Kyla Ross: Now
without Gabby and Jordyn in the picture, Kyla has a real shot at a medal in the
All Around, possibly even a gold medal if she can fend off Aliya Mustafina,
Larisa Iordache, and her own teammate Simone Biles. She hasn’t regained her
amanar and the unique beam connections seen at the training camp have yet to be
seen in actual competition. If Kyla
wants to have a shot at the medals she’s going to have to take some actual risk.
Kyla is also the US’s only chance at getting into the bars
finals. Though I don’t think Kyla will
be on the podium, you never know, the Russians don’t seem to be at full difficulty
yet (Mustafina) and the Chinese are usually very inconsistent.
In my opinion, her consistency and execution will get her
far in the competition, but her lack of difficulty will keep her from the
coveted gold medal.
Simone Biles: The 2013 national champion. She is the US’s best potential all arounder
right now and be more than capable of getting into the medals with consistent
performances on all the apparatus. In
addition to a spot in the all around, Simone will be looking to make the floor
and vault finals. On floor, she tumbles
like no other, performing a double double and double layout in the first 30
seconds. Her difficulty score is a bit
difficult to calculate at the moment because she has been upgrading and
downgrading certain moves recently. She
had a 6.2 difficulty at the American Cup, a 6.4 difficulty at Jesolo, and a 6.5
difficulty at Nationals. A big problem
for her is that she has too much power! She’s very bouncy on a lot of her
tumbles, especially the first 2. If she
goes clean, the floor final gold could be in her grasp.
She has two vaults under her belt at the moment: an Amanar
and a Lopez (Round-off, flic-flac with ½ turn on
– salto fwd stretched with ½ turn off) Her 2nd vault is less difficult
than Myckala Maroney’s and thus she will have to pray that Mckayla fumbles in
order to secure a gold medal for herself.
She’s got the difficulty, now has she got the execution and
consistency?
Mckayla Maroney: Her presence at the world championships will
secure a gold medal in the vault finals without a doubt… as long as she doesn’t
land on her ass again. Mckayla won the
floor competition at Nationals and in my opinion has a good shot at getting
into and possibly medalling at World’s floor finals. She needs to clean up her landings in my
opinion, maybe adding a leap or two in her routine, especially after that hard
to stick double Arabian, will help out with those landings and raise her
difficulty score simultaneously.
The Fourth Spot (Brenna
Dowell, Kennedy Baker, Peyton Ernst): With Simone, Kyla, and Mckayla all
locks (in my mind at least), that leaves 2 more spots to compete in qualification:
on the uneven bars and on the beam. No
offense to the rest of the US national team, but the real world team will just
consist of the 3 gymnasts already stated in this article (Biles, Ross,
Maroney). There’s no one else that has
proved that they are capable of earning an individual medal at these worlds. The other member of this team will be going
for international experience, not for medals.
This is all assuming that Mckayla Maroney does not compete
in the all around in qualification. Maroney has suffered from many injuries the
past years that have kept her from really showing her potential in the all
around. She’s not as good on bars and
beam as she is on vault and floor but she could be a real all around threat if
she’s given the chance. Plus, after the
Olympics, it’s no secret that Marta likes to have an extra gymnast competing in
the all around.
Because the entire US team is weak on bars and will have to
face off against the Russians and Chinese in the finals, I think Marta’s going
to want to put a ‘Beamer’ on the team as opposed to someone who is decent on
bars just incase something goes wrong with Simone or Kyla in the qualifications
round. Kyla is really the only one capable of medaling in the bars finals at
worlds and with her difficulty score, she’s already pushing it.
It’s such a shame that Ohashi is out because she would
have been perfect for this spot
Medal Predictions:
Simone: AA (Gold/Silver/Bronze), Vault (Silver), Floor
(Silver), Beam (Bronze)
Kyla: AA (Silver/Bronze), Bars (Bronze), Beam (Bronze)
Mckayla: Vault (Gold), Floor (Bronze)
Note: I’m being QUITE optimistic here, I’m not really sure
that Mckayla could medal on floor and Kyla could medal on bars but anything
could happen in event finals. Simone
however is in fact capable of getting all of those medals, except maybe the
beam medal, if she stays CONSISTENT.
Back in Nastia's glory days AKA 2008, she performed a unique element on the beam. Since she performed it, not a single girl has performed that exact move. And I'm going to explain why. The 2013-2016 CoP calls the "Liukin" a "Front Salto piked with take off from one foot to scale (2 sec.)" It's a bit tricky to explain with words so here, why don't you take a look for yourself:
One of the 2 main problems with this skills is that Liukin and most, if not all, of the other girls who are doing this kind of move don't actually perform a "scale" The gymnastics CoP defines a scale as such:
Nastia and heaps of other girls like Semenova and Worley who were performing this type of skill were doing an arabesque instead of an actual scale.
The "Liukin" is technically not in the table of elements... but the tucked version of it is. The tucked version of the Liukin is worth a C. Thus, most likely, the "Liukin" is worth a C. This brings up another problem. In order to get bonus points or "connection value" for this type of skill, one must perform a D (salto) + A (Scale). This order exactly and no step is permitted in between.
