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Gymnast Youtube Accounts

August 30, 2015, 9:58 am
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Photo Credit simonebiles on instagram


Oh to be a gymnastics fan in the digital age! We get to see snapchats of Australian and Italian friends sharing treats from their respective country. We get to see instagram photos from post-meet banquets. We get to see vines from nights out or of new skills. It's really a lot of fun to be a gym fan with social media at our fingertips. I've started to update a social media page but it is slow in coming about... Here's a list of a few gymnasts and their youtube channels. There really are some great videos that the gymnasts are making.

Mary-Anne (Mez) Monckton (AUS) || Channel
So Mez is literally the bomb.com. She started her youtube channel to document her rehab from ankle surgery and it was great to see her progress from learning to walk properly again to jumping to full beam routines! Most recently, Mez competed at the 2015 World University Games and documented the trip. I really love that we get an inside view on the rooms, the village, the competition hall, etc. The one I link to below doesn't have any gymnastics in it, it's all about the village but I think it's really neat!


Nile Wilson (GBR) || Channel
I only just discovered Nile Wilson had a channel. The videos are very well done and he has over 1000 hits on most of them. The one linked to below is a day in the life while at National Team camp at Lilleshall. There are also some funny bro moments in there.


Maggie Nichols (USA) || Channel
Maggie actually started her channel quite a few months (years?) ago but she's done a Q&A, leo collection vid, partner yoga challenge, and she also made a video from behind the scenes of 2015 Secret Classic.


Jake Dalton || Channel
Jake posted a few training videos and a few random things on his YT channel. I'm not sure if he plans on doing some rehab videos as he's scheduled for surgery soon.

Simone Biles (USA) || Channel
Simone has done "A Day in the Life" video as well as some videos from a trip to Belize for her brother's wedding.


Marian Dragulescu (ROU) || Channel
At 34 years old, Dragulescu is making a comeback for Team Romania. Dragulescu has started posting numerous videos of his training including a new vault (front handspring double front with a full twist - an extra half twist from his namesake vault). You can follow his journey on his channel.

Any others that should be added to the list? Anything that you would like to see from the gymnasts?
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BEL-SWE-AUT, A Review From the Stands

September 24, 2015, 4:31 pm
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It is with great pleasure that I share with you this piece by Marijn on the Belgium-Sweden-Austria Friendly. Marijn also wrote about Volunteering Adventures at the Flanders International Team Challenge and was kind enough to share her thoughts on the friendly meet.

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Upon entering the arena, the gymnasts were warming up. You could immediately feel the competition vibe of strong, focused athletes doing their thing in leotards that look about ten times more sparkly in real life. The second-row seat also reminded me how physically and mentally hard the sport of gymnastics is. I could hear their feet pounding on the ground and noticed their facial expressions a lot more. The Belgian gymnasts in particular looked nervous and insecure, although some team members managed to keep their cool.

First rotation
The Belgian team started off on floor with Cindy Vandenhole, Gaëlle Mys, Lisa Verschueren, Rune Hermans and Julie Croket. Although the girls only performed three tumbling passes - and double tucks and pikes were everywhere - their choreographies were fascinating and they sold their routines really well. Julie Croket also brought a new floor routine with Christina Aguilera music and a tucked full-in, 1.5 twist to full twist and a double pike as tumbling passes. She used an extra mat for her first pass and fell on her last pass, but her enthusiasm and well-executed leaps made up for it. The only thing that’s still on my wish list for team Belgium is cleaner landings and more difficult or more original passes.

Meanwhile on vault, Marcela Torres from Sweden pulled out of the competition, because her heavily taped hamstring was too painful. The star on this event was Emma Larsson, with a 1.5 twisting yurchenko almost stuck (14.033).

Second rotation
The next rotation was full-twisting yurchenko time for the Belgian team. Interestingly, Julie Croket changed her old front handspring vault to a FTY. During 30-second warm-ups bad luck struck her again as she injured her right ankle on the landing. Sigh. It is just heartbreaking how many times she has gotten injured right before a big meet and fought her way back, only to be knocked down again. As Julie was carried away by the physiotherapist, the rest of the team had to stay focused and hit. They rose to the challenge wonderfully. Rune, Cindy and Gaëlle scored around 13.500 and Lisa surprised me with a 13.800 and a block that makes me wonder whether she could get a 1.5 around if she trained it.



Third rotation
On uneven bars, the Belgians showed a lot more variation. Gaëlle was just happy to get through her routine without any major mistakes, while Lisa and Laura Waem showed off some great bars skills. Laura is still coming back from a knee surgery and therefore didn’t compete a dismount. First-year senior Cindy impressed me with her flowing rhythm and gorgeous tuck form in the dismount. Somewhere in between was Rune, with a lovely Chow at the beginning, unfortunately followed by an ugly pak and pirouette problems later on.

Fourth rotation
The balance beam didn’t show any mercy towards the gymnasts that day. Just like in general warm- ups, the Belgians had a lot of falls (and wobbles). To make matters even worse, they had to count all four scores, since Julie had to withdraw and Jelle Beullens only did exhibition routines on FX and BB. Fortunately, Gaëlle was there to save the day - and the provisional average of 11.250 - with a fantastic beam set that scored 14.200. After almost nine (!) years in the senior field, you can always count on Gaëlle to hit her favourite apparatus.

Emma Larsson concluded the competition on floor with a combination of artistry, energetic music, and powerful tumbling. Her opening pass was a double layout, followed by a full-in, a double tuck and a double pike. She did lose quite a few tenths in execution due to some extra steps, an uncontrolled landing and an out of bounds.

It’s a pity that I didn’t have enough eyes to take pictures, take notes, focus on team Belgium, keep an eye on team Sweden and have a good look at team Austria. Their D-scores were somewhat lower than the other teams and they couldn’t make up for it with Kyla-esque execution scores. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see what they came up with and I hope to see them grow just like team Belgium did in the previous years. That doesn’t mean that Belgium is there yet. They certainly have what it takes to make it to Rio as a team, but they do need to work on consistency and confidence. Maybe team USA can teach them how to be badass queens during competitions?

You can follow Marijn at spotlightgymnastics and can view her excellent pictures from the meet on flickr (HQ) or on facebook.

Thank you, Marijn!!

Team
1. Belgium 211.549
2. Sweden 202.466
3. Austria 191.581

All Around
1. Gaelle Mys (BEL) 54.400
2. Rune Hermans (BEL) 52.783
3. Emma Larsson (SWE) 52.033


Results for the meet can be found here.


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Funny Things Around the Gymternet May-Sep 2015

October 4, 2015, 5:16 pm
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This was originally supposed to be posted for May-Aug and I missed that so figured I should post this now before it's December!

Olympian Larrissa Miller has some bad days too

A video posted by Larrissa Miller (@larrissa_miller) on


Perhaps one of the greatest athletes of this quadrennium, Simone Biles has her spills when working new skills too!




We've seen former World Champions and Olympians talk about the difficulty that is the double double and now we know why.


Sometimes things just don't go as planned.


When you're trying to be McKayla Maroney...




Vaulting is hard...


The problem with balking on beam


Whoops!




Even drills ar ehard sometimes! Also, I strongly recommend you follow Ashton on snapchat.


And how's the school year going so far?


Check back in a few days. I might add a few more from my favorites on twitter! :)
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USA Gymnastics Names World Championship Team

October 8, 2015, 6:13 pm
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After a selection camp at the famed Karolyi Ranch in Texas, Martha Karolyi has named the 2015 World Championship Team. The team will be headlined by consecutive 2-time World All Around Champion Simone Biles, Olympic All Around Champion Gabrielle Douglas, and Olympic Floor Exercise Champion Aly Raisman.

Mykayla Skinner, 2014 World Championship team member, was named to the team, undoubtedly, for her vault and floor exercise. On vault, she has a decent shot at a medal this year with her Cheng and DTY/possible Amanar. Madison Kocian, also a member of the 2014 World Champion team, earns her spot in the lineup for her solid uneven bars. She has been the best in the US and is one of the top ranked gymnast on bars in the world, looking at a good chance of event finals and possibly the podium.

After missing out on the chance to be named to the 2014 team due to an injury, Maggie Nichols got back in the gym to rehab her knee. She's come back strong and was 2nd for most of the US domestic season earning herself much media attention. In addition to Biles, Douglas, and Raisman, Nichols rounds out the top 5 all arounders for the US aside from Bailie Key who was not named to the team.

To round out the team, Brenna Dowell has made a successful comeback from college to elite hitting her immensely difficult UB routine to make the team. In 2013, Brenna was named to the team then bumped to alternate in place of an entirely all around squad. In 2014, Brenna had an untimely injury that prevented her from being 100% for Nationals and the selection camp. For 2015, Dowell was able to finish her first collegiate season and also comeback and have a successful US domestic season. So successful that she was named to the team again. Now we wait to see if she will compete!

For now, the alternate will remain a mystery. Biles is a clear lock for the team. Douglas and Raisman, in my opinion, are also locks. Douglas supplies a much needed uneven bar routine and, reportedly, has shown her Amanar at camp making her all around marketability that much more impressive for the defending Olympic champ. Although Raisman does not thrive on uneven bars, her difficulty everywhere else is a huge asset for team USA. Being one of the top 2 Americans will be a competition in and of itself and Raisman is right up there with her Amanar and impressive floor set.

Skinner, Kocian, and Dowell all have event finals potential, not to mention Dowell having the possibility of getting the piked double front named after her. This leaves Nichols as the odd one out. An excellent all arounder but without the top 3 scores for the US on any one event but the immense ability to step up anywhere should anyone be injured or in qualifications. On the other hand, consistency has not always been on Kocian (other than this year) or Dowell's side.

Naming of the alternate will surely be interesting. What are your thoughts?


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Worlds Qualifications Recap - Where to Start?

October 25, 2015, 5:59 pm
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Ginnastica Artistica Italiana

I think I've been avoiding writing this post because I really had no clue where to start. Big surprises in Romania not making the top 8 or 2nd American all around spot. Or the happy surprises - Canada and the Netherlands making the top 8, both Sanne Wevers and Eythora Thorsdottir making balance beam event finals. There's just so much that happened in these two days and I'm still trying to process it.

Let's start with the heartbreak that is Romania.

Prior to competition, Ana Maria Ocolisan was injured. She was a savior in my eyes. At the time, I thought Diana Bulimar wasn't back to AA status so Ocolisan served as an excellent 2nd all arounder. Easily getting 55+ and showing consistency on all events. Then joined with Larisa, these 3 would be enough to easily get Romania in the team final.

The unthinkable happened.

Well, not unthinkable in this sport.

Ocolisan was injured and out of the competition. Romania, unfortunately, did not have an alternate they could willingly use in competition so they had just 5 athletes and only 4 athletes on some events. It would not have been half as bad if not for the meltdown that ensued. Iordache received a low floor exercise score (which I honestly still cannot understand). Vault went okay. Then uneven bars was wear disaster struck. Jurca started the team off great and after that it was melt down city. Neither Bulimar nor Iordache, the glue for the team and the leaders, were able to hit their routines. There were falls on beam too, kicking Iordache out of the beam event final.

There were just so many surprises here. Romania finished outside of the top 8 and will have to try and qualify a team for Rio at the Test Event. Something they haven't had to do... ever? They finished outside the top 8 for the first time in 40 years. Their only shot at a medal is the all around final. It seems weird not to have Iordache in the floor exercise final.

Lots of people have been quick to blame the Olympian comebacks that have not come to fruition in time for this Worlds. Izbasa hopes to be ready by European Championships and Ponor suffered an untimely injury that kept her out of this year's Worlds. But what about the other issues? Girls easily losing motivation. Or the fact that Romania has struggled on bars and only seems to be getting worse? It seems like there are infrastructure issues that need to be changed to help Romania get back to where she once was.

Rant over.

Just kidding because now we'll get to USA and me raging over Maggie Nichols not being in the all around.

The more I tried thinking of Team USA's lineup with the 7 athletes chosen, I knew it would be a struggle for each puzzle piece to fall nicely into place. You brought 2 UB workers so who do you take out of the AA? You brought a VT/FX specialist so which UB girl do you leave out? You brought an even keeled AAer so should she just come out to fit the specialists with an EF medal chance?

I have no clue what went through Martha Karolyi's head but it was apparent that Mykayla Skinner would be alternate. Fine. So now 2 UB workers are competing and out of the remaining 4 girls, only 3 would get to do AA. The battle came down to first time World Championships attendee Maggie Nichols and Olympic Champion Aly Raisman. Regardless of Nichols' stronger UB set, using her on UB meant taking an Olympic Champ out of the AA. That just wasn't going to happen.

Unfortunately, both Aly Raisman and Brenna Dowell had issues on bars. Many were quick to point out how useful Bailie Key would have been but let me stop you for a second. We have an athlete fully capable of doing bars that's ALREADY HERE! No, maybe not UB EF worthy but still a good UB set and a good chance at a medal in the all around. But it just wasn't to be. Nichols competed VT, BB, FX and could have scored below 13 and still beaten compatriots Gabrielle Douglas and Raisman to the AA final. What a time to be alive?

I have seen the glass half full, though. If Nichols does well in TF and in the FX EF (seriously - who saw that coming because I 1000% did not), she's making a statement for herself for Rio.

Speaking of Rio, what kind of statement did Brenna Dowell make? Not a good one to say the least. Multiple errors on her best event and the snafu on floor. This is where I actually would use Dowell in TF on UB. If she messes up here, then that could potentially make the Rio selection much easier. Give her that shot to see if she rises to the occasion or falls under the pressure.

