Feats of Courage

After a super busy semester, I'm finally getting around to my planned post on the statements from the sentencing hearing (we all know which one, I don't have to use the name). We've all seen Aly Raisman's, Jordyn Wieber's, Lindsay Lemke's, Kyle Stephens's, and Rachael Denhollander's statements. And they were statements we should all know. But in this post I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on some of the less recognized statements that particularly impacted me in one way or another. This isn't to say that these are more important than the others in any way; all of the victims' voices are important. These are just some that touched me.

Jennifer Rood Bedford

I think her statement was just a clear communication of how far his violation went. Statements like hers also drive home just how many victims there are that aren't tolled. And most of all, the forgiveness and grace she shows is astounding.

Tiffany Thomas Lopez
The thing that really stood out to me about this statement was when she said she was relieved when she saw the contemporary pictures of him because she assumed it meant he didn't abuse anyone else. It just highlights the contrast between the victims' innocence and strength and his depravity.

Madeleine Jones
"You were born in the image and likeness of God and you chose to sexually assault little girls. To call you a monster isn't even the right word; you're a human being, and you chose to do this, you chose your actions, and you chose to sexually assault little girls."

Larissa Boyce
The description of how she blamed herself really struck me. This one also just highlights the depths to which MSU sank in protecting him.

Bailey Lorencen
That back injury. Put Geddert behind bars.

The Minors

The minors are the women who will particularly haunt me. Listening to them speak really put a fine point on the fact that he did this to children. Speaking at the hearing was a woman's battle, and I will forever be in awe of their bravery. Chelsea Zerfas's statement is the one that sticks with me the most: to see this young girl in so much pain because of what she had to go though, and yet her concern for what he did to her teammates. Hers just encapsulated this tragedy to me.

Let Justice Roll Down like a River

One hundred and seventy-five years.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina "just signed inmate 21504-040's death warrant."

He isn't going to get the punishment he deserves because our justice system doesn't allow the punishment he deserves. But he is getting a fitting punishment for what our law supports.

Rachael Denhollander is a hero. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is a hero. Every single woman who spoke out at this trial, whether publicly or anonymously, is a hero. Everyone who spoke in their support is a hero. Everyone working to put him behind bars is a hero.

The change is only beginning, because these women won't let it be otherwise.



I'm going to say more, but it's probably going to be a while. I want to do this one right. I just wanted to make a quick statement here in the immediate aftermath.

Floor Music I Want to See: USA

Morgan Hurd- "Game of Thrones" or "Avovra" (Anna Bessonova hoop 2008/Tabea Alt 2017)
I've not been the biggest fan of Morgi's routines since 2014, though I definitely preferred this year's routine to her previous ones. I would prefer to see a return to the older thematic feel. "Game of Thrones" would be a clearer return to the feel of her 2014 routine-- am I the only one who gets a medieval vibe from it? I think it brings the quieter drama which she could really build from. And I just love the medieval-ish style for her. "Avovra" is more in line with the heavy drama of her 2017 routine, but I think it's more in line with what I want to see from Morgan. It's not so string-heavy as her recent musics, which I think is what's tripping me up with her recent routines. It's got a darker style, which is what I want to see for her. Again, the music has a less packed sound, and I really think Morgan does a good job elevating that kind of sound and brings almost a mystical edge to her routines.

Emma Malabuyo- "Hedwig's Theme"
Emma is just such a charming performer. She has a lightness to how she performs on floor and there's always a humor and joy to her routines. I think "Hedwig's Theme" would be a perfect fit for that style she brings. It's light and frothy but also mysterious, and I think she would bring a really, well, enchanting performance to the music. It would be yet another delightful routine from Emma. Of course, I would also down with Morgan Hurd using this, partly because it has the some of the same mystical sound, but mostly because MORGAN WITH HARRY POTTER MUSIC!

Maile O'Keefe- "Renegade" by Kevin "K.O." Olusola (Macy Toronjo 2017)
Now with Maile, we're getting into the heavier drama. I feel like with Maile, she's always had aesthetic enough routines, but never really broke out of her shell as a performer. I think this music is sort of an in-between with her old 2014 music and this year's music. I think her style is suited to the darker, heavier drama, and she and the music could elevate each other.

