Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

[VGThuy]

I think the idea was to make sure that the team winners were from teams that had the best all-around gymnasts. This is especially going to be true on the men’s side.

But couldn't they still do that with 6-member teams? All they had to do was change the structure of how many gymnasts compete in the team finals.

 

[Aceon6]

But couldn't they still do that with 6-member teams? All they had to do was change the structure of how many gymnasts compete in the team finals.

Some of it has to do with trying to cap the total number of athletes at the games. As they add sports, they don’t want to increase the housing and other expenses.

 

[just tuned in]

Most likely. The nominative spot that Jade earned would automatically go to the following athlete in the Challenge Cup standings. It might be an American, it might not which is why I said 'most likely'. And it's also why I think going after nominative spots for the US is silly--getting the non-nominative spots through the AA World Cups and continental championships makes more sense because they aren't named spots--they can be chosen closer to the Games. Imagine if Jade gets a nominative Olympic spot and then gets injured... we can't sub anyone in so we would essentially lose that spot.

Going for the nominative slot makes perfect sense for Jade from her perspective. It guarantees her a spot, which would not be the case if she qualified at the team event.

 

[rhapsody]

I read somewhere that Tom Forster was only going to allow one of the two specialist spots to be a nominative spot. So that could mean that he isn't letting anyone else go to the Challenge Cups? Suppose Mykayla Skinner wanted to come back for this -- he would tell her he isn't sending her to Challenge Cups because then both Mykayla and Jade could qualify nominative spots? But if Jade gets injured, then there is no US athlete who could qualify to be next in line through Challenge Cups? It is all so weird. Please just go back to 5-6 person teams.

It's all sorts of confusing hullabaloo. There are certain arbitrary criteria one has to meet in order to be selected for the Challenge Cups and only Jade meets them right now. But yes, theoretically they could send multiple gymnasts to those events and have 2 automatically qualify which is not ideal for the team as a whole in case one gets injured. I think the reason this is happening is to prevent lawsuits since the NGB can't legally prevent athletes from competing at these events.

Going for the nominative slot makes perfect sense for Jade from her perspective. It guarantees her a spot, which would not be the case if she qualified at the team event.

Absolutely. I have immense respect for her dad (her coach) who is looking out for her best interests especially at a time when the federation supporting her is falling apart. Certainly not good for the team, but major props to her dad for taking control.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Meanwhile, Andrew East (Shawn Johnson East’s husband) played in his first ever NFL game today!

And his Washington Redskins beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 16-13! AND Andrew long snapped for the game winning field goal!

 

[Deleted member 40371]

Kenzo Shirai doing Mai Murakami's floor routine, he even manages to do the cringeworthy choreography better than Mai.

 

[FiveRinger]

Kenzo Shirai doing Mai Murakami's floor routine, he even manages to do the cringeworthy choreography better than Mai.

That was everything! She needs to take some serious notes!!!

He is extremely gifted, an amazing tumbler, even when he's not twisting.

 

[Rukia]

I want to go clubbing with Kenzo. He looks like he knows how to have a good time.

 

[Rob]

Apart from a few floppy feet, that was great. Maybe the men should have to use music to make it more interesting.

 

[Winnipeg]

I like the music idea for men!

 

[skatfan]

I like the music idea for men!

I heard on a podcast that they can use music, is that correct? But not required.

 

[Winnipeg]

I honestly don't know! I think it would be a neat idea though

 

[FiveRinger]

McKayla Maroney's Father Passes Away at Age 59

 

[Aceon6]

And Laurie Hernandez is training again. How did I miss that?

 

[Rob]

I saw on USAGymnastics that there is a camp coming up, and Emma Malabuyo and Gabby Perea are attending along with a number of new seniors. But no Maile O'Keefe - any news on her?

 

[semillon27]

I saw on USAGymnastics that there is a camp coming up, and Emma Malabuyo and Gabby Perea are attending along with a number of new seniors. But no Maile O'Keefe - any news on her?

The Gymternet site had a bit on her in a recent post (scroll down a bit). Nothing concrete - she may just be taking her time coming back from her latest injury and also dealing with a growth spurt.

