Quick round-up

Happy (late) New Year!

It appears that Aliya Mustafina might take a few months break from gymnastics. NOT confirmed, but a bit more than a baseless rumour at this stage. Very interesting if she does...it could re-energise a fairly lacklustre programme and boot them back into shape. Of course, time to rest and heal could be very beneficial to her. I'd wonder how hard it would be to get back into competitive shape though. I'd like to see her take Euros off at least and focus on worlds. Russia really rely on her quite a lot and being forced not to can only be a good thing in the end, I think.


Mattie Larson has retired. She was injured last season. It's always sad to see a gymnast retire prematurely, especially one who has contributed such beautiful work and never really fulfilled her full potential. But once she's happy, that's the main thing. Mattie will unfortunately always have that disastrous 2010 floor as her legacy, but here's some wonderful routines that come to mind when I think of her.

2008 WOGA Classic Beam

Wonderful lines, great dancer, superb form in her tumbling- especially the textbook triple twist. What a talent.


Speaking of WOGA Classic, the international elite roster has been partially released, here. Joining Yuan Xiaoyang will be Xie Yufen and Lv Jiaqi. Xie Yufen is a largely untested, fairly consistent new senior. The other two are 2015 and 2016 seniors respectively. I have videos of the two juniors in a previous post, and all 3 exist on youtube. I don't know about other names to be announced though...GB should be interesting, maybe Catherine Lyons can join Amy? Notice no Katelyn Ohashi listed although I'd be really surprised if she was.


The roster for the American Cup has been announced. Brilliant lineup, all of the girls placed in the top 12 at Antwerp. Personally I'd like to see Andreea Munteanu tested..Larisa Iordache has competed so much. Substitutions are more than likely however. Really looking forward to seeing what Simone Biles has up her sleeve, should be a good competition. The inclusion of Carlotta Ferlito gives me some cause for alarm, I really hope there is no ugly scenes or nastiness, or NBC manufactured drama...there's been enough fuss.


Routine of the week, watch the first transition closely:

Sarah Finnegan returns from the depths of mystery injured gymnasts! Watch all of her routines here. Brenna Dowell's and Maddie Desch' are also there. Some great work from this trio, and interesting stuff...Sarah for instance is chanelling Ruby Harrold and Brenna is echoing Beth Tweddle. GB are nothing if not innovative and creative. Great to see Sarah looking fit and I have hopes Brenna can clean her shiny new Ezhova, since she cleaned up on bars bigtime last year.

Danusia Francis further cements her legendary status at UCLA. Amazing. I LOVE sideways work so much...

Bridget Sloan is awesome.

Tired of RUS-bias vs US comparison posts? Here's the opposite!

Sick of seeing hilariously Russian biased comparisons against the US, like this one and that other one on tumblr that I can't find now? Introducing, a US biased version! The point is, it's extremely easy to do (though it is tough to find a bad picture of Viktoria Komova), and highly inaccurate to pit one nation against another in this way, especially when the worst example of one side is taken, versus the best or one of the best of the other. Or you know, not even the same skill. Apologies that they're not formatted brilliantly, or at all, but you get the idea. In the last one, the point is back flexibility, though yes Maria Kharenkova's hands and arms are nicer. Disclaimer- This is pretty much a joke post, though not without a valid point- how easy it is to skew something. Also, Viktoria Komova does not know how to do a bad leap, correct. She is obviously not near her apex, and nor were the photos of Simone Biles featured in both of the other comparison posts.

Maroney- source- justjared.com

Nabieva- source- stillsport.com

Maroney- source- lazygirls.info

Nabieva- source- spannysbigfakesmile

Sacramone- copyright- AP

Mustafina- source- sportskeeda.com

Finnegan- copyright- Melissa J Perenson

Komova- copyright- Alexandr Wilf/Ria Novosti

Ross- source- coolspotters.com

Shelgunova- copyright- MINKUSIMAGES

Key- copyright- USAG/John Cheng

Kharenkova- copyright- Thomas Schreyer

Kocian- copyright- USAG/John Cheng

Mustafina- copyright- Xinhua/Shen Bohan

Ernst- source- gymnastike.org

Kharenkova- source- ffgym.com

The State of the US

The USA is always interesting to look at in terms of where their athletes are and who could make teams, because they don't need to preserve their gymnasts whatsoever. There could quite easily be a situation where none of the Fierce Five make any teams this quad and disappear completely, and they would still win all around them. But, after the insight of American Cup, Jesolo and Chemnitz...on with what's going on.

