Can we talk about Kara Eaker?

My sentiments re: Shang Chunsong getting robbed in Rio of just over a year ago still stand by the way.

Anyway. Kara. Eaker. WOW. The most exciting gymnast since Simone Biles (LOL since she is commencing training/being back in the gym), and in a completely different way. GAGE has been producing gymnasts with style, finesse, poise and precision in their skills for a very long time, and many of them have been noted beam workers. Kara, though, stands out for just being particularly excellent at combining all of these qualities (even the way she moves on the beam is worthy of a masterclass for the rest of the elites) with great tumbling and form. Some GAGE elites have been let down by small things such as soft knees on beam skills (pet hate) or open pikes, to the much more enormous flaws of inconsistency or bars that are just average. Not Kara. Powerful and elegant, she has the makings of a great all-arounder. Admittedly she has just a FTY for now while there are younger than her with strong DTY's, but what a vault. Textbook block, perfect form in the air - dead straight, no leg/foot crossing, great height and distance. Stuck on day 1 and a tiny step on day 2...it's quality, and ripe for an upgrade for next year. It will probably look like that of fellow GAGE gymnast and vault event winner, Leanne Wong, that is, glorious. Leanne currently has the edge on her on floor also, while both girls set their tumbling very well and have a significantly greater command on their dance skills than a lot of the other juniors, Leanne has greater difficulty. Kara opens with a double pike and her second pass is a forward pass more commonly seen in NCAA, but there is a lot of ease in her routine which speaks of her ability to add difficulty steadily.

It's beam that sets the two apart. Leanne has a very good beam. Kara's is an exquisite work of art that fully deserved to beat both the junior and senior field individually on both nights and combined. Perfection, and a great combination of elegance, flexibility, and well-executed acro. A great pity that Leanne got lost on bars on day 2 to really challenge the podium but both have really made their mark as ones to watch.

Leanne and Kara shone in their first elite season, but the battle was of course between Emma Malabuyo and Maile O'Keefe, the latter being the reigning junior champion. These two are well matched, both strong all-arounders with Maile's beam as her stand-out event and Emma's floor as hers. Both super-clean with stacked difficulty, these two are far more exciting to watch than anyone in the senior session, by far. Although it is hard to fault Emma, I was rooting for Maile as I find her that bit more interesting with perhaps more potential - although that's very hard to quantify as both seem to have much more to give. Both powerful, but clean and elegant. I was very impressed with Maile staying so calm under pressure for 7 of her routines over the course of the weekend as she gained, lost, regained then retained her very slim lead over Emma, helped by the beam scoring, Emma's slightly weaker bars before of course the disaster on beam day 2 which sealed the deal for Maile's victory. I can't wait for these two to turn senior next year and shake things up.

A moment of silence for some absolutely shocking leaps both days. The likes of baby Sienna Robinson coming back from hamstring injury are excused, but wow, what is the point of throwing in a seriously risky leap that is not going to get credit because it is a) not split and b) not fully around. By all means train them, but they shouldn't be competed like that. It goes beyond front leg below horizontal, some of the harder leaps on beam and floor gave me an ache to watch Chinese nationals instead. If your straddle half and switch half on beam don't at least resemble Jay Jay Marshall's, then compete the easier leaps and rack up bonus some other way.

I mind the leaps far more than the oh-so-hyped dreaded wolf turns. Most wolf turns are at least done speedily now and much less wobbly than when they were an influx as a new thing. Presumably coaches have gotten better at training them as well as the gymnasts who have been doing them for years now. The flexed-foot ones like Alyona Shchennikova's are decidedly not fun and the people who do them in combination have too much of a stop-start interrupted flow immediately in their beam routines, but other than that, I can totally live with them.

And of course, the best wolf turn is Jordan Chiles' botched wolf turn-Okino. What an absolutely fabulous save, not least because it was more of a passive unconscious save than most on beam, but also because it was the easiest Okino or triple turn anywhere that I've ever seen, she looked like she could have done another 3 or 4 rotations easily. Just a great moment. It's great to see Jordan competing strong again too. As a baby junior, she impressed with some crazy skills in training in the gym along with an actual amanar, before battling to come back from injury. I don't think this is her year, it's quite a small team. But with the news that she is working on a second vault - the Lopez - she could quite easily fit in to the picture next year.

In case you're wondering, I have not watched the seniors all the way through. This is because the junior streams started at 9pm and 7pm respectively for me both nights, but the seniors were at something like 3am and 12am as a result. I could maybe have done the Sunday one if I wasn't getting up for work at 6am. I also have far less incentive and motivation to commit like that for the seniors as I find them far less exciting than the juniors. Also, at the moment I cannot really get behind either Ragan Smith or Riley McCusker which is a bit of a problem, given that they are the prominent all-arounders. Ragan has never been a favourite of mine and I'm not entirely sure why. She is clearly immensely talented and has made huge improvement on bars to bring them up to her all-around standard, and she's clearly strong on beam and floor in particular. I enjoy her set and landing of her beam skills along with her choreography and dance on both beam and floor, I just find that something's off, for me. Clearly a sparky gymnast but I'm not feeling it. Riley has really made strides on bars with some impressive work there, but much like Laurie she has an odd swing at times and is a little flat. Nice on beam but again, not really exciting. Still, great to see her bounce back from injury after a less-than-stellar Classics although her FTY meant she lost out in ranking to Jordan Chiles.

