What makes me a fan of a gymnast

Hi there! I should be able to resume more frequent posting shortly. Here's a few thoughts that have been bursting for a while.

As you might have noticed, I don't really cling to one particular team or other. I really enjoy aspects of each of the big 4, and other teams. My gymnastics obsession is based much more individually, which means I'm not in a frenzy during major team competitions :p

So, what makes me root for a particular gymnast? I have a mental checklist of sorts, more than one of which must be present.

Form Is it exceptional? That's a huge plus right off the bat and is exactly what attracts me to Soviet and other past gymnastic greats, and current gymnasts such as Eythora Thorsdottir, Noemi Makra, Noel Van Klaveren and to the sheer precision and technical brilliance of the majority of the Chinese girls. I may still really enjoy those who leave a lot to be desired IF they have other positive attributes. On the other side of the coin, it's not enough to just be clean if it's not standout amazing 'wow'.

Skill selection Oh they're bringing something retro back? Awesome. Throwing an old rare skill and doing it well, or inventing one is always going to make me sit up and take notice. Preferably done well. It doesn't have to be rare or new though, but if routines contain some really pretty skills, always a bonus too - for instance on beam I have a lot of love for Onodis, Kotchetkovas, Rulfovas, BHS/aerial-LOSO-LOSO series and straddle leaps. If a routine has good composition and isn't totally stock, the gymnast immediately has my attention.

Difficulty Gymnasts capable of throwing immense difficulty are super exciting to follow and always have been. Pushing the boundaries is a great thing for the sport, although it is a major pity that the code demands it as of course, the injury rate is shocking and many are just not built for it. But for those that are, it's so enjoyable to see what they can do. However, I am appalled by skill chucking. Failed Produnovas and any skill where the gymnast just doesn't have it down and is risking her knees/ankles or worse are absolutely horrifying to watch and I hate the fact that nothing is really being done to discourage this.

Artistry Can they capture the crowd during a floor routine? I don't suscribe to the idea that only elegant routines can be artistic or that artistry is dead. We see a lot of it, particularly from those with low difficulty..they have more time to really put a lot into the non-acro side of things. Gymnasts must SELL their routine, connect to the crowd, be in time with their music, and have interesting choreography. I don't want floppy hand waving that 'looks' elegant but the gymnast may as well be yawning with all of the spirit and thought behind the actions. And I'm not blinded by toepoint either, there are gymnasts who look the part but are out of sync with their music completely. I find artistry in unexpected places, sometimes you get power gymnasts lambasted for their leaps and build but they come out onto the floor and light up the arena. Fabulous to watch.

Dance skills We don't see enough gymnasts excelling at dance skills unfortunately, which means that those who do gain automatic brownie points before I even consider what else they have to offer. Textbook switch rings, oversplit on switch halves/fulls...what's seldom truly is wonderful. Not to mention the rise of turn combinations on floor and the number who can do triples and quads. So exciting.

Spark This ties in with artistry somewhat. Some gymnasts just have 'it'. I think it's personality combining with other factors, I may only have been introduced to their routines and I already love them. It can just be a huge joyful grin during a salute. A real connection to what they're feeling and BOOM I am sucked in. However, if their attitude doesn't come across well in some situations or even while competing..I'll find it tough to watch their routines.

Competitiveness If their work is lovely but needs to be watched from behind a couch due to a phenomenal headcase rate, I'm not really going to be able to sustain being a fan. Likewise if tears are oft to be seen. There's absolutely nothing wrong with reacting emotionally to the results of a huge competition, but when it happens more often than not..that's a different story and will put me off. If a gymnast walks out onto the floor and exudes confidence, even if a mistake happens, that's really attractive to this fan. If they nail routines like a machine and anchor your team around them, it's just wonderful to watch.

So, a little from column A...a little from column B. Some of my favourites like Simone Biles, Eythora Thorsdottir and Mai Murakami are fairly easy to 'diagnose' from my criteria. I'm sure most people have something similar to this at work when they become a fan of a gymnast, but it's not really something you hear much about, so I thought it would be interesting to discuss.

So, what makes YOU a fan? Other than patriotism that is. That's not allowed in this topic :)

Best of 2013

I hope everyone's having a good Christmas/New Years/holiday season.

Here's my 2013 'winners'. They're deliberately in a sort of scattered order since that's how they occurred to me, and to keep you on your toes.

Best senior:
Simone Biles

Best junior:
Bailie Key

Favourite senior:
Simone Biles

Favourite junior:
Laurie Hernandez

Best beam:
Luo Huan, 2013 National Games, TF. No question.

Best vault:
Simone Biles, Vault 2, Antwerp quals The block and form...

Best bars:
Yao Jinnan, Antwerp AA. Honourable mention to Ruby Harrold, Antwerp AA.

Best floor:
I need a better view of Victoria Moors' new floor to hand her this. There's one routine I enjoyed more than Ksenia Afanasyeva at Euros EF and that is Simone Biles at Antwerp AA.

Best bars dismount:
Koko Dobashi  This is Jamie Dantzcher's dismount, one of my favourites. Eythora Thorsdottir also did a beautiful double twisting flyaway.

Best bars mount:
Just kidding, nothing to see here. If you have seen something other than a glide kip or jump to high this year, please comment!

Best beam mount:
Natsumi Sasada being a total badass. Honourable mentions to the prettiness of Shang Chunsong's and to Danusia Francis for bringing back the Silivas.

Best beam dismount:
Simone Biles, Nationals Day 1. What is this, a Simone love-in? That was amazing though, the form, technique, height on stuck landing. I also love how the pointed toes and technique of Luo Huan's double pike, above under best beam, make it look stunning.

Best dancer:
Laurie Hernandez. Just fantastic. I'd like if she refined her movement just a little without losing any intensity or originality, but even if she never does, I'll always be glued to the screen watching her dance.

