7:00pm CT. NBC. International stream. Scores.
Thus we arrive at the ending. Of course, the race for the title remains in 0% doubt, but Simone’s eh of a day on night 1 does change the skill-competing dynamic a little for herself.
I imagine if she had hit the triple double on the first day, we wouldn’t be seeing it again, but as she didn’t, she’s going to have to do it again tonight. The double double on beam, however, was successful on day 1, so it seems there would be less incentive to put that one back in again.
But to the real show—all the other spots. The standings after the first day were basically like you put everyone in a rock polisher and went, “This is the ranking.”
I mean what even is that nonsense? The surprise would be if they stay in anywhere close to the same positions after tonight’s competition.
I don’t expect the likes of Eaker and McCallum to repeat their struggles today to the same extent, but they’re already two points out of second place, so there may not be an opportunity for them to move up drastically in the standings even if they hit solid meets tonight. There’s just so much ground to make up. Hurd is likely in the same boat. She had three good events last time and then a monstrous floor experience, but that floor experience was enough to truly devastate her ranking.
It’s important for all three of those gymnasts to recover today, but I still expect to see them all on NT and at the selection camp. More and more athletes, however, are being added to the list of those who hope the team is just named by “rank order” at selection camp and that prior performances and consistency aren’t taken into account.
In terms of immediate consequences, the most significant performances of the day belong to Thomas, Chiles, and Skinner. I say that because we’ll have 10 people named to the national team after today, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those go straight by the all-around standings. Plus, Tom Forster has said that members of the Pan Ams team will be invited to selection camp regardless of their performances here. If we assume the national team all get invites to camp, along with Finnegan who was on the Pan Ams team but looks unlikely to finish top 10 at this point, that’s already a lot of people—more than were brought to selection camp last year. Someone like McCallum is more likely to receive an exception if she has another disaster because she was on the worlds team last year, but the same consideration may not be extended to the others.
That’s why I think those who didn’t go to Pan Ams have to hang onto their spots in the top 10 today. It’s going to be really easy to say “oops, didn’t make the cut” otherwise. (Sadly, it might already be curtains for Jones and Torrez in their hopes to make it to selection camp after lower scores on day 1, despite Torrez breaking 14 on beam.) Thomas is up at #5 after the first day, which is amazing and should keep her safe, but there’s less than a fall separating the tie at #5 and Emily Lee in 12th. (Meanwhile, I’m low-key rooting for Emily Lee to make the top 10 because you wouldn’t have picked that one.) Lots can change today.
Sunisa Lee’s performance on day 1 was exceptionally significant in catapulting her right back into likely team scenarios with the same everywhere-but-vault usefulness we saw at Jesolo. Lee was part—and an essential part—of the highest-scoring worlds team you could create using night 1 scores—along with Biles, Carey, McCusker, and Hurd. Despite missing on bars, McCusker’s beam score was still useful enough to get her on the team, and despite that floor disaster, Hurd’s bars score was nearly as necessary as Lee’s because you had McCusker missing bars and Biles doing her “piece of shit” bars routine. So those bars scores had to come from somewhere else. I’m interested to see how the highest possible team score plays out today if Biles and McCusker hit good bars routines because that will change the dynamic.
Also Jade Carey is all-around now, and they’re having to pull up the floor in the arena right now. So just the usual.
Here’s the start list:
McCallum and Hurd on floor. Chiles and Skinner on beam. Some significant routines in that first rotation. Bets on whether Trinity Thomas gets to exist tonight? Or is Skinner still the only one doing college and elite in the same year?
Also, if you’re in the US but in the tape delay states (WHAT YEAR IS THIS?), you’ll have to use the stream to watch live. Remember back in the day when we had to wait to watch the competition 3 hours late? No wonder there’s war. How did we survive the darkness?
That bizarre night 1 also reminded me of nationals four years ago, when night 1 was a total splat fest and Aly fell on a split jump on beam and Kyla was in 11th and Simone fell on floor. Very similar dynamic. That year, 8 of the eventual top 10 improved their scores on night 2. We’ll see if tonight plays out the same.
Nastia is bucking for a spot at the Met Gala tonight.
Tim going out on a limb to agree with Nastia that Simone is the best ever.
Terry has already used the word “hoppin'” twice. The only two gymnasts are Simone Biles and half of Jordan Chiles’ face.
ROTATION 1
Skinner – BB – candle mount, right through handstand – bhs back full and she falls. Still so weird to me to see Skinner fall on beam after how accustomed we’ve become to her college routines – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck – that switch is much improved, but she’s losing more than she gains with that switch 1/2 by a large margin – finishes with a stuck double tuck.
13.850 for Eaker on vault. Two tenths better than day 1.
Carey – VT 1 – Starts with the Cheng – nicely done, pace back, the usual twisting form and piking in the air – good distance – chest a little down. Still looking very reasonable.
15.000 is a bit high for me for that, but good vault.
Carey – VT 2 – They’re trying to explain Carey’s apparatus world cup route and it’s just a word salad. Struggles to land the Amanar today, big amplitude but a large bound forward and some extra lunges
Tim is saying that Jade wants to get a spot on the four-person team, but I’m going to assume that’s just Tim making things up because that would cause A MESS of problems and likely reduce the US to 5 five spots at the Olympics
Biles – wolf triple hit – aerial to split to straddle, a little slow in connection with a small check after aerial – bhs loso loso, very solid – switch to switch 1/2, a little pause to back pike – side aerial, solid – split jump 1/2 with a check – sissone to wolf – just does the full-in this time, hop back. A few checks. Her normal.
12.900 for Skinner on beam. Which is only about 6 tenths lower than day 1, which is interesting.
YELLOW. We’re still just yelling the names of colors.
McCusker – VT – DTY a bounce back which is somewhat an unusual error for her because if there’s any issue she usually lands it short – legs crossed, kind of a large bounce back
14.650, a really good vault score for her
Lee – VT – DTY lands her vault staggered again, but pretty solid landing compared to what we’ve seen – step to the side and out of the area – chest well down on landing
14.700 on beam for Simone. She went 14.950 for day 1.
Good thing Simone and Trinity are friends so we get to see Trinity.
Wong – VT – DTY – such a pretty vault – great height and form, bounce back. That needs to be quite a bit higher than McCusker’s, but vault judging and whatnot.
