Be so proud of me that I didn’t miss any routines after a train delay (that wasn’t even because of a body on the tracks, so you know you’re not in America—just to set a morbid tone for the day).
News from the Japan, USA, Canada subdivision is that Wataru will not be competing all the events today.
Rotation 1
Modi – FX – doubel front pike, boucne – 2.5 to front full, hop – a little too piked down in the 1/2 out of his third pass with a bounce – some legs of course – finishes 3/1, slide back. No major errors, more hops than he would like. 13.333
Wataru’s routine is very long. He gets a touch ragged in a Russian travel but otherwise clean.
Wiskus – FX – double front 1/2 out, stuck – double double, bounce back and another little shuffle – 2.5 to front full, deep landing, very low on front full – nice stick on 4th pass – stuck 2/1 – 3/1, a couple slides back. 13.466
Lovely Russian travel and flare work from Kaya. Nice one.
Moldauer – FX – punch randi, stuck, nice – front 2/1 to front full, stuck – double arabian 1/2 out, awesome – 2.5 to 1/2, holds the stick with a bend at the hips – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, little hop. That’s best routine he’s done this year, easily.
14.633 for Kaya. Big score from the 2nd up.
Even though I love quick pommel horse work, I also love how slovely Kakeru starts his routine before picking up speed because he’s just in total control – One hesitation in his handstand travel mid-routine that looked awkward, but good.
14.466 for Moldauer and into 5th on floor.
Mikulak – FX – double front pike, small slide back – 2.5 to double front – sits it down, both butt-scraper sits but the secodn was closer to a full sit – the streak is over – botches his third pass and sits that one down as well. Oh Sam. He’s landing so uncharacteristicallly poorly – even the 3/1, large bounce to the side
11.533 for Mikulak on floor. Yikes.
41.265 for the US on floor. Not strong. 40.333 for Canada on rings. 43.916 for Japan on PH blows everyone else away.
Rotation 2
Paterson kits his Kas 1/1 first up but a large lunge back
Small hop from Kaya on double double layout rings dismount, strong routine. Japan looking excellent.
Cournoyer hits double front with a medium-sized lunge forward
Modi – PH – A good hit – his usual things, but not a lot that wasn’t built-in – I’m watching from the side so it REALLY exacerbates leg position issues, especially on travels.
Zakutney – VT – nearly sticks is double front, small hop, nice control, not as much distance as Cournoyer
13.533 for Modi, also .4 lower D than at selection camp
Not a lot of control on a Kas 1.5 from Emard, bounce forward and then another little hop to control it
Wiskus – PH – Really nice extended leg position throughout his routine – he generated some hip angle as he went but a clean routine for him.
12.866? I don’t know why? Kensley thinks he didn’t have 10 skills.
Kakeru went 13.633 on rings, followed by Wataru, hop back on doubel double dismount.
And now Moldauer has fallen on PH. Well this is not going great.
12.666 for Moldauer. US counting a 12 on PH now.
Mikulak – PH – mikulak scissors, can’t get down out of handstand circles and comes off. Two falls for the US on pommel horse. Mikulak has fallen on both of his first two routines.
He completes the rest of the routine. 12.600
Rotation 3
Modi – a little high in a cross sit position – iron cross – L sit – secure routine but some high positions – a bit of a muscle into handstand – double double tuck and some hops
Kakeru just fell on vault, so maybe Peeves has taken on another team?
13.666 for Modi –
Hashimoto with a step back on vault but solid
Moldauer – SR – solid maltese – cross – small hesitation in hs – generates some side-to-side swing in his saltos – a little muscling in straddle planche – a struggle in handstand – sticks dismount though
13.800 for Moldauer. Actually that’s not bad. Could have been lower. US needed it.
Mikulak – SR – planche lower to iron cross, good – tucks to corss, well held – pikes up to handstand – some hesitation, bigger hesitation in next hs – double double tuck, hop
13.700 for Mikulak
Howard – SR – maltese, nice and straight – planche, held – tuck to pike to maltese, lower to cross – front toss to cross – another significant handstand struggle – double double tuck. Good, but also not his best.
Kakeru is inquiring to try to get his vault credited.
42.998 for Japan on vault is only OK
14.033 for Howard, better but still not the rings score he was on this team to deliver.
Payne went 14.266 on PBars to give Canada 42.132 there, which is really competitive
Rotation 4
Moldauer – VT – Kas 1.5, a hop to the side, very clean of course. 14.533
Modi – VT – struggles on his Kas 1.5 – large bound forward – He’s trying to keep Sam from being 2-per’d obviously. 14.066
Mikulak manages to hold the stick on his Kas 1.5 but with a major lean and a little swim
14.566 for Mikulak
Howard – VT – struggles on his Kas 1.5 – large bound forward, out of control. 13.933
Zakutney holds the stick on his DLO 1/1 on HB with a lean
Wataru – PB – healy, good – stutz attempt but it was poor, well short of hs and he’s struggling on a couple other positions – bhavsar was excellent – tippelt handstand is a little short – double front 1/2 out and two giant lunges forward. Can’t have felt good on that injury, but that was a struggle routine in all regards
13.900 feels really high for that
Payne – HB – layout jaeger, nice – yam, just a little pike – gaylord, hit – stoop 1/1 a bit crazy, and the 1/2 was even crazier with a leg break – rybalko, horizontal – double double lay, step back. The releases were nice but the pirouettes should hurt
Kamoto – PB – diam to stutz with some elbows – front straddlr to arms – tippelt, slowly but smooth up to handstand – double front 1/2 out, short with large lunge
Keikha has fallen on PH during a between pommels flare. RIGHT before his dismount too. The rest was great. \
Lots of pommels still to come to finish off this rotation – Faulk bottomed out but somehow didn’t stop his routine. So that was cool.
Beckford was going through cleanly but had a hip drop up to handstand on his dismount.
Reid – PH – loses his legs on a russian but keeps going – bottoms out on a one arm circle – well that’s that. Fantastic after the resumptio
Be on Modi/Mikulak/Moldauer watch because with Mikulak’s disasters, he’s well back, but he can gain so much ground on the last two events that it’s worth watching.
Rotation 5
Kaya – HB – yam 1/2 – tak 1/2, nice – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – german giants, I think the way they stoop out of them now is really unbecoming – double double layout, hop back
Paterson hits floor with some hops
Moldauer – PB – healy, clean – peach – peach 1/2, good handstand position – diam, nice – long swing diam, same – solid salto elements to arms, double front 1/2 out, tries to hold the stick so much he ends up bending way over and then hopping so actually incurred a lot on a great dismount
Hasimoto – HB – lovely height on yam – Cassina, caught – Kolman, very good rhythm out of it – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – stalder 1/2 – tak 1/1 very late because duh, same with tak 1/2 – DLO 1/1, stuck beautifully.