- Simone Biles is the strongest all-arounder. She is also the strongest possible contributor in team competitions on vault, a certainty on floor and bars and a good possibility on beam too. I must stress- at the moment. American gymnasts have an unfortunate tendency to be injured and we can never rule this out. Especially when you're throwing such hard skills as she is. Under her belt, as we all know, are the following- a very dynamic amanar (and TTY in training), a full-in beam dismount, a floor routine containing a double layout, double double, 1.5 to full-in and which she's not done upgrading yet, and a not-bad-at-all bars with strong releases. Her execution is not amazing by any means but it's not near bad enough to drag her down so no real complaints there. All in all, she's number one.
- Kyla Ross is as lovely and infuriatingly low in difficulty as ever. Her lines have improved with her height, and her beam is just stunning to watch. Many have tipped her as the new Bridget Sloan, the fairly unimportant Olympic team member who takes the world AA title the following year. Unfortunately, I just don't see this happening. Kyla's difficulty is just too low, her floor is out of a 5.3, her vault is 5.8 and her beam and bars are not much over 6. She has said she will not upgrade floor this year, which is very bad news for AA medal ambitions. A great all-arounder certainly with lovely execution but that isn't enough to triumph. Simone Biles has a 1.4 difficulty lead with vault and floor (this will widen too with her floor upgrades yet to come), with beam and bars being very similar. Larisa Iordache has about 1.8 on floor and beam (some swallowed up on bars of course, though almost 2 points would be tough going), and Aliya Mustafina has about a 1.4ish lead on beam and floor (set to widen when she upgrades her bars) etc. etc. I do think Kyla can be victorious and can win major titles, but not this year if her routines don't sharply upgrade.
- Katelyn Ohashi is currently recovering from shoulder surgery. I'd have no doubt she will be back in time for Classics and/or Nationals but this is still bad news, as her biggest issue aside from overall stamina are her pirouettes on bars which are all open to huge deductions and this recovery will not help. Katelyn has an unbelievable beam routine with a possible difficulty score of 7.3 with all connections hit and this alone will probably secure her a spot at this year's specialist worlds. But as an all-arounder and team contributor this quad she still has quite a way to go, her bars need a lot of work, her floor would not be used in a team situation and her vault, while much improved, is worth 0.5 less than many of her teammates. Katelyn is quite obviously a great gymnast but her routines look as hard as they actually are, her stamina doesn't seem to have kept apace with her growth and upgrades.
- Lexie Priessman is quite clearly not herself, or at least wasn't on the European tour. That was not the 2012 Junior European champion, this gymnast struggled- spectacularly so on a leap on beam and just wasn't doing what she's capable of. It is a fact that she trains at a gym with a reputation of breaking gymnasts; so too does junior Amelia Hundley who was also very much under the weather in Europe. It would be a grave mistake to write Lexie off though; she has a 6.7 floor in training and an amanar and second vault, as well as being a very strong all-arounder. Her beam and execution let her down, and I don't see her really rivalling Simone's place for instance, who while similarly strong on floor and vault is noticeably better on beam and bars. A worthy contender for the fourth spot and one who could be very valuable in future team competitions. As long as she stays healthy!
- Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney have both been back training for a good few months now. We know a lot more about Jordyn who has all of her skills back and is training a new one, a Weiler full on bars, thanks to her being the subject of the latest Gymnastike Beyond the Routine series, which unfortunately costs so I've just seen summaries. She'd be far from the first to get a skill named after her on her weakest event. A fully healthy Jordyn, especially with good non-dodgy beam connections is a fierce contender and although we haven't seen her at camp yet, she seems to have all guns blazing for Nationals. Jordyn would have a huge difficulty lead over Kyla if all her routines go to plan, and that would mean it makes no sense to leave her behind since Kyla is unlikely to medal on either beam or bars with her difficulty the way it is. There's no word about how McKayla is doing, though she has said herself she is vaulting Yurchenkos (halves, fulls, layout timers?) and concentrating on bars and beam as her leg still hurts. Healed, but sore. This was more than two months ago so presumably she is further advanced, and she was due to go to camp though pulled out at the last minute. Even with that, that must mean she had routines worth verifying. Her place in team worlds would be much more assured than this year, though if her vault and floor are back up to their old standard (and hopefully beyond with no super-sketchy third pass) and Lexie and Ebee remain unfortunate with their health then she'd be a good bet. The TTY speculation is all on super-springy Simone Biles now but McKayla is the other who looks well capable of landing one and has also mentioned it.
- Ebee Price, Sarah Finnegan and Maddie Desch are all either injured or recovering. Ebee was of course an Olympic alternate, beating Kyla in the AA at Trials, and took no less than two back-to-back world cup AA titles late last year. It's unclear what stage she's at now but she'd certainly be a very good bet for the fourth place at worlds if healthy. Sarah's strengths are beam and floor, an interesting combination. She would be vying with Katelyn for a place on this year's worlds team, since she is the only other one with a very difficult beam. Maddie is very similar to her, though perhaps not as polished on beam. She's recovering from a torn meniscus, rumour has it. Neither she or Sarah have competed since last summer, and Ebee last competed pre-injury in December.
- Peyton Ernst and Maggie Nichols performed strongly in Europe, having sprung out of nowhere. Peyton in particular has improved quite a lot since last year and could be a nice team contributor. However, I don't see her surpassing others for an all-around place just yet.
- Although Sabrina Vega has switched gyms, I don't see a big future for her in elite. Similarly I see Kennedy Baker fading too, though both girls should do extremely well at college.
- Mykayla Skinner has two vaults, ranked 6.4 and 6.3 respectively, the hardest floor routine actually competed (6.5) and has also improved on a weak event, bars. It seems crazy that she could easily fail to make major teams and is not even on the national team. Last year she was a bit inconsistent and this year crashed her double arabian in competition. It will be very interesting to see how she fares at Classics and Nationals as she could very well shake things up if she's consistent. 
- Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman who have both expressed that they will be back in the gym soon are in no way able to make the team this year. It will be interesting to see how they fare if they do go back as planned; particularly Gabby whose bars could be a great asset and who is blessed with the physique to remain longer in the sport at the top of her game.
- Liang Chow has a number of elite hopefuls; Norah Flatley and Alexis Vasquez who will both be aiming to qualify elite in summer and Rachel Gowey who is actually an elite and was at the last camp. Norah is extremely strong on beam with a fabulous routine, though I've no idea what her other events look like. Alexis Vasquez is supposed to be a stronger all-arounder but I haven't seen her either, and Rachel is totally unknown. Ones to keep an eye on, for sure.
- The brightest hopes for the future are Bailie Key, Laurie Hernandez and Nia Dennis. Nia is quite like Gabby Douglas, high-flying on bars and strong all-around. Bailie is very different from the rest, she has excellent execution, flexibility and difficulty and does not have a weak event. She has an amanar, arabian on beam and a Church and Downie on bars in the works, though she's being paced very well for her 2015 senior debut so we are unlikely to see all of these upgrades this year. She and Nia are elegible for YOG- Youth Olympics Games. Laurie is a 2000 baby and stunned everyone with her performances at the US Classic last year at the age of 11. She is a great dancer and beam worker, with a DTY, double layout and double arabian planned. While I found her choreography last year a bit repetitive, she really was compelling to watch. Looking forward to all three gymnasts becoming seniors.

Bars remain somewhat of an issue. Kyla Ross is the highest scoring gymnast they have, though her difficulty as ever could do with being substantially higher to challenge stellar Russian and Chinese routines. Power gymnasts Ebee Price and Simone Biles have surprisingly good bars ideal for team situations though neither could expect to qualify to a bars final unless the field is quite weak. There is always Jordyn Wieber and we can't write off the possibility of Gabby Douglas unleashing a strong bars routine next year. Bailie Key and Nia Dennis are strong on bars, but can't be relied on until 2015. Polina Shchennikova shows quite a bit of promise and Katelyn Ohashi would too if her bars were reworked. They are still in a much better position on this apparatus than Romania but it remains a weak point.

Beam has a much better outlook. The most valuable routine by far is that of Katelyn Ohashi. They also have Sarah Finnegan, Maddie Desch, Kyla Ross and Simone Biles. Jordyn Wieber too. Lexie Priessman and Ebee Price are very weak here and can't be used, but newcomers to the mix Peyton Ernst and Maggie Nichols look like good prospects in a team situation, if needed. Looking to the future, Laurie Hernandez and Bailie Key both shine on beam.

Floor is amazing as ever. Simone Biles, Ebee Price, Lexie Priessman and Jordyn Wieber are all incredible on floor, at least difficulty wise if not artistry wise. Katelyn Ohashi has improved but I don't see much possible upgrading in her future really. McKayla Maroney could be valuable here again, and gymnasts like Amelia Hundley, Laurie Hernandez, Bailie Key and Nia Dennis would be expected to contribute heavily also. Let us not forget that Mykayla Skinner, who showed herself to be inconsistent last year, has a laidout double double, tucked double double and double arabian in her routine.

The amanar fest is certainly here to stay, with two gymnasts capable of a TTY. Simone has a Lopez for a second vault and is training a Cheng. It's not known where McKayla is at but she's still in the mix even just for vault alone. Lexie and Ebee have amanars with second vaults in the works, and there's any amount of strong DTY's from others should they be needed. Bailie Key and several other juniors are training the amanar also. Mykayla Skinner has the current highest vault difficulty, with an amanar and Cheng actually competed.

The US look well able to continue dominating. It's up to everyone else to catch up. The worlds team, because of the depth, can go quite a lot of ways. I do think Simone Biles has cemented her place on it. I would say the same of Kyla Ross too, but Jordyn Wieber could potentially take her spot for the AA as Kyla is unlikely to medal in bars finals anyway. Katelyn for beam if healthy. And a four-way battle for the last spot, between Ebee Price, Lexie Priessman, McKayla Maroney and Mykayla Skinner. I see Jordyn taking Kyla's spot or nobody's, as she does not have a second vault and her coach has already stated that she has enormous difficulty with forward entry and it's why she doesn't have one. But the vault requirements have changed a bit, so you never know.

