It’s team final day! Even though it doesn’t carry quite the same eeeeeeeeee as it did back in the days when the result was in doubt, it’s still the team final.
More or less, the teams advancing were those favored to do so—save for the revelation that Japan without Mai is weaker than we thought and the non-revelation that the Netherlands is phenomenal. Though the positions weren’t entirely predictable.
We have Italy just squeaking through to the final in 8th after looking like a potential medal upset option heading in. (If Italy hits beam this time, the team can finish a lot higher than 8th, though a medal looks a step too far at this point).
Qualification reassured me that China is the second-best team at this competition and the favorite for silver, but Russia had a much more solid day than expected to place third and is capable of replicating that result with another hit (ha ha ha, he says). France’s 4th place finish in qualification reconfirmed that France is the most likely team to be able to snatch an upset, especially if Russia is a little more Russia than in qualification.
I know the world feeds of team finals always tend to be a little “let’s start on floor” or “we can miss the middle US bars routine,” so I’ll do my best.
Catalina Ponor and her surprisingly high-pitched voice are being interviewed now and having to answer “what do you think of Stuttgart?” questions like she knows what city she’s in. She doesn’t have time for that shit. Her answer to the who’s going to win question was “I think we all know who’s going to win, but the world is the best for me.” So she’s basically the head of the UN.
Kevin Mc”Set New Signs” is here in person to sing “Set New Signs.” So there’s that.
Intros now. Italy is going with the “down on one knee” as their names are introduced. GB is doing hands-on-hips and then waving.
The Netherlands has a slightly new formation for today. The Flying V. A more complicated walk-down too, but Van Pol got slightly off.
Canada has come out holding hands as their intro. France did a sequential turn, and then they each have a little dance Florida intro style. Rythmic clapping follows. Most ornate next to Netherlands.
Russia is the only team that hasn’t brought out its alternate for the intro, but did copy Canada with the holding hands. Scandalous.
China has a unison pose that’s very Jiang Yuyuan floor 2008 and I’m on board.
And the US did nothing.
Well, I’m spent. Team final over, right?
Rotation 1
Bars warmup has been…unique. Greater than zero falls over here.
Routines beginning now
McCallum – VT – bounce back on her DTY, not the most control she can have, but fine. 14.600
Brooklyn fell immediately on her beam mount.
Kinsella takes her opening combo pass fully OOB.
Melnikova – UB – inbar full, a bit late – inabr shap ti pak, pretty – toe shap, a bit lof legs – inbar 1/2, a bit of a struggle but pulls it out – piked jaeger, a touch close – toe full to FTDT, endured. 14.333
Tang – VT – a little more hunched over on landing than you’d like to see, bounce back, will get deduction for body position and lack of distance there. 14.300
Lovely full in from Villa, great control – front 2/1, lunge –
Charpy a little close on piked jaeger and Ricna but works through both well – toe shap 1/2, only a small leg break – toe full – FTDT, small hop. Good hit. 14.033
Carey – VT – Cheng – controlled landing, small hop up in place – the usual corkscrew legs and piking, but will be a big score. 15.166. Pretty high for me.
Agafonova – Komova to clear hip full to pike dtkathev to pak, nice – toe shap 1/2, some legs – inbar 1/2 ro piked jaeger, solid, hit it this time – inbar 1/1, solid finish position – FTDT, small hop forward – 14.566
Li is a little too chest down on her DTY this time, step forward/sideward. 14.166
Whip double Arabian from James is nice this time
Black – BB – double turn, good, solid front tuck – bhs layout, right on – switch to switch 1/2, short of position but secure – side somi, hit with an arm wave – 2.5 with a small hop. 13.366
MDJDS – UB – Galante to pak, lovely – Maloney, only a bit of legs on the backswing – nice bhardwaj – perfect smap 1/2 – inbar 1/2 with a little back position – DLO 1/1, bounce back. Nice. 14.366
Simone – VT – Decides to go for the Cheng. Nice of course, great layout position, bounce back, not as large of a bounce back as in Q. 15.400
Eythora – BB – pretty switch mount – falls on her loso series WHYYYY
Spiridonova – UB – inbar full to Komova with some legs – pak to toe Shap 1/2 – inbar 1/2 – piked jaeger, excellent – short hs on HB – toe full to FTDT, a bit short with a hop forward. 14.766
Qi Qi – VT – goes for the DTY, the best for China by far, chest up, smaller bounce back – will get deducted for amplitude and distance compared to the Americans, but the rest is great. 14.600
Annnnd Eythora fell again on her dismount.