Leotard update: If someone was like, “You know what’s classy? The prostitutes at Versailles.”
14.750 for Wong’s vault is just a tenth higher than McCusker. Wrong. WHERE AM I?
13.650 for Thomas on beam, a couple tenths higher than day 1.
Hit beam for Chiles for 13.500
McCallum – FX – double double is a little better, but still landed in a ball shape with a hop forward – front 2/1 to front tuck, a bit short with a hop back – switch ring and switch 1/2, fine – wolf triple, not her usual level but still good, just teetered a little at the end – full-in, also a bit short, hop forward, just does stay in bounds – split leap full, would like to see a bit more 180 there – double tuck, very strong and stuck.
14.000 for McCallum. Pretty high for me. Reminiscent of Di Cello’s floor score in the juniors. So at least it’s consistent?
Hurd – FX – music problems – it started before she was ready – getting into her pose and she was off, so she stepped off – didn’t begin her routine so it should be fine – double double, stellar landing, one of her best – front lay to front 2/1, small step – switch ring split leap 1.5, probably will ve given as split full – double tuck, solid – split ring jump 1/1 – split jump 1/1 – double pike, slide back. Really solid routine. Good one. Not doing her full difficulty without the DLO and I think we’ll see some dance element downgrades, but should be a high E score.
13.750 for Hurd with a 5.3 D score. Not enough E score separation there with an 8.450, but that is the highest of the rotation.
After 1
1) Biles – 73.350
2) Carey – 71.100
3) Lee – 70.650
4) McCusker – 70.350
5) Wong – 70.150
6) Thomas – 69.050
7) McCallum – 68.900
8) Chiles – 68.850
9) Hurd – 68.800
10) Eaker – 68.500
Andrea is talking with Li Li. “This organization has let down many people.” That’s new. Thank you. I mean, it’s still empty words, but at least she can put them together, which is a step up.
ROTATION 2
We’ll start with Simone here, Tim already promising she’s going to hit the triple double.
Biles – FX – successful trip dub, bounce back, possible OOB but I think she stayed in? – Biles with a little bounce nad not connection – wolf turn 2.25 was pretty crazy and out of control – front full through to full in – pulls it in a little to ensure she doesn’t go OOB so ends up a little short – split leap 1.5 looked around – double double, lunge back. She hit it this time, so she’ll be pleased. A number of landing bounces, so it won’t be in her hall of fame, but good one.
A fall on bars for Carey gives her 11.650.
15.100 for Simone. So she goes up .750 on day 1.
Oh look Trinity exists.
Thomas – FX – switch leap 1/1 a little crooked – nooooo she falls on her Biles this time after nailing it on the first day – of course the first routine of hers they show – DLO, bounce back – switch ring to split leap 1.5, good split position and very high – front 2/1, just a little deep and hoppy – double pike WHATTTT TRINITY – she had an awkward stagger landing and then fell directly onto her face.
OK, they’re not allowed to show her anymore.
At least she understands opportunities for comedy.
McCusker – UB – stalder full to toe Shap to tkatchev, solid – Ricna is fingetipped but she got it into her Pak, doesn’t connect to VL but does it later and it was lovely. Dismount – ooof, really deep, forward with a large lunge forward.
Yes, what she needs after her routine is some dickhead yelling, “DOWN THE STAIRS GOT TO WALK DOWN THE STAIRS” at her. Dude, she’s in charge of you.
Hurd – VT – DTY – hop back on her DTY, good direction, chest down a little and a stagger on landing, pretty much her normal.
Lee – UB – Nabieva to Pak to Toe Shap to Bharwaj and it’s GLORIOUS – toe shap 1/2, solid, just a bit of legs – giant 1.5 to piked jaeger, well done – cast 1/2 is short – really close to the bar on her FTDT but just a hop back. Excellent.
Tim and Nastia pretending Nina isn’t alive.
14.350 for Hurd on vault.
15.050 for Lee on bars. EYES.
Wong – UB – short first hs – inbar to Komova to pak to Stalder Shap 1/2, lovely – inbar 1/2 to jaeger, knees mushy in the air – toe full, pretty late – DLO is deep with a lunge forward. Not bad but the second half was not her cleanest.
13.900 on bars for Riley. On four tenths better than her fall routine from day 1.
13.800 for Wong. 13.300 on floor for Chiles.
Andrea has a special report – where she says I GOT THIS to Laurie Hernandez. And then explains it afterward. That’s what makes it so fun.
Skinner – FX – Moors is a little shorter than the first day, hop forward, knees and whatnot – front tuck through to full in, pretty solid, slide back – some of these dance elements will face downgrade for not being alll the way around – double double tucked, landed like McCallum kind of in a ball shape, but not a large bounce – double L, foot form but may get the two turns, willed that around – 2.5, solid, medium step forward. Hit.
Watching Jordan Chiles walk from event to event should be the whole meet.
OOF. 11.900 for Eaker on bars. She has really had a rough meet.
13.850 for Skinner is a tenth and a half better than the first day. Interesting. She broke 8 in E score.
We’re doing Ohashi recap again? This is the same interview from night 1.
Anyway
After 2
1) Biles – 88.450
2) Lee – 85.700
3) McCusker – 84.250
4) Wong – 83.950
5) McCallum – 83.450
6) Hurd – 83.150
7) Carey – 82.750
8) Chiles – 82.250
9) Jones – 82.150
10) E Lee – 81.900
Skinner goes back up to 11th after her floor score. Eaker down to 15th. And Thomas has fallen to 14th and I’m now worried about her.
Has McCusker scratched beam? She has a zero on the scoreboard.
Tim’s most current basketball reference is Shaquille O’Neal.
Tim, you are not allowed to say “throwing shade.”
Rotation 3
Chiles gets 14.750 for vault. So she’s the one who doesn’t exist tonight I guess.
Lee – BB – wolf turn triple, very smooth – split jump to sissone is glorious – aerial, nice – bhs bhs layout to 2 feet, large break with a leg up check – switch to switch 1/2, another check, breaks connection into back tuck with a small hop – side aerial to loso loso is good, just the smallest hestiation – switch ring landed completely on one foot and a check to hold it – she looks tentative but hasn’t missed – double tuck, lunge back –
Hurd – UB – inbar to stalder full to tkatchev – hit – Ricna to pak, lovely – 1/2 turn on low with a little hesitation – toe 1/2 to front giant 1/2 – toe full to FTDT, stuck landing. Pretty routine. Good. I don’t think the handstand positions were as crisp this time, but otherwise great.