In conclusion, I don' think we'll be seeing any more Liukins or Worleys...
Disclaimer: I am NOT nor will I EVER be a Women’s Artistic
Gymnastics judge. I’m certainly not
qualified for the position… nor am I a woman.
I am simply stating my opinion on the performance of the athletes, the scoring
of the judges and finally who should have won the All Around in my opinion.
Setting: One year ago, the Women's Artistic Gymnastics All Around Competition at the 2012 Olympics. Only one gymnast would leave the arena with the coveted jewel of gymnastics, the All Around title. Everyone knew that coming in the real battle would be between USA's Gabrielle Douglas and Russia's Viktoria Komova. Viktoria Komova of Russian Federation was the number 1 qualifier coming into the competition. She lost the World Championships by 0.033 (that's 33 THOUSANDTHS of a point) to Jordyn Wieber and everyone knew that Komova was coming to the Olympics to get the title and she wasn't looking for a bronze or silver. Gabby Douglas was a relatively new gymnast on the international stage. Her first major international competition was the 2011 Worlds where she did not qualify to the AA because both Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber qualified ahead of her (sound familiar?). Since then Gabby has been slowly climbing up the ranks while upgrading to an Amanar vault and finally gaining some mental steadiness on the balance beam.
Vault: Many argue that this was the event that really
sealed Viktoria’s silver laden fate and I agree with this statement. Under this new CoP vault has been the highest
scoring event. Thus, it’s important to
begin your competition off with a strong vault (just ask Nastia and Shawn)
Both of the Olympic debutants performed that 2.5 twist, the
Amanar. This was the hardest vault being performed in the all around and the
hardest vault that was performed successfully at the Olympics (I’m looking at
you Yamilet Peña) Thus it all came down to the execution.
Gabby’s Vault: Gabby performed a nice consistent
vault, nearly identical to the ones she performed in the Team Qualifications
and in the Team Finals. It almost looks
like she crosses her legs during the twists but in reality she doesn’t so the
judges may have taken off for that because they do not use the convenient
replay button ...
My Score: 15.8
D: 6.5
E: 9.3
[Deductions: 0.7]
0.1lack
of height
0.1 lack of distance
0.1started
twisting too early
0.2 steps on the landing
0.1 bent knees right before landing
0.1did
not land in the middle of the line
Viktoria’s Vault: I’m not really sure what happened
here. She gets nearly the same height as
Gabby and is a bit more off the side than her but she could have saved the
vault by just talking a step off the side with just one of her feet. I’m not exactly sure what was going through
her mind as she was performing this vault.
Judge’s score: 15.466
D: 6.5
E: 8.966
My score: 15.2
D: 6.5
E: 8.7
[Deductions: 1.3]
0.1 lack of height
0.1 lack of distance
0.1 crossed legs during twisting
0.1 started twisting too early
0.1 bent knees right before landing
0.1 did not landing in the middle of the line
0.3 big step after landing
0.1 another small step after her first one
0.3 both feet stepped out of bounds
Uneven Bars: If there was an area where Komova could
have taken Gabby, much like in the Team Finals where the Russians could have
taken the lead over the Americans, it was on the Uneven Bars. Vika had a 0.4 advantage over Gabby in
difficulty alone and had outperformed the American gymnast in Team
Qualifications and in the Team Finals.
Viktoria’s Bars:
As stated earlier, Komova had the advantage on the Uneven Bars, she was
the reigning world champion and had one of the highest difficult values in the
competition, a 7.0 She has a massive
array of skills like a laid out Jaeger (G) and a double double dismount
(F). The only real problem with her
routine is that instead of connecting skills together, Komova separates them by
performing simple handstands. She does
very difficult skills so her difficulty is still extremely high, however it
leads to a possible deductions for the judges to take off because it is nearly
impossible to hit a PERFECT 180 degrees on those handstands.
Judge’s Score: 15.966
D: 7.0
E: 8.966
My Score: 15.9
D: 7.0
E: 8.9
[Deductions: 1.1]
0.3 lack of 180 degrees on handstand (x3)
0.1 slight piked form on laid out Jaeger
0.1 leg separation on piked Tkatchev
0.3 lack of handstand on Giant ½
0.3 big hop after Fabrichnova (Double Double) dismount
*Funny how she got the same execution for a nearly flawless
bars routine as her botched vault…* But I’ll blog about the judging disparities
between apparatuses a little bit later…
Gabby’s Bars:Known
as the “Flying Squirrel” to the World, Douglas stays true to her given nickname
and really does some sky high release skills.
She doesn’t have Komova’s difficulty but I would say her routine is constructed
better than Komova’s due to having fewer cast to handstands and more
connections. Though many state
otherwise, Gabby’s form is just as good as Vika’s on this piece of apparatus. I sort of did expect Komova to do better than
Gabby in terms of execution but I really struggled to find deductions in
Gabby’s routine.
