USA Gymnastics - Cheers and Tears

[BigB08822]

And in both pictures Maroney has her right leg slightly bent, as if to not be putting pressure on her foot. I still think it is just a broken toe or something but I feel bad that she would have ANYTHING go wrong at this point. Just let her win that vault title, PLEASE.

[galaxygirl]

They really look like little girls standing next to Kerri Walsh.

InsideGym started a caption contest for this picture of Catalina Ponor and got the response below.

alaskakat1980

“@InsideGym: Caption contest?! pic.twitter.com/H2uIPU73”. "then I was like my leo actually fits this time BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA"

[Scintillation]

I really like Aly. I just wish I liked her gymnastics, but she's been cracking me up these past few weeks and I love the way she is with all of the girls on the team.

Aly really reminds me of a girl I used to work with. Same monotone voice, but that allows for a really effective deadpan delivery. My coworker was a pretty loyal friend too and from what I can tell, Aly shares the same quality.

[pollyanna]

Aly also seems like an ideal team leader. IIRC she stepped into that role last year at Worlds when Alicia had to fly home, and at US Trials, she seemed to be acting that part again.

[Rob]

Geddert's blogs from London are very interesting. And toned down, but frank. They are linked in his twitter.

[Garden Kitty]

US Gymnastics team watching on tv and not marching in the Opening Ceremony - too close to competition.

[Theatregirl1122]

The men, the women, or both?

[Garden Kitty]

The men, the women, or both?

Horton just tweeted the "US team" but then one of the women mentioned that the 5 of them were watching it together on tv as well so I assume it's both. Perhaps they just didn't want to wear the berets.

[Rob]

I think both. Geddert's blog said that USAGymnastics bans the athletes (and coaches) from marching in the Opening Ceremony because there is not enough time for them to recover from being on their feet for hours and hours Friday night and do prelims Sat/Sun. He made it sound like this ban is the usual process, not something new.

Here it is. http://johngeddert.com/johngeddertgymnasticscoachblog/

[Spareoom]

The USAG hasn't marched in the ceremonies since pretty much forever, I think. Definitely '92 and onward; maybe even before that. The men have to compete the next morning, and the girls the day after...it's just too much to ask for them to sit for hours in a hot, stuffy "holding pen" and then stand on their feet for a few more hours (again, hot, stuffy) and THEN get home late.

Very few gymnasts march in the opening ceremonies; typically the only ones that do are the ones that don't have much chance for a medal and are in it for the experience, or ones that really don't care, lol. Jordan Jotchev is a flagbearer and he's a medal contender, I believe. But I think at this point he's nearing the end of his gymnastics days so participating in the Opening Ceremonies is more important to him then possibly getting a medal.

[Garden Kitty]

He made it sound like this ban is the usual process, not something new.

No, I'm pretty sure it's the berets.

[ilovesalchows]

I remember Phelps saying last time "I didn't come all this way to march in a parade."

Michael, not Jaycee.

[Garden Kitty]

But the guys apparently got dressed up just to watch it.

[Tesla]

Oh, that is awesome!

[poths]

Just reading in another thread that Gabby is seen to be the personality, spark and star of the US team. I find that really hard to believe having seen multiple interviews of her etc.

Yeah, she seems nice, but no more than say Maroney who also has the icey competitor factor or Jordyn who has the middle America thing to her. Aly is Monotone, Kyla doesn't say much but also seems sweet.....Is Gabby's appeal that she's black?
?

[Theatregirl1122]

x infinity

No, it's not. It's that she's bubbly and outgoing. Maroney, love her, is anything but when she competes. She's the queen of bitch face. Kyla is sort of dull. Aly and Jordyn are both 100% focused and don't show much personality. Gabby is much more heart on your sleeve. She sparkles. This may not serve her as a competitor but it will endear her to the public. And the dad in the military won't hurt. And she'd have come out of nowhere after being considered a long shot for the world team last year.

Although I do think that Jordyn will be a huge star if she wins. I think that, perhaps, people who don't believe that don't like Jordyn's gymnastics and don't see that the US public will be happy to embrace Jordyn if she comes out and is rock solid for the team and for herself even with all the pressure of being the defending world champ. Not having pretty lines isn't going to matter that much.

[skatingfan5]

But the guys apparently got dressed up just to watch it.

Real men aren't afraid to wear berets.

Just reading in another thread that Gabby is seen to be the personality, spark and star of the US team. I find that really hard to believe having seen multiple interviews of her etc.

Yeah, she seems nice, but no more than say Maroney who also has the icey competitor factor or Jordyn who has the middle America thing to her. Aly is Monotone, Kyla doesn't say much but also seems sweet.....Is Gabby's appeal that she's black??

Hardly. She has a spark and energy to her while she's performing that does stand out -- it's not about her technique -- it's a certain charisma. In some ways when she is "on" she seems "bigger than life" (I was shocked to see that she was by far the smallest of the US team, which I hadn't realized until I saw her standing next to the others). I can't explain it any better -- and if you can't see it in her, then I doubt if anyone could really explain it to you.

[bek]

x infinity

No, it's not. It's that she's bubbly and outgoing. Maroney, love her, is anything but when she competes. She's the queen of bitch face. Kyla is sort
of dull. Aly and Jordyn are both 100% focused and don't show much personality. Gabby is much more heart on your sleeve. She sparkles. This may not serve her as a competitor but it will endear her to the public. And the dad in the military won't hurt. And she'd have come out of nowhere after being considered a long shot for the world team last year.
Although I do think that Jordyn will be a huge star if she wins. I think that, perhaps, people who don't believe that don't like Jordyn's gymnastics and don't see that the US public will be happy to embrace Jordyn if she comes out and is rock solid for the team and for herself even with all the pressure of being the defending world champ. Not having pretty lines isn't going to matter that much.

Carly isn't a huge star is she...Jordyn's personality kind of reminds me of Carly's... I actually think Maroney has a LOT of star quality...She could be a model and is the most likely of all of them to be a gold medalist.

[Theatregirl1122]

Carly isn't a huge star is she...Jordyn's personality kind of reminds me of Carly's... I actually think Maroney has a LOT of star quality...She could be a model and is the most likely of all of them to be a gold medalist.

I didn't say that she didn't have star quality. Just that her competition persona is nothing like Gabby's.

Shawn's a huge star. I'm not sure she came accross as anything but 100% focused when competing, either. I do think that Gabby would be a bigger star if she won than Jordyn would be if she won, but if Jordyn wins, she'll do quite well with an American audience.

[Garden Kitty]

The full men's team all dressed up with nowhere to march

Carly's problem is that she got quickly superceded by Shawn and Nastia, who were an intriguing storyline - elegant daughter of Russian champions vs. outgoing girl from American heartland. There was something for everyone in that duo, and the mere fact there was a competition within the US got attention. If Shawn and Nastia hadn't come along, Carly might be doing more of the tv gigs that Nastia got and maintained a public image longer.