So do we think Riley is injured or Maggie is just locking her in a closet?
Skinner – VT 1 – does the Amanar, large lunge forward this time and another extra step – just a little under rotated coming into the mat – turns on the table again –
I see 14.600 for that.
13.850 for Lee on beam. Not her highest but still works.
14.600 for Hurd on beam is a huge number for her.
Skinner – VT 2 – much better on the Cheng today, a lunge back, but a bit cleaner in the air
Biles – VT 1 – good Cheng of course, still a large bounce back though – tons of distance, has the form – I mean basically I have two tenths off other than the landing and you can still justify as high as 9.500 E score for that. They go 9.300. Makes sense.
15.300.
Word on McCusker is she is “physically ill.” SAME.
Biles – VT 2 – Amanar and it’s fantastic – little hop forward. I’d give that a higher score than her Cheng despite the 0.2 deficit in D score.
Pleased to learn that Andrea Joyce knows what an app is.
15.600 for her Amanar, which means she got 9.800 E score. 9.8 you guys.
BIGGG 14.550 for Wong on beam, also significant for her prospects.
Andrea’s radar gun is the new bead bucket.
Now we’re hearing that Riley is sick. “Riley is not happy” apparently she didn’t want to pull out. Let’s talk more about her vomiting?
Carey – BB – aerial with a huge break, bends at the hips and just does save it – bhs loso to back pike, very solid, but that’s not a layout – split leap to side aerial, hit – switch leap 3/4 – switch to switch 1/2 with will probably get switch side credit because the split was very much to the side – bhs alone – she’s trying to connect so many leaps, but they’re all going to get destroyed in E score – double tuck, hop
After 3
1) Biles – 103.750
2) Lee – 99.550
3) Wong – 98.500
4) Hurd – 97.750
5) McCallum – 97.400
6) Chiles – 97.000
7) Skinner – 96.250
8) Carey – 95.850
9) Eaker – 95.300
10) Thomas – 94.500
Everyone helped out a little by McCusker withdrawing because it opens up another spot in the top 10. But also makes it even harder for those who don’t finish top 10 because there’s another person who has to be added to the selection camp team who won’t finish top 10 here.
Tom’s also not going to be able to go by rank order for the national team because he’ll have to add McCusker. Right? Right…?
They’re doing the same bit about Texas they did before.
McCallum – BB – Important routine for her – candle mount is good – wolf triple, nicely done, double is the same – straddle jump 1/2 from side position to straight jump 1/1 from side, and it’s not terrible – no trouble on her loso series this time – aerial to sissone to full turn – double tuck, step back. Good.
Lee – FX – double double, pretty solid, slide back, a bit of chest position – DLO, chest down but also under control, just a small adjustment – wolf triple, good – wolf double, also fine – back 1.5 to front full, solid – switch ring – split leap full, around – double tuck, mostly solid, bounce back.
She had such a great competition and can be better.
14.450 for McCallum om beam. Big number.
Chiles finishes her day with 13.850 on bars.
Grace McCallum’s “cheering MyKayla on bars” face was the highlight of the meet.
Hurd – BB – back full, has to adjust with a lean this time to save it – side aerial is solid – bhs loso, right to the end of the beam, small check – aerial to split ring, small teeter there – switch to straddle to split, just lovely positions – switch ring, some foot position – double pike, good dismount, small hop. Not as solid as day 1 on beam but a useful hit.
14.000 for Lee on FX. Another day of 56 in the AA. McCallum 56.950 today.
Biles UB – Weiler 1/2 – Shap to tkatchev – toe full to piked tkatchev to pak – good – some hs – Shap 1/2, small leg break – some short handstands – double double tuck, very strong. Much better than yesterday. Not a piece of shit.
Hurd still goes 13.950 on beam, which is a good score for her despite being a bit tentative.
14.750 for Simone on bars. She goes 59.850 on day 2. 1.2 stronger than the first day.
12.750 on floor for Wong. Still doesn’t have that routine. That will drop her behind Hurd and McCallum in the AA standings.
Big comeback days for McCallum and Hurd. They’ll finish well in the overall standings and sort of be back to where they were in positioning for worlds.
Keep an eye on those standings for the fight for the top 10. Because this is all about national team watch and worlds selection invitation watch.
14.250 for Trinity Thomas on bars. OH IF NOT FOR THAT FLOOR ROUTINE.
12.800 on floor for Eaker. 53.450 today.
Carey – FX – bounce back on her Moors today and OOB – popa, a little bouncy – DLO 1/1, small adjustment on landing. That’s her best pass, she’s always so controlled there – double double tuck, some chest and a little stagger on landing – split leap 1.5 attempt that IO’ll say is a full – front tuck through to full in, better than day 1 on that landing, a couple steps back.
Is NBC going to be forced to show A COMMONER, or just talk about Simone until the end of the meet?
I think we all know the answer to that.
Carey 14.100 puts her in 7th AA.
Finnegan – FX – she does get to exist – really strong double double, basically stuck that landing – double arabian to stag, also exceptional – switch ring 1/2, ugh – 1.5 turn just cuz I guess – 2.5 to front tuck, quite deep in the front tuck – front 2/1, a little under rotated coming into the floor with a shuffle to the side
Waiting on a couple more scores here, but we already know the final standings.
FINAL
1) Biles – 118.500
2) Lee – 113.550
3) McCallum – 111.850
4) Hurd – 111.700
5) Wong – 111.250
6) Chiles – 110.850
7) Carey – 109.950
8) Skinner – 109.600
9) Thomas – 108.750
10) Eaker – 108.100
So now interesting stuff with the national 10 team. It would seem pointless to me to leave McCusker off because you’re obviously going to add her to the NT at selection camp anyway so just name her now. But then you have Eaker in 10th in the AA, and you also need her on the NT.
Terry is telling us that 8 go to the selection camp. Are we confirmed for that with the women?
Andrea just said “wacky dance.”
You know Simone is happier today because she stopped herself from saying, “This is the worst one, obviously” when Andrea asked where this title ranks.
If you take only the scores from night 2, the highest scoring five-member team in a world championship format would be either Biles, Lee, Hurd, Wong, McCallum OR Biles, Lee, Hurd, Wong, Eaker. Both teams with the same score.
