Things

Okay, I have a major issue with blogging and working full-time. Plenty manage it but I struggle to find the motivation and energy. There's a reason why a lot of this blog was written while I was unemployed. Anyway, my passion for the sport is the same. I am recovering from wisdom teeth surgery at the moment but I aim not to need to be post-op to actually blog.

Anyway, Pac Rims! Nice of Flo Gymnastics to allow USAG to upload videos of their athletes 24 hours later I suppose, much better than trying to find secret uploads somewhere. Morgan Hurd debuted a fabulous floor routine, I feel it's a great match for her and she really gets into the music and sells the choreography well. Although it was always something she's been good at, it's great to see her develop and I'm excited to see what her routine will be like in 2020 as her potential continues to grow. Beam aside, (which USAG have not uploaded) I don't feel she was as sharp here as she was at American Cup. Which is no bad thing, she doesn't need to be and shouldn't be at the top of her game in April with the summer competitions ahead of her and worlds several months away. Her double-double landing on floor was lower than normal but it's one of the few American ones that are fully secure and not too low so that's fine. Bars seemed to me to be not as crisp and flowy as normal although still very clean and technically good, just some of the ease was missing. Again, fine for this time of year. It's the beam dismount that's worrying, I hope they scrap it immediately and go back to the double pike or try a twisting dismount. It's incredibly dangerous to have a gymnast compete a dismount that they cannot land properly as it means they have a much smaller margin of error were something to go wrong on take-off, which by all accounts it did in the team/AA, although I have not seen it.

Here it is from podium training. This just screams 'NO', it's so not worth the landing deductions. Her face is miles below waist level and her knees are taking a huge strain with her body that bent over.

And here it is from American Cup. A disaster waiting to happen, thankfully Morgan is fine and managed floor right after her scary fall at Pac Rims and withdrawing from EF was just a precaution but I hope this is a lesson learnt for her coaches. Impressively hard dismounts need to be landed safely to be impressive.

She is not the only gymnast, nor even the only American gymnast with a low landing on her beam dismount or a non-textbook set on take-off, but the difficulty of the dismount and the amount that's packed into it makes it far scarier.

Moving on. All in all, Pac Rims to me fell completely flat without the participation of China and Japan. A great pity Brooklyn Moors withdrew at the last minute but there were what sounds like (maybe I might get to see them at some stage?) standout performances from plenty of gymnasts such as Marcia Videaux of Cuba on vault, Nicolle Castro of Mexico on floor and Zoe Allaire-Bourgie of Canada on bars.

Jordan Chiles is going to have a very tough time fitting into a team line-up this quad. A vault/floor specialist when the likes of Jade Carey and of course Simone Biles will be in the picture is not ideal. Still, she's very enjoyable to watch on both events and is a good alternate option perhaps, although Grace McCallum is very strong also with incredible ease in her vaulting and tumbling. I don't know enough about Kayla DiCello and Jordan Bowers although the latter in particular is intriguing, anyone who keeps their legs and knees and feet together throughout a double front and a tucked full-in gets my attention. Super clean and light tumbler, and although she came to grief on beam and isn't quite as clean there, there were a LOT of beam falls anyway and her beam structure is fascinating and seems well within her grasp. Sunisa Lee on the other hand seems to be doing too much difficulty, I don't really get the point of stacking her bars and beam that high when she struggles to hit them consistently and gets sloppy in the effort. Dump the Nabieva, taper down all of her beam connections and re-focus on the basics and she could be amazing.

In other news, Mai Murakami has won All Japan Nationals! It is heartwarming to see her this good and this consistent and this high-scoring and seemingly still improving, sooo many years into her career. In 2011 and 2012 she showed high difficulty but weakness and inconsistency. Seeing her gold-medal winning floor and her medal ceremony in person in Montreal is a real highlight of mine. Her scores here probably have some slight bias in them, but she remains a huge AA contender, creeping higher now every year. Thrilled to see her go out and hit her full floor difficulty as if it's nothing, showing no signs of slowing down. Japan really are great at holding on to their gymnasts for years. Asuka Teramoto, Aiko Sugihara and Sae Miyakawa (who badly needs to medal on floor this year) all show no signs of going anywhere either.

Speaking of veterans, it was great to see Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova and Tatiana Nabieva at Russian Nationals recently. Aliya in particular, given that this is her competitive debut since giving birth, was particularly impressive and showed her DTY, full bars routine minus the inbars and her double arabian on floor. In an absolutely unsurprising twist, her beam is still relying on the same dodgy barely-an-acro-series for credit and is the event she was the weakest on. Understandably, she noticeably tired as the competition went on and had the greatest issues on vault where she scarily crashed a 1.5 intended to be a DTY but this lack of stamina is not a worry whatsoever at this point, she is extremely well versed in pacing herself and will no doubt steadily increase her ability to withstand competition until worlds itself. Recent news of her divorce makes her performances at Nationals even more impressive. What an athlete. Viktoria is that bit more together in her preparation and seems more equal overall in her AA effort, it will be fascinating to see how they progress. Against the backdrop of the two greats coming back, it was just amazing to witness the triumph of Angelina Melnikova, with such huge potential and so often such massive falls and flaws, hit every single routine and sweep the golds. I really hope she can continue the momentum and hit when it counts.

While never doubting the ability of Simone Biles to bounce back and have her Rio difficulty ready to go, it is mindblowing first to hear that she has it back, and then to witness further upgrades, including never-before-done crazy-Simone-level ones. Her coaching change was always going to be interesting in terms of her bars, as before although they were very smartly composed and kept deductions to a minimum, they were never a piece she was going to consistently make finals with. Now though, she presents with a shap-half, new Jaeger and a Fabrichnova dismount. Her form and technique, bolstered by new difficulty, could absolutely propel her into bars finals. Being coached now by the Landis who would have the WOGA-focus on bars is also going to have an impact on the ease and her swing in the routine. These are upgrades we will more than likely see in summer as her bars are going to need as much competitive repetition as they can get, as it's more than likely going to be significantly different than her old routine. Beam looked the same, still the same impressive skills with the casual addition of a double-double dismount which has of course, never been done. I would imagine that it's not going to replace her current full-in, but will be prepared so that she can throw it in sometimes. Podium training at all competitions, competitively at one day of Nationals, again at camp and worlds quals and EF but sticking to the full-in for AA and TF.

On floor we see two new passes as well as a gloriously easy and high double-double and double layout. The Moors looks all too easy for her, although not on a competition floor. The front full into full-in leap is a very fun pass, it looks incredible and is of course very impressive for what will surely be her last pass. For the other 3 she has a double-double, Biles, full-in DLO and now a Moors to play around with so even in an era of Jade Carey, Sae Miyakawa and Mai Murakami, her floor difficulty will still be ahead of the pack. Vault, ha. I would have thought having the Mustafina and amanar back would be impressive enough. She has a TTY and Cheng. Good god. I cannot wait to see her compete again. The sentiment of 'ugh it's so boring when she wins all the time and now she's going to come back and take all the golds away it's so unfair' to me is absolutely ridiculous. We saw the best of all time, and now we have the privilege to see her again with added difficulty. It is the kind of prospect that will see me at worlds next year.

Next week will see the start of Chinese Nationals. I am really hoping to see a possible worlds team with a good few options emerge. Chen Yile will be the most nervewracking one to watch due to her absolutely massive potential. Curious to see what Shang Chunsong looks like, although of course she is competing to help out her province and her appearance does not signal any international comeback. Depending on what platform videos end up on, I'll go through the competition here when it's over.

Highlights of Glasgow

Yup, definitely still wishing worlds was yet to come instead of finishing a few weeks ago.

Location

Glasgow is a great city, I really enjoyed it. Not exactly spectacularly different to Dublin...certainly they have the same mild at best-wet and cold at worst weather systems, but that's okay since I don't have much time for the sun anyway. I'm getting good at picking hotels and always aim for an old one that's not a dump. Our hotel was not only a spectacular Victorian behemoth of a building, it was right in the centre and above the train station, which was a whopping 2 stops away from the arena. Seriously convenient. Glasgow seems to have a bad reputation here, most people made a face and suggested Edinburgh instead, a very nice city which spectacularly lacked the main reason for going in the first place. I get the impression it used to be a rough place but you can tell a lot of work has gone into regenerating it and I always felt safe, even on Hallowe'en night which is a spectacularly dangerous night back home. Very friendly place.

The arena itself is fantastic, very fancy. The seats are tiered quite high and I'm not happy that the 'priority' seats released first afforded me seats in the upper tiers only, despite buying a few hours after release. Clearly I am dedicated, do not shaft me on this. I'll know next time not to go ahead and buy, I just thought that was the availability. Lol. Antwerp was very, very different. Anyway, the view was fine, I just suffered jealousy of the people with seating much lower down. But it WAS good to get a great overall view, and our best seats were for the AA which was most important to me.

Stage

I never realised that introductions were missing from worlds, but it really added a lot to the atmosphere and it was wonderful to see teams and individuals recognised like this, with their huge flag behind them and some very catchy music-sometimes even matching the gymnast in some way. Nice bit of hype-building and I really hope that's not the last we've seen of it.

Diverse finals/better depth

It was just great to see much more diverse finals than we are used to, echoing MAG almost. This hasn't been an overnight change, but was more noticeable than in past worlds I thought. It's a big jump from the last Olympics and will be interesting to compare to Rio's finals. Vault was as usual the most diverse, but beam wasn't far behind for once. Two Dutch girls. While beam itself has suffered bigtime this quad and inconsistency even among the best is still a major issue, the fact that it's less deep than last quad is balanced out for me by the refreshing different styles on display, afforded by the diversity of the finalists. If only they could stay on the beam.