Here's my APF lineup.
VT: Raisman, Nichols, Biles
UB: Dowell, Douglas, Kocian
BB: Nichols, Raisman, Biles
FX: Nichols, Raisman, Biles

VT, FX is pretty straight forward. UB has Dowell just to give her one more shot and I think the US lead will be enough that even if she does mess up, USA should still win. On BB, Nichols had the better routine compared to Douglas.

What I think Martha will do:
VT: Raisman, Nichols, Biles
UB: Biles, Douglas, Kocian
BB: Douglas, Raisman, Biles
FX: Nichols, Raisman, Biles

A few other things:
Canada had a phenomenal showing. I really didn't think this was the year for Canada or for the Netherlands. I was hopeful but skeptical and clearly that was not needed. Canada had an excellent showing. Rogers had an excellent international return with 2 great vaults and a superb uneven bars routine. Black qualified to the all around final in the top 5. Overall a great showing.

The Netherlands also were a pleasant surprise, earning the 8th spot. Lieke Wevers made the AA final. Sanne Wevers and Eythora Thorsdottir both made the balance beam final. Their artistry and excellent execution was rewarded and now they get to send a team to Rio. Which I think we can all have a sigh of relief not having to pick just 1 athlete from this talented pool.

China was a bit weaker than I expected but they are a young team. I'm somewhat hopeful they'll get it together for team finals. Ironically, China looked the worst on uneven bars. They just looked weak. In the past, China has used the code to their advantage or entirely ignored the code and just kept their immaculate pirouettes. Now, they're not really adjusted to the code, their backs are soft going into stalders, and the pirouettes are failing them. We'll see how TF goes.

Russia was solid, much improved despite missing Mustafina. Happy Komova showed up and nailed her UB and BB set for places in both finals. Paseka continues to improve on vault giving herself a real shot at a medal.

For Great Britain, an overall good performance, I was just surprised Ellie Downie did not make the AA final. I LOVE Ruby Harrold's floor so much and hope and pray that she really does end up at LSU.

Oh Italy. I'm not mad that Ferrari was chosen to go, I'm just mad that she's withdrawing now anyway. I had no doubts Italy would make the team final but it was a lot closer than I anticipated. So, fine, Mr. Casella you made the right choice. It's just unfortunate that Enus Mariani missed out on the international experience. I'm glad Ugrin did well. Hopefully both stay in the conversation closer to Rio.

Brazil and Belgium both did way better than I expected. Surprised that Australia was so low. Sad that Spain just missed out on top 16 and can only send 2 athletes to the Test Event. I just don't want to think about it.

Results on FIG event website.

What were your biggest surprises for the qualification round?
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Gymnastics Injuries Oct-Dec

December 5, 2015, 8:47 am
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Koko Tsurumi at NHK Trophy 2012
Adam Pretty/Getty Images

I've been avoiding this list like the plague. I decided that after Rio I wouldn't keep track anymore and I think I just wanted to stop now. But, alas, injuries are part of the sport.

There's been quite a bit of shuffling recently. Roxana Popa is back after an ACL tear and was able to compete UB at Worlds. Sounds like she has been cleared to start vaulting and tumbling again so hopefully we get to see her at the Test Event to try and qualify a spot for Rio. Romania lost Anamaria Ocolisan with an unfortunately timed injury. Ocolisan was quickly becoming one of Romania's top all around gymnasts but got injured in Podium Training prior to the team competition.

Koko Tsurumi has announced her retirement from the sport after struggling with Achilles tendon injuries for much of this quadrennium. She recently made a comeback and competed her last uneven bar routine prior to announcing her retirement. This two time Olympian, 2009 World Championship All Around bronze medalist and 2012 Olympics Uneven Bars Event Finalist will be greatly missed!

Note about the list:
The list consists of national team members that have had some injury that keeps them out of competition. (c) indicates gymnasts that have returned to national team camp or control competition but not yet to a "public" competition.

2015

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Ruby Harrold GBR??? (Mar)Sep 2015
Axelle Klinckaert BEL??? (Mar)May 2015
Teal Grindle GBRShoulder injury (Mar)Nov 2015
Yao Jinnan CHNShoulder surgery (Feb)
Ashton Locklear USAShoulder surgery (Mar)Aug 2015
Sabrina Vega USAShoulder surgery (Mar)Jul 2015
Marta Costa ESPShoulder surgery (May)
Youna Dufournet FRAShoulder surgery (Jun)
Anna Pavlova AZEElbow injury (Apr)
Lisa Ecker AUTKnee injury (Apr)
Yesenia Ferrera CUBKnee injury (May)
Elsa Garcia MEXKnee injury (Oct)
Giulia Steingruber SUIKnee injury (Oct)
Chantysha Netteb NEDKnee reoperation (Mar)
Diana Bulimar ROUKnee surgery (Jun)Sep 2015
Raer Theaker GBRKnee surgery (Jun)
Elbow surgery (Nov)		Sep 2015

Alessandra Thompson RSAKnee surgery (Jun)
Anastasia Grishina RUSTorn meniscus & broken patella (Apr '14)
ACL tear (Mar)		Feb 2015
Sep 2015
Gabby Jupp GBRACL tear (Mar)
Jonna Adlerteg SWEACL tear (Apr)
Kim Janas GERACL tear (May)
Kim Bui GERACL tear (May)
Rebeca Andrade BRAACL tear (Jun)
Lauren Mitchell AUSACL tear (Jun)
Carlotta Ferlito ITAFoot injury (Feb)Mar 2015
Larisa Iordache ROUFoot injury (Mar)Sep 2015
Laura Waem BELFoot injury (Mar)Sep 2015 (c)
Isa Maassen NEDFoot injury (Jun)
Catherine Lyons GBR jrStress fracture (Jun)
Koko Tsurumi JPNAchilles tear (May)Nov 2015
retirement
Catalina PonorAchilles surgery (Oct)
Lara Mori ITAAnkle injury (Mar)Sep 2015
Julie Croket BEL??? (Mar)
Ankle sprain (Sep)		Oct 2015
Mira Boumejmajen FRAAnkle injury (Mar)retirement
Alla Sosnitskaya RUSAnkle injury (Apr)Sep 2015
Marta Pihan-Kulesza POLAnkle injury (May)Oct 2015
Noel van Klaveren NEDAnkle surgery (May)Sep 2015 (c)
Felicia Hano USAAnkle injury (Jul)
Arianna Rocca ITAAnkle injury (Sep)
Ana Maria Ocolisan ROUElbow surgery (Feb)
Ankle injury (Oct)		Jun 2015
Iosra Abdelaziz ITAFoot surgery (Jan)
Martina Rizzelli ITAMetatarsal fracture + surgery (Sep)
Nina DerwaelToe injury (Nov)
Vanessa Ferrari ITAMedical - mononucleosis (Mar)Apr 2015

2014

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Elisa Cherino GERFractured cervical vertebrae (Mar)FB; site
Miriana Almeida MEX??? (Aug)
Sandra Collantes PER??? (Sep)
Anne Kuhm FRACollarbone (Jan)Feb 2015 (c)
Mar 2015
Kirsten Beckett RSAShoulder surgery (Aug)Jun 2015
Peyton Ernst USADislocated shoulder + surgery (Aug)Apr 2015 (c)
Ida Gustafsson SWEShoulder injury (Aug)
Rebecca Tunney GBRElbow (May)Sep 2015
Bailie Key USA jrElbow (Jul)Oct 2014 (c)
Mar 2015
Ayelen Taribini ARGDislocated Elbow (Sep)*May 2015
Madison Kocian USAWrist surgery (Nov)Mar 2015 (c)
Yuna Hiraiwa JPNBroken Finger (Sep)Apr 2015
Elisa Meneghini ITABack (Oct)Mar 2015
Aliya Mustafina RUSBack (Dec)Jun 2015
McKayla Maroney USAKnee surgery (Feb) + medical
Jade Barbosa BRAKnee surgery (Aug)Jun 2015
Diana Bulimar ROUKnee surgery (Aug)Mar 2015
Cintia Rodriguez ESPKnee surgery (Nov)Jul 2015
Aleeza Yu CANKnee injury (Oct)
Vanasia Bradley USA jrTorn ACL & meniscus, broken patella (Jun)
Nadine Jarosch GERTorn ACL surgery (2013)
Torn ACL surgery (Jul)
Janine Berger GERTorn ACL surgery (Aug)
Maria Paula Vargas ESPTorn ACL & partial meniscal tear (Sep)Jul 2015
Laura Longueville FRATorn ACL surgery (Oct)
2nd surgery (Mar '15)
Kristyna Palesova CZETorn ACL, meniscal tear, ligament tear (Nov)
Roxana Popa ESPTorn ACL & meniscus (Dec)Oct 2015
Laurie Hernandez USA jrFractured wrist (Jan)
Torn patellar tendon & dislocated kneecap (Jun)
Nov 2014 (c)
Maggie Nichols USADislocated kneecap (Aug)Jan 2015 (c)
Mar 2015
Tyesha Mattis GBR jrAnkle (Mar)Dec 2014 (c)
Mar 2015
Wendy de Jong NED jrAnkle (Jul)
Lauren Mitchell AUSAnkle (Oct)May 2015
Giulia Steingruber SUIKnee bone bruise (Mar)
Ankle ligament sprain + 2 stress fractures (Nov)		May 2014
Mar 2015
Gabriella Douglas CANAnkle surgery (Aug)Feb 2015
Rachel Gowey USAAnkle break (Aug)Nov 2014 (c)
Jul 2015
Maelys Plessis FRAAnkle stress fracture (Sep)retirement
Lexie Priessman USAAchilles tendon strain ('13)
Torn fibular ligament (Aug)		retirement
Mary-Anne Monckton AUSTorn peroneal tendon (Oct)Apr 2015 (c)
Jul 2015
Evgenia Zhukova RUSTorn Achilles (Apr)
Valentine Sabatou FRATorn Achilles (Sep)retirement
Francesca Deagostini ITAFoot injury/fracture (Jun-Aug)Feb 2015
Elisabeth Seitz GERFoot injury (Aug)
Foot surgery (Nov)		Sep 2014
May 2015
Giorgia Campana ITAFoot injury (Nov)Feb 2015
Resolved
Simone Biles USAShoulder (Feb)Jul 2014
Louise Vanhille FRAElbow (Mar)Nov 2014
Alyssa Baumann USAElbow (Aug)Sep 2014
Kyla Ross USABack (Jan)Mar 2014
Mariya Livchikova UKRTorn ACL (Aug)retirement
Loan His FRA jrHyperextended knee (Jun)Nov 2014
Carlotta Ferlito ITACalf strain + medical issue (Mar)Sep 2014
Sophie Scheder GERSprained ankle + 2 torn ligaments (Mar)May 2014
Maria Paseka RUSSprained ankle (Sep)Nov 2014
Ksenia Afanasyeva RUSAnkle surgery (Apr)Nov 2014
Viktoria Komova RUSAnkle surgery (Apr)Aug 2014
Maria Bondareva RUS jrSwollen ligaments in ankle (Apr)May 2014
Rebeca Andrade BRA jrToe injury (Jul)Nov 2014

2013

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Sabrina Vega USAShoulder surgeryNov 2014 (c)
Chantysha Netteb NEDACLFeb 2015
Resolved
Katelyn Ohashi - USAShoulder surgery + BackJan 2015
Julie Croket - BELElbowAug 2014
Sarah Finnegan - USAElbow surgeryJan 2015
Enus Mariani jr - ITABack injury (May)Nov 2014
Eythora Thorsdottir - NED jrBackOct 2014
Gabby Jupp - GBRTorn ACL at Europeans; surgeryAug 2014
Kim Janas GER jrACL; surgeryOct 2014
Lisa Ecker AUTR PCL and meniscusAug 2014
Luo Peiru - CHNAchilles & fractured kneecapretirement
Céline van Gerner - NEDAnkle surgerySep 2014
Adrian Gomes - BRAretirement
Koko Tsurumi - JPNAchillesNov 2014
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Exciting Lives: Elsa Garcia and Ana Lago

December 7, 2015, 4:14 pm
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Ana Lago (L) and Elsa Garcia (R) at the Central American and Caribbean Games 2014
Photo Credit: solodeportemx.com


Azteca Opinion recently published a 15 minute video documentary on Mexican gymnasts Elsa Garcia and Ana Lago on Vidas Aspasionantes (Exciting Lives). In 2012, both Garcia and Lago went to the Test Event with Garcia earning the Olympic nomination with a higher all around score. They have both been at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships where Mexico finished 21st. Again, 2 gymnasts will be named to the Test Event and only 1 will get the spot for the Olympics. They have both had trials and tribulations including an ACL tear for Lago and a current knee injury for Elsa Garcia after hyperextending her knee at this year's World Championships.

I am forever thankful to aliyamustafina on tumblr for translating the interview. Any notes are in parentheses.


(In case above link does not work, here is a link to the twitter)



At the beginning they thank TV Azteca for going to Monterrey, where they consider it’s home in Mexico for gymnastics.

Elsa: Hello, I am Elsa García and I am an Olympic gymnast who has have attended to four Centro American Games, three Pan-American Games and one Olympic Games. I have won approximately 15 Centro American medals, three Pan-American medals, 12 World Cup medals and in 2009 I was awarded during Worlds with the Longines prize for elegance.

Ana: Hello, I am Ana Lago and I am a gymnast. Everyone knows me as “Fany” and I am Centro American medalist. I am floor champion from Pan-American Games in Guadalajara 2011 and also won bronze as a team during those games. I’ve been two times to Worlds. And we are looking for the qualification to the next Olympic Games.

Reporter: Hello I am Antonio Rosique. The Olympic Games haven’t been the same after one July night in 1976 the Romanian Nadia Comaneci got for the first time the perfect 10. Nadia turned into an Olympics symbol; her grace and charm captivated the entire World. Millions of girls began to practice gymnastics following the inspirational image from this prodigious Romanian athlete. Today in “VIdas Apasionantes” we are going to enter to this “tiny” yet extremely demanding world where dominating the body and defying the gravity happens. We are going to enter to the heart of the Mexican gymnastics where a bunch of girls grow, train and dream to achieve the perfection just like once, Nadia Comaneci did.