Of course that doesn’t include Riley, but interesting that Carey’s scores don’t get her into the top group today.
Actually scratch that. I didn’t realize they were putting Carey’s vault average on the scores instead of her first vault score. That puts her in place of McCallum on the highest scoring team.
OK, so the national team is the top 10 AA and McCusker. So they went to 11. How…reasonable and unremarkable. I’m stunned.
Now, who gets invited to selection?
EAKER. EA – KER it’s not hard…
Lol wait where have you been for the past few days? It’s Acre. It’s odd but we’ve heard her say it herself. Or is this a joke I’m not getting?
Wait…. really? So I’ve been calling her the wrong name for 2 years
You and the rest of the gymternet! Here’s the acre heard around the world: https://twitter.com/poorlawyer/status/1159681028438601728
Woah…. I skipped through Al Fong’s story so serves me right being 2 days behind the times haha!
But it’s pronounced Aker we’ve all found out in the last 3 days. Now everyone has switched- NBC, announcer in the arena etc.
Nellie Biles would NOT be happy with your lead graphic! 🙂
Already with a question: Tim is implying that Jade would take a team spot over the individual, but there’s like no chance they’d offer her a team spot at the olympics, right? Is he just trying to make it interesting?
Reason enough they should start sending others around to World Cup. Can you imagine if they sent Skinner or Thomas to some? We should have a contingency to ensure the sixth spot. I’m in terror that Carey is going to have an injury. That risk alone is incentive enough for us to send some others.
Couldn’t we get a pan ams spot and an AA WC spot though for 6? Really, though this whole individual qualification process is a shitshow.
The problem with the “heir and a spare” strategy is it would have to be someone who places second behind her on the same events (so basically, Mykayla). Otherwise, there will be one gymnast who gets her nominative spot, and if she gets injured, it doesn’t go to an American gymnast who won a different event, but the gymnast who placed second on the nominative spot gymnast’s event.
At least, that’s my understanding. Anyone who’s more certain have input?
Yeah Skinner is prob the only realistic option if that is the case. I love the thought of giving her a shot.
Okay, first reply isn’t showing up, so sorry if I end up posting the same information twice.
But I don’t think having a gymnast win a different event would do anything to guarantee them the spot in case of injury. If Jade won vault but Sunisa won bars, and Jade won the tiebreak between the two of them, if Jade got injured, the spot would go to the second-place vault gymnast and not Sunisa. So they need someone who can go and place second to Jade on the same events (so basically Mykayla because obviously they’re not gonna cut Simone off the team.)
What is the sixth spot at the Olympics? I know its AA but how did/do you earn it? And who would it go- how do they select her? Would it be like “well this would be our alternate so we put her in”?
Mary, you were right in your comments 5:34 and 5:43 PM. The thing is, the FIG will inform all countries at the same time about the spots they earned through Apparatus World Cups, and even if another US gymnast would win another event, but would lose tie-break to Carey, that other event spot would be offered to a gymnast from another country who placed behind that other US gymnast, because a country can get only 1 spot through this route. If now Carey withdraws, the FIG is not going to say to that other country, that sorry, you are not getting the spot after all. It’s Carey’s own choice to withdraw, and another country should not be punished because of that.
I wonder where does USAG draw a line of its tolerance? For Carey, the incentive to be included in the 4 person team is obviously the team gold in addition to what she might win individually. If Carey places well in AA at Olympic Trials, it will be tricky for USAG to deny her a spot in the team, despite losing the 6th spot this way. If Carey already has an individual spot and US gets non-nominative spot through AA World Cup, the Pan Am spot is no more applicable, because it will also be offered to another country, because the US already has 6 spots.
To Anonymous 6:06, AA spots, whether through AA World Cup or Pan Am, are non-nominative (the latter in case you have a team qualified, otherwise it is by name). It makes sense to give the spot to a specialist not otherwise qualified, in order to maximize the chances to earn as much medals as possible. As far as US is concerned, I am not aware that they actually have a written procedure for that.
Oh judges have already hit the crack. Skinner would have had 13.9 on beam without the fall?
We had some really crackpot judging towards the end of the juniors earlier. Seems like they’ve just carried on where they left off…
I can’t adequately express how hard I stan Trinity Thomas. What an absolute queen.
Yes her floor was amazing!
THANK YOU for the tape delay stream link. Bout to lose my damn mind trying to figure out how to hide my IP address and get NBC.com to show me what I want 😑
NBC’s coverage of gymnastics is offensive to fans and the sport. Can you imagine during the super bowl just filming Tom Brady on the sidelines while the other team is playing on offense?! Simone is the GOAT but I don’t need to watch her sit while their are routines going on!
AND The scoring!!! No one needs colors! E-score, D-score, total. IT IS NOT THAT COMPLICATED. I am blaming the patriarchy.
amen
This.
I absolutely detest watching any gymnastics on NBC, due to that awful “color” scoring system alone.
If you can’t figure out D + E scores, watch something else…
Did anyone else see Peng Peng completely flub introducing Li Li on the international feed? She then proceeded to make her show a reaction to a great routine – totally awkward. It was embarrassing.
That was so unnecessary srsly
Trinity exists!! Aaand she fucked it up. Wah wah.
Poor Trinity, fell on her Biles.
i’ve been thinking all week there’s something wrong with that floor! more bounces straight up in this competition than i’ve seen in a long time.
The biggest issue with the floor is that damn crease in the carpet. How hard is it to fix? It’s been there for 4 days!
Oh Trinity. If you had to fall, I’m glad you did it hilariously.
Lol McCusker that was not good on bars day 2 either..that Fan is always inconsistent and no Chow 1/2 back to the to top.
IKR? She’s anything but consistent. It’s always some damn thing with her.
She looked upset after her routine when Maggie rushed her off away from the cameras?
Sunisa’s bars gave me LIFE
Trinity, NO!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, Laurie.
so many different tones to infer from that lol!
Will she or won’t she be Tokyo ready..
I so NO she won’t be ready (think Nastia in 2012 at Trials or worse). I don’t think she has the discipline to say no to all the parties and events she gets invited to in order to train the way she needs to. But this is just my opinion… I challenge her to prove me wrong.
