Classics: Thoughts on Seniors

Classics for seniors is always weird. Many of the top gymnasts don't bother with the AA, whereas others go all out to impress. In this case, the top 2 both competed all-around...but so few others did! Too many injuries and scratching marred this competition big-time.

Simone Biles (as I write this...new Bruin!) and her return to competition for the first time since Antwerp was the big excitement and draw. Her ask.fm previously provided the information that she wouldn't be doing the Cheng this year and that her bars are currently downgraded. Understandable, given her shoulder issues. What I was hoping for was strong floor, usual great Amanar, and improvement on beam with the inclusion of her new BHS-LOSO-LOSO.

But, her floor..absolutely blew me away. I've watched it at least 10 times by now and it still has my eyes out on stalks. Is 15.8 crazy? Yes, but so is that floor. She legitimately leaves barely anything to deduct. I can't believe her landings. Not just how controlled they were, but how upright, she's had issues before with both DLO variations. As far as artistry goes, the music suits her and the choreography too. It's much more fluid and a much better effort than her previous routine. The smile and charisma still coming off in waves...I live for her huge grin after slamming her passes. It may not be the greatest demonstration of artistic gymnastics we have yet seen, or your favourite, but it is THE strongest floor routine I have ever seen, ever. And you won't even get me to admit it was more in the 15.4 range.

Simone. Copyright - John Cheng

Amanar was as strong as usual, I'd like to see her stick that this year. The Lopez was strong in the air but her block looked a bit troublesome, as if she did not get her hands down correctly. It is testament to her power that the only issue otherwise seen was the slightly low landing, she was fully able to get the vault around. She'll be looking for a much sharper version of that at Nationals.  I expected slightly dodgy bars and she had an issue at the start right enough, but she picked up and it ended up being a decent routine with another great landing. Beam could have been stronger too, she had a sizeable wobble and a missed connection but good lord, her BHS-LOSO-LOSO is so beautiful, which is so unexpected from a tiny powerhouse.

All in all, Simone kicked ass and took names. A truly dominating performance which put to rest any immediate concerns over her wellbeing. I expect her to be even stronger again at Nationals. At this point, there is a strong argument that she is the greatest gymnast ever. Wow.

It was nice to see Kyla back after uncharacteristic weaker performances from her earlier this year. The whip-double arabian was nice, but as she found it hard to get the stag from it cleanly in training, didn't manage in competition, and she had to drop the full-in...I don't see it as a permanent fixture. Seriously strong landings from her and consistently great performances. I'd like to see her truly be able to challenge Simone and upgrade her beam and bars significantly but it seems like that's never going to happen, so I'll stay content watching her refreshingly steady and clean work. She's going nowhere from the AA this year anyway, but this position is a little in jeopardy when Bailie Key arrives on the scene.

It was disappointing to see Kyla do a low difficulty bars routine, I'd really hope she can bring it back to 6.4 in time for Nanning. It won't matter for the team that much, but it certainly will for her chances of repeating a medal in bars finals.

I was really looking forward to seeing strong, assured 'pick-me-or-you'll-regret-it' routines from Brenna Dowell. Alas. She threw an extremely ambitious bars routine but had major problems with each high-low transition and ended up jumping down instead of dismounting. A very wise decision given that she apparently is carrying an ankle injury, and may have tweaked it during the routine, or just lacked the energy after dealing and recovering from two big errors. Nevertheless, this is a disaster for her chances this year unless she is totally fine by Nationals. Hopefully they'll have a plan for her bars at least, that she'll do lesser difficulty if the full routine isn't consistent in podium training. Her vault could be valuable for them this year, but it sounds like a bad idea with a foot injury. Sad to see her like this, especially since she deferred Oklahoma for a shot at this worlds team.

Rachel Gowey was most interesting. Crashed her amanar, but really nice floor and beam work. Bars are not really happening for me. Her speed and block on vault were totally off, perhaps just nerves, as she has been landing them fairly well otherwise. I'd like to see her work on it rather than lose it, if she can land it decently..her long lean frame isn't typically suited however. As for floor, a wild 3.5 landing (fully rotated though!) brought her score down, as did a frankly bad turn combination which likely was not credited at all. I live for her triple full though. She's an odd combination, gorgeous lines and dance, some power moves despite long, frail frame, but...dodgy leaps. I'd like to see her on the team for her beam alone, but she certainly has more up her sleeve to offer a team than that, she just needs to work on it.

