Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

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I think Al Trautwig referred to Ragan Smith as Riley Smith at one "cut to commercial" point.

I just do not like Texas Dreams floor routines. I didn't think there would be a gym that consistently produced routines that are more cutsie and less elegant than Karolyi's.

Ragan Smith was good, but I wonder how surprised Kim Zmeskal is that her first AA senior national champion is Smith and was not Bailie Key.

Definitely hoping Riley McCusker can find consistency. So pretty to watch.

I like Trinity Thomas. She doesn't have high insteps, but she points her feet to the tips of her toes and does not just slop the pads of her toes on the beam like so many.

I loathe the wolf turn, but Jordan Chiles' "new" skill was lol! It looked like she could have gone two more revolutions! It didn't come out pretty, but it was actually an amazing feat!
 
Riley McCusker was beautiful. Love how she presents the end of her exercises for all the world like she's on a 1980's Soviet world team. I used to love those landing positions. :swoon: Hope she can get consistent and add more difficulty.

Really enjoyed Trinity Thomas and Morgan Hurd.

Wolf turns just have to go unless you are McCusker and even then she did two in a row :(

Why have they brought back rotation jumps on beam? So tentative, splits nowhere near most of the time. Meh.
 
Rob said:
I just do not like Texas Dreams floor routines. I didn't think there would be a gym that consistently produced routines that are more cutsie and less elegant than Karolyi's.
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The fact that Ragan's new FX is actually quite a lot less obnoxious than her FX from last year is not a good sign at all. All the grossly over-cutesy butt-shaking, flex-y hands, hair twirling and posing makes me cringe with second-hand embarrassment. :scream:

Morgan Hurd reminds me of Lilia Podkopayeva on floor and beam. Too bad she seems a bit headcase-y so far.

Really like Riley's gymnastics and was pleased to see her have a solid competition.

I enjoyed Trinity Thomas as well. Lovely lines and she looked happy to be out there competing.

Wolf turns are awful and should be banned outright.

Both Simone and Nastia (who I love) chickened out big time in their answers to the questions about USAG and the Nassar issues. Good for Aly for speaking out strongly. :cheer2:
 
After watching Sunday night on NBC I am sure of one thing -- if I never seen another wolf turn again it won't be soon enough. I think that there may have been one gymnast who did it well enough to not look completely strained and ugly, rather like when beillman mania broke out in skating a decade or so ago. My dislike of wolf turns is almost equal to my dislike of Al Trautwig as a commentator. :kickass::lynch:
 
ilovepaydays said:
Isn't the real problem with that move is that it's so ugly most of the time? Even when Simone Biles did it, I was like :yawn: because it showcased how short her legs were.

I don't care if a move is overused if it's attractive to look at. I don't know what grade skill "the Okino" is considered now, but it got attention at the time because it was so hard and pretty.
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I pulled up Tourischeva's version on YouTube, and it was so much better than the modern variations. CONTROLLED, with no wild flailing of arms, for one thing. Plus she kept it to one revolution.
 
dramagrrl said:
The fact that Ragan's new FX is actually quite a lot less obnoxious than her FX from last year is not a good sign at all. All the grossly over-cutesy butt-shaking, flex-y hands, hair twirling and posing makes me cringe with second-hand embarrassment. :scream:

:cheer2:
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She needs to find someone who knows how to edit music, though. Any DJ worthy of the title will tell you there is a RIGHT way and a WRONG way to do a mashup, and hers is the WRONG way.
 
TBH I hate all the so-called "dancing" on the FX and the beam. I get that gymnastics has moved way away from artistry and more towards athletics but my god are those routines terrible. Honestly, it would be better if ladies FX was like men's - no music, no dancing.
It's not dancing as much as random choreographed movements serving no purpose outside of point building. I'd say the gymnasts play a much bigger role in that than the music or choreography. Even tacky music/choreography can be memorable if the gymnast performs it. Simone and Laurie were so memorable last season not because the routines were better, but because they are great performers. A lot of the female gymnasts this weekend seemed like choreographed robots in comparison - blank faces, stiff movements, little personal flare. Ragan in particular had such a disconnect between her face/movements/choreography that it was painful to watch. I would've preferred just seeing her tumbling passes.
 
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Wow what a great return from Kharenkova. Her beam was lovely.