Hmm. Where is our queen of consistent from 2015? She is sitting at her new place in the OC watching this hot mess. I guarantee you that this will give her extra motivation in the gym tomorrow. I think this type of nationals will be very motivating for her. Just saying.
WHY ARE WE WATCHING THE VAL INTERVIEW AGAIN.
Really? They have to replay the Ohashi floor/Miss Val interview? Ugh. I’ve had enough of them. But also, there is so much to see in these championshps, why rerun Val’s media whoring?
Does Andrea have a kid trying to get into UCLA?
lol!
Remember back when they would play a junior routine? Do that NBC!
totally agreed like focus on something doing with elite gymnastics and let it go lol the comment below is pure gold too about Andrea hahaha
They’re hoping to get a ratings boost from the non-gymfans who watched the Okashi video.
Same with all the Skinner coverage – trying to appeal to 4-year fans who remember Skinner’s storyline from 2016.
The juniors killed it today. Do you see any of them factoring in for the 2020 team, like Laurie did last quad?
I doubt it with the current depth in the senior field, but I think some of them will at least be in the mix!!
Skinner’s Utah coaches must be sobbing watching her thinking “we worked so hard to fix that horrible form you arrived on campus with as a freshman , and in such a short time, it’s all baaaaack!!”…she looks awful and should have stayed in NCAA where she was quite successful and looked cleaned up
Amen.
STOP TRYING TO MAKE KATELYN OHASHI HAPPEN! You are the LAST to the party. It’s over.
Miss Val got all wet when Andrea said “Katelyn Ohashi” and then asked for crackers for her soup.
Will Trinity fans finally let her ‘happening’ go? She aint gonna happen.
NO NEVER
I haven’t seen anyone suggesting that she’d been in the mix for worlds. Some were saying for selection camp, but she was in the top 10 yesterday and the top 10 get automatically invited.
We’re allowed to like gymnasts who don’t win international medals.
Not really. She breaks my heart. Teasing us, but not putting in the work. Look on youtube, there is legit people who really think she deserves to be on the worlds team, and she is Tokyo bound! The whole, she can do BOTH narrative! When she isn’t deferring 1 year at Florida to really put the work in to try for Tokyo. Let alone a damn upgrade from her vault that she has done for 23 years! So yes there are people who think she has a real shot, and keep wishful thinking she is gonna make 2020.
People on YouTube also think Ohashi is Tokyo bound.
Stop trying to make out her results as some sort of character flaw. She’s making her choices for her own life. I’m sorry her priorities for herself aren’t the same as yours.
Mary eat a dick! It might do you good. lmao it is a character flaw when she can clearly do more and wont. Her vault as prime example. Stop trying to Pollyanna everything snowflake! She is utterly disappointing because of WHAT SHE COULD HAVE BEEN!
Riley’s withdrawn from beam?? Possibly hurt from bars dismount. I did wonder why Maggie rushed her off away from the cameras.
looks like she scratched the last two events.
Tim mentioned that Maggie told him she thinks going to Pan Ams was a mistake now because Riley is gassed. Great job, Maggie.
Starting to think McCallum & her coaches played it really smart by opting out of Pan Ams.
He totally made this comment as an “I told you so” re his interview with Tom at Classics.
I’m concerned for Skinner’s ACL, but her Cheng looks much better.
Dude, fuck Moceanu, it’s so fucking shitty they’re leaving Ragan Smith off the list of champs from Texas. Her title was only two years ago!! Dicks.
I think that’s why Nastia mentioned her. NBC was sticking to native texans?
Seems like that may have been it. Stupid, though.
I mean if we’re gonna get technical about it Nastia isn’t exactly a native Texan.
Did they….skip Biles’ bars?
Mea culpa….heard the huge ovation for (presumably) Chiles in the background and assumed that was Simone!
They did on the international stream! (Until the dismount sequence)
Laurie: Clap clap…whatever. Oh! A camera! Show enthusiasm! Yay Simone!!
She is totally the fakest
I’ve never liked Laurie. Of the 2016 team she was the one I was like eeeeeeeee-nough. Her whole media persona is tiresome.
Nothing wrong with her, really, she’s just not for me.
It sucks about Riley. I really like her style and routines.. I think she’s great. I think maybe her mental game is lacking. She has lots of raw talent but she must stay injury free next year and work on her psych. She is a very different type of gymnast than Lauren Zoe in terms of psyche. Maggie got real lucky with that one because I think she just sort of came that way. I don’t know that you can train something to have that sort of mental strength. This really stinks for RIley! I’m sure she is very upset.
Yeah but I don’t think tonight hurt her. she literally competed three weeks in a row including like 5 days on competition at pan ams…that’s why they’re invited to the camp. The only other person who competed as much as her was Eaker and she also doesnt look great.
McCallum made a good case for herself tonight. Add in two points to her final score for the two falls yesterday, and she’d be ahead of Lee by a few tenths.
This year’s team selection really is a bitch. So many great athletes.
The judges made a good case for McCallum with those bonkers E scores.
Last year her duck feet bothered me. I am pleasantly surprised to say her execution has improved a lot in the past year. I enjoyed watching her this summer much more than last year.
Jade isn’t in the top 10…does that mean she ain’t going to camp?
Yeah she is
Jade is in 7th
Jade is 7th
Jordan Chiles hit 8 for 8 and is on the National Team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so happy for her 🙂
I think Biles, Lee, and McCallum showed they should be on the team for their versatility
Biles AA
McCallum floor, vault, beam?
Lee floor, bars, beam
Looks like they need at least a bars/vault person so Hurd could do it.
Then I’d take McCusker for her beam and potential all around over Eaker or Wong but all three looked really tired so who knows what a bit of rest will do to change it all up
Carey for floor/vault could replace someone but who?? (but I wouldn’t pick her because she won’t be on the olympic team and already has so much experience…but that’s a Marta way on thinking…I have no idea what a Tom way of thinking looks like)
Wtf is Nastia wearing? Does she ever shut up?
some pink shit & no
(these are the answers to those questions most every day)
Pan Am athletes look tired and it showed. I’ll be very interested to see what happens at selection camp with Eaker, Wong, Hurd, McCusker well-rested. And, Lee will be fully recovered from her fracture. Tough selection this year.
A team of Simone, Suni, Grace, Morgan, and Leanne would actually be pretty good!
