Gymnastic news #22 - Tokyo or bust

[semillon27]

On the other hand I'd be annoyed if I were Jade Carey because it would seem like they're basically trying to take away my EF spot that I went out and earned because I've learned you can't depend on USAG for, well, anything.

Once you've decided to take the top four AA as the team though, who do you pick as your +1? The best options to make an event final are MyKayla (second at trials on vault and 2014 world vault medalist), Kara (second at trials on beam and 2018 and 2019 worlds event finalist), and Riley (fourth at trials on bars due to a fall and never made a worlds final). Maybe you add Leanne to this group, second at trials on floor, but that seems more of a stretch.

The one that makes the most logical sense is Riley for bars, because the team only has one other person who is internationally competitive on bars if she hits (Suni). (I know, I know, Simone medaled on bars in 2018, but I don't think anyone realistically expects that to happen again given the state of the international field.) If she hadn't fallen, I think they would have named her no question. But she fell, and with how every team selection has gone under Tom F., I think that pretty much ruled her out. Do you name her even though she fell and has had an injury problem that limited her to bars at trials? Or do you name MyKayla who was 5th AA, just missed the team, and could make the vault final? Despite the redundancy with Simone and Jade, there is logic to it. Plus if something happens with Jade, whom the U.S. can't replace due to her spot being nominative, then it makes sense to have someone who can make the vault final (and maybe even medal) instead.

(ETA: Tom F.'s justification at the press conference made no sense though - saying that bars is "riskier than the other events and so that was in consideration of who the fifth person would be" - that's a load of garbage.)

 

[her grace]

Tom hasn’t acted strategically yet in team selection so if someone other than Skinner places 4th, I’d say they have a realistic shot of being chosen.

Called it!

I think Skinner got screwed because she's the one that gives the team the biggest score boost and she just lost her chance at a team medal. But McCallum does make a better back-up if anyone gets injured because she can go up and do okay on all four events. Still, I think she got chosen solely for finishing 4th; Tom doesn't have a strategic bone in his body.

I get the Skinner specialist choice: she has a decent chance at earning a medal if she makes the final. McCusker would have a great shot at making finals, but her medal chances were slim, and she fell at trials Eaker could make the beam final, though she had formidable competition in Lee for the second spot, but beam being the crapshoot it is, she also had potential for a medal. But since she wasn't exactly nailing her beam routines, I can also see why she wasn't selected.

OTOH, I think these choices maximize team disharmony; hope someone thoughtful figures out the roommate situation.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Jade is not a FX specialist. Her FX score at Trials was super low and her scores at Nationals wouldn't fill the void that many other gymnasts could have filled on that apparatus either and a few could score higher by some way. Skinner would have been a better pick if they were going to put a VT/FX specialist on the team as opposed to just the 4th best AAer at Trials even though I wouldn't call Skinner a FX specialist either since she scored 7th overall at Trials. McCallum was the best choice because she's capable of scoring 14.1+, so close to Wong and her vault is on par with the double yurchenko vaulters.

I wouldn't use Jade's floor scores here as an indication of anything. Jade hasn't been doing her most difficult possible floor routine, but she qualified for both vault and floor through the world cup. In Melbourne, where she won the world cup, she won both vault and floor and her floor score was a 14.366. That score puts her second behind Simone of all the US Gymnasts on floor. So yes, Jade is an FX specialist when she is seriously competing FX. She has not shown that this year however, so it remains to be seen what she will do at the Olympics. I suspect she will be trying to win a silver medal. Based on her performances at trials and nationals, she would not have been in consideration for the team on FX, no.

 

[her grace]

Also excited to see what Wong can do in the future. So elegant and polished.

 

[love skating]

Was wondering yesterday how many will try again in three years. Will some go the Skinner route and do college gymnastics for a year or two and then go back to try for the Olympics? Will some put off college? I know many are already committed, will some continue on Team USA instead of college? And I'm not too familiar with the juniors - are any projected to be superstars in three years? I think the three year vs four year gap might affect their decisions.

 

[AxelAnnie]

mistake

You're a bit late to the party. Jayar was referring to Simone pulling out of competing FX last night after falling off beam. She was in tears almost the entire time between beam and floor, which she did compete after all.

I meant that I bet Simone would not pull out. And as to late....I am on the West Coast and am late for everything TV.