Floor and bars are stronger than ever, which is very exciting and bodes well for next year. And that was a floor final without Aly Raisman. Considering the quality of this year's floor final, there were quite a few big names missing. When you think that next year we'll be expecting Simone Biles, a second American such as the aforementioned Aly though medal-winner Maggie was certainly a worthy finalist, Ellie Black, Giulia Steingruber, Shang Chunsong, Ellie Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Larisa Iordache/?? Catalina Ponor ??, Vanessa Ferrari, Sae Miyakawa, Ksenia Afanasyeva and more to be vying for places...

On bars, the standard has definitely been raised. There have always been routines of the calibre the 4 gold medallists showed (what a sentence) but not quite so many. And there are plenty that are right behind them. The fact that most routines are fairly similar and shap-heavy is a bit of a drag, but some managed to stand out, such as Shang Chunsong with multiple releases, and Ruby Harrold for her unique skillset. A great routine to cap off the final.

The AA rankings both in qualifiers and finals were certainly an unusual mix, it was great to see Giulia Steingruber qualify 2nd behind only the untouchable Simone Biles and even though a fall on beam put paid to a repeat in finals, it really bodes well for how far she has come as an all-arounder. A shaken Romania clawed back to great places in the AA, from which they were completely out of the top 10 in qualifying-Larisa Iordache of course admirably clawing her way to bronze and Laura Jurca showing her potential finally to finish in 8th after qualifying 22nd. The best though was seeing Mai Murakami completely unexpectedly finishing 6th. It will be great to see Russia have more of a presence in the AA next year hopefully, with Seda's inconsistency putting paid to any glory there, but it was nice to have the focus more spread out.

GB Bronze Team Final

I don't think anyone expected that, and it blew the roof off. To get their first ever team final medal on home soil is just incredible. Seeing their reactions when the score came in and the realisation that their vault scores had been enough - it looked like they didn't let themselves believe it could be even after Russia imploded- was just such a great moment, historical and heartwarming. I didn't think it was possible-they are still a team that are on the way, having made huge strides but still affected by issues such as depth and messy form lowering scores, and of course it's a team final that didn't have Romania in it and had Russia counting no less than 4 falls-but it comes to the same thing, it doesn't matter what you CAN do, unless you can put it together when it counts like in the team final, and GB certainly accomplished that.

Netherlands qualifying for team final

Up there in terms of achievements with GB's medal. Who'd a thunk it? Doubly fantastic since it means they've qualified a team to the Olympics. Their greatest achievement to date on worlds and Olympics stage was Celine Van Gerner placing 12th in the London Olympics. Competing singly for her country, since NL haven't qualified a team to the Olympics in a long, long time, if ever. And this isn't even through the Test Event, but directly through worlds. This is a team who I was hoping would individually make a final or two, so that I would be able to watch them in person, but I never anticipated team final. One of those elegant types to enjoy watching but withhold hope from. They definitely had some issues in team finals, which was perhaps not surprising, but were nevertheless glorious to watch from the very moment they came on stage and performed their stunning and elegant salute, encompassing all they are as a team.

Netherlands individual qualifying and finals

Staying with the Dutch girls, I was flabbergasted to see Lieke Wevers qualifying 5th into the all-around. In the best way. Considering her start values, it highlights how vital execution and expression can be to scores, and how seriously FIG can take it. Sadly, Eythora Thorsdottir was just barely knocked out of the AA herself, but snuck into the beam final. Of course, she proceeded to have the oddest fall there but she was in good company with 50% of the finalists falling and it was still great to see her in person. I didn't dare hold out hope that Sanne Wevers would hit in the beam final, after qualifying second but having a nightmare in team finals-no outright disaster but failing her connections and thus a composite requirement, but lo and behold, beam silver! Brilliant result!

US steadiness

When you see teams with enormous potential dealing with enormous flaws- such as mass inconsistency from Russia, chronic lack of depth, political issues and abysmal bars from Romania, lack of depth, politics and power from China, form issues, lack of depth and minor inconsistency from GB etc. etc....it is just so GREAT to see a team nail everything. 12 solid, hit routines. Not only do they show power and consistency, but confidence, and the skills are always secure, you never have to hope the gymnast will rotate it fully. It's refreshing. Their qualifications performance was just so jarring and odd, but never fear, they were back to their robotically solid selves when it counted.

Watching Simone Biles in person

History in motion, she is fascinating to watch and it's fun to think that I've so far been able to see her in action twice, considering she will go down as one of the most legendary and talented gymnasts of all time. It's just bizarre to be blown away by her routines and know that she still has more to give and the potential for yet more difficulty.

China

Getting their act together for team silver. I've become too used to falls and mistakes from them, and qualifications did not inspire confidence, so I was thrilled to see them so solid in finals. Not perfect, (why can you never stay on the beam Wang Yan??) but 11/12 and a really quite super vault rotation of all things is still not to be sniffed at.

Shang Chunsong 4th AA, general hit record

She has previously stood out at worlds for all of the wrong reasons, so to witness her hitting again and again (yup, fell off beam after waiting far too long for the judges in quals but...just quals) and coming so close to beating Larisa Iordache was wonderful. She'll always be let down as regards AA as long as she carries a flat FTY, but to come so close is impressive. It's also nice to see her become the face of her team, and gain a ton of fans. The spread of her story has definitely helped, and has helped explain her circumstances etc, but I do feel a bit uneasy about it considering how detailed it is, just wondering does she know or did she give permission for all of it. Anyway, to come away from worlds with 2 4th places and one of them undeservedly low is disappointing, but she still has great performances and showed more of her potential than she has previously on the international stage.

Russia

Coming back from being a complete nonentity in the all-around and a meltdown in the team finals to shine in event finals, with no less than 3 golds and 1 silver. Despite some qualms about colours of some of those medals, there's no doubt they were impressive and it's great they were able to make a comeback.

Harsh scoring

I definitely have some issues with individual scores but overall, I felt the scoring was harsh and fair. It was reassuring to see them come down hard on things, on a relatively equal playing field.

Last but definitely not least..

Meeting the Biles

Still feels bizarre to have been invited to meet them, and very flattering to have my blog recognised. I had a great morning to start off event finals day 1, lovely people.


I'll probably do a part 2 to this, with lowlights, routines, things like that. Definitely still more to talk about this worlds. What were YOUR highlights? Favourite unexpected hitters? Or moments from off the competition floor? Best hair bow?

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 :)

The REALLY BIG Worlds Review Post

I am snowed under with assignments currently and for the last while, with no real let-up this side of Christmas. So that is the delay with posting, but I haven't gone anywhere :) I'll still have time for the usual much shorter posts, it's just these long ones that have been a killer to write. Anyway, worlds finished a month ago but I haven't finished yet!

I had an absolutely fantastic experience attending these worlds live. It's kind of difficult to recount it, but you can read about it here, in 4 parts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

I believe I said this in at least one of the above, but it was just so, so surreal to be watching gymnasts and gymnastics in person, rather than the hundreds if not thousands of hours I've watched through a screen. Like, oh McKayla Maroney is vaulting about 8 feet in front of my face...no big deal. But on to the juicy bit, actually reviewing worlds!

USA

Well, what a glorious domination for them. I did expect I believe a beam medal, 1 or 2 AA medals, 1 or 2 floor medals and 1 or 2 vault medals. Which obviously they exceeded, with a total of 8- 4 (AA and FX gold, VT silver, BB bronze) for Simone Biles, 3 (AA, BB and UB silver) for Kyla Ross and 1 (vault gold) for McKayla Maroney. I do have to say that this medal haul was helped along by a bit of a flop as regards international competition. The US were prepared as if it was the Olympics, everyone else as if it was a post-Olympic world cup. Viktoria Komova was not there, the Russian programme was a shambles, Aliya Mustafina was a bit tired, and the Romanians were relying entirely on a just-recovered Larisa Iordache. China were relying on Yao Jinnan who was also bouncing back from injury and new girl Shang Chunsong. The AA medals, floor and vault would have been won anyway, regardless of the strength of the competition, but the beam and bars medals were a bit of a surprise, and definitely not foreseen at the start of the year. Not a surprise in the last few months, but in general when sights turned to Antwerp last year. They attest to a general weakness in both events, especially beam I think.

BUT, that said, the US had an incredibly impressive worlds and fair dues to their programme of excellent preparation. It's fairly hard to imagine another country toppling their spell of domination any time soon.

First, we need to talk about Simone Biles. Simone has had quite a topsy turvy year or so. She exploded onto the scene this year with a huge arsenal of upgrades, but she also showed inconsistency- with falls at American Cup and Chemnitz. Still, she was regarded as the best US all-arounder and her performance at Classics where she fell on 3 events and was pulled from the fourth didn't really alter this. Indeed, it seemed to energise her. The new US National Champion fulfilled all of her potential and promise and defied the ever-present nay-sayers by going to Antwerp and qualifying to all four event finals, as well as the top all-around qualifier. This feat of qualifying to all finals is very rare these days as we know, especially since top all-arounders tend to eschew doing two vaults. Aliya Mustafina famously did so in 2010, however.

Of course, qualifying is only part of what she needed to do. I was nervous every time she mounted an apparatus...especially when she was first up on beam in her group..and yet, there was no need. Her all-around performance was a tour de force, summed up by the fact that although she was in second by a tenth after three rotations, she finished the competition in the lead by nearly nine tenths- an enormous gap. Could she keep it up for event finals with no break in between? It seems in hindsight to be silly to have been concerned over her consistency. For a first year senior to win the all-around title, qualify to all finals, and bring home another 3 medals including a second title is phenomenal. And, she doesn't seem like she's even at the height of her difficulty yet.

Kyla Ross

I don't feel like I'm the person to talk about Kyla. I haven't been shy of the fact that although I appreciate her lines and mastery of her skills and routines, I don't have much time for her gymnastics otherwise. She certainly had a great worlds, better than I could have predicted. Watching her on beam and bars in particular, knowing that there wasn't a hope of a mistake, was kind of thrilling in a way. It's refreshing to know that nothing will go wrong. I'm very curious to know where she will go from here. Will 3 silvers be an added spur to up her difficulty so she is one of the top contenders next year too? Or will she stay in and around the same level of difficulty in order to preserve herself for college? We do know that the injury rate is laughably high as a result of striving for high difficulty, after all.

