Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

[dramagrrl]

I agree that Ragan's ship has very likely sailed. Simone is back, Morgan has surpassed her both in skill and politics/reputation with the judges, and Riley is looking very strong. There are even others who would surpass her on a good day (Jade still lacks a lot of polish, but she has huge difficulty in FX and vault and is now competing AA; Emma Malabuyo had a rough competition, but could very likely best Ragan when she is on; I'm not sure what Maile O'Keefe has been up to, but if she is healthy and competing like she did last year, she could also likely beat Ragan, and Grace McCallum won an international event over Morgan earlier this season, so she could also be a factor). It also seems to me like she has grown at least a bit (I could be wrong, but it looked like it to me) since last year, which might make upgrading skills or even maintaining old difficulty harder.

I've never been a fan of Ragan's gymnastics - her FX choreo especially makes me cringe with its OTT juvenile cutesiness - but it's gotta suck to essentially have the world in your pocket one year and then have to sit by and watch others steal what should have been your glory.

 

[Willin]

I guess there's been some drama about Morgan complaining on her private instagram that Simone was getting more attention than her? Simone responded on twitter something like "hate the game, not the player" but later deleted it. I thought most of the top gymnasts were really good friends...

 

[savchenkoboss]

I guess there's been some drama about Morgan complaining on her private instagram that Simone was getting more attention than her?

She is honestly surprised.

 

[honey]

I guess there's been some drama about Morgan complaining on her private instagram that Simone was getting more attention than her? Simone responded on twitter something like "hate the game, not the player" but later deleted it. I thought most of the top gymnasts were really good friends...

She also tweeted to her millions of followers to “get the word all around champion”. Whatever Morgan said, Simone really poured gasoline on the whole thing. That tweet was later deleted as well.

 

[savchenkoboss]

She also tweeted to her millions of followers to “get the word all around champion”. Whatever Morgan said, Simone really poured gasoline on the whole thing. That tweet was later deleted as well.

Wow was that referring to Hurd as "get her". So she was dissing on both Biles and Hurd (and maybe others). I no longer feel bad for Ragan. May she quietly fade away now.

 

[VGThuy]

Maybe this "rivalry" will drum up some interest in gymnastics because let's face it, it needs all the publicity and help it can get to get people to watch it again and to try to minimize the attention on other, much more negative, and much more important matters going on with the sport. Everybody seems to respond to a cat fight.

 

[honey]

Wow was that referring to Hurd as "get her". So she was dissing on both Biles and Hurd (and maybe others). I no longer feel bad for Ragan. May she quietly fade away now.

Simone was referring to Morgan in her tweet. I'm not sure I follow the rest of your post? From what I've gathered online, Morgan posted something on a private instagram account, that was extremely vague, did not mention Simone by name and it isn't even clear that's who she was talking about. Someone else (Jade Carey is who I've read) sent the post to Simone, telling her she thought this was about her. Simone then went on an extremely childish public twitter spree, first saying she missed last quad's girls, and various other things. It escalated to the tweet saying "get the world all around champion". I find the whole thing to be and frankly, Simone should know better than to use a platform like hers to publicly blast a teammate. It is shocking those tweets stayed up as long as they did.

 

[VGThuy]

Whoever is in charge in making sure the team has some sort of unity needs to get to work. Determining who did what in this situation does matter (usually these things don't have a black/white right/wrong) but they also need to find a way to make this team work and move past this petty thing. At least those who were bored of American gymnasts looking all pageant like will be entertained that these gymnasts seem to have personalities are aren't afraid to show it a la Khorkina-era Russian team. I just rather that these gymnasts also learn to be grow and mature away from petty squabbling.

 

[once_upon]

These competitors grew up with social media. They should be more aware of how something gets blown up.

 

[annie720]

This is why I prefer the men. One reason, anyway.

 

[VGThuy]

You mean like when one of the male gymnasts slut shamed McKayla Maroney on social media?

 

[centerstage01]

I found that I really enjoyed Riley McCusker's gymnastics. Her lines are beautiful and I thought her bars routine was wonderful.

