January Rio Predictions

Teams Qualifying at the Test Event
Romania
Brazil
Australia
Belgium


USA Team
Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, Norah Flatley, Maddie Kocian
VT: (Flatley) Raisman, Nichols, Biles
UB: (Biles) Nichols, Flately, Kocian
BB: (Nichols) Raisman, Biles, Flatley
FX: (Flatley) Nichols, Raisman, Biles
Yeah, I know there are a ton of conspiracy theories about how the Attack Cup competitors are the ones up for second AA and so Raisman is off the team and yada yada yada, but unless another Amanar pops up from a top competitor (or another 6.0+ D score vault, the blogger mentions dutifully) or Mykayla Skinner suddenly becomes impossible to leave home, the Biles-Nichols-Raisman trifecta is definitely going. If the Amanar (and/or the Mykayla) situation does change though, it's a free-for-all and everyone have fun playing Martha because it's going to be one exciting ride. I've had a feeling that at least one new senior would make the team, and Norah's been training some awesome bars skills that could make her a UB-BB specialist that would fit the team perfectly. If the Amanar situation changes, I'm also calling Ragan Smith as a dangerous one- I could totally see her snatching up Aly's spot if the Amanar isn't her golden ticket.

China Team
Yao Jinnan, Shang Chunsong, Wang Yan, Fan Yilin, Liu Tingting
VT: (Shang Chunsong) Yao Jinnan, Liu Tingting, Wang Yan
UB: (Liu Tingting) Shang Chunsong, Fan Yilin, Yao Jinnan
BB: (Yao Jinnan) Liu Tingting, Wang Yan, Shang Chunsong
FX: (Yao Jinnan) Liu Tingting, Wang Yan, Shang Chunsong
I definitely think this seems like the most balanced Chinese team in forever. Of course, this relies on Yao Jinnan being back in the AA, so if she's not things will shuffle. But even then, I don't think the 3-person lineups should be in too dire a state. Lots of gymnasts up on three events on this team, but still a good depth pool for them if someone falls apart either mentally or physically between now and Rio, I think.

GB Team
Ellie Downie, Amy Tinkler, Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Tyesha Mattis
VT: (Mattis) Fragapane, Tinkler, E Downie
UB: (Tinkler) E Downie, Mattis, B Downie
BB: (Tinkler) E Downie, Mattis, B Downie
FX: (Mattis) Tinkler, Fragapane, E Downie
It feels so wrong not putting Catherine Lyons on this team seeing as she's basically been groomed for it the whole quad, but with Amy, Claudia, and Ellie, she'd only compete on bars and beam in the final, and Mattis is easily the better UB-BB specialist. If she just stays in one piece this year...

Russia Team
Aliya Mustafina, Angelina Melnikova, Bee Farm, Afan, Daria Spiridonova
VT: (Spiridonova) Melnikova, Afan, Bee Farm
UB: (Melnikova) Bee Farm, Mustafina, Spiridonova
BB: (Spiridonova) Afan, Melnikova, Mustafina
FX: (Spiridonova) Melnikova, Bee Farm, Afan
With VRod's naming the 4-person core in 2015, she of course curse it not to happen. Since Vika is Vika and can never stay uninjured for more than one month at a time, I'm predicting she's off, and because VRod is VRod and whenever she opens her mouth nothing good can happen, I'm predicting Aliya's out for the AA. The weak link of this team is floor. Beam is a good and relatively nerve-free lineup for Russia (assuming Afan is doing beam next year), but of course it's Russia and it's beam, so that may end up being a weak spot as well. But in terms of how strong the events are, floor is the weaker.

Romania Team
Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Laura Jurca, Catalina Ponor, Andreea Ciurusniuc
VT: (Bulimar) Jurca, Ponor, Iordache
UB: (Jurca) Ciurusniuc, Bulimar, Iordache
BB: (Bulimar) Jurca, Ponor, Iordache
FX: (Bulimar) Jurca, Ponor, Iordache
I want Izbasa back on the team, but news on her training has been spotty and she wan't put on the Olympic training squad, if I do recall correctly. It is a bit depressing to bring Ciurusniuc as a bars specialist, but Iridon is allergic to the apparatus and she's one of their best options. Bulimar could also go up for Jurca on either beam or floor. Ah, Romania is in a sad state.