Ragan Smith- "Promenade (Walking the Dog)" or "Seaside Rendezvous"
I think both of these pieces would be a good return to Ragan's 2014-2015 playful but mature style (why is it that her routines got more immature as she got older? is it because they had to do so to keep up their look at how cute and little she is schtick, or because they had to keep up the schtick?) "Walking the Dog" gets a little jazzy, which I think Ragan could play with really well. It's light and playful, and I think she could put in a lot of unique touches. "Seaside Rendezvous" would bring out some of the good in Ragan's 2017 choreographic style. It would be a real crowd-pleaser routine, and I think Ragan broken out of the "must be cutesy!!" box would do great things with this.

Riley McCusker- "Pirates" (Ellie Black 2012/2013)
I wasn't a huge fan of her 2017 routine, and definitely not as big a fan of her 2017 routine as her 2016 routine. However, I'm not opposed to moving in a bit more of that direction. I think this music would bring a bit of the 2017 style while maintaining the best of her 2016 choreography's style. I think Riley (and MG Elite in general) has some tendency toward moving to hit poses, and this music allows for that while elevating the music. It's also nicely light and bubbly, which I think would be really good for her.

Adeline Kenlin- "Once and for All" from Newsies
I got the desire for Adeline to use a showtune for floor after a random set of circumstances led me to realize that her 2017 floor goes really well to Dumbledore's part to the end of "Back to Hogwarts" from AVPM (it was the polished album version if you want to try at home). I picked this one because it has the driving beat from those sections of "Back to Hogwarts," which seemed to work for her, and it also embodies the pretty melodic elements of her 2016 routine and some fighting elements from her 2017 routine. I'd also be down for "At the End of the Day", for similar reasons with more similarities to her 2016 routine, and "Defying Gravity", which doesn't have the elements from her old routines but I still think she could do something with.

Favorite Routines from Worlds (BB and FX)

Beam
Pauline Schaefer, Qualifications

UGH this is gorgeous. Pauline is just such a beautiful beam worker. I love her skills such as the double spin and the Schaefer, but I'm also a huge fan of her choreography. It actually adds something, which the gymnastics world in general seems to be doing better at this year.

Ellie Black, Qualifications

She's a powerhouse on beam. I said in my favorite beam post that while I prefer elegant beam work in general, there's just a "killed it" quality about well hit powerful beam work that, say, Vika will never be able to manage, and I love it! I'm also a big fan of the "gallop" choreography-- it's weird and I love it! Just in general, she surprisingly artistic. And she stamps out her skills!

Asuka Teramoto, Qualifications

Asuka is such a pleasant beam worker. I was disappointed she messed up and couldn't get vindication in the final, but it was lovely here!


Floor
Claudia Fragapane, Qualifications

It's too bad she couldn't hit this well in the final, even though she was still able to medal. I've always been a Claudia fan, but she really is a whole new performer this year! And she's cleaned up so much! I will always love how she does tumbling+dance combos that should by all rights be hideous and makes them look fab. And say what you like about the rest of her execution, I will always appreciate the non-cowboyed double Arabian!

Ellie Black, All Around

This was such a passionate and powerful performance! Ellie is also just one of my favorite floor workers. I love her unique combination tumbling and how much of it is forward! Her first pass is my favorite. I also love her dance. It's always forceful and different and kind of... angsty? This performance especially, she put everything she had into it.

Morgan Hurd, All Around

Another all-heart performance. You could definitely see her excitement in those landings, but she was exuding so much joy here! I also love her upright landings. Everything about this routine (well, minus the landings) is exquisite!

Nina Derwael, All Around

I LOVE BELGIUM ON FLOOR! They just always have such weird choreography. And Nina didn't disappoint! I especially love the part in the straddle. Her landings here were also much more secure than in qualifications.

Jade Carey, Event Final

Yes, the artistry isn't... good. But her tumbling! I could watch those passes on loop! They're GORGEOUS!

Mai Murakami, Event Final

I'm so glad she made a change to this routine from the Christina Aguilara screaming! The tumbling here was impeccable! The performance was everything it could be. She makes this routine. What a deserving routine for the championship!

Brooklyn Moors, Event Final

This routine is just lovely. She also includes the Semenova, such a beautiful turn! It's a gorgeous routine, and that tumbling isn't shabby either. I mean, look at the Podkopayeva! This one especially, to me, she really seemed to put everything into the performance.

Gabby and Gymternet Whipping Boys

It was obnoxious and unnecessarily mean for a long time, but it didn't seem to be anything more harmful than pettiness.