REALLY impressed by Daiki Hashimoto.
Wiskus – PB – following 14.400 from Moldauer – healy, nice – peach – tuck 1/2 to arms – crazy crooked body position on diam but works through t – nearly misses his hand on bhavsar but got it – tipellt really smooth – double front, small hop back
14.366 for Hashimoto on HB.
14.033 for Wiskus, useful score even with not his best
kakeru – HB – yam 1/2 – can’t catch cassina and falls
Emard just a little hoppy in his floor routine, nothing major – a little hesitation rolling up to handstand – nearly sticks 3/1, arm wave and small step
Modi – PB – peach t0 diam with legs – bhavsar – tippelt, clean to healy – walking a little – diam – double pike, slide back, downgrades the dismount. He’s like GET ME TO THE AA FINAL. 14.533
Kamoto – HB – catches cassina and Kolman, nice positions – layout tkatchev, good – tak 1/1 is normal – double double layout, stuck landing
Mikulak – PB – healy – peach 12 – tuck 1/2, nice – front straddle to swing, and then MISSES HIS HAND.
What is happening to him? Stuck dismount.
Mikulak still gets 14.333
US still with a solid shot to be in 4th after this subdivision, which I have to imagine would be safe for TF.
Rotation 6
Hashimoto – FX – basically sticks a double sobule – randi, only a small slide – back 1.5 to front 2/1, hop – 2/1, stuck – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck – 3/1, stuck but bent well over. Good.
Moldauer – HB – nearly catches feet on a yam but fine – tak 1/1 has to bend to keep himself going the right direction, good save – DLO 1/1, lovely and stuck. 13.033
Kaya – FX – double frotn 1/2 out, bounce back – double front pike, large bound forward and OOB – front 2/1 to front full, holds the stick – 2/1, stuck – 2.5 to 1/2, very nice – 3/1, small slide back
Wiskus – HB – cassina, one of his best – Kolman, legs – kovacs just a touch close but fine – finishes with a stuck double double layout. Lovely. Really good one for him.
Jackson Payne falls on PH
Kakeru – FX – doubel front pike 1/2 – nearly goes OOB on his second pass but just stays in – he really does land with his head almost on the ground on these 1/2 out elements – another head-down lean on 2/1 stick – checks the clock behind himself right before the 3/1 dismount, sees he has 4 seconds left, goes and falls, sitting down his final pass
14.166 for Wiskus on HB. Great score.
Modi – HB – Yma – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 and falls. Well yeah based on how today has gone. Hits layout tkatchev 1/2 – tkatchev 1/2 – finishes layout double double, giant lunges forward, a couple of them, nearly off the mat
Kamoto – FX – nice DLO but hop back – 1.5 to front 2/1, a little short, shuffle back – 2.5 to half, knees, hop – 2/1, arm wave to hold stick – 3.1, holds the stick with some legs.
12.166 for Modi.
Last routine of the rotation will be Mikulak’s HB
Mikulak – HB – Cassina, hit – Kolman, hit – tkatchev – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, nice finiah – giant full – stalder – double double layout, holds the stick. Well, at least that one was good.
They can actually pass Taiwan with that routine. Let’s watch the score.
14.866 puts Mikulak into AHEAD OF MODI. And into 2nd for the HB final.
I really thought Mikulak was out of AA contention after PBars, which he really should have been, but Modi let him back in with the miss on HB.
US is in third place behind Russia and Japan and Mikulak and Moldauer will advance to the AA final. So, the day went exactly like you expected, right? Right?
Subdivision 6
It’s the China subdivision coming up now. Plus lots of interesting other athletes even if they aren’t necessarily going to make finals.
Australia should really be in the conversation for hottest team. You know, like the comments a professional would make.
Sun – FX – double front pike, small hop – dlo, a little short but lovely – double double, hop back – 2.5 to 1/2, solid – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, shuffle back, a couple small steps. A little bouncy, nothing bad.
Hands down for Michael Tone on his HB dismount
Very solid PH for Verbaeys
Swan – HB – yam, pretty nice position – Cassina, caught – kovacs, nice and high, some feet – Kolman, good – double double lay, small hop. Nice routine
Xiao – FX – punch randi, little step – nailed 2.5 to 1/2 – double double, another little shuffle – only little 0.1s on these landings – 3/1 final pass, sticks it with an arm wave
Morgans – HB – tak 1/2, solid – Cassina, catches – layout tkatchev, a fit of form but caught – goes for what I believe was going to be a Kolman but he was never going to be able to catch. Fall.
Kuavita is off PH.
14.833 for Xiao on FX.
Deng – FX – double front pike 1/2 out, bounce back – front full to randi, little bounce and goes OOB – 2.5 to front 2/1, hop – double double, hop – finishes 3/1, step back. Not as strong as Xiao’s. 14.166
Bull sticks his DLO 1/1 on HB with a little arm wave. Big 14.366 for him
Van Den Keybus was starting to lose shape on his flare circles and it finally caught up to him as he moved out of flares with a fall.
Lin – FX – double front pike 1/2, small hop – 2.5 to front 2/1, excellent stick – double front pike, basically stuck – front full to front 2.5, small movement – nice quick russians – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, corkscrew legs, small step. Amazing. 14.933. Into 2nd on floor.
Gentges can’t get over the pommel on his final russian circle, he clips his hip on the pommel and falls
Rotation 2
Michael Tone finishes floor with a nice double arabian (that’s not a 3/1!), small hop
Sun is off PH on a Russian travel, was losing his form from the start, then missed a hand –
Looks like Bacueti tripped in the middle of a combo pass and was able to do only a deep front tuck.
12.900 for Sun.
Zou – up next on horse – goes through exceptionally cleanly, legs pasted together the entire time, nice amplitude over the pommels, great
Swan falls on a triple full on floor.
14.958 for Zou into 3rd on PH. Dayum. But it was so good.
Oooof! Xiao was going through so cleanly and then his hand slipped on a russian, counting a fall on PH – no final for that. 13.400
Kind of excited about this China race for the AA.
Deng finishing the lineup – he also has a moment of crazy crazy legs in his routine but is able to keep it going – so a hit, just not a super clean one. 12.366. Oof, they got him for a lot, probably secret PH things that I don’t know about.
China has given back its edge on Russia and then some.
Rotation 3
We have a score for Zou on rings, who did a very nice double double dismount –
Really nice Roche on VT fron Kuavita, nearly stuck
Sun – SR – planche to maletes – roll to cross – front tuck to maltese – front pikes to cross, a little high and lowers into it – L sit, solid – small hesitation in second handstand – double double with a hop
So, CA is doing the in-arena announcement again, but in the media area, you can’t really hear her that clearly, and it just sounded like she said, “Does his vault, and it’s stupid.” And I wish so badly that were what happened.
