Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

[Rob]

Wow Morgan!

If you asked me to guess which country Lilia Akhaimova is from, I wouldn’t guess Russia. Not the same attention to details. She’s more USA like in power style.

Poor Angelina, was hoping for good results for her individually.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Still the dumbest rule that if you qualify for Tokyo as part of a team you can’t qualify as an individual.

True. But I think the idea is to not have a situation where someone like Simone then does all the World Cups and “hogs” those spots. Some would argue that allowing that would hinder “smaller” gymnastics countries in qualifying for the Olympics.

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I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but for as much money that Simone probably has, it really is unacceptable that her floor music is that God-awful.

Great job by Morgan - but she needs to work on her landings. I would have had Mai ahead of her.

 

[Aceon6]

Wow Morgan!

Nice comp for her to remind USAG that she's not going anywhere. She truly is a big meet gymnast.

 

[Rob]

I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but for as much money that Simone probably has, it really is unacceptable that her floor music is that God-awful.

. Agree on this, I wish she’d come up with something completely different and not the same dance moves and poses recycled to music of the same type each year.

 

[Erin]

Not a good meet for Russia individually on the WAG side. Only 3 people qualified for event finals and no individual medals. Canada of all countries ended up with more total WAG medals than Russia. That says everything.

 

[ilovepaydays]

. Agree on this, I wish she’d come up with something completely different and not the same dance moves and poses recycled to music of the same type each year.

Plus, IMHO - there should be a music deduction for kissing noises. Just sayin’!

 

[Jimena]

Artur Dalaloyan is having a fantastic meet.

And I didn't know Epke Zonderland was still competing! Good for him.

 

[Aceon6]

Sam in 2nd on HB with 3 to go.
2 to go. Please gymgods, let him take something home.
Now in 3rd. Unfortunately, Dalaloyen is on the apparatus.
And Dalaloyen is OFF the apparatus and SAM TAKES BRONZE!

 

[alexikeguchi]

Will Dalaloyan knock him down to fourth yet again? Please no...

ETA No! Not this time! Yay for Sam at last

 

[annie720]

Looks like Sam's got his medal!

 

[danafan]

Great for Mikulak! And based on his D score and previous scores, it's very unlikely Dalaloyan would have beaten with anyway.

 

[ilovepaydays]

YAY SAM!!!! ? on high bar!!!!

Does anyone else feel like this world championships has been 182,736 days long?

 

[VGThuy]

YAY SAM!!!! ? on high bar!!!!

Does anyone else feel like this world championships has been 182,736 days long?

I feel that way every Worlds/Olympics. Especially the Olympics. I feel like Gym meets last forever.

 

[ilovepaydays]

I feel that way every Worlds/Olympics. Especially the Olympics. I feel like Gym meets last forever.

At least the entire Olympics Games is around 15-16 days. Should one sport really take 10 days?

 

[love skating]

Yay Sam! I was so sure it was going to be another 4th!

 

[VGThuy]

At least the entire Olympics Games is around 15-16 days. Should one sport really take 10 days?

I wonder if it would feel as long if gymnasts still did compulsories because at least they’re doing different routines for part of the competition.

 

[Rob]

Omg! I’m in shock!

 

[ilovepaydays]

Video of a very happy Sam Mikulak with his bronze medal.

BTW, I think the medals are pretty cool looking.

 

[Buzz]

Watching the ladies AA on the CBC and there are a lot of empty seats in the background.

 

[Aceon6]

Watching the ladies AA on the CBC and there are a lot of empty seats in the background.

I don’t think there were many locals there at all.

 

[VGThuy]

I mean I'd understand if gymnastics was big in that area to have a city, despite basic human rights issues, like Doha host it, but this is really an odd choice all-around. It's like soccer I guess where cities with $$$ bid and that's all that matters. In the system that is set it, it does make sense, but you run the risk of having empty competitions like this.

 

[bardtoob]

So I watched Simone in the Floor and Beam Finals and . . . what is happening is that when she makes mistakes or get penalties it is not disastrous to her D score, which is usually what happens with other gymnasts because they fall on difficult elements or fall AND don't make connections. However, Simone tends to get full credit for her elements but gets errors for stuff like stepping out of bounds or touching the beam.

 

[Winnipeg]

No one in the seats but remember, this is Doha. Can they even look at woman in leotards??

I thought there were strict dress codes for women in the mid east which is why I found this location so odd for this event. Does anyone even do gymnastics in Qatar?

 

[VGThuy]

No one in the seats but remember, this is Doha. Can they even look at woman in leotards??

I thought there were strict dress codes for women in the mid east which is why I found this location so odd for this event. Does anyone even do gymnastics in Qatar?

That's what I thought. Wasn't there a smaller gym competition years ago in Iran and armed guards had to force women out of the arena who wanted to watch? I mean Qatar isn't Iran but it ain't exactly the most progressive place for women either.

 

[HeatherC]

I am SOOOOO over the moon for Sam!! I was out shopping at a vendor sale downtown when he was competing and I almost screamed in the middle of an aisle when I saw that he finished third on HB. FINALLY, a medal!

 

[barbk]

Simone and Morgan made a good case for why they belong on the next team; the door seems fairly open for who else joins them.

I admire Simone's tumbling and she may be the only woman in the world who looks decent in a wolf turn (though I would like to eliminate them entirely) -- but I found Morgan's floor exercise much more interesting.

 

[HeatherC]

If anyone was planning to watch the event finals on NBC SN tonight, the hockey game is running over so keep an eye on that because Worlds is supposed to start right after the game ends (there was about 4 minutes left in the third period the last time I saw it).

 

[VGThuy]

I didn't bother watching the Beam EF (and I can't find Liu Tingting and Ana Padurariu's performances) on YouTube because from all accounts it was a messy event overall. I wish Kara Eaker could have performed the way she did in TQ and TF, I don't care what medal she would have won, if any. That beam work is gorgeous even if the construction leaves her open for mistakes and E score deductions.

 

[Erin]

I wonder if it would feel as long if gymnasts still did compulsories because at least they’re doing different routines for part of the competition.

It would be longer because in the days of compulsories all the teams had to compete all compulsories and optionals, so two days of team competition. In this format all teams compete in qualifying and only the top 8 teams compete in team finals. But I believe there were far fewer teams back in the days when compulsories were around.

Next year will probably still take this many days but it will shrink a little bit because there will be fewer teams, as only the top 24 teams from this year can send a full team next year.

 

[HeatherC]

I didn't bother watching the Beam EF (and I can't find Liu Tingting and Ana Padurariu's performances) on YouTube because from all accounts it was a messy event overall. I wish Kara Eaker could have performed the way she did in TQ and TF, I don't care what medal she would have won, if any. That beam work is gorgeous even if the construction leaves her open for mistakes and E score deductions.

NBC SN showed Ana and Liu's performances tonight (they were both great) and overall, I agree that the beam event had their issues but I didn't think it was that bad overall. The judges were way harsh on the execution scores though. Even Simone's beam wasn't as bad as I thought it was from Twitter earlier today (she missed some connections which is why her score got hammered this time) but I felt SO bad for Kara. That was shocking!