Pontlevoy – UB – inbar full, a bit late – Komova, nice legs – durectly to Ricna – pak to stalder shap 1/2, flexed feet – piked jaeger and falls.
The first shoe has dropped.
Padurariu – BB – can’t pull around the wolf triple and falls, the first two turns were nice but she lost it on the third.
Second fall for Pontlevoy on her bars dismount. The other shoe has dropped.
Asia – FX – DLO 1/1, pikes it way down to find the landing this time , and it workds, stuck – doubel arabian, hop forward – Memmel turn, definitely two – 2/1, bounce back –
The routine for Pontlevoy means the opportunity is there for one of the floor teams to establish itself as “next most likely.”
Sanne – BB – bhs to wolf jump 1/1, a little closer to connected this time – doubel L turn, drops just a bit short – side aerial to side aerial – switch, check – bhs 1/1 to split jump, nice – L turn to fulll turn, break the connection – double turn, check – split leap to wolf jump – gainer pike full.
Fenton hands down on her double tuck
#SannesDiary
Carofiglio – FX – front lay to front double, a little short with a slide, she had stuck it in the touch warmup, 85 minutes ago – Dowell, larger bound forward – switch 1/2 not bad – switch ring to split leap full, great positions – 1.5 to front pike was weird, lots of leg form in the air and then multiple pops forward OOB
Carofiglio’s score moves Italy up to 5th place with nearly a 40, one of the few teams to improve on its qualification performance here in TF. USA, China, and Russia have already opened up a huge advantage on everyone else. Other countries will be rooting for a patented Russia beam meltdown now.
Rotation 2
LOL Tingting’s grip looks like it’s just shedding coffee filters throughout this warmup.
Charpy – BB – loso mount, hit with some feet – bhs loso series, large break, leg up, keeps it on the beam – really struggles to pull a wolf turn around but she doesn’t fall like Padurariu – side aerial, nice – switch to split leap to swingdown – aerial to split jump, short – double pike, low, step forward
Asia just a hair short on DTY with a hop. 14.533
Hit floor from Volleman.
James, Y1.5, fine, a bit of knees, hop back
Chen – UB – Stalder Shap to pak, clean – Maloney to gienger, close catch, casts out of it still – healy to piked jaeger, nice – a little short on hop grip change – finishes FTDT, lowish hop forward, hit.
Villa slide back on her DTY this time.
Akhaimova – BB – round-off layout and she’s off – Lilia you were supposed to be the rock of this team. It begins. side aerial, small slide – side somi, solid – double arabian, just does land it with a lunge back
Shallon nice double double – hop back on piked full in,keeps it in bounds. 13.033
McCallum – UB – weiler 1/2 , small hesitation to mlaoney to tkatchev – Downie to pak, good – toe shap 1/2 – toe 1/2 and goes over the wrong way before the full turn – stays on the bar to keep the streak alive but a major deduction – FTDT, hop. 12.966
Alice – VT – DTY, small bounce back, some legs, nice
Lieke – FX – double L to double turn was lovely, just leaned a little in the doubel turn, double tuck, bounce back – 2.5, crossed legs, small step –
12.533 for Akhaimova –
Melnaie – BB – front pike mount, hit, small adjustment – front pike, wayyyy short and falls. FRANCE.