  
McKayla Maroney

I have to laugh at the portrayals of McKayla Maroney as a one-eventer. A one-eventer does not place sixth in worlds qualifications all-around. She was a one-eventer last year since that is how she best served the team, and her own minor injuries meant saving herself for vault rather than adding floor into the mix was the best bet. I absolutely do not like the fact that Brenna Dowell was sacrificed at the last minute to make way for McKayla to do the all-around in qualifications, especially as she stood little chance of actually making the finals, which indeed proved to be the case. But it was still nice that she got the chance, and she certainly proved that all-around is not beyond her capabilities. Sixth with a fall, that is, and the best bars routine that she's ever done, an apparatus on which she has always looked nice, but much less secure than a bad routine by Aly Raisman.

The fact that her floor music was overtime is an appalling mistake which should have been fixed at Classics, nevermind camp. The US may have the best programme in the world right now but their internal competitions tend to overlook things- like Peyton Ernst getting credited for a dance series when she did not in fact do one. This silly mistake meant McKayla tied with Kyla and lost on execution. Kyla earned her place fair and square of course, but it would have been amazing to see McKayla in the final, with a routine that was worthy of fighting for a medal. Getting knocked out of the AA- although undoubtedly with the knowledge that that was nearly a certainty is one thing, but getting knocked out of floor finals over such a trivial error that wasn't even her fault is quite a setback. But that didn't do anything to dent her only final performance, vault. The reigning world champion fought off some fairly stiff competition to regain her title in style, and put the spectre of London to rest.

Russia

Really, I am amazed they managed to field a team at all. Meningitis, viruses, back problems, it was all going down at Round Lake, in almost comical fashion. I did predict that Viktoria Komova would not do the AA this year, but hospitalised with meningitis? Not to mention Anastastia Grishina getting blacklisted and then dealing with back/leg injuries and Ksenia Afanasyeva needing ankle surgery at precisely the wrong time. And glossing over other injuries, like Evgeniya Shelgunova. The team of Aliya Mustafina, Tatiana Nabieva, Anna Rodionova and Maria Paseka would never have been predicted six months ago, or at least, half of it. But it didn't end there, before qualifications, Maria Paseka was declared out with injury and then Tatiana Nabieva fell flat on her face in warm-ups, which curtailed the amount of events she was able to do in the end. Seriously, that is one strong curse Round Lake has going on. What a pity that yet again, Aliya Mustafina had to carry the team on her back, despite having just recovered from yet another virus, seemingly so prevalent in Round Lake. Nevertheless, it was great experience for newcomer Anna Rodionova and it was nice to see the comeback of Tatiana Nabieva from the depths of Russia's b-team, who may yet be useful for Russia...particularly if they continue to be struck down so badly before a major competition. It proves the folly of peaking for Euros and Universiade, though the Russian Gymnastics Federation had their hand forced in that regard.

In the face of such adversity, three medals, one gold, is a fabulous result for Russia's WAG. Let's hope their programme bounces back quickly into producing more than one gymnast healthy enough to snatch medals.

But that one gymnast, Aliya Mustafina, is amazing. Footage from podium training was half deliriously exciting with upgrades, half gutting as she looked so tired and just not with it. We have come to expect lacklustre showings from Russia in podium training, yet it kind of seemed more than just not trying when it didn't matter. Adding two whips to her double arabian pass and adding a Seitz on bars was wonderful to see, yet she was having issues with landing the double arabian sometimes, and having trouble on bars too. Beam was still wobbly  and the double turn connection was just not getting hit at all. Nevertheless, still a force to be reckoned with, and so she proved. Nobody competes like Aliya Mustafina. When she walked out and lined up for vault, she just exuded everything a top competitor should have, focus, poise, confidence with the addition in her case of queenly regal-ness. She wasn't really able to catch either or the top two throughout the all-around, but had such moments of greatness, a hit 6.7 bars set and utterly nailing her whip-whip-double arabian-stag. It's just so impressive to watch her in action. It's unfortunate her bars routine in event finals wasn't that bit better, but hey, it's new with fabulous composition. But, a key factor in the US team's success was repetition. There's a lot to be said for not chopping and changing...although, she shot that down by winning the beam title with a routine that has looked different in some way in almost every single competition this year. A great all-arounder, a top bars worker, but beam? How amazing that she still manages to surprise us. Before finals on Sunday I saw a post on twitter 'Plot twist: Aliya Mustafina is beam champion' which, really says it all.

Romania

Another team affected by injury (and a shedload of retirements, as usual). Diana Bulimar is definitely the gymnast I missed most - as we know she had to have knee surgery just a few weeks before worlds. Still, it was nice to see the previously invisible Stefanie Alina Stanila get some much-needed experience. Not that she received much attention, all eyes were on Larisa Iordache as usual, and Sandra Izbasa in floor finals. Only one medal was their sum total, when it really should have been three, possibly four. That said, Larisa had been dealing with yet more injuries this year and had not been back training at full strength for that long before worlds, while Sandra had only recently returned to competition, after a year long break.

It feels like Larisa Iordache has been around for years, and also that she has been more successful than she has in actuality. Quite an unlucky gymnast, dogged by injury and only in her second year as a senior. Her difficulty is enormous, her potential remains as high as ever, yet she doesn't seem to be able to get it together when it matters most. Obviously, lack of full-on training time will hinder that. But I feel she needs more competitive fire, she seems to be more nervous in the really big competitions. She's going nowhere, a gymnast like her will continue to be the backbone of Romania's WAG programme. Let's hope next year is her time to really shine and get everything together.

I'm quite curious to see if Sandra Izbasa will stick around. Her fall on the exact same element in floor finals as in London was really gutting, and could well be motivation to retire on a better note than that. Not that she let herself look upset, she was so smiley and dignified, wonderful to see.

China

Now this was a 50/50 team. Three girls with a big record for inconsistency, the fourth an international unknown with an age question mark over her head. It was very hard to predict what this team could do, and so sad that they spectacularly underperformed. Not Huang Huidan, who after so much flakiness but a streak of hit routines this year, unexpectedly claimed a bars title with a huge score and the best routine she has done all year. Injuries have done their damage, Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong have both been dealing with those, and although Zeng Siqi's major problem seems to be general frailty as well as inconsistency..she has not been the same gymnast since an injury she sustained two years ago. In spite of that, she was supposed to make beam finals easily and was a huge medal hope. After her performance at the National Games, hopes plummeted and she lived up to those by falling in qualifications. Personally, I think she needs conditioning more than anything. Endurance is a big issue with her. Not sure how the flakiness can be cured but sometimes that happens- look at Sui Lu. Yao remains a heartbreaker. Caught the Mo in the all-around only to fall victim to a tucked full (or fall?) that she absolutely cannot do on beam. It's so, so low that the margin for error is huge and when I saw her preparation for it I was raging because it was never going to work out. Had she landed it, it would have been hit with so many deductions that it would not have been worth doing. Lamentably poor coaching decision. Grrrr!

I mentioned this before but..to Mo or not to Mo? Worked out once out of two occasions at worlds. I believe she had the same hit record at National Games with it. Our favourite source, Valentina Rodionenko, states that Yao was failing to catch it over and over again that she saw, in training. I think if she cannot better it during winter training, as in not only catch it more often but ensure her feet and shins are not going to touch the bar, then I think it dropped. It's awesome, so so awesome, but there's not much point otherwise.

Shang Chunsong is interesting. Huge potential difficulty, 6.9 UB, 6.1 FX, 6.6 BB etc. But she didn't live up to expectations, falling on beam in the AA, an event she is usually quite consistent on, and not doing a good enough routine to really challenge for the second Chinese spot in uneven bars finals. Floor scoring was so harsh that I wasn't that taken back when she failed to qualify for that final, but in general, I wasn't happy with her execution scoring at all. Don't get me wrong, she HAS execution errors. But it seems like she gets deducted for everything, while others don't necessarily suffer the same level of high scrutiny. Personally, and feel free to disagree, but I think she is to some extent being judged just that little bit harsher, due to how young she looks. As if that's somehow her fault? If the FIG have an issue, then they should be questioning her federation. It is highly, highly unfair, IF perceptions over her age are working against her - I'm not saying this is unequivocally the case - to take it out on her scores.

I was thrilled when she stayed on the beam in event finals, and even though there were definitely biggish deductions to be found like the big wobble and the lamentable switch ring, that e panel hated her too. Sigh. Worlds was a mixed bag for her. Much needed international experience and exposure (not that the latter was kind), always a good thing though. I think that she peaked at National Games which is by no means a negative- this worlds wasn't a big deal, and the benefit she received from her medals at NG (approximately $500k, a university place, and the ability to provide a house etc. for her extremely poor family) is immense, a huge achievement. In person, her FTY looked fine to me. But seeing it on the replay and online, it's another story. It's quite anaemic and just not dynamic at all. She really could do with gaining muscle mass, she's not a fragile gymnast by any means if you look at her other events but it would really help her vault with the goal of achieving a DTY in the future. I'm hoping her form is tightened up during winter training. She could be so much better than the girl we saw in Antwerp.

Thankfully, China did not go away with no medals. An extremely dismal performance as a team, but not for Huang Huidan who definitely exceeded expectations. A well deserved title.

THE ALL AROUND

The Good

- The TENSION. It was awesome. An absolutely wonderful atmosphere.
- Always, always something to watch.
- The buzz when big skills were nailed.
- Yao catching her Mo, Victoria Moors nailing her laidout double double.
- The opportunity to watch the beautiful gymnasts who are far below the radar, like Noemi Makra, Anna Rodionova and Ilaria Kaeslin.
- The rotation music. WHAT a song.
- The enormous roar any time the two Belgian gymnasts competed.
- Seeing vault and the gymnasts so up close.
- The view in general. It was fantastic. Not for bars, but you can't have everything.

