1996 Reese’s International Gymnastics Cup
Same
Hey, what does this dude have against Viktoria Karpenko?
Ahhhhhhhh kill it. KILL IT.
“Is my wig gonna come off?” – Andrea Bertha Joyce
Live look at Russian podium training
Continue reading Reese’s Cup 1996 – A GIFcap
A. This week
Your two assignments for the week are the Paris Challenge Cup and the German Championships.
The format for the Paris Challenge Cup is a little different, with just two days of competition—qualification on Saturday (beginning 2:00pm local) and the finals on Sunday (beginning 1:30pm local).
We’re expecting a high-quality field for this one. France (of course), Spain, Hungary, and Ukraine are sending most of their top athletes. Japan and Romania are also sending big MAG contingents, Chuso and the usuals will be there, and we’re expecting both Downies to compete for Great Britain. Caveat: The roster hasn’t been updated in exactly forever and lists Becky Downie as doing vault, so……take it with a grain of……ignore it. SO EXCITED FOR BECKY DOWNIE’S TWO VAULTS THAT EXIST.
Elsewhere, there’s still much to decide in the realm of the German worlds teams, so this weekend’s national championship will be telling. On the women’s side, Sophie Scheder is on the roster to return after missing both Euros and the most recent trial in Stuttgart, and Elisabeth Seitz is looking to continue her return from injury after showing solid progress at the trial. Ideally, your German team is probably Seitz, Schäfer, Scheder, Bui, and Voss (which has been true since Tabea Alt got injured) but we need to see where Scheder and Seitz are and if they’re up to worlds level right now.
That team would be pretty weak on beam besides Schäfer, so there’s still an opportunity for a Timm or Kröll or Grießer to get in if Seitz or Scheder aren’t up to worlds level yet. All-around competition is on Saturday (1:30pm for the women, 6:00pm for the men), with event finals on Sunday beginning at 12:00pm. All times local.
B. Last weekend
The event world cups got back underway in Szombathely last weekend, and the host nation will be quite pleased with its performance on the women’s side with Dorina Böczögö taking the floor title and the returned Zsofia Kovacs taking the beam title. Kovacs missed Euros with injury, but if this meet is any indication, she’s on track for worlds. The Hungarian women outperformed expectations at Euros to make the team final even without their best gymnast, so they’ll be quite optimistic for worlds chances with her. I’d say a top-12 finish is a tough ask but not completely out of the realm of possibilities as a team goal. Top 15 is definitely doable. Continue reading Things Are Happening – September 26, 2018
The second day of selection camp is upon us. At the end of today, we will know the five-member US men’s team traveling to Doha at the end of October. I’ll be keeping up with the scores at the top of the post here (along with the day 1 numbers) and following along with the action as we go.
| DAY 2 | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB | AA |
| Mikulak | 14.65 | 14.9 | 13.65 | 14.5 | 15.15 | 13.85 | 86.7 |
| Moldauer | 13.95 | 14.15 | 13.95 | 14.65 | 14.35 | 12.8 | 83.85 |
| Yoder | 13.25 | 14.9 | 14.05 | 14.05 | 13.15 | 13.15 | 82.5 |
| Modi | 14.2 | 14.55 | 13.4 | 14.45 | 13.65 | 13.55 | 83.85 |
| Van Wicklen | 13.8 | 11.95 | 13.15 | 14.85 | 12.95 | 13.65 | 80.2 |
| Bower | 13.9 | 14.35 | 12.7 | 14.65 | 13.5 | X | X |
| Howard | 13.65 | X | 14.6 | 14.5 | 13 | 12.85 | X |
| Kimble | X | 15 | 14.0 | X | X | 13.55 | X |
| FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB | AA | |
| Mikulak | 14.5 | 14.9 | 14.15 | 14.6 | 15.35 | 14.25 | 87.75 |
| Moldauer | 14.6 | 14.6 | 14.25 | 14.7 | 14.55 | 13.4 | 86.1 |
| Yoder | 13.75 | 14.6 | 13.5 | 14.15 | 14.2 | 13.3 | 83.5 |
| Modi | 14.4 | 12.8 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 12.75 | 82.05 |
| Van Wicklen | 13.1 | 12.95 | 13.65 | 15 | 13.15 | 12.9 | 80.75 |
| Bower | 14.25 | 13.7 | 13 | 14.35 | 13.35 | X | X |
| Howard | 13.65 | X | 14.55 | 14.05 | 12.7 | 12.3 | X |
| Kimble | X | 13.5 | 13.6 | X | X | 12.95 | X |
A few notes on what transpired at the first day of men’s selection competition yesterday, as we prepare for the final day of the selection process tomorrow at 3:30pm MT.
1) Mikulak and Moldauer are way ahead of everyone else. I wouldn’t use the scores, particularly for those two, as any kind of indication of their real-life scoring potential since they were high, occasionally to a comical degree. But compared to the rest of the selection field, they really are that far ahead of their teammates.
2) Marvin Kimble did not make his case. We’ve been waiting to see what level of competitiveness Kimble would show after missing nationals. His performances on the three events he competed on the first day were not yet at selection standard, particularly his critical HB routine where he got destroyed for an E score in the 6s—despite not falling—because of all the crazy form and late finishing positions.
Now, I’m still somewhat disposed to consider Kimble for the worlds team because of how disastrous everyone was on HB and what he potentially could score there. Even with a weak performance, his 12.950 wasn’t too different from the rest of the squad. That’s how dire things are on HB. Give me a possible 14 with the risk of a 12 over a guaranteed 13.2. I acknowledge, however, that a repeat of his HB performance on day 2 should eliminate Kimble from contention. But, if he manages a 14+…
Also hurting Kimble was the lowish score on rings, an event he would have been counted on to contribute to this team. He needed a 14 there. Right now, the US is left looking for a third good rings score, and that alters some of the selection dynamics. If only you had someone like Donnell Whittenburg competing…oh wait. Continue reading Men’s Selection, Day 1