Tang – Maloney to pak, good – VL – some short hs – healy to ling to front giant full to piked jaeger, nicely done – DLO, stuck landing, excellent.
Moors Podkopayeva excellent but almost like she decided at the last secodn to stag, I wouldn’t give connection
Biles – UB – weiler 1/2 to shap to tkatchev, only a bit of legs – short hs on high – toe full to piked tkatchev to pak, good – small hesitation on low bar – shap 1/2 – double double tuck, best ever, stuck. 14.600
Melnikova – BB – switch mount, good – bhs loso series, very solid – aerial to split to straddle, excellent – bhs 1/1, a little tight, small check – wolf double, smooth – side somi, solid – split jump 1/2 from side, lovely extension – double pike, bounce back – that was like the best beam routine she’s ever done
Eythora ‘s floor is perfect
Liu TT – UB – stalder shap to pak – Maloney to gienger, lovely position for an inbar gienger – healy to ling, leg break and looked for a second like she was going to be able to save it but can’t get into her next pirouette and hops off. Tries to get up and do it again, and falls again.
The second two-fall routine we’ve seen on bars in two rotations. WELL NOW.
Boyer – BB – aerial to split to tuck 1/2 , good – round off layout, solid – switch to switch 1/2 – L turn to full turn, overturned a little – side aerial, strong – split leap to side somi, small pause before split jump 1/2 from side – double pike, solid, step. France needed it.
Black – FX – popa, solid – front full through to 3/1, very solid, smallest slide – 2.5 through to double pike, short (which was good because otherwise she’s going OOB), hop – switch leap 1/1, short – I do like the straight jump full integrated into her running steps – 2.5, small hop. Other favorite thing, her floor routine is 1:16. No need to hang around.
11.900 for Tingting. Ouch.
Lee – UB – Nabieva to pak to shap to bhardwaj, great obviously- Toe shap 1/2 – 1.5 to piked jaeger, solid – 1.5 a bit late as it would be – FTDT, small hop. Good.
13.833 for Boyer. Really good number.
14.733 for Sunisa on bars.
Agafonova – BB – candle mount – switch ring, some foot, good split position – side aerial to loso, lean at the hips with a step back but saves it – front tuck, short and falls. You felt it was inevitable. Another large break on split ring jump – double tuck, small step
So not the cleanest meet you’re going to see.
The US is ahead of Italy by nearly four points. Italy is in 2nd because of having not fallen yet and also having done vault and not beam. Italy still has just a few tenths on China despite Tingting’s meltdown, so it will be decided on beam for China.
We still don’t have a score for Agafonova, and they’re almost ready to start the next rotation.
12.166 for Agafonova and Russia falls to 4th.
Rotation 3
Eaker – BB – switch split to split ring leap – aerial to split ring, solid – still risking all these rings positions ater what happen in Q – side aerial to loso looso, right on – split leap to side somi, lean forward, saves it – siwthc side, nice – 2.5, hop back. Hit.
Schekoldina OOB on first pass – rather bouncy routine but a hit
Ellie Downie hit bars, including stuck DLO. 14.033
Villa – UB – stalder shap to tkatchev, nice – ricna to pak to shap to bhardwaj, hit beautifully – shap 1/2 – short on final cast hes – just does work through her front giant full but got too far over to the side of the bars – corrects – FTDT, nice.
Not a lot of control for Black on her vault landing. uncharacteristic.
14.000 for Eaker. INQUIRE.
Boyer – FX – 2.5 to front pike, small hop – switch 1/2 – falls out of memmel a little at the end but should get it – good double pike. 13.266
Chen – BB – layout – solid – switch with a correction that she turns into scale like a star – lone bhs – switch ring to split ring to swing down, excellent – aerial to split to double stag – 3/1 dismount, bounce back
Fenton falls on a Ricna.
Akhaimova – FX – DLO 1/1, solid, step back – DLO, very banana shaped but good, small step – double L drops too early for me – double arabian, step forward – wolf triple, pulled around – wolf double is fine – double tuck, bounce back
Shallon stuck her Cheng. I mean, it was crazy, but stuck.
