Videos From 2014 Worlds Qualifying

The women's qualifying sessions have concluded and all the gymnasts have competed and no one team had a clean day. The closest team to going error free was the US team but they ended up having quite a few issues on their last piece - the uneven bars. The other teams had errors here and there on one or more apparatuses and lacked the difficulty

Russia Qualifying Video,

US Qualifying Video,

China Qualifying Video,

Romania and Great Britain Qualifying Video, 

Worlds: Podium Training

As of the writing of this post 3/4ths of the rotations had their podium training and their performances have filtered out. I will focus on what has come out via Twitter, blogs and YouTube. The main focus will be on the US and the Russian team because those teams have gotten the most coverage at this moment.

The Russian women's team had their podium training first, they're a couple of rotations before US. The consensus with regards to this team is that they are going with consistency over spectacular routines. The team began podium training on floor which is their general weak spot since this year's Euros and it still is but not as much as before.

Floor Lineup: Aliya Mustafina, Alla Sosnitskaya, Maria Kharenkova, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Daria Spiridonova.

Aliya had all kinds of mistakes and only did three tumbling lines. She also had issues with her triple Y turn. I don't know what to think about it because I expected her 2013 routine with upgrades. She revealed in an interview that she was working on upgrades on floor but that wasn't shown. I'll have to reserve judgment for now.

Alla and Maria had issues with their turns and they seem to always have some issues with them but should work them in - probably miss the connection though. There haven't been upgrades on any of their Russian Cup routines.

Ekaterina has prepared a simple routine that leaves little room for mistake and probably won't have a big mistake given the easiness. I think it could score much better than Daria's Euro floor routine. Daria looks more consistent with her tumbling but her floor turn was a flop in training.

Vault Lineup: Alla, Aliya, Tatiana Nabieva, Ekaterina, Maria

Alla is seriously working the Cheng vault and will likely try to perform it in competition. It is much better than someone would think from the Russians and I'm surprised. I think she's just recently been working on it but it's getting there.

Alla, Tatiana are both working on double twisting yurchenkos. They are clean and with very minimal steps on landing. Form is an issue for both of them but that's always been the case. Ekaterina and Maria's routines didn't make it to YouTube. I'm assuming a double and a single respectively.

Bars Lineup: Aliya, Daria Spiridonova, Tatiana, Ekaterina, Maria

Aliya looks like she's hiding what bars set she will be performing or is seriously behind in training. I think it's somewhere in between. Only one simple change or two needs to be made to the routine she's been performing for the past year. Daria on the other hand is doing the same 6.4 routine and has cleaned up her handstands and form. She's sure to break 15 if she sticks her landing.

Tatiana has a cleaner routine and while she lacks difficulty she's more likely to stay on than not. Going with her is a safer bet than with any other gymnasts but that's just what I got from the routine. Ekaterina was just as clean and with the same difficulty which should make for a good competition between those two. Maria on the other hand fell on her van leuween transition but was otherwise extremely clean. She has upped her difficulty and if she can hit her routine it could get a good score.

Beam Lineup: Maria, Aliya, Ekaterina, Daria, Alla

The only videos that didn't make it online where the beam training and all I can go on is by what was mentioned online. Maria did some solid routines and that's all I know, I don't think anything new. Aliya has her Russian Cup combinations going but she's keeping what she's going for under wraps. Then we have Alla doing a good beam set? That's what was said by a very reputable gymnastics site but I can't believe it until I see it.

I decided against writing about the US team as there is a lot of information online already on them. They all executed their routines well and did mostly what they did at US nationals.

News! News! and News!

There is so much news coming out and not enough of the real substantive material that people actually want to know. We know all of the teams have arrived and that they've been working out at the practice hall but we don't know what they'll be performing. The small videos that have come out are of the Chinese gymnasts training very basic stuff and not really making many mistakes. We are no closer to knowing what the gymnasts will be putting out than we were last week.

I have to applaud the Russian team for not using social media since they've arrived in China. The most that has been put out is one or two pictures and that's that. The pictures I do have of them training were taken by a nosey coach from another squad - you know who you are! Check them out below and the Russian ladies aren't looking prepared for the camera.

For more pictures of the Russians please visit Arabian Punch Front.

Japanese men were expected to win the team event but word from podium training is that they have a super weak lineup on still rings and a very weak set on parallel bars. We did know that they have some major players that can score massive scores but can they take the low scores? I don't know considering the Chinese are coming on strong and are at home. I'm a bit surprised they didn't at least bring a still ring specialist given the six member team.

Word on the internet is that the US team is rock solid and more than their usual self. This could be good or bad if they end up leaving their best on the podium training and not the on competition day.

Chilean gymnasts Tomas Gonzalez hasn't been rock solid on floor but on vault he's a beast. He recently posted on his instagram a stuck Tsuk double piked, 6.0 vault. The vault is not easy to stick and if he's doing them like that he's going to gain that Kristian Thomas execution quality reputation. This vault also stands out because of the word on the internet that the vault is not as good, some of the top vaulters are struggling on this horse/springboard.

Gymnastics News: Teams Arrive to Nanning

Teams are starting to arrive in Nanning and some much sooner than others. It appears that the US team was probably one of the earliest team to arrive. On the men's side two US male gymnasts were spotted in Nanning, Danell Leyva was one of them. I don't assume that two of the guys were going to fly out by themselves which should mean that they are all there. The US women are also in Nanning as a photo of them surfaces online. The picture features them next to a giant statue of the official mascot of the Nanning Worlds.

If you look closely you might spot a bandage over the leg of one of the gymnasts. I think that the gymnast in question is Ashton Locklear. I find it quite strange that she would flash the injury as all the other gymnasts have their legs covered. Either way an injury to her leg won't make much of a difference given she is a bars specialist.

The Romanian national team released a few images before they left for China - at least I think it was before. I think that they would look a bit sleepy and tired if they had just arrived from a very long flight. They look in very good spirits but besides Larisa Iordache I can't name any of the gymnasts on that team.

Team Russia boarded a plane earlier today and a few pictures from some of the national team members have shown that. It appears as though Alla Sosnitskaya and Daria Spiridonova have been assigned seats together. Another image shows Tatiana Nabieva and Aliya Mustafina drinking something at a coffee shop.

There is no word on the men's national team for Russia but it's probably safe to say that they were on the same plane. I was lead to believe that the team would be there by the 27th of September which would mean they had to leave on the 26th.

Frances men's national team has arrived a few days ago and so has Chilean gymnast Gonzalez, first name escapes me right now. It seems he was training with the French team in France before heading to China.

Team Azerbaijan is also China bound as the very lovely Oleg Stepko has posted a picture of him at the airport waiting for his flight.

Gymnastics News: Alla Sosnitskaya Working a Cheng Vault

Russian gymnast Alla Sosnitskaya, vault and floor specialist, has rocked the gymternet with a leaked video of her performing a decent looking Cheng vault. The Cheng vault is valued at a 6.4, one tenth higher than the Amanar vault. With the addition of such a vault the Russian team's chances are looking much better not only for the team event but for maybe a vaulting medal.

If Alla is able to perform the Cheng and the double twisting yurchenko she will have the same difficulty as MyKyala Skinner, my favorite to win a medal on vault. If she does have this vault ready she is sure to make vault finals more interesting considering how many gymnasts are performing high difficulty vaults. We only need to look back three years to find a time when there were only three gymnasts doing difficult vaults and the champion was a given.

