biles combination is easily my favorite pass of the routine. She's working her way to a near complete medal sweep at Worlds!

Favorite routines

Juniors

MY PRECIOUS BABY STAYED ON!!

She fell, but she did a Dudnik tumbling pass!

Beautiful flexibility and a mature presentation

Seniors

What the heck was up with that floor?

Right, so I'm not even going to pretend I'm intending this post to be anything other than a USA debrief, so...

Not US

• I love Marine Brevet. That is all.
• Once again, Fasana's floor is life-giving. I'm calling it, she'll be on the all-around podium at Euros. You heard it here first.
• NO not a fall on beam!! But Ellie's floor connections are still glorious.
• And NO Enus not that crash on bars!! *Sigh* I was so excited for her to turn senior last year...
• It seems to be a trend to add jumps into the leap series now. What's the point, don't they specifically not count? Not that I'm complaining; I LOVE IT!
• Double Arabian bars dismounts!!! YAS!

And now to the meat of the matter, the US (the official team only pretty much because we saw almost nothing of Desch, Shild, and Skaggs):
The Great Simone Attacks Again!: Once again, OVER 62!!! AND 15 ON EVERY EVENT!!! No 16s this time, but two 15.950s!! She tied her vault score on floor! She qualified first into every event final! She won by over TWO-AND-A-HALF points! This competition was not at home!!! Her beam was absolutely perfect except for one tiny wobble! She almost stuck that Amanar! My response to her DLO 1/1 was "Oh, come on!" because HOW DO YOU FINISH A DLO 1/1 15 FEET OUT FROM THE CORNER?! THIS is why Simone always gets called in for extra drug testing!

I've figured out why Martha always sends a team to Jesolo: I can't think of any other competition which allows federations to totally disregard the format so much. Six-person teams! But, hey, if you want to send more, go ahead, they can compete as individuals. 6-5-4 format! But sure, put up all your gymnasts in the all around, why not? Martha basically gets to do whatever the heck she wants at Jesolo, which is precisely how she likes it.

What the heck was up with that floor?: Hey, I guess Kyla decided, If I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail EPICLY. Not just a casual fall for her, no sir, she needs to fly off of the floor and almost take out the photographer in the process. Followed up by a giant bound backwards on a double pike and a caught foot in her leap series. Seriously, who possessed Kyla before the fourth rotation, because that was NOT the Kyla Ross any of us knows. Ugh, I felt that one in my soul. A bad routine for Kyla is a bad competition for me. And the curse of strange mistakes that come out of nowhere and make no sense followed Maggie Nichols as she fell setting leap. Apparently she rolled her ankle, so that's actually pretty serious. Even Simone was not immune to the floor curse as her hand slipped on her final pose and she had to finish her routine sitting instead. At least her score wasn't drastically lower as a result. Seriously, that ended up being one of the strangest floor rotations I've ever watched.

Bailie's senior debut: *Sigh* Not as awesome as we all were expecting this time last year. Not even a single event final for her, though she did come close. Stupid injury! But, for a mediocre meet, what a meet! Easily got the silver, her lowest score was 14.400, very strong routine on her "weak" event, overall clean and precise gymnastics, just beautiful work. Her bars especially stood out to me, so clean and such an incredible improvement from last year! The Ricna+Pak is splendid! Just a bit of wonkiness on her Stalder full, but overall, it left a big impression on me. Can this meet finally push KZB to ditch the BHS+BHS+layout? It totally screwed up her beam! I'm campaigning for a BHS+LOSO+LOSO, but there are plenty of options. She also really needs to ditch her wolf turns. She's not Simone or Sarah Finnegan, those are not smooth and have form issues. Plus they messed up my favorite part of her floor!