Xiao – SR – that cross position is too high, but I will also grant that it’s rings and any time I see something terrible, the score is like 15.999 – a little hesitant in a maltese as well – great dismount, double double.
Marios – PB – pulls back his Makuts somehow after a large arch on one rail – finishes double front 1/2, low with a hop
Looked like a really rough landing on Deng’s lay double double rings dismount, but the TV camera is right there so I can’t really see what happens down there on rings. 14.100
China loses a lot more ground to Russia after that rings rotation.
Rotation 4
Deng went 13.700 on VT –
Sun Wei hit his Kas 2/1, just a little short with a small hop. Xiao finishes with a Kas 2/1 of his own, also hops forward, a little more extreme than Sun’s hops. 14.766 for Xiao, though. I would have had Sun higher for a combination of form and landing control.
Soravuo – FX – perfect stuck double double – third pass is 2.5 to 1/2, stuck – 1.5 to half, also stuck – 2/1, a bit of legs, stuck – 3/1, more crazy legs, slide back. Really good, though, especially the beginning
China dropped 8 more tenths to Russia on vault.
Deng’s vault problems have taken him back down below Xiao and Sun in the race for the AA.
Rotation 5
Deng – PB – I know these skills are hit, but aethetically saltos to arms are my least favorite PBars skills, they’re just never cute – tippelt, good – double pike, leans forward and swims to hold the stick14.466
Tone hits his double front, small hop
Georgiou has a fall on floor. Rough day. He was limping after PBars and now he’s really limping.
Bacueti went for his Kas 2.5, landed upright though I’ll be interested to see credit because he landed not all the way around.
Sun – PB – peach 1/2 with 80 hand placements – double back to arms – nice high front straddle – tippelt, clean – double front 1/2, great
Bacueti into 5th in the vault standings
Kenis falls immediately on a Cassina attempt
14.800 for Sun Wei
Xiao – PB – double back to arms, healy – peach half with a tiny walk – a couple hesitations here – love the way he opens out of salto elements even on PB though – tippelt, smooth – double pike, small hop back. 14.966
Kuavita – Yam – catches Kolman – layout tktchjev to lay tkatchev 1/2,lots of legs – tak 1/1 – tak 1/2, perfect – stalder – triple back pike, landed! Small hop.
Zou – PB – Makuts, perfect – diam, perfect – peach half – front straddle – bhavsar, perfect – tippelt a little low and nearly sits on the PBars! – double front 1/2 out, lunge back. Two mistakes and only half the skills were literally perfect, so that counts as a bad one for him.
Only 14.633 for Zou, which will take him out of PBars finals. They’re inquiring, but he’s way behind his teammates right now. The biggest shock of worlds.
Inquiry rejected Zoe out of finals on PB
Rotation 6
Sun Wei has started for China on HB 14.333. 84.899 and into 4th place in the AA.
Rough double pike dismoutn for Tone onPB with a lunge forward –
Shek attempts a double front pike 1/2 out on vault, short with a lunge forward.
Deng – HB – layou ttkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, not too bad – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – DLO 2/1, nearly holds the stick, little hop in the end.
Kuavita – FX – double front 1/2 out, hop – 2.5 – front lay to double front, small hop, does well to keep it in bounce s- 1.5 to front 2/1, can’t keep that one in bounds – 2/1 – double arabian, another step OOB
Xiao – HB – layout tkatchev 1/2, hit – layou tkatchev to tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, amazing finish – yam – hesitation up to handstand but pushes it up – DLO 2/1, stuck. Excellent but for that one moment of hip dropping.
14.033 for Xiao, 85.831 and into 3rd in the AA
Lin – HB – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty good – tak 1/2, great – Kolman, solid – lay tkatchev 1/2 – yam – DLO 2/1, small step back. Expect that score to be enough to get China ahead of Japan for 2nd.
Yep, China goes ahead of Japan by 3 tenths, finishing 1.6 behind Russia. About right based on the quality of performance, though entirely meaningless for TF because China and qualification.
Subdivision 7
Great Britain, Ukraine, and South Korea headline this session as teams. We’re expecting GB to get through to the team final, and then we have Ukraine and South Korea hoping to pull a Taiwan.
Hall – VT – OK Kas 1.5, lunge forward and a little to the side
Opening hit for Park MS on PH
Cunningham with his handspring 2.5, super strong landing – 14.766
Cunningham VT 2 is the Man-Biles – bounce forward, two good vaults.
14.566 average puts Cunningham into 5th on VT.
Verniaiev – FX – double double, pretty solid, steps right out of these passes into the corner, randi bounce back and OOB – 2.5 to front full, 7000 more little hops near the corner, flag does not go up – 3/1, bounce back –
Fraser – VT – Kas 1.5, lunge forward
Pakhniuk – FX – double front, lunge – randi, little hop – front full to front 2/1, excellent, stuck – 2.5 to 1/2, small slide – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, hop back
14.133
Second to last routine of the rotation is Yulo on HB – kovacs, some bent elbows – DLO 2/1, lunge back
It’s 43.365 for GB on vault, which is behind only China and Russia, so a solid start for them.
Fox – HB – tkatchev – stoop 1/2, just a bit late – DLO 1/1, small hop
Rotation 2
OK I missed the beginning of this rotation because I was trying to offer chocolates to people and tripped and threw them all up in the air, and I’ve never seen Jessica happeir in my life.
Anyway, Whitlock got 14.000 on PB.
Hall – PB – frotn tuck 1/2 – front straddle, a little bit of leg form – healy – stutz attempt of some kind, struggles on one rail with some form and improvisation but keeps it going. 13.766
GRM – PB – annnnd he’s fallen – lost his hands on a peach attempt and couldn’t save it, coming off the bars. The end was great, including a stuck doubel front 1/2 out
It was a 14.600 for Olleg on PH to put him 9th.
Yulo – FX – DLO 1/1, so floaty and awesome, a little short with a hop – double front pike 1/2 out, hop – front 2/1 to randi, so quick – 3.5 to 1/2, little hop – 2/1, small slide, worried about the lack of sticks a little for him – front full to front 2/1, hop – 3/1, stuck, there was the landing he wanted
14.633 and 6th on FX
Fox – FX – front lay to front 2/1, two crossover steps –
Fraser finished PB for GB with a massive 15.000, which they needed because they weren’t able to use Giarnni’s score. 42.767 is the 6th best PBars score of the group so far.