On the team side of things a Cheng vault would bolster a lineup made up of double twisting yurchenkos. This vault performed at a medium level would score at least a 15. That 15 is equivalent to a stuck double.

On other news I will start to post more as podium training gets under way in Nanning.

Gymnastics News: Komova Out, Afanasyeva In & Out, and Nabieva Maybe In?

Over the last couple of days information has been filtering out from the Russian camp and primarily from the mouth of Valentina Radionenko. The major news revealed was that Komova was ruled out of the 2014 Worlds because of the danger of preparing a second apparatus was too great. At first I thought she was fragile and something might be wrong but the more I read the more I realized that she has been ruled out over the two apparatus rule. The two apparatus rule is a freak rule made up by Valentina and one that she is sticking to no matter what.

The rule seems to have emerged since last year's World and the previous one - back in 2011. The Russian team would send strong gymnasts but would end up with many injuries and the team would be left in an uncomfortable position. Since that time the team directors have wanted a team made up of gymnasts that can fill in if an injury were to emerge to anyone. I think that it's an idiotic move when the team is made up six members as opposed to the Olympic standard five.

I think that Komova can add a high standard bars set with a high probability of a hit routine. If it was up to me I would make room for her but then again they might not be able to have that privilege. All I want to say is that I hope that Ekaterina Kramarenko better be used on at least one piece to justify her inclusion.

The second big news of the first article was the sudden reappearance of Ksenia Afanasyeva. Valentina mentioned her as a possible replacement of the now injured Maria Paseka. Along with Ksenia, Tatiana Nabieva's name was mentioned. It was thought that Ksenia was working on a vault and a floor routine for the Worlds. A few days after the original article came out the doctors ruled her out. It appears they had a major mock meet and it probably showed everyone what we all had assumed. It is really in Ksenia's best interest to do what she wants and not what Valentina wants - we know how it ended last time.

Maria Paseka is nothing to Valentina and it shows by the way she is spoken about. It appears Maria twisted an ankle or injured it in some way resulting in swelling but not a serious injury. Valentina mentions a lack of confidence and so forth which lead to her removal. There was a real good reason for her lack of confidence and that was her horrible Russia Cup performance. It wasn't horrible but for where she's supposed to be it was to me. The sad thing is that her business is being aired out in the open like nothing is wrong with that.

Nabieva is the only real option unless the emergence of Polina Fedorova is a serious option. The Polina option shows that the team is searching for a beam worker and not a bars worker. Tatiana is weak on beam and Fedorova has only ever shined on that piece if with low 14s. That's not convincing to me which explains why I think that Nabieva is a likely candidate to fill that last spot. I only hope that she doesn't fall of the bars like she did in 2010 and upgrades her difficulty.

The Russian camp is a serious mess and it is screaming 2013 all over again. There has got to be something wrong with the way something is being done in Russia. More news is sure to filter out and I'll withhold predictions until then.

Breaking Down: Triple Turn With Free Leg Held at Horizontal

Mexican gymnast Ana Lago is back from a bad ACL injury a few years ago and is practicing some seriously good moves. Ana is quite good on floor and won a medal at the Pan Am games a few years back - I think she won gold. Too much hasn't come out with regards to her or for almost any of the Mexican gymnasts for that case.

Ana posted a video of her performing the triple turn with ease and elegance on her Instagram account. It was seriously good, she is probably going to do a turn out of it to get that one tenth bonus. Given the way the CoP works this move is likely to get credited as an E - similarly to the triple twisting with leg held at 90°. That move is the one that Aliya Mustafina is training and now performing.

If she performs it at the Worlds the move is likely going to be named after her and that's a big achievement when only two elements are named after Mexicans. The one move that I do know is the Magaña - a triple back tuck off the uneven bars.

Gymnastics News: U.S. Worlds Team Named

The 2014 U.S. National Team for the 2014 World Championships in Nanning has been named. The U.S. is one of the first teams to name an official squad on the women's field. Most of the other nations are waiting until the official required date to come out with an official squad. The lists out there are tentative working team that can all be changed with relative ease.

The team is as follows,

• Simone Biles
• Kyla Ross
• Mykayla Skinner
• Ashton Locklear
• Alyssa Baumann
• Madison Kocian
• Madison Desch

Non-travelling Alternate,

• Brenna Dowell

I named the squad in order of importance to the squad and based on how many apparatuses they would likely be required to perform on. Below is a list of what apparatuses each member will be asked to perform.

Simone Biles: Vault, Beam, Floor

Kyla Ross: Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor

Mykayla Skinner: Vault, Floor

Ashton Locklear: Bars

Alyssa Baumann: Beam

Madison Kocian: Bars

Traveling Alternate: Madison Desch

Biles is the most important gymnast on the squad because she can bring in big numbers on most pieces but will likely skip bars if Kyla Ross has upgraded. 

Ross on the other hand might be asked to do all four pieces because her vault is stronger than the other three gymnasts, she is a bars specialist hence her likely working bars, beam is a piece she's consistent, floor is likely because they don't have any other gymnast that can score above 14.


Mykayla Skinner is a vault and floor specialist and would definitely be on those two pieces. I think it's a big risk to put her on floor given her sometimes erratic performances but they have no other option. The same could be said about her vault - I doubt they'll give her a penalty for not putting both her hands on the vaulting horse though.

Ashton Locklear is a one trick pony and good at that. She is solid on bars and definitely merits being on the team.

Alyssa Baumann is an okay beam worker although I think it is very low in difficulty but was rewarded in execution at the domestic tournaments. She has the potential to be the next Jordyn Wieber if the judges don't like her form.

Madison Kocian is mostly a bars specialist and could challenge Biles for the team final bars spot. If she doesn't then Biles would be the first up on bars during team final. I think it will come down to qualification scores or could be a strategic move to keep Biles rested for the All-Around.

The team is looking very suspect right now and I would say that if the Chinese are hitting on team final night then they are going to have a challenge. I doubt that will happen though but this U.S. team is not the dream team they had in London.

What do you think about my predictions?

Opinion: Worlds Predictions

The gymnastics blogs are coming out with predictions for the 2014 Worlds and after reading Beautiful Gymnastics predictions I felt compelled to come out with my own. There were some very differing views on some of the events that made me think I needed to come out with something that expressed how I felt things would actually turn out.

I'm only going to try and predict the women's field because the men are so competitive it is just so hard to narrow it down. If one compares the men's teams to the women's teams then you realize that around eight or more teams have a chance of medalling where the women only have only five real contenders. Then to complicate things even more the men have specialist from far away countries like Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Azerbaijan that could medal on any given piece. To use figures, at the 2012 Olympics in the women's event finals only five nations medalled.

Team All-Around

1. United States 
2. China
3. Russia
4. Great Britain
5. Romania

Romania, with the lose of one of their strongest gymnasts is all but out of a chance of medalling unless they find a gymnast to fill those big shoes. Great Britain has good gymnasts but are weak on beam and are sure to face a much stiffer competition from the Russians than they did at Europeans. The Chinese have not been seen much at international competitions but with great bar workers are sure to build a lead from that. Two and three could change hands if the Chinese don't bring it. Then there is the US which is the team to beat but if they miss twice this title is going down fast. Nothing is certain but if everyone hits this is going to be the order that will likely occur.