I much prefer Morgan Hurd and Trinity Thomas. Neither really scream 'perfect all-arounder' yet since Morgan has consistency issues still, though there's always hope she'll overcome them completely when it counts, and while Trinity is a super exciting package of pure bouncy power and surprisingly great leaps and beam skills, she's not as well balanced as some others, with weaker bars and a FTY, although it's another that looks well able for upgrade. Such potential! Very remeniscent of early Simone Biles. Morgan on the other hand is similar to the likes of Emma Malabuyo and Gabby Perea (sadly a one-eventer here due to injury) with super-clean work and slowly building difficulty to match. Interesting times ahead hopefully.

Jade Carey, who came out of nowhere this year at Classics with passes on floor of a full-twisting DLO and a Dos Santos 2, and an amanar and tsuk double under her belt, didn't have the Nationals she was hoping for. As a senior, she really needed to hit both of those events well both days to carve her niche as a specialist and to prove her consistency, more important than most due to her lack of elite background. Still, worlds teams are truly formed at camps.

Deanne Soza still seems to be a work in progress. I have been hoping for so much from her for so long to get it together and build her difficulty but really, I like to just block out the hopes and dreams now and focus on the aesthetic of her work. Such toepoint, such perfect pike, tuck, everything position. Such glory in her routines. I am delighted to see her as part of a team in her gym and although I will always hold out hope for her to launch forward as a major team prospect, I'm trying to focus on happiness that she continues to grace elite competitions with her presence, and that she has all the makings of an NCAA star.

Back to the juniors, how great was it to see Viktoria Smirnov nail her beam both days after having an utter meltdown on the same event at Classics? Heartwarming. And lovely to see her confidence at such a young age. Although it really must be nice for your feet to fit so much better on the beam when you're that small. Likewise Sienna Robinson showed nice work on beam, stronger on day 2....and....nailed her bars routine to heartwarming applause after busting her nose off the bar on recatch during warm-ups. Delighted she not only competed right after, but had the wherewithal and competitive ability to block it out and compete strongly. Great work.

When you have standouts in juniors such as Maile and Emma, stunning newcomers like Leanne and Kara, powerhouses in the making like Jay Jay Marshall and JaFree Scott and the ever distracting impressive baby gymnasts - Viktoria Smirnov, Lily Lippeat, Sienna Robinson, Love Birt (I will never get over that name) and Annie Beard, others can get a bit lost. But pay attention to Ciena Alipio. Let it be known that of all the gymnasts competing at the weekend, she was the one with the best line on bars, the only one out of the routines I watched that truly and fully extended through the hips. Others nailed handstands at times, but Ciena's line genuinely looked Chinese in its exquisiteness. Of course, she had a large error on bars day 1 and made mistakes day 2 also, but she is a lovely dancer, clean tumbler, some really nice leaps (and some not so nice turns and leaps on beam) and generally has a lot of positives in her gymnastics for such a newcomer flying under the radar. One to keep an eye on.

Of course, we need to talk about leotards. While I can see that some may find lots of the leotards worn over the weekend to be overly glitzy, busy or just 'too much', I'm all for this trend. I'd take it any day over the two-tone swirls and 'mountains' ever-present GK leotards of a quad or so ago. Amazing how the technology has come on, Nastia Liukin must have been fuming given the monstrosities she put up with. It's really hard to pick an ultimate fave, such was the quality on offer. Kim Zmeskal's collection her 6 girls were sporting both days had some real standouts, the best were Ragan Smith Day 2 and Sydney Barros Day 2. While I'm not usually a big mesh fan, Maile O'Keefe had stunning leos both days, very unusual and striking. I was also a fan of the glam black look being sported on day 2 by Gage, First State and a few others. White too was a good colour both days. Long live not-hot-pink.

Riley McCusker - Copyright: John Cheng

I'm a sucker for lilac. Interesting ombre tones on this and sparkles and beads. Not sure about that beaded murder slash on the stomach but it's different and it's got pretty beads, so there's that. 7.5/10

Ragan Smith - Copyright - John Cheng

Stops just short of being too busy, it's just right. Stunning white in the main, pretty pink ombre sleeves. Love the silver crystal swirl detailing on the neck and sleeves that make it stand out and the 'bandage' detail on the front and pink version on the back really lift it and make it stand out. 9/10

Sydney Johnson-Scharpf - Copyright - John Cheng

Sydney had a great gothic look going on here. This gets a lot of points for being interesting. 6/10

Gabby Perea - Copyright - John Cheng

Another unusual one, though not exactly Hallowe'en themed this time. The silver against the magenta and white was just stunning, and I loved how the other side just had a waist band of the patterned magenta. Really beautiful design and gorgeous on. 9/10

Sydney Barros - Copyright - John Cheng

The kind of leotard that needs to be seen in motion to fully appreciate. Just beautiful, really stood out. Love the black detailing too, wouldn't change anything about it. 9/10

