OT Artistic Gymnastics

[Nothanks]

I really think Laurie has pretty well sealed her spot and there is only one real spot left. Does it go to a bars specialist or a fifth all-arounder is what it comes down to.


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[AScheer]

Clearly Gabby had an off night, but it would have helped if she could have smiled every once in a while, or pretended to be social. She seemed to sulk alone without cheering for a single other athlete. The non-gymnastics people I watched with even said she looked like it was her job and that she was sick of going to work. I thought she looked like she had been dumped or someone ran over her puppy and then told her right before the competition started.

Laurie and Aly both pleasantly surprised me! Maggie? (pink & yellow leo) did pretty well.

Of course Simone is perfection. She could have just sat next to Martha and watched the rest of the team get formed around her.

I couldn't tell the 2 blondes in matching leos apart. No comments there because I still have no clue which one did what!

Ashton did fairly well, I just felt like she was on a lower level than the rest of them.

Sad to see the little one not do so hot. I still think she could do well on the team. Could not get over them talking about how they reward and punish her with beads? She's 15, they made her sound like a bratty 7 year old. "If she sticks she gets two beads. If she cries or is a bad teammate, she gives the beads to her teammates." She's 15, she really has to be controlled by beads?? Aside from injury, she really shouldn't being crying at practice anymore. She also should know how to be a good teammate at this stage of life as well. I was really blown away by that little segment.

 

[AScheer]

The group tonight watching also had a discussion of what will become of American gymnastics after Rio. If the Karolyi's are both retired, it more than likely will go down hill. Anyone know what the plan is? Maybe the Liukins will take over?

 

[disneydance]

I don't know what's wrong with Gabby but she needs to get her life together


I also don't think I'll be devastated if Mykayla Skinner takes the 5th spot.


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I would be so devastated if MyKayla takes the 5th spot her gymnastics is absolutely cringeworthy. Also her personality is awful she very well might be the most hated gymnast on the gymternet. Also she only would be really usable on Vault and she came in 7th AA tonight behind Amelia Hundley(though I must say I'm a huge fan of Hundley she is an great young lady). She's useless on bars and beam and her floor execution is just not there. The only reason I would find to take her would be if she could medal on vault meaning a gold and that just isn't going to happen with Paeska, Biles, and Hong in the mix. I'm sorry but I just can't stand her and it's a pretty agreeable consensus on the gymternet.

If I had to pick the team after tonight I would go with:

Biles, Raisman, Douglas, Kocian, Hernandez
VT:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)
UB:Kocian, Douglas, Hernandez(Biles)
BB:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)
FX:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)

With alternates of: Locklear, Nichols, Smith

But I'm hoping Maggie will be looking better in 2 weeks and will be able to take a spot on the team I think if her floor and vault look good she will make a strong case for herself. Also Martha loves Maggie and from the feeling I get Martha wants Maggie on the team more than a bars specialist. I also looked back into history and in 2004 we had a similar bar specialist situation where Chellsie Memmel and Holly Vise were competiting for what was thought to be a bar specialist position on the Athens team and Martha took vault specialist in favor of an Uneven Bars specialist and I wouldn't be as shocked to see that happen. If they do take a bars specialist I would take Kocian over Locklear simply due to the fact Ashton doesn't compete floor or vault. I've been cheering for Maggie for a long time and really hope and pray she makes the team.

 

[ErinS]

Doubbbbt Marta cares about someone being the most hated gymnast on the gymternet. Especially if she can come out with a vault that hits.

(Can't say I care either)




And the bead story for Ragan was really weird and embarrassing and hopefully a tale from like years and years ago that they aren't really implementing anymore and they just carry around the beads for a fond memory of way back when

Because homegirl is about to be 16 and while she may be the size of an underage Chinese gymnast, she's actually a teenager and I would hope is being treated as such.


And I dk what was going on with Gabby. She looked didn't look like she wanted to be there. But also the reality show was a bad idea. Doubt that's what was wearing on her though...although for some reason when it was announced I worried about this


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[njallday]

Laurie and Ragan are the same age. Let that sink in. All that bead segment did was make me seriously question her maturity levels and whether or not she can handle the olympic arena. At this moment, I don't think she can. I'd put her as an alternate, if anything.

As for Gabby, I wonder how it feels to be the reigning Olympic Gold AA Champion and the very real possibility of making it to Rio but not qualifying for AA? I'm not all of the sudden questioning whether or not she'll make the team; if her worst day is still keeping her at the top of the totem pole, I think she's fine. I do, however, seriously question if she even wants to go to Rio at this very moment. A small piece of me sees her retiring at the Olympic Trials a la Nastia (doubtful that happens, but that's seriously the attitude she gave off last night.)