Individual All-Around

1. Simone Biles
2. Aliya Mustafina
3. Larisa Iordache
4. Kyla Ross

If everyone hits the order is going to go down like that but as we know everyone doesn't usually hit in the all-around. We seem to know what Simone is capable of performing but the three other gymnasts are all up in the air. I had intended to put Kyla Ross in third but her difficulty is really down and even a miss by Larisa would probably keep her ahead of Kyla. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else on the US team didn't edge her out in qualifications. Aliya has raised her difficulty but I haven't seen her sets to fully say she has a shot at winning. So far this year the top three have been better than Kyla and are more consistent.

Vault

1. Simone Biles
2. Mykayla Skinner
3. Giulia Steingruber
4. Hong un Jong
5. Maria Paseka

The vault is by far the easiest prediction of the Worlds, everyone knows that Biles will likely win and if not then Skinner will. The real battle is for third place and that is likely going to the very consistent Giulia Steingruber but that doesn't mean that Hong un Jong won't take it away with two solid vaults. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Paseka hits two vaults and finishes in fifth place but that's unlikely to occur.

Uneven Bars

1. Yao Jinnan
2. Aliya Mustafina
3. Becky Downie
4. Ashton Locklear
5. Huang Huidan
6. Viktoria Komova
7. Kyla Ross
8. Ruby Harold

Bars is like a complete mystery because it can change in instant even with the best gymnast. Predictions are almost worthless on bars because one small mistake means everything on bars. Yao Jinnan was expected to win last year and ended up not even medalling. I think last year's failure has motivated her more than any other gymnast - she's the one to beat, execution score and difficulty. Aliya has been cleaner than any other gymnast and if she is able to stay healthy and stay clean she is a top candidate for silver. Third place was a struggle for me because I know Becky Downie is more inconsistent than any other gymnast on this list. If she hits then third place is hers or it could be Huidan's too.

I think that Huidan will make a small error based on some of her performances this year but could surprise me. Ashton is in fourth because she is consistent and I think that if it goes like last year then consistent will place well. I went out on a limb and said Komova will make the team and make finals but with her off form she won't be a threat for medal this year. Kyla Ross lacks the difficulty to challenge this year as everyone else has upgraded. Harold is in last place because her consistency is lacking and her difficulty could be higher.

There are five gymnasts that have a realistic shot at winning the title and the others are only hoping that all five miss and let them have the title.

Balance Beam

1. Larisa Iordache
2. Aliya Mustafina
3. Maria Kharenkova
4. Bai Yawen
5. Simone Biles
6. Andreea Munteanu
7. Kyla Ross
8. Shang Chunsong

I think that this is the year that Larisa finally wins a beam title but then again if she does a horrible layout like at Euros then she can kiss that gold away. It is quite sad how a gymnast can do a very big element and then struggle on a less difficult one. Her best bet is to go for the big elements and hope for the payoff. Aliya is the defending champion and her new additions on beam should keep her in the medal picture. She could defend the title but the judges are favoring Larisa at the moment but that could change. Maria Kharenkova is in third because of her consistency and difficulty. The tipping point for me was that Bai Yawen does some combinations to get bonuses and executes them poorly - that is sure to cost her more than the bonus.

Simone Biles is in fifth place because her difficulty is lacking - she's playing it safe to stay on the beam. We saw how that went at Nationals which we can assume she will take into consideration at Worlds. Andreaa has big difficulty but has missed when it matters and also lacks that prestige that is required to win. Kyla's lack of difficulty will finally catch up to her on this final - even if she hits she will not be in the top three. Chunsong is inconsistent when the lights are on her and I can't see her winning a medal this time around.

Floor

1. Simone Biles
2. Larisa Iordache
3. Claudia Fragapane
4. Mykayla Skinner
5. Aliya Mustafina
6. Giulia Steingruber
7. Vanessa Ferrari
8. Shang Chunsong

The floor final is the final everyone knows who is going to win but doesn't know where everyone else is going to place. I'll focus on two through eight, Larisa is the front runner for silver because of her upgrades and her general comfort with the skills she performs - if she stays on her feet silver is hers. I'm going to go against my better judgment and say Fragapane medals on floor - she sticks her very complicated saltos with bad form which the judges ignore.

Skinner is super inconsistent and that Moors is dreadful even when she lands it in bounce. Aliya is back in the floor finals because she has awesome non-acrobatic combinations and complicated saltos. Her twisting form is going to give her major deductions but could sneak in because she feeds of the pressure. Giulia is very inconsistent on this piece this year and has zero artistry - judges, please judge her on that. Vanessa hit once and I don't think that she can hit twice in a year. Shang Chunsong is in last place because the judges find errors in her saltos that no one else can spot and will probably hammer her on that alone.

Agree or disagree with me? Let me know, if you comment with something compelling I might just change the orders.

Gymnastics News: UK/British Team Named

The British squads for the 2014 World Championships in Nanning have been released and some surprises have appeared. The obvious omissions of some of the currently injured gymnasts are clear and have led to some unknowns being named to both the men's and women's team. Below is the list of both squads.

Men: Max Whitlock, Kristian Thomas, Daniel Purvis, Daniel Keatings, Nile Wilson and Courtney Tulloch.

Reserve: Frank Bains

Women: Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harold, Hannah Whelan, Kelly Simm, Gabby Jupp and Charlie Fellows.

If anyone is wondering why they named seven gymnasts to the women's team it is because they are going to name the reserve at a later date. It appears as though they haven't fully committed to a certain gymnasts but the way the article was released it could be a battle between Gabby Jupp and Charlie Fellows - possibly even Kelly Simm.

The women's team has suffered an injury to one of their main gymnasts and that is probably the reason why the team is in such a state. I believe the injured gymnast is Tunney but I'm not sure of that. The loss doesn't seem to be a big one but they are trying to pick the gymnast that will likely hit under pressure.

In the end they will likely have beam as their weakest piece and uneven bars their best apparatus. They will be fighting against the Russians for that bronze medal and will not be able to rely on their three double twisting yurchenko vaults to get them ahead of the Russian team. The Russian are likely going to perform three double twisting yurchenko vaults unlike at Euros. It might just come down to who stays on the beam.

The men's team on the other hand is much more experimental with the addition of Nile Wilson and Courtney Tulloch. Nile Wilson is a first year senior that has shown promise but can he hit on the pieces that Max Whitlock was supposed to? I'm not sure where they are going to place them, I know that he's great on pieces but those are usually the ones that the team is already good on. With regards to Courtney I have never heard of him before this time. It appears he is a rings specialist, a piece that the British team is particularly weak on.

The British team is really on an uprise and will probably benefit the most with the additional team member allowed at Worlds. I think with the injuries on some of the other teams this team is the team that is favored for the bronze but not assured. I think that either the Russian or US team can snatch it away with a single mistake by the British team. An example would be Max Whitlock falling off pommel horse and the team losing out on a big score.

What do you guys think of this team?

 

Question Time: Which Duo Will Form The Next All Around Rivalry in Rio?

Since the 1960s there have been great Olympic All Around duals/rivalries that have defined the gymnastics competition of that year. Which duo will form part of the rivalry that will surely exist at the Rio Olympics? I'm sure some people have names in mind and some of those names are for sure not even going to be there but are big at the moment.