Abi Walker - Copyright - John Cheng

It's Tatiana Groshkova inspired. Default 10/10

Maile O'Keefe - Copyright - John Cheng

I hated it. Then I was confused. Then love blossomed. 9/10

Moving on though to things such as how Nationals has helped us form the worlds team. Well, Ragan has her spot secured. Riley probably does too, but possibly as a bars specialist/beam back-up rather than full-on AA. FTY's hurt at this level. Jade is battling it out with Jordan for the vault specialist spot with bonus floor. Jade's got the difficulty on floor but will get murdered for her dance elements, so there's that. Also her vaults are not fail-safe at this point so she has a lot to prove. Jordan's second vault when she unleashes it is of lower value than Jade's second vault, but Jordan's more consistent so far, has been an elite a lot longer, and is much more of an all-arounder. Morgan is fighting for an AA spot too, but has neither Ragan's difficulty, a stand-out event like Riley and Jordan or a stellar consistency record so it'll be tough. And then you have Trinity whose beam and floor while strong are not yet at the level of beating out the rest for a spot. Which is really going to hurt, but she's more of a team gymnast at this point. Ashton Locklear hasn't gone anyway but needs her full bars difficulty to make the selectors go 'Riley who?'.

So basically, the team is Ragan so far. This has been a rambling post which ended some time after my bedtime so no doubt it's an incoherent mess. I hope everybody enjoyed Nationals. I also hope to actually finish watching the senior stream some time this week, wish me luck.

Did the Gage girls blow you away? Are you super duper excited about the top senior prospects or moreso on hold til next year? Was the crystal fest this year over the top? Who has tickets to Montreal? (I do! :D)

Nationals

I'm going to do this post differently to the usual, I've tried twice and both times gotten completely bogged down in it. Definitely some post-Nationals exhaustion going on- GMT makes it an ordeal! So I'll do it in a Q&A format, mixing up juniors and seniors. Feel free to add questions in the comments and I'll stick my view at the top of this post.

Are you happy with the order of the junior podium?

Ideally I'd like Deanne Soza on it. She is everything....except competitive fire but she has time for that hopefully. I was sort of rooting for Jazmyn as the underdog as she really surprised me even though she already has last year's title. But she gave it away on floor...although they only took 0.2 for her out of bounds when it should have been 0.4 but that was enough. Not that I don't love Laurie. Ragan has improved a ton, really enjoying her beam and floor in particular. A pity her bars are letting her down and her vault block is still dodgy but the vaults themselves are secure. So yes, I'm happy with the podium.

Shouldn't Gabby Perea and Morgan Hurd have made the national team?

Although Gabby would have had she not fallen, I doubt either of their coaches expected it at this point of the season so it's unlikely the girls fully expected it if they hit. Gabby is so young and although Morgan is 2001, she hasn't been elite that long and her routines are still getting there, her difficulty is quite low. The spots will be saved for seniors but next year when only Jordan Chiles will be on the NT, they'll be added. Probably at January camp.

Cute incoming! Copyright USAG/John Cheng

What's wrong with Kyla Ross?

Seems to be endurance. Whether it is her typical reduced endurance compared to others or is directly related to a niggling injury is impossible to know. Worlds is still 2 and a bit months away which is a lot of time. There's no point in writing her off at this point. If she is consistent at September and selection camp she could make the team. She may be better off taking a break and focusing on Rio though.

Who should be the second all-arounder at worlds based on Classics and Nationals?

Gabby I think. I am torn between her and Aly for it. Aly's bars duhhh are a weak point but they are better than before and they score decent internationally so they mightn't be a hindrance. Her amanar though...needs to improve or be dumped as it's currently not worth doing. If anyone can though I think she can. Not that it will be beautiful but I expect it to be secure. On the other hand, Gabby showed consistency and is strong everywhere. She wasn't perfect but there was nothing worrying. It's possible she could bring her amanar back. But Aly is soooo reliable and has a monster floor to balance out bars. Hmm.

Why was Nia's d-score on floor so low on Day 2 when she hit her passes?

She didn't do the front full before the double tuck, so she lost 0.5. Not too sure if that was intentional or if she realised she was slightly off and it would have killed the pass. Nor did she do it Day 1 but the judges closed their eyes and awarded it 5.7. Sigh.

Favourite junior Texas Dreams army member?

Emma Malabuyo I think. She is just lovely. Abigail Walker is too cute, so tiny!

Biggest surprise this junior season?

Jazmyn. I really thought she would fall back, seeing as she won last year in the absence of Bailie and Laurie. Although she's lacking a standout event - at least until she gets more comfortable with her tumbling - she is super strong, and so consistent. A mini Aly in the making. Would love to see her clean up her foot form on bars though. Sydney Johnson-Scharpf was a nice surprise too. After creating a buzz a few years back, she seemed to be fading and was plagued with inconsistency and dreadful bars. Major improvement even though she still fell. While her bars will never be pretty, they're noticeably better. And her floor complete with Dos Santos is amazing! Delighted she is back in the game.

Best improvement between Classics and Nationals, junior and senior?

Brenna Dowell. WOW. Fluke falls on both events at Classics...to killer AA sets both days. Hands down on bars day 2 but doesn't really take away from her achievement. To go from training only 20 hours a week during college with just a few elite skills retained to this is incredible. I'm beyond impressed. Delighted she's been invited to the selection camp but unfortunately, US depth is more than likely going to squeeze her out, again.