Madison Kocian conformed the wisdom of fan's pre-selection of her for worlds with another strong bar routine, earning her 15.4. There's a healthy number of minor form issues with it, legs flickering apart being my bugbear. Nevertheless, they were very strong. So...beam? A fall, and another ankle tweak. Very depressing, but maybe just a precautionary measure and she'll come back strong for Nationals at least on her strong events. However, she's perpetually injured so that's not really encouraging.

BUT...a bars/beam specialist has emerged from nowhere! Ashton Locklear posted a phenomenal 15.7 for her bars, and followed that up with a very decent 14.55 on beam. Hers is a name I've been seeing in lists of camp attendees, but no further information. A bolt from the blue for almost everyone I would say. I love her bars composition, piked inbars, BIG Jaeger, very Russian combinations. She had gorgeous long lines also. But, the form errors were not really taken into account...flexed feet on all of the inbars and on other occasions, legs coming apart on top of the bar and in transitions, messy Pak and sloppy bail. In light of that, the score was several tenths too high. It's a fabulous routine but there's lots of little things wrong, I'd love to see her work on them.

Ashton. Copyright - John Cheng

Her beam had gorgeous lines but with those lines..form errors stand out a mile! Bent knees in her LOSO, dodgy back leg on some of her leaps. Her leaps are weird...some were really good, some quite bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm really impressed with her, just not blown away by her form. As a complete and utter new girl, she has loads of time to work on the small things. In the meantime, she needs to stay consistent as she could easily end up on this team, especially if Madison can't come back in time.

Mykayla Skinner had a lot to prove, and unfortunately it didn't really work out. The confirmed loss of Mckayla Maroney for this season and another injury for the ever-plagued Lexie Priessman remain massive points for her inclusion, as does the uncertain status of Brenna Dowell, but her coaches need to get.it.together. She has not been injured as far as we aware so there was no excuse for her somewhat poor conditioning. But, no matter what shape she's in, that floor routine is officially too much for her and they need to fix it. Simone does her incredible difficulty with ease, but halfway through and Mykayla struggles, with another fall borne from pure exhaustion. It's not acceptable to still have the wrong skill selection for her. It's great to see an underdog do well, not so great when their coach isn't making the best decisions for them. Vault, well even though the one-handed Cheng block works for her, I'd still prefer the standard approach and I thought it was fair her execution suffered as a result. Kyla should not be beating her score on that vault, it would be nice if that served as a wake-up call of sorts.

I AM very impressed with her beam, that full in combination is just so glorious. One of the best ever done surely. She has improved overall but there's a long path to go.

Nica Hults just did bars, and Maddie Desch just bars and beam. Both have faded considerably which is sad to see. Nica in particular was an option for worlds with her steady beam and bars, but she doesn't seem to be in contention anymore. Amelia Hundley had a good outing, with really nice floor work in particular, but definitely isn't what she could be...throwing an FTY isn't a good sign. She has been injured and more than likely will do better in time, but I don't see her fitting into the worlds team regardless.

Maggie Nichols, on the other hand, had a very good day, placing third in the AA! She's very reminiscent of Aly Raisman and could fulfil the exact same role...the steady, solid powerful one who goes up early in the rotation in team finals. She can fill in anywhere, even her bars are half decent.

Overall, aside from the top 2 and Ashton Locklear, this was a messy, rough competition with too many injuries, absences, and gymnasts scratching events. We've definitely come to expect roughness from Classics but I feel like we should at least be seeing more gymnasts, and more doing more events. It speaks volumes of the rigours of the code when even the US are struggling with it. I say struggling in full knowledge of the depth they have and their ability to cope with knockbacks, a luxury other countries don't have, even the rest of the top 4. Hopefully we will see more faces, and stronger performances at Nationals.

The Good

Bars Some really nice routines on display

Comebacks Simone Biles back for the first time since worlds, and in explosive fashion

Improved artistry Kyla and Simone both sold their routines, old and new respectively, better than ever

The Bad

Absences, injuries, scratching Worrying


Best

Floor Simone
Beam Kyla
Bars Ashton
Vault Simone

Favourite

Vault Simone
Bars Madison
Beam Rachel
Floor Simone

Leotards

Of our medallists, I loved Simone's. I did think the side panels looked vaguely like windows into her organs, which is a weird thing to say. Still, a great leotard, colours wise and style wise. Kyla's had potential but ended up being dull...the lighter purple colour needed to be broken up more. Maggie's was quite cookie-cutter USA but still nice.

Simone. Copyright - John Cheng

I am a sucker for white, and for white trim against black mesh. Lovely use of pink. Ticks so many boxes even if I think we're looking at her lungs.