Elsa: I started doing gymnastics when I was 3 years old and probably same as most athletes, I was very energetic and I couldn’t stand still. My parents said I needed to canalize all my energy into something so they got me into gymnastics.

Coach: If I could describe Elsa in just a few words I would say Elsa is gymnastics and she is Mexico.

Elsa: My mom went to “El Regio” (Elsa’s and Ana’s gym) to sign me in. She spoke with the coaches and she told them she just wanted me to have fun and not feel stressed or pressured and they agreed but after time it was me who wanted more and more.

6.0/14.525


Coach: Chances are that someday someone else will beat Elsa but then they’ll have to remain as the best gymnast in Mexico for at least 12 years and win the medals she has won.

Ana: I’ve always been told I am very funny, charismatic, and happy and that I always enjoy what I do. I think I haven’t changed much from when I was a kid and I think I will remain the same way forever.

Coach: Fany’s face is like “dreamy” and it’s also fierce and competitive.

Ana: It’s always very satisfying to teach the younger girls all the things you know, what you have learnt, your experiences as well as your victories and defeats or talk to them about your injuries. I also try to teach them that the most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing.

Coach: Fany is a gymnast who sometimes I have to be breaking because she is always hungry for more. (He always has to stop her because she is so full of energy)

Interviewer: Mexico has never gotten an Olympic medal in gymnastics and every day it fights to earn a spot in a sport which is traditionally dominated by Russia, United States, Romania and China. Mexico has given individual steps through years trying to get closer to the elite; in Sydney 2000 Denise López got 7th place in the vault final. In London 2012 Daniel Corral got the 5th spot in Parallel Bars; Elsa qualified to London 2012 and now Ana Lago is working to make the Olympics as well.

Ana: It’s my passion; since I was kid gymnastics always grabbed my attention and I love to be jumping, doing spins, being upside down or that feeling that I’m flying.

Elsa: Gymnastics makes you feel happy, free or you feel that you can fly but also you get to feel fear, pain, frustration or exhaustion. All those things you can feel them at the same time in one training.

Ana: To be honest all the apparatuses have made me feel mad at some point. Every apparatus has certain elements that even though you try and try one day they just won’t work and you just repeat to yourself that maybe that day the element won’t happen for you, but maybe during the next training it will and you know you are going to keep trying and you will give your best in order to get it and then after that you’ll feel happy with yourself.

Elsa: We realized the past Olympic cycle after we ended up in 17th place (she giggles nervously and sort of jokes about being super close to making it) that if every girl scores at least 13.600 in each apparatus we could make it and that has been our main goal from this Olympic cycle.


5.6/13.85


Coach: It’s not easy to get the 13.600 in each apparatus even though it might sound that way. Our main focus during this cycle has been paying more attention to “the order” instead of the monetary resources. Countries who are in the top 10, apart from keeping order in their programs, they take in account the monetary resources. Unfortunately we don’t have that much money so we can only focus on keeping our program ordered.

Ana: I always try to picture everything big, while I am training at the gym I always try to imagine I’m in a big competition to force myself to deal with the pressure you get to feel when you compete.

Elsa: This gym has taken years and years of hard work, shortcomings and dedication but here we are. (She says this while she cries)

Coach: We call this gym “the tiny house of gymnastics” and keeping it has taken a lot of work from everyone; you can see pictures of the girls helping to repair the gym or helping with the construction. It still is very hard and the goal hasn’t been achieved yet but if we really want to succeed we need to do what all of the successful countries do.

Ana: Every time we finish a hard training and we end up very exhausted our coach, the doctors and therapists decide to get us into a pool with cold water and ice. (Both laugh a little about that)

Elsa: It’s a very risky sport, even though we have mats to protect us when we are training a new skill there comes a time when you have to do it without all the protection, just by yourself. In gymnastics, when you land if you weigh 50 kg just to give an example, then it would be 10 times more so that would be 500kgs for each landing. Now, if you keep doing repetitions of the elements just like we do during trainings, then you end up landing around 1 ton per training.

Ana: After my injury I feel my life did change a lot. Now I feel stronger and more of a warrior, even more than I was before.

Coach: Fany had a very serious injury on her knee and she needed surgery but now she is back in shape. She is very competitive, hard worker, disciplined and a fighter.

Ana: I always repeat to myself “It’s a bad day not a bad life. Even though it was a bad day today, that doesn’t mean tomorrow won’t be better”.

Elsa: Gymnastics is way bigger than Elsa García. I am just a tiny spot who is in line helping things to grow. (I think she meant it as in Mexican Gymnastics)

Coach: I am sure if we keep working very hard just like we are right now, we are going to win an Olympic medal someday.

Ana: I give everything to gymnastics, this is what I love most to do and during each routine and competition I give the best of me to leave that “tiny grain of sand”.


Very grateful for the translation as well as this video feature. Wishing these athletes the best of luck as head into the Olympic year!

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College Freshmen 2015-2016

December 15, 2015, 9:49 am
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Madison Preston (UCLA)

If you haven't seen it, I have a College Commits page for the next few classes but already need room for the class of 2019 and potentially 2020. I figure I'll start making a table with the current freshman and this will eventually grow to include the entire roster... eventually. This is the top 20-ish schools. The number of schools will grow with time. Make sure to check the Commits page!

Alabama
Class of 2015
Abby Armbrecht
Jenna Bresette
Ariana Guerra
Amanda Huang
Avery Rickett
Arizona
Class of 2015
Charlie Dembo
Haylie Hendrickson
Brittany Robertson
Skyler Sheppard
Danielle Spencer
Arkansas
Class of 2015
Mackenzie Anderson
Sydney McGlone
Auburn
Class of 2015
Samantha Cerio
Emma Engler
Taylor Krippner
Emma Slappey
Boise State
Class of 2015
Sarah Means
Shani Remme
Cal
Class of 2015
Emily Howe
Sofie Seilnacht
Sylvie Seilnacht
Chelsea Shu
Jessica Wang
Denver
Class of 2015
Claire Kern
Kaitlyn Schou
Florida
Class of 2015
Alicia Boren
Amanda Cheney
Lacy Dagen
Peyton Ernst
Ashley Hiller
Georgia
Class of 2015
Caroline Bradford
Gracie Cherrey
Sydney Snead
Illinois
Class of 2015
Julia Hutcherson
Lizzy LeDuc
Brielle Nguyen
Haylee Roe
LSU
Class of 2015
Julianna Cannamela
Sarah Finnegan
Mckenna Kelley
Lexie Priessman
Kaitlyn Szafranski
Michigan
Class of 2015
Olivia Karas
Emma McLean
Minnesota
Class of 2015
Rachel Cutler
Selena Ung
Nebraska
Class of 2015
Kami Amemiya-Shows
Kelli Chung
Sienna Crouse
Megan Kuo
Catelyn Orel
Megan Schweihofer
Oklahoma
Class of 2015
Nicole Lehrmann
Megan Thompson
Oregon State
Class of 2015
Mariana Colussi-Pelaez
McKenna Singley
Mary Jacobsen
Elizabeth Yu
Penn State
Class of 2015
Sabrina Garcia
Madi Heckman
Mason Hosek
Jessica Jones
Gianna Laguarda
Stanford
Class of 2015
Taryn Fitzgerald
Hailee Hoffman
Dare Maxwell
UCLA
Class of 2015
Matteah Brow
Katelyn Ohashi
Madison Preston
Nicki Shapiro
Macy Toronjo
Utah
Class of 2015
Shannon McNatt
MaKenna Merrell
Erika Muhaw
Sabrina Schwab
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Looking Back: New Seniors of 2015

December 29, 2015, 10:21 am
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Tutya Yilmaz 
Photo Credit: fanatik.com.tr

When I asked the gymternet who had the most successful senior debut, the answers were Fan Yilin, Ellie Downie, Flavia Saraiva, Sae Miyakawa. 2015 served as an interesting year since many of these gymnasts were also the competitors at the Youth Olympic Games. Some were hailed as "the next big thing" and this was the year that monicker was to come to fruition. You can find the list of seniors at the bottom.

Ellie Downie is certainly one of those athletes for which this came true. She had a stellar senior debut, to the point where I forgot this was her first year as a senior by the end of the World Championships. Early on in 2015, Downie was named to Great Britain's team for the 2015 European Championships. She had an amazing meet where she finished 3rd in the all around, a first medal for team Great Britain. Downie also qualified for the vault final as well as the uneven bar final alongside older sister Becky Downie. The success continued after Downie was named to the World Championship team. Downie did not qualify to the all around final due to a fall on bars and again had an error when competing uneven bars in the team final. However, it was Downie's solid DTY that sealed the deal for Team GB as they placed 3rd in the team final. Their first team medal at a World Championships. Downie went on to qualify for the vault final where with 2 cleanly executed vaults, she was able to place 4th amongst some of the top contenders expected to compete at Rio.

What Ellie has done this year is nothing short of amazing. She is one of the juniors that certainly lived up to the fame as a senior. She started the year with a bang and kept going, all that while recovering from an injury that kept her from training at 100% earlier in the year. It's exciting to think what the future might bring for Ellie Downie.



Sae Miyakawa was another Youth Olympian that had a great 2015.  She started the season at the WOGA Classic where she placed 6th in the all around and 2nd on vault. Miyakawa continued winning medals throughout the domestic season. She was a member of the Asian Championships team and helped Japan to a team gold while earning a vault silver and floor bronze. Miyakawa's real prowess is on the floor exercise where her passes are out of this world. At the recent Tokyo International, Miyakawa showed a full twisting double layout, front layout full to tucked double front, double double, and double layout dismount. This routine is insane. And apparently she has the potential for 6.8D. Honestly, Sae's the only woman at the moment that I think can nearly match Simone's floor exercise difficulty. It is just out of this world.

http://team-china.tumblr.com/post/135303778127/saes-routine-from-toyota-cup-she-added-the

I feel like Fan Yilin deserves a special shoutout as she is the only new senior to have a gold medal and it was in the most interesting final we've ever seen! Fan was on track to be a star as a senior but then suffered some injuries prior to her senior debut. She was able to come back with a vengeance with a unique uneven bar dismount (video). Unfortunately, it wasn't credited as expected in international competition so the switch was made to the double layout.

After winning the uneven bar title at Chinese National Championships and coming in 3rd at Asian Championships, Fan competed remarkably well at her first World Championships. She contributed to the team score on both uneven bars and balance beam. Then there was the coveted uneven bar final where Fan was the first up to obtain the miraculous 15.366. Others tried to beat her score with no luck so Fan, along with 3 others, were named the Uneven Bar World Champions. She was the gymnast with the highest D score at 6.9. Fan's mother passed away last year and she hopes that her accomplishment made her mother proud.



A personal favorite goes to Tutya Yilmaz. I first discovered her during the 2013 EYOF where she had some great difficulty but some unfortunate execution errors. She then went to the YOG where she made multiple finals (all around, vault, and floor) but again with execution errors. This time, I remember what exactly intrigued me. Yilmaz had a back handspring layout full connection on beam. Her floor was also reminiscent of Alicia Sacramone - nice dance with clean tumbling. She has both a full in piked and tuck and they're both cleanly executed. At this year's World Championships, Yilmaz placed 44th on beam with a 5.9D and she didn't fall!!! Pretty impressive for a young athlete from an up and coming country. Her all around completition is on the FIG channel and I strongly recommend :)



Boglarka Devai is a new senior for Hungary that has quickly become essential to the success of the team. Often overshadowed by the big names in Dorina Boczogo and Noemi Makra, Hungary would not have achieved their 18th place finish at worlds if not for Devai's fabulous DTY. She received their highest score in TF by nearly 1 point. She also contributed on uneven bars.



Canadian gymnast Sydney Townsend gets the award for best comeback. She had a strong 2014 at the Youth Olympic Games but then struggled at the start of 2015. She then took the bulk of the competitive season off to rehab and it paid off. Though still not at 100%, Townsend was a crucial member for the 2015 team contributing on vault and floor exercise. I'm looking forward for what 2016 will bring for her.



Some seniors that were on my "watch list." Make sure to check out the New Senior page.

Senior in 2015 (born in 1999) - YOG eligible
Belarus
Natallia Yakubava
Belgium
Rune Hermans
Brazil
Rebecca Andrade - injured
Milena Theodoro
Flavia Saraiva
Canada
Sydney Laird
Audrey Rousseau
Sydney Soloski
Sydney Townsend
China
Deng Yalan
Fan Yilin
Hong Ke
Liu Jinru
Liu Ying
Qin Chang
Wang Yan
Yuan Xiaoyang
Zhu Xiaofang
Czech Republic
Veronika Cenkova
France
Camille Bahl
Loan His
Germany
Antonia Alicke
Kim Janas - injured
Pauline Tratz
Great Britain
Georgina Clements
Ellie Downie
Rhyannon Jones
Aasha Kimpton - retired
April Maslen
Tyesha Mattis - injured
Amy Tinkler
Hungary
Boglarka Devai
Italy
Iosra Abdelaziz - injured
Joana Favaretto
Chiara Imeraj
Alice Linguerri
Japan
Sae Miyakawa
Mexico
Carla Cornejo
Stephanie Hernandez
Cinthia Ruiz
Karla Vielma
New Zealand
Millie Williamson
Netherlands
Wendy de Jong
Isa Maassen
Philippines
Ava Verdeflor
Romania
Madalina Alexandrea Blendea
Andreea Iridon
Laura Jurca
Russia
Maria Bondareva
Anastasiia Dmitrieva
Daria Mikhailova
Seda Tutkhalyan
Singapore
Nadine Joy Nathan
Switzerland
Gaia Nesurini
Turkey
Tutya Yilmaz
USA
Vanasia Bradley - injured
Nadia Cho - injured
Nia Dennis
Bailie Key
Taylor Lawson
Abigail Matthews
Lauren Navarro
Marissa Oakley
Lexy Ramler
Megan Skaggs
Alexis Vasquez - retired from elite

Who were some of your favorite first year seniors?
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Looking Back: Best Competitions of 2015

December 30, 2015, 8:43 pm
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Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (MAS)

The pre-Olympic year proved to be just as exciting as we had hoped, if not more exciting. We had a good group of new seniors that challenged national team members and pushed their respective countries to new heights. We had quite a few comebacks from 2012 Olympians Gabrielle Douglas and Aly Raisman to Catalina Ponor. We had shocks like no other in Romania failing to automatically qualify to Rio and the four-way tie for gold on uneven bars. We also had the rise of new "it" gymnasts in Manrique Larduet and the Dutch WAG team in general. What an exciting year! Here are a few of my favorite competitions below. Don't worry. Worlds will get it's own post.