13.166 for Fenton
Alice – UB – shap to tkatchev – ricna to pak to stalder shap 1/2 – excellent – scoot all the way over – front giant full to double front, hop back. Italy keeping it going.
Hit DTY for Eythora, bounce back
Becky – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to hindorff – Downie – Tweddle to yezhova to shap to pak – awesome! – toe shap 1/2 – some short cast handstnads in here – FTDT, stuck. Excellent.
Lee – BB – hits wolf turn – split jump to sissone – to aerial, small check – lean on choreography – bhs bhs layout and falls.
So there’s the streak. The US hadn’t had a fall in TF since 2010. Gets back up for some lovely leaps – side aerial loso, check – switch ring, nice position – split ring jump, check – double tuck, bounce back
Iorio – UB – Ricna, good into pak – Maloney to stalder 1/2 to yezhova – stalder shap 1/2 – frotn giant full – double front, small hop. Good.
ITALY LET’S DO THIS.
Friess – FX – high double arabian, bounce forward – full in, bounce back – wolf turn double, solid 0- double tuck, bounce back – split jump full –
Tingting – BB – candle mount, nice – fhs to front tuck and falls. she’s having an abysmal day – switch ring, solid – aerial, pause before split ring, another pause before swingdown, no connection there, she’s fighting it – full turn – split leap to side aerial – split to wolf jump – 2/1, short, hop. Oh tingting.
Melnikova – FX – DLO 1/1, bounce back, some form, but good – double L, heel drops but I think she had completeld two turns by then – DLO, step back – switch – switch ring 1/2, a bit bouncy – front tuck through to 2/1, another two bounce back – wolf turn triple, arm wave wobbles it around a little – memmel turn, I’ll give it – double pike, bounce
12.333 for Liu Tingting. Yeesh.
Biles – BB – wolf turn triple, pretty smoothly done – aerial to split to straddle, solid – bhs loso loso, super solid – switch to switch 1/2 to back pike, broke connection before back tpike – side aerial, solid – split jump 1/2 from side – check on a wolf jump, arm wave to the side – full in dismount instead of double double, small hop
Melanie – FX – DLO 1/1, nearly hang sonto the stick but hops forward, some piking – full in, small shuffle back – switch ring – switch full – pulls around her wolf turn – front loso to double tuck, nailed landing – double pike, large bounce back but stays in bounds
14.433 for Simone.
Li – BB – switch to split ring leap, check before bhs so no connection – side aerial, very small slide back – fhs front tuck, step and a lean but holds it – switch ring to bhs, lovely – split jump to wolf jump, nice – aerial to split ring jump to swing down, now she’s confident – split jump 1/2 from side – double pike, bounce back
The US leads Italy by 2.5 points going to the final event, then it;s China in 3rd and Russia in 4th. France is down in 8th but will go to vault now. GB is just .7 behind Russia but, like Italy, has to go to beam.
Rotation 4
Tang – FX – 3/1 to front tuck, step back – 2.5 to front pike tuck – double tuck, shuffle back – hit.
Villa – BB – bhs mount, good – hits the tuck full series! small check – switch 1/2, a little arm wave – split leap to side aerial, nice – 2/1, stuck. There we go!
MDJDS – VT – fab distance on DTY, bounce back
13.500 for Tang on floor is HIGH.