Best music:
See above. Engaging, magnetic sort of music, and original. Suits this firecracker perfectly. 

Best form:

Source- Getty images/AFP

Noemi Makra. Just beautiful, stunning work. A joy to watch. And let us not forget, the piked full-in in its pure form. Honourable mention goes to Luo Huan, again.

Best leaps:
Andreea Munteanu. So refreshing. Fellow Andreea, Iridon, isn't too shabby in the leaps department either, i.e. also glorious.

Best new skill:
i.e. named this year. The sideways side aerial, named for Silvia Colussi-Pelaez but performed by Danusia Francis at NCAA Nationals. The fact that she unleashed it after hiding it for months, and the moment she chose to do it. Amazing.

Best old skill reinvented:
The Zuchold, done by Ruby Harrold. Yao Jinnan and her Mo are stiff competition, but it was just not clearing the bar enough or hitting enough so... Both of these are linked above under best bars.

Most improved:
Simone Biles fo' sho' BUT a much more dramatic and subsequently heartwarming improvement was Mykayla Skinner between Day 1 and Day 2 of Nationals. Amazing turnaround.

Most elegant gymnast:
Eythora Thorsdottir, who I link to all the time. Getting lazy now.. 

Best newcomer:
Well Simone Biles, again. Sorry, but she's just the obvious pick for half of this. Honourable mention to Roxana Popa who has had ups and downs this year, but is definitely blazing a new trail both in Spanish gymnastics and on the European circuit.

Best comeback:
McKayla Maroney. What with her list of injuries, surgeries and growing a few inches on top of that, few expected her to be so solid and make such a strong case for herself to go to worlds. She has indeed deteriorated on vault, but still got that crazy yurchenko block, has ADDED difficulty to her floor, and placed 6th in the world at Antwerp prelims in the AA. Not to mention retaining her world vault champion title. Not bad for someone doing yurchenko timers into a pit in March.

Most solid senior:
Kyla "no falls" Ross.

Most solid junior:
Bailie "the machine" Key.

Best leotard:

UCLA - Copyright: AP Photo/Alex Gallardo

Maroney - Source: coolspotters.com

 

HKX. Copyright: A’Min, Guo Chen/Xinhua News Agency

Huang Huidan (on right). Copyright- rkwy1212

There are a few others I can't find. Can't pick 'one'. He Kexin's is more than likely a case of the gymnast in the leotard. I really don't like nude mesh but it was beautiful on her and made her look like an angel. Fitting, for the queen of the bars. I'm a huge fan of blue- GAGE leos this year, Danusia Francis at Universiade, more of UCLA's..the list goes on.

Cutest Moment:
Songsong isn't having a half-hearted handshake! 

Best hairstyle:

Warrior queen Chantysha. Source- rtlnieuws.nl

Chantysha Netteb is fierce!

Best floor skill combination: 
Shang Chunsong's opening pass of 1.5 into triple full-punchfront. Fantastic. 

Best beam skill combination:
Norah Flatley. It's insane, in a good way.

Best bars skill combination:
Ruby Harrold. That is, the Van Leeuwen to immediate Zuchold. I had to disregard the Maloney-Bhardwaj, which was hard.

Cutest gymnast:

Source- Wu Jun

Wang Yan, AKA Yanyan, Potato, little bean. Powerful but adorable.

Best WOW moment:
Victoria Moors sticking the DDLO in Antwerp AA. I witnessed this live...the tension! You could have heard a pin drop in her run and then the explosion, just unbelievable.

Best OMG moment:
Mykayla Skinner landing really good Cheng's off ONE HAND. Shouldn't be possible.

Highlight of the year:

Source- Ling Jie's weibo

Shang Chunsong wins five medals at National Games in Liaoning. 4 individual medals- 3 gold (AA, bars, floor), bronze on beam....and bronze in team finals. It could well be a record. For her feat she received the approximate equivalent of $500,000. Shang Chunsong's family are extremely poor, so this money means a lot. No cars for her, it is being used to provide for her parents and her brother. She has also secured a top university place for herself, whenever she chooses. The ultimate victory, in the context of which, who cares how worlds went for her?

Best competition:
Um, worlds, since I was there :D There were loads of expected faces missing, no denying that, but some competitions were still deep and there was great gymnastics a-plenty.

Best medal:

Source - Yves Logghe/AP, Christian Thomassen, Zhou Lei/Xinhua

Huang Huidan is victorious in the bars final. Cleans up her form, doesn't let herself be affected by the favourite falling right before her- her teammate and friend at that. Great moment, and such a nice surprise for a gymnast who seemed like a total headcase at the start of the year. 

Who are your winners? I'd love to see other opinions. If you feel like answering each category, go for it!

The New Girls

I just updated this again. Time for a more indepth look at the new girls turning senior in a little over a week.

Polina Schennikova USA
Amelia Hundley USA
Veronica Hults USA
Heaven Latimer CANADA
Brianna Clark CANADA
Aleeza Yu CANADA
Maria Kharenkova RUSSIA
Daria Spiridonova RUSSIA
Viktoria Kuzmina  RUSSIA
Yevgeniya Zhukova RUSSIA
Kristina Levshina RUSSIA
Alexandra Yazydzhyan RUSSIA
Darya Kloptsova UKRAINE
Tea Ugrin ITALY
Enus Mariani ITALY
Lara Mori ITALY
Martina Rizzelli ITALY
Emma Larsson SWEDEN
Louise Vanhille FRANCE 
Claire Martin FRANCE
Dayana Hryhoryeva BELARUS
Silvia Zarzu ROMANIA
Diana Teodoru ROMANIA 
Paula Tudorache ROMANIA
Miriam Arabisoiu ROMANIA
Andreea Munteanu ROMANIA
Ioana Nicoara ROMANIA
Eythora Thorsdottir NETHERLANDS
Mariana Oliveira BRAZIL
Julie Kim BRAZIL
Alexandra Eade AUSTRALIA
Yuki Uchiyama JAPAN
Chen Li CHINA
Wang Wei CHINA
Chen Siyi CHINA
Zhu Siyan CHINA
Xie Yufen CHINA

First of all, it's not near as exciting a bunch as the 2015 and 2016 girls. But there's some real gems nonetheless. I have to mention that Enus Mariani, the 2012 Euros junior AA champion whose debut has been long-awaited..is dealing with injury and her future in the sport is unclear as of yet.