Team
Finalists:
USA
Russia
China
Romania
Great Britain
Japan
Canada
Brazil

Podium:
1. USA
2. China
3. Russia
The USA is the obvious pick and it will be a huge upset if they don't win, so moving on to the more exciting material. Romania looks to be ending their team-medal-at-every-Olympics streak. While I think they're looking not to be in the same extremely dangerous state this year, the rest of the Big Four and some top other nations look to be outstripping them fairly easily again for Rio. I think they'll be somewhere in the 4-6 range. The competition for the silver between China and Russia should be very exciting, with both having good depth years across the events, but I think China will maintain their silver streak due to some Russian shakiness on beam and floor. I also think GB has a good shot at the podium, though they have an uphill climb, and I think the other three might get closer to a medal than we're expecting.


All-Around
Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Maggie Nichols
3. Larisa Iordache
I feel like I'm jinxing Simone not to complete her quad-long reign by this, but who else am I really to predict? Though I think Maggie could very well be on the chopping block for the team depending on who is suddenly wonderful this year, if she goes she is a very strong shot for the podium. Larisa is another obvious pick. Without Aliya or Vika, I don't really see much competition for these three, but if my doomsday predictions don't pan out, they could spice things up nicely.


Vault
Finalists:
Hong Un Jong
Simone Biles
Maria Paseka
Giulia Steingruber
Wang Yan
Ellie Downie
Afan
Marcia Vidaeux

Podium:
1. Hong Un Jong
2. Bee Farm
3. Simone Biles
I'm not holding my breath for the Cheng this year (but maybe?) Anyway, I'm thinking Hong Un Jong is going to pull ahead of Bee Farm this year. Not much change from last year.


Uneven Bars
Finalists:
Daria Spiridonova
Aliya Mustafina
Maddie Kocian
Fan Yilin
Yao Jinnan
Becky Downie
Sophie Scheder
Simone Biles/Norah Flatley

Podium:
1. Fan Yilin
2. Yao Jinnan
3. Daria Spiridonova
I feel like Yao Jinnan might be the more prudent gold-medal pick, but I want it to be Fan Yilin, so I went with her anyway. I'm expecting it to be China-China-Russia, regardless of the combination of gymnasts. Yeah, I have Simone potentially making it. she was two-pered last year, don't forget!


Balance Beam
Finalists:
Simone Biles
Norah Flatley
Larisa Iordache
Liu Tingting
Shang Chunsong
Aliya Mustafina
Ellie Black
Pauline Schaefer

Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Norah Flatley
3. Aliya Mustafina
Again, I'm going with safe options for the podium. I'm expecting beam to be a bit more Big Four-heavy than in Glasgow. I'm again expecting Larisa to have some mishap keeping her from the podium. Simone comes in again with the obvious upper hand, but I think Norah has some potential for a challenge in her as well. I think Pauline Schaefer is going to just squeak in for the final. I was debating putting in Liu Tingting for the bronze, and I'd like to see it happen. And hopefully more gymnasts than not will have routines without major errors? I know, we haven't seen it in a while, but I think this group has it in them. I believe!


Floor
Finalists:
Simone Biles
Aly Raisman
Afan
Claudia Fragapane
Flavia Saraiva
Larisa Iordache
Sae Miyakawa
Shang Chunsong

Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Larisa Iordache
3. Flavia Saraiva
Yeah, I'm predicting Flava-flav for the final (and the podium, apparently!) She's apparently got a 6.3 routine in the works, and she's the kind of gymnast the judges love, so I see her making it in. As for on the podium, I was going to put Raisman there, but I just kind of felt like someone unexpected would medal on floor, and Flavia was the most unexpected of the gymnasts I predicted to final. So I put her there. I think this will be a pretty competitive final- aside from Simone, everyone is at a fairly equal playing field. I also think there are others at about the same level outside this group, so it should be fun to watch the fight to make it in. I'm really looking forward to this one!

(Floor) Artistry in Nanning: Team China

China's floor routines received a lot of buzz for being- very different. So I decided to dedicate an entire installment to China's routines in their home Worlds.