Madison Desch. Copyright - John Cheng

More glorious GAGE blue ombre with the rose again, stunning.



Honourable mentions: Ashton Locklear, WOGA and CGA as mentioned in the juniors post

Dishourable mentions: Again, a lack of scope here. I didn't like the mesh on Mykayla Skinner's gorgeous shade of blue leotard, and it ruined it for me.


How many times have you watched Simone's floor? (Embedded below for convenience). Who is on your team now - has Ashton blasted her way in? Can Kyla get any taller?

The US worlds team

Summer is well advanced, not that you'd know it from Ireland's propensity for continuous rain, but how and ever.....this means worlds are only a few months away. And as always, it is the potential US team that is far and away the most interesting to speculate about. It is a shame that nearly everyone else, including the rest of the top 4, will be struggling to get 6 healthy bodies onto the plane to Nanning, as they have so little room to manouevre with the lack of depth.

As with all teams though, the core is pretty much in place barring injuries, and no doubt they will take out yet more 'sure things' in the months to come.

Simone Biles will continue to be the standout. Top all-arounder, highest-scoring contributor on vault and floor, more than likely to be used on all 4 in team finals. The favourite to repeat her feat and take AA gold again, and she could well take floor and vault gold too. If she got into all 4 event finals again, I wouldn't be surprised. But, she has of course been dealing with quite a bit since Antwerp, what with the somewhat dramatic leaving of her previous gym, although with her excellent coach thankfully, and a shoulder injury which sidelined her out of all early season competition.

Simone started the year with a bang, displaying many upgrades in a camp video including a rather nice BHS-LOSO-LOSO, beautiful Cheng and front 2.5-front full and a workable shap half on bars. Then came the shoulder and my Chellsie Memmel-esque visions. Then back at Pac Rims displaying a much improved brand new floor routine with her old immense power and vigour back on display at podium training, then she was pulled out of the competition at the last minute. The fact that she's attending camp and has stated that she's totally fine goes a long way to allaying fears, as too does her physique which like Aly Raisman, would really help deflect injuries. But what effect has the long time off had, and how has it affected her training? I did suspect, and Marta herself confirmed, that bars is the event taking the hit, she's not fully back there yet and they need work. I'm really curious to see her at Classics but I'd expect that by worlds her bars will be at Antwerp level, with the shap half and maybe an upgraded dismount. I may be overly optimistic, but I think we will be seeing a strong, powerful Simone this season once again who will anchor this team.

Marta's recent report on Kyla Ross was extremely positive so it looks like we'll be seeing improvements on her earlier performances this year where she had downgraded and was very laboured looking. What I think we'll see is the difficulty she had in Antwerp, and the sharpness she had then too. Upgrades would of course be both welcome and awesome, but I think at this stage with her back injury earlier this year, massive height increase and desire for college that the strategy makes sense, though it didn't for the previous two years. She remains an important asset to the team with valuable input on bars and beam especially, and has a super solid DTY good for a 15.2/3 and a floor that always does well execution-wise (AHEM let's not forget she beat McKayla Maroney into the floor final last year!)

Essentially, there is no scenario other than her own health whereby she wouldn't be in Nanning. If she stays elite, she could be demoted to specialist in major competitions due to new seniors outscoring her, but that's not going to be an issue this year. However, the return of no less than Gabby Douglas who is set to do the all-around at Nationals and is at 80% in her return definitely jeopardises Kyla making the AA final at worlds if Simone is at full strength. Nothing better than a good scrap to qualify though.

Other than those two, nobody else is set in stone as such but we can have a good guess. Certainly Ebee would have been had she not retired from elite. She's a big loss and I'd love to have seen her finally get the chance to really shine on the world stage, but I completely admire her decision and look forward to seeing her in college. It's just a pity that Stanford do not allow spring enrollment for athletes, but then again given Ebee's severe past injuries and the dedication and training time required for elite, that's still a pretty big ask.

Gabby Douglas is on this team if she's ready. Bars, bars and beam, AA, whatever she has in the tank really. Like most people, I was very shocked that she made the decision to move back quite quickly but seeing that she never stopped being in incredible shape, it's not too surprising that she's reportedly well on the way and that worlds is feasible for her. She was gifted with the ultimate body type for gymnastics really. If she was at 80% at the last camp, then what can she deliver once competition season rolls around again? Hopefully more than bars, and she seems to be prepping for the AA at Nationals. I don't think she would say that if it wasn't likely. AND, just released this morning, a training video containing a quite lovely Tkachev-Pak and prep for a new Ling! I'm interested in her beam which will need some little adjustments for the code anyway, and her floor. Her last floor was, well....bad, so I'm impatient to see what they have come up with for her. However, having all 4 events is a big ask. Even 2 would be great, especially bars/beam.