Brenna is perfection. Copyright USAG/John Cheng

What about Laurie's floor?

I....don't like it. It has grown on me slightly but I can't like it. I've defended her style a billion times but this one crosses the line for me, I think it's her facial expressions. So unnecessary. She also has far too many static exaggerated poses that interrupt the flow. I'd like her to draw back a bit.

Just say no. Copyright- USAG/John Cheng

Feelings on Jordan Chiles?

Jordan is enormously talented with killer potential. She unfortunately remains extremely inconsistent. I thought she would have progressed more as a competitor and I think the amanar was a bad decision. I'm unsure if she will be made as much as she could be at her current gym.

Most shocking fall?

It's a toss up between Simone on floor or Aly on beam. The solidest of the solidest on super-strong events for them. Just plain weird.

Saddest fall?

A good few contenders but I'm going to go with Gabby Perea on beam. She was doing so well! And she's so young with gymnastics beyond her years in terms of precision and polish.

How about that shamrock leo?

I for one am THRILLED it wasn't mentioned in the broadcast. Either the trio did their geography lessons or didn't need to, which would be better again. I don't expect people outside of the British Isles to understand the complicated make-up of the UK and how Republic of Ireland is NOT in it but part of Ireland is blah blah...but if you're pandering to Glasgow as the host city with your music and plan on incorporating colours etc....then you need to get these right. Pandering is fine with me, once some very basic research is done. Although I'm sort of hoping she makes the team and wears a leo with a big Welsh dragon on it because that would be hilarious LOL.

How about the senior podium?

Well gold was a given. Interesting that Simone has increased the lead she had in 2014 with a fall, and with fantastic competitors who weren't around then. Silver and bronze were very much up for grabs and I thoroughly enjoyed that fight. I was delighted for Maggie who was the model of consistency and of course, continuing to show her crazy improvement on 2013-2014. And it was great to see Aly up there too looking like she never left.

Most baffling composition/skill?

Bailie Key's beam! The layout caused major issues day 1 and she was still short day 2 even with the obvious extra effort that went into it. Clearly, they've worked out that this is her best option. I think if she could hit bhs-loso-loso then she'd have it, it's the obvious choice and is valuable this code. The layout needs to become a pike so she can land it seeing as it will never get layout credit anywat and she can work up d-score on turns and leaps, or they could try out bhs-arabian if she has the lift for that. Or arabian-walkover. Something.different.please. Her dismount needs to be dumped too, she gets no set on it and the deep landing is a killer. If she can't get the triple full around, I wonder could she do a 2.5? Or even a double tuck, for a better landing.

Skill-wise, the wolf turn. Although it was everywhere in varying levels of competence, the worst was Texas Dreams. Not one of them can do it, and yet they all do. I get the thinking behind it, I know it's valuable. But it's also a crime.

Favourite junior beam?

Ragan Smith. A joy to watch. So confident and solid, and difficult too. Except the wolf because of course that was hideous.

Pick a worlds team based on Nationals?

A lot can happen in the next 2 months. Simone duhhhh. Aly, Gabby and Bailie. That's really all that is needed to decimate the field. As I said before, I'm hesitant to include Mykayla for a vault medal when that's not really guaranteed. Pretty deep field there. I'm taking Maggie as a guaranteed solid team player usable anywhere, and has an amanar for TF. Number 6 is one of Mykayla, Madison or Kyla. Impossible to call.

Who has shown the best comeback thus far between Aly and Gabby?

In competition, Gabby. Not without flaws, but not with falls or dodgy errors either. Shows room for upgrades nearly everywhere except floor, I think that's maxed. But she has looked extremely dodgy in PT, whereas Aly has looked amazing all of the time in training, and was great in Jesolo. She has actually increased the height on her tumbles and has worked hard to improve problem areas. Aly edges it, barely.

What are Nia's chances this year and next?

Slim. Not making Pan Ams was damning. I'm glad she had good performances at Nationals and am hoping she can add back some of her difficulty and get her form back on track, it's definitely deteriorated. She still shows crazy potential but I'm not sure with the depth that she'll get the chance to shine this quad especially with so much to work on still. She is also seriously injury prone.

Favourite senior bars?

Ashton Locklear. I prefer her line on bars to Madison.

Thoughts on Emily Gaskins?

She's not standing out, and has deteriorated unfortunately. I don't see a whole lot happening for her and I don't think all of the gym changing has helped at all, rather the opposite.

Favourite under-the-radar senior?

Lauren Navarro. Not a good competition for her but I really love her beam.

Junior?

Emma Malabuyo. She has stunning work. Also Trinity Thomas, she's quite powerful without being wild.

Best redemption from last year?

Cristina Desiderio. She fought bars and won, so pleased for her and a well deserved 5th place.

Fiercest routine?

Simone's Day 2 beam needs to be mentioned. The determination and almost anger was brilliant to watch. Taking absolutely no nonsense from the beam with a much smoother barani landing after awful trouble all week, and cements it all with a stick. Amazing.

Most impressive on floor - Simone or Aly?

They are both ridiculous. I can't pick.

