Anyone watch this? It was on Universal Sports on Thursday for Day 1 and NBC last night for the finals. I can't believe its just one year until the Olympics and things are getting interesting. There will only be five members of the Olympic team, and it stinks that so many great gymnasts won't get a chance to go. The main point of this competition though was to figure out who is in contention for the world championships in October, a six member team which will be chosen after a training camp in a few weeks. Worlds is a qualifier to the Olympics. Theres also another fall meet, the Pan American Games that the US can send six gymnasts too as well.

Here are some of my thoughts on this meet (spoilers)

Well no one should be surprised that Jordyn Weiber won, by a whopping five points over the two day competition. She was shaky Day 1, but unlike the majority of gymnasts, she never fell. Of the major contenders she's one of 3 that didn't have any falls (Shawn Johnson and Aly Raisman being the other two). Jordyn is truly an all around gymnast without a significantly weak event. She could easily win the World Championships this year in the AA and make multiple event finals as well. Heres her beam routine: www.youtube.com . . .

And then theres poor Rebecca Bross, who won this competition last year. Last year at Worlds she competed through a broken ankle, bringing home 4 medals for the US. She had surgery when she got back and just hasn't been the same. She looked tired and stressed out all week. A casual fan could see she wasn't ready to throw the big tricks again, yet she did anyway. And this is what happened www.youtube.com . . .
So far reports are saying she dislocated her right knee cap. No word yet if there was any ACL/MCL damage. She likely won't be going to worlds this year, and it will be an uphill battle to make that five person Olympic team. She has a lot of career similarities to Nastia Liukin. She goes to the same gym and has the coach. Both were less then a year too young for Olympic teams they could have made. In their first worlds they lost gold medals to American teammates (Becca to Bridget Sloan, Nastia lost to Chellsie Memmel). The next year she competed with an ankle injury, as did Nastia. The following year both her and Nastia had many falls at Nationals (Becca fell 3 times night one, and this was her second fall of night 2). But Nastia did win Olympic gold the following year, we can only hope that will work out for Becca, but it's a very deep international field. Hopefully we'll be seeing this and better from her soon (this was with the broken ankle and still amazing!) www.youtube.com . . .

With Bross out for Worlds, it does open up a spot for someone else. She's the US best bar worker, which is a US weakness. She will likely be replaced on bars by Mackenzie Caquatto, who is also on the University of Florida's team so she'll have to take the semester off. (gymnastics is a spring sport so it won't effect her NCAA season).www.youtube.com . . . Other possibilities on the team include McKayla Maroney, who does an awesome vault, and beat Alicia Sacramone at nationals for the first time in many years. www.youtube.com . . . Alicia should also be on the worlds team though. She hasn't been as consistent as last year where she was World Champion on Vault, but she is usually solid on 3 events and should be good to go. I really like her new floor routine. www.youtube.com . . . Aly Raisman is also pretty much a lock for the team. Her gymnastics isn't the prettiest, but she is very consistent and a great tumbler. www.youtube.com . . ..

The two comeback girls Chellsie Memmel and Shawn Johnson also looked great. Both could make the world team or be an alternate. If not then for sure at the Pan American Games. Chellsie did have a problem with her shoulder on bars, but overall seems very healthy considering how many injuries she's had in her career. Shawn was much more confident compared to a few weeks ago. She competed on 3 events each day and didn't fall at all. She's working on adding floor as her knee gets stronger from last years injury. Both of them need to add more difficulty to contend for the Olympics, but they are getting there. Chellsie: www.youtube.com . . . Shawn: www.youtube.com . . . The young girls will have to watch out for these veterans.

Shawn's teamamte Gabby Douglas has the skills and talent to contend, but so far she hasn't shown the focus needed. She fell off beam multiple times and balked her dismount. Her best event is bars, and the US could really use her, but she has to prove she can hit under pressure situations. At this point I would put her on the Pan Am team not the World team so she can get more experience. But maybe she'll improve at camp. Sabrina Vega is also a beautiful gymnast but doesn't have the high difficulty skills. She could also be a world alternate and/or pan ams competitor. Gabby: www.youtube.com . . . Sabrina: www.youtube.com . . .
Bridget Sloan didn't compete because she is recovering from a bicep injury but says she could be ready for worlds and it is a possibility as she is a bars specialist too. She's also an AA world champion.