Rotation 3
Whitlock – HB – he hits his pirouette burger of a routine including a stuck dismount, suepr clean, really well done, Definitely worthy of being in this lineup 13.833
Giarnni – HB – yam, a little piked – piked kovacs – kovacs, nice – tak – DLO 1/1, pretty piked but he holds onto the stick
Kim Hansol’s second vault is a beautiful Kas 1.5 in the air, looked like he was going to be able to stick, but he couldn’t with a step back
Hall – HB – cassina hit – kovacs – solid – Kolman, strong – tkatchev – yam, piked – tak 1/1, quite late
Yang – VT – hits his handspring triple! Makes that look way too easy, bounce. 15.300. Awesome
Yang – VT 2 – Kas 2/1 second vault, pretty large lunge back
yang into 1st place and well deserved based on that first vault.
Fraser – HB – yam – layout tkatchev to tkatchev – Cassina and took it wayyyy too far and falls
Nice flare work from Fox, really starts to lose his shape in his Russians but endures them for a short but hit routine.
Team update: GB’s 40.965 is once again the 6th best on the event, so it’s not huge but it keeps the team comfortably around that TF qualifying goal. Korea’s 44.232 is NEARLY the highest vault score of anyone, and it needed to be a big event for them with both Kim HS and Yang HS on the team
It was 14.566 for Radivilov on rings, for 8th place. Ukraine outpacing Taiwan through its first three events.
Rotation 4
Hall – FX – nice double double, small slide – stuck randi – another stick, and ANOTHER on his 2/1, this is great – 2.5 to front, a little hoppy on that one – 3/1, bounce back. A couple slides toward the end, but really strong.
Cunningham – FX – DLO 2/1, slide back – double front 1/2 out bounce – good stick on his front 2/1, to a take little stag out of it – doubel double, basically stuck – 2.5 to rudi, twists really quicky to get that rudi around and it works, stuck – 3/1, small step. 14.600
Verniaiev – VT – oh Oleg, goes for a Kas 2/1, no control on his landing as he starts doing the “I have confidence in sunshine” guitar case twirl from Sound of Music on his landing as he travels down the mat
GRM – FX – double front pike 1/2, small hop – doubele double, stuck – double front pike, stuck – 2.5 to 1/2, leans to hold onto the stick – randi, stuck – struggles a little to get up to handstand with a hesitation but he gets there – 2/1, stuck – right into 3/1, a little short with a hop. 14.316
Amazing floor rotation from GB so far. Really nice.
Igor – VT 1 – Tsuk double pike, short with lunge forward
Fraser – FX – double front 2/1 out, bounce back – double double, bounce back again – front 2/1 to 1/2, jarred himself on landing with a low chest – just a little bouncy on all the landings, nothing individually large – 2/1, stuck –
We have a fall from Koudinov on HB on his pike over the HB – gets one on his second try – tkatchev – DLO 1/1, small step back
Igor gets into 4th place with his vault average
Srbic – HB – lovely opening full piurouets – a little close on tlatchev tkatchev but the remainder of the tkatchev series is excellent – layout tkatch v 1/2, good – tak 1/1, late – DLO 1/1, stuck. Nice. He did what he needed, I would imagine.
14.833 and into 3rd place for Srbic.
Rotation 5
Hall – PH – comes off on his Kehr
Park MS – HB – Kolman caught –
Yulo makes his Kas 2/1 looke too easy because he’s all small and quick, hop back
James Hall successfully completes a very long routine, he started gaining a more significant pike at the end, but nothing major. Good routine, really.
Yulo Vt 2 – dragulescu – nice! medium step only
Max – PH – a little slow up to handstand on initial scissor, and that’s about all. Very strong showing. Easy finals.
Verniaiev – PB – tipplet, super high as always but a little hesitation on catch – bhavsar – healy – stutz, arches and has to pull it back – double front 1/2 out, short with a bounce forward. Interesting. Not his strongest.
15.266 for Max, goes ahead of Rhys by less than a tenth.
GRM gets through his PH routine. It’s not going in the Louvre and there are plenty of leg position deductions, but he puts up a hit for the team. Still won’t count though, which is a shame.
14.800 for Oleg and just 9th place.
Pakhniuk – PB – his hair is the funniest on Pbars, definitely – front straddle good – stutz to one and quickly back before anyone realizes he was gone – front in, 1/2 out bounce back
15.033 and into 2nd. Wow.
Nin Reyes directly connects double front pike vault to front tuck. Sits the front tuck, so we can’t give bonus credit, unfortunatley.
GB doesn’t need a very high score on rings at all to get into the 250s with the US and Taiwan, but also this team and rings. Ukraine ahead of GB right now and in fantastic position to be the best non-top-3 team.
Rotation 6
Yudenkov – HB – yam – tak 1/1, very late – tak 1/2- stalder 1/2 – DLO 1/1, holds the stick. Mostly a pirouette burger, but clean – 13.733
Cunningham stuck on rings 13.833
Hryko – HB – nice layout tkatchev – falls on tkatchev 1/2 – well, Ukraine just needed to not melt down to take 4th. This will be the test then.
Hall nearly stuck his double double tuck, small step to the side.
Second fall for Hryko. Well, we can’t have this.
Verniaiev – HB – yam 1/2 – tatchev – full turn – tak 1/1, quite late – DLO 2/1, bounce back – perfectly acceptable hit
Kim HS – FX – 3.5 to 1/2, solid – double frotn 1/2 out, bounce back, nice kick out – 2.5 to front 2/1, yes – front full to randi – 2/1, stuck -3/1 with a step. Good one
Seligman is off PH.
DLO 1/1, stuck.
GB has currently moved into 4th, but Pakhniuk’s score should give Ukraine that spot.
Korea is going to sit 8th and make the Olympics.
13.766 for Pakhniuk and Ukraine’s into 4th.
Team Final wise, the top 6 are safe, and then Taiwan and Korea are on the bubble with Switzerland and Netherlands to go.
With all the gymnasts that passed Mikulak in that sub, he’s unlikely to make the AA final at this point, currently sitting 22nd. I’m pretty surprised that many people passed him in this subdivision. But also netherlands
Subdivision 8
Final subdivision! In Benjamin Gischard’s action intro photo, he’s playing an imaginary trumpet. That’s all I have for you.
Bart is starting off on floor. Let’s get weird.
Bart – FX – double front 1/2, good – whip 1/2 to double front, stuck – back 1.5 to front full, solid – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck – double arabian, hop forward. That was a good one!
Step back on double double lay for Baumann on HB –
14.000 for Bart on FX to start
Muntean – VT – nice Kas 1.5 good power and form, small hop
Baumann 13.333
Yusof – HB – yam, solid slight – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – layou ttkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, pretty late – DLO 2/1, stuck landing. Good.
Rijken hits FX, and Dragulescu hit the Dragulescu with a lunge back. 14.616.