For a while now, the gymternet has been caught up in the internet trend of being more enthusiastic about what we can trash and shred than, you know, what we like and enjoy.

There was Mykayla, who, make no mistake, has absolutely posted things she shouldn't have on social media. But can we really claim the moral high ground when we comb through everything we can reach-- including hunting down her family's accounts-- to find ways to crucify her? And why, if it was the problematic stuff she's posted, was so little of the focus of the crusade on that as opposed to the cocky stuff she's posted?

There was Ashton. Again, people were bound to take issue with her political posts. But hating on her for crying? There were comments on the confession accusing the gymternet of double standards with defending Nina because she's white (oh don't worry I'll get to Nina) where people were saying "No it's because Ashton supports Trump!!"... so that makes you being a hypocrite morally superior? But hey, at least you're admitting your double standards.

People were all over Maddie for a while for saying "let's be nice to each other regardless of who we voted for."

Various Russians have been in and out of the firing range for months.

Nina is the most obvious example of a gymnast just seeming to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. For no apparent reason other than people were looking for a new whipping boy, they jumped on the first at all questionable thing they found and shredded her for it. I mean, just look at the floor final for proof it's not arbitrary. Look at how everyone was responding when the champion was hugging people and quietly celebrating while Vanessa was still on the floor being seen to by the med staff. No double standards here at all...

But that's all just pettiness.

Add the Nassar scandal to our harpy mentality, and now you're playing with fire.

I've been worrying that we were going to end up crucifying one of his victims for how she dealt with this. I didn't think it was actually going to happen.

And enter Gabby.

Now, I am not saying her tweet was right. I am not saying you need to forgive and forget or that your opinions of her should go back to what they were two weeks ago. What I AM saying is this should serve as a wake-up call to the gymternet for our toxic mentality.

Because now we know Gabby was a victim too. And the gymternet spent days trashing her for the way she's handled the scandal. And some are so far down the rabbit hole they're even accusing her of lying.

Again, the fact that she was a victim doesn't make what she tweeted okay. But it does mean she deserves our compassion. And because we're all so sure we know these women as people from what they post online, it didn't even  occur to most that she could have been a victim.

And from so many of those same places, we're seeing no apparent acknowledgement or concern that Gabby was abused (I'm referencing especially the comments with that post). Gabby's story shows precisely why the "S/HE IS CANCELLED!!" stuff is so wrong.

Can you really claim moral superiority?

I just want to leave with these two comments on how we need to treat the Nassar scandal:

Source: The Gymternet-- You Asked, the Gymterner Answered

And, to leave on a better note, Nassar is going to prison. May he rot in his cell.

Favorite Routines from Worlds (VT and UB)

I was planning on doing this post in the week or so after my Worlds post, and... well, you see how well that plan worked out.

Vault
Giulia Steingruber, Qualifications

She is just such a dynamic vaulter. I love the way she flies! It's also astounding that she made it to this point in her gymnastics so quickly in her return. Plus, a non-Yurchenko entry is always a bonus.

Jade Carey, Qualifications
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0CJ-koOQJs
Well, the video isn't available for embedding, so I'll just have to link it. Still a wild landing, but my oh my, that vault is gorgeous. It's just so easy for her!

Oksana Chusovitina, Event Final

What a gorgeous vault from the queen. She has cleaned up so much and it's just mind-boggling! I was definitely one of those people calling for the judges to overscore her into the gold! Ah, we can't have everything in life.

Ellie Black, Qualifications

She's not the cleanest vaulter, but I just love Ellie's work here. She just seems to fly. It's wonderful.



Bars
Diana Varinska

I love everything about this routine!! It is breathtaking and exciting and jam-packed! Just a fabulous set.

Anastasiia Iliankova, Qualifications

Look at the Hindorff+Pak+Maloney+clear hip 1/2+Ezhova combination! It's all that I love and all that I need. And she wasn't super close on the Shang here!

Elena Eremina

She just flies through this routine. Absolutely lovely. And the big combination work in the Nabieve+Pak+Chow 1/2! I just love gusty combinations like this.

Nina Derwael, All Around

There's so much flight in this routine! And so much intricacy! She just soars through this whole mind-blowing exercise.

Georgia-Mae Fenton Qualifications

Can you tell what style of bars routines I love? Once again, such breathtaking flight! And I love the different kinds of skills she has in combination!