My favourite of the bunch (big surprise here) is Eythora Thorsdottir, the Dutch Icelandic-born Soviet-reborn.

The best floor worker is either Wang Wei or Andreea Munteanu. Special mentions go to Silvia Zarzu, Yuki Uchiyama,Mariana Oliveira, Maria Kharenkova and Amelia Hundley. And Emma Larsson.

This lot have a few interesting bars routines. Louise Vanhille shows potential, as do Martina Rizzelli, Nica Hults and Amelia Hundley. Nobody to make you go wow. It's a weak year for China with no bars queens amongst them and Viktoria Kuzmina does not look up to much anymore.

Beam is a runaway victory for Andreea Munteanu. Eythora wins the pretty award with her originality, Nica Hults has some lovely work also and Maria Kharenkova is solid.

Vault belongs to Mariana Oliveira so far anyway. There's a few other DTY's, but this is the best and the most upgrade-able looking.

Dance elements wise - Andreea Munteanu and Julie Kim have stunning leaps. Heaven Latimer is the current turn queen.

Russia and China are getting one new standout senior each. Romania should be able to eke more out of Silvia Zarzu and the others and net themselves much-needed promising new seniors. An off year for the USA surprisingly- Polina Shchennikova doesn't appear to have much to offer, Amelia Hundley is likely to be injured (she is at the moment) and Nica Hults is not really an all-arounder or a stand-out, though her bars and beam could be very useful. I'm hoping Eythora Thorsdottir will work well with Chantysha Netteb when the latter recovers, that Italy's new kids will rejuvenate their programme (and that Enus will be fine) and that Yuki Uchiyama continues to hold her own amongst her older compatriots.

Who do you like the look of? Who's your favourite?

EYOF in a nutshell

Highlights

- Eythora Thorsdottir on beam. Refreshingly Soviet and glorious.
- Kim Janas' floor choreography. Not so much that it flowed wonderfully, it didn't, but the actual movements were great.
- Laura Jurca's DTY! Really excellent first showing.
- In general, 2 more DTY's for Romania. They now have 3 in the junior ranks.
- Tyesha Mattis' double double. So unneccessary (skills are capped at E value) but awesome, great landing.
- Solid Russian beam. How very unusual! Great routines by Maria Kharenkova and Maria Bondareva.
- Andreea Iridon's beam. Love.
- Quality performances by Britain. Team gold, AA gold and silver, rings and pommel gold, parallel bars and floor silver in MAG, team silver, AA bronze and vault gold and bronze in WAG. Awesome! They could have done even better but they had some issues in WAG team finals.
- Maria Kharenkova's double arabian. Lovely and neat. Jury's still out on her double pike- sheep jump. She needs a B jump for that connection so your average leap won't do but the very nature of a sheep jump makes it slow. Maybe a double stag if that's a B? Any other suggestions?
- Martina Rizzelli on bars. Deserving bars champion. She's a new one on me and I really loved her swing and lightness.
- Emma Larsson's bounciness on floor. Great tumbles from her.
- Eythora Thorsdottir on floor. Because who can't be enthralled even from the way she walks on before saluting?
- Silvia Zarzu on floor. She looks better, more 'on'. Despite the loss of her much-loved floor music from last year (to me anyway) I really enjoyed her on this event.
- 2/3 hit routines for Eythora Thorsdottir on beam, and no falls! Her usual beam routine is almost guaranteed to have a fall. Nice 2.5 upgraded dismount too.
- The resurgence of Laura Jurca. She's been relagated to an alternate type but she really showed what she's made of at this competition. Sadly she wasn't great in the AA but did so well on the first day and in vault finals. Super DTY!

Not-so highlights

- The absence of Andreea Munteanu (hand surgery), Madalina Blendea (stomach issues), Enus Mariani (back problems) and Elizabet Vasileva (???).
- Tiebreakers. Particularly the AA one, a tiebreak for gold is extra unfair. Poor Kim Janas! Does everything with Olympic in the name employ tiebreakers?
- Falls, like Andreea Iridon on bars, Russians on bars, Silvia Zarzu on vault, Tutya Yilmaz' meltdown on bars in the AA and more.
- Russian steadiness on beam seeming to come at the cost of their bars. Even Viktoria Kuzmina was not great, short handstands, no upgrades. They do have good basics of course..
- Very harsh scoring, particularly on floor. Scores were also too close, which resulted in several ties.
- The livestream. Would not work on firefox, had to use Chrome. Way too much focus on the audience and on gymnasts after their routine. Nice variety of gymnasts shown but many of the top contenders had only 1 or 2 routines, or in the case of Maria Bondareva- none, shown.
- Super bouncy floor. This is the floor that was used a few times so far this year with numerous out of bounds, and will be used in Antwerp. There's getting used to a different floor and then there's a floor that is just too bouncy.

Best routines

Beam- Eythora Thorsdottir, EF
Floor- Ooh. Kim Janas, Emma Larsson or Eythora. 
Vault- Laura Jurca, EF
Bars- Martina Rizzelli, EF

Best leotards- Netherlands TF, Romania TF

A great competition, though marred by notable absences, falls and tiebreakers. Not the best competition for Russia and Romania though a valuable experience for them I think. What were your highlights? Has Eythora won over the masses yet?