Simone Biles- AA, VT, FX, UB and BB attempts (wildcard for both)
Kyla Ross- AA, UB, BB
Katelyn Ohashi- BB
Ebee Price- VT, FX

That is one well-rounded team, though number four is very much up for debate. Who's on your team? Other juniors you think will storm their way to the top?

Piibunina is a great source for Jesolo (and everything) videos, and USAG have the full broadcast and individual routines from American Cup, which I'm not linking to since they've uploaded a billion videos since then.

Check out the The State of China here.

Bits and pieces

In an interesting twist, Laurie Hernandez emerged as the top junior at camp verification at the weekend, beating Bailie Key into second place. Polina Shchennikova was third. It's unclear who did NOT compete all-around so I'm not sure if Amelia Hundley did all four pieces or sat some out. What is clear is that she has grown even more and looks to have beaten Kyla Ross in the height stakes. Similarly in the senior ranks, it looks like quite a few didn't do the AA as Kyla Ross was first, followed by Brenna Dowell and Peyton Ernst- with no sign of Ebee Price or Simone Biles who really could not but be in the top 3. Ebee finished off 2012 superbly by capturing two world cup all-around titles in a row, but was hindered this year by an injury- so probably she is not all there yet. Simone is not, that we know of, recovering from an injury, but has more than proved herself as a top all-arounder this year. I am SO excited for Classics to see how all the girls pan out. The Olympic team can skip Classics by right but will probably use it as a competitive opportunity if they are ready in time- McKayla Maroney and Jordyn Wieber that is, as well as Kyla Ross who is clearly ready. I think Simone Biles and Kyla Ross are pretty much guaranteed for the worlds team if they remain healthy. The other two are more than up for grabs. There is an opening for a second floor/vault girl- which Lexie Priessman, Ebee Price, Mykayla Skinner (I have no idea how she did at camp...). McKayla Maroney and possibly Jordyn Wieber (if she does actually produce a second vault, Geddert has said before Jordyn has enormous difficulty with forward entry) will be vying for. And they badly need someone for beam, which Katelyn Ohashi could take and be a back-up all-arounder. There are so many factors at play really for the second two spots- as well as, where are Kennedy Baker, Sarah Finnegan and Maddie Desch at? Sarah would fit in very nicely with my team if her beam d-score is huge again. I'm also very excited to see juniors Laurie Hernandez, Bailie Key and Nia Dennis with all of their upgrades, and newcomers like Jordan Chiles. Who do you want to see on the team? Do all-around? Should Katelyn Ohashi be taken just for beam? Can Lexie Priessman remain in one piece?

Here is Noemi Makra's floor and beam from the Slovenian world cup. I will keep raving about this girl because she is just exquisite and not enough people know about her. LOOK at that full-in pike, I think we should have an overlay of Diana Bulimar's over it, like the infamous Maroney-Uchimura 2.5 Y. Her execution is breathtaking and it needs to be acknowledged. Her third pass has no business in her routine, I'd like to see it replaced by whip-whip-double tuck or something. The technique on her turns is a bit mysterious, she starts out so well and they all drop, though it's kind of endearing the way she kept the first one going. Hopefully that can be sharpened up along with her too-easy pass. And much as it pains me, maybe some leaps to up the d-score. Her beam is another lesson in beautiful gymnastics (just like her bars. What's not to love?), with a gorgeous mount and nice connections. Sure the connection between the aerial-aerial is broken, the turn combination was not great and she biffed her last leap but these things are all tiny in the scheme of how great this routine is. The dismount is extremely high, she could maybe do a harder one. Though I'd hate to see an injury strike her, we've already lost two beautiful gymnasts so far this year, so it's nice that she's taking it slowly. There's no sound on her floor and her vault hasn't been uploaded yet, or you may be sure I'd have snuck that in too.

Grr not embedding. Her floor is here and is a must watch for the opening pass alone and her beam is here.

Rebeca Andrade is busy upgrading. A 2015 senior, she will hopefully be Brazil's candidate for YOG 2014 as she's likely to hoover up medals. Check out her new DLO below, it's gorgeous as it's one of the straight ones. She also has an amanar though the video of it shows a fall. Apparently she landed more to her feet, so it's all good. The video is via GymBlogBrazil who have plenty more videos uploaded.

I'm trying to think of every gymnast who has had Irish music. Only one actually predates Riverdance, Deliana Vodenitcharova, Bulgaria, 1988. The rest that I know of are Kim Zmeskal, 1998 (part of 98, she had two routines that year), Dominique Moceanu, 1998, Andreea Raducan, 2000, and Cheng Fei, 2003. Can anyone think of more?

More news- Do not adjust your VCR

UPDATE- Added Lizzy LeDuc's routines from a few weeks back, and Bridget Sloan's brand new floor for Florida, debuted last week.

China, who took the team title at AYOF despite four falls, did not dominate in the AA and EF, sadly. However, they did accrue some more medals- Mei Jie took third in the AA, first on bars and third on beam, Luo Huan took second on bars, Liu Zhilin second on floor and third on vault and Chen Siyi second on beam. All in all, they went home far from empty handed, and at an inauspicious time of the year for them, still in the middle of Winter Training. There is great dissapointment that they did not sweep the board, but I don't think they should be written off...they are not used to competition, particularly international, and will not have been training high level skills for long. A good point was made on IG, that Deng Linlin was extremely inconsistent as a junior. Conversely of course, Tan Sixin and plenty of others never translated their potential as a junior to a senior. I am very impressed with Britain! Hope to see all of these girls in the future.

There's a US National Team Camp taking place. Some more appointments to the Junior National Team would be nice. Sarah Finnegan is not at camp, no idea as to why not. Hopefully not an injury. If she is not present at the next camp at the end of February, it is unlikely that she will be in contention for the competitions in Italy and Germany coming up in March. This one will no doubt be focusing on upgrades for those meets, and the summer season- Classics and Nationals, as well as SCAM of course.

Norah Flatley, Alexis Vasquez and Jordan Chiles will all be trying for elite this year. Norah and Alexis are Chow's most promising Level 10's, with some gorgeous beam work and artistry. Jordan is the girl I posted about a while ago, who has an arsenal of awesome skills in training- a DTY, a front triple-layout front etc. but sadly is not elegible for Rio. They would all make fabulous additions to the Junior National Team. I am most excited for Bailie Key, who now has a Downie and Church (!!!) on bars, and a standing arabian on beam. No doubt she has plans for floor and hopefully vault too. She will make excellent competition for Amelia Hundley.

Here is Michaela Chernoch's of Southern Utah's vault from a while ago, versus UCLA. It's the last one, at about 20 seconds. It's a one and a half on, full off. There's a lot of debate over whether it is a vault or not. It's extremely expressive in that a) she lands it and b) she lands it dead centre, and not off the mat...that's a very difficult vault to control the direction on. It also of course, looks awesome. But I'd have to agree it's not a vault, the vault is in her way, not a tool for her to rebound off. She gets pretty much no repulsion off the table and barely touches it. So, not a vault as it does not conform to the three stages of one. But wow!

Beth Tweddle performed for the second time on Dancing on Ice at the weekend. On her first outing, she was commended for her skill and bravery, but condemned for her roboticness. I would agree that she is much more watchable this time around, and has clearly made a lot of effort as regards her presentation. Well done Beth! Particularly impressive in that she was not felling well and had been hospitalised during the week.