180! Copyright USAG/John Cheng

Worst overscore

Jazmyn receiving only half of the OOB deduction that she should have done. It was way too obvious for that to be excusable, ridiculous. Or Simone's vault which was not as good as Day 1 and wasn't stuck....scoring higher, receiving the stick bonus. I almost forgot, just like the judges, Nia received CR for a requirement she did not fulfill on floor Day 1.

Major future talent that underwhelmed?

Morgan Hurd. Not that she wasn't noticed, just related really to the low difficulty she has. But she has got it all. Also I am majorly hoping Deanne Soza gets it together. Have you SEEN how perfect she is? These two are the queens of form and technique AND they are both from unknown gyms.

Most bad-ass moment?

Aly landing an amanar with her leg completely locked in a stance that would break so many....and no big deal, not affected. Surreal almost.

So what's Simone's next step?

Further world domination. The 2015 AA and FX titles, and VT (upgrade dependent maybe for gold again?) and BB medallist. Record breaking 4-time National champion next year, and another haul in Rio. Un-freaking-believable gymnast. We should never 'call' anything or any medals but once she's there, that's it.

Gymnastics-wise, I'm sure they'll be firming up that barani. Possibly a bit late for the Mustafina bars dismount, so I doubt we'll see that or the potential Khorkina this year. I think the Cheng is quite possible, since it was planned for this year.

Most important thing to take away from this meet?

The seniors are aiming to peak in October. The juniors are getting podium experience, trying out typically a lot of upgrades and tweaked routines and it does not matter if they splat all over the place, unless they never do anything but.



There were just so many great leotards going on. They're going to get their own post. As I mentioned at the top, if you want to ask me any questions directly I'll edit them into the post. Hard to think of all aspects of what I watched.

Who made your week? Or broke your heart? Favourite routines? Biggest surprise? Favourite lack of geographical knowledge embarrassment?

Worlds thoughts

It's almost here! And there have been some changes even since the predictions post.

In typical Russia fashion, their team has changed. In, out, in out...shake it all about. Maria Paseka is out. Ekaterina Kramarenko remains in despite sustaining some sort of foot/ankle injury recently. Viktoria Komova, who was never in but who could well have been chosen last minute, is officially out of contention. Ksenia Afanasyeva, who was briefly mentioned as a possible team member despite not being fully recovered, is also out of contention. Polina Fedorova and Tatiana Nabieva will be fighting for the last team spot. Edit: I believe it's been confirmed Tatiana won that particular battle, relegating Polina to alternate.

So, what does this do? It means no amanar. Aliya Mustafina will no doubt plant a strong DTY for a good score, but it's really a blow to lose Maria Paseka. Alla Sosnitskaya and I suppose Ekaterina Kramarenko will complete the vault lineup. Ideally to counteract a weaker than expected vault rotation they'd need some stacked bars, which they don't really have. Nobody, not even Aliya, has the difficulty displayed by the team in London. It's a puzzler to know what these changes will do to Russia's TF placing. Because of course, other teams are struggling too.

It's so odd to see USA weak. Especially for me as a new fan, not used to 'mid-quad slumps'. I am not surprised to see that Brenna Dowell won't be making the trip to China. Even if she was hitting AA at camp as rumoured I did think it would be too little too late for Marta who quite rightly highly prizes consistency all season long. Especially since Marta spectacularly showed last year that Brenna does not get breaks. No McKayla Maroney, no Elizabeth Price, no Brenna Dowell, no Peyton Ernst, no Maggie Nichols, no Lexie Priessman, no new Fierce 5 comeback. It's going to be very interesting but I believe they have the edge still.

Last night (this morning?) the Asian Games Quals/TF took place with a predictable massive win for China. Which was no surprise given that they sent their A-team, most others held off on doing that. Fascinating to see this team in action as a 'warm-up'. It is a little concerning given the closeness in timing between this and worlds, hopefully it won't have any impact for when their performances really need to count. First, congratulations to newcomer Chen Siyi for landing a very respectable DTY, a new skill for her that she has been crashing for most of this year. Shang Chunsong is dealing with some pain (strain is the word I think) in her hips for which she has needed Cortisone shots. Sensibly, she watered down on floor as a result. Disappointing to see her fall on bars and score atrociously in execution on beam, but hopefully she can bounce back and compete strong and pain-free in Nanning. Yao Jinnan also competed recovering from an injury which affected her training, but it was a while ago now and with any luck won't be an issue whatsoever to her by worlds.

I expected a bit more from China on beam (Bai Yawen for instance did not compete a routine worthy of the medal I gave her) and they weren't without headcase moments and substantial errors, BUT, overall it was a very strong showing. Vault is no longer a big worry for me (hurray for improvement there also from Tan Jiaxin) and bars will definitely pick them up and plant them well ahead of any other team there. They have no less than 4 routines at almost 7.0 which is phenomenal and is a big reason why they still have the silver edge in my view. Other teams being weak on vault too could easily get them over the hump of non-fantastic beam and floor. Although looking at Shang Chunsong's beam again and I don't know where they got 8.3 from. China seem to get the brunt of artistic deductions on beam when most everyone is guilty of poor rhythm and half-hearted choreography. Also, yes she brought her foot up. Not even high really. Everything else was so precise grrr.

You can find videos on this fantastic channel that needs to be in your subscriptions.