They're BAAAACK: They being Aly and Gabby, of course. Gabby's bars were a bit disappointing (the backswing from the Chow- or was it a Moloney?- cam NO WHERE near horizontal) considering, and I'm not throwing my support behind the composition, and Aly still has wonky vault form and decent-at-best bars, but oh so strong! There were bumps in the road, but those were early-in-the-season bumps in the road, not coming-back-after-two-years bumps in the road. ALY DID THE SACRED FIRST PASS!!!! And killed floor in general, hi 15.200. I was pretty impressed with her bars. They were, well, Brestyn bars, but better Brestyn bars, methinks. Love the Moloney+Tkatchev, even though the Maloney has form breaks. I really liked the Kalinka floor, she's really found her niche in folk music. We NEED to talk about Gabby on beam! She was like a different athlete. She totally went out and just killed it without holding back. Not the easily flustered inconsistent gymnast from 2012. And that perfect standing full was LIFE-GIVING! Both had good starting-point competitions. I'd love to say they shut the haters up, and they rightfully should have, but we all know the fact they didn't end 1-2 means the haters will still be running at the mouth. Alas.

Dark horses?: Like I said, we saw almost NOTHING of Skaggs and Schild (and Desch, but she's pretty much put herself out of "dark horse" territory), but they both have that potential. I think that even though she had the bigger issues, Schild has the bigger chance of shaking up the national team. She had a good bars score and has a ton of power, so I think me just might see big things from her this summer.

Alyssa's beam: Alyssa did well for herself in this competition, but her one real standout was BEAM! She was such a diva up there, absolutely nailed it. I'm thinking she wants to connect the Onodi to the aerial, which would be divine. And I loved the Arabian!

New skills/combos: Like I said earlier, I love the Ricna+Pak for Bailie! It was so beautiful! And not a fan of the wolf turns, especially on floor. Gabby's Memmel wasn't fully rotated, but I'm absolutely down with the addition! Her inbar full was also lovely. I did get a bit bored with the Stalder skills on the low bar, and I don't really see the room for upgrading (it's only 6.3, right?) Kyla's opening bars combo was killer, though I would prefer it didn't open with the toe-on. It's just there until she gets the Bhardwaj down, that's what I'm telling myself! I still like my composition I came up with earlier but whatever. I'm definitely a fan of the double front dismount! I was getting concerns with the DLO last year, and she had a nice lack of cowboying. Definitely think it was a smart move.

New floor routines: Well, obviously Aly and Gabby both have new routines. Like I said earlier, love the Kalinka for Aly! I'm not sold on Gabby's new routine, though. The music-mashing seems kind of random as does the choreography. She was working it, though. We didn't get the best view of Kyla's routine today, but I was impressed with what I saw. It seemed to have a lot of variety and was really a mature composition. I do mourn the loss of the whip-whip, though! And still four passes, bah. I also am on board with Maggie's. Some of the moments of choreography I found a bit awkward, but in general she owns the floor and just looks like she's having SO. MUCH. FUN! I hope she's back for the domestic season, I really want to see this again without the curse of strange mistakes that come out of nowhere and make no sense.

Obscenely early and unnecessary Worlds talk: Looking at just the Jesolo scores, the three highest scores on every event were earned by just five gymnasts (or six, if we're going to count Gabby with her tie on beam), Simone, Kyla, Alyssa, Bailie, and Aly, so a potential team right there. The score they would have earned would have been over 3.5 higher than the US's team score last year. Alyssa got the third-highest vault score, which was kind of surprising to me. Just super strong and unbelievable depth.

US New Seniors Sneak Peek

USA Gymnastics FINALLY posted some videos with footage of skills! It's mostly a sort of mini-doc, and it only focused on Bailie, Nia, and Alexis, but still, FOOTAGE!!

