Kristina Goryunova of Russia who was suspended from international competition and therefore missed the Olympics due to a positive doping test- has won bars, beam and floor at a local competition called SDUSHOR. Kristina herself has said her difficulty is not high enough for international competitions, but she is thought to be quite useful at the moment as Russia are not bursting with talent. Hopefully we will see her again, even at Euros.
Lexie Priessman has committed to Georgia. Fear not, she will be competing as a senior elite beginning next year. 2016 would be her startdate really, and longer if she wants to hold out. I have limited knowledge of NCAA but there seems to be a lot of dissapointment that it's not UCLA. Georgia I know have been on a slump since the glory days of Courtney's Kupets and McCool but maybe Lexie and fellow recruits can drag it back into the top 6. It is up to her what university suits her best, location, and which gymnastics programme so I think her choice should be respected.
Rachael (whatshouldgymfanscallme.tumblr.com) has uploaded a history and background to Alexandrov's dismissal. It begins with a brief background of him, goes through his recall after the disaster of 2008 and ends up with post-dismissal. Rachael understands Russian so her insight is very valuable. This is extremely well written and don't be put off by the gifs, they add to it! I will add these articles are not suitable to be read on phones because of the amount of gifs. MUST READ.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Anna Li has a double twisting double layout dismount. Invented by Elise Ray, it's one of the hardest dismounts and is extremely rare. Shawn Johnson also did it. Anna would be the biggest contender the USA have to take the bars title at worlds, especially if she actually does have a Kovacs up her sleeve by then as well. Sadly it does not seem like Marta would give her an international assignment like that again. Here it is though:
Also here's a hilarious video of the girls on tour learning shuffling. Mostly hysterical because Nastia seems so bewildered by the whole thing, or else just in awe of Anna, at the front. Rebecca Bross is on the right of Nastia, pretty sure that's Jordyn behind at the back right and Julie Zetlin is behind Anna to the left.
A high-quality version of Yelena Produnova's famous 1999 Universiade double front vault has been uploaded. In this one you can even make out how unimpressed the woman beside the vault is and the amount of chalk on Produnova's legs. No less an amazing feat than it ever was- but I did not realise until the dead-on replay how cowboyed it is. Nothing says 'never let anyone try this vault again' more than how even Prod had to speed up her rotation that much to land it at all.
I agree: Nastia's nonattempt was hilarious. Ah, I wish all gymnasts would post their training videos on youtube like Anna! My favorite is her leap of death and then her teammates go ballistic. So great.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Jordan Chiles' in the above post..11 year old training mental stuff.
DeleteI died laughing at the clip of Nastia trying to shuffle. Ana li is officially the top dog on the tour.lol
ReplyDeleteTriplefull had that clipbof Jordyn chilles. Ive never heard but according to them people are hyping her as tge next great. Should an 11year old be doing triple fulls this early?
I've heard of her a few times, forgot about her, heard about some great skills and THEN saw the link on triplefull.
DeleteThat is what I am wondering. Check out Shallon Olsen, she is actually competing very high difficulty and is 12. I think they should be paced better, especially as Chiles is 2017 and Olsen 2016, that is fecking forever away and it seems like they are inviting burnout and injuries.
Anna Li's parents moved to the USA from China right? So they have Chinese citizenship, doesn't that mean Anna Li can get Chinese citizenship? Therefore she can go over there and rock out on bars with He Kexin, she'd fit right in with her headcasing. Probably not as simple as that but if girl can do Kovacs girl can go to Worlds.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Anna would want to give up her US citizenship for Chinese citizenship as she is culturally American. I bet her parents (or at least Wu Jiani) already naturalized. Personal factors aside, China and the U.S. both have a continual supply of great gymnasts, but I'd say Anna, essentially a bar specialist, has a better chance going to Worlds (again) with with the U.S. than with China, where she'd have to compete with...YJN, HHD, SCS, ZSQ, LPR, HQS (if she continues), and WLF (if she ever gets completely healthy again). HKX wants to retire after National Games. :(
Delete(Yes, I know you were kidding. Can't wait to see her Kovacs, though.)
Could she not have dual citizenship? Lots of people in the North of Ireland have Irish and British citizenship and hold both passports, and I know it is true of other nationalities too. I couldn't imagine her competing for China being a viable option or anything, but just wondering what the story is with dual citizenship in the US.
DeleteShe did say a while ago she was going to do a Kovacz. Can you imagine if she showed up with one at worlds and Maroney (or Biles..) with a TTY? However it really does appear that she's on Marta's blacklist.
It's not really a matter of dual citizenship in the U.S. but rather China. China, Japan, India, and other countries I'm sure, don't allow for multiple citizenship. I'm not a big polisci person so I don't really know the reasoning behind this. To me, it seems to only benefit the country to collect extra taxes... haha
DeleteMarta's blacklist.. this is funny! Who else is on it? I can understand Marta's dislike for specialists- team USA is so strong! I'm amazed that everyone qualified for AA in Tokyo! Actually, I feel that most coaches aren't fans of specialists either- should at least have 3 good events. I'm sure HKX only made the team in 08 b/c the other events weren't needed & this year b/c China knew they had no chance for a team gold even if they choose Jiang Yuyuan. That's ironic: the reasons she made the team were exact opposites! That said, I didn't believe that Anna's d-score was high enough for medaling.
Ahhh that makes way more sense! Thanks.