Chen Siyi

The music is lovely. The choreography has the classic and elegant look going for it. But- it just sort of doesn't go together. When it does fit together nicely, it is has a nice light feeling and seems very crisp. However, when it doesn't- which is a fairly large portion of the routine- it just seems awkward. Like with Larrissa Miller, musicality! That's the issue here! If a routine doesn't have musicality, it doesn't matter what your style is or how intricate the choreography it. Artistry won't happen.


Tan Jiaxin

Tan's music is far more what you'd expect from NCAA than Chinese elite. And I think Tan's presentation is a bit too Chinese elite and not quite NCAA enough for it. She seems just a little too reserved to manage the performance, and the choreography seems just a bit inhibited in parts. I don't hate it though, seemingly in contradiction to the rest of the gymternet. At least what I've seen. It is an engaging routine, and the choreography is well in harmony with music (most of the time, at least, but most gymnasts need a little breather every now and then- not everyone can be Simone). It just could do to be a bit more dynamic. So, overall, a decent routine (in my eyes, anyway).


Shang Chunsong

It's not a masterpiece, admittedly. But frankly, I think if we are waiting for a masterpiece from Shang, we'll be waiting forever. She just seems to be more suited to more quirky and nontraditional choreography. It's definitely better than her routine from the national championships earlier in 2014. She handles well the powerful beginning of the routine. The middle falls a bit flat, but she never seems lost in the music either. The very beginning and the very end are my favorite parts, but the whole routine is fairly well composed. Again, not a masterpiece, but I think it does well to take advantage of Shang's strengths.


Yao Jinnan

Unfortunately, Yao never really hit this one in Nanning. Too bad, it was my favorite of the Chinese pieces. I absolutely loved it at the Asian Games! Who knew Yao could pull off Prince? I love the way she accents the percussive bits with her sharp and staccato movements. The ending especially is just so great! I actually really liked the cartwheel into the ending, too bad it was a fall. She really doesn't miss a beat (literally) with her choreography. It works in great harmony with the music and is fun and upbeat while still being a little bluesy. I never would have expected this from Yao based on her old routines, but it really does work for her and her choreographers should work to utilize this combination of crowd-pleasing and toney in her future floor work.



So, how was China's artistry on floor at Worlds? In general, I'd say I thought it was fine. Chen Siyi needs more musicality and Tan Jiaxin more expression, but I think they did well in general with what they had to work with. I definitely think Shang Chunsong and Yao Jinnan both had routines about as good as they can have. If Tan Jiaxin could get her expression up, I think Chen Siyi would be the only real place with much work to be done. I'd say China is on the right track but still has some work to be done. I'm actually totally down with the unorthodox approach they've been taking. I think it really sets them apart and China has been focusing on what works for their athletes.

MostepanovaFan-Style Rankings After Worlds

If you aren't aware of MostepanovaFan's YouTube channel, I suggest you go check it out. Lots of wonderful informative and entertaining videos for gymfans. One of the great kinds of videos is videos with the rankings of the most successful gymnasts by various categories. The rankings are done by individual medals from Worlds and Olympics, with Olympic medals taking precedence in ties.


Top Ten Most Successful American Gymnasts
10. Kyla Ross: 3 silver, 1 bronze
9. Mary Lou Retton: 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze
8. Chellsie Memmel: 2 gold, 2 silver
7. Kim Zmeskal: 3 gold, 1 bronze
6. Rebecca Bross: 2 silver, 3 bronze
5. Shawn Johnson: 3 gold, 2 silver
4. Alicia Sacramone: 2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
3. Simone Biles: 5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
2. Nastia Liukin: 4 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze
1. Shannon Miller: 6 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze

Simone is one of the top three decorated Americans after two Worlds. Not too shabby. Kyla has also overtaken Awesome Dawesome for a spot on the list.


Top Ten Most Successful Gymnasts Ever
10. Aliya Mustafina: 3 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze
9. Elena Shushunova: 5 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze
8. Nellie Kim: 6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze
7. Daniela Silivas: 9 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze
6. Lavinia Milosivici: 5 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze
5. Gina Gogean: 6 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze
4. Ludmilla Tourischeva: 6 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze
3. Vera Caslavska: 10 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze
2. Svetlana Khorkina; 11 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze
1. Larissa Latynina: 12 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze

The first gymnast to make the list since Khorkina retired. Shows just how special it is not only to have longevity but to medal in multiple finals in the age of specialists.