Bailie Key
On vault, Bailie showed her DTY. It looked a bit messier to me; I wonder what will happen in competition. Is the Amanar ever going to surface, or is she just going to stick with the DTY? Her bars work was clean and a bit interesting- she showed a toe-on 1/2+Jager, kip, Downie. The flight over the high bar was a bit close on the Downie and she looked to just squeak it around. She showed her confounding layout series on beam- it's so extended, but gets so little height. No one's really sure how deductible that is. It did seem to be a bit higher than last year's to me, though. On floor, she showed a double pike, DLO, and Dos Santos. The double pike was fine, duh, on to the next. The DLO wasn't fully rotated, and I noticed that problem in her training video last year. Her Dos Santos was great, but her toes weren't pointed. That could be fixable, though. I'm not sure about the DLO, and I definitely think the Dos Santos is a better upgrade option.

Nia Dennis
Nia only showed bars work in the video. We saw a toe-on full+Tkatchev+Pak and Maloney+bail+toe shoot. It looks like maybe she had to kip twice between the two connections, but I couldn't tell. She came in a bit close on the toe shoot, but otherwise looked great. Huge flight, love it! Really, there's not too much to say about what she showed because it was so little. I do think she has the potential to pull out a surprise leap-frog over Bailie.

Alexis Vasquez
Alexis seems maybe to be being pushed to the forefront in USAG. Martha seems to see what she likes in her. Vault wasn't shown, which could be a sticking point for her. According to Lauren over at The Gymternet, the US will be applying an FTY penalty this year, so I'd love to see her at least go for a 1.5. On floor, Alexis showed a 3/1, done both on the floor and onto a soft surface. It wasn't quite around either time, but I'm not sure what to think of it. The one on the soft surface definitely didn't look scary, but the one on the floor had a little bit of a red flag. I'm not sure how alarmed to be, though. Her bars work looked great and definitely showed improvements on the last two years. Very clean, I love it! Her swing was pretty good, but she did have a bit of a labored kip. She also showed a good full-out dismount. Her beam work was also gorgeous! She had a beautifully precise and fluid front aerial+sheep jump, definitely one of the best I've seen! She also showed a strong combination double pike dismount. She could definitely succeed on beam at a senior level.

Let's Talk About the New Seniors

Ahh, we finally get the treasure-trove of amazing gymnasts on the senior level we've been promised since the beginning of the quad! The Gymternet has compiled and exhaustive list of all the gymnasts who turn senior this year, and oh so many exciting names!

China: Deng Yalan, Wang Yan
Most Exciting New Senior: Wang Yan- Strong on vault, can tumble on floor, and a solid, high-difficulty beam set. Wang Yan is just what the doctor ordered for China!
The Others?: Deng Yalan can vault, too, and also has potential on floor! China can breathe now!

Romania: Andreea Iridon, Laura Jurca
Most Exciting New Senior: Laura Jurca- A good all arounder, similar to Iordache in strengths, the CUTEST segue into low beam choreography, but the YOG judges hammered her in E.
The Others?: Iridon is exciting because BARS!! BARS BARS BARS!! She can do them, and Romania needs that desperately.

Russia: Maria Bondareva, Anastasiia Dmitrieva, Seda Tutkhalyan, Daria Mikhailova
Most Exciting New Senior: Seda Tutkhalyan- Won the YOG all around and bars, has a killer beam set (LAYOUT FULL!), but also super inconsistent.
The Others?: Bondareva and Dmitrieva were supposed to be Russia's next big things, but both have stagnated. Bondareva might still have some strong gymnastics in her, but it doesn't look highly likely. Mikhailova might end up being the big one from the rest of this group, which is a big surprise. She's not super high-scoring, but her floor is great to watch and she is a fighter on beam, which Russia needs more of.

The USA: Nia Dennis, Bailie Key, Alexis Vasquez, Lauren Navarro
Most Exciting New Senior: Bailie Key- Obviously
The Others?: Nia Dennis has a ton of potential everywhere and could be a world-class all arounder. She garners a ton of comparisons to Gabby, and the pretty much total lack of racism claims attests to the accuracy of the comparison. But she's seriously inconsistent and didn't look too polished last year. She wasn't at full health, but still... Alexis Vasquez also wasn't at 100% last year, but I just don't know whether I see her being a top senior elite. She could go if we desperately needed a third beam, though. Catherine B of Beautiful Gymnastics mentioned Lauren when discussing gymnasts who could surprise, and I see her point. She had a great beam day 2 of P&Gs last year... I'm also going to be keeping my eye on Vanasia Bradley (lots of power and potential, but I don't think her coaching's doing her a ton of favors...) and Marissa Oakley (PRETTY!! and a double double bars dismount).