Nothing else will embed! A pity she doesn't have the difficulty for gold but a silver is such a boost anyway for her most troublesome apparatus, and in front of a home crowd too.




 

EYOF/Universiade/Portugal

The first shock is Romania's team for EYOF. The girls named are Andreea Iridon, Madalina Blendea and Laura Jurca. As in, where the hell is Andreea Munteanu? Lots of guesses going on about how she has already competed so much this year and maybe they are resting her for next year or maybe they want to try the younger girls with less experience etc. but by far the most common opinion is that she must be injured, as they really need her. This is a very strong team for bars and very good on beam, but extremely weak on vault where they would desperately need her DTY and her high beam and floor scores would come in very handy too. This meet is in fact a big deal, moreso than any other she has attended this year so it's quite bewildering IF she isn't injured.It's important to remember that this is a nominative registration list and that Romania are huge fans of substitution. However, they are also quite fond of not disclosing injuries so there's that too..

For the host country, Eythora Thorsdottir is a certainty, despite counting falls at Dutch Nationals and in general being unsteady on beam. Dana de Groot is another good bet, but not sure about the third. Britain have quite a good team, not named yet but expected to be Tyesha Matthis, Amy Tinkler and Ellie Downie. Sadly Catherine Lyons is not elegible. I would call Maria Bondareva a lock for the Russian team. Maria Kharenkova too if she is fully healthy, she has been dealing with a hand injury this year. The others place(s) are between Anastasia Dmitrieva, Viktoria Kuzmina, Seda Tutkhalyan and Evgeniya Zhukova. The latter in particular is a great vault and floor girl, would would be very lacking in a team of Bondareva/Kharenkova for instance. Kim Janas is a huge AA threat, almost certainly she will feature on the podium there. But the one I most want to see is Elizabet Vasileva of Bulgaria who hasn't been named at all, but is elegible for her country!

Russia have named their Universiade team. No surprises with Aliya Mustafina and Ksenia Afanasyeva on the roster, and joining them will be Tatiana Nabieva, Anna Dementyeva and Maria Paseka. I did expect one of Ekaterina Kramarenko and Anna Myzdrikova or even both, since despite Demy's much higher start values she is still very inconsistent unlike those two. The biggest excitement is Afan's new floor routine! And also whether she will do bars and what she will throw on vault. Aliya's beam is her most important event here, as once that is steady she's away on a hack to really challenge in Antwerp.

Also for Universiade, Alexa Moreno of Mexico who is an amazing vaulter, and Danusia Francis of Britain who is of course, very valuable on beam and floor.

The Portugal World Cup which has an absolutely stacked roster takes place this weekend. I will edit in a few links before then, I already have one that definitely works so check back for that! Competing at this competition are Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Rebecca Tunney, Hannah Whelan, Jade Barbosa, Shang Chunsong, Zeng Siqi, Anna Rodionova, Ekaterina Baturina, Alla Sosnitskaya, Anastasia Grishina, Jessica Lopez, Oksana Chusovitina, Noemi Makra, Ilaria Kaeslin and Janine Berger!

Confirmed: Yao Jinnan is a complete badass

After my disappointment the other week with Aussie Maddie Leydin not in fact having a counter-kim on bars as was reported earlier this year, I'm delighted that it's been confirmed with actual evidence that Yao Jinnan DOES have a Mo Salto. The gif is two thirds of the way down this page. Sure she has assistance, but it looks like a solid skill. I love when people go the unorthodox route for upgrades, and I'm so happy we are more than likely to see this release in a routine again. It was rumoured a few months ago and dismissed, but here it is! :D Even if she never competes it, the fact that she actually trained it is incredible. She may be able to release out of it into a Jaeger as Rick from gymnasticscoaching said, but if she doesn't have the flight to do that (wow how awesome if she could?) then she won't incur a deduction for an empty swing after, which she would have done last quad. Same goes for the counter-kim, if someone does unleash one.

Elite season is looming in the US with Classics about 6 weeks away. USAG have now released training camp snippets of Kyla Ross, Maggie Nichols, Maddie Desch, Polina Shchennikova, McKayla Maroney, Brenna Dowell, Kennedy Baker, Lexie Priessman, Bailie Key and Ebee Price. Still to come are Simone Biles, Amelia Hundley, Nia Dennis, Mykayla Skinner, Abigail Milliet, Nica Hults and new kids on the block Emily Gaskins, Grace Quinn, Ashton Locklear, Emily Schild, Norah Flatley, Alexis Vasquez and Rachel Gowey. The latter three have just qualified elite at Parkettes and all showed fabulous work on beam in particular, though sadly Alexis has injured her foot and watered down significantly as a result. The star of the show was Laurie Hernandez who posted a huge 57.8 total, though she was there moreso for experience, what with already being an elite. Her new floor is glorious, I absolutely love it. Sadly, Bailey Ferrer and Vanasia Bradley who both have huge skills in training had disastrous competitions, though Bailey scraped past the qualifying post.