CANADA WINTER GAMES
Starting the season off, we had the Canada Winter Games with excellent live coverage. the exciting thing was that, again, juniors were not separated from seniors. We got to see the dominance of Canada's (hopeful) new stars for 2016 - Rose-Kaying Woo, Megan Roberts, and Shallon Olsen. These three have been on the watch list for quite some time and this only confirmed their reason for being on it. All 3 gymnasts showed double twisting Yurchenko vaults at this competition. This is exciting for Canada, a top 8 nation despite not having the most difficult vaults. These 3 are in a race against each other and also the current seniors for a place on the Rio Olympic team and the battle started early in the year.



Also, please humor me and watch this routine. I have had it saved in my watch later since February waiting for the appropriate time to share it with you guys. A young gymnast from British Columbia, Ilka Juk has some impressive difficulty and amazing flexibility!



JESOLO
The annual competition in Italy took place in March and marked the comeback of Aly Raisman and Gabrielle Douglas. It also marked the international debut for some of the new seniors, including the USA's Bailie Key who was anticipated to have a solid 2015. Gymnastics seems to be growing in popularity in Italy and makes for a fun and exciting meet. Raisman and Douglas had successful returns to competition.





SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES/EUROPEAN GAMES
June was a fun month (for me) because of both the Southeast Asian Games and the European Games. Both Games had excellent competition along with excellent coverage. European Games had live streams of every event and was an overall excellent production. SEA Games, honestly, I can't remember if they had live coverage but they had an amazing archived feed. They had each event final MAG and WAG. For the individual event finals, they alternated MAG and WAG so you got to see full routines of each with slow motion and scores. It. Was. Amazing. It's still archived now if you check Sport Singapore on YouTube.

Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, a rising star from Malaysia, had an amazing competition. She helped her team to the gold medal and earned her own silver in the all around. The competition continued with multiple medals but Abdul Hadi broke down when she realized she won the gold on floor exercise the final day of competition. She faced a lot of criticism following the competition that as a Muslim gymnast, her leotard was too revealing, but she stayed calm and handled the harsh words with clenched jaw and a smile. Abdul Hadi went on to compete well at worlds and earn herself a spot at the Test Event.

The format of the European Games was of question but with the debut of the competition, I think it worked for the best. European countries were able to send 3 of their top gymnasts as an extra trials for Worlds. It was an international competition with good competitors (Steingruber, Mustafina). It served as an international AA comeback for Viktoria Komova and also served as the "coming out party" for Lieke Wevers. For all the fear we had at the onset of the competition, it ended up being an excellent competition added to the calendar.

PAN AMERICAN GAMES
The Pan American Games proved to be an exciting competition, especially on the men's side. Manrique Larduet, who has been making a name for himself for the last few years, finally made it into the spotlight when he and American Sam Mikulak were battling for the all around title. Mikulak ultimately won that battle but Larduet left the Games with gold on vault, silver on parallel bars and in the all around, and bronze on rings.

In the rhythmic world, this is also where American Laura Zeng started to stake her claim on the international scene. Both Larduet and Zeng went on to have success at their respective World Championships. In addition, Ellie Black was the star of the Games as she won 5 medals at the Pan American Games in her native country.




US DOMESTIC SEASON
The US domestic season, as always, proved to be very exciting. Biles asserted her dominance from the start but all around gymnasts 2-5 was up in the air for each day of competition. Rising star Nichols, Olympians Douglas and Raisman, and first year senior Key proved to have an ongoing competition amongst themselves. In addition, we had the question of who this 6th Worlds team member would be - Kocian vs Locklear, Skinner,  could Gowey factor in, where is Brenna on UB,  would Baumann be useful, and so on and so forth. We all know how it ended but it was still exciting nonetheless.

On the junior end, we had the very exciting competition between Hernandez and Foberg that came down to the very last event. Ragan Smith continued to assert herself as a junior to watch in the leadup to Rio. Then we had a few new junior stars in Gabby Perea and Alyona Shchennikova with their impressive uneven bar routines.





A World Championships post is on the way!

What were your favorite competitions of 2015?
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Looking Back: World Championships 2015

January 11, 2016, 5:35 pm
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The 2015 World Championships were just as exciting as one would hope in the pre-Olympic year. There were some exciting Rio qualification stories, some exciting records broken, and a super thrilling podium.

Romania
Think the first shock was Romania failing to team finals meaning they did not automatically qualify to Rio. In some ways, is it really that surprising? Romania struggled in 2014 because of the qualifying format. In a 3-up, 3-count, they thrive. But when a 4th score needs to count, they struggle to find it, especially on the uneven bars. The turmoil was extra high this year when Ana Maria Ocolisan got injured prior to qualifications. She was Romania's number 2 all arounder meaning they lost potential for her solid scores on all events. They felt this and it showed.

Not only did Romania fail to qualify a team automatically to Rio, they also failed to qualify anyone to any individual event finals. Though part of this may have been the early subdivision. Typically, scores rise during the day and Romania was early on in the first day of competition. Larisa Iordache, a potential floor medalist, didn't even make the final. (Honestly, I still think that score was a mess and I'm still pretty frustrated.)

The savior ended up being Laura Jurca. Jurca was heralded as when of the upcoming seniors. She went to the Youth Olympic Games as Romania's chosen representative. However, her senior debut was not what anyone had hopes. Not that it was bad, but it certainly wasn't as exciting as was hoped, especially with Bulimar coming back from injury and Ocolisan even surpassing Bulimar, Jurca was slowly making her way out of the AA conversation.

And of course, she had the best qualification of all the Romanians! This earned her a spot in the all around final with teammate Iordache and she finished that competition in 8th, a superb finish and the highest for any of the new 2015 seniors. Quite the accomplishment for a first World Championships.

Iordache's AA redemption was also a highlight. After missing out on the team final, floor, and beam final, Iordache was Romania's only hope for a medal. Not only that, but she was starting on balance beam and ending on the uneven bars. Seriously people?! After surviving beam, floor, and vault, Iordache was neck and neck with China's Shang Chunsong and was heading to the uneven bars. Barring a fall, Iordache could surpass her but she had to hit.

She did just that. I think we all felt the relief at the same moment. Larisa Iordache once again pulled through for Team Romania. The Test Event situation will be tough since Romania has not had to deal with this event ever so it will surely change the training schedule and plan for their Olympic year. However, nothing is impossible!

The Netherlands
On the flip side, the Dutch team qualified to the Olympics automatically. You often hear the gymnasts say how they were just shooting for top 16 but they did so much more than that. They were top 8, had 1 gymnast in the all around final, 2 in the beam final with 1 silver medal, and eventually 1 in the floor final. Quite a successful World Championships!

The gymnasts from the Netherlands have been getting a lot of praise because of their beautiful artistry and presence. They are employing the model of having lower difficulty that they're likely to hit with beautiful execution.

Four way tie
Where to even start? I am not a fan of breaking ties. I do understand the argument of having not having multiple champions. Imagine if there was a 4-way tie in the Super Bowl or the FIFA World Cup? There would be havoc. People would storm the field. But, alas, that's not our sport.

I think what I loved more than anything is that the uneven bars final was really anyone's game. Especially after Fan Yilin and Viktoria Komova tied, I thought that there was still a very real chance for an individual medalist. Kocian missed a connection and Spiridonova had some uncharacteristic errors. So why not tie them all?

I still think Viktoria Komova had the best performance of them all but at least we got to witness a final that will for sure be in the gymnastics history books.


Mai Murakami
The Mai Murakami makes me chuckle. Japan is one of the first countries to name their worlds team. It's based on a scoring system and rankings in domestic competitions. Murakami had a rough start to her 2015 as she was recovering from injury and not quite back to full difficulty. The murakami we saw at the start of the year was not the one we had watched as a junior and saw in the 2013 floor exercise final. Because of her low scores in earlier competitions, Murakami had a low ranking for the worlds team selection process and was initially named as alternate. Fast forward and one of her teammates suffers an injury and in goes Murakami. Initially alternate, Murakami competes the AA in team qualifications and helps Japan automatically qualify to the Rio Olympic Games. Not only that, she makes it to the AA final and finishes in 6th place.

SIXTH PLACE!

And she almost stayed at home! I don't know when the day will come that I will recover from this, if ever. In this sport, timing is everything and Murakami is a perfect example of that.

Maggie Nichols
When I went to 2013 US Nationals, a young gymnast caught my eye. She didn't have the most difficulty and certainly didn't have the most hype, but I just couldn't keep my eyes away when she was on floor. She had a solid DTY and a great beam with a serviceable uneven bar routine. Fast forward 1 year and Nichols is close to being named to the World Championship team when she suffers a season ending knee injury. A testament to her character, Nichols put her head down, healed, and came back better than she was before for the 2015 season. Nichols has had a steady climb through the ranks and then stayed in the top 5 throughout the USA's domestic season - a great feat with returning Olympians and all around finalists Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman.

After the closed door selection team camps, it became clear that Simone Biles and Gabrielle Douglas would be the USA's 2 all around gymnasts but who would be the 3rd? And could it be done in a way that wouldn't sacrifice the fact that Karolyi brought 2 bar specialists to worlds? The solution, unfortunately, was for Nichols to come out of the all around by not doing uneven bars in team qualification.

Karolyi quickly changed her mind for team finals. Nichols was the only US competitor to compete on all 4 events in team finals and she did remarkably well. Her score would have easily put her on the AA podium.

But that's ok. Nichols proved herself to Karolyi and showed that she could support the team no matter what.

And she wasn't done.

Nichols went on to earn the bronze medal on floor exercise alongside bff Biles. After nearly missing the worlds team one year, Nichols went on to becoming World Champion in the team event and a bronze medalist on floor, an amazing feat when you are competing with the reigning World and Olympic champions for one of the 2 spots allowed.

Words can't explain how proud I am of this girl. She came back from injury and showed so much improvement, upgrading to the Amanar vault and having a TF worthy UB routine. 2016 will certainly have it's challenges but I think Maggie Nichols has proved that she can handle it.

Simone breaking and making history
And we can't speak about worlds without acknowledging the champion herself.  Oh Simone Biles and the records you have broken. First female gymnast to ever win 3 consecutive World Championships. First back to back beam World Champion. Three-time Floor World Champion. She also has medals from all 3 years on vault and has even made the UB final.

In 2015, Biles did show us that she's human with an error on beam and an out of bounds on floor exercise. However, "human" doesn't necessarily mean "beatable." She still had over a point separating her from second place.

Heading into the Olympic year, Biles is still the most anticipated gymnast - ready to break more records (and many curses) surely making it an exciting time in gymnastics.


What were your favorite 2015 World Championships moments? MAG included! ;)
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The 2016 World Cup Circuit

January 30, 2016, 7:29 am
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There have been modifications to the World Cup circuit, in number and in the qualification process. There are now 3 World Cups instead of 4: there is no Tokyo World Cup this year. The remaining 3 World Cups - American, Glasgow, and Stuttgart - will all be held in March rather than throughout the calendar year. It's no longer the top all arounders that qualified but rather the top countries that get to pick an all arounder to send. This is why previous World Cup stars Larisa Iordache and Oleg Vernaiev will not be in attendance.

On the MAG side: I see a comeback battle for all the competitions. It's interesting to see what a healthy Sam Mikulak will be capable of doing in the Olympic year. As a matter of fact, 3 of the top 4 that I envision are returning from some kind of injury - Kato, Wilson, and Mikulak. This should be a great battle for the podium. The Glasgow World Cup will certainly favor the 2 talented British men. Marvin Kimble is a young athlete that with a lot of talent but needs to really shine if he wants to pass the US 2012 Olympians and Whittenburg for a spot on that Olympic team. This will be a great test for him to see what he can accomplish and where he falls in a group of talented previous World Championship competitors. Lastly, injury has hindered both Germans to some extent. It will be interesting to see where they fall with a healthy Leyva to throw in the mix as well. Kuksenkov is only recently starting to live up to his potential so he could possibly battle his way onto the podium in Stuttgart.

On the WAG side: This might actually be the most interesting set of World Cups that we've had in quite some time. For the American Cup, the battle will certainly be between Douglas and Nichols for gold but the battle for bronze isn't all that clear with Tinkler and Black but also the recent surge of Oliveira and Murakami. Ferlito, if healthy, could also challenge. Glasgow is probably's Claudia Fragapane's to lose but if she missteps in the least, there are plenty of gymnasts biting at her heels. Honestly, this World Cup on the WAG side seems the most exciting because of the vast array of difficulty and execution. It's early in the season too so we may get to see some potential upgrades for some gymnasts. Lastly, the Stuttgart competition hosts a lot of hype in the battle between Dennis and Downie. Near the end of the US domestic season we started to see shades of the junior Dennis that was phenomenal. If that athlete is the one that competes, it should be a close battle. High flying release moves and insane tumbling height from these 2 gymnasts should make for an exciting competition. We also get to see 2 new seniors and how they will fare in a tougher environment prior to the Test Event.