Aly is showing up when it counts. That stick on beam was beautiful and I could watch her floor routine all day.

If (BIG IF) we take a specialist, I hope it's Ashton. Those legs and lines are everything.

 

[j4z0n]

I really don't see MyKayla among the five for Rio. Yes she has difficulty on beam, vault, and floor but her execution is just meh. It fees like it has so many built in deductions

 

[Pebbles49]

I must admit Gabby was not her usual smiling perky gymnast and I guess, she might be feeling real pressure this time around, unlike 4 years ago...For Gabby, the heat is real and she also carrying a whole family on her back too...I just love her, so, Go Gabby!

PS: Gabby looked so beautiful last night too...

 

[BuegeSmalls]

Watching late, but 100% agree with Gabby. She seems to be missing that spark. She gets the job done, but she doesn't seem happy doing it. Love Laurie and Aly!


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[Ally13]

I would be so devastated if MyKayla takes the 5th spot her gymnastics is absolutely cringeworthy. Also her personality is awful she very well might be the most hated gymnast on the gymternet. Also she only would be really usable on Vault and she came in 7th AA tonight behind Amelia Hundley(though I must say I'm a huge fan of Hundley she is an great young lady). She's useless on bars and beam and her floor execution is just not there. The only reason I would find to take her would be if she could medal on vault meaning a gold and that just isn't going to happen with Paeska, Biles, and Hong in the mix. I'm sorry but I just can't stand her and it's a pretty agreeable consensus on the gymternet.

If I had to pick the team after tonight I would go with:

Biles, Raisman, Douglas, Kocian, Hernandez
VT:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)
UB:Kocian, Douglas, Hernandez(Biles)
BB:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)
FX:Biles, Raisman, Hernandez(Douglas)

With alternates of: Locklear, Nichols, Smith

But I'm hoping Maggie will be looking better in 2 weeks and will be able to take a spot on the team I think if her floor and vault look good she will make a strong case for herself. Also Martha loves Maggie and from the feeling I get Martha wants Maggie on the team more than a bars specialist. I also looked back into history and in 2004 we had a similar bar specialist situation where Chellsie Memmel and Holly Vise were competiting for what was thought to be a bar specialist position on the Athens team and Martha took vault specialist in favor of an Uneven Bars specialist and I wouldn't be as shocked to see that happen. If they do take a bars specialist I would take Kocian over Locklear simply due to the fact Ashton doesn't compete floor or vault. I've been cheering for Maggie for a long time and really hope and pray she makes the team.

Paseka is recovering from an injury and barely has her Amanar back so I wouldn't write off Skinner's chances for a vault medal. She could absolutely snag bronze or even silver. Not to mention Skinner has always scored better internationally than she has at home AND her Amanar is pretty clean and could be used in Team Finals. Also Paseka's vaults are hideous even when she's healthy, so I definitely think Skinner could place abover her if she hits. Skinner has improved a LOT and I think she could make into floor finals if Raisman makes any mistakes in quals. Also, I doubt Marta cares whether or not people on the Internet like her.

This isn't directed at you, but I personally think it's useless to bring a girl solely for bars. It will only add a couple of tenths to the team score and I doubt any American is gonna medal on bars in EF. I'd love to be proven wrong, but the competition is going to be insane with two Chinese girls, two Russians, and probably two Brits all battling for a medal. If the US wants to maximize EF medals I think it'd be smarter to bring Skinner.

ETA: I think Gabby really turns it up when it counts. She had an off day, but I think she will absolutely pull it together when she needs to.

 

[DancerDude0118]

Paseka is recovering from an injury and barely has her Amanar back so I wouldn't write off Skinner's chances for a vault medal. She could absolutely snag bronze or even silver. Not to mention Skinner has always scored better internationally than she has at home AND her Amanar is pretty clean and could be used in Team Finals. Also Paseka's vaults are hideous even when she's healthy, so I definitely think Skinner could place abover her if she hits. Skinner has improved a LOT and I think she could make into floor finals if Raisman makes any mistakes in quals. Also, I doubt Marta cares whether or not people on the Internet like her.

This isn't directed at you, but I personally think it's useless to bring a girl solely for bars. It will only add a couple of tenths to the team score and I doubt any American is gonna medal on bars in EF. I'd love to be proven wrong, but the competition is going to be insane with two Chinese girls, two Russians, and probably two Brits all battling for a medal. If the US wants to maximize EF medals I think it'd be smarter to bring Skinner.