Favourite Routines

- BEAM Ilaria Kaeslin, Anna Rodionova, Noemi Makra, Natsumi Sasada
- FLOOR Victoria Moors, Simone Biles, Aliya Mustafina, Larisa Iordache, Elisabeth Seitz, Noemi Makra, Roxana Popa, Shang Chunsong
- BARS Yao Jinnan, Roxana Popa, Aliya Mustafina, Ruby Harrold, Noemi Makra
- VAULT Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Giulia Steingruber, Roxana Popa, Noemi Makra

The Bad

- Well...the falls really. Natsumi Sasada's meltdown on bars, Shang Chunsong, Larisa Iordache and Yao Jinnan's beam falls in particular. And Ruby Harrold and Victoria Moors. And Rebecca Tunney. Anna Rodionova. It's a loooong list.
- Another missed opportunity for Yao Jinnan in particular, and for Larisa Iordache to really shine in an AA after what happened last year.

Favourite leotards

Carlotta Ferlito

Copyright - AP/ Virginia Mayo

This was just stunning in the arena. Eye-catching, but not too much. Lovely colour too.

Rebecca Tunney

Copyright- Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Just so classic. Simple, but not dull.

In general, I had seen most of the other leotards too many times to really care about them, or I found them dull. The US predictably had a leotard that would have been lovely in a wide variety of colours, but not that ugly, ugly shade. I'm not sure about Victoria Moors' leotard. I think the pattern was a bit too clumped together? Loved the contrast of the colours though.

VAULT

The Good

- McKayla Maroney vaulted right in front of me.
- See above.
- Also, Simone Biles did.
- Simone Biles' block on her Lopez.
- McKayla Maroney's amanar block is still phenomenal.
- Nobody died!
- The legend that is Oksana Chusovitina
- Higher calibre final than London.
- No deaths.
- Lots of diversity. Switzerland, USA, the Netherlands, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Dominican Republic...wow.

The Bad

- Chantysha Netteb went for the DTY and tore her ACL right in front of me. Absolutely horrifying to witness and to imagine her suffering. The constant replays of her injury on the screen, which was too close to block from my field of vision. The pain on her face was just so heartwrenching. Awful, awful, awful.
- Others were lucky to get up after their vaults. A preposterous decision for Phan Thi Ha Thanh to go for the amanar when her DTY is dodgy. And not forgetting the death cannonball Produnova.
- Too Yurchenko friendly.
- Overscoring. LOL at McKayla Maroney's amanar score for which her execution score was higher than in London, kind of blatantly ignoring off centre, bent knees, bent hips.

Favourite Vault

Simone Biles' Lopez, since it was TEXTBOOK. Uhhhh so beautiful! I know I just pointed out the flaws in Maroney's amanar but the block she gets off that thing makes it a close second. It's like BOOM.

Favourite Leotard

USA

Copyright- Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Hey at least they got one good leo for finals! Look the colour, the neckline, the sleeves. Suited everyone. More please.

UNEVEN BARS

The Good

- Great lineup. And some diversity, always great to see.
- Not one but TWO British girls made the final. Fantastic!
- Lots of dynamic connections, like Huang Huidan and Sophie Scheder.
- Rare, creative moves like Ruby Harrold's, super-difficult ones like Aliya Mustafina's Seitz and Yao Jinnan's Mo.
- Not a pirouette fest. Just enough.
- Very different styles of routines on display, from very different types of gymnasts.
- The gold medal winner doing the best routine of her life in a surprise finish.

The Bad

- Yao falling. Ugly sobbing. It was especially bad since she caught and then peeled off..
- 8 glide kips. I understand why it's wise to conserve your energy but it was just dull..
- Sophie Scheder's score was too low.
- Simone Biles' score was too high.
- Aliya Mustafina missing a connection and biffing her dismount a little bit.
- Becky Downie coming off when it looked like she was going to make it.

Favourite Leotard

The US, again.

BEAM

The Good

- The stunningly elegant Anna Rodionova qualifying.
- Aliya Mustafina hitting a beam routine perfectly. Twilight zone.
- Kyla Ross' lovely long lines.
- I expected Simone to mess up. Couldn't really say she did, dismount a bit I suppose. Pleasantly surprised to see her maintain herself until the end of competition.
- A very surprising gold winner. Always interesting.
- The super difficult BHS-Arabian attempt! 

The Bad

- Larisa falling. Not unexpected given her performance on beam in general at worlds. But so devastating.
- Anna Rodionova's fall.
- Shang Chunsong's routine far from her best.
- Lack of difficulty, gold and silver had double tuck dismounts, bronze hadn't much in the interior of her routine despite the killer dismount. All three had extremely weak acro series.
- The enquiries. It just seemed to taint the whole final.

Favourite Leotard

Shang Chunsong

Copyright- Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Lovely! It's a much deeper shade than their usual ketchup, and so so much prettier. The mesh and stars are a nice contrast and the yellow livens it up without being ugly. Anna Rodionova would really have won since she had my favourite Russian leotard but it's not new, this is, and it's the surprise element of this that I love also.

FLOOR

The Good 


- Killer difficulty. THREE double doubles, 1 full twisting double layout.
- The bounce, energy, charisma and charm of Mai Murakami and Simone Biles who just drew in the entire arena into their routines.
- Larisa Iordache recovering from her beam fall and the loss of that title by performing wonderfully - fantastic routine and tumbling.
- Simone Biles' double layout half. Such an awesome skill.
- Kyla Ross' much improved dance. Love the 'whip' bit especially.
- Elsabeth Black's 2.5 stepout, loved it.

The Bad

- Underscoring, specifically Mai Murakami who was robbed of a medal.
- Inflation of Vanessa Ferrari's routine.
- Sandra Izbasa's fall.

Favourite Leotard

Nothing really stood out..

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Congratulations, you have reached the end! I won't have anything near as long until I'm dissecting Glasgow worlds. Anyway, feel free to discuss your liked and dislikes- if worlds is not too much of a distant memory by this stage!

Worlds Experience/Competition Part 4

Finally! I started on Sunday in part 3. Read Part 3 here, Part 2 here and Part 1 here.

Sunday

Sadly, stalking efforts proved to be futile. Yao Jinnan was spotted but athletes get in to the arena a lot faster with accreditation than spectators who need their tickets scanned. She was wearing black, had chips, and got to her seat in the upper stands in record time. End of sighting! Once they get there, you can't go down to them, though we did try. Our seats were in the last stand on the floor side, which was sort of lower then the upper stands. Traipsed back up the stairs again after heading back down after spotting Yao, and all the way over to the stand...except we couldn't get in. One of the FIG cameras was blocking the stand, so spare seats were arranged. These seats were..you guessed it..nowhere near the stand. They were near parallel bars, just beyond the curve, and still in the upper stands. Very far from beam, okay for floor. I asked if we could sit nearer to beam but it wasn't happening. Damnit FIG, those who had tickets for that stand should have been assigned tickets nearer. There were seats right in front of floor that weren't occupied...

Moving on! Epke Zonderland qualified for two of Sunday's finals so the curved end of the stand where parallel bars and high bar was were covered in Dutch fans. I kept thinking all of people bedecked in orange were security heh. Great atmosphere from the beginning.

Men's Vault

Loved watching this, so powerful! And a great contrast to women's vault as there weren't any vaults I felt I should close my eyes for. Ahh, the double front as it should be done..refreshing. Not to mention the awesomeness of a Dragulescu. But the highlight by far, and moreso even than the legend that is Yang Hak Seon and his vaults was Kristian Thomas' STUCK yurchenko double pike. Wow just doesn't cover it. The crowd loved it of course, great buzz. He injured his knee earlier this year so didn't have time to upgrade his second vault..and lost his hold on silver as a result. Thrilled it was enough to still medal though, and in a stacked final at that.

Beam

Sadly, I was much further away than I anticipated being so they didn't look much bigger than ants up there. The growing sense of excitement that Aliya Mustafina was up there nailing everything and not even wobbling was so exhilarating. Like..wait a second..she doesn't have much left to do..just the dismount..what even is this, the best beam routine of her life? She still paused for the obligatory cup of tea while breathing before the dismount but it was well worth it since it was almost stuck. Sure, she missed the double turn connection as usual and the acro pass is indeed weak but...it was unbelievable to watch the ultimate competitor destroy her weakest apparatus like that. Masterful.

And an enquiry into Mustafina's d score. Hmm. Carlotta Ferlito's leotard offended my eyes, even from that distance. A total contrast to her lovely blue leo in the AA, but it definitely stood out in the arena so..job done in that regard. Her routine was steady, typically Italian but I just didn't get anything from it really. It wasn't beautiful or particularly dynamic. Her legs on the dismount were gross too. I'm not just saying this in hindsight of what happened when she opened her mouth, I just didn't see a whole lot in this routine to get excited about, although her acro series and the ease of her back tuck in combination was nice. Vanessa's routine was similar, but I like hers better. She seems to exude more attitude and make the beam her own. Another fine routine from the steady veteran. Annnnd..the enquiry for Mustafina's routine is rejected. Nor happy bunnies in the Russia camp.

I loved Shang Chunsong's leotard. A bit of a departure from China, but lovely all the same. Sadly, her beam thus far had not been living up to its standards earlier this year where at Anadia it wasn't far off flawless. What a stunning mount! I did kind of like the staccato robot choreography this routine has going on earlier this year, since it was different and suited her..but the more I see it, the more the lack of choreography annoys me. Aside from the big wobble, it looked like a great routine to me..it took the replay for me to see the not-so-obvious errors, like her switch ring. It was as if she just didn't give it her all, for fear of falling. Nevertheless, her score was far too harsh. Maybe not harsh if everyone was scored on the same plane, but it does seem like the execution panels just didn't like her. Vendettas are not cute. But the height on her layout is..