On the topic of Asian Games, Hong un Jong got together with Oksana Chusovitina and relived her glory days on vault. Much better vaults than we have seen in a long time from her AND with her difficulty advantage on Simone Biles, 0.8, she will really give the latter a run for her money if she vaults like that again. It also puts pressure on Mykayla Skinner who is at a big disadvantage since she may or may not score incredibly low for her Cheng what with the most bad-ass-but-worthy-of-harsh-scoring-block of all time. Could well be our podium, but Giulia Steingruber and Phan Thi Ha Thanh stand to gain bigtime if the judges give the one-armed Cheng the stink eye. Back to Asian games, where Chuso also unleashed a much better looking Rudi. All hail the vault elixir of youth she and Hong un Jong have been knocking back!

I'm struggling to place Russia, Romania and GB. The latter have not been doing that well on floor this year. A good bit will depend on the readiness of Gabby Jupp who I am THRILLED has made the team. Raer Theaker is a loss on floor, but Gabby with good bars and beam will more than make up for that. So much the better if she has floor too, but I wouldn't expect it and after so long out it would be wiser to hold off.

Have any of your thoughts about worlds changed recently? Predictions? What will crop up next in this mid-quad 'Who can suck the most' competition? Sorry, sorry, most impolite but um, somewhat truthful...

As an aside from worlds, but a very important one: wishing and hoping that Deanne Soza makes a full recovery from her recent eye infection. The last update was more positive, with optimism from doctors on her treatment and it mentioned that Deanne was able to distinguish a silhouette of her father. 

It must be incredibly hard for her to deal with, not least because she is so young, never mind the fact that she is a superbly talented athlete with enormous potential. Speedy and full recovery to her and her sight. 

Update: She's continuing to improve and was able to read letters from a screen today. SO THRILLED to hear this. Her vision is very blurry and it's too soon to tell about her right eye vision but this is so much less bleak than the first update or two so it's just fantastic news.

Copyright- Christy Ann Linder

 

Things

First, since it's freshest...

Gymnastike.

Like most people, I'm not impressed by the days-late apology. It definitely reads like a necessary and false apology generated by the backlash, rather than true remorse or even understanding of what they have done. This is compounded by the fact that the apology is directed by their action in covering the story at all, with zero mention of how they linked and exposed their very young target market to porn. No more, no less. 4chan has absolutely no place at all on a gymnastics news site and the utter failure to even acknowledge that is despicable.

It's worth noting that Gymnastike has several dedicated, well-meaning and knowledgeable writers and contributors. They are not to blame for this. (Although some gymnastics writers on the site are to blame for the lazy, copy-pasted click-me articles). Unfortunately they suffer for representing the site as a whole.

I'd hope that they have apologised directly to McKayla Maroney. We of course don't need to see it and she's under no obligation to disclose anything at all for 'closure' for her fans or anything. But I'd like to think they did personally apologise! 

Has the apology changed your view at all? Do you think USAG and/or FIG should still sanction them?

Junior Nationals

Which did in fact take place weeks ago, yup. I didn't catch all of it but enough. A very different competition without Bailie Key stomping over everyone! And with infinitely less sass with Laurie Hernandez out also.

Nia Dennis was strong, but nothing like her full potential. Odd mistakes on THE most secure skill ever...her fully upright arabian. Floor errors, etc, much less dynamic DTY than last year, bars downgrades. It's not fully surprising given that she's not long back from injury, but if she's not more consistent and looking more at her ease in her routines next spring for her senior debut I will be a little concerned. She could be amazing. Training with Gabby Douglas too is very good for her I feel, it's a strong motivator and both girls have similar strengths.

I don't need to see an amanar next year or anything. I'd settle for the super strong DTY back in action, more spring and ease in her floor and an upgrade or two on bars.

I remain unconvinced about Norah Flatley in the AA. She too was dogged by silly mistakes...the two on beam was utterly shocking. But it's not that...it's how her other events compared to beam are progressing, and they haven't in my opinion. I'm also puzzled as to where her bars are going...she's not making the most of the code there really.

In fact, both Alexis Vasquez and tiny Victoria Nyugen are more impressive on beam to me. Super clean, still with that killer variation and flexibility. Just that bit cleaner than Norah. Not that I'm hating on Norah or anything. I'm just not getting the love. Yet.

Likewise Jazmyn Foberg. It is phenomenal that somebody who failed to qualify for Nationals her first year as an elite should win it the next. And even when we take into account the absences and injury list, this is still an enormous achievement and one which she fully deserved. 8 for 8, solid. But...there's usually a but...she's not standing out particularly on any one event just yet. She sure could in the future, but not right now. I'm interested to see how she progresses. Although, I fervently hope her difficulty stagnates. The huge leaps forward on floor and bars in particular are a little concerning, possibly too fast. Bars in particular, her releases are completely and utterly flat and on both events she's not at her ease.

Morgan Hurd is more than just a great dancer with adorable glasses. She is SO CLEAN! Look at her lines on bars. I love little technique queens and have my eye firmly on her. She didn't hit 8 for 8 but so what, she's very young.

Similarly, Deanne Soza is amazing to watch. Especially on bars but she has massive potential on every event. Her mistakes were crushing for me as a new big fan but again, lots of time to improve.