Here are Lizzy LeDuc's routines from a meet a few weeks ago. The super-stylish junior who garnered quite a fanbase, moved gyms from WOGA after breaking both her elbows and dropped to Level 10. She failed to qualify elite last year, and has moved gyms again. This is an interview she gave after that move. It won't work for me, not sure if it's under gymnastike's gold' premium section or what. She seems happy with the goal of a college scholarship in mind, and indeed her routines look very NCAA. LOVE that floor. Still, I'd say ruling out her return to elite is premature.

Bridget Sloan did not dissapoint with her new floor routine. It makes the most of her choreography potential, and there's plenty of room for her to increase the difficulty in her tumbling, which is fairly average at the moment. I especially like the opening part.

This is my routine of the day, Hope Spivey at the 1994 NCAA EF on floor. Not only because she was 26 and still awesome, but for the difficulty, form and flair she shows here. Did I mention...reverse choreography??? Wow. Do not adjust your VCR!XD

I made a tumblr. I'm not sure exactly why, as I've no real interest in the tumblr world of OMG REBLOG LOL and I only ever look at a grand total of 3 tumblrs. Boredom I suppose. Predictably, you can find it at http://beautifulgymnastics.tumblr.com It looks extremely bare right now. I will use it for more informal snippets/pictures/videos. You can ask me questions or suggest something for a post on this blog. I won't be neglecting blogger in its place. EDIT- I got very sick of it and deleted it. I just don't like tumblr.

My ideal combo gymnast

Theepanel had a great post along these lines a while ago. Here is mine, a bit more convoluted!

Must have McKayla Maroney's twisting ability and vault block and form, Sarah Finnegan's artistry on floor, Mariya Livchikova's elegance, form and toepoint, Aly Raisman's power on floor, Alicia Sacramone's consistency and confidence, Yang Bo's beam with Nastia Liukin's long lines and Shawn Johnson's acro difficulty thrown in, finished off with Elena Produnova's badass dismount, Viktoria Komova's bars swing, lines and turns with Elise Ray's dismount (yes, Shawn did this too), Li Ya/He Kexin's release combo, Beth Tweddle's release to transition combo and Tatiana Groshkova and Aleftina Priakhina's ability to innovate..all with He Kexin's bars d-score, (7.4, if she's not picked, then Komova's 7.0) Larisa Iordache's d-scores on beam and floor (6.9 and 6.7) and McKayla Maroney's d-score on vault. (6.5)

It's very interesting to think about. For this one I purposely used relatively well known gymnasts. So rarely do we get a gymnast these days who has it all, so it's fun to surmise an absolute beast in every single respect of each event.

A tribute to two victims of the 5 member teams

Danusia Francis

Danusia is endearing and exciting because of her sparkly personality on top of her beautiful gymnastics. I did think she wouldn't make the team as her beam had major errors at Trials and her floor is too weak in SV but it's still very sad. She will be missed! Here we have a great showing of her personality- her photo 'holding a Russian' in a challenge the British girls had at Euros. Vika looks bowled over by Danusia's charm, even with an obvious language barrier!

Here is her beautifully choreographed and well put together floor.

Her awesome beam

Danusia is heading to UCLA this year. No doubt she will be a shining star!



Sarah Finnegan

Sarah Finnegan is my own favourite of the US National team, just behind McKayla. Say what you want about Al Fong and GAGE but they are SUPERB at teaching excellent artistic gymnastics, with beautiful dance and unique elements. Sarah has the bearing and qualities of gymnasts twenty years before her time and more. Sure, she didn't originate the triple-turn in squat on beam but she certainly performs a move known for looking ungainly and not graceful- fabulously. Her floor is also fabulous, and beautifully choreographed with such clean tumbling. Surprising everyone with her performances at Jesolo as a new senior, she struggled at Trials. It was reported by those live blogging that she seemed sluggish and tired all week, and then she underperformed. Perhaps sick, perhaps just sick with nerves. One thing's for sure, it's a mark of her incredible floor and beam and their value that she was still named alternate after sub-par performances. Hopefully she will stick around.

We will of course not be seeing a lot of gymnasts in London due to injury, premature comebacks and struggles with recovery. There are others too that SHOULD have made the team if it was bigger. These are just two, and are my own favourites.

Price and Sacramone- robbed?

I don't think so. Both had terrific competitions and nailed routines, scoring very well. Price actually ended up in fourth and didn't make the team. Sacramone scored over 15 on beam and well over that on vault, and didn't even make alternate. Why? Is this a disgrace? Let's break it down.

Price competes all around. Every other country would be glad to have her.
Floor- This is where she shines, her tumbling was THE best in Trials. So powerful! Unfortunately her choreo is really horrendous. All in all it makes for a mixed combination and could easily be slaughtered in London. She does not make ENOUGH of a case here to displace Jordyn, Aly, Gabby or McKayla on this event.
Beam- Pretty solid, again it does not flow and is quite mechanical. All in all, a good beam. But not exceptional. Kyla, Jordyn, Aly and McKayla all beat it.
Bars- Pretty good, mostly dependable on this. Will not score high enough to displace the third bars workers, Jordyn and this is why Li was taken- we need an exceptional bars worker as back-up.
Vault- Is great. Good form, and explosive power. She hurts herself by not having a second vault here, but even so, McKayla will outscore her every time and has a 6.1 second vault. A better vault than Gabby, Jordyn and Aly but the rest of her events combine to make it not worth displacing someone else to put her on the team.

In short, she is a fierce all-arounder and a great gymnast. She is THE victim of USA's depth because even though she knocks out great routines, it isn't enough to take her over the 5 that were picked. The team chosen was correct, and has the maximum score potential. Rage against the 5 person team all you want but in this situation, not naming Price to the team made perfect sense. Unfortunate, but correct.

Sacramone only competes vault and beam. Not having floor badly hurts her, and so does bars to an extent. She nailed vault both days and was extremely solid on beam, deserving her high scores. Sadly, these are two events where USA has a lot of depth. She cannot displace Jordyn or Aly on beam because they are valuable elsewhere, and cannot displace Kyla because her bars are very neccessary. Her vaults cannot displace McKayla because McKayla's amanar will score higher in TF and in EF, her combined SV is higher by several tenths, as well as her form being better. She CAN displace Gabby on vault and beam, but Gabby has a usuable floor as opposed to no floor and her bars add such valuable tenths, Alicia can't win over those tenths. That's why she didn't make the team. Why she didn't make alternate is quite similar. A UB worker was badly needed, so Li got in. A strong beam and floor were needed, so Finnegan got in. A vault and all-around back-up were needed, so Price got in. It's as simple as Sacramone not having floor and bars, where USA needed more help and depth.

Both of these gymnasts are victims of the super-small team situation. Neither deserved to displace those who got in, because of the reasons outlined above. Nevertheless, they are superb gymnasts and I hope Sacramone in particular can recover swiftly and continue to kick ass. It's sad they cannot compete for another country. Can you think how valuable either would be to countries like Russia and China? In an ideal situation where neither team needed alternates, I would love for the two of them, Finnegan, Li and Vega to compete for a country not fielding a team, we'll say Ireland. Hey, Finnegan has an Irish surname. So does Maroney for that matter..