Some of the great rivalries that existed before were: Věra Čáslavská/Larisa Latynina, Ludmilla Tourischeva/ Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci/Nelli Kim, Yelena Davydova/Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton/Ekaterina Szabo, Yelena Shushunova/Daniela Silivas, Tatiana Gutsu/Shannon Miller, Lilia Podkapayeva/Mo Huilan and many more. The more recent are obvious and fresh in our minds Liukin/Johnson and Douglas/Komova.

The fact is that every cycle a duo has emerged to challenge each other into a higher level of gymnastics. Since the CoP was changed to an open ended scoring system the All Around champion has been only decided by less than three tenths of a point. The assumption would be that the champion would be decided by a wider margin but the opposite effect is actually occurring. The difference between the champion and the runner up are almost as close as before the change in the code. Although, I certainly doubt that something like Gutsu/Miller would occur again but Wieber/Komova in 2011 showed that it can happen. I thought that given the way deductions work these days it wouldn't go down to the hundreds of a point. The difference in 2011 was a mere .043 and only .012 in 1992.

Here are a few of the gymnasts that will take part in the dual,

Simone Biles

Simone has the potential to win the All Around but her artistry is seriously lacking and while the code was previously oriented towards that angle it is now swayed back towards artistry. The CoP has added lack of artistry deductions and other elements to weigh down the scoring advantages that some muscular gymnasts have. She might end up winning Worlds but then have an Olympic judging team nail her with deductions that were otherwise being ignored.

Strength: Physicality, power, big skills
Weakness: Zero artistry, lack of seriousness, weak toe point

Larisa Iordache

Larisa is a gymnast that has wanted to challenge in an All Around and has fixed up her weak apparatus but is still not enough to win. If she wants to have her name up on that medal podium then she is going to need an Amanar vault, she's capable of it too. Will she put her best skills out there or will she stick to what she's known to do?

Strength: Endurance, energy, health
Weakness: Inconsistency, bars, composure

Aliya Mustafina

The current real challenger to Simone is Aliya, she is the only person that can have a realistic shot at winning - not Kyla and not Larisa. Aliya's strong enough on all apparatus now where as before she was weak on beam but that is not the case anymore. Winning the beam title in 2013 is going to elevate her reputation with the judges. It will also come in handy as this cycle is the cycle for beam like 2008 was for uneven bars.

The biggest scores will likely still come out on bars but the second highest marks will probably be from beam. If that turns out to be the case then Aliya will have two good apparatuses to draw massive numbers from.

Aliya's big challenge will come from within her own team if youngsters come along and snatch her all around spot or if veterans like Komova come back strong. Aliya could win the all around or not even be in the picture.

Strength: Consistency, form on bars, mental stability, intelligence (she is known to calculate her D-score while she's performing)
Weakness: Twisting form, endurance, age

Bailie Key

The strongest non-senior gymnast competing to come out of this cycle is US junior Bailie Key. While her scores are on the low side when compared to a senior she will have time to catch up. Word out about her is that she's training an Amanar vault and judging by her great double twisting yurchenko is bound to be true. She is currently recovering from an injury and while it may sound like nothing could limit her future development or take her out completely like Ohashi.

Bailie is pushing herself hard when she can easily win by going 75 per cent. I'm thinking of Aliya doing an Amanar vault when she could have won without it and then injured herself on it. This is something that could happen to his youngster but it could go okay for her. I really want to see how she challenges Simone because Kyla is not a real threat.

Strength: Form, youth, toe point.
Weakness: Lack of difficulty, experience, bars

Gymnastics News: Ekaterina Tyunina Beam Winner and Larisa Wins Swiss Friendly

A few weeks ago the Russian meet Spartakiade took place and a relative unknown gymnast won the title. Ekaterina Tyunina was the winner and yet we haven't heard much about her nor have we seen her at major Russian competitions. I'm not sure how old she is but I would dare to say that she is new to the senior field or might even be a junior.

I like her style of movement on the beam, she does need to extend her split leaps and improve little things here and there. The best thing about her is her nice connections and some very hardly seen skills. The skill that I found most interesting was her full twisting wolf jump. The move has been done before but none of the elite gymnasts perform it regularly.

Check her out!

Larisa Iordache has continued with her impressive all around streak by winning a small friendly meet in Switzerland. The Swiss meet is an annual tournament that gathers three national teams and includes an all around competition. The Romanian team lost the team competition to the Germans and aren't looking good for the Worlds. 

On the bright side Larisa easily won but can she win a model with those routines and those scores? I don't really know what to think about Larisa, she impresses me sometimes and then I see her give mediocre and inconsistent routines with misses elements. Only time will tell what the Worlds has in store for her. 

Breaking Down: Nabieva Release on Uneven Bars

I decided to do a breaking down of the Nabieva release upon recent news that young and promising Brazilian gymnast, Rebeca Andrade, was training said skill. The Nabieva shares the honor of being the most highly rated element on uneven bars and is considered one of, if not, the most difficult releases in the women's field.

The Nabieva release was introduced by Russian gymnast Tatiana Nabieva back in 2010. Nabieva was performing that skill very well that year but did not keep it in her program the following years. She is said to be working on the release and a video of her emerged not too long ago showing her training it. She is close to being able to do the skill but that skill is never a sure bet even when it's fully prepared. 

The Nabieva is defined as pike sole circle backward with counter stretched hecht (layout position over HB) to hang - assuming on the high bar. The skill has a G letter value and is 7 tenths. Below is the diagram provided by the FIG in the CoP. 

Nabieva's attempt,

 

Andrade's attempt,

It is safe to say that both gymnasts have better than not form on entry but misjudge the the distance. I don't think either is close to having the skill down as competition ready but they are working on it. 

- videos via Alyssia Spaan and Gymnastics Coaching. 

Aliya Vs. Simone

After the 2014 European Championships I had written off any chance that Aliya Mustafina would medal at Worlds but after her Russian Cup performances all of that has changed. Aliya was very lucky to medal in the All Around back in 2013, she was coming off an injury and wasn't showing her best. To her benefit the others faltered on one or more pieces and opened the door for a consistent Mustafina to step right in and take a medal.

With the emergence of the new Aliya some are painting her as a credible challenge to Simon Biles. Andy Thornton over at American Gymnast wrote a very good article comparing the two's potential D-score and other things. The real question is what is behind this change of focus when it appeared Aliya would not be in the mix.

The first reason is that Larisa Iordache, the most credible threat for most of the early part of the year has been showing inconsistencies and lack of improvement. At last week's Romanian event she showed upgrades but made big mistakes while attempting some of those elements. She touched the beam on one of her high scoring tumbles, had an issue with her layout, messed up on bars and hasn't upgraded on vault. The only saving grace for Larisa is that any mistake by Simone on floor will for sure give her the title.

Yao Jinnan on the other hand has worked ferociously to get an uneven bars routine that reaches 7.0 without the Mo salto. The only problem with her is that her tumbling isn't all that there and I don't know if the judges are going to kill her on that or if they are going to Iordache it like they are doing for Larisa on bars. There really isn't too much out there about her and I don't know what she is going to be doing but I wouldn't be shocked if she surprised me.

Now to the actual battle, Andy Thornton did a nice graph showing their current D-scores but I want to predict the attempted D-scores at Worlds. Below are their current D-scores.

Starting off on vault, both gymnasts are locked with those respective vaults a two and a half and a double yurchenko. Both gymnasts have mastered their vaults and the likelihood of anything changing in that is highly unlikely. If something did change it would be news in and of itself.