Jordan Chiles had a truly mixed season. From winning Classics, to disaster, to climbing back up the ranks admirably on night 2. I'd like to see her keep her current difficulty and just focus on the consistency. No need for more upgrades yet. Although..that front triple full looks amazing. I couldn't say no to that..

YOG

Clashed abominably with work, so much so that I only got to watch event finals. All in all, it wasn't really overly impressive. While some girls did stand out, there was nobody that really proved they have what it takes to make major inroads into worlds AA next year. But, perversely, I'm also a little glad about that. I do not want anybody peaking for a competition as a junior.

You may have noticed I focused on one gymnast in the run-up to this competition as my 'one to watch' and who I was most excited about. A few weeks prior, I wrote this article. Wang Yan definitely performed as expected. In fact, she surpassed expectations in some regards..with some upgrades on bars and beam (that barani though!) and she nailed event finals. Well deserved medals there. She also lived up to the headcase side unfortunately, throwing herself out of floor finals in quals and messing up in the AA too. She definitely proved herself as a 'someone'. Very valuable for next year for her team, and hopefully incredible experience for her. She's capable of more and I'm really hoping we get to see that.

Flavia Saraiva is quite frankly, a delight. She moves very well and is so wonderfully clean. I'm happy she got this chance to compete as individually she will always be outshone by Rebeca Andrade although of course, Brazil have more than enough room for two stars. They can complement each other quite well. As expected, Flavia did not have the difficulty to get right up and compete for the top spot, nevertheless, she's showing great potential. Bars, long a weak piece for her country, have shown some progress. Hopefully some nice steady addition of difficulty towards Rio will propel her up the rankings.

Laura Jurca was well, crushing. No medals is so disappointing. I have been out of the loop, but perhaps she is recovering from injury? Let's hope she can bounce back from this competition and add some difficulty while still maintaining consistency.

Speaking of consistency, Seda Tutkhalyan managed to prevail despite spectacularly lacking in that department in general. She is above all, interesting. Brimming with potential. I'm delighted with her beam routine in particular and she has certainly shown fantastic progress on bars. She definitely has it in her to be even stronger all-around and I'm looking forward to seeing her senior debut..hopefully with vaults that land where they are supposed to!

Ellie Downie did extremely well, although she was another showing inconsistency. Such power! Although I remain disappointed she isn't emulating her big sister on bars, her floor and vault are pretty awesome. HUGE DTY, I definitely think we'll see an amanar next year, which would be a first for GB. GB really have a strong crew next year with Tyesha Mattis and Amy Tinkler firmly in the mix too.

Sae Miyakawa broke my heart with her floor routine. And then made it soar on vault. She deserved to beat Ellie Downie on form and not because the latter had her second vault downgraded. We need stills of Sae's form mid-flight blown up and pasted in gyms across the world. Stunning work.

Who was your favourite? Most likely to make it big as a senior? Who will be the Komova?

Classics: Thoughts on Juniors

What an interesting meet Classics always is. First, because there are sooooo many gymnasts, more every year in the junior ranks. Brand new faces barely out of Level 10 willing to impress, veterans showing new routines for the season, upgrades a-hoy, girls going all out to impress at the start of the season, while others are holding back a bit for a steadier pace, ready to unleash at nationals. The sheer variety of styles and strengths on display always floors me. For those who don't like US gymnastics, they should really look deeper. You can't categorise this small army.

Firstly, congratulations to Jordan Chiles on winning the junior AA! I wasn't expecting that at all, although I'm not sure why. The loss of Bailie Key and Laurie Hernandez is a big one and Nia has had quite a few struggles with injury in the last while. Norah Flatley gets hyped a lot, but she is quite clearly not an all-arounder yet. I suppose because Jordan is so young, too young for Rio. Her floor was one of the highlights, the full package...great tumbling, presence, spark. Vault...yeah I'd like to see some work on that block, and her form is a little scrappy on beam though her flow and style on that event have come on bigtime. Bars also are better, her swing and handstands, but she was too close to the bar on each release and was lucky to get that score. A thrilling day for her and a well deserved outcome, I'd just like some tidying up on her execution.

Jordan Chiles. Copyright - John Cheng

We need to talk about Deanne Soza, immediately. I noticed her potential last year but WOW she took my breath away. Talk about talent! I'm a little tired of getting excited about a US junior and then seeing that her bars are bad or average, but no whiff of that here. They made my night (before a certain $ came along), no exaggeration. BEAUTIFUL form, swing..and skills! Huge release move, an inbar stalder shoot to high which is rare as Christmas, a gorgeous Ezhova and a full-in DLO. Fantastic. Beam and floor look strong too...she made me a little nervous on the former, but saved so well. Gorgeous switch leap-Onodi combination. She's another too young for Rio who needs to slow or halt the upgrades and just polish everything. Seriously impressive work from this little one.

Morgan Hurd is too cute for words. Noticed her gorgeous floor at the Nastia cup earlier this year and I was excited when she qualified elite and looking forward to some lovely clean work. Not only was she clean...but so consistent and confident! Wonderful to see, she was holding herself on and off the apparatus like a veteran. Thrilling to see her do so well in the AA. And...this isn't relevant, but she kind of proves a major point about Chinese gymnasts looking younger than their years. Unlike some of the Chinese girls, Morgan (adopted as a baby) has grown up in a privileged environment with plenty to eat. Yet she looks about 6-7..