I would also like to put forward the law that the wolf turn is banned. By everyone. Even Simone who does it better than anyone.

 

[HeatherC]

If anyone missed it, the entire broadcast is up on You Tube now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNEeMvHmuEw

We had SO much fun at this competition all weekend! The little ones on Friday afternoon were great. It was fun watching them although it made me a nervous wreck at times too (it was kind of like watching novice pairs, LOL). The juniors were really fun to watch yesterday as well. There are quite a few names I made note of from the junior event as ones to watch for the next few years if they can stay healthy. Some that I noted from the junior event were Kayla Di Cello, Leanne Wong (eventual winner...we called her 'tuxedo girl' for the entire meet because her cute leo looked like a tuxedo ), Jordan Bowers, Sunisa Lee, Aleah Finnegan (Sarah's sister??!), and Skye Blakley.

Of course the highlight of our weekend was seeing all the seniors compete last night and Simone did NOT disappoint! Her tumbling on FX is just otherworldly (seriously, her first warm up pass on FX was so high I literally gasped ) and while my mom was anxious for her when she was on beam, I was strangely calm because I could just tell from her demeaner that she was NOT coming off that thing, especially after having a mistake on bars. Her vault was HUGE and aside from the landing, it was better than anyone else's vault. I think the bars mistake was just a fluke thing and honestly, I was kind of happy to see her make a big mistake here. It shows she's human but it also gives her extra motivation to keep improving for US Nats. She just has a presence about her and you just know that you're watching greatness when you see her competing in person. I know that sounds cheesy as heck but seriously, her presence is something special. I had so much fun watching her!

I also enjoyed Morgan (her UB and FX were phenomenal and beam was too even with the mistake), Riley (she comes across much better in person than she ever has on TV for me and her UB work is WOW), Ragan looked great overall aside from that bar mistake, Jade Carey is all sorts of powerful, Jordan Chiles had an up and down day but had some great moments on FX and bars, I really liked Emma although she didn't do two of the events (not sure if that was planned or not), Alyonna Shchennikova had an awesome bar set and some other good moments too (she's another that comes across better in person), and I really liked Grace McCallum even with her few mistakes. Overall it was kind of like watching a sectionals skating competition....the girls wanted to do well but they weren't aiming to be perfect here. They're working up to being ready for US Nats and Worlds. We had a really great time!

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer it for you (and no, I have no clue about the social media drama that apparently happened while I was driving home today....as far as we could tell, the girls all treated each other pretty well whether a camera was on them or not.).

 

[Lucy25]

If anyone missed it, the entire broadcast is up on You Tube now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNEeMvHmuEw

We had SO much fun at this competition all weekend! The little ones on Friday afternoon were great. It was fun watching them although it made me a nervous wreck at times too (it was kind of like watching novice pairs, LOL). The juniors were really fun to watch yesterday as well. There are quite a few names I made note of from the junior event as ones to watch for the next few years if they can stay healthy. Some that I noted from the junior event were Kayla Di Cello, Leanne Wong (eventual winner...we called her 'tuxedo girl' for the entire meet because her cute leo looked like a tuxedo ), Jordan Bowers, Sunisa Lee, Aleah Finnegan (Sarah's sister??!), and Skye Blakley.

Yes, Aleah is Sarah’s little sister!

 

[savchenkoboss]

Does anyone else think Simone's bars has improved (apart from the fall). Maybe she would like to try and medal at worlds on it at some point, as it is the only thing she hasnt achieved in the sport.

Riley's bars was absolutely stunning. I think she can be a World Champion on that event someday.

 

[Rob]

I would also like to put forward the law that the wolf turn is banned. By everyone. Even Simone who does it better than anyone.

Biles whips it around, but I thought Riley's was the only one that showed any sort of line and form.

 

[Aceon6]

Biles whips it around, but I thought Riley's was the only one that showed any sort of line and form.

Agree. Riley’s was nice. Her back was straight, the free foot was turned out, the leg was fully extended, and the toe was pointed.