Home competitors are listed first followed by the remaining athletes.


American Cup
NameIOCNameIOC
Gabrielle DouglasUSASam MikulakUSA
Maggie NicholsUSADonnell WhittenburgUSA
Tabea AltGERLucas De Souza BitencourtBRA
Elsabeth BlackCANPablo BraeggerSUI
Carlotta FerlitoITAAndreas BretschneiderGER
Mai MurakamiJPNRyohei KatoJPN
Lorrane OliveiraBRAPark MinsooKOR
Amy TinklerGBRSun WeiCHN
Tisha VollemanNEDNile WilsonGBR
March 5
11:30AM ET, NBC broadcast 1-3PM ET
Newark, NJ, USA
American Cup
Glasgow World Cup
NameIOCNameIOC
Claudia FragapaneGBRDaniel PurvisGBR
Kelly SimmGBRMax WhitlockGBR
Maegan ChantCANArthur NoryBRA
Yufen XieCHNYu CenCHN
Enus MarianiITAMasayyoshi YamamotoJPN
Asuka TeramotoJPNDavid BelyavskiyRUS
Lieke WeversNEDChristian BaumannSUI
Maria KharenkovaRUSMarvin KimbleUSA
Mykayla SkinnerUSAJunho LeeKOR
March 12
13:00 GMT / 8:00AM ET
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Glasgow World Cup
Stuttgart World Cup
NameIOCNameIOC
Tabea AltGERFabian HambuechenGER
Elisabeth SeitzGERMarcel NguyenGER
Nia DennisUSACaio SouzaBRA
Elissa DownieGBRYu CenCHN
Elisa MeneghiniITAJames HallGBR
Isabela OnyshkoCANDonghyen ShinKOR
Seda TutkhalyanRUSNikolai KuksenkovRUS
Celine van GernerNEDOliver HegiSUI
Yufen XieCHNDanell LeyvaUSA
March 19
12:30 CET / 6:30AM ET
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Stuttgart/DTB Pokal


Check back here for updates, links to live streams when they become available, and (potential) lineup changes as the events draw near!

Which World Cup competition are you most excited to watch?
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NCAA Gym Month 1 Recap

February 7, 2016, 2:35 pm
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Chris Parent/LSUSports.net

The first month of NCAA Gymnastics 2016 is done and what a month it has been! We've had six perfect 10s. SIX. This certainly makes for an exciting season. We've also had quite a few gymnasts that have returned from injuries and are making huge contributions to their respective teams.

We had 3 perfect 10s in one meet by Florida - Alex McMurtry on uneven bars, Bridget Sloan on balance beam, and Kennedy Baker on FX. An early perfect 10 was from Nina McGee of Denver on the floor exercise where she does not hold back in the least. The 2 perfect 10s on vault have been from Ashleigh Gnat. For the most part, it seems like scoring has been appropriate this season though these tens were not created equally. Some with bent knees, short landings or leg separations, but the accomplishment of these athletes can't be ignored. I truly enjoyed Ashleigh Gnat's DTY at Metroplex, the height and distance she gets is phenomenal (under gymnastike, here is her 10 from a home meet against Kentucky). Kennedy Baker's double arabian has been amazing since her elite days and continues to be.


Some of the highlight stories of this first month have been elite gymnasts making comebacks. Two elites that have been out for nearly 2 years following surgeries are Peyton Ernst (Florida) and Lexie Priessman (LSU). Ernst has been quick to help the Gators on beam where her flexibility is a huge asset. Priessman has made the Tiger lineup on the uneven bars but the coaching staff is hopeful that she will be able to add more events as time goes on. Priessman was one of the elites that competed the coveted Amanar vault. She has shown her FTY already and could potentially add more difficulty since the current college code rewards that.

Two other spectacular stories are in Sarah Finnegan, also of LSU, and Kaitlyn Hofland, an Ohio State Buckeye. Finnegan has been a star for the Tigers on both UB and BB. She has recently added floor exercise and adding vault will make her a true all around threat. The Tiger vault lineup, however, is probably one of the toughest to break into. We'll see if she remains in the vault lineup as she scored a 9.775 just recently and LSU currently has 2 strong all arounders. Finnegan, an alternate to the US 2012 Olympic Team, is recovering from an elbow surgery that nearly took her out of the sport entirely. She is back now with continued passion for the sport. Hofland is a Canadian elite gymnast that really caught my eye after the 2012 Olympics. She attended World Cup meets and graced many with her flexibility and unique skills on balance beam. Hofland did decide to start her career as a Buckeye in the 2014-2015 season, however, multiple injuries kept her out of her first season as she decided to redshirt that year. She is finally healthy enough to compete and is now competing vault, uneven bars, and balance beam for her team with a recent career and season high score of 9.925 on beam.

Honorable mention goes to Ariana Guerra of Alabama who had Dana Duckworth (and maybe me) in tears after her first floor routine back from back surgery!


The "team on the rise" for me is currently Arkansas. They have had a loaded season so far with wins against #4 Alabama and #9 Auburn. They are ranked in 9th place currently (week 5), 7th on vault, and 10th on floor. Star all around gymnast Amanda Wellick is ranked 8th on vault with Sydney Dillard ranked 17th on beam. They're a young team with a lot of potential. They show great quality vaults with great blocks and form in the air, with continued progress to having more stuck landings. They show great variety on uneven bars and beam. My one critique is on floor where some routines are perfect and really draw you in and others still seem to have a bit of step step pose choreography associated with them though that is certainly not the majority. As a whole, this team is phenomenal and, at the moment, they're my dark horse for the Super Six.


Super Six picture - right now is very blurry. I do think the championship is Florida's to lose. I'd say Florida and Oklahoma will make it to the Super Six. Then Utah is likely. UCLA is proving to be very strong and they're also showing depth we haven't seen in years. The floor lineup, for example, has changed multiple times, but they haven't really missed a beat. Replace one gymnast with a new 9.925. Sure! Why not?! We'll see what happens as the season progresses and we see the return of injured gymnasts to more event lineups. Alabama is also making a strong surge and could certainly make the Super Six if they continue to progress as they have been.

What do you think? Which was your favorite 10? Who has your favorite comeback story? What does your Super Six picture look like right now?
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Adjusting to Gymnastics Again: "Just Keep Swimming, Fish"

February 15, 2016, 3:13 pm
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A little over one year after the Gym-Max Family interview, we had the chance to sit down with gymnast Felicia Hano, World Trampoline and Tumbling Medalist and former USA Gymnastics National Team Member, as she approaches her first competition after returning from injury.


Hello Fish! Many in the gymnastics community are wondering as to how you are doing and what the recovery process was like, so let’s begin!

How are you doing currently?
I’m doing pretty well. Training has been good. I’ve been getting my skills back and it’s been a hard process and a [healthy] process.

Are there certain skills that you’re really glad you’ve gotten back?
Definitely, tumbling! I missed tumbling the most. Getting that back was my main priority because I knew if I could get that back then I could get everything else back.

Can you go through step-by-step as to what happened during Podium Training at Classics?
Training started really well that day; I started with Yurchenko double-full, and those were pretty solid. Then I moved on to my second vault. My timing wasn’t right, the punch wasn’t right and my block wasn’t good but I still wanted to keep going. I was the last one on the rotation and I was really tired by the end. Howie said “No, don’t do anymore, we have another workout,” and I said “I need to do one more. I need to try one more and make it good,” and you know that last one got me. Landed short, I didn’t get enough block and propulsion off the table and I just came down a little too short. My ankle kind of crunched and rolled in and out and… it just wasn’t very good.

You had to be taken to the hospital immediately. What was the initial assessment because I heard it was knee but I also heard it was the ankle?
I saw the video too and at first it did look like I hurt my knee but it was my ankle. When I got to the hospital, they took some X-Rays and looked at it and their first conclusion was that it was a sprain. So they told me to keep it in a splint and check in with my doctors when I got home. So that’s what I did, I got home, went to the doctor… and they put me in a boot.

At the time you were getting physical therapy?
I got the MRI and they told me that I tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankles. They said I could try to fix it with physical therapy and see if that would help get the tightness back into my ligaments, but unfortunately, that didn’t work, so I ended up getting surgery [October 2015.] My doctors wanted to take a more conservative approach [with the physical therapy] because they didn’t want the wear and tear on my body especially since gymnastics is a very demanding sport. They didn’t want the surgery to mess with anything else and said to try physical therapy first and then to go from there if I needed surgery.

Is there something which has resonated with you throughout this recovery process? I know it’s hard to talk about but…
(Laughs) no, it’s okay! I’ve definitely learned a lot from this experience… a lot of perseverance and just never giving up, that has stuck with me throughout this whole recovery process. Just because if I would have given up, I wouldn’t be training now and wouldn’t be where I am today. I would say always working hard. Hard work will get you there.

Has it made you believe more in yourself?
It definitely has, putting a lot of trust in my abilities and myself and my talent because when I got surgery I was really upset and didn’t want to talk about it. It was a really hard time and I wasn’t going on social media, I just didn’t want to talk about it. It definitely pushed me and made me rediscover why I love gymnastics so much. When I got hurt and couldn’t do gymnastics, it made me realize that I need this sport and I love it so much.

If you were to give advice on how to stay resilient through a process like this what would you say?
Well my family, friends, coaches and teammates are definitely a big part of that and kept me motivated and try to keep me positive because they would see me having a rough day. For example, about two weeks ago, I was having a hard time getting my timing on bars and I was just so frustrated but my teammates helped me push through, “It’s okay Fish...just give it some time and you can do it, you’re good.” Without them I don’t think I would be where I am.

Is the NCAA factor a strong point too? Has Miss Val said anything in particular?
Definitely, that’s my biggest motivation right now, getting ready for college. I don’t want to let my team down. So I’ve just been working really hard in the gym and Miss Val has definitely helped with that. She has been so helpful and motivational for me; we talk almost on a daily basis keeping her informed and updated on everything. We set up a game plan of my recovery and my coming back. Miss Val has certain things she wants me to do and Jenny has certain things she wants me to do and they both help me get there to full recovery.

Can you share with us if it’s a week-by-week or skill-by-skill process?
Well, with Jenny it’s a week-by-week and with Miss Val it’s overall. Miss Val wants me to focus on getting my ankle really strong and rehabbing that. Not wanting [me] to come back too fast because I could injure it again but just working on flexibility and strength and my weaknesses. You know I started doing Hot Yoga, so that was her recommendation and I love it so much!

So how strong are your arms now?
Oh My Goodness they’re stronger than I thought they were going to be! When I had my boot on my cast, I was doing lots of ropes, lot of arm conditioning, lots of upper body conditioning. When I came back from bars I was surprised at how well it went!

What skills can you currently do?
I can do almost all my skills again which is really exciting, just a few skills like the higher level skills, I’m not quite there yet, but all my level 10 skills I have back. Like double twist on vault, I’m not there yet. I tried double layouts the other day onto a resi-mat….and I made it and I was like WOOH!

What skills were you planning on doing at Classics?
I was planning a few upgrades and I was really excited and was disappointed I didn’t get to show everybody.
Bars: I wasn’t planning on competing bars.
Vault: I was planning on debuting my second vault but I mean that didn’t work out too well. It was supposed to be Tsuk full but I learned it as a Kasamatsu, like what the boys do in a way, it’s just a different technique.
Floor: On floor I was going to do whip double layout. That was one of the biggest upgrades I had, (smiles) and then if it was good I would connect it to a split jump. I was planning on competing the Biles at Championships.
Beam: Arabian was in the works and front tuck half. It just wasn’t quite ready for competition season yet. (On whether we will see it in the future?) Hopefully!



Which is your favorite skill and which has taken you the longest to learn?
I think double layout is my favorite skill because it just feels like you’re flying once you get it good and you know in the air that it’s good and you’re just like ahh this is so cool!
Bars: Level 10 was fine for me, but elite was definitely the hardest for me... It’s a lot of skills and a lot of connections so putting the routine together that was the hardest for me.
Longest: The Biles, it probably took me a day to learn it but here’s the thing, it’s the timing. It’s so tedious. You have to work on it and work on it just to get the punch right, because you think double layout, and the Biles, they look pretty similar, except the Biles has a half turn. But no, it’s so much more than that. The punch is a little bit different; you rotate a little bit different and plus the timing of the half-twist is really crucial and you want to make it a safe landing because it’s really easy to hurt your knee on that skill. So that has probably taken me the longest to perfect.

When you have a skill in mind, how much of it is Jenny and Howie pushing you and how much is it you wanting to do it?
I’ll bring up an idea and if they say “Oh yeah, you could do that,” then they’ll let me learn it and try it but if they don’t think that it fits me then they’ll say “Uh, maybe we should take a step back.” But, they’re definitely really open-minded when it comes to learning new skills and they know how my body works and what skills are good for me and which skills I should stay away from. The second vault they felt that I could do really well. During podium training, they didn’t push me at all, they said, “okay, maybe you should be done.”

It seems like you have a really good relationship with them in terms of communication of them
Yeah, we’re always really open with each other and we can always talk about it.

There is an upcoming meet for you, Chris Waller’s Heart of a Champion. Tell us a little bit more.
I can’t wait to compete because [many] have not seen me compete since 2014. I’m really excited to compete because I haven’t competed in California in a really long time, at a local meet, so my friends and family can come watch me compete.