I haven't really been paying a whole lot of attention to Maile O'Keeffe and Megan Skaggs but they both seem to have shot forward in terms of improvement. Will be keeping an eye on them, especially Maile on beam.

Nia Dennis has been battling injury, so it wasn't overly surprising that she wasn't at her best. Even so, she showed what she is capable of when healthy. She has killer potential and I really hope she's able to demonstrate that next year when she's senior and hopefully fully bounced back.

Norah Flatley's beam was gorgeous as anticipated. I'm curious about the long term plan for her though. Perhaps we will see more from her on bars at Nationals, but her routine at Classics was fairly dull and empty I thought. Nice floor work, but she's not standing out there and her FTY doesn't look like it will be anything else in the next while. She remains a beam specialist, albeit a gorgeous and most valuable one, in my eyes. She's with Chow, and Chow is great, but he's not great at vault and Norah doesn't have the power of Gabby or Shawn for instance.

I was expecting quite a bit from the Parkettes crew, Christina Desiderio, Molly Frack, Margzetta Frazier and Megan Freed, especially the first two but it wasn't their day. Molly didn't do AA. Christina in particular is so much fun to watch on floor, hopefully she can improve and really get up to where the top few are.

Speaking of falls, there were so,so many on beam. Not that it'd be unexpected when there's so many juniors, plenty competing for the first time on podium, at the first major elite competition of the year. It's moreso that it was sad to watch, given that quite a few needed this meet to qualify to nationals. On the other hand..I saw no falls or big errors on bars?

Victoria Nyugen's beam was so, so beautiful. Yes, she went into a handstand in the middle of her series but it didn't work to save her balance and off she came. Nonetheless, it was amazing..and admirable that she didn't let the fall faze her. Great floor from her I thought, looking forward to seeing her develop. Unfortunately, another bad meet from Alexis Vasquez who was pulled from two events. She's struggling with a hip injury. Here's hoping she can come back strong next year as a senior.

Victoria Nyugen. Copyright - John Cheng

Jazmyn Foberg was the only MG elite girl healthy enough to be present. She was quite solid but not outstanding, which is fine in one her age. However, while she may not be as pushed as Laurie is or as Ari is on vault, her bars were quite new and she struggled with them halfway through. A fluke, or yet another exhibition of too much too soon..hard to know.

Rachel Baumann was lovely to watch on beam and floor, but I kind of expected more. It was refreshing to see her perfect technique in her passes, but I'd like to see more than the typical WOGA standard emanate from her routines. She could be great.

Shilese Jones is another who stood out on floor...with a 1.5 twisting double back! Great pass, she's powerful and interesting to watch.

For all the criticism American artistry or lack of gets, there was quite a lot on display here. Olivia Dunne really stood out, gorgeous, gorgeous presentation. From an 11 year-old at that. Likewise, Emily Gaskins who is just stunning. Pity about her routine, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

The Good

Floor These young ones are continuing the legacy of strong floor work. Lots of big tumbles- double layouts, 1.5 double back, double arabians, 1.5 to triple etc. Some lovely dancers too and many who have excellent presentation

Beam combinations Building from the ground up, lots of juniors are working the code very well. BHS-LOSO-LOSO, switch-Onodi, aerial cartwheel-LOSO, aerial-aerial-side aerial etc. Lovely scales from a few too.

Variety Is the best part of Classics. SO many girls from so many gyms, different ages, sizes, styles, strengths...it's great.

Leotard game was oh so strong

The Bad 

Injuries, dropouts and girls competing not yet recovered Too many to mention.

Bars Despite many cool connections and skills shown, overall I was not impressed. There was a lot of average work on display and poor skills foundation and form. Sigh.

Leaps So many were bad

Best

Floor Jordan Chiles
Vault Jordan Chiles
Bars Nia Dennis
Beam Norah Flatley

Favourite

Floor Morgan Hurd
Bars Deanne Soza
Beam Tough. Nia Dennis
Vault Norah Flatley..so clean

Favourite Leos

Nia Dennis. Copyright - John Cheng

Buckeye. Always get it right...this is beautiful, colours chosen and their use, and the design. Stunning.

Emily Gaskins. Copyright - John Cheng

CGA have got it going on here. I'd prefer if the sleeves were plain white though. 

Bailey Ferrer. Copyright - John Cheng

We see this shade and fabric quite a bit, but the tiny star-like pattern of the chrystals make this stunning. 

Honourable mentions: Shilese Jones, Olivia Dunne, Morgan Hurd, WOGA

Dishonourable mentions: Lexy Ramler, Delanie Harkness

Lots less pink than usual! Some nice attempts at red and lovely blues and pinks.

Scoring

Better than it has been, and it's not usually too hyped for juniors anyway. The one score that stood out (I'm sure there'd be more if I studied this) was Jordan Chiles' bars. Substantially overscored. Deanne Soza's bars were a little underscored compared to some other routines also. 


Who was your favourite junior? Was the format of splitting it fair or unfair? Can a rotation really be 50 minutes long??