 

[savchenkoboss]

Terry Gannon is such a good commentator in every sport he does. Does this mean he has replaced Al Trowl-pig for good, or is that just wishful thinking on my part? With Nastia replacing Elfi and Gannon replacing the pig, I can stomach even stupid Tim.

 

[ilovepaydays]

Listening to the Gymnastic episode that posted this morning. Apparently, Simone and Morgan didn’t acknowledge each other or shake hands during the podium ceremony. I’m not a fan of the idea of these athletes being friends if they don’t want to be - but I’m also someone who thinks that the “teambuilding” activities at USFS Champs Camp are stupid and don’t make sense in a sport like figure skating - but I do think that a level of professionalism is needed at competitions. YIKES!

They gave huge props to Terry Gannon - but mainly because he wasn’t inappropriate like Al Trautwig. No creepy, racist, or weird comments - especially about adoption.

They did a very good recap of the U.S. Classic and other latest gymnastics news - but too much to post it all here.

Overall, very good episode - especially when working on spreadsheets and databases.

 

[Aceon6]

I wonder how much of the Simone/Morgan stuff is similar to what happened with the rest of the Canadian ice dance teams when VirMoir decided to come back. IIRC, the dynamic between VirMoir and WeaPoje wasn't exactly lovey-dovey.

 

[savchenkoboss]

Simone might be a contender for the World AA gold later this year based on how she looked here.

 

[Rob]

I hadn't really focused on the fact that Liang Chow is the China Women's head coach now.

 

[VGThuy]

I hadn't really focused on the fact that Liang Chow is the China Women's head coach now.

Interesting. I'm still keeping up with gym news but it's hard to bring myself to watch televised gym meets because of everything, although maybe I should because the ones who lose out with the lack of ratings and interest are the younger generation who didn't do anything wrong. I would love it if China and Russia and Romania and many other countries do something to give the U.S. some real nail-biting competition again. I'm a US gym fan, but wins mean a lot more when the competition is tough and when they DO lose from time-to-time.

 

[Erin]

I would love it if China and Russia and Romania and many other countries do something to give the U.S. some real nail-biting competition again. I'm a US gym fan, but wins mean a lot more when the competition is tough and when they DO lose from time-to-time.

Based on what happened in qualifications at the Europeans, I’m not expecting great things from Romania or Russia anytime soon. Romania had a bars disaster and is nowhere near the team final. And Russia qualified second behind France with three falls. You could try pinning all your hopes on China but they are still looking pretty weak on vault and floor. I could see Japan pulling off a medal over one of China or Russia at Worlds.

 

[VGThuy]

I've been waiting for Japan to break through for a long time, so I wouldn't mind that at all.

 

[caseyedwards]

It’s sad to see rest of the world be such trashy garbage compared to United States. They can’t get to Americans level! Americans have no competition. Sad

 

[Rob]

I am loving what France and Belgium are doing. De Jesus and Derwael! And Adlerteg of Sweden on UB, a couple of little breaks but nice! And Sanne on beam of course.

 

[sap5]

Terry Gannon is such a good commentator in every sport he does. Does this mean he has replaced Al Trowl-pig for good, or is that just wishful thinking on my part? With Nastia replacing Elfi and Gannon replacing the pig, I can stomach even stupid Tim.

Don't usually watch gymnastics, and I'll admit one of the big reasons was the awful commentators. I still break into hives when I think about John Tesh. Was really happy to hear Terry Gannon on.

 

[Aceon6]

Don't usually watch gymnastics, and I'll admit one of the big reasons was the awful commentators. I still break into hives when I think about John Tesh. Was really happy to hear Terry Gannon on.

Terry was educating Nick Faldo on last week’s golf broadcast. Nick said something stupid about how someone had to spin out of a shot and Terry patiently explained the twisting moves in gym.

 

[VGThuy]

Terry Gannon is the best non-insider commentator. He never condescends, speaks as if he truly respects the sport and athletes he's covering, is articulate, has a great broadcast voice, and does his homework. I remember an interview when he said he'd watch figure skating at the Olympics (before NBC hired him) and was annoying his wife by commentating on it at home.