On uneven bars both gymnasts are going to be making upgrades because they are both capable of more but are saving themselves. Simone Biles is more conservative on this piece is likely only going to adding her 3 tenths back She performed a 6.1 routine last year and there is no sign that she is going to launch a full upgrade.

Aliya has been performing a watered down routine of 6.3, the same one that she has been using for home and continental competitions. After her defeat at Euros she is sure to add difficulty to be able to challenge Downie and the Chinese. I don't expect her to bring back her 2013 Worlds routine, instead I assume she will add a chow 1/2 after her pak release and do her Mustafina dismount. The first addition would add 2 tenths of connection value and 1 tenth for having an E element instead of an D. The dismount upgrade would add another one tenth of value giving her a D-score of 6.7.

Moving on to the balance beam we have Simone performing an upgraded 6.5 routine. She showed that at US nationals and fell once while doing said routine. The mood so far with Simone is that she is going to play it safe because she knows that she has a big lead over most of her challengers. A fall at Nationals didn't make a difference but at Worlds it will surely put it in contention regardless of what the NBC commentators said. She's definitely capable of more but it might come at a cost.

Last year this piece was Aliya's weakest during the All Around and that appears to have changed. Her D-score on beam ranged from 6.4 to 6.6 during Russian Cup. The overwhelming opinion is that she is going for even more connections and could get credited with more. The problem is that it came from a domestic event which can be misleading - Jordyn Wieber 2012. I feel that she will try to keep it at 6.6, she'll go for more but will probably only be awarded with the 6.6. If you couple that with her being the reigning World Champion on beam and her sudden improvement in consistency, then she should be rewarded with a better score than last year.

The floor is the apparatus that both gymnasts are likely going to focus upgrades on. Simone has a 6.5 D-score on floor but has shown some faults. She received 6.4 on the second day of Nationals after an incomplete rotation on a leap. She can easily upgrade her eponymous jump with a full twisting double layout. I would expect that rather than seeing her add a complicated turning element. I would put her D-score at 6.5 to 6.6.

Aliya's D-score at the Cup was only 5.7 with three tumbling passes, one of which was watered down. This routine is certainly not the one that she is going to be performing at Worlds, don't assume that for a second. She is more likely to use last year's routine as a base. She will probably add whips to her double arabian mount for 2 tenths extra. She can add her triple twist or the double layout she has been working on for the past few years. For the purpose of this we shall assume the former and add 5 tenths. Her D-score would be 6.4 assuming she hits everything and that's not a sure thing.

A+A E+A (+.3), D+C (+.2), E, D, E+B (+.1), D, C

Aliya would have a higher D-score but would be taking more of a risk by doing complicated connections. GymnasticsCoaching mentioned they would prefer seeing Aliya be clean, which was her strategy last year. I think we've moved on from being clean, that title belongs to Kyla Ross - always clean never spectacular. Aliya needs to be herself and if she's practiced well enough should hit. Simone needs to be herself and that's it - she doesn't need others missing.

If you agree with me or disagree drop me a line and please go read Andy's long article.

Svetlana Khorkina 2000 All-Around Champion(?), If...

Svetlana Khorkina lost the 2000 All Around title but not many know that she didn't lose it on the vault. Svetlana was a blatant victim of the stupidity of the Olympic organizers wrongfully placing the vaulting horse a few centimeters below the required height for women's competition. Svetlana did fall on her first vault and she did score a very low score but was still alive in the competition with that mistake.

Svetlana began her rotation on floor, she performed one of those classic Sveta floor performances - heavy on expression and light on tumbling. The music really suited her artistic abilities and she took advantage of that. She was rewarded with a 9.812 for her effort and appeared to be well underway towards an All Around title or medal at least.

Then everything changed, she moved on to the vault and it all changed from there. The commentator makes a remark that she has fallen on her two warm-up vaults and is on edge. That's when the classic yell/shout is heard. I had never known who she was yelling at but it was her personal coach, Boris Pilkin. His hearing probably wasn't the best and maybe she wasn't yelling that much but she was upset. She wanted everything to be perfect so that she could put her vault to her feet. 

As everyone knows she didn't but was able stick her second vault. I'll explain why I think she didn't lose the title on vault after the video. Her averaged score for vault was 9.343.

Svetlana then moved over to her best apparatus the uneven bars. She started off really well hitting her handstands and being her usual sell until she fell on her Tkatchev release and with that lost the All Around title. Sveta scored 9.012, counting a miss on one's highest scoring event is a fatal blow that can not be fixed no matter how great one is in the other pieces. 

Then she was off to perform on her final apparatus the balance beam - knowing that she would not be the champion. They mentioned that she had a fall in the warm up and looked like she wouldn't be holding up. That's when she delivered a confident performance with almost no noticeable bobbles or wobbles for a 9.762 routine. A very good score considering that she didn't even qualify for beam final - the only apparatus she didn't qualify to. 

Her final score, after all four apparatus scores were added together, was 37.929. That score landed her all the way down in 10th place. If we count her fall on vault but go with the scenario that she had not fallen on her Tkatchev release then things would change dramatically. Sveta scored 9.012 in the All Around but had scored 9.850 during qualifications which would mean a good routine would have gotten her a good 8 tenths higher. Adding 8 tenths to her final score of 37.929 would gives us 38.729.

If that score is compared to Simona Amanar's, the All Around champion, score of 38.642 then Svetlana would come out on top. Svetlana would have been the champion counting a fall! She would not have been the winner on that night though as Andrea Raducan won that night with a score of 38.893 but was later stripped of her title after testing positive for some banned substance. 

If that scenario would have taken place Svetlana would have won the Silver medal that night but then would have been given the Gold medal. I don't surmise Svetlana being happy either way as she found the whole process a travesty and a title stolen. She would later compete at the 2004 Olympics with the feeling that something was stolen from her and she was there to get what was rightfully hers. 

Gymnastics News: Afanasyeva at 2014 Worlds?

In a telephone interview with R-Sport Valentina Rodionenko has revealed that Ksenia Afanasyeva is on the short list of potential gymnasts for the 2014 World Championships. In the interview she goes on to state that Ksenia has been training 'quietly' since her ankle operation. She goes on to say that Ksenia doesn't need to learn any new moves because she is an experienced gymnast.

There is something wrong with the way Valentina speaks about Ksenia without confirming with Ksenia beforehand. Valentina did the same thing early on in the year and was surely a factor in pushing Ksenia to perform at the Russian National's earlier this year. I don't think that she has anything against Ksenia but this is just the way she is with a gymnast that she becomes frustrated with. She really likes calling the gymnasts fat if they are out of shape or if she has a falling out with them.

My opinion is that if Ksenia is seriously training then she would be very appreciated on the team but will probably not be ready for Worlds. I have a lot of faith in Ksenia but hopes of her coming back so soon are not a good thing at this moment. Ksenia herself has said that her recovery is forecasted to take a year which would mean she'll likely be back for Russian Nationals next year.

Do you guys think that Ksenia will make to the Worlds?

Relive Russian Cup Event Finals

If you missed the Russian Cup stream because you were asleep or didn't know it was streaming then you can watch it below! The Cup shed light on the continuous bad luck the Russian national team has been experiencing over the last couple of years. The team is not as injured as before but with the possibility of Denis Ablyazin and Aleksandr Balandin both being out of Worlds is something and Nikolai Kuksenkov possibly coping with an injury. It could be worse as was seen at last year's competition.