The one who all eyes will be on is Simone Biles. We already know her routines, and her difficulty currently stands at 6.1 UB, 6.3 BB, 6.2 FX and 6.3 VT. Here's the fun part, her planned upgrades of a full-in DLO and piked double arabian bump up her floor to an enormous 6.8 and her planned arabian on beam bring that set up to a 6.7. Very interesting! Her bars count a C and her dismount is very easy for her, if she can (maybe next year even) do an E transition and a Fabrichnova that would bring them to 6.5. To put that into perspective, her difficulty even without the hypothetical bars is equal to Gabby Douglas at the Olympics, though like Gabby on bars, Simone would be unlikely to claim her full difficulty on floor, as she has two questionable leaps. This would bring her down to a still fearsome 6.6

Andreea Iridon won the AA for her age group at Romanian Junior Nationals. Andreea Munteanu did not compete; she has more than proven herself this year. Olivia Cimpian, a 2001 born, won it for her category. The surprise in the younger ranks is Andreea Ciurusniuc who has come on tremendously in the last year, though she did beat Andra Stoica at Trnava so that was definitely a sign! There were notable absences and a bonus system in place so there's not much of a cohesive picture yet. Results are here, to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The winners of the Dutch Nationals AA were Vera Van Pol who snuck up out of nowhere when Celine Van Gerner and Wyomi Masela made mistakes, and Eythora Thorsdottir who continues to break hearts everywhere when she fell off beam again, and also floor. Happily she did have interesting upgrades, a 2.5 dismount on beam and a double twisting flyaway on bars. Now this is my favourite type of bars dismount and wow are they rare, but so beautiful. It's only worth a C and she needs D or higher to satisfy CR...but the 2.5 version is worth a D and the triple an E. I didn't think I could root for her more but the dismount has definitely made her more awesome. She had a double pike and she must be upgrading this flyaway further or there would be no point. You can see senior results here.

Following Jacoby Miles progress, the Level 9 gymnast who was paralysed late last year and she is continuing to progress which is great to here. I love the fact she's helping out in her gym. The blog about her, maintained by her mother, is here.

Videos after the jump! Parkettes videos were filmed by Between the Olympics blog.

News

This is one exciting month for competitions. Coming up in just 3 days is a juniors friendly between Romania and France. Romania are sending Andreea Munteanu, Silvia Zarzu, Andreea Iridon, Diana Teodoru and....Madalina Blendea, who has not competed in more than a year! Let us hope for videos. Silvia also has not been seen for a good while. Right as that ends is the Gym Festival Trnava in Slovakia, which has more Romanian faces emerge from the crypt..Ana Maria Ocalisan and Daniela Andrei! Ocalisan is a new senior who really should have been at Euros just for experience. Andrei has not had an assignment for quite some time despite being one of the very few seniors they have left. Unfortunately, the mother of Asiana Peng who is also at Izvorani has said that Andrei has left the National team. That would not be particularly surprising given that the girl has not competed in so long, but truly astonishing just as news broke that she actually has a competition coming up. We will see! Anna Pavlova, Kristina Yaroshenko (who competed at the WOGA Classic), Anna Myzdrikova and Oksana Chusovitina are competing and in the younger category, the wonderful Varvara Zubova. I'm thinking Myzdrikova's place here means she won't be at Universiade. Coming up in the middle of the month are Chinese Junior Nationals and Romanian Junior Nationals, another chance to see Blendea. Parkettes Elite Qualifier is also taking place, at which Norah Flatley and Alexis Vasquez of Chow's hope to make the cut. Then right at the end of June there will be a world cup in Portugal. The roster for this includes Noemi Makra, Shang Chunsong, Zeng Siqi, Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Alla Sosnitskaya, Anastasia Grishina, Ekaterina Baturina, Anna Rodionova, Jade Barbosa, Hannah Whelan and Rebecca Tunney. Rodionova has been injured and this marks her return, similarly this is the first opportunity to see Rebecca Tunney in quite some time.

Speaking of China, here is a great montage of the girls of Coach Wang/Xu's training group of the National Team, including Yao Jinnan, Sui Lu, Huang Huidan and juniors Liu Tingting and Yuan Xiaoyang at the recent Chinese National Games prelims. These girls captured the AA, VT, UB and FX (shared) titles. Love 0:27-33 especially.

Eythora Thorsdottir of the Netherlands placed first in a NED v SWE competition recently. This forms part of the Dutch qualification for EYOF- European Youth Olympic Festival which takes place in July. She beat the very promising Emma Larsson even with a fall on beam. Sadly she is quite shaky on this event, hopefully it can be ironed out before she turns senior next year.

Rebeca Andrade competed at two internal competitions recently- Brazil Trophy and Circuito Caixa and won both decisively. She is not doing her amanar yet but she did unveil a fabulously straight DLO, which is oddly piked in the first salto. Unfortunately her choreo has gone downhill, hopefully just a blip. Her beam continues to be wonderful, very light and floaty as well as super springy and ripe for upgrades. Floor is here and beam is here.

Here is a news excerpt of Mai Murakami to get your hopes up about her again. Watch it here. I don't know if ads can be skipped on youku but I just sit through them anyway. She shows a new skill in training here- a 1.5 DLO! It also reportedly mentions when showing Kohei Uchimura's triple twisting double that she wants to compete it in the future. Bonus- a cute confession about her:

Source- gymfanconfessions.tumblr.com

USAG have said they will post videos of the ongoing National Team Camp. Here's a group photo in the meantime:

Copyright- USAG

L-R: Hundley, Ross, Maroney, Nichols, Price, Shchennikova, Dowell, Locklear, Baker, Priessman, Desch, Milliet, Skinner, Gowey, Dennis, Key, Hults, Gaskins, Quinn, Schild, Biles, Flatley and Vasquez.

Notable exceptions are Sarah Finnegan, Katelyn Ohashi, Laurie Hernandez and Peyton Ernst. Laurie was out because her coach just had a baby (she..does have more than one coach though) and the rest are recovering from injury. The return of McKayla Maroney is momentous though. She had better show up in a video! Amelia Hundley, who performed well below her standard in Europe, has one shin heavily wrapped. Nia Dennis has been added to the junior National Team. Deafening silence on the inclusion of Laurie Hernandez (at the last camp- which she won) and Mykayla Skinner- but the new national teams will be chosen fairly soon I suppose. Plenty of new floor routines debuted during verification AND.... McKayla Maroney looked better and had higher difficulty than expected. Bring on Classics!

