I'm going to jump on the Twitter frenzy about this...here is Mykayla Skinner's new floor routine. It's on TCG, Examiner, Gymnastics Coaching and Triple Twist so you can't miss it..but I'm just too excited about it to ignore it. I've posted about her and her opening pass in training before, but the routine in full deserves its own post. Presenting...a laidout double double, tucked double double, double arabian and 1 and a half into 2 and a half. Given her completely upright landing on the double arabian and overrotation (!!!) on the 2 and a half, I wouldn't be surprised for them to become piked and a triple respectively. Alternatively, she could add in a jump or two..or maybe a punchfront. Jumps now need to be a B value out of a D tumble, or A out of an E or higher tumble. This routine has been calculated to be 6.5..the same start value as Aly's, which had two jumps AND a punchfront A combination pass is not needed in the new code..I wonder if she could put a full twisting double layout, 3.5 twist or piked double arabian there instead? Incredible. I want to see this at worlds. I know she begins her first pass out of bounds, but there's a tiny snippet of a competition where she does it fine in bounds so I wouldn't be concerned. Mykayla is also training a Cheng which looks fine and not a fight to get around or anything. And she has had an amanar under her belt for a while.
Skip to 0:50 EDIT: I've just seen the complete video of this routine in competition and she does sit the double arabian, but it looks like a fluke, so I'm not bothered. This routine sells itself, she just has to nail it in front of Marta.
Even with disregarding the Fierce Five completely, USA already has enough powerhouses..Ebee, LexiePriessman and Simone Biles. Mykayla would need to prove herself as an all-arounder before she could displace Ebee or Lexie..but with the difficulty she has, she could still get in to major teams. Classics/Nationals just got more interesting...
As for her new skill, it can only have a H value as it stands as that's what the tucked version is worth and it's the current maximum. However, that's not to say it couldn't get a higher value if she submitted it at worlds. They are forever revising the code, and it would be unfair to have both skills with the same value, as well as having the version with just a single twist worth the same. I wouldn't say definitely..but quite likely..that they would introduce I and J for this and for other future skills. OR revise the tucked version and full twisting DLO to G and leave this as H. Either or..
The team final at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival has taken place. Predictably, China won, with a two point lead. Second was Britain and third was Australia. (Australia fielded two teams). Girls elegible were 1998-2000 born. Britain's team was the youngest- including the lovely 2000-born Catherine Lyons and her gorgeous form. China consisted of Mei Jie, Chen Siyi, Luo Huan and Liu Zhilin. Sadly, they suffered a collective nerves meltdown on beam, all of them fell- though Mei Jie managed her whole routine only to fall on the dismount. These four are extremely talented, and will be a strong part of the Rio squad. Unsurprisingly, they shone on uneven bars. The competition is not over yet, with an AA and event finals still to come, so hopefully they can learn from TF and stay on the beam!
Stunning. Especially the mount and scale into turn. Shows a lot of presence for a 12 year old.
Luo Huan Uneven Bars Her toepoint! Great dismount too. Chen Siyi Uneven Bars Not as strong, but still lovely. Liu Zhilin Uneven Bars Sooo precise. Mei Jie Uneven Bars Great release combo! Needs to take a lesson from some of her teammates in toepoint, but I love it. So tiny, 3 releases, beautiful dismount...maybe she could do one of the old hardcore releases?? Liu Zhilin Beam Obviously not the routine she wanted to show, but I can't help but think she will develop beautifully on this event. Gorgeous lines, and nice Nastia-esque mount! A pity she broke form on it slightly, but at least she didn't topple off on it like eh..Nastia. Mei Jie Beam Okay I love the fact her name is translating as Team Major. Kept the team beam flakiness in check until the last. She works the beam very strongly, reminds me of Deng Linlin. Promising! Luo Huan Beam Clearly feeling the nerves, but still divine. Great acro series and Onodi. They really were dominoes on this event, but they're so young..they'll be fine! Chen Siyi Beam The tuck front is not her friend, hopefully she can improve it. Beautiful layout!
They all either vaulted FTY's or layouts, but then that's not altogether dissapointing due to their age and the fact that nobody did anything more difficult than a FTY in the whole meet.
Floor is harder to find so far, but here is Luo Huan. very weak in difficulty as expected, but so elegant! Love her arm movements.
Lavinia Milosovici has had a baby boy, Mihai. Lavinia suffered the loss of her daughter some years ago from illness. Shannon Miller has announced her second pregnancy, said to be a miracle owing to her ovarian cancer.
British 2000 Olympian Lisa Mason has announced a comeback for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Lisa is now 31 with a 7 year old daughter. Good for her :)
Here's a great article about some controversy at the 1981 Worlds. Just substitute some names and bam, it's 2008 all over again! It's worth noting that they were in fact correct on both counts, but still a fascinating read.
Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar will compete at the La Roche sur Yon World Cup (formerly Bercy, a snappier title...) on March 16-17. Larisa will do beam and bars, Diana just beam. Seeing as Larisa will be coming off SCAM a fortnight before, I'm not surprised she is doing the 'easier' events pounding wise. Not sure what the deal is with Diana though, I'd love to see her do AA or 3 events..
McKayla Skinner is training a Cheng. Into a mat on a pit, but very upright! Bit of bent knees, but it's a new skill and I'm hoping she can straighten them in time. She has a similarly very upright competition ready laid-out double double, and already has an amanar and tucked double double under her belt. McKayla turned senior last year, but did not yet get her chance to shake things up. Looking forward to the debut of these skills! You can see the Cheng here.
Unfortunately my laptop charger has died a death, and because of Blogger's US only phone service, I can't update. Hope to have one within the week :) Thankfully can still look at everything on my phone, so I won't be starved of news...
Really exciting stuff this week, videos emerged of no less than two new skills. The first is a double double laidout, performed by McKayla Skinner of USA. Though we have seen an arabian double layout, and a pretty loose double double by Ebee, nobody has yet done this. Would be great to see it even at Nationals. Though she is using a mat, it doesn't look like she really needs it. Decent landing, and hopefully with time she can force her legs straighter. The second skill is a double layout dismount off beam, performed by Catalina Ponor of Romania. She is supposed to be retired! This was rumoured to be done by Armine Barutyan (yes, of GAGE) of USSR in training, but no video ever emerged so it is not widely credited. Clearly she is doing it into a pit so it's nowhere near ready, she gets spotted and she's below the floor before she's upright...but it DOES look very possible. Even if it never materialises- respect!
I can't believe when pondering the possibility of this skill a few days ago, that I couldn't figure out exactly what it would look like. Eventually it struck me that it would look exactly like Elise Ray/Shawn Johnson's bars dismount. Duhh.
WOW! EDIT: This video was only uploaded yesterday, and several good sources are similarly reporting it as new. Others are saying its from last year. Point still stands regardless, Cata is awesome and this could well inspire another gymnast.
Anna Dementyeva's beam routine at Voronin last month caused a stir, and scored extremely highly- in excess of 15.6 if I remember right, must recheck. A video has been anxiously awaited, and here it is! Such a beautiful gymnast. I hope she gains more fluidity with this and one or two of her connections are a little tentative, but this is lovely and difficult work. Well done Demy!