VT- Finnegan, Price, Sacramone
BB- Vega, Sacramone, Finnegan
UB- Price, Vega, Li
FX- Vega, Price, Finnegan

It is a testament to the awesomeness of USA's depth right now that the above team could easily beat China, Australia and Britain and give the top 3 a great run for their money. I wish all of the girls dissapointed last night great future careers and to continue in gymnastics if they so wish.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Team is Gabby, Jordyn, Aly, Kyla and...McKayla! Thank GOD. It was pretty obvious but even so. Not much of a deliberation really. They were all in tears walking out, was lovely...except for Kyla, surprisingly! I must have missed that in my excitment. Alternates! Price, Finnegan and....Li! Price has the edge over Sacramone, suspected that would happen. Finnegan not a surprise. Li takes over from Sloan, she always had a much better bars but unusable everywhere else. Congratulations to all.

SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!

Gutted for those dissappointed, and especially Bross, horrible to end like that. Vega I would say is dissapointed, and Baker. Sacramone had a greater chance at alternate but they did need bars. She seemed at peace with this possiblity before so hopefully she's okay...although it doesn't look it, preparing for the worst is smart but it can be very different when it actually happens as to how you cope with it.

Boo overscoring Trials Day 2

WOW very interesting competition. No new leos as such, slightly dissapointing! 2011 worlds TF leo very popular, plenty of other reds too.

Jordyn- HIT 4/4. Missed connection on beam, and stepped to the side on her amanar. I did not see bars because the stream cut but she appears to have hit that with a slight hop on dismount. Floor was great. She should have won, less errors than the winner. Leo looked great on her, deep purple. No ribbon though, I love her ribbons..Anyway, she didn't get the number one spot and she looked pissed. She earns her scores. Still a lock obviously.

Gabby- Nice amanar, stuck! Not explosive or high by any means but clean. Makes her case to be the first up on vault in TF. Bars were great, good to see her hit. Beam had wobbles and hops all over the place, still dangerous and could kill her AA podum potential. Floor was slightly messy, still convinced it shouldn't be the lead-off but the alternative had an error. Qualified to the team. Deserved to, but far too gifted with her scores. This will make her alienated..bit of a pissed looking convo between the 3 BFF's at the end, looks like it was concerning the fix.

Aly- Very dangerous amanar, I don't know how her body is absorbing those. Sloppy. Bars are getting stronger, but form is still abysmal. Floor was great. Beam SO SOLID, tiny error. Makes her case, she's sooo in.

Kyla- AMAZING bars, stuck landing! Absolutely beautiful form. Well done to her. Floor best she's ever done- though repeating myself, unusable. Beam had one missed connection but otherwise great, lovely lines. Vault was a beautiful DTY with a hop back. THANK YOU for not amanaring. Go Kyla!

McKayla- Mistake on bars but recovered nicely. Good for her. I can't wait to see beam, apparently it was great and scored a 15. Good back-up there. Floor went OOB on the third pass, costly. I so hope this is fixed before London..she can do it! Or just sacrifice the 1.5 an add a leap instead? Double pike shook her a bit but landed fine, almost went out of time. This is fixable, especially since it's so close to her concussion. Amanar was beautiful, hop forward. Mustafina not seen yet but apparently stuck! Great job.

Nastia- Hard to watch. Especially since my streaming froze! Saw another bad error on handstand and she came off. Finished the routine and flung the dismount, landed it but low. Beam was good, no major errors. Not particularly valuable. I really hate the hype around her and she did not deserve to advance to Trials but it was lovely to see the cheers and standing ovations she got- after another crappy bars, good for such support to be shown. I'm a sucker for teary moments. I suddenly love Bill Strauss for this reason too!

Rebecca- Even harder to watch. Had to jump off, fell again, big handstand error, had to come off after her pak. Heartbreaking. Also downright odd since she normally hits bars very well. Extremely tough to see but nice to see the crowd rooting for her. Feel so bad for her. Beam not broadcast but apparently contained a stood-up Patterson. Good for her.

Anna- YES that was an excellent bars routine- AGAIN! hink her repetitive training of it is really helping her. Brilliant stuff, better than Kyla or Gabby's. Beam not broadcast.

Elizabeth- Great comp for her, fierce competitior. She can't displace McKayla but she is a lock for alternate. LOVE her tumbling, want to stab whoever designed that choreo. Vault had a step to the side, it's explosive but isn't as clean as McKayla's. Beam was nice and solid. Bars not broadcast.

Sarah- I saw NOTHING of hers. Gutted. I better have access to the youtube videos- I won't if it's just NBC uploading them..but USAG will be fine.

Still jitters but plenty of improvements on Friday. Team remains unchanged, and so do alternates- just subbing in Li for Sloan.

Best routine- Kyla Ross' bars
Favourite routine- Mckayla Maroney's beam. YES beam, it was so solid and great to see it (on youtube admittedly) after her fall two days before on an event she doesn't even need.
Best hair: EBEE! Far and away the best. Jordyn had no ribbon, dissapointed- they make her look so professional or something.
Can't pick a best leo when they were all unoriginal!  However Asac looked great in another 2008 killer leo, good for her.

US team will be named in...18 hours!

It's 10.30AM here. Trials will start at 2AM for me and will end at 4AM. Selection debate..apparently 20 minutes after comp ends? So we can expect a team being NAMED at 4:30AM. CRAZY. It's odd to think that the constant speculation will actually end in less than 24 hours. Quick sysnopsis judged by all performances this year and Trials Day 1

Jordyn- Keeps proving herself as an exceptional gymnast. She SHOULD be outscoring Gabby, especially if she has zero mistakes on bars and makes her beam connection. She's getting better at it and Geddert seems to be the master of pacing, so I have faith it will be nailed when it counts. Kudos to her for pulling out the full-twisting DLO and sticking it. Absolute lock, will be used on ALL events. 4/4 in TF, top AA contender, will qualify for FX EF.

Aly- Nobody is more consistent and solid than her, she proves it over and over again. Her floor and beam are very valuable and she may use her amanar over Gabby's. One or two errors Day 1 of Trials she doesn't normally make but you can be sure they won't be repeated. It's unclear as to whether her form will be hammered in London- it wasn't in Tokyo. Absolute lock, will be used on floor and beam and quite possibly vault. 2 or 3/4 in TF, possible AA contender- big fight on her hands, will qualify for beam and FX EF.

Gabby- Keeps improving, she really is a her peak. GREAT bars, GREAT beam. Still inconsistent and dangerous on beam. Floor tumbling has improved bigtime, it's great, choreo has not improve at all. Vault is a bit shaky still, amanar looks nice but her block is crap and ensures sitdowns from her in Training. Floor may outscore McKayla's. Absolute lock, will be used on 1 or 2 in TF, very probable top AA contender, will qualify for bars EF.

Kyla- So valauable on beam and bars. A great pity the other two events are not as strong. Lovely DTY, dangerous amanar. She won't be used on that. Floor obviously is fine but yet again, have to say it's too low to be valuable. Some bobbles on beam night 1, but this is a beautiful strong event for her, it's unlikely they are a permanent fixture. Most probably a lock, no other bars/beam specialist will outscore her at this stage and we need her bars. Will be used on 2 in TF, possible AA contender, may qualify for EF in bars and beam.