13.866 for Yusof. Dragulescu into 6th on VT
Braegger – Cassing – hit – Kolman, good – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – great vertical finish on Tak but struggles swinging out of it with a hestiation – tkatchev – rybalko and full – DLO 2/1, step back
Schmidt – FX – souble front 1/2, bounce back – double front pike, nearly stuck, small step – front 2/1 to front full – Casimir sticking or near sticking his passes so far – just a bit short on FTDT, small hop – 3/1, larger bounce back
Hegi hits –
14.033 for Schmidt. 14.366 for Hegi and 9th place there.
Tovmasyan into 8th on rings, so Igor is out of the final.
We have been waiting for Ri WC’s score on PH for a short lifetime.
Ri Se Gwang is doing PH. Um, he’s kind of good?
We had a really long wait on PH in this one, so we’re still waiting to finish up there. Petrix Barbosa hits a nice one.
Rotation 2
Yusof – FX – double front 1/2 out, bounce – double double, lunge back – front 2/1 to layout, small hop – 1.5 to front full, stuck – 2/1 shuffle back – full-in, step back. Really good. 13.900
Rijken hits PH. Dutch fans excited for this Christmas miracle. 12.633
Bletterman follows Rijken with another hit. Gischard is super solid in this floor set, until a front pike in combination, which is short with a step, and then a hop on a 2/1, struggling on the easy ones – holds the stick on 3/1
Davtyan hits his Drag with a step back
14.033 for Gischard
Braegger – randi, hit – double double, small bounce back – 1/2 to front 2/1, small hop – multiple steps on 4th pass and OOB – 2.5 to front full, excelllent – 3/1, bounce back
Score for Schmidt on PH is 12.900
Bart is going now – nice between pommels russian – he gets through with a very nice hit. Good good.
Hegi sticks his final 3/1 (a little sideways, but stuck)
Bart got 13.166 on horse, and I’m upset it wasn’t 15. Theyre inquiring about Schmidt’s score.
Switzerland will drop Hegi’s number but still hit 42.
38.932 for Netherlands on pommel horse. Survival.
Rotation 3
Baumann goes into a full straddle on a russian but keeps going to start SUI on horse.
Ri Se Gwang goes for “just” the handspring double front pike, and it’s the most piked it ever has been but is downgraded to tucked.
Bletterman double pike rings dismount
Ri Se Gwang, Tsuk full in second vault and hands down. Wow. 13.700 for his second vault and he’s into 22nd place.
Appeal wouldn’t matter now because even if he got piked value for the first vault, it wouldn’t get him into EF.
Methinks someone is going to start going to some apparatus world cups?
Hegi has fallen on horse.
13.666 for Schdmit on rings. Deurloo now – maltese to cross, smoothly done – straddle planche – double double tucked, step back. Nice. 13.233
Switzerland on track to get an Olympic spot. Netherlands with a lot of work to do.
Rotation 4
Clean Kas 1/1 for Bletterman with step back
Zseder is having quite a time on FX.
Small hop for Baumann on rings dismount
Bart sits his Kas 1.5. BART.
Schmidt – VT – sits his Dragulescu. So you think you can Dutch.
Step to the side for Yusof. NED having to put up a 4.0 start on vault from Rijken. Kas, large bounce back
Muntean with a crazy floor fall on his dismount including an interpretive full turn
Dragulescu – FX – double double tucked, small hop – there is a bird cawing in the crowd whenever he begins to tumble and it’s all I can think about – he’s a little hoppy but not too major – 3/1, short with a lunge
Dutch team in peril after that disaster. AA watch is on.
Rotation 5
Gischard with a lovely Kas 15 in the air, lunge forward. 14.333
Yusof – VT – Tsuk double pike, really nice, step back
Epke – PB – tippelt – peach 1/2 – peach, an arch, pulled back – nice diam 1/2 – front straddle to catch support – double pike, slide back
Braegger – VT – Kas 1.5, short but he lands it with a hop back
Hegi with a good Kas 1.5, also a minor hop
Bart – PB – almost misses a hand on his peach but saves it – diam – diam 1/2, both very nice – stutz to one – front in 1/2 out bounce back
14.500 for Hegi
13.566 for Bart
Schmidt – PB – healy, good – nice height on his tippelt – stutz – doubel front, lunge forward
13.500 for Casimir.
It looks like the two Swiss will pass Mikulak and sent him to 24th place, but potentially no one else as Deurloo and Schmidt both fell on vault. They would have to get pretty unrealistic scores at this point. Davtyan is closer, but he’s going to horse.
Netherlands is out of Olympic team contention. Switzerland is safe for that and now aiming for the team final.
Rotation 6
Schmidt – HB – yam – stoop 1/2 – stalder – DLO 1/1, flung out and hands down. Oh Netherlands.
Great stick on double pike PB dismount from Baumann
Cabrera is falling on every skill on floor right now and same.
Step back on DLO 1/1 from Rijken
Stumble back on PB dismount from Yusof but he saves it.
Bart – HB – Kovacs, hit – Kolman, good – Yam, nice na dhigh – DLO 2/1, stuck. Well that was nice.
Hit from Braegger to give Switzerland three on PB. 14.666 puts Switzerland into 6th place and knocks the US to 7th and Taiwan to 8th.
Zonderland – HB – Falls on his Cassina. Resumes – Kolman – and now he goes over the wrong was – double double layout, step. SIGHx50000
Merdinyan is finishing on PH – really clean work. 14.133, not into the final.
So there we go. Let’s start rounding things up:
TEAM FINAL
1. Russia
2. China
3. Japan
4. Ukraine
5. Great Britain
6. Switzerland
7. USA
8. Taiwan
ADDITIONAL TEAMS TO THE OLYMPICS
9. South Korea
10. Brazil
11. Spain
12. Germany
AA FINAL QUALIFIERS
1. Nagornyy
2. Dalaloyan
3. Xiao
4. Kaya
5. Sun
6. Pakhniuk
7. Lee CK
8. Verniaiev
9. Braegger
10. Moldauer
11. Hegi
12. Toba
13. Tan CH
14. Fraser
15. Kim HS
16. Yulo
17. Abad
18. Hall
19. Larduet
20. Souza
21. Yudenkov
22. Lee JH
23. Karimi
24. Mikulak
EVENT FINALISTS
Floor – Dolgopyat, Lin, Nagornyy, Xiao, Dalaloyan, Kim HS, Yulo, Cunningham
Horse – Whitlock, McClenaghan, Lee CK, Zou, Hashimoto, Shiao, Tommasone, Kaya
Rings – Colak, Zanetti, Ait Said, Petrounias, Lodadio, Abliazin, Klessing, Tovmasyan
Vault – Yang, Dalaloyan, Shek, Radivilov, Le, Dragulescu, Nagornyy, Cunningham
PBars – Dauser, Pakhniuk, Fraser, Xiao, Arican, Sun, Onder, Kaya
HBar – Tang, Mikulak, Srbic, Mariano, Dalaloyan, Lin, Bull, Hashimoto
OLYMPIC SPOTS THROUGH AA
1. Yulo
2. Larduet
3. Edalli
4. Karimi
5. Frasca
6. Tvorogal
7. Shatilov
8. Arican
9. Davtyan
10. Huddleston
11. Deurloo
12. Corral
OLYMPIC SPOTS THROUGH EF
Floor – Dolgopyat
Horse – McClenaghan, Tommasone
Rings – Best 3 of Colak, Ait Said, Petrounias, Lodadio, Tovmasyan
Vault – Le, Shek, Dragulescu
PB – Onder
HB – Srbic, Bull
ADDITIONAL REALLOCATED OLYMPIC SPOTS FOR AA
13. Cournoyer
14. Adburakhimov
15. Georgiou
16. Tikhonov
17. Rumbutis
18. Likhovitskiy
Heggemsnes would be next in when the host spot is reallocated. Alternates are Jessen, then my Tomas.