Top Ten Most Successful Gymnasts of the 2013-2016 Quad (so far)
9. Vanessa Ferrari: 1 silver
9. Bai Yawen: 1 silver
7. McKayla Maroney: 1 gold
7. Yao Jinnan: 1 gold
6. Hong Un Jong: 1 gold, 1 bronze
5. Huang Huidan: 1 gold, 1 silver
4. Larisa Iordache: 2 silver, 1 bronze
3. Kyla Ross: 3 silver, 1 bronze
2. Aliya Mustafina: 1 gold, 4 bronze
1. Simone Biles: 5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze

Simone is on top, duh. The only two gymnasts who have medalled this quad so far who are not on the list are Daria Spiridinova and Mykayla Skinner, who both have one bronze.

For in the Same Way You Judge Others, You Will Be Judged

I'll be making some Worlds wrap-up posts later, but first I need to address a very big problem from this Worlds.

The judging.

There were close races- the vault gold, the bars bronze, the beam gold- these were medals that could have justifiably gone to more than one person. Simone and Hong both were stellar on vault, and Simone and Bai were insanely close on beam, though they had very different approaches. Any of the gymnasts ranked third through sixth in the bars finals could have legitimately received the bronze. Close races like this are simply an aspect of gymnastics. Even though it can be disappointing to lose the coin toss, they are a fair and even healthy part of gymnastics.

And then there were agendas. The judges this year very clearly did not leave their biases at the door this year. Half of the finals were very clearly marred by the judges' determination that certain gymnasts be rewarded.

Yao Jinnan was pushed by the judges in the uneven bars final. While it is true that, as I said in my earlier post, it is lovely to see her finally win through after what a rough career she's had, she was handed an undeserving win. Huang Huidan's routine was only one tenth less difficult. Her execution should have more than made up for it, and that her E score was only .033 higher than Yao's is laughable. It was absolutely more polished than Yao's. Yao missed two handstands by a fair margin, had to shuffle to get in place before her pirouettes, and lacked flight on her Tkatchev. Not only did home bias come into play- which affects all sports, not just those that are judged- but the judges actively favored Yao to beat Huang. They were eager to give her the gold as long as she did nothing major wrong, and they rewarded her over the better gymnast in the final.

Yao Jinnan, however, was far from the gymnast most favored by the judges. One gymnast was pushed blatantly almost everywhere she competed. And she was Aliya Mustafina.

This is not meant to be an attack on Aliya. She is a legendary gymnast and a lovely person. But she was given favor by the judges in many situations that were questionable to say the least.

Even in the all around final, Aliya's scores were given a bit of a bump. Her vault should in no way have scored higher than Larisa's, which was much cleaner. Her beam also scored higher than her beam from qualification despite her low standing Arabian and how much she had to bend to save her Onodi, while her qualification routine was much steadier. Though her scores wouldn't have affected the standings any, the judges did show their penchant for giving Aliya just that little nudge.

In both finals where she medalled, Aliya was clearly given a push to land on the podium. In the beam final, Asuka Teramoto was simply robbed. She was one of the three gymnasts in that final to hit her routine, yet she was not rewarded with one of the three medals. Asuka had a very clean routine (with an acro series) and yet somehow placed below Aliya's, which after the Arabian was very hesitant throughout and riddled with small checks after every skill that was supposed to be connected. And she DIDN'T HIT ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS. No way should Aliya have landed on the beam podium.

While the floor final was less blatant, she still was clearly given a bit of the benefit of the doubt. Aliya certainly could have been justifiable medalist, but the super-close victory by the exact margin needed immediately after being handed the beam bronze made it eye-roll worthy. The judges were inconsistent in their level of harshness and how they chose to deduct in comparison to the former rounds of competition. Mykayla had her best floor routine certainly of the season, and arguably her entire career. Her landings were the best they have been Nanning and her leaps were about as good as she's done them this year. However, the judges gave her a lower execution score in the event final than in qualifications. Aliya, on the other hand, had a better executed performance in qualifications. She fell out of all her turns in the final and had a worse landing on her middle tumbling pass. Aliya, however, received a higher execution score in the floor final. In fact, had Aliya added the stag jump to her routine, she would have beaten Larisa Iordache for silver, which is simply preposterous. Again, it is not necessarily her placement that is suspicious, it is the inconsistency and the methods of the judges. That she got the exact margin she needed to beat Skinner just makes an even stronger case for dishonest judging.