I’m totally pulling for that Simone-Suni-Grace-Morgan-Leanne combination! I think this schedule, with Pan-Ams and Nationals, really put the five Pan-Ams gymnasts to the test (or rather, four, because Aleah is not really in contention). I know there were lots of mistakes, but Leanne and Morgan really showed their mental toughness here, especially with Leanne not even having that much international experience. FX errors are not surprising — such a large part of that is stamina, and I’m sure they were all tired! In contrast, Riley …. no real surprises there, and Kara sort of fell apart.
totally agree plus people keep saying “they’re tired” but the lead up to the olympics is competition after competition to see mental toughness and see if they can handle the pressure. “i’m tired” might not cut it after this as thats what the olympics is all about will be pretty interesting
I think Kara and Riley were exhausted and should be evaluated on their performances at selection camp. Personally, I kind of think Riley’s role on the team is supplanted by Sunisa Lee; Kara, however, has that huge potential score on BB which no one can replicate and a good FX routine that the team could absolutely use in a pinch.
My ideal Worlds team, based in part on personal favorites rather than performance, would be Biles, Lee, Hurd, Carey, Eaker. I am trying to figure out how to squeeze McCallum and Wong onto the team but not sure where they really contribute over the others. You’d have Simone, Sunisa and Morgan doing the AA, and the following lineups:
VT: (Lee), Hurd, Carey, Biles
UB: Biles, Hurd, Lee
BB: (Hurd), Lee, Biles, Eaker
FX: (Hurd/Lee), Hurd/Lee, Carey, Biles
Wong or McCallum, if on the team instead of Carey/Eaker, could contribute anywhere really. This would actually be a legit Olympic team too, with Carey and Eaker going in specialist roles and your team being Biles, Lee, Hurd, McCallum/Wong.
Yes, Eaker’s score for a hit beam is unparalleled, but the question is, since many of the others (such as Wong) can achieve a high enough beam score to medal internationally anyway AND possibly have more to offer on other events, does that extra margin on beam really justify taking Eaker as a specialist again?
And also… will Kara hit? I’d rather have someone with a 6.3 beam who falls 10% of the time than someone with a 6.6 who falls 50% of the time.
I’m not writing her off – she has lots of opportunities to prove her ability to hit that routine coming up – but she does need to get back to a better hit/fall ratio.
Looks like it’s a minimum of 8 to the camp, but no maximum: https://usagym.org/PDFs/Pressbox/Selection%20Procedures/w_19worlds.pdf
My first time seeing Aleah Finnegan’s floor routine and I very much enjoyed her giving me the finger.
Chum chum!
What is sportsperson(s) of the year? If they give it to athletes, how is it different from athlete of the year?
For sportsmanship I think not who is the best.
I guess what confuses this entire thing is the girls that went to Pan Ams.
-Kara and Riley had major errors on their strongest events at Pan Ams and at US Championships. That is problematic for both of them.
-Morgan, depending on who hits, can be in the top 3 on UB, but it’s a virtual tie with several other girls, all behind Sunisa. Morgan isn’t top 3 on anything else and her UB routine isn’t going to medal at worlds.
I don’t know what the criteria will be for world team selection, but considering how far ahead team USA is, I’d suggest they pick based on total medal capabilities than the highest imaginable team score.
Morgan, gives pretty reliable serviceable scores on three events.
But they’re all generally lower than someone like McCallum, Wong, or McCusker when they hit. That’s what throws a wrench in for her. And internationally, she tends to score a bit lower while someone like McCallum on floor tends to score the same, and I think if Wong hits, she has the “international” look ie: skinny :/ , long and lean with good form.
It’s kind of ironic because Hurd has better execution and form than McCallum and Wong on three events (excluding vault, where yikes), but doesn’t get rewarded for it. Too bad she’s not a taller and thinner gymnast I guess?
Literally one of every three routines could include a fall and the team would still easily walk away with gold. I don’t think reliability will be a big factor.
Reliability *is* a factor, because of what a mental game gymnastics can be. One gymnast having a shaky beam routine can set the tone for the rest of the team going after her. You want someone like Morgan (or perhaps Leanne) who is tough enough to hit in unfamiliar circumstances, in a foreign country, in front of thousands of spectators, when it counts. That’s not something anyone can do. I personally think Morgan is in a great position to be a team leader.
After this I’m pretty confident Hurd will make it onto the Worlds team. She and McCallum showed tremendous psychological resilience to climb the rankings after errors night one, and that was with a slightly lower D score for Morgan on FX both nights. I think they will be in contention for the same spot at selection camp, but I think I’d put my money on Morgan there.
I’m really disappointed with the comments on how Morgan or any gymnast looks. These women are superheroes who do things we can’t even imagine. Morgan WON the World Championships people…in the body she has so let’s lay-off the idea that she isn’t the right body type. She freaking WON!
I made the comment, and I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m criticizing her. I do not believe that there is a “right” body type, either for gymnastics or in general. I was insinuating that Morgan might be getting lower E scores despite superior execution because she isn’t a tall and thin gymnast, and that judges assume that taller, thinner gymnasts like Riley, Grace, or Leanne have better “lines” or “form” because they prefer the aesthetics of tall, slim gymnasts. I know I see this from fans. I’m also not a judge, so perhaps Morgan has execution deductions that I don’t see that outweigh the ones from Riley and Grace that I can see.
Perhaps it’s still an inappropriate comment, so I’ll think about it before I post something like that again.
I appreciate your words. I get what you’re trying to say and I appreciate your openness to understand. As an Eating Disorder survivor, I’m keenly aware of how these comments effect someone. We should be celebrating these gymnasts and what they can do. However, I understand also that you were criticizing the judging as well which I agree.
Your comment was fine. People get offended by everything nowadays.
She won when most of the star gymnasts were on break or injured. Furthermore, her “look” is what has gotten her so much media craze outside the gym. Those are facts. And as unfair as it is, elegance and body lines (which are more distinct depending on body shape) heavily influence execution scoring. IMO of the top 8 girls in contention, she has one of the weakest cases to be on the team.
She won because she was the BEST that day just like any other competition and meet. I absolutely hate that the announcers always bring up that she won because Ragan was injured. It’s so demeaning and minimizing. We don’t know what Ragan would have done. Why are we trying to take a major accomplishment away from her. She won. Period.