 

[danafan]

Skinner can totally medal on vault. I'm not sure if Jade is seriously injured and has lost skills or is just mildly injured and pacing herself, but it will be interesting to see who makes it vault finals along with Simone.

There is so much to say about the selection of the 4th team member and the +1 that I won't bother getting into it because I'm sure it's all been said (I wasn't reading this thread during the competition). But the above is very true and very interesting to me because Carey and Skinner both do the same two vaults (though Carey has not done the Cheng I believe this year) and in general I would say Carey's execution is better and Skinner would have a very hard time beating her for the spot in event finals. But since Carey hasn't competed her two hardest vaults this year it's a question mark whether she would be able to beat Skinner for the second US spot in the vault final and having Skinner as a back up is a virtual guarantee that the US finishes 1-2 on vault. Maybe the selection committee considered that, but I actually think they put very little thought into it at all.

I feel badly for Wong who really should have had the 4th team spot and Eaker who really should have had the +1. And Skinner on the main team where she'd have put a huge vault score in the team final whereas McCallum didn't even finish in the top 3 on any event and it's very possible she doesn't beat any of her teammates on any apparatus at the Olympics. Vault is the only event that is likely and and they had better options.

 

[Rukia]

Jade was going to have to beat at least 2 of her team mates anyway to get to the vault final, whether they put Skinner directly on the team or if Skinner was a +1 specialist. They didn't take anything from her. But again, that's the path that she chose.

Does anyone on the team even do a second vault besides Simone? I didn't think they did (or at least not one that's competitive with Jade and Simone).

 

[danafan]

Does anyone on the team even do a second vault besides Simone? I didn't think they did (or at least not one that's competitive with Jade and Simone).

Chiles did compete a second vault at US Championships but with a comparably low D score to those who are likely to qualify for the vault final and those two vaults would not qualify for event finals regardless of two per country limits.

 

[danafan]

Wow everyone should read Riley McCusker's latest instagram post. Get out the tissues.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQq_WbvAdNd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[Doggygirl]

Does anyone on the team even do a second vault besides Simone? I didn't think they did (or at least not one that's competitive with Jade and Simone).

Skinner did Cheng and Amanar at US Nationals and at trials.

 

[skatfan]

I meant that I bet Simone would not pull out. And as to late....I am on the West Coast and am late for everything TV.

I’m on the west coast and watched everything live through the NBC Sports app. Highly recommend it!

 

[allezfred]

On the women’s side haven’t quite given up on on tradition and the idea that art can still exist in this sport even if it gets harder to see after every Olympics.

The craptacular floor routines “choreo” do provide light relief though so it’s not all bad.

 

[semillon27]

I feel badly for Wong who really should have had the 4th team spot and Eaker who really should have had the +1. And Skinner on the main team where she'd have put a huge vault score in the team final whereas McCallum didn't even finish in the top 3 on any event and it's very possible she doesn't beat any of her teammates on any apparatus at the Olympics. Vault is the only event that is likely and and they had better options.

Wong was inconsistent all year. If she'd come in to trials and hit 8-for-8 I'd have agreed with you, but she didn't. With her track record this year, I don't think you can say that she "should have" the 4th spot. I said earlier that she'd have been my #1 choice coming in to the meet, but she didn't hit everything. And Eaker did have pretty good beam sets at trials but her routine construction has been questionable and after the debacle that was 2019 worlds qualifying, I don't think they were any more justified in taking her for beam (where she would have to beat out Simone and Suni to make event finals) than Skinner for vault (where she will have to beat out Simone and Jade).

Grace was 7th on vault (counting only one vault), 5th on bars, 5th on beam, and 4th on floor. MyKayla was 2nd on vault (counting only one vault), 9th on bars, 7th on beam, and 7th on floor. If you decide to value consistency and potential to fill in on any event if needed in a team final, rather than a contribution on a single event, then selecting Grace makes sense.

 

[Sylvia]

Meet the 6 gymnasts who will lead Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics

Simone Biles is joined by several first-time Olympians for the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team.

www.today.com

Hoda Kotb's (gushy ) chat with them on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uqgja8pnw

 

[Carolla5501]

Well my brush with fame. I’m in a restaurant at the airport and a family sits down next to me. I think “gee that woman looks familiar.” Umm… it’s the Biles. Mom, dad and The GOAT.

(for those of you playing at home medical diagnosis- she’s smiling and. not limping. Ankles are not wrapped etc….)