McKayla- Extremely valuable on vault She will bring hold the gold in EF, guaranteed. Price's amanar is great but McKayla's will still score a few tenths higher especially with no step or a much smaller one than she had on Night 1. Very useful on floor too, may well outscore Gabby. Beam and bars falls won't really affect her, especially as she is usually very solid on even her poor events. Most probably a lock, will be used on 1 or 2 events. DEFINITE gold in EF vault.

Rebecca has unfortunately proven she isn't a contender, as her beam is too unreliable and Kyla can outscore her on bars, as well as be usable in the two other events. This is a very sad end for her, perhaps not end but I'd imagine end of truly competitive career. Nobody would have seen this coming two years ago, that not only will she not make the team, she's also unlikely to be named alternate.

Alicia- Has damaged her chances by not having floor. She cannot truly oust McKayla because McKayla's both vaults combined are much higher SV and Alicia's beam isn't needed. I just hope she doesn't fling the double tonight and injure herself but it seems she's being very wise about what she can and cannot do and sustain. Unlike a certain Beijing team-mate of hers. A very likely alternate.

Sarah- Seems injured. She was much much sharper and solid at Jesolo and even at Classics and Nationals compared to now. She's been reported as being very sluggish in podium training, slightly watered down her tumbling pass and still fell on it in comp and her beam was wobbly. She seems tiired. Hopefully she can recover to her prime soon. She is an extremely valuable alternate and could plausibly score a 16 on beam, that's how high the SV is and how clean her execution is. Floor likewise is very high scoring when she's on.

Anna- Anna is another likely alternate, though she will be hurt by falls on beam which is very low scoring due to no connections anyway. Her bars are great however and extremely high scoring, if she has no errors again tonight she may have vanquished her earlier inconsistency on this event. With Sloan and Nastia out of the way, weak bars from Sarah, average bars from Ebee and no bars from Alicia- she may be needed as alternate to replace Sloan. It's unclear as to whether Marta would really trust her, who knows.

Nastia- Has humiliated herself and most likely damaged her former glory considerably, though too early to tell...maybe not. I've been out of the loop for  while so while I hope she retired in the meantime but I somewhow doubt it. She will most likely do a flyaway dismount. Extremely unlikely to be named anything. I get more and more annoyed everytime I see her 'compete'.

Elizabeth- GREAT alternate, extremely likely. She just doesn't have the edge over McKayla to take her place, and cannot take Kyla's. If she had great bars then yes, and she can be used on them, but it's not enough as they don't score that well. Her floor is quite valuable but would be running the risk of being slaughtered for artistry as even Gabby's beats it in that sense.

Kennedy's strength's aren't enough in a country of this depth to get her on or near this team. Sabrina has too little difficulty, so does Brenna.

It's not 18 hours anymore..it's a bit less than 6 until the team is named!! EXCITED.

15 MINUTES!! I'm not going to liveblog, I don't think I would even if this blog got thousands of hits. I'm a focus person, especially since I cannot rewatch Trials until it goes on youtube. Will probably do a rundown while waiting for team announcement..coherency doubtful at 4AM.

Curse of the beam: Trials Day 1

What a jittery Trials. Here's hoping these girls can knock out their full potential on Sunday. Cheers for no broadcast of Anna Li or Kennedy Baker. Jordyn wins! Poor Bridget Sloan, hurt her elbow in warm-up and had to scratch. Would have made a good alternate, though unclear if she can compete on Sunday yet.

McKayla Maroney- I like the leotard colour, not gone on the tie bit. She has her own vault scoring, she can do both those vaults better than that..amanar had a big step and Mustafina was underrotated slightly. But still incredible. Fell off bars, which looked great aside from that. Fell off beam, normally so steady on that! However she is still a lock..she HIT FLOOR! It was great :) That third pass was great and the 3.5 had the best landing yet..I'd call that stuck. Floor got a 15.2 and shows potential to beat Gabby in London. Falls are bad at Trials obviously but since she hit the two events she is needed for and fell on the ones nobody cares about that doesn't really hurt her..especially since both falls are very uncharacteristic.

Jordyn Wieber- Seriously so impressive. Not flawless but wow, she's amazing to watch. She's been 'on' since what, 2009? Looks better than Nationals, even with the slight struggle on bars and the missed connection on beam. Floor was great as usual, stuck landings! Deserved higher than Gabby's. Also wow on sticking the full-twisting DLO cold! Loved her old-school meets new-school leo. She is of course still getting a good but of the spotlight but she's being eclipsed a bit..not really fair.

Gabby- Uncharacteristic mistake on bars..hopefully a total fluke. Leg up on beam, great routine otherwise. Floor tumbling was great however the choreo is still to be honest, shit. Vault I haven't seen, wasn't broadcast? Or else missed it as the dodgy webcast did cut a few times. Am sure will see perfect bars on Sunday, but I'd question these mythical upgrades? Still too dodgy to trust on beam. Still overscored, but enjoyable to watch. Boring bling, never liked that leo.

Kyla- Kyla nailed floor and bars. Floor not helping her out much of course, still no upgrades. Beam had plenty of bobbles and subsequent missed connections, otherwise lovely. Vault- does that count as being sat? Hands down, incredibly low- only got a 14.4 so must have counted as being sat. GET RID OF THE AMANAR! She clearly cannot do it to a safe level. Wore Nastia's AA 2008 leo! Interesting.

Aly- Bars were fine, for her. Floor- great but had an OOB, uncharacteristic. Vault looks a little cleaner before she twists, probably the safest of the three dodgy amanars (G and K too). Beam again, looks like she spotted a coin on it, that's how ungraceful her low-to-beam is. Also had balance checks! Normally so rock solid, so that was surprising. But not damaging. Another tie leotard, looks good on her but she's worn nicer.

Nastia- It actually looked like she was going to get through the routine at one point, lovely clean lines. Unfortunately it was incredibly laboured and slow. She messed up a handstand, struggled and bent her knees and the stupidly flung herself into a dismount that was never going to happen and landed on her back. She needs to scratch bars on Sunday, that was scary and humiliating. It's ridiculous on both counts, a) actually got to Trials and b) competed bars when they are quite clearly in a state and she does NOT have the endurance. Beam had two big balance checks, looked good otherwise. Misses the last hope at an alternate spot.

Rebecca Bross- GREAT bars, she nailed it. Fell off beam, another wobble and then sat the dismount. That was obvious, as she was knackered. Sad that it ends here, she cannot be trusted after that as alternate.

Sarah- HEARTBREAKER! I've heard rumours she is injured, and it certainly seems so as she has looked sluggish all week and just not 'on'. Floor she took out the whip before the double arabian and almost fell on the last pass, poorly rotated. Bars were very good for her. Vault not seen. Beam she missed a connection and wobbled..I think. May have said goodbye to alternate. She looks tired, I wonder what's the story there. I love her, sad to see her not at her best.

Elizabeth/Ebee- Choreo on floor worse than Gabby's but WOW at her tumbling, it's unreal! Made a very strong case for herself as alternate. GREAT amanar, it looks amazing. I still do not see her touching McKayla though. Bars not shown, were great apparently. Beam neither, had a few checks but nothing major. Actually apparently bars were not great and only got got a 14.5, must have a a biased source where I heard they were great. That damages her chances at the team and displacing Maroney bigtime.