I hope Eremina can get her vault together because she could be a real contender in the AA in Montreal. Though not sure I trust any of the Russians to hit four routines on the same day when the pressure is on....

I'd love to see Elizarova on the team somehow. Her tumbling at the Universiade was amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV9bO1J9IFw
 
I can't see Elizarova making it, especially since she messed up the EF. Also, Kharenkova had a impressive Floor and BB at the Russia cup. Russian beam was really impressive (knock on the wood). I have no idea what russian plan to do with Paseka.

Men's team is very deep in Vault, floor, PB and Ring, problem is 3 per event especially when two are specialist. AA are likely to be David Belyavisky and Nikita Nagorny, which means European AA silver medalist Arthur Dalaloyan would not compete AA. Arthur will likely only do Floor and vault, Ablyazin just ring based on Russia cup.
 
Chinese men and womens team are looking very strong at the national games, at least 7 women have an Amanar or more difficult vault :wideeyes:. Larisa Iordache looked really good at Romanian nationals and should be the favourite for the AA title.
 
Domshabfan said:
Chinese men and womens team are looking very strong at the national games, at least 7 women have an Amanar or more difficult vault :wideeyes:. Larisa Iordache looked really good at Romanian nationals and should be the favourite for the AA title.
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Wow, that all sounds very interesting.

ETA:

CoP 2017-20: Larisa Iordache BB 2017 Romanian Nationals

CoP 2017-20: Larisa Iordache UB EF 2017 Romanian Nationals

Larisa Iordache VT - Romanian Nationals 2017

CoP 2017-20: Larisa Iordache FX 2017 Romanian Nationals
 
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Domshabfan said:
Larisa Iordache looked really good at Romanian nationals and should be the favourite for the AA title.
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You are so right. Larisa's AA start values are very strong on paper, and her execution has a level soft refinement that Americans do not even attempt; Americans typically go for strong, rebounding, confident, powerful execution.
 
It's good to see the Chinese teams looking so strong. We may well be on the way to seeing the end of the USA domination and that can only be good for the sport. It's such a shame Ellie Downie is injured, the battle for the world AA podium would have been even more exciting.
 
Larissa did look great at Romanian nationals, aside from that "layout full" on beam that's awfully close to a tuck. She now has the highest AA score in the world so far and is probably the slight favorite heading into Worlds. As much as I loved Simone, I do think worlds will be more exciting this year without her as the AA competition is looking a lot more wide open than in the past, with several different contenders for gold - Iordache, Smith, possibly the second American (depending on who is sent), Tingting, Eremina, Melnikova, Teramoto. Sentimentally, I hope Ellie Black is a contender for a medal (especially with Worlds in Canada) but I suspect gold is a way long shot. Even with Ellie Downie out, there are tons of contenders.
 
I'm glad there will be some competition at Worlds. I'm still not quite there in watching gymnastics again after everything's that happened with USAG and just not liking what I'm seeing this season from the top gymnasts, but we need to move away from American dominating AAer, second American AAer that can rotate among the American roster depending on who is in favor, and everyone else. Gymnastics need real international competition to be interesting and thrive. Otherwise, it's incredibly boring to watch.
 
VIETgrlTerifa said:
I'm glad there will be some competition at Worlds. I'm still not quite there in watching gymnastics again after everything's that happened with USAG and just not liking what I'm seeing this season from the top gymnasts, but we need to move away from American dominating AAer, second American AAer that can rotate among the American roster depending on who is in favor, and everyone else. Gymnastics need real international competition to be interesting and thrive. Otherwise, it's incredibly boring to watch.
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Agree. USAG sets are looking more and more like USFS short programs. Everyone does the same stuff and only the music changes. All the personality has been wrung out.
 
She does seem fragile, and I hope she grows out of that. Even with her mistakes, Hurd was my favorite at US Nationals. I love her form on bars.
 
Morgan Hurd is like the anti U.S. gymnast were used to. Nice form, all about the details, and a shaky focus :lol: She could do so much though but it seems her career will be very hit and miss. It's crazy early to call what will happen in Tokyo but I don't believe that the U.S. will repeat as Olympic champions, but the U.S. team will be a lot more innovative and expressive than they've been the last couple of times around. I actually think Italy or Japan will be the Olympic team champions, U.S. for bronze, sorry it's the vodka talking :rofl:
 
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