ETA: I think Gabby really turns it up when it counts. She had an off day, but I think she will absolutely pull it together when she needs to.

Paseka's form in the air is actually quite good, and her landings aren't too bad either (of course no one can beat Biles' landings), it's just her entries into the vault that's very strange (huge leg separation). To say the entire vault from start to finish is hideous is inaccurate, she is a world champion afterall.

I think the issue most people with Skinner's vaulting is that she doesn't get a good block off the vaulting table (deduction worthy and very dangerous) and lacks amplitude. Even last night, her second arm barely brushes the vault during her entry for a Cheng. Her form in the air is pretty good too, but in all honesty, it's quite amazing that she's able to wrap around fast enough to perform an Amanar with the lack of a solid block.

Even if Paseka has to downgrade everything during Rio, there are other athletes who have the potential to out score Skinner in vault - Wang and Steingruber come to mind. Especially if Steingruber performs her front handspring entry to a front double twist vault.

We can all see how much Skinner has improved, but there's just something about her execution that just isn't refined - many very minor form breaks that add up along with what looks like a very laboured floor routine (PLEASE, take out that wolf turn). I just don't see her being the best option as part of the team at this point in time.

 

[Ally13]

Paseka's form in the air is actually quite good, and her landings aren't too bad either (of course no one can beat Biles' landings), it's just her entries into the vault that's very strange (huge leg separation). To say the entire vault from start to finish is hideous is inaccurate, she is a world champion afterall.

I think the issue most people with Skinner's vaulting is that she doesn't get a good block off the vaulting table (deduction worthy and very dangerous) and lacks amplitude. Even last night, her second arm barely brushes the vault during her entry for a Cheng. Her form in the air is pretty good too, but in all honesty, it's quite amazing that she's able to wrap around fast enough to perform an Amanar with the lack of a solid block.

Even if Paseka has to downgrade everything during Rio, there are other athletes who have the potential to out score Skinner in vault - Wang and Steingruber come to mind. Especially if Steingruber performs her front handspring entry to a front double twist vault.

We can all see how much Skinner has improved, but there's just something about her execution that just isn't refined - many very minor form breaks that add up along with what looks like a very laboured floor routine (PLEASE, take out that wolf turn). I just don't see her being the best option as part of the team at this point in time.

Paseka is a World Champion because of her difficulty, not her execution. She still has bent, crossed legs, and often underrorates her Amanar. She has definitely improved since London, and yes hideous is an exaggeration, but she does not have very good form on vault from start to finish. Simone Biles qualified ahead of her into the vault final with a much easier second vault and Paseka/Hong barely beat her in the finals even though her difficulty was much lower.

I forgot about Steingruber! I hope she gets the double front twist named after her. Skinner's block on her Amanar/DTY really isn't that bad, but her one-armed Cheng is worrisome. But she's still very clean in the air and has relatively good landings. She also competed her Cheng three times at Worlds and never got severely deducted for it so I think she'll be okay.

Anyways I still think she has a better chance of medalling on vault than Kocian/Locklear do on bars.

 

[Beans100]

I wonder why the US struggles so much on bars. You think they would've have figured out a training method to improve by now.

 

[njallday]

I wonder why the US struggles so much on bars. You think they would've have figured out a training method to improve by now.

IMO, it's not the US. Bars are just hard. Yes, it's our weak spot but everyone struggles. When you look at top ten scores in competition of this season, the US is doing great comparatively as we have three athletes in the top:

1 Ashton Locklear United States U.S. Classic 15.850
2 Fan Yilin China Chinese Champs EF 15.734
3 Madison Kocian United States WOGA Classic 15.700
4 Daria Spiridonova Russia DTB Team QF 15.650
Gabby Douglas United States U.S. Classic 15.650
6 Natalia Kapitonova Russia Russian Champs QF 15.567
7 Shang Chunsong China Chinese Champs QF 15.500
Becky Downie Great Britain Euros EF 15.500
Sophie Scheder Germany German Champs AA 15.500
10 Elisabeth Seitz Germany DTB Team TF 15.450

source and all other events: The Best Scores in 2016 | The Gymternet

 

[ErinS]

Off topic but I didn't know Alex Naddour was married to Hollie Vise (not that this really interests me I guess ) but when they cut to her in the audience I noticed that she now looks like Pheobe Bouffay...aka Lisa Kudrow during the FRiends era.


Carry on


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