Alicia- I can't believe she wobbled on beam, soo unlike her! Looked fierce otherwise. Vault, Rudi shown looked great, more power in it. FTY not shown. I think throwing the double would break her, she has already said she can't train the Rudi as often as the rest are flinging amanars so I don't know people are constantly saying she should do the double..absolutely not if she is not capable of landing it safely or without having the endurance to repeat it.

Kennedy, Li and Dowell not broadcast. Vega had a decent floor and one or two wobbles on beam.

Beam had a great night for itself...it claimed McKayla, Anna, Rebecca and Kennedy. EVERYBODY else had either big balance checks, missed connections and/or small wobbles.

Best routine: Kyla's bars!
Favourite Routine: McKayla's floor
Worst routine: A toss-up between Rebecca's beam and Nastia's bars. Crap day for WOGA.

Looking forward to night two! Hoping it will broadcast earlier than 2AM for me...zzzzzz...very very thankful I got hold of a webcast for this, however illegal the quality was good. Hmm you can tell this was written at about 5AM. But so will the next one!

New podium training breakdown

I have to say I really really love the National team training leos. The patriotic red, white and blue designs are very nice. Kyla's at the first podium training probably my favourite, Rebecca wore it too if I remember correctly. Not the biggest fan of McKayla's night two, decent night one though. Anna Li's night two definitely a stand-out, loved the back of it! And yes I will say night because podium training for me starting at 11pm yesterday, it's easier.

McKayla- Again proving herself a lock. Much impressed with her floor, her expression in her dance looks more confident or something. Nicely done with the third pass, in bounds by oh..an inch! Vaults perfection as always. Bars definitely have improved a lot this year, beam again very very solid. Not needed to do those two but it is great that she IS usable on them in an emergency.

Aly- Not much to say here. Consistency, consistency, consistency. Had issues on bars, but looked solid doing full routine. Not really a big deal except for her shot at doing AA of course. Sloppy amanar but may be safer than either Gabby's or Kyla's so it's great she has it!

Gabby- Her issues with handstands were a bit shocking..didn't expect that! Still, great full routines. Such solid beam in training! Her standing full twist is amazing, sooo upright. Her amanar can't really be relied on to replace Aly's sloppy one..looks like her block is the problem. She sat a good few and landed very low on the rest, not a good sign. This is a skill she probably shouldn't be doing, we all know the dangers of messing up an amanar. Here's hoping she sorts out these jitters and gets a lesson from McKayla on blocking.

Jordyn- Not much to say here either, except her bars looked great. She managed to stick the full-twisting DLO, making a great case for including it in comp and upping her SV. Lovely amanar, I would put it ahead of Ebee's.

Kyla- Ooo, lots of wobbles and balance checks on beam, surprising to see. Of course they may be long dissapeared before comp, I have faith in her. Amanar again dangerous, she stepped off the mat and takes a good few steps to save herself.  Her and Gabby are keeping us guessing as to whether they have the capability to replace Aly's. Bars and floor lovely as always.

Anna- LOVE her bars. Fell on a release elsewhere. Beam too low an SV, but I like it's flow. Probably because it isn't stuffed with connections that it flows better. She is making a good case for alternate but even the pool for alternates is deep! How much would other countries give for that problem..

Bridget- Only bars shown again. Lovely form and execution. Some issues with stalder work..I'm sure she can fix that. She STOOD on the high bar. Twice. For five seconds! Amazing. A pity she can't stick a Korbut/Mukhina flip in for some H rating.

Sarah- Consensus on her from quick hits is that she seems sluggish. Floor and beam have certainly looked better alright. Hope she gets it together in comp, in an ideal 6-7 person team she would so be on it.

Ebee- Making a strong case for alternate. WHAT a double double she has. Bars look fine too.

Alicia- Only showing FTY's. Hmm. Does she have the endurance to knock out Rudi's every day? It kind of puts paid to the rumours that she will throw doubles. She is surprising though. Fierce beam as always.

Nastia- Fair play to her, that was an improved bar routine. The interior looked great. I didn't think it possible she could really get through the whole thing plus dismount. HOWEVER, it may be the case that she can't, that was some heavy spotting. It remains to be seen

Rebecca- Woohoo, landed that Patterson consistently, both days. It still gives itself a strong case for removal though as we all know it's not consistent and landed very low when it is landed.

As I said in the previous post, specialists have gotten shot down by Marta. The team is obvious to everyone according to her. Yes it is. Stay healthy, girls!

See I managed to get through another post about Trials without moaning about being region blocked from the comp! USAG facebook remain hopeful about it being on youtube very shortly after. Like, when I wake up (I am 5 hours ahead of eastern time), I EXPECT it to be waiting for me on youtube. Optimistic I know.

News just in: Marta condemns specialists

In a post podium training interview, Marta has confirmed what most people already know. She has an ideal team in her mind and this team is obvious to those watching competitions all year, in her own words. She also said she does not value specialists highly because she likes girls who can do everything. This further cememts the places of Kyla and McKayla (read: McKayla may only compete 1 or 2 events in TF but specialists don't train all 4, which she IS doing) and damns the chances of Nastia, Bridget, Alicia, Anna and Rebecca. Price and Finnegan are more up in the air and are still extremely likely alternates. Strong execution will be favoured over difficulty apparently, which doesn't really change anything..maybe puts Finnegan ahead of Price for first alternate.

In other words, Nastia is definitely NOT on this team.

Thoughts on podium training 27/6 or 6/27

Just to keep this seperate from the more detailed info we will have from tomorrow's media attended PT.

McKayla Maroney- Is looking great and healthy and training all 4 (floor music can be heard during another video). Bars look much improved, still a struggle on one handstand but this event is uselessd for her anyway. What is the story with that weird kip angle? I may mean cast, always confuse the two..that angle, you'll know what I mean. Beam solid and low-SV as ever, wish it was higher. Vault was just a timer but as always the height and block show that it's highly unlikely her amanar will be messed up. Update: Amanar looking awesome as always. The floor pass looks very clean too, only small adjustment on landing. Reassuring to see her so ready for this.

Jordyn Wieber- She always trains the full-twisting DLO dismount..will we see it? She always sticks the DLO, she risks taking a large step with the more difficult one and negating the higher SV it brings her. Beam as frustrating as ever, they've had so long to make the connections work for her or change them. We can hope.

Gabby Douglas- Only beam has emerged. It looks great, love her standing full twist, sooo upright! However I still wouldn't put her up in TF, risky. Update: Amanar looking very well! If she can stick this both nights and in Olympic warm-ups then stick her up in TF, it's much cleaner than Aly's. Bars great as ever. Floor choreo annoying as ever, just doesn't work. I do agree that if she must use this music then she should throw in some robotic moves.

Aly Raisman- Only beam as far as I can see. Looking like the solid consistent gymnast she is, she's better than Jordyn on it even with that god-awful low-to-beam.

Sarah Finnegan- Bars, not a full routine. Messy shap. If she had bars she would strip Kyla of her place and though I like Kyla, Sarah is much more exciting. Her swing is good, her and McKayla frustrate me with their bars potential. Beam, her turn not as good as usual. Standing full twist quite low, wobble also. Hopefully just a bit of an off day, I'm rooting for her as alternate, bars kills her chances of the team.

