Gymnastics News #23: Defying Gravity

[mattiecat13]

I wish John R. would stop talking about how “difficult” the scoring system is. And I hate those insulting colors next to the score to explain how well the gymnast does. Why can’t they just tell the audience what the numeric range is for poor, good and great performances like they do in figure skating?

 

[pollyanna]

I love Shilese Jones’ gymnastics! I hope she can stay healthy enough to make the Olympic team.

 

[ilovesalchows]

Wong is so clean, she’d be a good table setter in qualifying. Plus if disaster strikes you can really put her up anywhere.

 

[danafan]

Wong is on fire today. I will admit to having written her off after last year. She sold that floor routine. I think having a FIG brevet as her coach is helping a lot. I wonder how she will navigate next year though as there is not as much time after the NCAA season to prepare for the elite season.

 

[alexikeguchi]

Leanne has improved so much. I feel like this version of Leanne would have made the Olympics over Grace.

I went to the US Championships in 2021 and based on how the two of them looked at that event, I feel like the 2021 version of Leanne should have made the Olympic team over Grace as well.

 

[her grace]

Wish Roberson had been cleaner on FX. Her vault looks great, but not sure she’d make a floor line-up.

 

[skipaway]

Standing O for Simone after floor! Exceptional

 

[Sarah]

I really think this is the best Leanne has ever looked.

 

[Debbie S]

Did Samantha mix up Terry's alma mater? He went to NC State, not Florida.

Great job by Leanne on bars! Jade looked great on vault, not so much on floor, sigh.

 

[Sarah]

Jade just looked off all weekend, but that was a nice vault.

 

[Karen-W]

Jade just looked off all weekend, but that was a nice vault.

Before her bars routine today, the commentators mentioned that she apparently took a hard fall early in the week and she was having trouble with feeling in her right arm. She did much better today, but hopefully she'll be healed up in a few weeks.

 

[pollyanna]

Suni Lee is still a big question mark, and I know camp is yet to come, but I really like the top four plus Suni for the world team.

I really like Jade, but as much as she wants to be an all around gymnast, she’s just not. I’m so glad she’s an Olympic champion on floor.

Congrats to Simone for title number eight!

 

[ilovesalchows]

Anyone watching this HOF recognition on Peacock? Did they blindside these folks or does no one dress respectfully for anything any more? (I’m getting old)

 

[alexikeguchi]

The top four in AA can put up three big scores on every apparatus, and anyone chosen as the fifth person will only contribute an incremental improvement on one event. Choices would seem to be Roberson for vault, Suni for beam (though maybe bars if she can get enough training in?), or Lincoln for floor. I love Suni, but I would lean towards one of the other two to give them experience leading up to the Olympic selection. Hopefully, another year will allow for Suni to sort her health and meds out.

 

[A.H.Black]

- Good thing I watched on Peacock. The TV coverage is limited to 2 hours.

- I'd like to know the story behind why Sam Peszek is doing commentary instead of Nastia. Nastia is there receiving an award with the 2008(?) team and looks fine. Tim Daggett was there for Men's last night. I tried to look it up last night but couldn't find anything.

- Concerning Brody Malone's injury. I also had a Tibia Plateau Fracture - TPF (two, actually) when I was hit by a car a couple of years ago. It is not a simple injury in any form and his seems to be significant with all the other damage. Depending on age and physical condition, many people do not recover fully. I will always have a stiff knee and occasional soreness (I'm a lot older). I completely understand when he says he will not be ready for the high impact disciplines in time for Olympic trials. Best of luck to him.

Anyone watching this HOF recognition on Peacock? Did they blindside these folks or does no one dress respectfully for anything any more? (I’m getting old)

Daniel Leyva's version of dressing up is certainly not my idea. In figure skating, people are usually dressed to the nines for the Hall of Fame ceremony.

 

[Karen-W]

This medal ceremony is killing me - medals, flowers and a bottle of Core... I appreciate that both Jordan and Simone declined the bottles because... Really, now.