What skills and events will you competing? Are you going to be doing elite skills or level 10 skills?
Mixture of both. Mostly just Level 10 skills because I don’t want to throw anything too difficult. For sure, Bars and Beam; vault maybe, we’ll see. (on not competing floor) I just feel like my ankle wasn’t ready for that yet, the hard landings, so I just didn’t want to push it. I was hoping it could be all four, but it’s just not going to be [at] this meet.

Thank you for being a great sport and sharing your recovery process with us, Fish. We had a great time catching up with you!

Special thanks to KRAppreciation for the images.
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Gymnastics Injuries 2016 Jan-Apr

February 21, 2016, 4:57 pm
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The end of this list is in sight! This list hurts my heart. Not to mention it's the Olympic year so every injury is triple-y as heart breaking because of the stress it places on Olympic dreams. Le sigh.

Kim Janas of Germany was doing well rehabbing an ACL tear but unfortunately hurt her elbow so it out for a bit longer now. It's unclear how long it will take her to get back considering whatever advances she made on bar will have to be held at the moment. Wyomi Masela of the Netherlands is a new addition to the list. Following the 2012 Test Event/Olympics, Masela was struggling with motivation. When I finally heard she was thinking about coming back, she then had a back injury. Now she has a torn Achilles. I'm not sure if she's competed this quad but this injury will certainly test her.

The second torn Achilles for the month goes to USA's Nia Dennis. Her junior to senior transition wasn't the easiest but we started to see sparks of the old Nia Dennis after her gym change. Unfortunately, this injury could put her out of the running for the Olympic team. Nia's best claim, however, is that she was a strong uneven bar worker and should her rehab be going well, she could potentially make it back on uneven bars but it's a risk. She posted on snapchat that she'll be back so, despite the injury, her smile hasn't wavered.

Best of luck to the athletes this year!!!

Note about the list:
The list consists of national team members that have had some injury that keeps them out of competition. (c) indicates gymnasts that have returned to national team camp or control competition but not yet to a "public" competition.

2016

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Kim Janas GERACL tear (May '15)
Elbow dislocation (Feb)
Aleeza Yu CANKnee injury (Oct '14)
Ankle injury (Feb)		Feb 2016

Wyomi Masela NEDAchilles surgery (Feb)
Nia Dennis USAAchilles surgery (Feb)

2015

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Ruby Harrold GBR??? (Mar)Sep 2015
Axelle Klinckaert BEL??? (Mar)May 2015
Teal Grindle GBRShoulder injury (Mar)Nov 2015
Yao Jinnan CHNShoulder surgery (Feb)
Ashton Locklear USAShoulder surgery (Mar)Aug 2015
Sabrina Vega USAShoulder surgery (Mar)Jul 2015
Marta Costa ESPShoulder surgery (May)
Youna Dufournet FRAShoulder surgery (Jun)
Anna Pavlova AZEElbow injury (Apr)retirement
Lisa Ecker AUTKnee injury (Apr)Oct 2015
Yesenia Ferrera CUBKnee injury (May)? retirement
Elsa Garcia MEXKnee injury (Oct)
Giulia Steingruber SUIKnee injury (Oct)
Chantysha Netteb NEDKnee reoperation (Mar)
Diana Bulimar ROUKnee surgery (Jun)Sep 2015
Raer Theaker GBRKnee surgery (Jun)
Elbow surgery (Nov)		Sep 2015

Alessandra Thompson RSAKnee surgery (Jun)
Anastasia Grishina RUSTorn meniscus & broken patella (Apr '14)
ACL tear (Mar)		Feb 2015
Sep 2015
retirement
Gabby Jupp GBRACL tear (Mar)
Jonna Adlerteg SWEACL tear (Apr)
Kim Bui GERACL tear (May)
Rebeca Andrade BRAACL tear (Jun)
Lauren Mitchell AUSACL tear (Jun)
Carlotta Ferlito ITAFoot injury (Feb)Mar 2015
Larisa Iordache ROUFoot injury (Mar)Sep 2015
Laura Waem BELFoot injury (Mar)Sep 2015 (c)
Isa Maassen NEDFoot injury (Jun)Dec 2015
Catherine Lyons GBR jrStress fracture (Jun)
Koko Tsurumi JPNAchilles tear (May)Nov 2015
retirement
Catalina PonorAchilles surgery (Oct)
Lara Mori ITAAnkle injury (Mar)Sep 2015
Julie Croket BEL??? (Mar)
Ankle sprain (Sep)		Oct 2015
Mira Boumejmajen FRAAnkle injury (Mar)retirement
Alla Sosnitskaya RUSAnkle injury (Apr)Sep 2015
Marta Pihan-Kulesza POLAnkle injury (May)Oct 2015
Noel van Klaveren NEDAnkle surgery (May)Sep 2015 (c)
Felicia Hano USAAnkle injury (Jul)
Arianna Rocca ITAAnkle injury (Sep)Feb 2016
Ana Maria Ocolisan ROUElbow surgery (Feb)
Ankle injury (Oct)		Jun 2015
Iosra Abdelaziz ITAFoot surgery (Jan)
Martina Rizzelli ITAMetatarsal fracture + surgery (Sep)Feb 2016
Nina Derwael BELToe injury (Nov)
Vanessa Ferrari ITAMedical - mononucleosis (Mar)Apr 2015

2014

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Elisa Cherino GERFractured cervical vertebrae (Mar)FB; site
Miriana Almeida MEX??? (Aug)May 2015
Sandra Collantes PER??? (Sep)retire - NCAA
Anne Kuhm FRACollarbone (Jan)Feb 2015 (c)
Mar 2015
Kirsten Beckett RSAShoulder surgery (Aug)Jun 2015
Peyton Ernst USADislocated shoulder + surgery (Aug)Apr 2015 (c)
Ida Gustafsson SWEShoulder injury (Aug)
Rebecca Tunney GBRElbow (May)Sep 2015
Bailie Key USA jrElbow (Jul)Oct 2014 (c)
Mar 2015
Ayelen Taribini ARGDislocated Elbow (Sep)*May 2015
Madison Kocian USAWrist surgery (Nov)Mar 2015 (c)
Yuna Hiraiwa JPNBroken Finger (Sep)Apr 2015
Elisa Meneghini ITABack (Oct)Mar 2015
Aliya Mustafina RUSBack (Dec)Jun 2015
McKayla Maroney USAKnee surgery (Feb) + medical
Jade Barbosa BRAKnee surgery (Aug)Jun 2015
Diana Bulimar ROUKnee surgery (Aug)Mar 2015
Cintia Rodriguez ESPKnee surgery (Nov)Jul 2015
Vanasia Bradley USA jrTorn ACL & meniscus, broken patella (Jun)Jan 2016
Nadine Jarosch GERTorn ACL surgery (2013)
Torn ACL surgery (Jul)		retirement
Janine Berger GERTorn ACL surgery (Aug)Sep 2015
Maria Paula Vargas ESPTorn ACL & partial meniscal tear (Sep)Jul 2015
Laura Longueville FRATorn ACL surgery (Oct)
2nd surgery (Mar '15)		retirement
Kristyna Palesova CZETorn ACL, meniscal tear, ligament tear (Nov)
Roxana Popa ESPTorn ACL & meniscus (Dec)Oct 2015
Laurie Hernandez USA jrFractured wrist (Jan)
Torn patellar tendon & dislocated kneecap (Jun)
Nov 2014 (c)
Maggie Nichols USADislocated kneecap (Aug)Jan 2015 (c)
Mar 2015
Tyesha Mattis GBR jrAnkle (Mar)Dec 2014 (c)
Mar 2015
Wendy de Jong NED jrAnkle (Jul)
Lauren Mitchell AUSAnkle (Oct)May 2015
Giulia Steingruber SUIKnee bone bruise (Mar)
Ankle ligament sprain + 2 stress fractures (Nov)		May 2014
Mar 2015
Gabriella Douglas CANAnkle surgery (Aug)Feb 2015
Rachel Gowey USAAnkle break (Aug)Nov 2014 (c)
Jul 2015
Maelys Plessis FRAAnkle stress fracture (Sep)retirement
Lexie Priessman USAAchilles tendon strain ('13)
Torn fibular ligament (Aug)		retirement
Mary-Anne Monckton AUSTorn peroneal tendon (Oct)Apr 2015 (c)
Jul 2015
Evgenia Zhukova RUSTorn Achilles (Apr)retirement
Valentine Sabatou FRATorn Achilles (Sep)retirement
Francesca Deagostini ITAFoot injury/fracture (Jun-Aug)Feb 2015
Elisabeth Seitz GERFoot injury (Aug)
Foot surgery (Nov)		Sep 2014
May 2015
Giorgia Campana ITAFoot injury (Nov)Feb 2015
Resolved
Simone Biles USAShoulder (Feb)Jul 2014
Louise Vanhille FRAElbow (Mar)Nov 2014
Alyssa Baumann USAElbow (Aug)Sep 2014
Kyla Ross USABack (Jan)Mar 2014
Mariya Livchikova UKRTorn ACL (Aug)retirement
Loan His FRA jrHyperextended knee (Jun)Nov 2014
Carlotta Ferlito ITACalf strain + medical issue (Mar)Sep 2014
Sophie Scheder GERSprained ankle + 2 torn ligaments (Mar)May 2014
Maria Paseka RUSSprained ankle (Sep)Nov 2014
Ksenia Afanasyeva RUSAnkle surgery (Apr)Nov 2014
Viktoria Komova RUSAnkle surgery (Apr)Aug 2014
Maria Bondareva RUS jrSwollen ligaments in ankle (Apr)May 2014
Rebeca Andrade BRA jrToe injury (Jul)Nov 2014

2013

Name (Country)InjuryReturn to Competition
Sabrina Vega USAShoulder surgeryNov 2014 (c)
Chantysha Netteb NEDACLFeb 2015
Resolved
Katelyn Ohashi - USAShoulder surgery + BackJan 2015
Julie Croket - BELElbowAug 2014
Sarah Finnegan - USAElbow surgeryJan 2015
Enus Mariani jr - ITABack injury (May)Nov 2014
Eythora Thorsdottir - NED jrBackOct 2014
Gabby Jupp - GBRTorn ACL at Europeans; surgeryAug 2014
Kim Janas GER jrACL; surgeryOct 2014
Lisa Ecker AUTR PCL and meniscusAug 2014
Luo Peiru - CHNAchilles & fractured kneecapretirement
Céline van Gerner - NEDAnkle surgerySep 2014
Adrian Gomes - BRAretirement
Koko Tsurumi - JPNAchillesNov 2014
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Search

An Ode to Kyla Ross

February 23, 2016, 7:14 pm
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Photo by Christy Ann Linder
Edit by me :)

By now, you've seen that Olympic Champion Kyla Ross has decided to retire from elite competition. She will continue in the fall at UCLA but we will so longer see Kyla on the road to Rio.

It's a bit heartbreaking.

Not for any particular reason other than the fact that we won't be able to see her beautiful gymnastics again on the elite stage. Ross has a remarkably successful career with multiple titles to her name - World All Around Silver and Bronze medalist, World Champion in the team event in 2014, and Olympic Champion in the team event in 2013. That's without naming her individual world medals on uneven bars and balance beam and her multiple national titles.

Kyla has always been known for her consistency. Even as a junior, it was her consistency and attention to detail that kept her high in the rankings. In 2012, Kyla was that missing piece to the Olympic team - a strong all arounder, great on uneven bars and beam, and a great option for floor exercise especially after McKayla Maroney's injury.

What is there to say about Kyla?

Kyla is beautiful.
Her gymnastics is beautiful.

I will always miss her beautiful double twisting Yurchenko where she had a cat like sense of finding the landing. Uneven bars always served as Kyla's claim to fame where a beautiful Jaeger and floaty double layout earned her a spot in multiple international event finals and even a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships. With Kyla fully extending through her shoulders, I suddenly was able to appreciate a bail to handstand. Something I never thought was humanly possible.



On beam, I will miss her switch ring! Though it can certainly stay in her NCAA routine. I already miss her switch ring to back tuck but her height on the leap is phenomenal. Like her DTY, Ross has an uncanny sense of sticking her double tuck dismount. On floor, we had the joy of seeing Kyla's Phantom routine... multiple times. Then, after some artistry training and a few inches added to her already long stature, Ross grew into this mature dancer that seemed to emote through every movement and every breath. Her double arabian to stag was amongst my favorites.


On February 22, Kyla Ross announced her retirement. "Deciding to retire from elite gymnastics has been one of the most difficult decisions I have made in my life, but I feel my time as an elite gymnast has come to an end. I truly love the sport of gymnastics and I am so fortunate to have been able to accomplish my dreams with the help of USA Gymnastics and all of its staff. I would like to thank everyone for all of the amazing support I have received during my entire elite career. I would especially like to thank Martha (Karolyi) for pushing me to be the best gymnast I could be for the past eight years. Having the opportunity to represent the U.S. through gymnastics has been an experience I will always cherish. I hope to still inspire young gymnasts as I transition to collegiate gymnastics and this next chapter in my life."

Prior to the 2015 World Championships,  Ross withdrew herself from contention. After an unsuccessful showing at the 2015 P&G Championships, it seemed unlikely that Ross would be named to that team. She then went to camp in January but found that her heart just wasn't in the right place to make a run at a second Olympic Games.

Next for Ross is her freshman year at UCLA. Kyla Ross initially deferred her acceptance to UCLA to train for Rio. Now, she gets to look forward to her collegiate career, a dorm life, and a likely major in biomedical engineering. "I’ve been excited to try some, not necessarily new skills, but skills I haven’t done in a while." This retraining of old skills often happens with elite gymnasts transitioning to NCAA. It was most recently mentioned with Brenna Dowell, how there are some skills that have to be relearned whether it's sticking a FTY or 1.5 TY or a sole circle on uneven bars. Maybe she's working some front tumbling passes on floor. When I had the opportunity to interview Kyla and witness a practice a little over one year ago, she was working a triple turn and also a wolf turn (maybe double?) on floor along with the front tuck half on beam. Who knows if these will make an appearance in the future.