Nastia Liukin- Bars dismount only, it looks so much cleaner than a few years ago but of course the real test is yet to come. A bit ominous both her dismounts, beam also, are seperate. Beam had great lines, but laboured with slow connections, much like Classics. I doubt she can nail both, but even if she does, not enough to displace Kyla. Update: That bars routine is dissapointing. I do not think she deserved to go to Trials or can possibly get on this team but I do want to see her do well. That bars was so heavily spotted, it does not bode well. I would be surprised if it has no mistakes in comp and if she puts the dismount in.

Alicia Sacramone- Beam as fierce as ever. Some leaps not 180, though I like her sheep jump. Hate her low-to-beam, Mihai needs to reevaluate it, it's important to the flow and look! Alicia's displays her lack of flexibility unfortunately. Right foot taped- so is Gabby's, stay healthy!

Kyla Ross- Bars only a bit of routine, it looks very clean as always. Floor is just dance, would be great if harder tumbles were stuck in. Update: Beam looks very clean and floaty, very consistent here. More and more confirming her place as the fourth member. Amanar- what a surprise! It's much much cleaner in the air and her landing much improved. Would still use Gabby over her I think.

Will include Li, Sloan, Bross and Price in tomorrow's PT eh..analysis.

Top 10 things that annoyed me at Visa Nationals

10. Sarah Finnegan not having as great a competition as I had hoped. Mistakes on floor and beam and a fall off bars won't do her case any good, she needed to be consistent. I was wondering if her higher SV on floor and beam could oust Kyla for that spot even with the bars deficit but it doesn't look like it. Maybe just inexperience which is such a shame as her gymnastics are so beautiful. However she still has trials but even if she knocks it out of the park, this team is too small. A great alternate though, she's my first alternate.

9. Kyla Ross' floor. Damn it Kyla, your floor could be great but 5.5 is NOT usable. This should have been done last year, why on earth not? Even just some leaps out of passes, bit of code whoring, it would help. This will mess up her chances of securing the 2nd AA spot in London

8. Kyla Ross DUN DUN DUNNN two OOB's Day 1, one of which was not deducted for. Nice to see a fluff about her but talk about focusing on the wrong issue..the issue is with the low SV, not uncharacteristic errors.

7. Seeing Chellsie Memmel timing routines instead of getting ready to compete was very sad, especially while watching Nastia tank her routines.

6. ..Which brings to me to seeing Nastia Liukin advance to Trials following these routines. Beam both nights blatantly overscored, bars day 2 I would say so as well. Her beam won't be used anyway, it's not valuable enough and those bars are NOT going to be fixed in time. She had a chance if they were perfect but they are far from it. I will go mad if she is named alternate even, there are so many more deserving girls. She got up there and tried, but she does not deserve to be on the National team OR at Trials. Blatant favourtism seeing as Chellsie Memmel was denied even Nationals. Neither have a chance at the team, but both should have been allowed retire gracefully after Nationals. (Hint: Nastia should retire gracefully. Now so it will die down for Trials)

5. Non broadcast of Elizabeth Price, Kennedy Baker, Sabrina Vega and Anna Li Day 2. I can't recall if any were shown Day 1 or not, I suspect barely any of their routines. Sure it makes sense to broadcast Aly, Jordyn, Gabby, Kyla and McKayla if they are up at the same time...but why not show the routines later? Far too much footage of gymnasts sitting and standing around (especially a certain blonde one) and not enough quality gymnastics. Price's amanar and floor, Baker's floor and Li's bars especially. Thank God they are uploaded seperately at least, but the nation deserves to know that while Nastia chokes her routines, other gymnasts are kicking serious ass. Baker has a Dos Santos I for feck's sake and Price's amanar IS the second best in the world.

4. Broadcast of McKayla Maroney's fall day 2 during warm-ups, which I am not embedding. McKayla fell on an overrotated triple twist and because the girl is the best WAG twister out there, the height she falls from is incredible and pretty scary. Of course we should all be thankful she landed flat on her back and not at an awkward angle or directly on her neck or head but we did NOT need to see that. Of course broadcasters cannot help showing injuries that occur during competition but this was not one of them. I was so thrilled to get an update on her, which quickly descended into OMFG are you effing SERIOUS am I actually being shown this sentiments.

3. Way too much coverage of Nastia Liukin. I do understand it, she draws in the ratings. It doesn't make it any less annoying though and was distressing seeing her face so much after she tanked bars night 1. Lingering shots of her sitting alone..and then lingering shots of Valeri, WTF? There is gymnastics going on out of view. Infuriating. In a way this may be more jarring for me as I am not that used to US TV. I watch BBC broadcasts of all past competitions if available but obviously no choice with internal US competitions.

2. Selective overscoring and underscoring. The way I see it is, if you are going to inflate scores substantially beyond what they would get internationally then do it for ALL competing gymnasts and not just a few. This is how Nastia got to trials and this is how Gabby almost beat Jordyn with a fall. Not that their routines were the only culprits, I will throw my hands up and admit that Jordyn's routines were also overscored, and Aly's. McKayla's were not. Sarah's beam was. Bridget and Anna's routines were not. Price was underscored. Be CONSISTENT with scoring damn you. Either everyone fairly or everyone generously.

1. McKayla Maroney's fall day 2, which again I am not embedding. Annoyed is the wrong word here, horrified fits better. She is my favourite US gymnast and I wanted her to get out there and proove she can do bars better than that, fix that third pass, and continue being awesome on beam and vault. (Yes her beam doesn't have a great SV but it's soooo steady with such great form). The good news of course is that she will be fine and it's nothing serious but I am so gutted for her that it happened at all and that it neccessitated being pulled out. She will bring it at Trials, no question.

My Olympic EF podiums

Bars

Beth Tweddle so deserves this gold. Under the modern code, bars do not get more difficult than hers. Of course she does not have a Counter-Kim or Gaylord I or II (check out Zhou Duan's uneven bars for the Gaylord II...incredible) but since these moves now incur a deduction because they will end in a dead hang, it is inadvisable to do them (unfortunately). Sadly for Beth, her form and handstands are not as crisp as others and for that reason I do not see her getting the gold. Silver

Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina have amazing bar routines. Beautiful lines, transitions, releases. It's all there. Komova will pip her team-mate for gold, leaving Aliya with the bronze. She is just that bit crisper.

Vault

This is a lock for McKayla Maroney. The most certain gold of any we can expect. Although she is the reigning world champion on this event and has a much more difficult second vault now, she is not a certainty for her team. However she has a brilliant chance at taking that fifth spot.

The other two spots are a little up in the air. Chusovitina is still in the mix amazingly, but her vaults recently had quite low landings. With her age it is of course astounding she can still throw difficult vaults at all. In a small reversal of Worlds standings, I see her taking the bronze and Phan Ti Ha Thanh of Vietnam taking the silver.

Floor

This is much harder to predict and will be very exciting. There is one US gymnast, Sarah Finnegan, who could so easily medal here ahead of her US teammates, yet she is fairly unlikely at this stage to make the team at all. Larissa Iordache clinches it for me. Her floor is just so difficult and exciting, I see it making it's way to the top for gold. Anastasia Grishina does not have the same clout as most of the other contenders for team Russia but her floor is ahead of the rest, even Afansayeva. Grishina's beautiful artistry so prevalent in this exercise will take silver. Bronze is a bit tougher, at this stage I see Jordyn Wieber clinching it but that might change.

Beam

Sui Lu of China takes gold, her beam is just a work of art. Iordache and Catalina Ponor also of Romania will fight for the other two spots, Cata I think landing the silver.