Gymnastics News #21 - Tumbling on to Tokyo

[danafan]

The only way wolf turns will go away is if they devalued them, but then they'd probably have to devalue all turns. No big loss for me. In fact they could take away the pirouetting requirement. Honestly, if I was a coach, I'd teach wolf turns as well as a double wolf on FX is a D-level skill, fulfills the pirouetting requirement, and it seems to be more deduction-safe than some of the other pirouette variations where many gymnasts fall out of and almost fall on their face.

There is no requirement to do a pirouette element on floor under FIG rules.

 

[danafan]

WUT? Mai Murakami is OFF the Japanese team?

I had to search to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood. Seriously Japan?

The Japan Problem

I would say everything turned terrible this weekend, but like it wasn’t terrible before. Everything continued being terrible this weekend. The big news is that, for reasons entirely beyond th…

balancebeamsituation.com

Gymnastics is one sport where I feel that the hardcore fans really do have much more common sense and logic than the federations that govern it.

Murakami

Japan has always been very strict with their team selection rules and they pick their teams way earlier than any other country. And this isn't the first time Mai was overlooked when surely a more subjective process would have selected her. She didn't make the 2012 team and she was by far (as I recall) the most promising gymnast in Japan the whole quad. And apparently she was only an alternate on the 2015 world team before being subbed in and being the top Japanese AAer.

While I think team selection should be as objective as possible, you need to leave some subjectivity in there. I mean at least leave one spot for selection by "committee" or something.

 

[ilovepaydays]

USA Gymnastics has announced the women’s 2019 Pan American Games team.

I don’t see where they’ve named the men’s team.

 

[VGThuy]

There is no requirement to do a pirouette element on floor under FIG rules.

There isn't? I thought it was, but the last time I checked on that was like 2012. Or maybe I assumed it because I saw some gymnasts just doing a throwaway single pirouette the way some gymnasts did a throwaway forward salto in isolation.

 

[danafan]

There isn't? I thought it was, but the last time I checked on that was like 2012.

It's never been a special requirement (well I shouldn't say never, but not under any FIG rules I judged under). In 2009-2012 it was a composition deduction (I believe 0.3).

 

[VGThuy]

It's never been a special requirement (well I shouldn't say never, but not under any FIG rules I judged under). In 2009-2012 it was a composition deduction (I believe 0.3).

Ah. I think I'm confusing terms then. I sort of conflate the two and am not very precise about gymnastics rules wording and terminology.

 

[shuilee]

USA Gymnastics has announced the women’s 2019 Pan American Games team.

I don’t see where they’ve named the men’s team.

2019 Pan American Games

Cameron Bock, Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan
Grant Breckenridge, Libertyville, Ill./Stanford University
Brody Malone, Summerville, Ga./Stanford University
Robert Neff, Brookfield, Wis./Stanford University
Genki Suzuki, North Wales, Pa./University of Oklahoma

Non-traveling alternates
Adrian de los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center
Riley Loos, El Dorado Hills, Calif./Technique Gymnastics

 

[HeatherC]

So I didn't get a chance to post anything here about the Classic last weekend but it was SO much fun and everyone did a great job. Even when she waters things down, Simone still has this aura about her and she's still the queen as far as I'm concerned. She was wonderful and I liked her new FX routine. I also enjoyed Grace McCallum (she had SO much trouble with bars in warmups but when it came time to compete, she nailed her routine like a rockstar ), Riley McCuster (her beam and bars were fabulous), Morgan Hurd (LOVE her new FX routine), Kara Eaker (her beam.... ), Leanne Wong (she was strong on everything), and McKayla Skinner looked like she was having the time of her life all day long. It was a fabulous competition and I'm so glad that we went to see it. If you have any questions about anyone, just ask and I'll try to get back here and post about it.