I agree. Larisa Iordache and Ragan Smith both were injured and were the presumed 1-2 at worlds that year. yes, she won and it’s an “any given day” scenario. But the reality is that it was the year after the olympics which is usually the weakest year for competitors. To last four years at the top is hard and often stronger gymnasts emerge the year or two before an Olympics. I hope Morgan makes it, but to continually bring up her world championship to equate her with being the best in the world NOW?…it isn’t comparable. And to broadcast it to mainstream fans is extremely misleading. I think that’s what’s frustrating for me. It has nothing to do with her ability or the scores. These story lines that NBC creates just drive me crazy. And with the media giving attention to only certain people, I hope people are selected for ability alone.
I made the original comment about “skinny” in quotes…I put the face after it because it’s clear when they say “international look” that’s what they mean. We’ve talked about it here before. It’s gross and not fair, which is why I wrote it in relation to being unfair for Morgan. didn’t mean to offend anyone
I know everyone is focusing on Worlds, but I think people shouldn’t forget Tokyo, where there are 2 extra non-team spots, each of which will be eligible to compete in every event, making it likely we’ll have 4 US women competing each other for the 2 per country AA spots.
Also, Kayla DiCello will be 16 before then and her scores are on par with the top 4 AA on the senior team now. I’m not sure Emma Malabuyo won’t be fully recovered from injury either and she’s up there with the rest in scoring.
Ultimately, we have 8 women not named Simone that want AA spots in Tokyo who are neck to neck in scores, all of which could win an AA medal. So, although it makes sense to focus on the athletes, I’m not sure USAG will be. They’ll be looking at medal potential, which probably means focusing on the ones that can win individual events and letting the AA competition work itself out at the last minute.
This is why Simone, Kara and Sunisa are lock ins for team spots, they have medal worthy routines. I don’t think who competes on all 4 will be decided until trials.
If I had to guess today, Simone and Sunisa will AA, Mykayla and Kara with be on the team as specialists. Jade gets her non-team spot and Grace, Leanne, Riley and Morgan fight it out for the non-team AA one.
The biggest reason to take Kara is the beam gold possibility which, honestly, Simone can get, and then a few American girls can contend for a beam medal too. Kara isn’t solid enough for the medal to be a guarantee either. Having both Kara and Sunisa on the team also really strains the vault lineup. I don’t think she has a place on this team. Too much hassle for a medal that isn’t nearly certain enough.
To me, Simone, Sunisa and Jade are locks, and the remaining two could be any combination of Morgan, Riley, Grace and Leanne, except Grace/Leanne because they need one of the first two for bars.
If they are smart, they will send McKayla to the world cup circuit to be Jade’s backup. Then they take Jade on the team and McKayla as the specialist. Jade has higher scoring potential on both vault and floor than McKayla.
The nomative spots make more sense to go to specialists IMO. Since Carey is the only one who qualified to compete to earn a spot according to USAG’s crazy requirements if she doesn’t take that spot, the US loses that spot unless they start sending someone else to world cups who can win events and qualify.
The four person team will mostly be made up of all arounders with decent scores boosted by Simone and they’ll still win by a lot. People like McCallum, Wong, Hurd, Lee, McCusker, etc. They don’t need a specialist on the team.
If anything I’d give that other AA spot to someone with a strong chance at qualifying to an event final like Eaker.
Carey on the team just doesn’t make any sense to me. She has to take that world cup spot of the US will lose it, which they won’t be willing to do. They don’t NEED her on the team- they’ll win without her. I just double they’ll even offer her a spot on the team. I don’t understand the argument, am I missing something?
They won’t lose the spot if they send McKayla and she is sitting in second place on vault behind Carey.
Why on earth would we want to send Mykayla as a specialist if Simone and Carey are going already? Our third-best vaulter and fifth-best floor worker? She would most likely be 2-per’d out of both of ‘her’ event finals.
Of course, Mykayla could certainly improve and surpass Carey (or FX workers #2 thru 4) before Tokyo rolls around, but right now I don’t see a very compelling case for taking a third VT specialist.
They wouldn’t send MyKayla. She doesn’t meet the requirements set by USAG. They could send someone like Eaker to get a beam spot but they said last year they didn’t want to send more people to world cups…so it seems like Jade is set as the specialist through world cup. Like everyone has been saying, Eaker is the most obvious choice.
The exciting part of the build up to the olympics will be the battle between Lee/Hurd/Wong/McCusker/McCallum/maybe someone else who comes up.
I want to see McCallum upgrade to an amanar, which honestly hopefully seems like the plan with the pacing. She trains it and they’re holding her back because of what happened with Maggie Nichols. With it shes a perfect vault/floor fill in.
How outstanding that both Trinity and MyKayla made the national team. So impressive to train one way for the entire year and then to completely change training styles just a few months before the national championships and have such success. Even if this is as far as they get, that is still an outstanding accomplishment to be one of the 11 best senior women gymnasts in the country.
And major props to Jordan Chiles for her astonishing transformation. She was probably the most consistent and steady gymnast of the competition. That gym change was the best thing for her.
I think that team is too floor-heavy and bars-light. I would put Kara as the other non-team spot and have two out of Morgan/Grace/Leanne as the others on the team of 4. While Skinner is doing amazing in her comeback to elite, right now she is not top 3 on any event (close on vault). She will have to clean up A LOT to get consideration.
DiCello right now is one of those good all-arounders without having a top 3 score on any event, which would make her a good alternate. Unless she upgrades a good bit next year.
I wouldn’t worry about the Jade Carey situation at all. She made her individual path bed, so she will lay in it next year. She almost definitely won’t need to worry about Trials next year, but she also won’t win a team gold. Pros and cons. She and her dad knew this was the end result when they made their decision last year. Once the apparatus world cup circuit is done, she will win the vault spot most likely, and then USAG will remove her from team consideration (as she is already qualified) entirely. They won’t send one less gymnast just so the team can get some more tenths in vault and floor, probably not even if that was the difference between gold and silver (which it will very much not be).
The Carey situation is fascinating because Carey was never expected to be as strong in the all-around as she was on night 1. That’s a strong score, even by US standards, and raises questions whether Carey would be most useful on the 4-person team.
If for some reason USAG does a 180 and guarantees Carey a spot on the 4-person team, they would need to immediately select another floor and vault specialist to attend the remaining World Cups, win the events, and take Carey’s vacated spot. If for some reason that gymnast couldn’t win enough events to be first or second behind Carey, then Carey would use her earned spot and USAG would simply select another gymnast.
