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?

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.

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 .

Analyzing Predictions for The US World Championship Team

Andy Thornton, a writer for American Gymnast,  has come out with a list of his predictions for the US women's national team for the World's. I decided that to analyze his choices and see what potential D-score they could perform at the World's. Andy's predicted team is as follows,

Projected Six-Member Team: Simone Biles, Kyla Ross,  Rachel Gowey, Madison Kocian, MyKayla Skinner Brenna Dowell

Alternatives: Maggie Nichols and Amelia Hundley 

As a fan of gymnastics and as someone that generally knows most of the gymnasts, I had to scratch my head because I hadn't heard of some of these athletes. I looked on YouTube and found their D-scores and some of their performances so far this year. Last week's US Classic revealed a lot and that is probably where Andy is basing his predictions off of. Below is a table showing how he predicts the rotation assignments will be.

The easiest rotation to predict is vault, the US team has a strong batch of gymnasts all capable performing 6.3 vaults or higher. The vault that will be done the most is going to be the Amanar - two and a half twisting yurchenko. The only exception on the team is going to be Skinner's Cheng vault that starts out of a 6.4. The problem with her vault is that she scores much lower than the other gymnasts performing an Amanar. She scored 15.00 compared to high 15's for the others.

Biles is going to perform an Amanar, D-score 6.3. Skinner will do a Cheng, D-score 6.4. Dowell will likely be the third vaulter on the team, that's my opinion not Andy's. She did a mediocre to good vault as opposed to the sat down Amanar that Gowey did. She will do an Amanar as well, D-score 6.3.

Note: Skinner runs the risk of being given a zero if both her hands don't touch the vaulting horse. She has the tendency of only pushing off with one hand. It is an odd technique that so far has worked for her but a recipe for disaster.

The uneven bars is by far the weakest rotation for the US national team and the hardest to predict. The strongest gymnast on this apparatus, Kyla Ross, was coming off an injury and watered down her routine. She left out an inbar stalder with a half turn and could thus had a few tenths less than she would have otherwise. She will likely have a routine of 6.6 for the World's - that's what she had last year when she won the silver medal on this apparatus.

The other two team members will likely carry a D-score of around 6.3. It is really hard to tell what they are holding back on but that seems to be the difficulty these three gymnasts are toping at. Biles and Kocian are my picks for this rotation based on their consistency so far.

The balance beam is unpredictable because gymnasts are rewarded various D-score based on hit connections. Kyla Ross is fluctuating from a 6.1 when she hits all her connections to 5.7 when she doesn't. Her routine hasn't been evaluated by international judges and can't really be predicted so far - remember Jordyn Wieber's varying D-score from 2012. We can assume 6.1 for the purposes of this assessment.

Simone Biles is the real star of the balance beam for the team when she hits. She is quite consistent but lacks that finishing touch on this apparatus. That really doesn't take much away from her given that she does some of the biggest moves on the beam. She's going for a 6.3 D-score. Her form is what's going to do her if her lack of connections don't.

Gowey is a beam specialist in my book, she does some of her most complex work on this apparatus and is only good on the others. She was given a 6.3 D-score on this piece and didn't even throw down some of the biggest moves like Simone. Her form will certainly be called out at World's but at national events expect her to receive massive scores.

The floor, I predict that the World title will be won and lost on floor. That goes for all the other national teams as well. The floor received the most drastic overhaul since the last cycle and gymnasts who aren't Simone Biles and Ksenia Afanasyeva have all failed to crack the15.00 mark multiple times at an international event since the beginning of the current cycle.

Simone Biles, if from what I'm lead to believe, from the US scoring system, has a 6.6 D-score. That is crazy for a gymnast that lacks many of the connected dance elements like a Ksenia. The scary thing about this gymnast is that she sticks most of her jumps and they aren't easy ones. The bad part is that she doesn't get called out for poor toe-point and form on some of her leap-spins.

Skinner on the other hand has the difficulty but lacks the form and consistency that Biles has. If the US team puts her on the lineup they are going to be taking a big risk that could pay off or cost them the gold. The mistake would need to be massive but it is still a risk nonetheless. She has a D-score that hovers around 6.3 and is bolstered by her double twisting double layout - the Moors. That element is worth nine tenths but her form is very piked that she could easily see more deductions than points.

The team will likely go with Ross for the third spot, she has upgraded her floor routine this season. At the US Classic she didn't under-rotate any of her jumps - something that she was having problems with in 2013. Her new first tumbling pass is a whip to double arabian. She appeared to have some minor issues with the landing and was hovering the line - not a good sign if she wants to add a stag jump to it. Her D-score is hovering at 5.7 but could easily be pushed to 5.8.

The run-down is that these numbers are points higher than any other national team the US team will be facing against. It is safe to say that the team could win with one fall but would open the door to another team with two falls. There won't be any other team that will have three Amanars on vault - there just isn't any nation training it like the US.

These predictions are quite solid by Andy and utilize the best gymnast available in the right places. Now to see if Marta will actually do this or go experimental. Only time will tell!