Sidenote..really enjoyed the songs playing softly in the background during this final. Beam is VERY silent and tense, so it was a nice touch.

Simone Biles steps up and beams. Curious to know whether she can hit again, after such an exhausting slog leading up to worlds and the excitement of her all-around win, not to mention vault and bars finals the day before. The 2.5 wolf is still great, very smart upgrade for her. Mostly steady, tiny wobble there..bigger wobble somewhere else but still fine. But the dismount was surprising, she seemed a good bit lower on landing than usual, and took a big step. Still a strong routine, but she's tired.

The camera shows up Aliya Mustafina using pen and paper to calculate a routine. It is NOT hers, it shows c+f, which is Anna Rodionova's BHS+Arabian combination. Kinda cute, looking out for her...not showing a whole bunch of faith in the judges though. Neither is Simone Biles' coach, who submits enquiry number two. Super, super distracting..trying to watch routines..eyes getting drawn to the scoreboard to see if the asterisk which denotes an enquiry having been submitted is still there.

Kyla Ross is in the same leo Bailie Key and Laurie Hernandez wore to the Japan Junior. It's a nice cherry colour, so I think I still like it. Kyla is known to have endurance issues so I'm wondering how well she is coping in that regard. No need to be concerned, it's another super clean and secure routine! She even gets the aerial-wolf connection in at the end. Her lines make her so lovely to watch in action. Pity her dismount didn't have as good a landing as she usually shows. Jenny running to her afterwards was so endearing.

I'm super nervous about Larisa Iordache, who not only fell on beam in the all-around, but was also falling in warm-ups before the final began. Just not healthy enough yet? Or possibly down to big-match temperament. (Ooo, enquiry number 3, for Kyla this time). Annnd...falls on the tuck full, very similar to London event finals. You could practically hear hearts breaking everywhere, as there was a quite a contingent of Romanian fans. Before she sets up for the layout (which she nails), the buzzer for overtime goes off and it flashes up red. Lovely. At least it didn't go off before she fell, or it would be blamed, but that should absolutely not be happening at worlds. The rest of the routine is slightly hesitant but still great, and the triple, though not the cleanest, is as great and fully around as ever. Devastating that she fell..

Anna Rodionova is up last, wearing my favourite Russian leo- so stunning! Like Becky Downie on bars, not holding out much hope as she may well have used up her consistency these championships already. Glorious toepoint, so elegant. Here it comes....and, fall. Damn. The most ambitious move in the whole final. The groan when she fell reverberated all around the arena. Lovely leaps, my angle is at least good for seeing the degree of split. Hilariously long pause before her dismount - how Russian that is these days - but pretty much sticks it, excellent way to finish off this routine. Valuable experience for her.

Parallel Bars

I've got the best view in the house, sigh. I've discovered Aly Raisman and her mother, and Al Fong and Armine Barutyan in the stand below me and to the left. Aly is as loud as ever. Al Fong didn't seem to clap or react for anything, but then I didn't watch him all the time or anything. Sad to see two routines on the bars come to grief, but amazing to see John Orozco hit a great routine, after the monumentally shitty year and a half he had. Kohei Uchimura was a joy to watch, and so was Lin Chaopan. Much more interesting in person, this final.


Floor

And hopes die for McKayla Maroney to magically appear when the gymnasts march out. I knew they wouldn't switch her in as the better medal hope, but I was hoping that for some other magical reason that she'd appear. To preserve Kyla's energy? Anyway, I have no quibble with an athlete who earned her place actually using it.

Vanessa Ferrari has changed leo, and it's quite nice actually! A great floor from her, super tumbling, very sure of herself. I do like her choreography but I think there's something lacking - other than execution sometimes. Expression I think. Score is a little high, but since she's first that's not much indication.

I FINALLY get to see Mai Murakami do a routine, hurray! She bounces up, adorable as ever. Lots of fear for her landings, which have been very low sometimes this year...but she pretty much nails them, with only minor adjustments. There's no other word for it, she completely lights up the arena and captivates the crowd with her smile. This is expression! She's always had unusual music which is never really able to turn the crowd, but she still draws everyone in effortlessly. Her leaps are still iffy, and the Gogean is bad, but I can't seem to care. Manages the triple okay, phew! When her score flashed up, placing her below Ferrari, I cried. An absolute disgraceful piece of judging. And then the screen showed her shocked face. :'( Her score was actually booed and rightfully so.

Simone Biles is the ideal tonic to get over a shock like that. Bounced her way around the floor and unfortunately, out of her landings too. She may not be the best dancer, and she could have a routine that utilises the dance skills she does have better, but...like Mai Murakami, she expresses the hell out of her routine and charms everyone in the process. The double layout half is still surprising with the turn coming from nowhere. A fabulous routine that definitely deserved gold, but not her best due to the landings.

Larisa Iordache is of course fresh from the gutting disappointment of having the beam title in your hand and losing it. But you wouldn't know it, she's full of energy and vitality, bouncing and dancing around the floor. This routine is a bit more mature than the previous one, but still suits her perfectly. She just seems to move more than the rest. Fantastic tumbling, just a great routine. I love when gymnasts bounce back so well. But..doesn't surpass Vanessa Ferrari who is clearly getting bonus points from the judges for losing the tiebreak last year. Lovely.

Giulia Steingruber's tumbling is fantastic, a full in double layout followed by 'just' a regular double layout. Amazing! The rest of the routine isn't great, she's a bit sloppy but still, very strong. Sandra Izbasa is up, looking very regal in a blue leotard. I really like this music but I don't think her choreography really works with it very well? As in, a lesser gymnast would look a bit lost with it. The tumbling is all going well, it's shaping up for at least a silver and then...crashes the last pass, in the exact same manner as at London. There was a general sense of disbelief that the same thing had happened two years in a row, and for her last routine too. Sandra was so admirable, straight up smiling and waving and so dignified waving at the camera when her score was shown. What a shame though.

I just love the improvement in Kyla Ross' artistry and choreography in the last while. Her first two passes are so well done and that whip noise bit is fantastic. Another strong routine but she just doesn't have the difficulty here to make an impact. Elsabeth Black who sadly didn't qualify for vault finals, rounded off this floor final. I LOVE the 2.5 stepout and this routine does have other moments of greatness but her execution did let her down a bit.

All in all, beam and floor had plenty of surprises and more than their fair share of disappointments. A bit of a letdown compared to Saturday's women's finals.

High Bar

The Dutch crew amped up completely when this final was announced and the roar when Epke Zonderland a) appeared, b) was announced and c) did anything at all was utterly deafening, but so much fun to be a part of. A truly epic routine, though yes those leg and knee separations are very obvious. Still, so so exciting to witness with the huge crowd support and then he just goes ahead and sticks the landing, bringing the roof down. Epic! Fabian Hambuechen, Kohei Uchimura, Samuel Mikulak (who danced his way off the podium :D) and Jossimar Moreno were all total crowd pleasers. A mindblowing final!

We had to leave shortly after the medal ceremonies started to get the train on time. Failed anyway and had a good bit of a wait..so I could have seen them all really! And then a mild panic to get to the gate on time, helped along by my missing several bottles of water and orange juice in one of my bags...so smart. Got there, and the flight was delayed, amalgamated with an earlier flight that had been cancelled...delayed again on the plane, and then delayed at passport control in Dublin. I collapsed into bed and you guessed it, the next day at college I arrived at 08:30 for my class starting at 10:00 because I forgot to change back the time on my phone. But nevertheless, a non-stop thrilling and just unforgettable weekend. Next stop, Glasgow! :D


It's actually quite difficult to condense the experience of watching the competition live. I'm really looking forward to a review post of worlds though, this weekend. Reviewing is much more up my street than faithfully recounting, I feel! Apologies all of these posts are so long. The review one will be a killer too, but after that they should be fairly normal again...

Worlds Experience/Competition Part 2

Warning: This is longer than the previous post and only covers floor and vault Day 1 event finals as a result. Read part 1, the AA, here.

Saturday

OMG, the breakfast. Continental breakfasts in mainland Europe are always great, but this was just such an unbelievable spread. I've never seen such a varity of fruit, fruit salads, yoghurts and seeds on top of the excellent hot food and pastries- there were these tiny doughnuts which were amazing. Anyway. Event finals were starting a lot earlier than the all-around of course, at half 2. We got to the arena at about 2 and hung around it for a few minutes, magically hoping a stream of gymnasts would appear as spectators. But....Mai Murakami and Asuka Teramoto obliged!

Source- beautifulgymnastics.blogspot.com

!!!!! :D :D :D :D Nothing like elite gymnasts to make you feel like an awkward giant, at the lofty height of 5'3. This practically made my year, seriously. Both girls went unnoticed by those outside and seemed very surprised when I asked them for a photo. Probably as I have a big red Caucasian head on me - they'd be far more used to just an Asian fanbase I think. They thanked me afterwards! It's odd to be beside someone I've written so much about and fangirled over. I wasn't very interested in actively trying to find gymnasts though. A bit, but not super stalky or anything. So random encounters seemed more fun for that reason.

Our seats were the same as yesterday, 2 rows further back, so the same view. Great for MAG floor, which started off the day. The noise of them warming up was astoundingly loud, like BAM..BAM..BAMMMMM. No music obviously so of course the landings were exemplified. It was really exciting to even think of seeing Kohei Uchimura's routine and Kenzo Shirai's AMAZING twistathon live and of course, they didn't disappoint. Mindblowing stuff. Every single roll-out skill was nervewracking, I'm delighted they're being phased out. I felt that it was a great honour to see Kohei Uchimura competing live and although his difficulty was a good bit lower than some, he was incredibly impressive and so clean. I don't really watch MAG floor and after watching so much of WAG floor, it's refreshing to see the differences - like the amount of great twisting combinations that we just don't see in WAG. However, I think I'd get bored of the lack of double backs if I watched or saw it in person more often. The fact that Kenzo Shirai was competing last was wonderful, it allowed the tension to build nicely. Everybody definitely got the memo about his crazy routine, huge cheer when he saluted. That quad twist...just incredible. Almost the best part of his routine though was Kohei Uchimura's reaction to the landing of the quad twist and the sheer joy when his score was posted. It's fantastic to see such sportmanship in action.