The darkest of dark horses and the ultimate underdog, Mykayla Skinner, could quite easily end up on this team. I have said before myself that she won't be selected due to poor execution and the fact that there are others covering her strong events, but I freely admit now that she's in with a great shot. McKayla Maroney, despite being great at coming back from injuries in time previously, is unlikely to be ready. This, and Ebee's retirement, are majorly to Mykayla's advantage, as too is the uncertain status of Lexie Priessman. She has not just one supremely difficult vault, but two, which neither of the latter two had, and with McKayla out, Mykayla (keep up with the correct Michaela variations!) has a great opportunity to take silver in vault EF after Simone. Floor is harder to predict. She will more than likely present with difficulty greater than 6.5, but greatly to her cost if her landings get the best of her again and if the judges get their protractors out looking at her leaps. She will still score high enough, especially obviously if she does one like her Nationals Day 2 routine from last year. She'd complement Kyla very well. However, how much does Marta trust her? Mykayla has barely any international experience, with just 2 Jesolo's under her belt. She still needs to prove herself, and be too good to ignore.

To quite a few, the idea of her being on a team makes a mockery of gymnastics due to her poor basics and execution. I won't pretend that they are fabulous or act as if she shouldn't be hit hard for it, she totally should....although, it's nice to see her making improvements in that department and I'm glad she's working at it. It is of course always better to see power coupled with great form, but she's just so exciting and so fun to root for. I found myself really not caring about her BHS on beam and its deplorable form in the camp video a while back because LOOK at the way she totally nailed a killer tuck full in combination right after it! You go girl! That is the effect she has on me. I also think it's a little funny to act as if bad form and basics are a shocking new revelation to the gymnastics world, heralded in by the US. Bent knees, crap toepoint, bad leaps...these things have been around for decades, even occasionally lurking amongst the (GASP) Soviets. That doesn't excuse this particular example. Yes, she should have a much stronger foundation in the easier things and it's terrible that this wasn't achieved at an early age, especially given her vast, vast talent and aptitude for the sport. But please spare the dramatics as if everyone else is perfect by comparison.


In yet another twist to this tale of the potential US team, Lexie Priessman shockingly exited her long term gym, CGA, and departed to a nearby gym under a coach she has previously worked with. I highly doubt this was entirely amicable. Anyway, I'm pleased for her as I don't have a whole lot of time for CGA and MLT but given her string of injuries and desire for college, I'm curious about her short-term plans. Go big or go home before college with the chances of injury reduced in her new home? Or slowly wind down, again, staving off injury before college? She is certainly a good prospect for this team if she's ready, decent bars, good floor, potential amanar, but she'd have to fight for it. I'm a little anxious that it may be too little too late for her and elite, and she'll go down like Katelyn Ohashi. The too young junior superstar that bows out before making their mark in elite. I truly hope she gets her chance this year before undoubtedly shining at LSU. Curious to see her against the likes of Brenna Dowell.

Speaking of those two, they're quite similar. Decent-strong bars and floor, serviceable amanars though neither rock solid in that regard. I'm unsure about both. Brenna never really broke through last year, despite having the goods. Her demotion to alternate at the last minute last year in place of an all-arounder who is really not an all-arounder, is not an encouraging sign. If her floor has solid landings, her amanar is landed that bit better and her bars show off their phenomenal potential which she did to great aplomb at American Cup, then who knows? She is another who benefits from Ebee's retirement, as the latter's strong and solid performances on the same 3 events are now off the table.

Of course, this is the US, and there a number of other options.

WOGA girls Alyssa Baumann and Madison Kocian have their eye on a bars/beam spot, which Gabby Douglas may well have already 'stolen'. My issue with both girls is that they're not equal and need to be combined into one gymnast. Madison is excellent on bars, less so on beam. Alyssa is strong on beam, but her bars are more average. It's a problem. I don't know what happened to Nica Hults who should by rights be in the running for this too, she seems to have faded away quite considerably.