Yul will be running AA per USAG announcement for Q line-ups, so let’s hope putting him on SR, HB and PB was worth it? Totally confused since they even pointed that out in their selection report.
Fingers crossed that the team does well though!
Proud of you 😀 Excited about today!
Rough one for Sam. Is he in danger of not even qualifying AA?
And Mikulak has already proven why everyone outside of America don’t consider him a threat!
So much hype and he ends up believing it. Between this and Kara rightfully not getting into the beam final, maybe USAG’s arrogance may deplete?
Sam is the primary reason team USA has been qualifying for team finals the past several years, without him, they’d barely be making it to Tokyo. USAG has no reason to be arrogant for the men’s program, it’s one of the most poorly decorated USOC teams.
Sam put in his upgrades for this competition, so it’s expected he’ll have a few fumbles. Sam is the only guy from USA that has a chance at any medal, although he’s looking at a bronze if he performs to his abilities in AA, HB (if lucky, PB). Everyone but Shane will be gone next quad, so it’s going to get far worse before it gets better for the US men.
If he continues to have multiple falls, he definitely won’t be considered to be leading the team! At least he stayed on rings! I’ll be amazed if they make team finals at the rate they’re all competing so far!
Overinflation of US difficulty scores at camp? Shocker! Shame for Modi though!
I rest my case. P Bars. Whut?
@Anonymous THREE falls, two near-falls, and a missed hand do not constitute ‘a few fumbles.’ Mikulak on his best day ever would be seventh or eighth in men’s AA–and only if his competition screwed up as much as he did today.
Whew, the bitterness jumped out. Sam has all the talent and ability he needs to be a threat; the hype is not unearned in the slightest, and unless you know him personally, don’t see how you can speak to any arrogance (confidence is both necessary and not problematic).
And while USAG women are still winning every team and AA they enter, losing 0.4 DV for one athlete’s one routine in qualifications is hardly cause for concern or for being less celebratory of their depth and domination.
These athletes you’re gleefully disparaging are actual people who have put more work into their craft than most people could imagine. Grow up.
@Danny. Whew, your stupidity burns. Mikulak has never had the consistency in international fora to be even the slightest suggestion of a ‘threat;’ talent alone doesn’t win medals, in case you hadn’t noticed that. The hype is an entirely flag-waving amurriKKKan thing, and your jingoistic approval of it alters nothing. I presume even you are not dumb enough to think Eaker’s coaches, speaking of hype, should have filed an appeal? Go get all pissy with some of the REAL trolls online who do things like bitch about Biles’ comments about the bullshit classification for her double-double off beam, why don’t you?
Maybe Sam having a poor start is a good thing. In the past, the US men have killed it in qualifications only to do poorly in finals. Maybe this year they’ll do so-so in qualification and do their best in the finals.
Yes! My thoughts exactly.
Right! I thought the same thing. Let’s hope Sam got all his bad routines out in qualifications. It also may be a good thing for Sam not to finish the AA final on HB. Bummed about PB but the AA final is what’s important.
As terrible as that FX was for Sam, the fact that he’s struggling in Q is probably a good sign. He usually kills it in Q, then falls apart when it counts.
Well let’s just hope he doesn’t fall anymore or there won’t even be a “when it counts”.
He can probably fall on 3 apparatus and get into the AA competition. Although the US team may not qualify for the TF at this rate.
good job Canada so far and also Akash. If he gets into AA over Sam, well he did his job better
I will LOL if Sam gets 2 country’d out. Seriously.
I can’t decide if the disappointment in Sam is:
(a) a kind of unfair reaction to all the nonsense the NBC commentators spew about him (also like, of course Sam gets repeated chances despite his failures, because there really aren’t better US male gymnasts right now)
(b) totally justified because he obviously has the capability to do well, but year after year he fails to put it together
(c) ?
It’s B. So, so many times he would have walked away with international medals if it was based on his Qualification scores. I wouldn’t doubt it that because 2 of his teammates are in the AA that’s why he is freaking out, since it does actually matter in Qualifications.
After 4 rotations Sam is 2.199 behind Modi and 3.066 behind Moldauer! Hope he settles into his routines now!
Thankfully for him, his last 2 are his best ones to make up ground and HB is pretty awful for Yul and Akash, he might make it up.
PBars….ughhhhhh
Sam! Why does he do this to us. Whew.
Sam BARELY passed up Akash so he isn’t 2 country’d out, but he still not make the AA final.
canada whyyyyy. so sad at that ph total.
where are they as a team currently?? i cant find results!
Current standings:
1. Russia – 259.928
2. Japan – 258.026
3. USA – 250.359
That doesn’t answer the question of where Canada is. Canada is 12th behind Kazakhstan. Looks like Rene Cournoyer is in a good position to get an individual Olympic spot though.
God, Sam got through by the skin of his teeth. He was lucky that Akash fell on High Bar, otherwise he’d be out. But glad he gets to try for the AA final and the HB final! Let’s pray he does better there………
He literally made up 2.6 pts on HB to beat out Akash, assuming that’s enough to get into AA finals. 81.596, sitting at 14th is going to be close being just over half done.
13th for AA qualification purposes because that includes three Russians.
What an interesting subdivision!! Thank you for all your hard work, Spencer!!!
That was exhausting.
According to the start list it seems 25 MAG teams qualified for 2019 worlds. I thought only 24 could (same as WAG)…
There needs to be representation from each continent.
Shane’s HB was the shock for the US men for me today. Yul seems to be 85% back to self, at 100% he’d be about 10th AA. Akash was doing well until HB, despite all the needless execution points he always throws away. I’m far beyond Sam’s shenanigans, he needs therapy. But, yay, they beat Taiwan by almost a full point. o.o
Good thing for this blog because the NBC stream is not working. At all.
Seriously. I’m so pissed!
when does China look this good on floor? wow
I wish the stadium mgmt would remove the person with the cow bell. Or at least remove the cow bell. I believe it’s been a great distraction to the gymnasts.