Thanks to Agnes Suto for mentioning the name of the marching in and out song, Martin Garrix- Animals. The cut the arena used is better than the video I found on youtube. The beat of it really fired up the crowd and I was thrilled when the vault finalists marched in...and there was no hot pink from the Americans. No red, white or blue from them either which I know bothers people but uhh such a stunning leotard, and I just love purple so much. So glamorous and regal with the jewelled neckline/bodice. Each time Simone Biles marched out at these worlds, at all five possible finals, I was blown away by how much shorter she is than the average gymnast. It's a reflection moreso on the changes of gymnast's builds over the years I think. Did you know that Shang Chunsong is actually taller than her? Barely, but still, hilarious :D

Sadly no timers this time around of course, I really think it's stupid and possibly dangerous not to allow it for event finals. Giulia Steingruber got the competition off to a great start with a fabulous Rudi. Yes, her feet are messy and she's a little bit too piked in the first half twist or so, but it looks amazing from the side and she almost stuck the landing. It's a weird experience to experience firsthand how little time a vault takes! And to be close enough to gymnasts that I could hit them with my water bottle if I so wished, people I've written so much about having only ever seen them on screens. Not to mention the weirdness of seeing yourself in the audience on footage! Back to Giulia, I'm so impressed that she learned the DTY in such a short space of time. A very wise decision as the DTT hadn't been working out, famously keeping her out of vault finals in London when she crashed it. And what a great DTY it was! She barely had leg separation on the block and she kept her legs glued together throughout the vault, which as we know is very rare, especially on vaults more difficult than a FTY. Again with the flexed feet...but again with the great landing, though she was bent over a little too much at the waist. A worthy contender for bronze.

Next up, the cannonball Produnova from Yamilet Pena. I admire her spirit a lot and I do think she does have a lot of innate vaulting talent, but this is a waste, and still so dangerous on her knees and ankles. It's especially surprising that she's still doing it after suffering setbacks with injury and with her coach leaving this year, and the fact that she could not land a handspring-layout front at Pan American Games not that long ago. Predictably, it was scary both in the air with her insufficient height, and on the ground though there was no doubt she got her feet under her and bearing weight enough to get a score. Huge groan of course from the crowd. I wonder what people like Oksana Chusovitina and McKayla Maroney who have been watching her splat this vault in the same finals for years think when she goes for it. It was upsetting to see the anguish on her face when she got up afterwards, though also maddening, I wished I had a stock of rotten tomatoes to throw at her coach and any other officials encouraging this gigantic hot mess. Even worse when she fell backwards on her second vault, sigh. I wish she could do an exchange programme with a US gym for a few months (not WOGA..) or just plain change citizenship.

Unsurprisingly, a huge roar greeted Oksana Chusovitina. Another legend I got goosebumps to see competing in front of me. She must like the springboard being set further back than usual, but this looked a bit like overkill as she hit the horse very far forward and the vault was consequently a struggle which she landed low. Still, she landed it, very impressive! It was hilarious when her coach was speaking to her right after and you could almost imagine Oksana thinking 'Be quiet, child!' It's got to take nerves to give constructive criticism to her. Happily, her second vault, Tsuk 1.5, was great! So straight and with great leg form. When you think of the pounding vault entails at her age, I highly doubt she does half the repetitions in training that her fellow competitors do. Which just serves to highlight the brilliance of that second vault, and indeed the ability to get around the first when the takeoff was wrong. What a privilege to see her in action.

Fourth to vault was Phan Thi Ha Thanh in another stunning leotard, pink this time. I've no issue with the colour when it's not sickly pale, hot pink, or pepto-bismol. She is so, so beautiful. I was gutted when she didn't make London finals last year, so it was great to see her here. She does pike her Rudi as we all know by now, and the last half twist is wild but it's really lovely in the air, very dynamic. At least from the side, which does mask quite a bit of what you see from the straight view on replay. Easier than ever to imagine why the judges don't deduct for things fans see on these replays. A pity she couldn't get her chest up on landing the Rudi though. And...I had a heart attack when 6.3 flashed up for her second vault. It never crossed my mind she would go for an amanar, because her DTY is not particularly great, or even secure. Madness to try it. Predictably, she barely got the two twists around and it was the scariest thing ever because it was the worst case of twisting into the ground I have ever seen. She's very lucky she got up and walked away after that. I'm all for difficulty and going all out, but they need to be skills you can actually do and do consistently. That was just frightening.

Chantysha Netteb qualified with low difficulty vaults, ahead of teammate Noel Van Klaveren who failed to make the final after practically landing her gorgeous DTY off the mat entirely. Chantysha has had issues with the DTY with a bad fall at Euros, and did revert to a 1.5 Yurchenko after. But the final is the time to bring it, so she went for the full 5.8. It looked good in the air and very clean and secure so it was a huge shock first of all when she fell backwards and a second, sickening shock when she grabbed her knee in agony. Just awful. My view of her face in intense suffering was all too clear and the big screen on my right which was too close to block out replayed it over, and over, and over again. The obvious pain on her face, the replay of her landing and the knee grabbing all screamed ACL tear, sadly. Chantysha is so promising, especially on vault, and it's just gutting to see her world championships go like this. What discipline it took for her not to make a sound.

After Chantysha Netteb was carried off on a stretcher (the worst sentence I think I've ever written here), it was Simone Biles' turn to vault. It's unnerving to be first up after that, harking back to Aly Raisman who had to go up on beam after Rebecca Bross dislocated her knee on vault at Nationals two years ago. But no problem for the new world champion, who launched her amanar up to the ceiling and had a better landing than the all-around, with just a small bounce back. The noise of her block is just BOOM, so explosive. Amazing. Her second vault, the Lopez, is the best I've ever seen. Her block is perfect, much superior to McKayla Maroney even, and she never once wavered from her pencil-like straight form. Her Cheng when we see it will no doubt be even more mindblowing.

The 2008 Olympic vault champion, Hong Un Jong, the only gymnast North Korea brought, has the second highest difficulty of all- 6.4 and 6.3 (Yamilet Pena just a tenth higher..), but her execution leaves her in contention for nothing more than bronze and the Cheng is a bit beyond her at times. Her first vault, the amanar, was better than I expected though. Very clean in the air but an uncontrolled landing marred it. It's a different story for the second vault, which was scrappy in the air, and so piked. The execution score she got was kind of hilarious, but then they mostly were in this final. Certainly it should not have approached a 9, a clear case of the judges afraid to penalise difficulty, again. Still, at least we weren't treated to a carcrash TTY, after an already scary few vaults! She's quite broad in the shoulders, and is definitely healthy and strong. The same can't be said of her coach, who looked like a doll by comparison- and basically, undernourished as a result of living through the famine in the 90's. I wonder how closely their delegation is watched at international competitions like this?

Last but not least, the reigning world champion, she of the stupid meme, McKayla Maroney appeared at the end of the vault runway. It was quite a tense moment seeing her focusing and getting ready after what happened the last time she appeared in an international vault final. No white leotard this time! The step back, the incredibly fast and powerful run...no fear for her amanar, which was just unbelievable. She still has the most incredible block and airtime, even though she's not getting the same height as last year. And another almost (soo..close) stick! She knows how to please a worshipping crowd, such an exciting moment. That said, I have issues with that score. Her hips and knees are bent, she was off direction by quite a bit and she didn't quite stick it..so her score being higher than the TF vault in London last year, taking into account the lowering of difficulty on it, is funny, and not in a good way. Yes, yes, she will beat Simone Biles on difficulty. There's no need to be ridiculous about it though. Also, Simone's own amanar was better, but scored worse. McKayla's second vault was a great vault for anyone else, but it was a bit poor from her, her block was really quite wonky. The important thing was that she landed it, and it was really good otherwise, great explosive distance I thought. That must have been one great sigh of relief to banish the ghost of London with a second consecutive world title. Onwards and upwards hopefully, her execution and height are even better than what we witnessed here.

The Podium
 
And the world champion is...big surprise here...McKayla Maroney! Silver of course went to Simone Biles with what were to me, easily the best two vaults of the competition and in third, Hong Un Jong beat off stiff competition from Giulia Steingruber and not so stiff from Phan Thi Ha Thanh, given her bad fall. It is absolutely fantastic to see somebody retain a title, and so magnificently. We shouldn't forget McKayla's string of injuries in the last year, and she had just 8 months of training to get to this point. I'm not sure we'll see a Cheng but I think a TTY is definitely possible, and I'm hopeful she can brush up just a bit on her execution and/or height. She absolutely deserved her gold..BUT..there's usually a but, it should have been closer as both of Simone Biles' vaults were in fact better. It's great to see these two sparring in international competition as well as internally, good motivation. Don't be fooled by gamefaces and Simone's polite but disinterested looking clap for McKayla after the latter landed her second vault. After the competition they marched out smiling and talking and when they came back for the medal ceremony, there was a great camaraderie between the two. What incredible vaulters, what a pleasure to see them raise the roof like this.

Many are saying Giulia Steingruber was robbed, and it's easy to see why. But although her vaults were great she did throw marks away with her low landings, and form issues particularly on the Rudi. It just wasn't enough to best a girl with seven more tenths of difficulty. I cannot but be happy for Hong Un Jong to take away a world championship medal. She is surely celebrated as an Olympic gold medallist, and entitled to live in the capital etc...but it's got to be miserable all the same and another prestigious medal cannot but be a good thing.