Well I've written a lot here, but as a bonus, check out this junior beam routine. She unfortunately isn't old enough for the Olympics by a couple months and like Becca and Nastia will have to wait until she is 19 to compete in 2016, if her body can hold out that long. She also has the same coach as the other two, Valeri Liukin. www.youtube.com . . .

Anyone else have comments or opinions on the competition or what will happen at Worlds. Were already in countdown to the Olympics time!

Awesome recap!

Even though I coach, I honestly haven't heavily followed elite gymnastics since 1996. I always get into it right around now when it's heading into an Olympic year. This was first time seeing Rebecca Bross vault and I noticed from the beginning of her run that something didn't seem right and I even commented on it before she hurdled into the round-off. Of course hubby couldn't believe I could tell from the run that she was going to severely botch that vault and he was quite impressed lol. I feel so bad for her and I hope she has a quick recovery. From what you have said it sounds like she has had a rough time over the past couple years.
I am a huge SJ fan, probably because she reminds me so much of Kim Zmeskal- who is doing an amazing job coaching btw. I thought Shawn did a great job, especially Day 2 and I hope she continues to get her bearings back as we head towards the Olympics.


HOLY COW! Katelyn Ohashi is amazing! I bet MK has her eye on her for sure! I have never seen anyone do a tumble pass ending in a full on the beam....is that pretty common now?

It's not very common yet, but I'm sure it will be soon as it's rated an F. There have been a lot of people doing fulls throughout the years though. www.youtube.com . . .
In one of Shawn's training videos they show her doing bhs bhs fulls on a line on the floor, so it's possible it's something she's working towards. She used to do a standing full and it seems that she will likely replace her back tuck with that at some point. The junior gymnasts who have have now grown up with this new code are throwing amazing tricks very young like Ohashi. Not just the bhs bhs full, but also the standing arabian to a bhs, and her full in double pike dismount. She has the highest start value in the world right now on beam, though she falls more than she hits that routine. Day 1 was the best she's done it. She also has a double double bars dismount and she does both twists in the second flip which is a bit awkward. I hope she can make it until 2016 as she is amazing. Another junior Lexie Priessman does the amanar vault (2.5 twisting yurchenko) as well and a double double on floor. She misses the Olympics by just a few weeks. Kyla Ross actually is old enough for the Olympics next year but not Worlds this year. Thats a new rule, it used to be that in the year before the Olympics you could be 15. She's very good, she came in 2nd behind Ohashi and could make the team, but it will be hard for her to prove herself with no worlds experience. I almost feel like they should take her just to watch. If she doesn't make 2012 I hope she sticks around for 2016.

As for Becca, yeah she's had a very up and down career. She won junior nationals in 2007, and beat Shawn Johnson on floor at the Pan American Championships, which was quite a feat as Shawn was World Champion that year. She won a ton in 2008 until the summer where she injured that same knee and was out. In 2009, she was the favorite to win nationals and worlds, but had random falls and Bridget Sloan ended up winning both events. She went on to win the American Cup in 2009 (an international comp), and then nationals. But after nationals she had a stress fracture in her ankle/shin. She still went to Worlds where she took one for the team, but unfortunately others messed up and they lost to Russia by 2 tenths when they could have beat them by 2 points (russia has a lot of mess ups too). In the AA competition she fell off beam on her Arabian, clearly because of the injury her whole leg was shaking, but did the best floor routine of the whole meet (the one I posted earlier). She ended up in bronze and won silver and bronze in beam and bars finals. She has six world medals, none of them gold. When gold medalist Aliyah Mustafina tore her ACL in March at the Europeans and upcomer Viktoria Komova also had ankle surgery a few months ago it opened the door a bit for Becca (though she would need Jordyn to fall). She found out after worlds she had broken her ankle while there and had surgery last fall. But clearly the recovery didn't come along well. She would never make excuses and admit it in the interviews before that heart wrenching fall on vault, a vault she probably shouldn't have done, she wasn't going to win, and she clearly was having issues with it, as you said even the run was off. I hope she takes her time to recover, stays away from MK and shocks everyone at Olympic Trials the way Chellsie Memmel did, and later Nastia did at the Olympics. She deserves it. Her gymnastics is a little awkward, mostly because she is knock kneeded so on bars she puts her toes together but not her legs and twists with crossed feet, but she works really hard with the body she has.

update on Rebecca Bross: she's going to have surgery tomorrow to stabilize and reset her knee cap and will be out of hard training for 2 months, but will work toward the 2012 Olympics.