 

[Sarah]

This medal ceremony is killing me - medals, flowers and a bottle of Core... I appreciate that both Jordan and Simone declined the bottles because... Really, now.

The bottle of core was kind of amazing

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I think Simone, Skye, Shi, and Leanne are locks at this point. The only question I'd feel the need to answer at camp is who goes with them. Those four make up 3 of the top 4 on every apparatus, so it's honestly not very critical. They are the top 4 on bars, so I wouldn't bother with a bar specialist at all. Joscelyn finished second on vault, Suni 3rd on beam, and Kaliya 2nd on floor.

Suni only outscored Shi by .1 over the two days on beam and Shi had the higher top score, so I think Suni would have to blow it away at camp to be chosen. If her health keeps improving, I think she can be right back in it next year, though.

Kaliya was a full point better than Leanne on floor on night 1 and only 0.050 night two, so she's an improvement but it depends on the day how much. However, Skye absolutely cannot be used on floor, so I think that gives Kaliya a bit of an edge.

Joscelyn was .3 better than Skye on vault each night. Joscelyn finished higher than Kaliya for AA. That being said, if we had to count Leanne's score on vault, it's not a big disaster.

Basically Joscelyn has the highest contribution overall, but Kaliya's best even is an event where we don't already have four good scores. I think it's between these two and no one else at camp unless Suni looks great.

 

[Karen-W]

The bottle of core was kind of amazing

Sure - in a contest for worst sponsor product placement. Can you imagine USFS giving the skaters a bottle of Lume?

 

[Spikefan]

Sure - in a contest for worst sponsor product placement. Can you imagine USFS giving the skaters a bottle of Lume?

Don’t give them any ideas.

 

[Amy L]

Sure - in a contest for worst sponsor product placement. Can you imagine USFS giving the skaters a bottle of Lume?

Who wouldn't love a bouquet that includes Lume, Prevagen, and an Ollies gift card?

 

[Sarah]

Sure - in a contest for worst sponsor product placement. Can you imagine USFS giving the skaters a bottle of Lume?

I mean, they could have given out prevagen…

 

[Karen-W]

Who wouldn't love a bouquet that includes Lume, Prevagen, and an Ollies gift card?

You know, I wouldn't care as long as it also came with keys to a new Toyota.

 

[Sarah]

Honestly, USA Gymnastics is so happy they have sponsors again that they’ll have them pose with anything on the podium… lol

 

[RoseAugust]

Nola Matthew's floor exercise was one of the highlights for me. I'm so glad Peacock showed it.

 

[Allskate]

I think Simone, Skye, Shi, and Leanne are locks at this point. The only question I'd feel the need to answer at camp is who goes with them. Those four make up 3 of the top 4 on every apparatus, so it's honestly not very critical. They are the top 4 on bars, so I wouldn't bother with a bar specialist at all. Joscelyn finished second on vault, Suni 3rd on beam, and Kaliya 2nd on floor.

I wonder if they will choose the fifth member based on a hypothetical situation where Simone got the twisties again?

 

[skipaway]

Daniel Leyva's version of dressing up is certainly not my idea. In figure skating, people are usually dressed to the nines for the Hall of Fame ceremony.

Did he wear his towel?

 

[ilovesalchows]

With Russia out, does the US really have much competition? Anyone see what China is up to lately?

 

[ilovesalchows]

Did he wear his towel?

One more rip and he’d need it for decency.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I wonder if they will choose the fifth member based on a hypothetical situation where Simone got the twisties again?

Anyone can have issues, so I would think the best choice is to plan on a team where you have four reasonable scores on every apparatus if you can. Simone in 2021 is a good example but so is what happened with the 2008 team.

This is part of why I think Kaliya might have the edge over Joscelyn even though Joscelyn adds more points. If something happens to any of the other gymnasts (during or after quals), we can put Leanne on vault with no drama and Kaliya is also fine. If something happens to a floor gymnast, Joscelyn backing up on floor is not fantastic and Skye is not doable.