Here is a ridiculously great stop-motion photo gallery of every vault finalist in action. Love it!

Favourite Leotard

Simone Biles and McKayla Maroney's glorious purple leotard. Perfect on both.

Highlights

- The two amanars of the Americans, great to watch for different reasons.
- The clean fabulousness of Kohei Uchimura's floor.
- Everybody survived their roll-out passes.
- Kenzo Shirai's quad twist, because it's insane.
- And his entire routine, so exciting. I don't care how one-sided it is.
- Simone Biles' Lopez, it's just fantastic with the perfect block and technique.
- Giulia Steingruber's lovely DTY, despite the haste in which it was learned.
- The atmosphere before McKayla Maroney vaulted, so tense and expectant- waiting, wanting, hoping for the usual magic.

Not-so Highlights

- What looks like an ACL tear for Chantysha Netteb.
- The constant replays of her injury.
- A totally unneccessary and dangerous amanar from Phan Thi Ha Thanh.
- The cannonball from Yamilet Pena and her fall on the second vault. :(
- Roll-out skills. So fearful of them.



Who do you think has the best amanar now? Who should have gotten bronze? HOW CUTE is it that Kenzo Shirai and Mai Murakami are a couple and have been for years? How much crack are Yamilet Pena's and Phan Thi Ha Thanh's coaches on?

I had to split this post in half, so coming up soon will be the second half of Saturday, and hopefully some of Sunday if I can squash it in. Being closer to vault helps me blab on more about it, not to mention their being so kind as to take it in turns to compete, rather than all at once in the AA :)

Antwerp musings

So the team for Japan has been named, and the elite season for the US has not even begun. Most gymnastics programmes are somewhere in between, but a picture of the main players is definitely swiftly emerging.

Teams

In America, the first elite meet, Classics, is just under a month away. Traditionally, this meet can often be a splatfest as the girls use it to test new routines in preparation for Nationals. The Olympic team plus alternates have already qualified through to Nationals and so have the girls who competed internationally so far this season- so Maroney, Ross, Biles, Price, Nichols, Priessman, Dowell and Ernst do not need to compete at Classics but more than likely will anyway. Katelyn Ohashi is presumed out as she is not training yet, Sarah Finnegan is still recovering, and the status of Peyton Ernst is not known as she too had surgery recently. We can pretty much assume that Simone Biles is a lock for Antwerp unless she's injured. Her biggest problem is consistency as she could blow everyone else out of the water for difficulty if she includes one or two upgrades this year, but not if she biffs a bar release. No, not the TTY which as we have seen is not yet ready (if you have not seen it- she gets it around enough to be credited, but it's slightly under. She does not have the height and lands in a deep squat, deeper than sitting- and then falls back. She states that it is scary because her upper body gets it around but her lower body twists slower and her feet don't get around, making it a recipe for ACL tears if she competes it before she masters it) but maybe the full-in double layout, double wolf turn on floor and/or arabian on beam. Simone is the strongest all-arounder that they have, and can potentially qualify for all 4 event finals.

With the more than probable absence of previous contenders Katelyn Ohashi and Jordyn Wieber, the composition of the rest of the team is up in the air. Kyla Ross I would call at this stage another lock, though she needs a hefty upgrade stick to beat off the challenges Brenna Dowell, Ebee Price and Lexie Priessman pose for the second all-around spot. Even if she loses out for the second AA spot in prelims, her bars and beam are definitely needed and should get her easily into both finals. Medalling is quite another matter- her bars would need to approach 6.6+ and her beam roughly the same, the latter is quite a tall order. So, spots one and two are thought to be nearly guaranteed as long as both girls stay healthy. There will be another spot going to be a vault/floor specialist, to complement Simone and potentially take home more than one medal in both finals. McKayla Maroney, Ebee Price, Lexie Priessman and Mykayla Skinner are all contenders for this spot. McKayla, as we have seen, has her amanar back and her old vault, the Lopez. She is also training a double layout which is new, and a double arabian which isn't new but hasn't featured in her routines in years. Her floor could definitely break 6.0 but the combination of her passes she plans on competing is unknown. 3.5 twist or double layout, 2.5-front layout, 1.5- double arabian (unfortunately the dance-through video appears to indicate a hurdle for a 1.5 for the third pass :( and which had so better have the 1.5 placed earlier in her run or she's sunk already) and double pike would probably be the best bet. I don't see her competing the 3.5 twist AND double layout as she was never one for killer endurance on floor, even though she has grown.

Mykayla Skinner has a 6.5 floor routine, and 6.4 and 6.3 vaults. She has trained a half-on double full (Cheng half) though it's unknown if it's something she played around with once or could actually be done this year- after all, her Cheng is explosive. All of which makes her very, very interesting. Lexie Priessman has a full potential on floor of 6.7, not yet competed, and her second vault is unknown. Ebee's second vault is supposed to be a Mustafina, so 6.3 and 6.0 difficulty. McKayla is the one with Olympics and Worlds experience of course, whereas gymnasts like Mykayla have no international experience at all. Should be a great battle. That leaves one spot left, and they don't really have any amazing specialists aside from vault and floor remaining unless Katelyn is back in time to potentially take gold on beam. If not, a solid back-up like Brenna Dowell, who MAY be able to take the second all-arounder spot is the best bet. Ebee too is another very strong contender for that spot. But we might get an unknown like Abigail Milliet, who has a very strong beam routine in training- proving herself capable of medalling at worlds. I do see a team of Biles, Ross, Dowell (insert healthy Ohashi here) and Maroney being the most likely. But I wouldn't bet on it! Nevertheless, my team consists of:

Simone Biles, AA, VT, FX and UB and BB attempts
Kyla Ross, battling for AA with Dowell, UB and BB
Brenna Dowell, battling for AA with Ross, FX and UB attempts
McKayla Maroney, VT and FX attempt.

Beam and bars are not THAT strong but not weak enough to be called a void. Vault, floor and the AA itself are bursting with potential medals.

Romania are only utilising 3 spots. This time I would put money on this team's composition of Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar and Sandra Izbasa. But don't be fooled by such lack of depth, as these three are fierce contenders for medals. Although Sandra placed an astonishing fifth in the London AA, it is expected she will do vault and floor only. I say 'only' but the fact is she would be a favourite to take medals on both. The other two will compete all-around. Larisa, with her swish new second vault and 6.9 beam difficulty should have no issues making a number of finals, though she could potentially be pushed out of floor finals if Sandra and Diana (with upgrades) score higher. She's the favourite for gold on beam and is expected to feature on the AA podium. Vault and floor are definitely much more uncertain, especially vault where her current difficulty is not the highest. Her biggest weakness, big surprise, is a weak and badly composed bars routine which lost her the Euros AA gold despite a huge lead after the other three events. She needs upgrades to in any way overcome the handicap her bars pose to her AA chances. Diana's bars are a little better, except for her releases, but her difficulty here is far too low. Her beam too is just 5.9. On a happier note, she is FINALLY getting a new floor routine this summer. Her best shot for a medal is floor, and even then she could get squeezed out of the final if she does not upgrade and if Sandra is back to her best on that event. Bad news for Ana Maria Ocalisan and Stefanie Stanila who once again are not being given a chance. They may not be ready to represent Romania in a major competition...because they don't get any assignments! So this team, barring injuries, will be:

Larisa Iordache AA, BB, VT and FX (battle with teammates)
Diana Bulimar AA, FX (see above)
Sandra Izbasa VT, FX (see above)

With the exception of Viktoria Komova who was injured at the start of this year, last year's Russian Olympic team have not taken a break from training. Which is just as well since this year's seniors are sadly not up to much- with the exception of steady but Sheep-pak'd Evgeniya Shelgunova who appears to be injured. Ekaterina Baturina is probably the second strongest new senior but her difficulty leaves a lot to be desired. If Viktoria Komova is healthy, then she is on this team. So too is Aliya Mustafina who has competed a few times already and will do so again at Universiade. Viktoria's AA scoring potential will be enormous if she's fully recovered, and she should quite easily qualify to bars finals, beam too. Aliya is having quite a few issues with her beam, but she did hit a completely steady routine this year and one or two others that were nearly as good. She's expected to add 0.4 to her bars to up them to 6.7, more than likely a carbon copy of her London routine as difficulty has gone down in the new code. The third spot will go to Ksenia Afanasyeva, who unlike most veterans who stay the same or go downhill, has actually improved. She added bars back to her arsenal but she won't compete them at Universiade. She also has an amanar in the works and is training a full-in double layout. Her floor difficulty is the highest yet competed (Mykayla Skinner competed hers this year in the JO code) so far this year and she stands a great chance of medalling there. If she can hit bars then she's also a very good AA backup. The fourth spot will I think go to Maria Paseka. Even if she just competes the DTY, she should qualify for finals. Anastasia Grishina on the other hand, even if she hits every routine is unlikely to qualify for any final above her teammates. If Viktoria is not ready in time, then Anastasia would take her spot. If Maria proves unable to hit her vaults then I'd take Alla Sosnitskaya instead. My Russian team is:

Aliya Mustafina AA, UB and BB and FX attempts
Viktoria Komova AA, UB, BB
Ksenia Afanasyeva FX
Maria Paseka VT

For the Chinese team, worlds falls just in between two other major competions- the first of which, National Games, is actually more important to them. There are a bunch of retirements of the Beijing and London Olympians expected right after this meet, but should any of them hit and win medals I think we can expect a little delay in their retirement plans. There is only one new senior of importance this year, Lou Nina, and she is out with an arm injury. Consequently, we can expect Yao Jinnan as a lock for this team. In particular, she needs more upgrades on floor to fulfil her AA potential. She is, however, training probably the most exciting upgrade we'll see all year- a Mo Salto! I'd also put Shang Chunsong on this team. Tiny Shang has impressive difficulty across three events, and may yet grow enough to execute a DTY. She has proven herself to be inconsistent however, though not nearly as much as gymnasts like Huang Qiushuang who made a number of important teams on the back of her difficulty. No matter who else goes on the team, they will be fighting amongst each other to make bars and beam finals. They do have a very good vaulter, Li Yiting, but her vaults are quite unpredictable and a bit scary. The third spot will I think be up for grabs between bars specialists Tan Jiaxin and veteran He Kexin, depending on who hits in September. I know Huang Huidan is the one who snatched gold earlier this year but she's very flaky and I don't expect her to hit again when it counts, sadly. Although Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong are top quality beamers, I'd still take a beam specialist like Sui Lu or Zeng Siqi for the last spot, due to the lack of floor/vault specialists.