This was (apart from the beam final- that needs to be erased from memory) an outstanding World Championships. The quality of competition and the parity of the competitors was more in the way of an Olympics. However, the judging will stand as a dark blot that will taint this competition. I hope there are disciplinary hearings and consequences for the dirty judging we saw in Nanning.

Worlds Vault and Bars Finals Thoughts

Despite everyone else's tepid feelings going into this Worlds, I knew it was going to be a good one. And these event finals cemented in my mind that I was right! Some of the closest competition in recent years and with only one fall across the two finals!

Vault
Phan Thi Ha Thanh: It's great to see her in the final, even if it didn't go her way. It's her landings that get her, she just seems not to get enough air time to really wrap in the twists during the salto. In a way, I'm glad she came in last, because that's just a testament to how great this final was.

Claudia Fragapane: Definitely not the cleanest vaulter, but I do definitely think she's improved the Lopez on CWGs. It still had a bit of the whip open-whip closed of her Lopez there, but it was nowhere near as pronounced. The DTY was about like usual for her, nothing really memorable either way.

Alexa Moreno: I'm just so happy she made this final! I love how she does an FHS and a Tsuk! Not the cleanest and and the floor seems t come to her as a bit of a surprise, but it's just so lovely that she made the final! I do think her Rudi was my favorite of the final, as well.

Alla Sosnitskaya: The Cheng was fairly nice, other than the landing. She just doesn't seem to get quite enough power to make it to the ground easily. It's definitely one to keep and continue working on though. Her DTY was pretty soft, form-wise.

Giulia Steingruber: Not her best of outings, certainly. The Rudi wasn't one of her better efforts and seemed kind of all over the place. She seems to have kind of lost steam this year. I think it might have been a smart idea to keep the FTT in the locker in case the DTY didn't work out, as it didn't here. I'll always be annoyed at her lack of toe point in the salto of the FTY. It's sad to see how much she's gone back from last year.

Mykayla Skinner: The judges are certainly being generous where the block is concerned, because that second hand could barely have been said to touch the table. Otherwise, it was a gorgeous vault. The form and body position were both lovely, and it was the best Cheng in the air of the final. Her DTY is always nice and powerful, and her vault in the final was no different. Beautiful. She really does just look so great at this Worlds.

Simone Biles: That Amanar is breathtaking. And she minimized the hop for the final! She just rockets off the table and into the stratosphere. I just love the way she's able to really open up into the grouns because she does everything so well in the air. The Lopez was beautiful as well! There's just nothing negative to say about either of her vaults, they're just so precise!

Hong Un Jong: Hong's Amanar has quickly become one of my favorites at Aisian Games and Worlds. I finally understand why they thought she could do a triple. She just hangs in the air! This one was no different, though she took a bit of a large step. Just beautiful vaulting, still. She didn't seem to get quite enough power for the Cheng and looked to go more out than up, but other than a bit of a scrappy landing it was still a crackerjack vault. I never thought I'd be fawning over Hong's vaulting, but she really has just improved a ton. And at 24!!

This was definitely one of the best vault finals in a long time. No falls!!! The top three vaulters were definitely the ones to medal, which is what we always want. It was super close between Hong and Simone and it could have fairly gone either way. This was definitely one of the only times I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a vault result! Two Amanars, three Chengs, three Rudis- great difficulty. All in all an amazing final. Well done to everyone!

Bars
Aliya Mustafina: Gorgeous. Duh. She really is just gorgeous on this piece. I think her handstands were a little bit less perfect than usual, but they were all still very nice. She caught her Van Leuwen with the straightest arms I think I've seen her catch with. I remember Mitch Fenner one time commenting that she was "leisurely in the full turn," and I really think "leisurely" is the best word to describe her bars. She just always seems so calm throughout her work and it really makes you feel like you don't have to worry with her. Brilliant stuff.