It was the best of Worlds, it was the worst of Worlds

Yeah, I'm aware I'm quite a bit late on the Worlds post game, but what with midterms and an appendicitis scare and then having to work on my extended assignments from said appendicitis scare, the post-Worlds week wasn't really open for blogging. And then, because of the neurotic person I am, I needed to get super ahead on my work when I got back into school so I wasn't having panic attacks. I'm so sorry. This was ridiculous.


My feelings about Worlds were constantly swinging between "This Worlds is a flaming trash heap" and "This Worlds is freaking awesome!!"

So much of the actual competition was breathtaking and glorious. So many of the finals came down to the wire and the gymnasts competed so much incredible gymnastics.

But the injuries. And it's not just that there were a ton of injuries. It's not like a bunch of gymnasts who had no business trying decided to bust out Prods or anything. That would have been bad and frustrating also, but ultimately it would have come down to foolish decisions. But in this case, SO MUCH of it came down to the organizers' fault. The lighting sucked, the mats were super hard (and when the athlete delegations tried to bring in softer ones the organizers refused), the PT was rushed, and the whole issue with the floor. And then, separately from the organizers but still belonging in this section, Casella pressuring Ferrari into the meet when she was clearly not ready and she snapped her Achilles.

I'm also not behind this beam scoring. There's no point in scoring so many gymnasts in the 7's in E when only two routines score above an 8 in E, they are by the same gymnast, and they are 8.133 and 8.033, respectively. That's why Tim's whole "The best should be able to do better than 1.2 in deductions" thing is valid... because otherwise, you're doing just as bad a job of differentiating the gymnasts; all the scores might as well have been .5-.7 higher, it really wouldn't have made much difference. With the two-part system, the E judges should be taking advantage of the system to use a wider range of scores and provide better differentiation, not just give most hit routines scores packed together in a lower range. In a less everything-looks-abysmal-for-no-real-necessary-reason situation, the vault final scoring also illustrated this problem. There was a .7 difference between the E scores all the non-fall vaults, and when not counting Wang Yan's weak Rudi, it was only a .5 difference. That's not what the judges are supposed to do.

And then the digital flags. No. The gymnasts deserve real flags. Have the federations provide them if you need to, it shouldn't be that hard.

However, on some other non-actual-gymnastics but kind of "controversial" discussion topics, I liked the medals! I'd way rather have a big donut medal than medals that are mostly glass like we've seen at some winter Olympics and other competitions or the really dinky ones we've seen some places. They're different and kind of fun! In addition, I thought the intros here were a bit overdone, but I like the general intro idea. It's the biggest meet of the year and these gymnasts don't get a ton of recognition for their extremely hard work and super impressive accomplishment, so make a big deal of them here!

Okay, onward to the actual competition.



The Men
The worst of Worlds: Obviously, the massacre subdivision. That was horrible. To move to a less grave aspect of the horrible subdivision, it was such an anticlimactic end to Kohei's streak. He didn't retire on his crowning gold after an eternal unbroken streak, nor was he finally toppled by a scrappy challenger, he just was taken out of competition. Oleg's exhaustion was showing by this point, and as someone who manages to delude myself into believing this will be HIS. TIME. every competition, I always end up sighing in acceptance of the inevitable. And then Yang Hak Seon injured himself right before vault. Ah. What with papers and looming midterms, I really wasn't as focused on the men, but I don't remember being too devastated by anything else. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, though.

The best of Worlds: KENZO!! What a lovely, lovely competitor. Gorgeous gymnast, and seems to be a wonderful man. His vaulting was life-giving! And speaking of his vaulting, the Chellsie-Nastia finish in the vault final was one of the most ridiculous things that I've witnessed since becoming a serious fan of this sport. Has any final in the two-part system had such a close finish? Both breathtaking vaulters, though in their own ways. Always what you want to see! I was also very pleased when Oleg made it to the PB podium. Always love to see him leave with a medal! Max Whitlock succeeding is also a great addition to any competition. And, of course, we need to talk about the fabulous cap to the ridiculous saves this year, Epke's hand-slip morphed into a one-arm giant! Hit. And if you can't hit, make your mistake into something memorable. Bart was all of us in this moment! And speaking of Bart, I was also a major fan of him getting the authorities to check the floor and then... not taking his second opportunity to go. You win! I know it was for rational reasons, but it's still mighty amusing.