The winners on the women's side were Sosnitskaya, Komova, Mustafina, Mustafina. Vault was by far the weakest piece shown at the Cup but respectable. Komova proved that she still has that beautiful form that made her World Champion on bars. Mustafina showed that even coming off of an injury she was still commanding on beam and floor.

The closest finals were bars and beam, Mustafina came in second on bars and first on beam. Maria Kharenkova performed a good routine but was unable to perform the same routine that she performed on day one. It was not filled with major errors but rather with one bobble on her layout and the missed connection out of it. Couple that error with Aliya connecting the bulk of her elements propelling her to first place.

The even final winners on the Men's side were Belyavski, Kuksenkov, Ablyazin, Britan, Kuksenkov, Ignatyev. Kuksenkov impressed by performing quite well with an injury to his back.

Russian World Team Preditctions

Russia Cup has not completed but I have decided to release my predictions for what the team will likely look like. I will definitely be updating based on the performance of gymnasts during this week's remaining days of competition. This year World team will consist of six team members as opposed to the usual five that will take part in the Olympic games. The format is six team members, up to five take part on each apparatus, in the qualification, and four scores count. The team all around is three up three count.

The team will likely be as follows,

World Team: Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Alla Sosnitskaya, Maria Paseka, Viktoria Komova and Daria Spiridonova.

 Alternatives: Anna Rodionova, Tatiana Nabieva?

On vault the team will be anchored by Maria Paseka's very shaky Amanar, two and a half twisting yurchenko. The vault is a mess of a vault but it is something she is landing and the team really needs someone that can anything more difficult than a full twisting yurchenko. Aliya is expected to do a solid double twisting yurchenko that will boost the team's vault scores. Alla Sosnitskaya is a respectable double twisting yurchenko as well but it wouldn't stand up against Afanaseyva's or Grishina's. Maria Kharenkova is likely going to attempt her single twisting yurchenko and Daria Spiridonova might too.

The uneven bars appears to be a much more solid piece for the Russian team and they are likely to have more than three solid routines to choose from. Aliya Mustafina is the lead on this apparatus, she is the defending bronze medalist, and is expected to bring a 6.7 bars routine. The return of Viktoria Komova is going to give Russia a 6.5 plus routine with a good reputation. Daria Spiridonova is likely to be third on bars with her solid 6.4 routine. She did well at the Euros and should try and use some of that success to lead her at the Worlds.

The fourth gymnast that could partake is Kharenkova who was spotted working a 6.1 bars routine. She made a mistake during qualifications of the Russia Cup but could have hit that routine. There is also Maria Paseka who is known to swing bars with a very limited difficulty but should be able to get through a routine.

The beam is a more tricky piece to predict but the top two are almost a given, Kharenkova and Mustafina. Kharenkova has established herself as a specialist on this apparatus and has so far been good enough to make the team. Aliya on the other hand is the reigning world champion on beam and would certainly be performing on this piece. She has a 6.4 routine with the potential for more connection bonuses.

The question really surrounds who will be that third gymnast as the options are limited. Komova seems to be the ideal option and would be great for the team but can she prepare a piece for this apparatus? The other option is Daria Spiridonova, she has good form and has some difficulty but can she hit when the team needs her? The head coach doesn't appear to have said faith in her and will not likely be performing on this piece unless they require her.

On the final piece, the floor, the Russian team has a couple of options and will be determined on the qualifications. Aliya is going to compete this piece and given her good track record on this piece she is good for the team. I only hope that she will be able to perform her high difficult routine at this year's Worlds. Then Maria Paseka, Alla and Maria Paseka will compete for the two final spots. At this point it is a real toss up and the best scores are going to dictate the moves that Russia makes.

Do you agree with my decisions? Leave a comment.

Live Blog of Russian Cup

I am live blogging from watching the live feed of the Russian Cup. The feeds are very bad, they don't show all of the scores and the names of the vaults. The commentators are speaking in Russian and I know very limited words in that language.

FTY=Full Twisting Yurchenko (5.0) DTY= Double (5.8)

OOB=out of bounce.

Floor

Maria Kharenkova on floor mount double arabian, memmel turn, one and a half twist to double piked, whip+whip triple twist, double turn with leg at horizontal, double back tuck dismount - hand down. D-score 6.0.

Vault

Ekaterina Kramarenko performs a clean full twisting yurchenko. Score 14.0.

Maria Kharenkova full twisting yurchenko much cleaner than Kramarenko, for a 14.1.

Aliya Mustafina does a double twisting yurchenko sticks it then takes a step back.

Alla Sosnitskaya looks off on her vault, DTY. Performs a second vault.

Maria Paseka appears to do an Amanar vault or a one and a half twisting yurchenko with a low landing and a step to the side - definitely out of bounce on the step. Does a second vault with a large step back and out of bounce.

Daria Spiridonova does a clean FTY with a very slight step.

Bars

Tatiana Nabieva is seen landing a full in double back dismount with a slight step. Her form looks improved.

Komova does a Komova II to Pak, Komova I, inbar stalder with half turn to layout jaeger, inbar stalder with full turn to tkatchev? and dismounts with a full in double back with a step. She looked very tired after the routine.

Note: She only did two giants before her dismount and she usually does three. Did not do a chow with 1/2 as was previously thought she would do.

Maria Kharenkova inbar stalder, toe-on full to Maloney to pak. She makes a mistake and has to do two handstands - doesn't do a van leeuewen after working it out. In bar half, piked jaeger, full in double back dismount. She did well to stay on the bars and not drop eventhough she was way off vertical. It appears she got 13 or something with thirteen.

Kramarenko does a good clean bar set but doesn't do any of the supposed complicated combinations that she had worked out in podium training. Score is 14.667 d-score 6.0.

Aliya Mustafina does a very clean set almost exactly the same routine she did at the Euros. Toe-on full to van leeuwen, piked release. Stuck full-in dismount. Almost as clean as the routine that won her a silver medal at the Euros. Total score of 15.40 and a d-score of 6.3.

Alla Sosnitskaya does a really clean set but with a few feet separation. Double front dismount was pretty clean and only took a small hop, her shaposhnikova variations were clean. Total score 13.833 d-score was 5.8, the judges were quite hard.

Daria Spiridonova did the same exact routine as her bronze Euro medal winning routine. She did the full difficulty and had a pause after one of her pirouettes but managed to keep a vertical handstand even with that. Almost stuck dismount with the smallest of steps forward but with cleaner form in the air. Total score 14.933 d-score 6.3. She missed a connection and that's why she lost the tenth.

Maria Paseka performed some uncommon connections and one into a very bad form pak salto. Did a very rushed pirouette and seemed to have a pause before her double front dismount with a large step forward. Total score 13.30  d-score 5.9.

Paulina Fedorova had a really bad day on bars with two falls but nice form in her handstands and pak salto. D-score 5.5 and a total score of 11.533.

Beam

Polina Fedorova does a BHS+BHSSO, nice L turn, sheep jump, interesting combinations especially one out of a full turn. Very clean two and a half twist. Nice job. Total score 14.4 d-score 5.7.

Aliya Mustafina double turn, excellent. Arabian stuck cold and into a couple of jumps. Split half to onodi to an aerial? and falls - she could have saved it had she faught. Double back tuck dismount with a step forward. Very impressive even with the fall as she was able to get all her combinations in. Total score14.6 d-score 6.4!