This entire scenario is extremely unlikely, but is the only way it could work. Carey is never going to give up her individual guaranteed spot without a guaranteed spot on the 4-person team and I don’t know how USAG would do that without causing a commotion.
Assuming Carey keeps her individual spot as expected, another question that arises is who gets the other individual spot? You don’t want to put another floor/vault specialist because then you have three people fighting for 2 event final spots. If USAG goes with 2 all-arounders, 1 floor/vault, and 1 bars/beam specialist for the four person team, then you could send the next best all-arounder who’s not selected. However, if USAG goes with the top 4 all arounders, then you have to go with the strongest beam and/or bars specialist not on the 4-person team.
What really sucks about that 6th spot is that that gymnast is very likely to leave the Olympics empty-handed despite one or several third/fourth-best-in-the-world qualifying finishes. Kara Eaker is currently the only gymnast I can think of now who might get the 6th spot and still snag an Olympic medal. Another complication is if the gymnast in the 6th spot qualifies for the AA and ignites a mega controversy about why that gymnast wasn’t on the 4-person team…
People don’t hit their routines. I think purposely weakening the team total score in vault because a non team member will likely score big is absurd.
Jade will get the non team spot. Who they send in the other spot wont be decided until much later, but it will be guaranteed by AA in AA world cups or Pan Ams AA next year.
Point is we’ll have 4 girls in trials hitting all 4 events for AA and only 2 can go forward, whether they are on the team or not. Making sure event medal worthy routines get in will be a priority.
You’re right, Kara makes the most sense right now for the 6th spot, because she can medal on beam, beam skills are thick on almost any US team configuration, and she has a real shot at the AA too for personal motivation.
The Laurie thing is funny. I don’t know why she hasn’t appealed with FIG to represent Puerto Rico, if she is serious about going to Tokyo. There’s no way USAG will let someone go that isn’t on their National Team.
People keep saying that Laurie’s only going through the motions of a comeback to keep the sponsor money flowing but….are sponsors really that clueless? You’d think they’d have someone whose job it was to pay attention to stuff like this, and that they’d know that Laurie’s window of opportunity has essentially closed.
It’s not obvious to a casual fan that Laurie’s comeback would be anything other than legitimate, and casual fans are the people that buy sponsors’ products, so I don’t think they care at all. They are probably monitoring whether she’s keeping herself relevant and in the media conversation, and she’s doing that perfectly successfully.
I am almost pretty sure jade will stick to her cup spot (and the fact of best case scenario 2 silvers). for one, she’s not a strong AAers and only would be highly placed when other AAers mess up like night 1. Also especially with the presence of Skinner, if she gives up her cup spot,she will have to now directly worry about competing directly against skinner to even go to the olympics. So you go from a sure spot to olympics with great chance at 2 silvers to a maybe olympics. No one would be crazy enough to bet like that..
theoretically, usag could send skinner to worlds cup as a back up just in case something happen to jade if they are that worry about injury to jade. but then they would have to break their rulebook. i don’t see that happen.
usag is not gonna pull jade out of cup just because they think they might need someone strong on vt and fx with an AA program to possibly be on the 4 person team because they might need someone to complement an AAer on the team that might be weaker on vt/fx. Because they already got skinner for that purpose if they need to have someone for that.
That last non nominative non team spot will go to a non vt/fx specialist with or without an AA program with the best chance of winning some sort of medal in ub/bb. Right now it seems to be Eaker but could be someone else next year…
The individual apparatus controversy ship sailed many months ago, Jade got it, she has to keep it. Bummer for her, she lost a guaranteed team medal. But what she won in return is a chance to beat out her teammates for AA, which is why she’s been working her heart out in upgrades on BB and UB.
From my understanding, since Jade and the 6th, yet to be named, athlete can compete on everything and we’ll probably be sending 2 more on every event through the team qualifications, USAG will not be able to hold the athlete back, on the team or not. So if whoever on the team ends up 3rd or 4th from USA in total event scores, they can’t compete the AA. Imagine the drama (and triumph).
Everyone competes the AA though because QF format is 4-4-3. It will be a five-way battle for the second spot in the AA final.
Also, sending a second gymnast to cups to try and get second behind Jade on vault or floor is incredibly impractical and would be a ridiculous display of favouritism towards her, that they would use someone as a clear backup, a transparent disregard for their own olympic prospects, just to try to save Jade from the path she chose for herself. She made her choice and USAG allowed her that choice. Now she doesn’t get an olympic team gold and they will have to assemble a team without her scores. The end.
I’d argue they should do it not to make Jade eligible for the four-person team, but to protect the spot in case Jade tears an Achilles or something.
Right now though, Jade doesn’t have a perfect 90 so sending another athlete in now would potentially cause her to lose her spot. Even if she does attend another event and wins vault, she could still lose on the tie-breaker if the other athlete wins events 6-8 and has a higher total.
And it’s not a good look for USAG to send a second athlete around the world to be used as a backup plan.
The only way, IMHO, that a second athlete could be sent is if Carey guaranteed an Olympic team spot and the second athlete is guaranteed the individual spot provided she wins or is second behind Carey. However, this scenario is unlikely.
It would be a fiasco, but I wonder if USAG would mandate that Carey and the other individual not do the all-around at the Olympics in order to guarantee that the two all-arounders come from the 4-person team? Although the blowback would be immense, I wonder if it would be less than the blowback if Carey or the other individual were to get the 2nd AA spot.
This is all wild speculation and unlikely to happen, but USAG’s silence allows for this discussion and guessing.
I don’t see how usag can make anyone not do AA if they want to. As far as tom is concerned and seeing what he has been doing of just going by the AA rank to pick people on the team lately, i think he will let all 6 people do AA in qual and fight it out if they all want to…
If marta was still around, it’s possible she could “ask” someone to not do AA but i doubt it will happen this quad with tom in charge.
That by itself would make this olympics qualification the most insane one! I actually soooo look forward to it happening. US has always had to limit the number of AA performance to 3 during qualification to let specialists qualify. well, none of that this time…. US should really put up 6 AA performance and see if they can get all 6 in the top 10 spots (which i think is absolutely possible if everyone hits).
It’s their only chance since in 2024 it’s going to back to 5….