Women's Qualifications
Obviously, the injuries here (Larisa!!) were the down side. As well as almost the entire competitive beam field imploding. I wanted Sanne to add a World title to her Olympic one! Qualifications was less of a massacre for the women than the men, though, so that was an improvement. It was just hard to get out of the shadow of men's sub 3. Other than the Lari injury and beam implosions, not too much noteworthy happened in women's quals. I think the only other real exciting thing was JAPAN!! They are coming to slay this quad, and I am ready.


Womens' AA
The worst of Worlds: Once again, the biggest disappointment was Ragan busting a tendon in her ankle moments before competition. I think we were all pulling for her here, even those who weren't really interested in seeing her on the podium. In addition, there were of course a number of falls which no one wanted. I think it's reasonable to say the biggest of those was MAI!! Ugh, she had such a great day otherwise. And then Melka's floor was also really unhappy, too.

The best of Worlds: On the other side of Ragan's injury, it was good to see Ioana Crisan handle being thrown into the final at the very last second so well. Also, the competition was so tense and exciting! It was exactly the opposite of how competitions with Biles were exciting, and I really got into it! Of course, seeing Morgan win was like Christmas coming early. Her gymnastics was lovely and her joy was infectious! And even though the other two medalists did have large errors, they were also able to continue the streak of no-fall podiums! From only 2008 until 2013 to five years straight, I'm really appreciating this turn-around. There were also so many gymnasts tying or breaking their country's record for best finish! I loved all the big gymnastics we got to see, with Lena and Nina on bars, Tabea on beam, Mai on floor... it was full of big moments. Of course, we all want a final with all top-level competitors where everyone hits, but sometimes this kind of tension is what you can have.

I'm happy with this outcome. Obviously, Morgi winning was all I really wanted. I do think her floor score was a little cooked compared to Ellie's, but Ellie's everything else was a little cooked, so it evened out, and I think the more deserving gymnast won. It's not the best thing, but sometimes, in gymnastics, two wrongs do make a right. I also like Elena in third, and was pleased to see her do so well. Of course, it was annoying that Mai would have won without her fall, but the ones who did the best came out on top.


Womens' VT
The worst of Worlds: Overall, this was one of the more generally positive finals. Sae's and Shallon's falls were rather gnarly, but ultimately both gymnasts were okay after, so it was only disappointing in terms of performance and not depressing like a lot of the other disappointments. The judging was also rather screwy and failed in the job of, you know, actually differentiating the athletes (what?).

The best of Worlds:One of the biggest positives that stuck in my mind from this final was Chuso's vaulting! I love how she was able to clean up so much AT FORTY-TWO! May she never leave us. I also loved seeing Giulia do so well after such a short return, Jade's wonderful form and power, and while Wang Yan doesn't always have the strongest and cleanest vaults, I do appreciate how she doesn't terrify me so many vaulters frequently can. And while Bee Farm's vaulting isn't the nicest, it was good to see her hit when her back was basically taped together. Should we be begging Russia to stop encouraging her to compete at this point? I think so.

As for the result, I would have been okay with any combination of the medalists. I think if I was picking the podium, I would have done 1. Jade, 2. Giulia, 3. Masha, but I have no real complaints about the actual result either. Sometimes in gymnastics, multiple placing permutations are equally valid, and sometimes it comes down to a closer result but the outcome is more definite. Such is our wacky sport. Ultimately, while all the medalists had strong-enough performances, no one here really had a champion-worthy performance. Jade would have had it not been for that landing, and it's completely legitimate that she gave away the title there. Hopefully we'll see her back with a stronger hit in the next years (and an upgrade-- that Amanar is way too easy for her! she could legit get the TTY!)


Womens' UB
The worst of Worlds: Obviously, the big negative (in athlete performance) here was Ashton's... well, I hate to use sensationalist language on here in reference to a bad performance, but her meltdown. I mean, that's a routine she can do in her sleep! And apparently she exacerbated a shoulder injury, and finished her routine through tears. I felt so bad for her! She had been so crapped on in the lead-up to Worlds and then that had to happen. And the biggest downside of the final was the pettiness after. What ridiculous nonsense to be pillorying gymnasts for. And with the targets, people were definitely just looking to attack. "Ashton crying was unreasonable if she wasn't injured!" Seriously, calm down. And then the Nina issue. Yes, how dare she smile to herself when she realizes she just won Belgium's first World medal. Yet no one seems to mind how everyone was hugging the floor medalists while Vanessa was still on the ground being attended to by the med staff. Nope, no hypocrisy here at all. Not picking and choosing who to hate based on our already held biases, never. Some people in this fandom just really need to grow up.
Okay, gymternet rant over.