Maria Kharenkova front tuck, BHS+BHS SO + Layout to jumps. Does a front aerial into a sheep jump, aerial to back piked, L-turn to full turn, swith ring leap and a double back piked stuck but low landing. She could have won the world title on this apparatus with the performance she just did, BRAVO! Total score 16.2 d-score 7.0.

Ekaterina Kramarenko did a nice routine but I was so excited with the score of Maria Kharenkova that I didn't see half of it. Total score 13.60 d-score 5.2.

Alla Sosnitskaya layout combination was shaky almost fell, front aerial to jump, side aerial to illusion turn, side somi and a low landed double back tuck. She reminds me of the way that the Italian gymnasts do beam. Total score 14.033?

Daria Spiridonova does a y-turn to full turn, side aerial, aerial? to sheep jump, onodi, switch ring leap, nice jump combination, nice form on a her BHS+BHSSO+BHSSO but loses balance. Dismount was much nicer a double back tuck slight step. Total score 14.233 d-score 5.7.

That concludes the competition. I missed the floor portion of the competition except for Maria Kharenkova's routine.

Notes from the event: The federation has switched to digital scoring system since the Russian Championships earlier this year. I miss seeing the kids running around collecting the scores and handing them into the head judge and then manually entering the score into the boards.

Russian Cup: Pre-Podium Training Training?

Russian Cup is this week and it appears as though the gymnasts were given a day of podium training before the official podium training. Luckily for us The Couch Gymnast had a reporter in Penza and reported on some very interesting tidbits. With that said this appears to be a much more interesting Russian Cup than last year's almost no show by any of the top Russian gymnasts.

The reporter saw Viktoria Komova but did not witness her training but rather talking to Andrei Rodionenko. There shouldn't be anything read into it because it isn't the official podium training and this is the same gym that the Russian Nationals were held for the previous couple of years. I wouldn't make it a big deal until something otherwise makes it one.

The other major gymnast, Aliya Mustafina, appears to be taking Russian Cup more serious than was lead on. Valentina Rodionenko had previously said that Aliya was the only gymnast that was going to receive a bye for this event and it seemed like she wouldn't even show up until last week and now she might even do more than a bars set.

Even more appears to be going on as it was revealed that Aliya has put an arabian, on beam, back into her routine. She had been missing a lot of the connections in her routine lately and could do with the extra bonus that an arabian is worth but is a big risk. There appears to be other little changes in her routine which could be a test for potential World routines.

Maria Kharenkova was mentioned as performing solid sets on beam which isn't a surprise given that it's her signature piece. Alla Sosnitskaya is still having issues with her beam routine but is adding interesting combinations. The biggest surprise was the mention of Ekaterina Kramarenko, the vault flop girl. She hasn't been seen much since the 2008 Olympics but could be making a comeback. She was mentioned as having added a Pak salto to a Van Leeuwen or something of the sort. If that was true then she is really going for it on bars.

I'm really interested in seeing the action start on wednesday. It is guaranteed to be a fun-filled week of gymnastics.

via The Couch Gymnast - for the full in-depth rundown.

Vika in Penza with some awesome looking pants.

Gymnastics News: The Comeback of Anastasia Sidorova

Anastasia Sidorova's comeback appears to be much more serious than I previously thought. Anastasia was back in the gym training some basic elements last time we saw her but now she has moved on to more serious moves. The most impressive of all is that she has almost gotten her triple twist back although a bit helicoptered legs there. Form is quite lacking in some of the Russian gymnasts of that generation but not so much in the newer gymnasts.

Anastasia has a decent looking two and half twist, a double back tucked, double back piked and a full twisting yurchenko. Her FTY is back and it's good compared to some of the gymnast I saw last week at the Youth Olympic Games. It should definitely not be long until she has a full difficulty routine up on floor but not for this year's Worlds.

Below are some videos of her training said elements. She does look a bit labored doing them but I'm sure all the time has something to do with that.

Via Alyssia Spaan on YouTube.

Updated Projected World Team for The US

Andy Thornton from American Gymnast has updated his projections for the US team and they are what we were all thinking but will Marta do it? The team he has selected has the gymnasts with the best D-scores and the gymnasts that the people really want to see at Worlds. The gymnasts are as follows,

If this team is selected there would be one slight issue, they are taking a big risk for a big reward. The team could bring home the most medals every by a US national team or they could have a splatter fest and not even bring home a gold in the team event. While the latter scenario sounds highly improbable and one fall wouldn't make a difference but a few would definitely make it happen. 

Andy's line up on each event is as follows, 

The lineup on vault would only have one Amanar (two and a half twisting yurchenko) vault with a d-score of 6.3. The other vaults would be a Cheng (round off half twist onto the board double twisting off) with a 6.4 d-score and a double twisting yurchenko valued at a 5.8. The difficulty would be lower than expected but with the strong vaulting it shouldn't make a big difference for the US team. Simone will definitely get a big number and that should make up for the weaker valued vault. 

The uneven bars is where the US would be taking the biggest risk and would rely on athletes that are seemingly being consistent. Kocian and Locklear have done as good as they possibly could these two past events and could bring big numbers to the team's score. The problem with these gymnasts is that they could face an unappreciative international judging panel. I can think of Anastasia Grishina and her big low 15s and then showing up to the Olympics and being unable to break 15. That could happen at these Worlds and would be a devastating blow to a team that has two bars specialists. 

The lineup on beam is a major strong point for the US team, they have the reigning Silver and Bronze medalist on beam and shouldn't have too much troubles on this apparatus. Their third gymnast on this apparatus is being billed as a potential event medalist with her current routine. I wouldn't go that far but all three are very capable beam workers and shouldn't come as a surprise if any medal.

The floor rotation is a whole different story, I've been saying the team title will be won or lost on floor for a while now and I mean it. The US team has capable gymnasts but they will have a hard time figuring out the best lineup for this rotation. Biles is a lock for this event but the other three options are risky when they go for their full difficulty routines. Skinner is capable of big elements but can easily flop if something goes wrong, Ross has low difficulty and if she goes for higher she will open herself up to mistakes. The Baumann option is hard to analyze given that I don't know what she's capable of doing and is definitely not a Skinner or a Biles. 

I'm not sure how the Worlds is going to go for the US national team but it promises to be a very interesting affair. My team would be much more different than this as I would go with a team that would for sure win Gold by focusing on their strengths and trying to minimize the weak points. I would stick with Dowell because an Amanar will for sure break 15.0 but a bars routine might not. 

What do you guys think are you digging this lineup? If you don't agree comment either on my blow or over at American Gymnast .

Brenna Dowell's Uneven Bars

Expected World national team member Brenna Dowell put down a really massive D-score at day one of the US nationals. Brenna's D-score was 6.7, which is puts her up there with the likes of Becca Downie, Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong. I would add Aliya Mustafina to that mix but she hasn't performed her 6.7 set since last year's worlds.

Brenna's form is not up to par with the likes of Locklear or the Chinese and Russian gymnasts but her D-score allows her to score a competitive number. The judges will definitely take note of the high risk and uniqueness of her combinations. I particularly like the release into the Ezhova transition to the low bar. It brings me back memories of Beth Tweddle's massively competitive uneven bars routine from London.

The judges credited her with a 6.7 D-score and a generous 8.7 E-score for a total of 15.40. While the judges were generous she is sure to receive at least 15 points at an international event. Does this mean that Marta is for sure going to take Brenna to Worlds?

