Gymnastics News #15

Karpenko

Karpenko

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:shuffle: So.. Laurie Hernandez for Olympic BB Champion :cheer2:

She's making the team, and quite honestly it'll be either Raisman or Nichols that she bumps. She will only get better and better this year, with a new FX that really shows off her personality she could maybe even make the AA. IMO she's too high of a BB score and good backup elsewhere.. She also has the personality, cleanliness, and star power that this team is missing overall. She's Kyla this year with a big personality.

Maybe have Locklear (who could win UB in Rio) or Kocian UB and then Aly for VT, BB, FX and let Laurie do AA in prelims. I'm so happy about how well she scored here :kickass: (and with some mistakes on UB and FX)
 
danafan

danafan

Canadian ladies über
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I watched some of the stream from Jesolo - I just used hola for google chrome and picked Italy as my country (had to clear browser cache though for it to work).

Anyway I wish they had actually shown Hernandez on beam. I actually don't like her floor (I think it looks forced and a little over the top) - but apparently she scored behind Douglas (who they did not show but they showed audience and photographers watching her....). I would have credited Hernandez with the 6.2 D score she is planning too.

From the little I saw of Douglas I wasn't impressed. Her beam was shaky and she did only a double tuck dismount (and not well I might add), and she didn't to the shap 1/2 on bars (unless she changed the order of the routine somehow - they joined mid routine).

I'm worried the Olympic team selection is going to very controversial and political. I'm sure there will be pressure to have Douglas on the team and doing all four events in prelims and I worry that someone more deserving will either be pulled from an apparatus in qualifying (hell this happened at worlds last year to Nichols!) or not be named to the team at all in order to ensure a Biles vs Douglas AA final.
 
BigB08822

BigB08822

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Hernandez very well could make the team. Her beam is clearly TF worthy and that is one spot we have been looking to fill. Her bars is also TF worthy. I know she scraped the mat on her pak today but that sounds like a fluke and I doubt we see that again. Her D score isn't the highest but her E score can be very very good. I think if she hits 4 for 4 she will be the 2nd AAer unless Gabby brings in upgrades. This may be the push Gabby needs.

Raisman is looking very iffy for a spot. Her FX score is about her only hope right now. She isn't vaulting well and I wonder if she will get the Amanar consistent by Nationals/Trials. Her beam is coming along but the judges don't ignore her errors any more. FX is good but she hasn't knocked it out of the park yet since her return.

I can understand being concerned that Douglas will be given AA preference but she isn't taking anyone's spot. She was a solid 2nd in the AA at Worlds (I know, Nichols could have been given that chance in prelims) and has since done what she should in competition. She is hitting and isn't in any danger of not making the team. Hopefully Marta selects a team with clear AAers and clear event specialists for prelims.

Biles AA
Douglas AA
Nichols AA
Hernandez UB/BB
Raisman VT/FX

Would work and make it pretty easy on who to use in prelims plus make it pretty easy to use Herandez and Raisman on the other events as needed. Even if we absolutely had to use Raisman on bars in prelims it wouldn't matter. Raisman may not like being left out of BB but at least she is on the team. This is extremely dependent on Raisman getting her Amanar together. That spot is ripe for the taking.
 
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Karpenko

Karpenko

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Since Maggie will inevitably outscore Aly's Amanar, and also on floor if she hits, I'd take Kocian to compliment her (UB, plus she can vault unlike Locklear) and have Simone, Gabby, and Laurie do AA in prelims. Laurie is a lot cleaner overall than Maggie and I think that's going to count a lot by Rio.

Aly has too many built-in deductions to work on (with 4 months and a long way to go) and isnt the most consistent US gymnast anymore or top 2 on any event. Simone, Gabby, Laurie, Maggie, and Madison would all be at least top 2 on one event if they hit. Gabby's DTY is probably going to score really well and she can upgrade (so Raisman's sloppy Amanar isn't a necessity for the team).

Raisman scored a 14.6 for a hit FX without the layout on the first pass, Gabby scored a 14.55 for way easier (and much lower) tumbling. Laurie scored 14.35 and had a .3 deduction on the landing of her 3rd pass (and has very clean leaps and dance). To me the writings on the wall and Aly is an alternate (if everybody hits).

Aly can only hope for 3rd best on VT, BB, and FX if the rest of the crop does what they're capable of IMO. I think she'll make the team this time only by capitalizing on other people's mistakes. So far - Aly has made more big mistakes this past year than any of the legitimate Olympic contenders.
 
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S

smarts1

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The questions remains though... Will Marta throw Aly off the team? Aly is one of Marta's favorites, and she hasn't exactly bombed quite yet.

Team selection for Rio is going to be intense this year. There are just too many holes but not enough gymnasts in the right setting to fill them. Simone and Gabby are the two locks at this point. Probably Maggie also given her performances at Worlds last year barring some disaster. That leaves two spots with the holes being possibly one more amanar (unless Gabby upgrades which she probably will), 1-2 more bar workers, 1-2 more beam workers (2 if possible), and possibly 1 more floor worker.

And among those we have left who can make the team: Locklear, Kocian, Raisman, Hernandez. There isn't really anyone/right combination to fit all of these. It's too bad Kyla is retired and started to fall off the radar last season because she could have easily filled in some of these holes.
 
Coco

Coco

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I get the feeling Martha is trying to run Gabby into the ground. There is no reason she should compete at American Cup, Jesolo and Pac Rim. That is grueling and ridiculous. Martha either doesn't trust her or trust her coaches.