The best of Worlds: Onward to what I loved. Because outside of the Ashton sadness, this is probably my favorite bars final. Maybe with 2015 as an exception, because that was hilarious and all kinds of magical and had basically no falters, but I LOVE the style of bars we saw in this final. All I really cared about going in was that Elena, Anastasia, Nina, and Diana hit, and I got that. (Well, there was the Shang thing in Iliankova's routine, but details.) So many unique and gutsy combinations with big releases! So many connections combining multiple categories of skills! These are the bars routines we deserve! (Actually they're probably more than we deserve, tbh.) I seriously don't get how people are complaining current bars routines are boring? Are we watching the same competitions? They're so breathtaking!

So yeah, I was paying zero attention to scoring, so... Lena and Ilya wur robbed!!!!11! Fan shouldn't have medalled!!1!111! (I seriously have no legitimate opinion here. I paid NO ATTENTION to such trivial things as "quality".)


Womens' BB
The worst of Worlds: This was certainly one of the less bad beam finals we've had at this level in a long time, but there were still spots of sadness. Of course, no one wants to see the falls. I was especially sad to see Teramoto fall when I wanted her to get vindication for her fourth in 2014. I was less sad about Ellie's fall because she didn't seem too upset after medaling in AA, but she can be such a powerhouse here that I would have liked to have seen her hit the way she can, and she would have had a chance for a medal. And of course, it was sad to see Mai in fourth again. And while it wasn't as bad as some have been, it also didn't really have any super great routines either. There were a lot of falters.

The best of Worlds:But PAULINE WON YOU GUYS!! We of course had to deal with the tragedy of Sanne not qualifying, but one of the two I wanted to return to the podium was able to walk away with the title! She is such a gorgeous beam worker, and one of the few who has real choreography which added genuine artistic quality to the routine. It was also great to see Tabea able to pick up a second medal for Germany. I would love to see Germany put themselves at the top! And of course, MORGI! I'm loving this new steady Morgan we're seeing. Elena coming through and finishing off her competition with no falls and all hit beam routines was also super exciting, and I'm really looking forward to what she'll do for the Russian program.

I don't think there's too much controversy here. I've seen just a very little claim of robbing on Elena's part from Russia stanning, and I'm sure you'll find the same for Morgan, but that's just the fringes. I'm with what seems to be the consensus from what I've seen, which is being fine with the outcome.


Womens' FX
The worst of Worlds: Of course, with the bad, we need to talk about Vanessa. I, like everyone, am furious with Casella. One of the few injuries here that was actually the fault of decision-making on the part of the athlete team. And his manipulation to get her to go for difficulty she wasn't ready for yet. He appeared to be literally the only person who didn't see what a stupid decision he was pushing her to. When I watched the final, I was just thinking "Well at least Vanessa's got an epic routine to go out on", and then that happened. Absolutely shameful. I really don't think I can say much else negative about this final, but what a terrible negative it was.

The best of Worlds: MAI! MAI MAI MAI!! She finally got her Worlds medal. And what fabulous vindication for when she was robbed in 2013. It's such a fantastic total package routine. Speaking of total package routines, Brooklyn Moors is also how lovely. I'm not sure why, but I didn't have the same adoration for this routine until the last time I watched it yesterday, and... why? It's gorgeous. And the Podkopayeva! The difficult and intricate front tumbling! THE SEMENOVA! Lovely, lovely, lovely. And speaking of the Canadians, I also appreciated seeing Ellie Black again in this floor final. She may have stumbled, but I just love her floor work. Jade's tumbling was gorgeous. I could watch those passes on loop. Of course her artistry is quite lacking, but I think people are a bit over the top where criticizing her is concerned. No, it's not good. But her choreography has a fair enough correlation to the music, and she does it cleanly. I do hope we see good improvement there. It's her one barrier to being a total package floor worker. I also love the new Claudia we saw here. Her stumble on the first run was disappointing, but she's cleaned up A LOT. While I loved her old choreographies, she's like a whole new performer and it's fab. Another floor worker I love.

I loved this podium! Mai finally winning, Jade's gorgeous tumbling getting rewarded, and CLAUDIA MEDALLED! However, I really wouldn't have hated it if Thais had medalled ahead of Frags. Frags is one of my favorite on floor, but... there was that stumble.