Ashton Locklear: Ashton can definitely be really proud of herself after these Worlds. She went from not even having competed at a Nationals to a Worlds gold medalist and individual finalist in such a short amount of time! She did one of her best routines in the final, which was wonderful for her. And she got the six-skill connection! I know some people think this routine is too cookie-cutter, but that connection has the wow factor for me! She had some of her cleanest execution of the season and it flowed really well. She just had the small step on the dismount, which was disappointing after she'd been sticking them so well in the domestic season.

Becky Downie: Becky also did a great job here. Her only really noticeable errors were some short handstands, including the one before her dismount. I wonder if she was maybe playing a little safe since she knew that was where she fell last year. The connections in this routine are just dynamite and I love them so much. It's great that everything is finally coming together for Becky this season and she's really showing the world what she's made of!

Ruby Harrold: I was so sad that she had a fall here! I love this routine so much and it was just so sad to see her falter. The Van Leuwen to Zuchold was breathtaking, as always. Her stuck dismount was also great to see after the disappointing fall. Ruby's had a stacked year this year, and she's done really well overall.

Lisa Katharina Hill: This is a great composition. Her connection of toe full-Maloney-clear hip 1/2-clear hip full-Geinger is really unique and eye-catching! Her Bhardwaj was also beautiful. She definitely had some bobbles throughout the routine, but she covered really well and kept her head through it all. Really exciting stuff and she did very well in the deepest final of these Worlds.

Daria Spiridonova: This was absolutely one of Daria's best routines. Why not save the best for last? All the inbar work was really deftly completed. She caught pretty much everything with fully extended arms, which was wonderful to see. Her Van Leuwen was also really well done, and she managed to make it stand out. The piked Jager was gorgeous and well above the bar in the flight. She hit most of her handstand perfectly, her only really noticeable error being when she lost herself in her last half pirouette before the dismount. Really gorgeous work.

Huang Huidan: I just love her dismount. Just something a little different. She performed pretty much like always. The pirouette combination into the piked Jager was really deftly performed. She also caught her Chow 1/2 with COMPLETELY extended arms, which just made it look so nice! The stuck dismount was a great finishing touch for her great routine. The slo-mo afterward really made me appreciate her lack of grips. She seemed to barely have her hands on the bar at all in some of that elgrip work!

Yao Jinnan: Everything finally came together for Yao! The opening connection was incredibly fluid and beautiful. Her pirouette series into Tkatchev went very nicely, and a 1 1/2 pirouette is always a nice somewhat unexpected flourish. The highlight of the routine was definitely the dismount for me. She just hung in the air and stuck it so easily. And a perfectly done DLO dismount is very easy to watch.

Bars was pegged to be the nail-biter of this year's Worlds, and it didn't disappoint! Excellent work all the way through the ranks and a ton of super exciting routines. Who would have expected Daria to claim the bronze here? Really well done for her, she had an outstanding routine last night and totally deserved the bronze. Haung and Yao pulled off the Chinese 1-2 on bars everyone was contemplating, and they really have superior work. Ruby's fall was disappointing, but it was great that there was only one fall across both finals. It was great to see Yao finally bringing home a World title after a lot having not gone her way in her senior career. There were also some great unique moves- TWO Bharwajes, a Zuchold, and a half-in double front, showing that there is still a ton of creativity!


Leos
My favorite leo of the night belonged to Becky Downie. I love the flag-on-the-back design, and the red was just beautiful! I personally love the bumblebee leo, so I was totally down with Aliya wearing it in the UB final. I loved the American one! It's great to see them in red, white, and blue, and I liked how the design was done. I was also a big fan of Giulia's. The light blue color was really gorgeous on her and the combination and design was great too.

My least favorite was definitely Huang's. I'm a person who prefers long sleeves, and the nude mesh and yellow/green... stuff didn't look great. I'm not a huge fan of the North Korean leotard either. It just seems all king of thrown together to me. I thought Phan Thi Ha Than's was a bit strange as well, kind of space-agey mixed with we-put-together-our-scraps. Alla turned up in a Russian stand-by. I'm not a big fan of it. It is very busy and the colors all kind of compete with each other.

Worlds Predictions

Alright, Worlds is around the corner, it's that time of year again to make predictions!