One thing that is certainly exciting is that the end of Kyla Ross' elite career is only the start of her collegiate career. At UCLA, Kyla will certainly fit in well with her fabulous vaults. With the new NCAA code of points rewarding 1.5TY and DTY, it begs the question of whether or not she'll go for the higher vault or just stick FTYs left and right. While her dismount on uneven bars seemed to cause some trouble due to her new height, she has all the skills. I don't understand the nuances of NCAA gymnastics uneven bar rules but hopefully she can change the bars to a height/distance that's manageable. I will personally beg Miss Val for Kyla to keep her switch ring on balance beam. We're all probably most looking forward to what Miss Val will choreograph for Kyla on floor exercise.

So, Miss Kyla Ross, we'll miss you in elite gymnastics. We'll miss spotting you at the end of camp picture lineups. We'll miss you being the veteran on the team leading by calm, cool, collected example. We'll miss knowing that your beam was the one we could most likely breath through. But we're excited. Excited for what the future holds both in gymnastics and beyond.

Best of luck, Kyla!!


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February 2016 National Team Camp Underway

February 27, 2016, 11:16 am
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February 2016 US National Team Camp is underway. This camp will serve multiple purposes as we journey down the Road to Rio. For Maggie Nichols and Gabrielle Douglas, it will be their final verification prior to the American Cup. For Mykayla Skinner, this will be her final verification prior to the Glasgow World Cup. Nia Dennis, originally scheduled to attend the Stuttgart World Cup, will not attend due to an Achilles tear. No athlete has been listed as a replacement at this time although in an official press release, USA Gymnastics mentions that the March 12-15 will serve as a Stuttgart qualification along with Jesolo Trophy selection.

The Olympic year proves to be an exciting one with more US gymnasts being sent to international competition than in the past. Some of the Rio ineligible juniors will attend the International Gymnix competition in Montreal. At the moment, Jordan Chiles, Deanne Soze, Maile O'Keefe, and Gabby Perea are scheduled to compete.

Notably missing from camp are Jazmyn Foberg, Rachel Gowey, and Bailie Key. All 3 athletes could definitely earn a spot on the Jesolo team and Key or Foberg would make excellent choices for the Stuttgart World Cup so we will wait and see if they are back for the March camp. There's no word at the moment as to whether the athletes are missing due to injury, illness, family emergency or other issues. Kyla Ross, who recently announced her retirement, is also not present at the end of the lineup.

There is no word at this time on whether we'll have videos from this camp. In the past, we've had videos from the January camp but with the Summer Olympics coming close, it's unclear if Team USA wants to keep some upgrades to mystery or if the production of these videos will be through different outlets, like the recent Today Show interview or with NBC's Olympic media.

Often after camp, athletes are added to the national team, lineups for meets are changed, athletes may withdraw or new athletes may be added. Hoping the athletes have a great verification!


Below are the athletes in height order.
Amelia Hundley, Cincinnati
Maggie Nichols, Twin City Twisters
Ashton Locklear, Everest Gymnastics
Madison Desch, GAGE
Aly Raisman, Brestyan's
Gabrielle Douglas, Buckeye
Brenna Dowell, GAGE
Hannah Joyner, World Champion Centre, 2001
Madison Kocian, WOGA
Trinity Thomas, Prestige, 2001
Alyssa Baumann, WOGA
MyKayla Skinner, Desert Lights
Gabby Perea, Legacy Elite, 2002
Emily Gaskins, Palm Beach Gymnastics
Christina Desiderio, Parkettes
Maile O'Keefe, Salcianu's, 2002
Emily Schild, Everest Gymnastics
Lauren Hernandez, MG Elite
Norah Flatley, Chow's Gymnastics
Deanne Soza, Arete, 2001
Jordan Chiles, Naydenov, 2001
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf, Brandy Johnson's
Simone Biles, World Champion Centre
Elena Arenas, Georgia Elite, 2001
Emma Malabuyo, Texas Dreams, 2002
Ragan Smith, Texas Dreams

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Gymnix 2016 Event Finals Live Blog

March 6, 2016, 10:18 am
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Varvara Zubova

Live blog of the Gymnix 2016 event finals!

The senior competitors start on vault, challenge competitors on beam, and the junior competitors on floor. Keep refreshing for updates!

4:35PM Hope you guys enjoyed that! Go through in reverse order. Scores for juniors and seniors should be there. Think vault is missing for a rotation or 2. As soon as I get them, I'll post. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Rotation 4
Juniors on Beam, Seniors on FX, Challenge on Bars

Ooh they heard me!


Click to enlarge!

4:30PM - Will post full results once they become available. The commentator has signed out so not sure if the stream will cut off without showing the scores like the other rotations.

4:25PM
Klinckaert BEL FX - Damn. Superb DLO! Best one today hands down! tucked full in. Double Y but falls out early. switch ring. switch full. 1.5 wolf. Sky high double tuck! Double pike. The audience loves it!!!

Lapp FRA BB - Nice mount. Triple series, steps back and comes off. Leaps. Side somi. Switch ring. Side aerial-sissone. Front aerial to sheep. One of the few to truly connect them today. 2.5 small hop back.

4:20PM
Hanawa JPN BB - nice mount. wolf-split. front aerial leg up wobble. sheep. leg up again. switch split-back tuck small adjustment. bhs-bhs-layout 2 ft. solid. wow! bhs-bhs-loso. why both, girl? switch ring? adjustment. full turn. double tuck step back.

Meyers BEL FX - more dramatic Belgian music and she's drumming. leaps. double pike with steps back OOB. double tuck. switch ring to switch full. single wolf and puts her hand down a la Paseka. we'll see what they do. Nice jazzy beat.2.5 OOB again.

4:15PM
Gabby Perea USA BB - double turn. soli standing full. split leap-sissone. falls on her layout! nearly saves it but comes off. split-switch half and leg up again but stays on. switch ring. front aerial. side somi. 2.5 step back.

Onyshko CAN FX - ring full. whips through to double tuck. Is this a new routine? switch ring to switch split to stag. Nice. Full in dangerously low oh man. Her face was close to the ground. turns to illusion. double tuck


4:10PM
Zubova RUS BB - nice layout. nice scale. bend at hips after her Y turn. what is that skill? it's like an Onodi with a handstand in between. Nice connections. Double tuck and lurches forward.

Rousseau CAN FX - double arabian. 1.5 to double tuck. double pike hops forward.

Irina Alexeeva USA UB - Maloney to Gienger. toe 1/2 to laidout Jaeger. very straight bail. toe giant. giant half to double front. not bad!

4:05PM
So I missed Chrobok on beam.

Eythora Thorsdottir NED FX - she's just standing on her toes for like 5 seconds... leaps. double pike a few steps back. ro to switch ring half. 2.5 punch front tuck to stag. Think she missed the ring in her switch ring. Connected to a ring leap. Not her best.

4:03PM
Emma Malabuyo USA BB - double wolf. wobbles the last 1/4 turn but makes it. bhs-loso-loso lovely! sheep jump small wobble. front tuck to sissone. great (like gabby)! nice tucked arabian! side aerial. front aerial-split-straddle. switch ring leg up wobble. double pike. chest low. awesome international debut. WOW!!

Yuna Hiraiwa JPN FX - Addams family FX. twisting pass. falls on double tuck. missed that pass? fhs-front full to stag? don't quote me. Falls on 2.5 just kinda slips. That's what I get for telling you guys I like her.

4:00PM
Missed Botnaru on BB. No falls that I saw.

Olsen FX - tucked double double very low but didn't put hands down. Double tuck. Nice triple. Stuck double pike!

3:55PM
Perebinosova BB - fall ons layout. Side somi. Nice double tuck dismount.

Kajita FX - missed beginning. Nice triple. FHS-2/1. Double Y. Double tuck step back.

Dick UB - clear hip half, straddle shoot to high. Giant full. Toe tuck half. Missed the beginning.


Rotation 3
Juniors on Bars, Seniors on Beam (oh dear God), Challenge on Vault! Apparently challenge is done on vault so hopefully I don't miss too much this time!


Nina Derwael 13.975

3:46PM
Derwael BEL BB - Can I watch? I can't watch... I'm watching. I apologize in advance...
Great mount. Switch split - ring leap. Front aerial-sheep wobble. Slow connection. Side somi. bhs so-bhs so-loso leg up wobble. Solid side aerial. Steingruber dismount.

The beam scores might be tight!


3:43PM
Apparently scores aren't registering on bars now either.

Mys BEL BB - switch ring. sheep. Onodi (wanted to connect but wobbled). split-front aerial-sissone. full turn. bhs loso loso small wobble. Nice double pike. [I missed the middle so not sure if she had skills after her triple series]

Soza USA UB - toe full to Tkatchev. Ray. toe 1/2 to Ezhova. kch 1/2 toe shoot to high. FTDLO


3:38PM
Onyshko CAN BB - bhs-bhs-lo 2 feet. switch split-side aerial nice. bhs-tuck full on the beam but off to the side, 1 foot basically off, and falls. split-wolf. front aerial to switch half. Y turn. switch ring. Double tuck.

Padarariu CAN UB (lol I almost typed Romania) - jump to high- giant 1/2 totally misses straddled Jaeger. Ouch. Padarariu (inbar piked Tkatchev). Bail. stalder, stalder shoot. Giant full. FTDB. Good finish.

Perea USA UB - toe giant-Chow 1/2; inbar 1/2 to straddled Jaeger; toe full to Pak had to reach but makes it. Van Leeuwen. pin straight DLO. small step. 14.275.

3:35PM
RWoo CAN BB - wolf hop, front aerial side somi. falls on punch front. bhs-layout 2 feet. switch split-split/sissone who knows. switch half. double pike.

Boo. One of the gymnasts clocked her feet on the bar before her dismount in warmup. She's ok walking away gingerly.

Charpy FRA UB - nice Shaposh-Pak. Great van Leeuwen. Nice pike Jaeger. DLO.


3:31PM
The juniors literally sprinted to the bars haha. Part 2 getting ready!

3:29PM
The 2nd group of juniors waiting to warmup. One more to go on beam before we swap!

Kajita JPN BB - wolf-sissone, small wobble. damn great extension in switch split-back tuck. front aerial to split. bhs so-bhs so-loso. so beautiful. over rotates Y turn. switch ring little adjustment. side aerial with some loose legs. slightly cheated triple twist dismount.

3:25PM
Semple BB - My feed froze during her leap. beautiful triple series (bhs-loso-bhs? It was very pretty!). Jeez beautiful leaps. Pretty low double pike

Iliankova UB - Shaposh-clear hip full to huge Tkatchev. Hindorff a bit close. Pak. Shaposh, giant 1/2, full in.

Shaver VT2 - Tsuk layout step back

3:20PM
Thorsdottir BB - sissone-side aerial-Korbut hit! Onodi-sheep  (a little slow) wobble. Illusion 3/4 not sure if that was intentional... split-front aerial to scale. L turn. switch split-Y turn-full turn wobble. split-wolf. 2.5 not bad but she's not happy. 13.875.

Maisie hitting bars

Jurca CAN - huge Ray. Scoops the Pak and has to take an extra swing. Maloney. giant 1/2. tucked Moors.

Dick VT TTO - piked FTY, low chest. Nice leo
VT2 - boo FHS tuck front. She did a great one in warmups.

3:16PM - This whole single device thing is annoying...
Perebinosova - I had to log in and out like 5 times but she did well. Nice Ezhova.

YUNA HIRAIWA - OH EM GEE MY BEAUTIFUL BABY. saw her double wolf and 2.5 dismount. Not bad. I discovered her I think before 2014 Worlds. She made the team but got injured so couldn't compete. Wasn't back good enough for the 2015 team. And here she is now :)


3:14PM - They're doing a handstand competition with 3 gymnasts vs Ellie. Ellie's shirt is like falling over her head haha. She's moving around and the gymnasts are just standing there, one of them in a stag handstand. Her name is Kennedy aka baby Brittany Rogers. That was really cute. Ellie picked her up now.



Rotation 2


Believe she said vault score reports were down. I'll update if I hear anything!

3:05PM
Soza
VT1: DTY - a little sideways on her block and doesn't land all the way around (she's facing the table but angled out a bit)
VT2: very straight Yurchenko straight. Very nice.

Megan Phillips' leo is so pretty. Goodness gracious! Didn't realize it has lace but it's so pretty. Double L turn. Double tuck small steps. Beautiful movement throughout. Switch split switch half. Double turn - think she was going for more but came out. Punch front full. Switch full. Has to watch the feet. Commentator said 2.5 twist (I thought 1.5). Man oh man that was beautiful!

3:01PM
Golgota
VT1: FTY - Great height and distance and form. NCAA 9.875 I'd say (so much height but not much distance)
VT2: missed it

Deriks UB - inbar-Komova. Pak. stalder, Chow to stalder 1/2 looks not sure if that was an error because she does another half turn. giant full. nice Tkatchev. gaint 1/2. FTDB not bad.

2:57PM
Chiles - sat her Amanar in warmup
VT1: Amanar with a big step forward! Not bad. I wanna give her a hug. Tbh, it's really not that bad. I think she'll have a very consistent stick.
VT2: Step to the side on DTY. Not sure if she stepped OOB.

Onyshko UB CAN - Maloney to clear hip full to Tkatchev. Hindorff with huge height. Gets a little stick on Pak. Van Leeuwen with a little leg bend. Nice double front.

Baby Moors - double front steps OOB. front 2/1. lovely music.