Judge’s Score: 15.733
D: 6.6
E: 9.133
My Score: 15.8
D: 6.6
E: 9.2
[Deductions: 0.8]
0.1 lack of handstand after endo with ½ turn
0.1 slight leg separation on piked Tkatchev
0.1 late pirouette (finished after handstand)
0.1 lack 180 degrees on handstand
0.1 piked form on double layout
0.3 hop on double layout
Balance Beam: This apparatus has caused much trouble to
many great gymnasts but both Gabby and Vika managed to get through the blight
of women’s gymnastics unscathed with only a few tenths lose here and there.
Viktoria’s Beam: Komova had a great beam routine in
the Team Qualifications and managed to qualify into second place in the Beam
Final with a score of 15.266. Her beam
routine the Team Finals however was less than stellar, especially towards the
end. She had trouble with her first major connections (Full turn with leg at horizontal – Aerial Walkover –
Back Tuck – Sheep Jump) and definitely missed some connections in her routine
as she had a maximum 6.6 Difficulty value but was only given a 6.4
Judge’s score: 15.441
D: 6.4
E: 9.041
My Score: 15.5
D: 6.4
E: 9.1
[Deductions: 0.9]
0.1 leg dropped abruptly after full turn
0.1 balance check on standing Arabian
0.1 lack of flexibility on sissone
0.1 balance check on front tuck
0.1 step after switch leap
0.1 cowboyed double Arabian
0.3 step on double arabian
Gabby’s Beam: If there was one event that had Marta
Karolyi biting on her fake ass nails it was the beam. Gabby has shown many a time that she simply cannot
handle the mental pressure while performing on the beam. However, all throughout the Olympic Games
Gabby performed amazingly on the beam (with the exception of the balance beam
finals) Nevertheless, Gabby was definitely over scored on beam by a couple of
tenths, I don’t think the judges were strict enough on her low landings, some
of which were at hip level.
Judge’s Score: 15.5
D: 6.5
E: 9.0
My score: 15.2
D: 6.5
E: 8.7
[Deductions: 1.3]
0.1 balance check on layout step out
0.1 low landing on the standing back with full twist
0.1 balance check on full twist
0.1 balance check on back pike
0.1 low landing on back pike
0.1 lack of flexibility on sissone
0.1 low landing on back tuck
0.1 squat on tucked front
0.1 balance check on switch ring leap
0.1 low landing on double pike (head at hip level)
0.3 hop on double pike
Floor Exercise: Both Komova and Douglas had trouble on
the floor in Qualifications, with both of them scoring in the high 13’s. Gabby had a huge mistake on her double
Arabian pass and literally flew out of bounds due to having too much
power. The difficulty value given to her
by the judges was also significantly lower than what it could have been due to
underotating her leaps and turns.
Although Komova did not have a huge error like Gabby did, she did not stick a single one of her tumbling passes and gave away valuable tenths on hops and steps on the landings.
Gabby’s Floor: Gabby finished her Olympic All Around
experience with yet another consistent and great routine. She hit all of her tumbling passes and only
had minor errors on some of the dance elements.
She was not given her full 6.2 difficulty most likely due to under
rotating her split leap 1.5. Although
not as refined as Komova’s, Gabby’s floor was unique and the crowd certainly
took a liking to the catchy and clap worthy music.
Judge’s score: 15.033
D: 6.1
E: 8.933
My Score: 15.0
D: 6.1
E: 9.0
[Deductions: 1.0]
0.1 crossed legs on triple twist
0.3 hop back after triple twist
0.1 step back after split leap 1.5
0.1 excessive preparation for pirouette
0.1 fell out of turn
0.1 stood in corner too long before starting 3rd
tumbling pass
0.1 low landing on full twisting double back
0.1 hop forward on the full twisting double back
Viktoria’s Floor:
Komova definitely delivered with perhaps the best floor routine at the
entire Olympics. The Komova we all saw
that day on Qualifications seemed to be replaced by this great floor worker out
of nowhere. She stuck ALL of her
tumbling passes (besides a small shuffle on her triple twist) and managed to up
her difficulty and decrease her landing deductions by adding leaps after some
of her tumbling passes. This was a very
smart and seemingly veteran decision on her part.
Judge’s Score: 15.1
D: 6.0
E: 9.1
My Score: 15.2
D: 6.0
E: 9.2
[Deductions: 0.8]
0.1 cowboyed double Arabian
0.1 cowboyed double back
0.1 hop on split leap 1/1
0.1 crossed legs on triple twist
0.1 hop on triple twist
0.1 stood in corner too long before 4th tumbling
pass
As you can see from the results I feel that Gabby was
slightly over scored on vault and quite over scored on the beam. Komova was judged pretty fairly but wasn’t deducted
enough on her vault. So in my opinion
Gabby did deserve to win the 2012 Olympic All Around title. '
Despite this, I feel like people don’t give Gabby enough
credit though. Komova definitely left a
lasting impression on the judges and the audience with her immaculate floor
routine but we can’t forget her huge mistake on the vault. She’s a lovely gymnast with so much grace and
power but it just seems like she gives up too easily. Obviously if Komova didn't comletely come off the mat on her vault she would have walked away with the gold medal... but I don't believe in 'if's' and 'buts'. In the end, Gabby
certainly did have 4 consistent routines and after all isn’t that what it means
to be the All Around champion?