Geographically you’re way too close to Switzerland for that to work. Replacement cowbells would emerge immediately.
did China use up all it’s good stuff on floor? we’ll find out soon
Noooooo Zou must be in the PB final!
Even if he doesn’t make it, surely the Chinese will pull Sun out so Zou can go instead? Not that that’s fair to Sun, but…
Fairly sure you can only replace your own athlete with another one of your athletes if the replacement athlete qualified for finals but was 2-per’d out. Zou is currently 12th on Pbars, so if Sun pulled out, he would just be replaced by the 9th-place athlete on Pbars.
Well, shit.
so shook no zjy in pbar final
cannot believe it
Biggest shocker of the event so far.
I think he would have made it had his D been 7.0 and not 6.3 like it was in here (looks like he forgot his first G skill)
Very unfortunate that Howard couldn’t deliver in qualification. I don’t know why he recently changed his vault from his consistent double front to his messier Kas 1.5. Hopefully he can provide a boost to the team with a mid 14s rings and an upper 14s vault in the final.
I would love to see the US in a clear 4th place and maybe even put a little bit of pressure on Japan if Japan is having a rough day.
Trying to find somewhere I can watch sub 5 now, after the fact (1:15 PM ET). I am currently unspoiled. I can find where to watch sub 3 (Russia) or sub 6 (China). I have all necessary log ins. But I am lost. Can someone please provide a spoiler-free link? Why is this so hard? 🙁
Sorry, I could not find one either:)
I’ve checked NBCSN, The Olympic Channel, etc.
There seems to be a replay going on the Olympic Channel so I’m jumping in on that 2/3 of the way through – I would have recorded it if I’d known it would be an issue – but this is just so ridiculous! I’m out something like $50 to try to have all the right tech and subscriptions to watch Worlds and it still isn’t enough. How am I supposed to be a fan of something that I can’t access even for money?
Sub 5, requires a VPN; there may be spoilers in the comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDyaw7CYOF0
Dom Cunningham in vault and floor!!! So happy
This has been the most bizarre Worlds ever. From start to finish, I mean even re: team selection (no Mai, etc). No Zou in PB final, no Ri in VT final, no Xiao in PH final, no Zonderland in HB final. Eaker out of BB final after an inquiry. Russian women hitting everything in QX. I’m calling this Opposite Worlds. Nothing is certain except death and Simone.
Also, as usual, Mikulak takes ten years off my life at Worlds. Barely squeaks into the AA final after how many falls? God, SAM.
I could not agree more omg
noooooo did Andrei Muntean not qualify to the olympics via AA? 🙁
he didn’t, he f***ed up on pommel horse
US scrapped by barely into TF. And Sammy barely made into AA and HB final….. oh well, sometimes things look real ugly I guess.
There’s just no excuse for Sam. I don’t do gymnastics, so I really shouldn’t criticize him, it’s a tough sport where sound mental and physical capabilities are needed. However, I clearly remember watching Nationals and World’s trials and hearing over and over about how consistent Sam has been this season. Consistent hits at every competition. The pressure amps up at world’s and he just crumbles. So sad, he must be devastated. Completely surprised he made the AA final. Hopefully he can rally and do well. This pattern of doing well domestically and just..falling apart at major international competitions needs to stop. The poster who mentioned something about needing therapy is 100% right. Seems to be a mental thing. He’s capable of 14’s on every event. 15+ on parallel bars, high 14 to 15ish on high bar. Mid to low 14’s on pommel horse, rings, and vault. Mid to high 14’s on floor
Love the guy, but I don’t get Sam either. It happens in every sport, though, that sometimes athletes come along who are crazy talented but never quite seem able to live up to their potential. It’s not clear why – coaching, temperament, environment? I have to imagine that after all these years Sam has worked with a sports psychologist. So what’s the issue?
I don’t do gymnastics but I feel perfectly entitled to criticize people who do competitive gymnastics at the World level for everyone to see. I don’t understand why that fallacy is such a popular defense. I’m also not a dentist but I can criticize one who does a bad job at filling my cavities, etc. etc. etc.
I wonder if Mikulak would do better with more internal pressure. If he had to fight off two other gymnasts for his domestic titles every year, maybe he’d be more prepared to handle the pressure of international competition.
This time, Sam will win an AA medal. I’m calling it!
Just watched the gymcastic interview with Brett McClure and I continue to be so impressed with him. He seems to get what the athletes need, and the nature of the competition, the priorities, etc. Really wish we could find someone like him on the women’s side. Former NCAA probably has something to do with it. I guess in an alternate universe it would have been Rhonda Faehn, but now we will have to wait a few quads to get someone in those shoes.
I know, I had the same thought. McClure is articulate and comes across as experienced and perceptive. I think, in their effort to change the culture from the disaster that was the Karolyi years, the USAG women’s program swung a little too far in the other direction. Forster certainly seems to be fostering a healthier culture than Martha, but unlike Martha, whose strategic nous was legendary, he… has no strategy whatsoever, and seems a little out of his depth on the international stage. USAG needs to walk and chew gum at the same time when it comes to its women’s program, especially given the incredible depth and talent of the athletes.
Speaking of the national team, after the Eaker beam score fiasco, I have been wondering whether Martha would have horned in on those ring leaps and forced Kara’s coaches to change her routine composition well before Worlds. Seems like something the national team staff should have identified long ago. Why didn’t they?
Welp, the entire gymternet has been shrieking for at least the past year about a) Eaker’s lousy form in ring jumps and b) the utterly suicidal composition of her routine. I first read about all this EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO. Forster’s a moron and his assistants are no prizes either. Al and Armine, by the way, are notorious for bad composition.
Al and Armine have coached multiple Olympic gymnasts. I imagine they’re not very receptive to constructive criticism. Martha couldn’t get Geddert to change Jordan’s beam, so I don’t know that she’d have been able to get Al/Armine to change Kara’s. Maybe. But Tom certainly didn’t and I doubt he even realized it was a problem.
I also think it’s bizarre that fans on the internet who follow this sport as a hobby identified these problems and professionals who are paid to coach it did not. I suppose these people tend to lack formal education or work experience outside of gymnastics, but it’s still shocking to me how little they understand the Code of Points or the Olympic qualifying procedures, both of which are INTEGRAL to their jobs.
Man Spain must be celebrating like crazy. So devastated the netherlands didn’t qualify, I was really rooting for them…
USA got into TF by less than 1 point. Imagine with one extra fall on HB, and I actually expected 2 guys to fall given the history and who they put up, but only one did, THAT was the difference between being behind Taiwan and Korea and out of TF. Shane’s unexpected HB routine saved that team. TBH Akash’s fall on HB is the only reason Sam has a shot at an AA medal now, he should be treating him to dinner.