Lee – FX – double double, solid, hop to the side – DLO, nailed that landing – wolf triple, solid, wolf double, nice – 1.5 to front full, stuck – switch ring, excellent – switch full, right around – double tuck, slide back. 14.233
Shchekoldina – VT – hits a solid DTY for her – knees and a bounce back but not a large bounce
Moors falls ona Khorkina on bars
Large break for Fenton on side aerial to bhs but hit – switch to split leap to Y spin, has to grab the beam on a major wobble – double turn, check – 2/1, bounce back
Great rudi from Friess, bounce back but strong height and comfortably completed
Qi – FX – full in, small hop – double tuck is so clean, but a bounce back – triple turn – switch ring, split ring 1/2 not quite there – 3/1, a slitle short witha step – 2.5 to front pike. 13.433
Sanne – UB – very close catch on her jaeger but works out of it – great DLO dismount
Melnikova – VT – a little more ragged than usual in her DTY, bounce back
Carey – FX – bounce OOB on Moors – double L turn – DLO 1/1, bounce back again, OOB again, she has struggles to controll these passes in the time we’ve seen her since nationals – double double excellent stick – split leap full, not quite 180 – front tuck through to double tuck, slide back
Pontlevoy a little short on DTY with a hop
Akhaimova – VT – rudi and hit, legs, bounce back.
Russia is using these vault scores to move past China.
14.733 for Akhaimova
Now China cannot catch Russia
14.333 for Carey
Asia – BB – loso mount, hits with a little lean – bhs loso series, solid – switch to sissone, hit – side somi, small break – switch 1/2 – full turn – aerial to split, good – double pike, small bounce back. ITALY.
Lieke falls on bars
Tingting – FX – held leg double turn, almost makes it look good – 3/1, hop to the side, nice amplitude – Memmel turn, good – wolf double is slow but pulled around – double tuck, solid, medium hop back – split ring 1/2 – front full to stag, a good one for her after her nightmare day
Kinsella solid on loso loso
Black – UB – Shap to hindorff, good – piked clear hip tkatchev – piked jaeger to pak with leg break – toe shap 1/2, some legs – toe tuck 1/2 dismount, stuck. Excellent for her.
13.433 for Tingting to keep China ahead of France but behind Russia.
Any kind of hit for Iorio is going to give bronze to Italy. Also definite shot at silver.
Biles – FX – hop to the side on triple double, one of her better landings on that –
IORIO FELL ON HER LOSO MOUNT. You’ve all seen Simone’s floor. I’m switching to this routine.
Another break for Iorio on a side aerial – switch to split leap – bhs loso loso, hit – aerial, check – y spin is nice – double pike, short, large lunge forward yeeeeesssh.
Simone hit, US won, la la la
That beam for Iorio will not catch Russia, but it’s still possible to pass China. I mean she just needed an 11ish. She tried to get close though.
11.933 for Iorio is enough! Italy wins bronze! They’re losing it. The US is first, Russia is second, Italy third.
We do still have a routine left, which will be Becky downie on beam, but GB is not in it for the medals.
Becky – BB – candle mount, rolls right through handstand – switch ring, check – side aerial to loso, very solid – aerial to split to bhs – side somi, strong – 1.5 dismount, hop forward. REALLY solid beam from Becky. Nice to see.
FINAL STANDINGS:
1. USA – 172.330
2. Russia – 166.529
3. Italy – 164.796
4. China – 164.230
5. France – 163.628
6. Great Britain – 161.495
7. Canada – 160.563
8. Netherlands – 159.427
I definitely doubted Russia coming in, and they kind of fulfilled those doubts because of two falls on beam, but everyone else was a disaster except for the US and Italy (one fall each), so the fact that China and France both had three falls meant that Russia’s two falls was like a hit.
We knew Italy had medal upset potential coming into the competition as the 5th-best team, but they needed help to medal, and that is what they got with the performances from China and France. Those two-fall bars routines from Tingting and Pontlevoy really decided this thing.
I’m holidaying in Prague. Anyone know of a link I could watch it on my iPhone?
There is the FIG one, which may or may not be geoblocked in the Czech Republic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdAzj4K7_ok&feature=youtu.be
It is not geoblocked here in Czech Republic 🙂
here is link to live scoring .. don’t know if it will work for you https://live.gymnastics.sport/live/14274/womensfinal.php?app=tm&fbclid=IwAR2RMHYVoEeyPs8zZp8GPoYfJ22m7s4dOwd02ty72xIqbf1aXaz7gzWulxw
Is there a score link that’s has individual scores and not just team totals?