The US ladies won the team event at the Pan Am Games tonight by over 10 points and that was with Simone (and Grace McCallum) sitting at home. That's pretty impressive. It was a fun night of gymnastics IMO. ESPN2 is airing a lot of the Pan Am stuff and they aired all of the women's subdivisions today. I only caught the last one with the US ladies which aired at 9:30 PM here and even though they were using the Peru event feed, this meant they had no control over what all we got to see tonight, I thought it was a pretty good broadcast overall. I got to see most of the US girls along with some other lesser known gymnasts, and I still think Flavia from Brazil is adorable and a star in the making. Her toe point is to die for and I was so bummed out when she fell off the beam. The men's competition starts tomorrow and then I guess the ladies resume again on Monday? Not really sure of the schedule. Did anyone else get to watch the Pan Am games tonight?

 

[nickp]

I really like bart conner and kathy johnson as commentators

 

[viennese]

Danusia Francis' BB was stunning, with a surprising and original dismount. Happy to see her in the final. (I caught it on twitter, not ESPN)

I wish we'd seen more of the Canadian team. Congratulations to US women. This was a strong crew.
It's nice to see Riley McCusker's growing confidence and unusual (for these times) elegant style. Would she lose very much if she omitted the wolf turn on floor and did an attitude spin instead? Her FX is ballet-inspired and the wolf turn seems out of place.

 

[Lucy25]

I absolutely love Bart Connor and Kathy Johnson on the broadcast. They are so good at commentating the college gymnastics, that I knew they would do a good job here. They were genuinely thrilled at some of the skills that were being done by the US ladies. It was a bit of a disappointing night for Morgan, But Riley was incredible and the other girls stepped up. I am so happy with all of their beam and floor work. Such beautiful lines and stretch. It is so nice to say that about the U.S. ladies! I M not sure Kara should be in the AA, but she did a nice job. It makes me so happy that most of them are committed to college (is Morgan?), and that I will get to see them beyond elite. Three of them will be on the same team (Florida)!

 

[HeatherC]

FYI, the US men compete tonight at 9:30 PM and the event will be aired live on ESPN2 (I think....it was airing on ESPNU but I think the majority of the events are supposed to be airing on the other one). Did anyone catch the first subdivision earlier tonight?

 

[Aceon6]

The poor camera work and delays in scoring are making PanAms a DVR event for me. I just got caught up on the men’s team. Congrats Brazil!

 

[Aceon6]

Am now caught up on the women’s AA. Ellie squeaked out the gold over Riley as an inquiry into Riley’s D score on floor was denied. Lots of mistakes by the top contenders allowing Flavia to grab bronze. Gutted for Kara.

The timing of this vs. US Nationals is just unfortunate. I wonder how the interruption in training and using new equipment will impact everyone.

 

[bardtoob]

Kara Eaker Beam Pan American Games Event Finals 2019

15.266 GOLD

youtu.be

Kara Eaker won the gold in the Pan American Games Beam EF with this amazing routine.

 

[Lucy25]

Kara Eaker Beam Pan American Games Event Finals 2019

15.266 GOLD

youtu.be

Kara Eaker won the gold in the Pan American Games Beam EF with this amazing routine.

Gorgeous!

 

[Seerek]

A little topic, but Blythe Lawrence (heard in the clip above during Kara's routine on the Mediapro feed) was also covering Artistic Swimming during the Pan Am Games.

 

[Rob]

Wow not a wobble from Kara and all connections like silk. I usually hate side somis because they look so awkward, but not on her. So good.

 

[VGThuy]

Kara Eaker's gymnastics, at least on the beam, is what the future should look like.

 

[canbelto]

Kara eaker is gorgeous but she’s coached by Al Fong who has a terrible track record of injuries and burn outs. I’m worried.

 

[dramagrrl]

Kara's dance elements and choreography on beam are lovely. With almost everyone else, I want to eliminate the "dance" from beam because it isn't actually dance; it is posing and flapping arms/hands around for no reason and it really irritates me because it breaks the flow of the routines.

 

[vanillashake]

Kara is such a beautiful gymnast. She will bring artistry back into gymnastics! I love Simone and she is probably the best gymnast ever, but she doesnt really bring the artistic element. Which is fine since she is so great, but I want atleast someone to bring it, and to see more of it in the future.

 

[bardtoob]

Kara's manner of movement (not the content) reminds me of Sanne Wever.