But I hope she makes it back to the Games, and adds her E skill back on bars as she could be a finalist on that event.

As an old girl myself, I'm getting a little aggravated at people expecting more from her. Look at this COP - it's killer! She's gone 8 for 8, even if she had to save her beam dismount today, despite looking totally exhausted and banged up.

She's got my vote.
 
Karpenko

Karpenko

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And better lines, toe-point, and flexibility. But I agree, it's just that Maggie has nothing but momentum, better recent FX results/scores, and a potential great Amanar. She trumps Aly (IMO) who has no international hit ratio on her Amanar since her comeback.

Aly, you in danger girl. :glamor:
 
Karpenko

Karpenko

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Is anybody watching EF??

Ferlito landed on her neck on a double pike BB dismount (her 2nd foot missed on the round off) and had to be carried off, it was the scariest beam fall I've ever seen :wuzrobbed I hope she's okay, it looked really really really bad. :yikes::( :fragile:

I can't even watch the rest of the meet.
 
K

kwanoverrated

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Karpenko said:
Is anybody watching EF??

Ferlito landed on her neck on a double pike BB dismount (her 2nd foot missed on the round off) and had to be carried off, it was the scariest beam fall I've ever seen :wuzrobbed I hope she's okay, it looked really really really bad. :( :yikes: :(
Click to expand...

I didnt see that but wow that sounds scary. I really hope she is ok. I honestly had hated her ever since her racist related and anti American comments at the 2013 worlds, but my prayers go out to her now.
 
millyskate

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Karpenko said:
Is anybody watching EF??

Ferlito landed on her neck on a double pike BB dismount (her 2nd foot missed on the round off) and had to be carried off, it was the scariest beam fall I've ever seen :wuzrobbed I hope she's okay, it looked really really really bad. :yikes::( :fragile:

I can't even watch the rest of the meet.
Click to expand...
Sounds awful :( I do hope she's ok
 
Karpenko

Karpenko

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Carlotta Ferlito is okay. :)

She sustained no injury. That is a goddamned miracle. If you see the fall you'll understand - Very relieved.

And why does Aly have to be such a conundrum?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Aly_Raisman/status/711651444684931072

It's like I read this and instantly kicked Maggie off of my team. This is going to be a brutal year. :fragile: I'd want Aly on the team to calm Simone and Laurie down, and also Gabby (lol). But not to see her gymnastics, just to calm people down. Maybe she can get credentialed if she doesn't make the team? Pay her a nice $$$ to calm the team down even though she's not on it? :saint:
 
floskate

floskate

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FiveRinger said:
@Karpenko, are there any videos of the competition up at all?
Click to expand...

Three event finals for US girls plus Flavia Saraiva on bb and fx:

UB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UKXh0QS-80

BB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yXxQmNLw4M

FX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JgL7xIxqvQ

I am LOVING Laurie Hernandez and Ragan Smith. Both with so much potential. Ragan is typically more athletic but she at least has good form. And say what you like about her floor choreo but the positive surely is that she at least HAS some fx choreo!! Hernandez is just exquisite. Actual choreo on beam. Who knew???/

And that is one ANGRY Aly Raisman on FX. Maybe the best she's ever done? Better than London even? I'm reading a lot of talk that Aly really hurt her chances of making Rio here. Fall on the amanar and getting hammered on e-score by the judges on bb and fx in the AA. Beaten by Ragan and Laurie on beam in EF's but surely redeeming herself with a 15+ on the final FX. Anyone else feel that she's in trouble?
 
Erin

Erin

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floskate said:
I am LOVING Laurie Hernandez and Ragan Smith. Both with so much potential. Ragan is typically more athletic but she at least has good form. And say what you like about her floor choreo but the positive surely is that she at least HAS some fx choreo!! Hernandez is just exquisite. Actual choreo on beam. Who knew???/
Click to expand...

I lurved them both too! Ragan's FX choreography might be junior-ish, but it's charming and it's certainly more effort than most people are putting into choreography these days.

I'm very curious to see what Norah Flatley looks like these days too. Chow is good at pacing athletes, so I have been expecting big things from her, although since we haven't seen her out competing yet, I'm a little less optimistic than I would have been a couple months ago. The Pac Rims team will be very telling. I feel like she could fill that hole as a bars-beam specialist, although given how far out of the loop I am on gymnastics, she could be totally injured and I wouldn't know it and render this whole paragraph moot.
 
Erin

Erin

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Not as far as I know and it's still listed as TBD on the website. I'm assuming Martha will announce the team the week of the event, which is what happened for Jesolo.
 
Spun Silver

Spun Silver

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floskate said:
And that is one ANGRY Aly Raisman on FX. Maybe the best she's ever done? Better than London even? e?
Click to expand...
Thanks for making me watch Aly's FX. I am not a fan, or I should say, I WAS not a fan, but that was fantastic. The height, the energy, even the elegant tendu (or whatever it's called in gymnastics) in the corner -- she is transformed. In my humble opinion. Loved it!!
 
V

viennese

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Spun Silver said:
Thanks for making me watch Aly's FX. I am not a fan, or I should say, I WAS not a fan, but that was fantastic. The height, the energy, even the elegant tendu (or whatever it's called in gymnastics) in the corner -- she is transformed. In my humble opinion. Loved it!!
Click to expand...

She gets incredible height and rebound. I'm really impressed by the comeback gymnasts, reviving and improving form since London.
 
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