Dutch Update

Chantysha Netteb and Eythora Thorsdottir recently competed at a national competition. I rave about Eythora all the time because she is a Soviet gymnast reborn, but I'm also excited to see Chantysha, who's very different but very promising all the same. I'm delighted to see Eythora nailing her beautiful triple turn combination, and as always having a gorgeous Onodi and sheep jump. Wondering if her coaches also trained the great turner Sanne Wevers? Hopefully her consistency can improve on this event. A pity she has dumped her beautiful 'Mostepanova extension' press to handstand to a really boring mount but if it preserves energy then that's fine. On floor, her first pass has upgraded to a double pike. She is getting enormous height on that and given that she's grown, she looks well capable of more difficulty there. Likewise, her other passes seem a little easy for her. New music! On facebook the music doesn't cut out like that but this video says 'music falls halfway' so I'm not sure if it did in reality. If it did, awesome because she's not bothered at all. Vault remains the same..maybe she can do a DTY?..and I can't find bars, if she did them. In general, her choreography on beam and floor is sassier but still beautiful. Excellent.

Chantysha is a great contrast to her teammate. Great fierceness and attack in her beam, and pretty nice difficulty there. Love the mount too. On floor her difficulty is also pretty modest, I expect her to be throwing full-ins! Certainly ripe for more upgrades. Nice work though, I like how both girls seem equally comfortable with front and back tumbling. Bars are not her forté, she does manage a nice swing but she exhibits plenty of form issues and very weird kip angles like Maroney. Still, she could be a very nice three-eventer, I'd love to see her develop on vault and floor in particular. As for vault, her difficulty there is 5.0 and 5.3. It's very easy for her, she really floats through the air. Different strengths and qualities, but two gymnasts with oodles of potential who can hopefully break out onto the world scene. Chantysha is now senior while Eythora has another year as a junior left. Chantysha is one of ten fighting for a Euros spot, though very likely to get one especially as one of the certainties, Celine Van Gerner is not in the running. Both girls train at the same gym, Bato-Pax Gymnastics, who enjoyed seeing Eythora as my 2012 routine of the year :)

Videos after the jump..

The One to Watch

I have done a mini-series showcasing the best upcoming seniors of this quad. You can find the links to each New Kids on the Block post here. It's worth noting that the China one is a bit redundant, as further competitions and insight has shown that there are brighter stars in their future. I'll redo it. You can also find a not-totally-comprehensive-but-including-everyone-of-consequence list of upcoming seniors here. As you can see, we have just had 21 girls (at least) turn senior! Exciting stuff, and Euros will be very interesting to see their upgrades and potential for worlds. And of course, the competitions USA, China etc. will be at. But now to pinpoint the one girl from each country who I think will be the star. It's tough! At least I discovered page breaks. If the routines have falls, it's either a) the only routine on youtube or b) a fluke but by far the most recent routine or c) doesn't really affect how much amazing potential there is in the rest of the routine.

USA

Bailie Key

Copyright- Jessica Frankl

This was very difficult, not to push Simone Biles, Amelia Hundley and Lexie Priessman out of the way, but to disregard Nia Dennis. The reason why the first three did not get a look in is because they are currently very weak and exhibiting poor form on bars and beam. Having two dodgy events will not get you my crown. As for Nia, I think Bailie has the greater potential. Now, moving onto Bailie herself. She trains at Texas Dreams and will turn senior in 2015.

Copyright- USAG- USA Gymnastics

LOOK AT IT! And she can get her front leg higher. Disregarding the fact that this will be a victim of the new switch ring leap rule, this is awesome, and especially from an American gymnast. Bailie's greatest assets are her form and flexibility. Her bars exhibit fabulous form (minus her tendency to flex her feet on transitions), beautiful releases, precise and beautiful bodyline and a great dismount. She tends to clear the bar like Nastia unfortunately, but as she grows taller hopefully technique can be bettered on that. Upgrades include a Shaposh 1/2, Downie AND Church! Wow! All in all, her bars are like golddust, and world class long before she's senior. Beam is another delight, showcasing her lines and extension in her acro skills, a beautiful twisting 2.5 dismount, the aforementioned switch ring leap and a tour jete 1/2 actually worthy of credit. Her upgrades here include an Arabian. She looks well capable of an Onodi or Kotchetkova, her whole routine looks easy for her. Side somi has to go, she's too good for that ugly thing!

Floor Routines of the Year, 1976- 2012

 Simply, the one routine per year that stands out from all the rest.

2012- Eythora Thorsdottir, Netherlands, Junior Euros

Yes I've mentioned her quite a lot. Anyway, here she is on floor in all her glory- perfect precise form, beautiful graceful dance. I can't find myself to care that her difficulty is low. Just a masterpeice. And yes it does beat the various Olympic routines, for me. Her main contenders were Aliya Mustafina, Mai Murakami and Larisa Iordache.

2011- Mariya Livchikova, Ukraine, World Cup- Ghent

Just gorgeous. That double front is truly exceptional. Love her flair and form.

Hopes for 2013

I hope everyone had a good Christmas/holidays. I will be out of work soon as I messed up my back and have too many sick days to be kept on. Sigh. Still, better to have more time to heal. So I will be on this more I expect. Anyway, onto hopes for 2013!

