Gymnastics News #23: Defying Gravity

[danafan]

For some reason, I thought once you did prelims, your team was set. Is that true at the Olympics?

Unlike the Olympic games, the reserve athlete is a part of the team at the world championships, they are accredited and can be on the competition floor and get a team medal.

A substitution is allowed per the technical regulations.

https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_1.1%20-%20Technical%20Regulations%202023.pdf

Relevant section:

If a gymnast who is part of the starting order gets
ill (including mentally) or injured between 24 hours
and 60 min. before the start of Team Final (with
certification by the official competition medical
authority), gymnasts #4 or #5 who are part of the
starting order or the reserve gymnast may be
used as substitute
The substitute shall take exactly the same place
as the replaced gymnast. If this is not possible,
the coach has the right to revise the starting
order. The President of the Superior Jury shall
approve.

So I guess the US could not have used Dicello as the injury occurred during touch warmup I believe? Which would not have been 60 minutes prior to the competition.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

So I guess the US could not have used Dicello as the injury occurred during touch warmup I believe? Which would not have been 60 minutes prior to the competition.

That makes sense.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Fantastic routine for Flavia Saraiva!

 

[honey]

Flavia is so entertaining on floor!

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Big OOB for Simone (.1 deduction), but the rest was excellent. And no tripping this time.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Simone asking Flavia and Rebeca "you guys have so many fans here! Do they live here? Or do they come?"

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Big celebration by Rebeca and Flavia for Flavia's first ever individual medal at her 5th worlds!

 

[honey]

I’m curious what Simone’s strategy will be for Paris. The gap has narrowed substantially between her and rest of the world (except on vault if she does the YDP). She doesn’t have the margin for error that she is once did, but on the other than she has more in her toolbox for difficulty should she choose to do that. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Hedwig]

It was interesting seeing how the gymnasts made place for how they thought the next gymnast would score on the 1-2-3 seats.

For instance, the second chair was vacated for Andrade - and then Flavia went away because they thought that the Maneca-Voinea had won bronce and she set on chair No.3 - but then Flavia won the medal after all. Sabrina looked a bit chrestfallen. That was one beautiful piece of floor work from her.
But very happy for Flavia's very first individual Worlds medal

 

[beckab81]

I’m curious what Simone’s strategy will be for Paris. The gap has narrowed substantially between her and rest of the world (except on vault if she does the YDP). She doesn’t have the margin for error that she is once did, but on the other than she has more in her toolbox for difficulty should she choose to do that. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

The gap has narrowed with Andrade - there's still a pretty big gap with everyone else, and Simone still won the AA by more than 1.5 points. I'm not sure she needs to do more for Paris.

 

[Tesla]

The gap has narrowed with Andrade - there's still a pretty big gap with everyone else, and Simone still won the AA by more than 1.5 points. I'm not sure she needs to do more for Paris.

Hopefully, she’ll be able to do less. She did the all-around three times this week.

 

[skatingguy]

Hopefully, she’ll be able to do less. She did the all-around three times this week.

I don't think she wants to do less - I'm sure she will be training, and planning to compete all her routines 3 times in Paris.

 

[Tesla]

I don't think she wants to do less - I'm sure she will be training, and planning to compete all her routines 3 times in Paris.

4 times

 

[skatingguy]

4 times

Oops, forgot about team final.

 

[honey]

I’d say on floor there is also Gadirova who has narrowed the gap to a degree.

All I’m saying is that it will be interesting if she chooses to keep floor as a potential OOB or two apart from a gold medal.

 

[Rukia]

The thing is, I'm not sure it's all about winning for Simone. I mean obviously she enjoys getting golds, but I think she likely won't do any huge upgrades because getting a silver or whatever isn't the end of the world for her. I think her goal is to do her best and have fun. She's more than proven she is the best.

 

[ilovesalchows]

I think she still wants to win, judging her face after that vault silver. I also think she will upgrade floor next year.

 

[jlai]

She made a big mistake. So she may not be happy with the result’s because she can do better

 

[Aceon6]

The vibe I get from Simone is that she wants to see what she can do and if she does something cleanly in the gym, she's disappointed to botch it in competition. I think she admires Chuso!

