Gymnastics News #5

[floskate]

Carry on......

[skatesindreams]

Is there any further news about Rebecca Bross' injury?

[Scintillation]

All I'm reading on Universal Sports is that she dislocated her kneecap and that Marta insisted she do the vault because if she could do it last year, she should be able to do it now. If it is just a dislocated knee cap I'll be amazed.

[rudi]

...Marta insisted she do the vault because if she could do it last year, she should be able to do it now.

Don't even get me started on Marta. I'm so over her.

I can only hope that somehow, someday, she will no longer have so much power in selecting the world and olympic teams. I don't know when that day will be, though.

[haribobo]

I can only hope that somehow, someday, she will no longer have so much power in selecting the world and olympic teams. I don't know when that day will be, though.

There needs to be a mutiny.

[FiveRinger]

All I'm reading on Universal Sports is that she dislocated her kneecap and that Marta insisted she do the vault because if she could do it last year, she should be able to do it now.

Isn't this where the personal coach is supposed to step in and say no? You can have a mind like a steel trap, but if your body physically isn't capable of this, you risk not being able to do the vault again....EVER. Somebody needs to be looking out for the well-being of these kids, because they blindly trust the adults/coaches and they're going to do whatever they're told to do.

[LKR]

Don't even get me started on Marta. I'm so over her.

I can only hope that somehow, someday, she will no longer have so much power in selecting the world and olympic teams. I don't know when that day will be, though.

She is retiring after 2012.

[judgejudy27]

Marta and Bela have both retired many times.

[reese]

Marta and Bela have both retired many times.

Exactly. Their stranglehold over US gymnastics is nothing short of infuriating. I could go on and on about all the abuse stories from gymnasts over the decades, but we all know them. And so does US gymnastics, but somehow they've decided that gold medals are more important than these children. Wait. What? Oh, this much-heralded, sexist camp system HASN'T produced an Olympic gold medal? Oh. Sorry! My mistake.

[bek]

Exactly. Their stranglehold over US gymnastics is nothing short of infuriating. I could go on and on about all the abuse stories from gymnasts over the decades, but we all know them. And so does US gymnastics, but somehow they've decided that gold medals are more important than these children. Wait. What? Oh, this much-heralded, sexist camp system HASN'T produced an Olympic gold medal? Oh. Sorry! My mistake.

One could point out too that the US's great results in this era also came when other programs who typically ran the show in gymnastics were facing terrible system issues. I.e the Russians and the Romanians...That being said I wonder how much of this is truly Marta's fault though. She's not angry with Memmel for only doing a FTY or scratching bars to avoid injury. Sloan's invited to camp and Marta pushed for Bridget on the team last. Raismans' not in the dumps for not doing the Amanar. Nor was Shawn for not competiting floor.

So how much of this is Valeri not being willing to let his gymnast water down (I don't recall Nastia watering down in 2007 either).

[gingercrush]

Is Maroney better than Cheng Fei?

[chipso1]

Is Maroney better than Cheng Fei?

Maybe not yet as an overall vaulter, but her Amanar is the best I've ever seen. Maroney's stuck Amanar from podium training

[skipaway]

I saw that Alicia vaulted twice so she can do event finals. Why wouldn't Maroney and Weiber do the same? They seem to be talented vaulters.

[london_calling]

Maroney vaulted twice and actually won the vault title over Alicia.

[chipso1]

I saw that Alicia vaulted twice so she can do event finals. Why wouldn't Maroney and Weiber do the same? They seem to be talented vaulters.

Maroney did vault twice, NBC just didn't show it. I believe her second vault is a laid out Pod, and she's probably hoping to upgrade to a Cheng in the near future.

Wieber doesn't have a 2nd vault, IIRC.

[Scintillation]

Maroney did vault twice, NBC just didn't show it. I believe her second vault is a laid out Pod, and she's probably hoping to upgrade to a Cheng in the near future.

Wieber doesn't have a 2nd vault, IIRC.

Maroney did say in the post-show interview that she is training a Cheng for her second vault.
So I work at the MOA, and quite a few gymnastics fans were coming through today, most of them 12 or younger. Guess which 25 year old was gabbing with them like she was still in middle school? THIS gal. Aiiight.

[BigB08822]

Maroney may not even need a Cheng. I just hope she doesn't injure herself trying it. If she has a hard time with that vault she could always work on the vault Mustafina did last year, the half on front full off. She is obviously very good with the forward landings.

[floskate]

So I just got through watching Day 2 on youtube and I love, love, love Mckayla Maroney's gymnastics. So not like a typical US gymnast which is probably why her work is so attractive to me . Best amanar I have ever seen and backs it up with a solid second vault. I agree she may not even need a cheng this year. With her wonderful form, I could see her winning the vault title in Tokyo if she makes the team and qualifies. International judges would love her style which I'm sure Marta is aware of. But are her beam and floor up to snuff to make the team in the first place? Also i've read she's a headcase?

Wieber is solid as a rock but bores me. Memmel is as injury prone as ever and ASac doesn't look as 'fresh' as she did this time last year. Raisman is solid but I can't believe they haven't worked on her horrendous form issues on the basics. At least they don't look very improved to me!

Never a fan of Bross but that was nasty. I don't know what her team were thinking having her do that vault considering all the skary podium training reports. I can't see a Nastia-style 2007/08 comeback for her, she just looks too beat up. At least for AA contention but they sure would still need her bars I think.

[Rob]

Back to the discussion of the National team:

Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas/WOGA
Bridgette Caquatto, Naperville, Ill./Legacy Elite
Mackenzie Caquatto, Naperville, Ill./Legacy Elite
Gabrielle Douglas, Virginia Beach, Va./Chow’s Gymnastics
Shawn Johnson, West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics
McKayla Maroney, Laguna Niguel, Calif./All-Olympia
Chellsie Memmel, West Allis, Wis./M&M Gymnastics
Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics
Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics
Sabrina Vega, Carmel, N.Y./Dynamic
Jordyn Wieber, DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA

And Sloan could be in the mix too.

So they send 6 to Worlds, but I thought they said 7 go to Pan Ams (7 or 6?) -- and not the same girls because of the timing of the 2 events. My recollection is that Pan Ams has included juniors in the past so I assume the 7 will include Ohashi and Ross? ETA this indicates no -- http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/20...es-now-age-16/ Without Bross, there are only 11 counting Sloan.

[haribobo]

So maybe we send Wieber, Maroney, Douglas, Sac, Raisman, and Johnson to Worlds with Sloan as alternate.

Memmel, Vega, Macko, Bridget, Anna Li, and Sophia Lee and/or Grace McLaughlin to Pan Ams. Or are some of them not 16 yet?