A fair and balanced American Cup

*splutter*. This one is impossible of course. Regardless of who actually competes at it, it would be great if it wasn't a given that all non-American competitors will enter Madison Square Gardens with an 0.5 deduction for each event for their nationality. As for who I want to see at it, Kyla Ross if she has upgrades, and Simone Biles or Sarah Finnegan. I expect to see Elizabeth Price Vs Kyla Ross with Lexie Priessman as the exhibition. I don't expect to see any Russian or Chinese competitors. Russia are pissed and China have more important competitions to be preparing for. IF Russia send someone I predict Evgeniya Shelgunova. Romania will send one of Diana Bulimar/Larisa Iordache and a back-up of a new senior, Ana Maria Ocalisan or Stefanie Alina Stanila.

Original mounts and dismounts

Come on now, there are fabulous ways to mount the beam without running the (understandable) risk of taking up too much time/energy for little gain, or risking an acrobatic mount.  Much as I would love to see a fabulous planche into pirouette handstand, it does make sense not to do one thanks to the demands on time and difficulty. Aleftina Priakhina/Elena Zamolodchikova's mount should have a revival. As for beam dismounts, yawn I am SO BORED of the double pike. Not that I want them all replaced with full-in's and Patterson's as that's very demanding. More twisting dismounts, more gainer ones and some of the very rare ones that have a high tarriff would be nice.

As for bars, an arabian tuck mount would be lovely. A bit ambitious though I expect, with the margin of error and impending dead hang. Again, Aleftina Priakhina/Elena Zamolodchikova were onto something here, a gorgeous acrobatic mount without much risk. Bring it back! But I would settle for a little flair and originality- like jump to hang under the low bar in pike position to handstand- stalder. I'm sure it would have a catchier title than that though. As for dismounts, snore with all the double layouts and full in's. Bring back the arabian double pike and triple flyaways! I would also like to see Victoria Moors' dismount built on, it is straight from the old school and just lovely.

A return of great releases and transitions

The new code will allow for transitions such as the Mo Salto and Counter Kim to be performed without a deduction- which is what would have happened in the current code. Expecting them to instantly become popular would be insane of course, given how difficult they are, the stature required and the possiblity of it eating into time for other events, especially for all-arounders. However I do think we will see them this quad, in particular from China and North Korea. Contrary to popular opinion, both of the above were not just performed by one gymnast. Bi Wenjing, Mo Huilan, Kui YuanYuan and a good few other Chinese gymnasts did the Mo Salto. Zhou Duan did the Gaylord II. Quite a few did the Counter Kim aside from Kim Gwang Suk- Gina Gogean, Letitia Begue, Nadia Hategan and a few more- including an unnamed schoolgirl who did it from toe-on. As for more run-of-the-mill releases, more Church', Hindorff''s, Downie's and Ricna's would be great. And release combinations- which China are already on top of.

Transition wise, death to the Pak. Shap's are overused too, but slightly harder to replace. Bhardwaj's, Chow's and Ezhova's are absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I'd love to see them in place of the Pak. Shout out to Beth Tweddle for using the Ezhova. I'd like to see someone do the Delladio and the Strong, but both of them have that insanely difficult and therefore rare look about them.

More rare tumbles and combinations on floor

Why has nobody done the double front-half out since 1996? It has been upgraded to an F so is definitely worth doing now. I'd also like to see the double front in a pike positiion (which has been done by a few), and more proper punchfronts (changing direction), especially after harder tumbles like a triple full (Myzdrikova style). If someone did a back-to-back pass that would be AWESOME though I do know they are not worth doing these days. A double full-in would be out of this world, but I'd settle for a much more achievable full twisting double layout. Or a split-leg one like Gutsu. I'd like to see combinations like Aly Raisman's first pass, though I am pretty sure the need for a combination pass is now out of the code. Damn.

Turns wise, scorpion turns and attitude turns are my favourite. I like the Gomez too. Memmel turns often have a bent supporting leg and are also usually poorly performed, so I'd like to see them decrease in popularity in favour of the others. I want to see more old school choreography, like handstands in pirouette, beautiful leaps out of back handsprings, and turns into front walkovers.

More original connections and moves on beam

Beam has some nice scope in the new code for lovely connections. I certainly do not want to see connections like Jordyn's, or other connections that just look like they will never be truly connected- the sheep jump is a major offender. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Onodi's in combination, so would love to see BHS-LOSO-Onodi or something similar. And illusion turns, they are beyond beautiful. A return of Ruflova's in combination like Yang Bo would be very much appreciated. My favourite moves on beam are sideways elements (NOT side somi's), so a return of Luisa Portocarrero's side walkover, Yurchenko loops, the Teza, and Tatiana Groshkova's/Yvonne Toussek's flic-flac's from sidestand would be just unbelievable. I am also a big fan of Kotchetkova's, another great move which has been upgraded in the new code.

More variety in vault

I don't think the devaluing of the Amanar is enough to really promote other vaults, especially as all of the girls are so used to Yurchenko entry to begin with. Nevertheless, more Rudi's, more Double Twisting Tsukahara's and even maybe a new vault would be great. My favourite vaults are the layout front and the handspring pike front half-out, so if they could be built on and be difficult enough to be worth doing that would be a dream. I would of course be thrilled to see a Triple Twisting Yurchenko though.

The rise of Japan, Canada, Ukraine, Italy and Great Britain

I know I know, why not Australia? Mainly because I am not exposed enough to their juniors to really assess their future potential. I want to see one of these, or all of them, break into the Top 4. They certainly have the girls to do it. All five have huge potential and I want to see them building on that next year.

The rise of Mai Murakami, Gabriella Douglas, Heaven Latimer, Eythora Thorsdottir, Noemi Makra, Gabby Jupp, Rebeca Andrade and Lou Nina

This will go hand in hand with the continued excellence of Aliya Mustafina, Huang Huidan, Shang Chungsong, Rebecca Tunney, McKayla Maroney, Victoria Moors, Kyla Ross, Larisa Iordache, Yao Jinnan and Diana Bulimar. May they ALL shine.