Also thanks to China, Russia, Japan having people being 2 country’d out in AA, along with a tie breaker in Sam’s favor, he got the last, 24th slot. Alternately, if Sam hadn’t fallen 4 times, he’d be sitting in 3rd AA. He can still walk away with AA & HB medals. It’s too bad on PB, he’d easily medal with Oleg and Jingyuan out.
For the life of me I do not understand why the men’s program is so poorly resourced and supported in training and counseling. You could literally take the top 10 men from NCAA, have them fly out once a year for a training camp, a selection camp, then to worlds and have equivalent performances at this point. Oh wait, that is what they do. o.o
“If Sam hadn’t fallen 4 times, he’d be sitting in 3rd AA.”
You mean if he keeps the upgrades he tried AND hadn’t fallen, he would be in 3rd AA. The real question is, will he keep the upgrades and risk falls again or will he take them out and hope others fall? He can’t win an AA medal without those upgrades if the top 5 guys hit. He knows that, it’s why he was trying them out here in a competition before Tokyo. He has hit them domestically and solidly more than once so it’s just a mind game.
He should ABSOLUTELY TRY THEM AGAIN.
If he fails, so what? For someone of his long competitive history, is there a difference between 24th place in AA finals and 6th?
Maybe going into the AA feeling like a long shot would help him focus and rise to the occasion.
Since there’s no consequence for Sam’s continual misses, might as well go all in. There’s no reward for playing it safe.
Wishing all the best for Sam and the US team. I hope they can just look at today and laugh. Sam especially just had such a fluke of a day – usually he makes one big error at the last possible second to take himself out of contention, but today was just… a hot mess almost from start to finish. Hopefully having such a hilariously awful meet in quals can release pressure for him and the team – nothing they can do in finals can possibly be any worse than what happened today.
What pressure though? Anyone comparing the US to the rest of the teams knew coming in they no chance at a team medal and no chance at not qualifying the team, barring multiple injuries.
No one had a chance at a medal except Sam. Anyone that says otherwise hasn’t been paying attention. Trevor and Yul had small chances of getting into an EF, but no medal contention.
I hope they do well too, but I imagine them ending in about the same position. They aren’t top tier contenders, they aren’t bubble team qualifiers, they’re in the middle and it’s where they’ve been for a while now, although it’s progressively getting worse.
I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform at a high level, regardless of whether or not they’re likely to make an EF or win a medal. You don’t have to be Xiao Ruoteng or Artur Dalaloyan to feel pressure at Worlds. These guys are representing the USA at the World Championships the year before the Olympics – that’s a big deal. They want to be at their best.
Sam has probably competed in more domestic and international meets than nearly every single gymnast in MAG out here today. All of those senior competitions + NCAA. He started competing internationally in 2009 — 10 years ago! Tokyo will be his 3rd Olympic game.
I’m not trying to trash Sam at all, but regardless of skill, USAG needs to select teams based on consistency and he consistently misses routines internationally. I understand the men’s team lacks depth, but how many athletes have lost their Olympic dreams because they keep sending him, over and over to perform on everything?
Unless he dramatically turns things around the rest of this competition, they need to reassess his position for Tokyo. At this point letting him go as a specialist on the team would be generous, although I’d have him go win the AA Cups, if he can, and take the 5th spot off the team.
I see where you’re coming from, but the team’s score with Sam on a bad day is at least as high as it would be without him on a good day. And he can be so freaking good that it’s worth taking him just on the off-chance that he hits. For example, Sam scored 14.866 on HB today with a hit routine – with a fall, the score would have been 13.866. Compare that to hits from Wiskus and Moldauer – 14.166 and 13.033. Sam’s routine is so good that even when he misses it’s almost mandatory.
The problem is that Sam with three falls is still the best the us has. He’s won nationals with multiple. Even here with his disatour of a performance it was still higher than modi who was doing great until high bar. It’d be great if could leave him off but anyone who’d you replace him with would score lower over all than a Sam with mistakes.
Personally I think that’s part of sams mental problem is that he is so unbeatable in the us that that hen he gets international it’s the only time he feels real pressure. Having yui be right on his heels actually seemed to be helping Sam learn how to hit domestically
Yul is not right on his heels. Yul had only 1 fall and scored only a point better than Sam’s 4 falls. He’s not even close.
Sam’s qualification day was completely inexcusable though.
Interesting theory about Sam’s mental game problem
Sam has been the main person keeping the men’s team afloat for a number of years now. Even though he has not been consistent internationally, he’s by far the USA’s best male gymnast and is an absolute must for any team.
There is no one else capable of a medal. Yul is the only other gymnast at this worlds who could have made an event final. Whittenburg is actually the next most capable of medaling after Sam, but he has to get back to 2015 levels and maintain that.
No one has lost an Olympic dream over Sam going. He was a must on the 2 Olympics teams he was on and he will be a must on the Tokyo team. Suggesting otherwise isn’t fair or accurate.
we need to send sam to camp round lake or camp bejing for a few months before worlds…..lol…
The team cant medal with or without Sam, they are just too far away from the top 3. So why give Sam the spot again? He cant deliver internationally, others aren’t being given the chance.
Even if Sam and the entire teams goes full potential, they’re trailing top 3. But he never does.
So why keep rewarding Sam a spot and withholding it from others? Donnell orAllan would have given more today than Sam did. And they’ve both been passed up repeatedly for the same results Sam gives. It’s bullsh*t.
Ok but I just watched Zou Jingyuan’s routine and it looks like his D was 6.3 and not 7.0 like usual? And it seems like he didn’t do his Tsolakidis 1(G) at the beginning and just went for the Makuts so maybe he only did 9 skills?
Like WAG, I noticed quite a bit of scrutiny on judging difficulty that I appreciate, though execution is way off on certain apparatuses in my opinion.
Gymnasts aren’t robots, they’re people, so give them a break. I hope everyone shows what they got in TF and EF. And I really hope the gymnasts aren’t reading comments in social media, it’s pretty toxic right now.
I think a lot of gymnasts and selection committees have their work cut out for them to prepare for Tokyo and I’m thankful this competition is shining light on problem areas.
Totally agree!!
random comment unrelated to anything except for giving props to Spencer. I just discovered this site (like, where have you been all my life??) and am SO GLAD it was in time for Worlds. What a difference you’ve made in my experience this year!
Even though he was in the last spot, Sam is going to get to compete in the AA and that’s only because he won the tie-break on form. I guess if you’re going to fall a bunch, it is important to do it cleanly.
He won the tie break by dropping lowest score. That’s how they do AA tie breaks. If that hadn’t worked, then they go to execution.
Tim Dagget was wrong. Sam would have lost an execution tie break with any of the top 40 athletes probably!