 

[VGThuy]

Simone has said she’s not injured. I think yesterday was just an off-night and she got into her head. Was Day 2 the last time she lost an AA comp (even just a portion of the competition) to another gymnast since 2013?

 

[viennese]

I kind of think this is her best look.

Nastia's fashion choices are so wild and outside. This one looks like it's made out of a canopy bed pattern. And she still looks hot.

 

[viennese]

Very sad that Riley McCusker didn't have a good night.
It seems that the team lineup is over qualified with floor and vault power gymnasts and there's only one superior uneven bars gymnast. Though it's entirely possible that Simone will join Sunisa as a finalist.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Very sad that Riley McCusker didn't have a good night.
It seems that the team lineup is over qualified with floor and vault power gymnasts and there's only one superior uneven bars gymnast. Though it's entirely possible that Simone will join Sunisa as a finalist.

I would disagree with that in terms of what the USA has to offer and in terms of the results. The 4 member team includes the 1, 2, 3, and 5th place finishers on bars, so really it would be almost impossible to improve our uneven bars scores without taking Riley McCusker as a part of a 4 member team even though she can do only one event (not a good idea) or producing gymnasts other than the ones we have.

For beam, we are taking the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place finishers, so again, almost the best possible team we could take without taking Kara Eaker which again, wouldn't make a lot of sense considering Kara's other scores.

In vault, we are taking 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 8th from trials. In floor, 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 9th. So it's kind of the opposite of what you're saying? Although we are pretty solid in floor at this point.

 

[VGThuy]

If this was an old-school 6-member team but in a 6-3-3 Team Finals format, who would have gotten that sixth spot? I think it's safe to say MyKayla Skinner would have been the fifth named gymnast.

 

[sk9tingfan]

If this was an old-school 6-member team but in a 6-3-3 Team Finals format, who would have gotten that sixth spot? I think it's safe to say MyKayla Skinner would have been the fifth named gymnast.

The next Olympics will return to the five member team.

 

[VGThuy]

The next Olympics will return to the five member team.

I know, thank you.

 

[skateboy]

Just chiming in to express my lack of appreciation for the "sit spins" in the Floor Exercise routines (complete with "Car Wash Balloon Man" arms). Damn, those are ugly.

That is all.

 

[BittyBug]

Worcester’s Stephen Nedoroscik shines on pommel horse but fails to make Olympic team at Trials - The Boston Globe

"I was happy to hit a routine," Nedoroscik said.

www.bostonglobe.com

But this is far from the end for Nedoroscik, who said even before the Trials that he would consider staying in the sport to try for the 2024 Games. He only emerged as an international contender midway through this Olympic quad, and has earned both valuable lessons and many fans in that short time.

 

[AxelAnnie]

The next Olympics will return to the five member team.

Why? I simply cannot make sense of the number on the team thing.

 

[skatfan]

Why? I simply cannot make sense of the number on the team thing.

You’ll need to do some reading. The short of it is that the effort going down to four and creating other slots failed to accomplish what was wanted and the power countries want 5 on their teams the way it’s been the last two summer games.

 

[AxelAnnie]

You’ll need to do some reading. The short of it is that the effort going down to four and creating other slots failed to accomplish what was wanted and the power countries want 5 on their teams the way it’s been the last two summer games

Thank you. That explains it well enough for me.
Sounds like the ISU changing the judging system all the time

 

[becca]

Personally the more I think on it the selection makes sense. In a four person team your one injury away from something bad happening.

If someone presented a really great He Kexin score or heck like Madison it’s worth the risk but none of them really showed that.

Skinner could qualify for event finals maybe win medal if Jade doesn’t make it. Having four solid all arounders isnt a bad idea.
There is room for specialists but if you want to be one you got to be spectacular that’s fair

 

[Coco]

Actually, it did achieve something of what it set out to do. The team sizes were reduced so that more individuals from countries that didn't have teams could make it to the Olympics. Of course, the unintended effect was that the teams now wanted all arounders so people who had super strong and super weak events, or actual specialists, were kind of shut out of the team event in the main countries. Some of them also chose to pursue trying to qualify as individuals.

I like it, in theory. The problem is that the sport of gymnastics needs more places in the Olympics that it currently has. For example the United States can send 26 swimmers but only six gymnasts.

I would like gymnastics to be more like swimming in track in the sense that country should be able to qualify participants on specific events. Then after everyone has competed preliminaries, a predetermined number from those participants can be chosen to compete in the team final.