Gymnastics #24 - The Road to Paris

[ilovesalchows]

The Pan American Games events start tomorrow. Everything streams live on panamsportschannel.org.

Team USA ready for 2023 Pan American Games • USA Gymnastics

Twelve U.S. men and women will be in Santiago, Chile, to kick off artistic competition at the 2023 Pan American Games October 21-25.

usagym.org

Saturday, October 21 – Men’s Team final at 1 p.m. ET
*U.S. men in Subdivision 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET

Sunday, October 22 – Women’s Team final 11:30 a.m. ET
*U.S. women in Subdivision 2 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Monday, October 23 – Men’s All-around final at 12 p.m. ET
Friday, October 23 – Women’s All-around final at 5 p.m. ET

Tuesday, October 24 – Apparatus Finals Day 1 at 4 p.m. ET
*Women: vault, uneven bars; Men: floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings

Wednesday, October 25 – Apparatus Finals Day 2 at 4 a.m. ET
*Women: balance beam, floor; Men: vault, parallel bars, and high bar

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Couple of news items I didn't see posted:

Jessica Gadirova withdrew from the AA and all event finals for what were described as "precautionary reasons." Since then she's revealed that she suffered a "full tear" of her ACL:

https://olympics.com/en/news/gymnastics-jessica-gadirova-acl-tear-tough-long-journey-paris-2024

Jordan Chiles has been named the USA Flag Bearer for the Pan Am games:

"I'm overwhelmed and honored" - Jordan Chiles on being USA flag bearer at Pan American Games 2023

Jordan Chiles has been chosen as the flag bearer for the 2023 Pan American Games scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile from October 20 to November 5, 2023.

www.sportskeeda.com

 

[Sarah]

Kara Eaker has retired from gymnastics and given up her scholarship at Utah. Her post about her mental health and time at Utah is shocking and awful.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Kara also trained with Al Fong, so it's not like she's saying this from a position of someone who always went to gyms with great reputations before this.

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

Congrats to Félix Dolci on winning the Men's All Around at the Pan Am Games!!! First Canadian man to win a Pan Am Gold in 60 years since 1963!!

 

[airgelaal]

The last few years have weakened my confidence in understanding fundamental things

https://twitter.com/x/status/1712826341656072229

 

[ilovesalchows]

Well, one way they can create parity is to let MAG add an extra team member to the 12 qualified teams. They would then have to cut RG teams as well.

Otherwise, they would just have to cut all of RG. I can't imagine there is enough of a worldwide participation in men's RG to have a competition at the Olympic level.

 

[airgelaal]

Yes, but it turns out that gender equality is achieved at the expense of other inequality.
It’s not an artistic gymnastics' problem that guys don’t do rhythmic gymnastics.

 

[Rob]

Kayla DiCello wins Pans Ams AA. Flavia 2nd, Jordan 3rd.

 

[Sarah]

Congrats to Kayla DiCello on winning the all-around at Pan Ams! I was a little surprised she was the world alternate AND on the team (and back doing elite), but this explains why. What a great competition for her!

 

[skatingguy]

Yes, but it turns out that gender equality is achieved at the expense of other inequality.
It’s not an artistic gymnastics' problem that guys don’t do rhythmic gymnastics.

From the perspective of the Olympics it's one sport with different events.

 

[Rob]

Rhythmic AA is today.

 

[danafan]

Veteran Canadian gymnastics coach handed lifetime ban from working with athletes | TSN

Gymnastics Canada discipline panel concludes Elvira Saadi, who has worked with Olympic-level gymnasts, berated athletes and used physical violence against them, Rick Westhead writes.

www.tsn.ca

 

[danafan]

In more positive news, world medalist Ana Padurariu is taking a year off competing for ucla to try for the Olympics.

Ana Padurariu on Instagram: "As much as I love competing for UCLA, I also want to honour this little girl’s dream of competing in the Olympics one day. 🇨🇦❤️ I will not be competing for UCLA in 2024 as I take a break to focus full-time on my elite jo

ana_padurariu on November 20, 2023: "As much as I love competing for UCLA, I also want to honour this little girl’s dream of competi..."

www.instagram.com

 

[Aaron MB Fan]

Veteran Canadian gymnastics coach handed lifetime ban from working with athletes | TSN

Gymnastics Canada discipline panel concludes Elvira Saadi, who has worked with Olympic-level gymnasts, berated athletes and used physical violence against them, Rick Westhead writes.

www.tsn.ca

Finally! Justice for those who were impacted. I personally heard direct stories and was absolutely shocked this was allowed to happen. Hope this provides some closure for those impacted.

 

[Coco]

Has anyone tried to get tickets for the US Olympic Trials in the Twin Cities next summer? The fee was over $100, so we didn't buy them.