As for Paris, even if everyone else ups their content, she's still one of the few who can save every remaining point after a mistake and might be able to teach that skill to the newer team members.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I think Simone wants to do her best, stay healthy, and do gymnastics on her own terms. I think she’ll upgrade if there are skills she wants to do, but not if she feels she’s risking her health.

 

[floskate]

Killer beam from Simone today, very reminiscent of 2019 worlds where she just nailed it as well. Floor was close and Andrade had a chance after Simone's OOB but not getting the Mustafina round and an iffy landing herself saw to that. I think Simone will upgrade for sure - if the twisties don't prove to be an issue - and if she feels she's capable of it. I've been reading that is why the amanar isn't back as she has to twist backwards off the horse, (plus I would imagine it's terrifying after the Tokyo TF), while she seems OK twisting forwards after the half on so perhaps a handspring double full is a possibility for her? Or maybe the Biles 1 on vault will return?

In terms of upgrades, on floor she has the Biles II and the Moors that she has competed before. The Biles 1 is turning into a bit of a landing liability so it will be interesting to see what she does with that.

I'd say she'd also need a beam upgrade, but the Biles dismount isn't worth it for the D-score so what will she come up with there?

Either way, and despite what she's saying to the media, I am sure she and the Landi's have a plan and they have proved to be masters at routine construction for her. (Although my dream of her performing ALL FIVE of her eponymous skills in the same meet will likely never happen). But look at what she has achieved after such a short space of time back in full-time training and at 26!! She's remarkable and it has been wonderful to see her compete with so much joy and see her perform arguably the best FX (TF) and BB (EF) exercises of her career.

 

[jlai]

All the individual American medals are won by African American gymnasts, male and female

Is that a first?

 

[VGThuy]

I think cleanliness and execution is the name of the game for Simone now. Last Olympic cycle, she was pushing things and it seemed like it was a struggle in that although she could do incredible envelope-pushing things, it took a lot out of her. She already has an incredible D-score advantage, so she should probably just keep what she’s doing but work on keeping those landings and hitting those positions consistently. I think she likes pushing things but I also think she also likes balancing that with maximizing her win potential, and the E-score has become increasingly important now. She already has excellent form. It’s those bouncy landings, and she has the ability to do her incredible difficulty and control the landings. Of course, a bounce is better than risking injury.

 

[airgelaal]

I just read that the situation with the women's vault has created a mess with the Olympic spots. Oh, dear...

 

[Hedwig]

I just read that the situation with the women's vault has created a mess with the Olympic spots. Oh, dear...

Care to elaborate?

 

[Sylvia]

Black Gymnastics History: Biles, Andrade, Jones, Richard Win Medals At World Gymnastics Championships: https://www.si.com/college/hbcu/gymnastics/black-gymnastics-history-medals-worlds-championships-2023

The awards podium had three women of color, Simone Biles (1st/U.S.), Rebeca Andrade (2nd/Brazil), and Shilese Jones (3rd/U.S.), a first at a World Artistic Gymnastics Championship event.
Frederick Richard, 19, who won a bronze medal, joined Biles in another first as two African Americans stood on the podium to win world gymnastics championships all-around awards. Richard's feat was the first time in 13 years that a U.S. male won a medal at the event.

 

[airgelaal]

Care to elaborate?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1711056651384492266

 

[Hedwig]

What was the error on vault? Sorry, i dont have enough context here.

 

[Private Citizen]

What was the error on vault? Sorry, i dont have enough context here.

Even after the drop-outs, Bacsay was 9th in line, but was erroneously notified that she was in the finals because the FIG forgot about Leanne Wong, who wasn't on the initial list of substitutes because of the two-per-country rule. Because Bacsay had been notified, the FIG let her vault anyway, as a 9th gymnast, even though she hadn't qualified. Now this error has given her an Olympic individual qualification spot over her teammate.

 

[airgelaal]

What was the error on vault? Sorry, i dont have enough context here.

2 gymnasts withdrew from the competition and the FIG could not correctly calculate who should replace them

https://twitter.com/x/status/1710737643405721873