Yao Jinnan AA, UB and BB attempt
Shang Chunsong AA, UB, BB and FX attempt
Tan Jiaxin/He Kexin UB attempt
Zeng Siqi/Sui Lu BB attempt

Japan's team is a bit of a no-brainer, seeing as it has already been named. Two-time Olympian Yu Minobe joins the girls long seen as locks- Asuka Teramoto, Natsumi Sasada and Mai Murakami. The question is, who will join Asuka in the AA? Mai is the obvious bet, but she has very very rarely hit 4/4. For that reason, Natsumi is the best choice. Mai will be looking to make floor and vault finals, Yu beam finals, Asuka bars, beam and floor and Natsumi beam and floor...though she's very very shaky and beam is unlikely for her. Their best hope for a medal is Mai on floor, whose difficulty ranges from 6.0 to a monster 6.7. The latter is very unlikely to ever be credited, as her tumbling and dance skills have unfortunately gone downhill compared to when she was a junior.

Asuka Teramoto AA, BB, UB and FX attempt
Natsumi Sasada AA, BB and FX attempt
Mai Murakami FX and VT attempt
Yu Minobe BB attempt

Canada have lost some of their best seniors to NCAA- Brittany Rogers, Peng Peng Lee and Kristina Vaculik which is more than a bit of a blow. Nevertheless, they do have quite a few promising seniors. Girls like Victoria Moors and Ellie Black are locks if they are healthy. Victoria, who is training a double double laidout, unfortunately had a disastrous time at Nationals as she was sick and had calf issues. Even with that, she has competed very strongly when healthy and her floor is really her ticket to the team as it has huge medal potential. Ellie is a fierce competitor and has made great strides on previously weak events, bars and beam. I'd add Gabriella Douglas and Maegan Chant to this team, the former for her spectacular floor and the latter for her vaulting- not super strong yet, but showing enormous potential there and both need the experience to improve. This team, like Japan, is fairly devoid of someone for bars but should do well anyway.

Victoria Moors AA, FX
Ellie Black AA, FX, VT and BB attempt
Gabriella Douglas FX and BB attempt
Maegan Chant VT and FX attempt

Britain are not exactly in a brilliant position, they have lost the excellent Gabby Jupp to an ACL tear, Rebecca Tunney had a disastrous comeback from injury recently, new seniors like Georgina Hockenhull and Angel Romaeo have not proven themselves yet, bars specialists Ruby Harrold and Becky Downie have fallen more times than they have hit and seriously strong gymnasts like Amy Tinkler, Tyesha Matthis, Ellie Downie and Catherine Lyons are all juniors. Beth Tweddle has refuted rumours that she is retiring but she is almost certainly not going to suddenly knock out a killer 7.0 bars routine as she's still taking a break. Rebecca and Hannah Whelan have definitely not had great competitions so far this year, but both have plenty of time to improve on what they have shown. I believe Rebecca aside from the long break with her recovery, has also grown a bit which will of course impact her routines. That said, I'd put both girls on the team to do AA. In a similar vein, despite the inconsistency of both Becky and Ruby, they are still good hopes for the bars final if they don't fall, so they'd be on the team also.

Rebecca Tunney AA, FX, UB attempt
Hannah Whelan AA, FX attempt
Becky Downie UB attempt
Ruby Harrold UB attempt

Italy's Vanessa Ferrari has made noises about retirement but she's been competing so much this year and just won the AA at Mersin so I think she'll hang on until after worlds. Her presence alone is a huge motivation and boost for the rest of the team. Along with her I think Elisa Meneghini will do the AA and then some combination of Carlotta Ferlito/Giorgia Campana/Elisabetta Preziosa for the other two spots..but I think we'll see Carlotta and Giorgia.

Vanessa Ferrari AA, FX, BB, UB attempt
Elisa Meneghini AA, FX and BB attempt
Carlotta Ferlito FX, BB attempt
Giorgia Campana FX, UB, BB attempt

The All-Around

For a Post Olympic year, I don't think we run the risk of a weak field whatsoever. (In 2005, Monette Russo won bronze and in 2009, Koko Tsurumi). The top Russian and Romanian girls have not taken a break, and while some of the Americans are only getting back to training now, there are enough that the idea of them scrambling to field two top all-arounders is ludicrous. Currently, Simone Biles is the one to beat. She boasts huge difficulty- 6.3 vault and beam, 6.2 floor and 6.1 bars. It's quite likely she'll sneak some upgrades into floor and beam also. Aliya Mustafina has 5.8 vault, 6.3 bars, 6.4 beam and 6.1 floor. Similarly, she has upgrades planned for bars and her beam difficulty may reach 6.7 or higher. The key for both girls is to stay on the beam. That won't be an issue for Larisa Iordache who could well be dragged down by her weak bars instead, but her 6.9 solid beam is a huge boost for her. Her floor is 6.2 and her vault 5.8. Her bars were in and around 5.7 but she can upgrade there. It's far from concrete how USA's second all-arounder will be but we should, from past experience, except them to be strong. China's Shang Chunsong could well be up there if she gets a DTY- her difficulty is 6.7-8 bars, 6.6 beam and 6.1 floor. Yao Jinnan could be the slow and steady threat for bronze either. We are of course, far too far out to really pick the medals but this lot plus a healthy Viktoria Komova are definitely in the forefront for medals.


Vault

Astonishingly deep, potentially much moreso than the lacklustre Olympic final. Expect Simone Biles, a second American, Phan Thi Ha Thanh, Giulia Steingruber, Ri Un Ha, Janine Berger, Oksana Chusovitina, Noel Van Klaveren, Chantysha Netteb, Alexa Moreno, Jade Barbosa, Adrian Gomes, Mai Murakami, Hong un Jong, Ellie Black, Maegan Chant, Sandra Izbasa, Maria Paseka, Yamilet Pena, Fadwa Mahmoud and Larisa Iordache to bring all they can to the (vault) table.  Let us just hope the Produnova chuckers can get up afterwards..though Yamilet's coaching and injury status is unclear, so maybe she is sticking to safer vaults if possible. Last year has taught us that even the surest of sure things can crash a vault so I will not even attempt to divine a top 8 from this. I'd love to see the top 4 make the final though the latter two failed to do so last year. Giulia is upgrading her second vault- doubling it, but both vaults are in danger of being downgraded or heavily deducted due to piking, unfortunately.

Bars

Although Beth Tweddle has said she's definitely not retiring, but as mentioned above she's not in a position to shine this year. Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova will be expected to be in the front of the hunt for medals- and whichever two Chinese gymnasts qualify. Elizabeth Seitz is doing her Def again, newcomers Sophie Scheder, Jonna Adlerteg and Roxana Popa all have strong sets and the brilliant but inconsistent Ruby Harrold and Becky Downie will be pulling out all the stops to make finals. Kyla Ross, Kim Bui, Asuka Teramoto, Noemi Makra and Lisa Katherina Hill are all ones to watch too. There are also one or two Australians like Maddie Leydin who may be in with a shot. All of last year's routines are down about 0.3 in difficulty in this code so I would be surprised if we saw a 7.0 routine. Certainly the Chinese have a few approaching 6.8 though, and there are quite a few girls doing exciting release-release and/or release-transition combinations in their routine to boost difficulty. Whoever makes the final, it will definitely not be a snoozefest.

Beam

We've all been namedropping Katelyn Ohashi for this title when it emerged that her routine has a 7.2 d-score. Although she is very steady with it, her connections are too slow and consequently she has not yet hit past a 6.8 in competition. That's not saying much, since she only competed twice and is currently recovering from surgery. She may be able to get this event back in time and we shouldn't count her out of the running to make the team, but the focus has definitely shifted onto other high-scoring beam routines, or at least until Katelyn's ability to compete this year is clearer. Larisa Iordache is another favourite, and one who is definitely suffering from a few health issues herself that are hindering her usual precision if her recent performance at Anadia is anything to go by. Larisa's beam difficulty is 6.5, she competed 6.7 at Doha and has now competed 6.9. Certainly the latter is the routine she will be unleashing at worlds, and that will be hard to beat. Shang Chunsong remains a major threat, especially if she can improve her dismount. Simone Biles may increase her beam difficulty to 6.7, and Kyla Ross would be a contender too if she upgrades. We should expect an Italian or two, like Elisa Meneghini and Carlotta Ferlito and maybe a Russian if their routines are steady, but this looks like a clear-cut fight between the Romanians and the Chinese.

Floor

The girl to beat is Ksenia Afanasyeva who whipped out an almost perfect routine at Euros and an upgraded difficulty of 6.4. But Ksenia is inconsistent and there are quite a few snapping at her heels- Simone Biles, the second American, Larisa Iordache, one of Sandra Izbasa/Diana Bulimar, Victoria Moors, Mai Murakami, Giulia Steingruber and more. Full-in double layouts, double doubles, 1.5 twists to tucked full-ins and maybe even laidout double doubles will abound. Definitely not shaping up to be a weak floor final.

I updated the predictions that I did last November. You can see them, marked in blue, here.


Do you disagree with my 'teams'? Who I have missed factoring in for event finals? Will we see a laidout double double or TTY? What will Vanessa Ferrari wear?