Team
Finalists:
USA
China
Russia
Romania
Great Britain
Italy
Japan
Germany

Podium:
1. USA
2. China
3. GB

The USA is the only team to have three strong routines on each event. China's bars will be a huge asset for them, but their vault and especially floor will provide problems. I was feeling GB even before the announcement over Paseka's injury was made, but now Russia is even farther in the hole. A strong Gabby Jupp should help the team out a fair bit, especially on beam, and it's pretty strong all over. Italy could also surprise, though- they looked great at Novara and Golden League.


All Around
Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Aliya Mustafina
3. Larisa Iordache

Simone on top is pretty obvious. I'm feeling Aliya in second after how great she looked at Russian Cup- that beam especially is amazing. I kept going back and forth on bronze between Larisa, Kyla Ross, and Yao Jinnan. I think Larisa and Yao both beat Kyla in ability, but Kyla is a rock. It should be a great fight.


Vault
Finalists:
Simone Biles
Mykayla Skinner
Hong Un Jong
Guilia Steingruber
Oksana Chusovitina
Ellie Black
Anna Pavlova
Dipa Karmakar

Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Giulia Steingruber
3. Mykayla Skinner

This one is fairly difficult as we haven't seen some of the big contenders (Hong Un Jong, Oksana Chusovitina, Phan Thi Ha Than) in a long time, so this might have to be adapted after the Asian Games. Figuring out places 2-4 is a bit difficult. If Mykayla does her vaults like day two of P&Gs, I might give her the slight edge over Giulia. And then she could also block like at Classics and be slaughtered. Hong Un Jong hasn't competed much this year, and so the Asian Games should provide more clarity where she's concerned. I'm rooting for Dipa out of all the Prods, and Pavlova got the silver at Europeans, so hopefully that's a good sign.


Uneven Bars
Finalists:
Yao Jinnan
Huang Huidan
Aliya Mustafina
Daria Spridinova
Becky Downie
Ashton Locklear
Madison Kocian
Larissa Miller

Podium:
1. Yao Jinna
2. Huang Huidan
3. Becky Downie

Ugh, why can't this final be open to more gymnasts? It's stacked! I'm feeling the Chinese going 1-2. Huang could potentially be replaced by Shang, but I'd still have her in silver. The big question make is Aliya's bars, seeing as we don't know what her routine will actually look like. She could also definitely medal. Really, anyone in this final could medal if things go their way. And of course, we can't count the Germans out to qualify. I'm excited!!


Beam
Finalists:
Kyla Ross
Simone Biles
Aliya Mustafina
Maria Kharenkova
Larisa Iordache
Andreea Munteanu
Shang Chunsong
Bai Yawen

Podium:
1. Shang Chunsong
2. Maria Kharenkova
3. Larisa Iordache

This one's near impossible to predict. Shang Chunsong has looked pretty steady this year, where as Larisa and Maria have both had some issues, but her scores were also merciless last year. But then again she's competing at home this year. Maria and Larisa are both obvious picks, but can definitely be inconsistent. Kyla, on the other hand, is very consistent, but her difficulty puts her down in the favorites list. Simone's new beam could definitely put her on the podium if she has a solid effort, but she really should take out that wolf hop. It does her no favors. We of course have no idea what incarnation of her routine Aliya will bring to the table, but the reigning champion (I still can't get over this) can't be counted out. Andreea Munteanu and Bai Yawen both can't be counted out either with good difficulty and beautiful execution. And then of course, there are the Lauren Mitchells and Ellie Blacks who could sneak into the final. This one's incredibly wide open, and basically any combination of gymnasts who can be expected to final would be a conceivable podium.


Floor
Finalists:
Simone Biles
Mykayla Skinner
Giulia Steingruber
Vanessa Ferrari
Larisa Iordache
Claudia Fragapane
Marta Pihan-Kulesza
Shang Chunsong

Podium:
1. Simone Biles
2. Larisa Iordache
3. Vanessa Ferrari

The first six on the list are almost certain to qualify, and the last two spots are fairly open. Lauren Mitchell might be able to snag a spot, Aliya did well in the floor final at Russian Cup, and in my dreams Ellie Black makes it into the finals again. Unfortunately, Mai Murakami doesn't look like she has good enough tumbling this year for the final. Simone winning is another obvious choice. Larisa's been super confident on floor this year and scoring consistently in the high 14s. Vanessa has also been strong and consistent, and word is going around that apparently she's upgrading, which could put her in favor over Larisa. I would cry tears of joy if Claudia were to medal.