 

[VGThuy]

Can we talk a bit about gymnastics history? The 2001-2004 quad has always been close to my heart because it was when I started paying close attention to gymnastics, so I have to ask...wth were they thinking with that code? Like Cheng Fei's FX was out of a 9.9 SV with a tucked double/double, double piked full, triple twist, and 2 1/2 twist with front layout all because of those stupid dance leaps that nobody cared about? People got away with some truly bad form but because they fully rotated a double tuck jump they got like a 9.7+? How many cat leaps did we need to see? They were almost as bad as the dozens of Shushonovas we saw on FX during the 1997-2000 code. And why was a 9.75 like impossible to get and pretty much a 10.00 back then and a "solid" score was like a 9.4-9.5. Try as I might, I don't get the routine construction back then. Like how Carly Patterson's two E skills and two D skills and a 1 1/2 pirouette was out of a 10.00 SV but say Terin Humphrey who had like 3 E skills with combos and a D was like out of a 9.9 (or less?). Zhang Nan dismounted her bars with a double pike and I think her uneven bars SV was still high compared to others who dismounted with like a double layout full. Svetlana Khorkina's FX at 2003 Worlds looked messy as hell with bad and incomplete (and uncontrolled) landings on her dance skills and fake stuck landings (or controlled luges) but scores like a 9.65+ but at 2004 can only score like a 9.45+ with more controlled dance skills (I also don't really understand how she won FX silver at the 2000 Olympics where I felt other gymnasts had better tumbling and more dance but that's another topic).

Who came up with making gymnastics that robotic and boring? We still haven't recovered from that, and IMO, this code helped kill the 10.00.

 

[bardtoob]

Who came up with making gymnastics that robotic and boring? We still haven't recovered from that, and IMO, this code helped kill the 10.00.

https://youtu.be/EzqNEGe1KPU

... No, I mean literally she did it.

 

[Aceon6]

https://youtu.be/EzqNEGe1KPU

... No, I mean literally she did it.

And every college coach in the US must have that running on a loop in their offices. Seriously, other than extra sass and wiggle, 99% of the NCAA meets feature that exercise multiple times

 

[Rob]

I noticed that McCallum, Wong, Biles, McCusker, and Hurd got Spring AA World Cup assignments. Nothing for Smith. Jade Carey got 2 individual World Cups.

 

[danafan]

The US is sending junior AND senior teams to Gymnix. I can't wait to see who the teams are.

 

[bardtoob]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjdRY-D1y3/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1wyzdnfg8w6tq

 

[semillon27]

I saw on USAGymnastics that there is a camp coming up, and Emma Malabuyo and Gabby Perea are attending along with a number of new seniors. But no Maile O'Keefe - any news on her?

Now apparently it's official - Maile is done with elite, has dropped down to level 10, and will be heading to NCAA (Utah) next fall. https://twitter.com/FloGymnastics/status/1093969255689707520

 

[Winnipeg]

I wonder why? Injury?

 

[semillon27]

I wonder why? Injury?

In the short interview I linked to, she said she needed to do what was best for her mentally and physically. She had injuries and a growth spurt last year and may have just decided it was a better long-term plan to focus on college rather than pushing to get back to the elite level.

 

[Erin]

In the short interview I linked to, she said she needed to do what was best for her mentally and physically. She had injuries and a growth spurt last year and may have just decided it was a better long-term plan to focus on college rather than pushing to get back to the elite level.

It's nice to see gymnasts thinking about their long-term health (both mental and physical) instead of pushing themselves for the sake of the "Olympic dream" especially when that dream is looking less and less likely. I thought she came across as very mature in that interview. I think there are a few other gymnasts in a similar position who may want to look at where they are and whether they should also make the same decision.

 

[VGThuy]

It's nice to see gymnasts thinking about their long-term health (both mental and physical) instead of pushing themselves for the sake of the "Olympic dream" especially when that dream is looking less and less likely. I thought she came across as very mature in that interview. I think there are a few other gymnasts in a similar position who may want to look at where they are and whether they should also make the same decision.

Yeah. It's a shame figure skating doesn't have a similar alternative path.

 

[Erin]

Yeah. It's a shame figure skating doesn't have a similar alternative path.

I agree it would be nice to see figure skaters have an alternative path, but I do worry considerably less about the level of abuse and injuries in figure skating. It's not to say that it doesn't exist in skating and unfortunately the high profile cases may only be the tip of the iceberg. But in elite gymnastics, it's almost the norm.

 

[VGThuy]

I agree it would be nice to see figure skaters have an alternative path, but I do worry considerably less about the level of abuse and injuries in figure skating. It's not to say that it doesn't exist in skating and unfortunately the high profile cases may only be the tip of the iceberg. But in elite gymnastics, it's almost the norm.

Oh, I wasn't even thinking about that. Just a lot of skaters who may wish to continue in the sport, but can't afford to or have an outlet to do so outside competing in the elite level. I guess ISI exists for that, but it's not the same as allowing young skaters a chance to earn college scholarships.

 

[MacMadame]

I think the key to growing any sport beyond a handful of elites is college scholarships. I know tons of parents that steer their girls towards sports where they can get a scholarship to go to college. Softball, triathlon (recently designated an emerging sport), volleyball, gymnastics, etc.