Below is the video of her routine, do you guys spot the deductions? There were plenty to spot.

Via Gymnastics Coaching

Gymnastics News: Seda Tutkhalyan Wins YOG and Gowey Injured

The representative of the Russian Federation at the Youth Olympic Games, Seda Tutkhalyan, pulled out a very competitive win. The competition had almost turned into a runaway when Seda hit her first three rotations but turned out to be close when she fell on her last tumbling pass. The Brazilian gymnast, Flavia Saraiva, made it close after she hit her last two apparatus in a very impressive manner. The gymnast I thought would pull it out, Elissa Downie of the UK, ended up having two shaky performances dropping her to third. She had one too many wobbles on beam and a fall on her first tumbling pass.

If anyone noticed why I didn't call Seda Russian is because it's a very complicated story. I'll give you a brief explanation, Russian is used to describe an ethnic group that lent it's name to the country. The term that is given to Russian nationals is Rossiyane and it doesn't matter where the person is from or ethnicity. Seda's an ethnic Armenian, her father was a Soviet greco-roman wrestler just like Aliya's father. I wonder if that's the new think, daughters of those kinds of athletes make for good gymnasts.

Rachel Gowey, a gymnast expected by most to make the World Championship team is out of contention with an injury. Rachel broke her right ankle while performing her dismount on beam during the podium training to the P&G National Championships. It is quite a surprise for the injury to occur on the beam as that is her best apparatus. Then again dismounts are always the most tricky and the usual spot where gymnasts can injure themselves.

With Rachel being out of contention for the World's team the US national team will have one less good gymnast to choose from. They are going to lose a better than good beam worker and will probably have to change their strategy. The one good thing about the US team is that they have loads of gymnasts to call on and this will likely be a blessing to one young gymnast.

The US team is still the heavy favorite to bring home a gold even with the injury.

Breaking Down: Double Front Tucked With Half Twist Dismount on Parallel Bars

In men's gymnastics the go to dismount on parallel bars is the typical and trusting double back piked but some gymnasts are now doing forward exits for their greater value. I find it quite boring and too cookie cutter when a gymnast performs an easy double piked dismount. That's why when I see junior gymnasts perform forward salto dismounts I get exited for the future of the sport.

The dismount is not named for a gymnast but it is Oleg Verniaiev's signature dismount. The element involves the gymnast performing a double salto in a tucked position rotating forward followed by a half twist. According to the men's CoP, this element is worth an F and is the second highest value that a gymnast can obtain.

The element is grouped with the half twist with double back in tucked position but I have yet to see anyone perform it. I have no idea why they would group these two elements except for that they are worth the same value. They are very different elements and have the half twist in different positions and one is forward and the other is backward. This is just one of those idiosyncrasies of the CoP.

Junior gymnasts that are performing this dismount are Ivan Stretovich and Nikita Nagornyy, both representing Russia. I see a very bright future for the Russian program on parallel bars - other teams watch out!

Below are two videos one of Nikita Nagornyy and then of Ivan Stretovich performing this element in an exquisite manner.

Gymnastics News: YOG, Brazil Training and more!

The Brazilian representative Flavia Saraiva has sat down with the FIG for an interview that has shed light on the changes that have occurred since the arrival of Alexander Alexandrov. Alexander left the Russian national team shortly after the 2012 Olympics after being deposed of his position as national team coach. That's a whole different story and reading some old Rewriting Russian Gymnastics posts will sort you out.

Flavia states that the gymnasts are now training three times a day and they are not given days off - not even holidays! That's insane and almost something out of Bela Karolyi's crazy regime. That method is sure to burn out some gymnasts but can potentially create a star. The reality is that the Brazilian team is a B/C nation when it comes to gymnastics and requires this kind of training to even have a chance of competing with the top teams.

The interview also states that they are training more complicated elements which is nice to hear but not really news. The hard work isn't going to be evident until a few more years and probably around the time of the Olympics. If you are interested in reading the full interview here is the link.

The men and women's qualifiers at the Youth Olympic Games have completed and there haven't been too many surprises. The men had their qualification a couple of says ago and the lead qualifier was a British gymnast Giarni Regini-Moran coming out on top by a few tenths. In second place was Nikita Nagornyy of Russia who had an issue with his first vault causing him to lose a point.

Nikita Nagornyy was a standout for his qualification into all six event finals - the only man to do that in this competition. Giarni Regini-Moran qualified to five event finals a feat he shares with a couple of gymnasts.

For a full list of the results click here.

The women's field is a lot more open as the top five all have a chance at gold. The leader after qualifications is the Russian Seda Tutkhalyan. In second place is the British Ellie Downie who struggled on her uneven bars routine causing her to fall to second place. The other gymnasts are a few tenths below and it is a very wide open race for the gold.

Seda and Ellie both qualified for three event finals, missing out on balance beam and uneven bars respectively.

For a full list of the results click here.

Gymnastics News: Vika Is Back!

Viktoria Komova is back! A video has surfaced online showing the 2011 World Champion on uneven bars performing a full bars set. The video is of a routine that is almost exactly the same as the one she performed at the Russian Nationals with a few exceptions. The video has made its way around the gymnastics blogs but they have all seemed to have missed one small detail, actually a big detail. Vika has dropped her Komova I release and is doing a Chow with 1/2 turn. That is very telling as in a previous post I wrote that she was probably training that element to connect it with from the Pak salto. She has replaced an E element with a much easier E element.

This particular bars set is hovering around a 6.4 and 6.5 D-score. The problem with the set is that she has a very piked jaeger and is probably going to get that element devalued. She probably has a 6.4 D-score at the moment but with the connection of the Pak and Chow 1/2 she could have 6.6 D-score. I don't think this is the bars set she will perform at the Worlds but could be close to it.

She is training bars and beam at the moment and needs a strong performance at Russian Cup later this month to make the team. I will keep my fingers crossed for her to make the team and show the world that she still has it.

Breaking Down | Mustafina Dismount - 1 1/2 Twisting Double Tucked

It has almost been four years since Aliya Mustafina introduced her namesake dismount on uneven bars, a one and a half twisting double back tuck. The weird thing is that a stretched dismount of the same element has not been performed. The problem with that element is that the CoP has no special value for it given that a full twsiting double layout is rated an F and the double double is rated a G. The CoP had the luxury of fitting the Mustafina, an E rated element, in between the D and F.

The fact that the CoP isn't clear, with regards to this element, will prevent it from being encouraged. This is a problem that is a mistake with the CoP and not really with the elements or the gymnasts. I can think of many other elements, particularly on beam, that are more difficult than their half turn less brothers but are still given the same rating.

Check the Aliya Mustafina performing her trademark bars dismount below - she sticks it too.

FIG Rules | UB - Failure to Maintain Stretched Body Posture

The FIG has deductions for failure to maintain stretched body posture in stretched dismounts off the uneven bars. I covered this in the explanation of jumps a few posts back and referenced that the CoP would deduct three tenths for just this type of fault. The FIG repeats just that under the video by marking it (-0.3)

The gymnast in the video attempts to dismount with a simple double layout in the stretched position. On dismount she slightly pikes her form into a position that was clearly not straight. This is a very typical form break when gymnasts do double layouts and it's the risk most gymnast take.

The real funny part about the video is that they picked a Romanian gymnast to call out - they are notoriously weak on the uneven bars. Also that was a different generation and a different CoP that would have overlooked such faults and focused on the landing.