DeleteI think the biggest sign is that Anna was ready and waiting to be used at Worlds and was STILL not put in. She would never have been picked as alternate had Nastia shown herself capable of getting through one routine, despite being in a much better state of readiness anyway. Her SV isn't very high this year, but the code will boost release combinations. I think she is quite capable of a Kovacz and throwing the double double. That would be extremely interesting, if she showed with up such a great routine that Marta would HAVE to take her. Especially if Gabby and Kyla were not training or had no upgrades.
I thought Nastia was on Marta's blacklist, too? She does win the hearts of everybody else..
DeleteAnd ooh, I don't know about our AA champion (hopefully the fame won't go to her head and she'll just.. sell out), but I think that Kyla will upgrade. She's definitely got some good gymnastics left- she just turned senior! And she's back in the gym. Out of the 5, I have the most faith in seeing her around this quad.
Hmm the new code for bars. What do you think of it- like, more or less fair? I can't even hide the fact that I'm going to miss pirouette combos if the Chinese decide to take them out. I understand why people think they are "abusing" the code, but nobody ever accuses release combinations as abusing the code even though releases are often "easier" (by CoP difficulty- I can't say from personal experience, of course) than pirouettes. When I first watched UB, I admit that I couldn't appreciate how difficult it was to maintain form: toe point, extended legs, strong core/back, legs together, etc for that full (or even half) pirouette- AND doing it in el-grip takes so much flexibility, too. And then I saw way too many late pirouettes and soft backs. Well, I guess we're going to have to adjust to seeing lower SV's across the board until everybody upgrades for release combinations. Anna Li and Shang Chunsong (HKX & Beth, but I'm already assuming they'll be gone by WC's) come to mind for having them- can't remember any others.. And Musty and Vika for great bar transitions in combination.
Ah no, Marta loves Nastia. She absolutely should not have been invited to Trials when she had proved herself far from ready at Classics, Nationals and at podium training. Chellsie by contrast was unceremoniously booted out, though Marta did make an exception for the 'rules' last year, for Shawn, and Chellsie had by default qualified to Nationals by dint of being selected for one of the qualifying meets the year before, even though she did not compete due to injury. I think it was Pan Ams.
DeleteThere's a video of Marta comforting a sad looking Nastia after Trials among the confetti and baloons. She is treating her like a daughter.
I'm liking the sound of the new bars code. It will be interesting to see how much it shakes it up, and how much it effects Chinese and even Russian routines. I do think pirouettes are code whoring just as much as leaps out of passes are- but I would not blame coaches or gymnasts for doing so, since it makes perfect sense to take advantage of the code. I do find pirouette heavy routines a bit one-sided and dull. Except Yang Yilin's, because she just has a higher standard than everyone else. I prefer more dynamic routines, and I'm glad they have their shot at being properly rewarded.
Yes I'm thinking Kyla's height growth spurt interfered with upgrade plans. There's no way the plan was to send her out with a 5.5 floor routine. I definitely want to see her in the mix. Her bars routine gets criticism for her 'step-downs'. I'm not sure what that refers to! If it refers to her swing when she is clearing the lower bar then I do think that could be altered..
Ah okay, I see. Well, Nastia does draw a good audience, so maybe it's a media thing? My feelings towards her is ambiguous at best. I liked both the 2008 versions of her and Shawn better. Their fame killed their gymnastics, really.
DeleteWell, pirouette combos or not, I love bar routines in general, so it's not a big deal. Especially if somebody brings the Gaylord back! I'm looking at you, North Korea.
Yes, those step-downs really kill her routine for me, as well.
It's referring to when Kyla goes from handstand to a toe-on low bar. You know how most gymnasts bring both feet together to the low bar? Kyla, for some reason, does it one leg at a time. Granted, her form is good: straight legs, toe point, etc, but wow, what was Jenny Zhang thinking? Surprised the CoP doesn't deduct for them.
I still think Shawn has a great personality which shines through, it's why she still gets endorsements.
DeleteI believe the code is allowing for an extra swing, which would see a return of some of the more mental releases. Yes, or even China. Seeing as they produced 5+ of them before. I'd love to see the counter-Kim as well.
Ahhh. I didn't even notice that. I have seen that in much older routines and wondered why- Boginskaya was definitely one. The explanation I eventually discovered is that it doesn't matter and that it can help less flexible or taller gymnasts. It appeared to be more common on the high bar before dismounting, rather than low bar like Kyla. How strange. Now it could be deductible now..? Seeing as the other routines I know it from are 20 years old or more.
Given your love for those crazy release skills, I'm guessing you must love watching HB! :)
Deletemm I don't think they really get deducted for that. I feel like most people don't notice/care, either- otherwise, wouldn't at least the commentators point them out? But now, I'm sure you'll notice every time. Sorry if I ruined things for you.
Peng Peng Lee is another memorable one. I love her Bhardwaj and Van Leeuwen though... almost makes me forget. Except for the fact she does it all over the place!!
Also, I'm just being picky here but lePennec does it once... and won with it, too. Whatever, none of my favorite bar workers do it, thank god.
To be honest, no! I find MAG very boring. High bar is the best apparatus, and I did watch the amazing Olympic finale..but in general, I find the fact that it's only one bar quite boring. Also that it's more of a given that plenty of them will throw extremely hard skills and dismounts. In WAG, those who could do those skills (before they were deductible) were very few and far between, which is part of the draw. If everyone started chucking counter-kims I would lose a lot of my love for them.
DeleteI am noticing! Actually I have seen it in several routines 2004-2005-ish. It still doesn't bother me, I used to find it odd but I think it can look cool..with great form.