A LOT of people have been giving Valeri and Mart a hard time because of the vault Becca fell on.

BUT honestly, to compete with the best of the world she does need that vault....BUT, but with time and doing it slowly. There is so much hype and expectations on her because of who her coach is and the back to back wins of two of her own gymmates, so i imagine the preassure of not just that but having to beat some of the top girls in the world.....tough for ANYONE i think.

And even Mustafina is nursing a knee injury, so its really not just Marta and Valeri pushing there athletes.

I know i personally wanna see more of that fire and passion i see with the Russians in us and that beautiful carriage they have. When you se the Russians walk into a room, EVERYONES drawn to them because of how they carry themselves and thanks to there coaches coming back there finally on the map again.

USA I WANNA SEE THAT FIRE OUTTA YOU GIRLS!!!, we need to find that right mix of girls that can compete and do it under preassure.

I agree, to even consider being in the top twelve or so All Around you need a Double Twist Yurchenko on vault and I'd be very surprised if the top 3 didn't have Amanars (2.5 twists), though Mustafina's injury (tore her ACL at the European Championships) may have some coaches rethinking their amanars so it will be interesting to see what Mustafina, Komova, Raisman, Johnson, Douglas etc. end up doing. However, I do not think that Bross needed to do the DTY that night. From the podium training videos she was having problems with it. She needed more time to practice. She was never going to win nationals, especially at that point in the competition, she should have just done what Chellsie Memmel did, a nice safe single twist. Bross is not a good vaulter and risking that vault wasn't necessary. She should have worked on it more with soft landings and saved it for AA finals. Now there will be no AA finals. Whether it was Valeri or Marta who wanted her to do it, or if she was stubborn and wanted to do it, we will likely never know. However, the USA Gymnastics team doctor actually suggested to Valeri that Becca stop vaulting and be a 3 event gymnast (it's on his FB page his name is Dr. Larry Nasser). I know that means she wouldn't follow in Carly and Nastia's footsteps, but the girl could win Floor and Beam, medal on bars and medal with the team competition maybe even gold depending on how Russia comes back from its injuries. I'd say any gold medal would be a success for her and for WOGA and that an AA gold medal isn't the be all end all. We'll see what happens in due time though. I hope she competes at the Pacific Rim in Seattle this spring before Nationals and Olympic trials to give her some more confidence.

Moonlitefairy06 wrote:

I agree, to even consider being in the top twelve or so All Around you need a Double Twist Yurchenko on vault and I'd be very surprised if the top 3 didn't have Amanars (2.5 twists), though Mustafina's injury (tore her ACL at the European Championships) may have some coaches rethinking their amanars so it will be interesting to see what Mustafina, Komova, Raisman, Johnson, Douglas etc. end up doing. However, I do not think that Bross needed to do the DTY that night. From the podium training videos she was having problems with it. She needed more time to practice. She was never going to win nationals, especially at that point in the competition, she should have just done what Chellsie Memmel did, a nice safe single twist. Bross is not a good vaulter and risking that vault wasn't necessary. She should have worked on it more with soft landings and saved it for AA finals. Now there will be no AA finals. Whether it was Valeri or Marta who wanted her to do it, or if she was stubborn and wanted to do it, we will likely never know. However, the USA Gymnastics team doctor actually suggested to Valeri that Becca stop vaulting and be a 3 event gymnast (it's on his FB page his name is Dr. Larry Nasser). I know that means she wouldn't follow in Carly and Nastia's footsteps, but the girl could win Floor and Beam, medal on bars and medal with the team competition maybe even gold depending on how Russia comes back from its injuries. I'd say any gold medal would be a success for her and for WOGA and that an AA gold medal isn't the be all end all. We'll see what happens in due time though. I hope she competes at the Pacific Rim in Seattle this spring before Nationals and Olympic trials to give her some more confidence.

What we need is that healthy mix of veterans on the team, as well as our younger athletes. I think thats where we've been lacking are the athletes that can handle the preassure and have the gymnastics to compete with the best in the world, and not just on one apparatus, but ALL 4 of them.

And it's a shame that Rebecca may only do 3 and may not do vault, she comes from a WONDERFUL gym with such a wonderful history. It's sad and a real shame .