Woo CAN - Shaposh to clear hip half. clear hip half to straddled Jaeger. clear hip to bail to shoot to high. giant full. DLO. small hop.

2:56PM:
Kuwajima
VT1: missed first vault
VT2: Tsuk full. Step back.

Waem - had to fight at the beginning on her pirouette. Maloney to bail to shoot. toe full a little slow to Tkatchev. A little messy on half in half out.

2:50PM: 2nd half warming up. I'll get the template ready! Is anyone actually reading this? *crickets*

2:46PM:
Hanawa
VT1: missed the first vault - FHS front pike 1/2 stuck per commentator
VT2: FHS front pike - large step forward but great form in the air.

Kennedy SCO FX - jump L turn, OMG what is all this dance before her first pass? 1.5 through to double tuck that was great! switch ring switch straddle 3/4 I think. Nice down to the floor.  Boo she fell on her double pike, knees down. Was up for a great routine.

2:43PM:
Methuen
VT1: handspring front pike 1/2 that was pretty clean!
VT2: nice FHS pike. small hop forward.

Miyakawa - I didn't process that Sae made UB finals! jump to high - clear hip-stalder-stalder full-giant half. piked Jaeger. Pak that was caught super close to the bar but came up from it stalder 1/2 shoot to high. Wow no clue how she's swinging out of anything. Amazing front double pike dismount. 13.275

2:39PM
Kinsella
VT1: FTY - doesn't travel much. Pike down on landing. I think she's tired...
VT2: nice Yurchenko layout. Steps back.

Castro - sugar honey iced tea. Went for double Y fell after single turn. Nice double pike nice leaps. Missed the ending.

Derwael - Chow to Bhardwaj; Maloney. Ricna. toe giant to Pak. van Leeuwen. giant 1/2. full twisting double tuck steps back.

2:36PM
Chrobok
VT1: very nice 1.5TY. I actually thought she was doing a double. Hop forward on the double.
VT2: and there she goes with the double. Great! Lost a little form in the air - slightly tucked

Kajita UB JPN with great stalders, excellent body line. Great high Jaeger. Full twisting double back with hips back a little so 2 steps back.

Polderman UB NED - Komova? to Pak, toe on, toe shaposh to bail shoot to high. full turn. giant 1/2 to nice straddled Jaeger. Full in dismount not bad. She just had some issues with her pirouettes. 14.0



Juniors on vault, seniors on bars, Challenge on Floor.





Rotation 1 - scroll down for start list. I'll stick to VT and FX this rotation.


Emma 14.350

Rose-Kaying Woo - guess she scratched.

2:22PM Malabuyo USA - nice full in tuck. Little hop. Double wolf comes up a little bit but comes back down. 1.5-2.5 and itsy bitsy steps close to the line. FHS-2/1 to stag. She was working on them a lot in warmups with Kim. Nice double pike.

2:17PM Padurariu CAN - nice opening pose. Ferrari. 2.5 punch front half. Had to pike a bit and one leg pops up. Nice switch half (she does it like Aly but definitely hits the split) and switch ring. 1.5 punch front full to stag that was lovely. Not sure where her D falls compared to Cimpian but she's definitely challenging. Nice double pike to close. 13.950

Phillips with a beautiful green leotard. I hope they get a picture of that. Great beam. Wobble on side aerial and just some foot issues on her leaps. Ooh. Good routine but tripped on her punch. Not sure if it would've just been a tuck full?

2:15PM:
Cimpian ROU - first place qualifier. Mys I think? Switch ring half. She definitely didn't get all the way around. Nice full in tucked. Great height and control on double pike. Double arabesque a bit sloppy (back leg goes up and down). Switch ring to switch full. NICE TRIPLE! Switch full great. Commentator tells me she's a former rhythmic gymnast which I did not know. Great double tuck to close. Just a hop! Forminte greets her off the podium. OMG her birthday is January 1. Shoot me now. 13.6.

Ramler USA - front aerial - sissone- split. very pretty. nice triple series. shoot. she has a new switch leap Onodi but fell. Kinda crumpled in her Onodi. Leaps and wobbles but stays on. 2.5 twist deep landing and a hop. 13.0

2:10PM - Oguchi JPN dramatic onto floor and opening pose. Super high double layout. Wow baby! 2.5 misses her punch but gets the front layout. Split full? Not great... Double Y. Punch double full punch front tuck and nearly sat but stayed up. Nice switch ring. 2.5 probably supposed to be a triple. She did not have the endurance.

2:08PM - 2nd group warming up

Perebinosova RUS - She's in the pretty blue sweetheart leo that Aliya often wears. Nice mount. Nice 2.5 punch front. Ooh great height on her switch leap, not so great on her switch half. 1.5 through to 2/1 hop back. Uh h wolf. Ugh. Double wolf and stands after one and fakes it into her standing full turn. Great height on double pike but has to take a step back.

2:02PM:
hmm. I have the vault stream on and no Rose...

Botnaru ROU - piked full in, steps OOB. Very nice double pike. Switch ring - switch half-split. Nice double tuck. Stuck! Switch full. Double full. Her twisting axis was off so she kinda popped out of it and kicked a leg out.

1:57PM:
Sae Miyakawa
VT1: DTY - a little piked
VT2: just a FHS layout. It was very clean. All I know is i looked up during warmups at some point and she was on the ground so probably just playing it safe.

Kinsella GBR - nice Y turn. 1.5 through to 2.5 jump to the side. low triple. was worried she wouldn't make it around. hop in place. nice double pike. double tuck low chest again. nice routine just didn't quite have the endurance for it.

1:55PM:
Shallon Olsen
VT1: nice DTY hop in place - 14.825
VT2: Khorkina - tucked Yurchenko 1/2 on tuck 1.5 off. Stick! Chest a little low.

Iliankova RUS - nice full in. missed a pass for Shallon's vt. nice L turn. double tuck stuck and end pose.

1:47 Athlete presentation. New Russian leo on the left. Will try and get a better picture.


1:45PM: Ellie just told you to go chase your dreams. Do it!!!

1:40PM: They're presenting past Olympians! Ellie Black getting recognized as well. Loud roar for her! Flag presentation. Think it's a remix of I like to move it move it. I feel like I should be watching Madagascar right now.

1:33PM: Flash mob time!! Fireball by Pit Bull. I wonder if there's one at the end that the gymnasts can participate in as well.

1:30PM: Athletes were just advised to get ready for march in

1:26PM: Warm ups have finished but no athletes waiting by the events. Guessing we still have a few minutes.


Click to enlarge


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Chantysha Netteb (NED) Back From ACL Tear

March 20, 2016, 1:51 pm
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Chantysha Netteb is a Dutch elite gymnast who will try to fight for a spot on the Olympic team. In 2012, Netteb had her international debut where she helped the Dutch team to a solid 6th place finish and won the gold on vault. In 2013, she again attended the European Championships, this time as a senior. Unfortunately, she had a fall on vault in the event finals which kept her out of medal contentions. Later that year, Netteb was selected to the World Championship team, again eyeing a spot in the vault event finals in her first worlds. She had upgraded to a new double twisting Yurchenko and her 2nd vault was a Tsukahara full. Unfortunately, Netteb was unable to show her second vault after tearing her ACL on the first vault. She has spent quite some time out of gymnastics and has had multiple knee operations since.

How did you first get started in gymnastics?
When I was little, I liked to do gymnastics things. I did things like somersaults on the couch, which frightened my mom, so she decided to put me in a gym for little children.


What's your favorite memory as a young gymnast?
My favorite memory as a young gymnast was winning the Dutch Championship on the day of my 11th birthday, because that was what I wanted as a birthday present. I knew at the beginning of the season that the Dutch Championships was scheduled on my birthday and had lived for months up to that moment. I remember that I woke up that day, my mom had a birthday present. I was very happy with it but said to her that my biggest birthday present would be winning the Dutch Championship. My mother laughed and said, I cannot give you that, that is a present only you can give to yourself.


When did you start to realize that you were good at gymnastics?
Difficult question, people around me always told me how good I was, I was not thinking about that at all. The funny thing was, that I was looking at other gymnast and thinking how good they were. I will say it in another way: when I was a youth/junior that is when I realized that I was strong enough to compete against the older and more experienced gymnasts.


What is your most proud accomplishment?
Winning the first ever gold medal for the Netherlands at a WAG European Championships, beside that I am also proud for making vault finals in my first senior year at the 2013 Worlds Championships.



Can you talk about your initial injury - what happened and how you felt afterwards?
I had torn my acl at the World Championships in 2013,  this happened during the landing. My right knee gave in, which tore my cruciate ligament.

Afterwards several things went through my mind. It was my first World Championship and it meant a lot to me. I was really happy that I had qualified myself for the Vault finals and I wanted to do better in the finals but could not finish it. I realised I was going to be out for a long time and I was very sad and heart broken.


How have you been since then?
After my recovery operation of my cruciate ligament, I took the time to recover, it went well with my knee. I started building up, but during the trainings I noticed that I had some stability problem with landing on one leg, so I decided to do another operation to fix that. I am now building up again and working with my coach on a program. It goes well.


Did you watch the World Championships in Glasgow? What were your thoughts?
I watched the World Championships. I was hoping that the Dutch gymnasts would do well and would be able to stay in the running to go to the Olympics with a team. They did very well and I am really happy that the Netherlands can send a WAG team to the Olympics.


What are your goals for this year? When may we see you in competition again?
My goals are to be fully fit and able to do a good program so that I can qualify myself for the Olympic team. I am now busy building up my program and I hope that everything will work out fine, so that I can be back soon at competitions.

HAPPY! :)Vandaag buiten mededinging meegedaan met een aangepast programma in Volendam. Na 2,5 jaar weer sprong (D 5.0)...
Posted by Chantysha Netteb on Sunday, March 20, 2016

Floor and beam can also be found on her facebook page


This weekend was Netteb's first time competing vault in 2.5 years. She competed watered down routines but was successful with all 3 - VT 5.0/14.100 (DTY), beam 4.7/12.650, and floor 4.5/12.350 (with a front 2/1!). Congratulations, Chantysha, on your comeback and best of luck as we continue through this Olympic year!
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Recap of the 2016 World Cup Series

March 22, 2016, 6:58 pm
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The World Cup Series has come to an end with USA winning both the men's and women's team title. On the women's side, they had a 1-2 finish at the American Cup with Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols. Mykayla Skinner won the World Cup in Glasgow. At the Stuttgart World Cup, Hundley finished in third place.

There were high hopes for the American Cup to be a great competition. Douglas and Nichols had gone back and forth in ranking throughout the 2015 domestic US season. At the 2015 World Championships, Nichols competed the all around in team finals. Douglas surpassed this score in the all around final where she earned the silver medal. I was hopeful that this competition would be a true battle between the two athletes for the title. The scores were close after vault, especially since neither athlete showed their Amanar vault. On uneven bars, Maggie missed a connection (added in a toe-on giant) and lost several tenths in difficulty. At that point, Douglas went into the lead by 0.7 and it continued from there. After a near flawless balance beam routine and an energetic floor exercise, Douglas secured her win with Nichols in second.



The battle for 3rd would also be interesting. Tinkler and Black had a back-and-forth going for sometime. A fall for Tinkler on floor cost her a shot at a medals after a great meet with impressive upgrades on uneven bars and her lovely gainer layout step out - loso-loso combo. Black showed consistent routines which earned her a medal. Special shoutout to Carlotta Ferlito and Tabea Alt. Ferlito looks the best she's looked since the last quadrennium with a balance beam reminiscent of her junior days that made us all fall in love with her and an excellent floor performance which draws you in. Alt made her senior international debut at American Cup and held her own relatively well.

Tisha Volleman, a member of the Dutch 2015 World team, also competed and showed a great individual competition. Lorrane Oliveira was also present but did not have a great competition with multiple (painful) falls that landed this all around finalist her in last place. Mai Murakami showed a somewhat average performance for lack of a better word. It was not the same as her illuminating performance at worlds, as she may have been affected by the time difference, but it was still a good start as Japan determines it's worlds team.

At the Glasgow World Cup, the battle was between Mykayla Skinner and Claudia Fragapane, a hometown favorite. Fragapane had unfortunate errors on bars and beam which lowered her in the rankings. Her impressive difficulty on floor, however, was able to bring her back into the medals. Skinner managed to win the competition though there was some general unsteadiness on beam and her Moors on floor exercise (laidout double double) was dangerously tucked. If the judges choose not to credit it, she would lose lots of difficulty since it would look like she does the same skill twice. She is also working on adding back her triple twist floor exercise dismount. Eli Seitz of Germany earned the silver medal here. She has taken out her Def on uneven bars and she has shown immense improvement on that event.



We wrap up the World Cup Series with the Stuttgart World Cup where countrywoman Sophie Scheder had an emotional win. She made it through vault safely and showed an excellent uneven bar routine. Her beam was secure and she sealed the win with a 3-pass floor exercise with some unsteadiness on the landings. Isabela Onyshko, like Black at the American Cup, was steady throughout to earn the silver medal. Amelia Hundley had to take an extra swing on uneven bars and then had to play catch up through the rest of the meet to earn the bronze medal. Seda Tutkhalyan, to the irony of everything in the world, fell on vault and hit her layout full and layout on beam. She also showed a new Bhardwaj on uneven bars. Unfortunately, this was not enough for her to get into the medals.



Overall, I have mixed feelings about this World Cup Series format. I think in the Olympic year, it works out well since teams get to try out multiple athletes in a 1 month block period. It was a great way to trial athletes for the Test Event, European Championships, or the ever-elusive Rio Olympics. It's great for gymnastics fans because we get to be in a gymnastics coma for an entire month. Overall, on the women's side, the World Cup Series was more exciting with battles for gold at each competition and the remaining medals not as obvious.

What were your favorite performances from the World Cup Series?

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