Great Britain: Ellie Downie, Amy Tinkler, Tyesha Mattis, Rhyannon Jones
Most Exciting New Senior: Ellie Downie- She got the bronze all around at Jr. Euros, and won 4 medals at YOG. Great vault, and not too shabby on the other events.
The Others?: Tinkler I love on floor! She's powerful, but not too bad all around. Mattis wasn't at full strength last year, but at the 2013 EYOF, she had a double double on floor. Jones has really nice lines and contributed to the Jr. Euros silver, but I don't expect her to make too big a splash at the senior level. Downie, Tinkler, and Mattis are all really powerful, and I expect to see Amanars from this crew.

Brazil: Rebecca Andrade, Flavia Saraiva
Most Exciting New Senior: Rebecca Andrade- Incredibly powerful, she's had a sky-scraping Amanar she doesn't always compete, sadly. It's strangely inconsistent for her. Her floor has a ton of potential, and I'm sure she has a lot more than she's shown. Bars and beam aren't as strong, but they're way better than they were.
The Others?: Flava-flav! I don't know if that's a gymternet nickname or I just made it up myself, but that's what I call her. She's super charming and her gymnastics are beautiful!

Germany: Antonia Alicke, Kim Janas
Most Exciting New Senior: Kim Janas- If she's back. She was great in 2013, but injured for 2014. She could really made an all around splash for Germany if she's back with strong routines.
The Others?: Alicke has low difficulty, especially on vault where she had a front tuck 1/2. She could be useful on bars, beam, and floor, though.

Other Exciting New Seniors:
Sydney Townsend (CAN)- Has a DTY and a great, Rio-flavor floor!
Iosra Abdelaziz (ITA)- BARS!! Similar to Iridon.
Sae Miyakawa (JPN)- GORGEOUS tumbling, and a DLO final pass!! Nice vaulting, too.
Millie Williamson (NZL)- She won't be winning anything. But if you don't like the Kiwis I don't like you.



Country With the Most Exciting New Seniors: USA
Country With the New Seniors I'm Most Excited About: Brazil
Country With the New Seniors I'm Second Most Excited About: Great Britain


Most Exciting New Senior: Bailie Key
New Senior I'm Most Excited About: Rebecca Andrade
New Senior I'm Second Most Excited About: Tie between Amy Tinkler and Flava Flav
Biggest Question Mark: Kim Janas


Best Vault: Wang Yan
Rebecca should have it with her Amanar, but it's too inconsistent. Wang Yan also has two high-difficulty vaults. I'm expecting plenty of Amanars from this crop.

Best Bars: Nia Dennis
Bars isn't a super great event with the new seniors, and Nia, Seda, and Andreea are the only ones who are really good on them. Nia is the only one to have a really dynamic routine. I'm a bit worried about the DLO dismount, though. I'd like to see her do a double arabian instead.

Best Beam: Bailie Key
This should by rights be Seda's with her insane routine, but she's SO INCONSISTENT. Bailie has strong difficulty and fabulous execution, and she is so steady!! Wang Yan is also awesome on beam, I expect them to be strong in the Worlds final.

Best Floor: Bailie Key
Nia Dennis has higher scoring potential, but is less consistent. Bailie has a clever routine which gives her a good D score, she's gotten very artistic since changing floor routines, and, as always, her execution is stellar. This group have a lot of gymnasts who are lovely to watch on floor but don't have great difficulty. Rebecca Andrade has the potential, but she hasn't shown it yet. I believe she can surpass the rest of the new seniors, but she still needs to put the routine together to do so.

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!