Peyton Ernst and Maggie Nichols will of course be looking to step up into the team also. I see them both as being fairly well rounded, but being in the position of not having the d-scores or outstanding qualities on a particular event to really shove themselves forward. Hard to tell where they're at just yet. Likewise, Rachel Gowey and Amelia Hundley. The former has a new amanar, lovely beam and promising floor and bars, along with arguably the best coach in the world. She also has virtually no experience at all, including no Nationals, and was a bit disappointing at Jesolo. Stellar performances at Classics and Nationals will really boost her but I really do not see her snatching an AA spot regardless. The latter, especially given her nice bars, could be a solid team player, IF she is healthy.

Similar to Nica, I don't see much happening for Polina Shchennikova and Maddie Desch. Maddie's teammates Sarah Finnegan and Sabrina Vega have completely gone to ground with no camp appearances, since they are apparently preparing for college, although no word on where, I figure that's where we'll see them next.

Another 5ish weeks to go until we can really get a grasp of this team, I'm so impatient!

Who is the core of your team? Is it too early for Gabby Douglas to really be ready? Can MLT keep her remaining senior elite in one piece?

'Quick hits' from Jesolo podium training videos

I am confused as to whether Day 2 is open access or not, it was then it wasn't. Day 1 is definitely not. The below is a combination of both.

Kyla Ross' routines are the same. Very clean on bars and beam, although one or two wobbles on the latter and her front tuck-wolf jump was lacking due to energy it seemed. Stuck a lovely DTY. All in all, she looks good but not her best I think. Ankles had some hefty bandaging/support on beam. Lack of upgrades are the constant theme with her but since she is recovering from a back injury, it's not very surprising and definitely understandable.

Edit- Floor is up. Double arabian-stag, double pike, 1.5-front full, double tuck. She's not following the pass direction rules for which the cut-off is approaching fast. I forget if others are :p Very clean and controlled routine.

Mykayla Skinner's amanar is back! And although it's a significant squat on landing - 90 degree knee bend, it looks quite secure and 'on'. Nice form too. The Cheng was great in the air and landing...her block usually needs a screenshot to see if she used both hands and I can't do that on my phone. It looks like she used both hands (she did not at the Level 10 a while back) but barely. Her tucked double double was shown (her d-score is reportedly 6.8 now although dependent on getting full credit from dance elements) and it was nice, seemed very easy for her. Bars have such an ease in the swing but too many form errors bringing them down, it's a shame.

Beam was...wait for it..watchable! The wolf turn from hell is gone and she has calmed down on the ambitious connections to increase consistency. The BHS-arabian was impressive, lots of height on the arabian and a great upright landing Nia Dennis would approve of. Sadly the BHS is reminiscent of Dominique Dawes on beam. Other acro skills like punchfronts and the side aerial were very nice. Her basic leaps seemed to be hit or enough to be declared 180. The switch half HAS improved thankfully. There's an L-turn-single turn combination, her leg dips up and down a bit on the L but it's fine. She did not do the upgraded dismount she's training - Patterson I think? I don't believe she did the Fabrichnova either. I'm curious to see how she will do, she has definitely put the effort in for more than just d-scores.

Edit - Her full floor just went up. Same tumbles - Moors, Silivas, double arabian - stag, 1.5 to 2.5. The middle passes have switched around. Energy to spare on the first 3, bounced a bit out of the Silivas. Her first pass is really quite laid out for nearly all of it, nice. I'm not sure we will ever see it fully perfectly laid out though. On her last pass she was short a bit. The switch half was..good! Double L turn was okay also.

Peyton Ernst did a dance-through on floor. I watched it without music so not very helpful. Some nice poses showing off her back flexibility and her end pose is great - combines Viktoria Komova's 2011 one and Anna Pavlova's in 2008! Rachel Gowey also did a dance-through. Very elegant arm movements and her lines look lovely, but it didn't seem very expressive or outstanding. Will have to judge both in competition when they're in performance mode. Peyton's beam was solid.

Edit- Full floor went up. Solid tumbling including lovely double layout and double arabian, a little low on the former.

Rachel Gowey did a triple full and made it look like a single twist, so effortless. Hopefully she can nudge the 3.5 back into her routine. Gorgeous form on it. Her bars are not quite there yet, issues with handstands and little form things - her Pak for instance was over arched with oddly flexed feet. Fabulous straight double layout, same as Norah Flatley's. No shap full. Beautiful beam! Floaty BHS-LOSO-LOSO with perfect form and her leaps have improved since last year. Really promising.

Edit- full floor is up. She's doing tuck full in, front double full-front tuck, triple full, double tuck. She landed the first two very low, big stumble on the first and almost sitting the second. Dissappointing but hopefully she'll improve for the competition. She looks great movement, I'm not sold on expression or performance/choreography yet but it's just training.