I was hoping local clubs were selling tickets (without outrageous fees) like we have sometimes seen in the past. Does anyone know if they are?

 

[just tuned in]

Simone Biles was a guest on Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson's 2023 special.

She was a delight, of course, and talked about her training for Paris, among other topics.

Simone Biles Talks About Marriage To Jonathan Owens With Kevin Hart And Kenan Thompson In Exclusive 'Back That Year Up' Preview - Blavity

It’s time for Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson to summarize the year in the only hilarious way they know how. Peacock and Hartbeat have announced the upcoming special 2023 Back That Year Up With Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson , streaming Dec. 26 on Peacock. The comical look back on the year will...

blavity.com

 

[barbk]

Not a current gymnast, but I saw Nastia Liukin's new collection at Dillard's Department Store. They had the coat (not as pink as the picture) which was incredibly, fabulously soft, and the minidress. https://www.dillards.com/search-term/nastia+liukin

I was impressed with the quality of the coat. It was made in Vietnam, and the finishing looked very careful. The minidress looked like a potato sack made of better fabric. Not in love with that one, though I suspect that it probably still looks pretty good on folks built like Nastia.

 

[Karina1974]

Maggie Nichols has a, new book out this week.

https://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Journey-Champion-National-Gymnastics-ebook/dp/B0C72HKPTL/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=PRO7TYYURHW2&keywords=maggie+nichols+book&qid=1705731210&sprefix=maggie+%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1

 

[skipaway]

Gabby Douglas working towards an Olympic Comeback

 

[HeatherC]

We got our tickets for Winter Cup this week so we'll be heading down to Louisville later this month for all the gymnastics fun! We can only see the ladies Winter Cup session, the Nastia Liukin Cup, and the second day of the men (I can't get off work that Friday so we're heading down on Saturday morning) but it should still be a fun weekend. Can't wait!

 

[Aceon6]

@HeatherC Do report! Especially if there’s someone who over performs.

 

[Aceon6]

Tiles are up for the Winter Cup on the USA Gymanstics YouTube channel.

 

[pollyanna]

Gabby Douglas had to withdraw. Tested positive for Covid

2012 Olympic champ Gabby Douglas pulls out of first meet in 8 years after testing positive for COVID

The 2012 Olympic gymnastics champion pulled out of this weekend’s Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, after posting on social media that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

www.nbcwashington.com

 

[On My Own]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760825818442273131

‘Jeopardy!’ contestant mistakes iconic male, female US Olympians in all-time gaffe: ‘I did lose my glasses’

A “Jeopardy!” contestant was completely embarrassed after mistaking iconic male figure skater Scott Hamilton for legendary US Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, leaving fans stunned on Th…

nypost.com

Where else to post this?

 

[her grace]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760825818442273131

‘Jeopardy!’ contestant mistakes iconic male, female US Olympians in all-time gaffe: ‘I did lose my glasses’

A “Jeopardy!” contestant was completely embarrassed after mistaking iconic male figure skater Scott Hamilton for legendary US Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, leaving fans stunned on Th…

nypost.com

Where else to post this?

Showed the pic to mini-grace and she didn’t recognize him. I told her the correct answer and she informs me, “Scott Hamilton doesn’t have hair.”

 

[her grace]

Nola Mathews’ floor is so last-century in a good way.

 

[nickp]

Kayla DiCello always wears the most beautiful leos

 

[her grace]

So thoughts on building the U.S. Olympic team?

Biles and Jones are the obvious top 2, and really, they can do all four events, so you need athletes to fill one spot on vault, bars, beam, and floor. The U.S. has taken FX/VT specialists several times, but with the new artistry rules, a lot of the good vaulters are not so great dancers on floor and don't score as well there. Instead, the U.S. might do the Amy Chow/Amanda Borden split with a UB/VT and a BB/FX. Of course, you could also take one person who is good on any two events and then 2 one-eventers.

For example, if you added DiCello to the team for bars and floor, then you need a vaulter (Roberson or Carey) and a beamer (Blakely, Sumanasekera, or Wong). Or you add Wong for bars and beam, and now you need one of the vaulters and a floor specialist (Lincoln or DiCello). Or if Lee gets that really great potential bars routine into an actuality, you can take her for bars, and then do a vault specialist and a beam/floor person (Wong might be the best fit for that role, or DiCello if she can stay on beam, or if Lee has beam back, too, then she does beam and you focus on selecting a floor specialist).

This year, the pieces of the team don't yet seem to fit in one most-obvious way. Looking forward to watching this Olympic race!

 

[ilovesalchows]

I think DiCello is building towards a lock. She has shown herself to be a consistent AA gymnast. A combo of DiCello, Jones, and Biles with specialists with medal worthy event scores would be my choice. Unfortunately for Wong, I think her role as table setter has been usurped. Will be interesting to see what Chiles and Carey are up to.