A total lack of sickled feet

And choppy legs on LOSO's, flexed feet, leg seperations, helicopter legs and non-split leaps.

A wonderful World Championships

Not least because I will be there. I want to see a strong field for the all-around, and for each event final. No score inflations, and hopefully no controversy. Also, more than 4 countries on the medal stand. 

New Kids on the Block: Western Europe

Hopefully there will be some dominance by the girls from these countries. Given up all hope on Ireland until at least 2024 or so, but there really is some awesome talent from Britain, Italy and others.


Britain

Gabby Jupp

Gabby is being toted as the next British great and not without reason as she could easily be the best all-arounder Britain has ever had. Currently performing low difficulty, yet everything looks to be easy to upgrade as she has has plenty of power behind her. Some form issues on bars, and needs more toepoint on beam. Aside from that and the need to upgrade further, she really has all the makings to be a great all-arounder. Gabby places 5th in the European Championships junior all-around and will turn senior in 2013.

Fabulous. Just better toepoint and confidence and this is ready to go. Especially great to see as Britain are usually really weak on beam (the lovely Danusia aside).

Good technique on both and lands completely upright, so seems well capable of upgrading both substantially.

Nice expression here. Needs more extension to really shine here. Again, such an upright landing on the full twisting double that it looks nearly ready to be a double double. Lots of room for upgrades.

Awesome dismount! Nice form and flight.



Angel Romaeo

Angel is a really nifty beam worker with great attack on that apparatus, so perhaps Britain's beam curse will be broken in the new quad. Floor is lovely but needs much more difficulty as it stands, bars are a weak point at the moment. Quite a good vaulter too, good height and form. Maybe won't be an all-arounder, but an excellent beam and vault or floor specialist would be fantastic too. She will turn senior in 2013.

AMAZING. Just lovely and so precise. Straighter legs on her acro skills would be the only real issue, as well as more difficulty needed. She has struggled a bit this year, probably down to growth but this just screams huge potential.

Whoever chorepgraphed this should be taken out and shot. Ughh. She can move though, and shows really nice form here. Tumbles are very weak but I LOVE her whip-whip double tuck. More of this please.

 Very nice, and looks good for an upgrade



Germany

Sophie Scheder

Sophie really shines on bars, definitely looks like she could place in future event finals here. Great long lines help her on beam and floor but both need a lot of work. Vault looks half decent. Could go either way at the moment, event specialist or else massively improve to be a great all-around prospect. Sophie will turn senior in 2013.

Great work, currently has 6.0 difficulty.

Needs a lot of work, nice style and presentation though.

Lovely height




Italy

Enus Mariani

Enus has already shown what a superstar she is, winning the all-around at Euros. She is a little shaky on beam but does not really have a weak event. Great sass and floor choreography, and lovely on bars. Here's hoping she makes the transition to senior just as strongly as her junior performances. Enus turns senior in 2014.

Very exciting to watch, great confidence in her quirky choreo.

Textbook form, great fluid swing too

Once she can iron out the shakiness this is great and Italy are usually strong on beam so hoping for good things here.

This is her second vault, she gets very good height on both and lovely form again



Elisa Meneghini

Elisa placed fourth in the all-around at Euros, counting a fall on beam no less. She really sparkles on floor but like Enus, doesn't have a weak event- which shows in that as well as her high place in the all-around with a huge mistake, she also made all four event finals, the only gymnast to do so. The future looks bright for Italy with these two moving up. Elisa will pave the way first, as she will turn senior in 2013.

Excellent energy, lots of power and room for upgrades. Needs toepoint on her leaps.

Great precision, love how speedy she does everything. Again, toepoint..but this is fabulous.

Lovely clean form and lines. In love her dismount, needs work as she fell on it in event finals as well as the big save it needed her. Bursting with potential though.

Other Italian junior of note: Tea Ugrin



Netherlands


Eythora Thorsdottir

Eythora  is wonderful on beam in particular, with beautiful original combinations. Magnificent elegance, to die for.  Hopefully she can go one better than recent beautiful beam workers from non-gymnastics countries and make event finals. Also lovely on floor, just needs more difficulty on both to really contend. Unfortunately she's quite inconsistent so far, but hopefully that can be ironed out. Can't find when she turns senior, 2014 seems the most likely.

It's never really mistake free, she has tanked quite a few times so this is the best one I can find. Truly the most exciting beam worker in quite a while, stunning grace and lovely turns from her. Beautiful.

More fabulousness. You could quite easily mistake her for a former Soviet great if the video quality was bad. Such grace! More fantastic spins. Great choreography, even if the music freaks me out because it was in Stephen King's IT. 5.2 difficulty here, which isn't that bad for a junior. Needs to upgrade her tumbles of course, but this NEEDS to be seen at world and Olympic level.



Chantysha Netteb

Chantysha is weak on three events but really good on vault, she won the vault title at Euros and is alreayd upgrading. Hoping for good things from what looks like a Kaeslin/Steingruber type gymnast, and it also ties in nicely with Eythora specialising on beam/floor. She turns senior in 2013.

Beautiful form




Spain

Roxana Popa

(only actual photos of her are way too distant)

Roxana had a rough time at the Euros AA, counting a beam and floor fall. Mistakes aside, she is definitely one to keep an eye on, particularly on vault and floor but she could be strong all-around either as although beam and bars are weaker, they are by no means awful. One of the very few juniors outside of the USA with a DTY, in fact she might be the only one. (Well aware USA have some juniors with amanars, but they are an exception!) This ball of energy is great to watch, turning senior in 2013.

Great DTY, no need for an upgrade at all with the new code

Love how bouncy her choreography is, wish she would get into it more though. Very clean tumbling and decent power, lots to work with here.



Next up: The future stars of Eastern Europe and anywhere else