Bailie Key looks like..Bailie Key. Great DTY. Her bars have been reworked a bit - she has the Church in (or Ricna? Sorry I don't know which) but the Jaeger is still there - petition to dump it and replace with Gienger please! Beautiful Pak, perfect shape and form. Stunning lines. Stalder half might be new also.

Edit - Beam is up. Fabulous, just stunning work. The arabian is in, deep landing but very secure. Aerial-wolf-straddle is very nice.

Nia Dennis showed off a huge DTY. Hit the ceiling on her Tkachev, no piked Tkachev and she did a double pike. Not sure if warm-up or downgrades out of season as she fully bounces back from injury. Nice shape in her Pak too but a little far forward on catching.

Jordan Chiles looks good. Yet another good DTY and her bars are taking shape nicely. She is not hitting handstands but at her age, I wouldn't be concerned. She has step-downs like Kyla! Nice ease in her swing.

Edit- Great floor. Double Arabian and front double-layout front to start. Too much energy on the punchfront and stepped OOB but really a lovely routine. She has a lot of presence I think. Beam is up too, a little bit wobbly but has the makings of a great routine.

Alyssa Baumann was wobbly on beam and broke a few connections. Lovely Onodi but her arabian was landed very low. Emily Gaskins was quite hesitant on beam, a little nervy looking. Gorgeous line on bars but little form issues.

Madison Kocian's bars look cleaner I thought. Bent elbows are her enemy still but the routine looked sharper in general.

Norah Flatley had two beam routines uploaded. Stunning. Just, the full package on that apparatus. She did break the really long connection both times but meh, it's so hard to connect it all. Her bars looked good but not great, still getting there. She's so tiny, I think she needs to grow to really fulfil her potential. FTY did not look like an upgrade will be forthcoming any time soon, fairly piked down.

Edit- floor is up. Nice dance, suits her. Some issues with landings, stumbled out of her triple full sideways and she landed the double pike bent in half, bouncing backwards and putting her hands down. Both she and Rachel are doing a turn combination which has me baffled - double L to single L, in opposite directions. Can they be the same type of turn for CV? Hmm. Norah is definitely lacking power anyway.

Maggie Nichols looks solid. Opens her beam with a Barani, nice! Wobbled on it but I'll overlook that, love this skill. Looks to be working a front aerial-split jump-scissone-side somi series, hmm, interesting. Head too close to the beam on her LOSO in BHS-LOSO series. I would put her a little ahead of Peyton without seeing floor, although Peyton's beam was more solid.

Quick round-up

:( Bad week for injuries. Jade Barbosa has torn a ligament in her foot while Rachel Gowey is dealing with stress fractures in her back. Rachel will not compete at Nationals though she will be recovered shortly after. She technically could get on the worlds team by making it onto the National team at camp beforehand and then being selected, but it was unlikely she'd get on the team anyway- it's moreso the competition and podium experience of Nationals that she will miss out on. Jade's ability to recover in time for worlds is in question, it seems they are waiting for a second opinion on surgery but are concentrating on 2015 and 2016 anyway as most important.

Natalia Yurchenko's new blog is already very interesting. Her picks of Classics which she attended are unsurprisingly Norah Flatley's beam and Laurie Hernandez' floor. I hope she keeps it up!

The next competitions coming up are US Nationals August 15-18, Russian Cup August 15-21 and Interland August 31-September 1st. US Nationals will see more polish, steadiness and readiness as the girls get more used to their routines in preparation for the naming of the new National Teams. Russian Cup is supposed to see...the return of Viktoria Komova and her much-hyped bars d-score! It's supposed to be in and around 7.0 and she is now stated to have everything back including the amanar but of course, we need to see her routines first. We will also hopefully see a fitter Aliya Mustafina and Ksenia Afanasyeva and a consistent Anastasia Grishina..Interland is a friendly meet hosted in the Netherlands and will have full teams from themselves and Britain as well as 3 Romanians.

McKayla Maroney and the open-mouthed judge discuss her team finals vault! The judge is recognised at meets, hilarious.

Beth Tweddle will make an announcement about her future plans on August 6th, the one year anniversary of her bronze medal. She has been making a lot of appearances since winning Dancing on Ice so if she is planning on getting back to the swing of things, I'd be very surprised to see her in the running for worlds at this late stage, but who knows.

I'm sure I'll find more for this post!

Confirmed: Yao Jinnan is a complete badass

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

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

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

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

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

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

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