I haven’t found individual scores anywhere. USA gym twitter is quick to post US scores and this blog and the gymternet blog also has some scores.
I don’t know why FIG only posts team totals. They should at least provide the team score breakdowns.
If you’re on desktop, you can click on each event total and it will show each routine’s scores. Not great, but at least a little context!
If you can’t find a link, @toprusgym is live streaming from the stadium on Instagram. They’re showing highlights right now.
Works great in Prague. Enjoy your holiday here Anon. Too bad the weather is horrible. At least you can stay in and watch this final!
Thank you, yep geo blocked lol! – gutted!
Three letters…VPN
Thank you very much – yep geo blocked lol! Oh well! Got this great blog to read!
BBC Two is airing the women’s team final. I don’t want to post a link because it’s not technically legal, but you can find some good free streams by searching the necessary terms via Google.
bbc has very good vpn detection preventing a lot of generic vpn to be used. I had to purchase dedicated uk ip sometimes to watch bbc ;(
Ugg, too early in the morn for Tim and Nastia….need more coffee…
I know we wanted to let Nastia be free to dress herself, but…are we sure?
Some guidelines on clothing choices would be helpful for her (from NBC or Tanith White even). Nastia consistently makes *ahem* interesting style choices. Today she kind of looks like she’s trying to channel Johnny Weir, but no one else can pull that off. To be fair, the girl did grow up in Texas and spent her life in a leotard in a gym. She probably has a very warped sense of fashion fundamentals.
Yes, because the wealthy suburbs of Dallas have no exposure to fashion . . .
I’m not saying they don’t, but Southern fashion tends to be fussier. She seems to gravitate towards that.
Texass is not the South, by any stretch of the imagination.
lol this moment had me crying haha, like how she wore a prom dress basically last meet with the 80s shoulder pads….oh nastia
Can you post a link of your fashion choices, an instagram account, something,??<?? it's always the ones who have the most to say, whom… wear sweatpants and white t shirts with ben and jerry stains on their shirt who have the most to say.
Actually I think she’s hoping to become to gymnastics what Tara and Johnny are to skating, but it won’t work because (1) gymnastics isn’t campy in the same way and (2) her colleagues definitely aren’t playing ball.
Spencer, Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Grace has a nice DTY but barely gets any more distance than the Chinese DTYs
Omg the way Terry pronounced “Padurariu” 😭☠️
Did… did I just hear a bit of Naruto music from one of the Italians on floor?! That’s out of left field!
It’s probably why they won a medal haha.
I’m worried about Eythora this Worlds. She seems to be struggling a lot and it makes me sad for her.
No comments on the fact that Tim continues to refer to a DTY as 5.8 difficulty? 😂 I mean, it’s only his job to know it’s been devalued? lol
@Anonymous Why would Daggett’s idiocy even merit comment at this point? Of all the choices who’d won medals, NBC managed to find the stupidest (and least attractive–bonus!) US male gymnast ever.
That’s mean. Attractiveness level in your opinion makes no difference to anything at all.
@Alexandra Boo Did you get triggered, sweetiepie? Get a clue. Most gymnasts are extraordinarily physically attractive. This is TV, home of shallowness and obsession with appearance. Timbo fits in no category here. LOL!
I know that’s been driving me nuts
I WANT OLLY
oh my god i noticed that like tim it’s the third year of the code honey. also why did no one correct him like the fifth time he called a DTY a 5.8 in the same five minutes? lol just nbc broadcast things.
I’m listening to a foreign stream and the difference in the quality of commenters to NBC is striking.
I have so far been provided with correct information, interesting tidbits about which gymnast on each team is the leader, who is strong on what event, how their performance today are comparing to their qualification routines, what a D score is, how you originate an element and why Biles’s are impressive, who the Cheng is named after, etc.
@Anonymous Yes, fancy that. Of course, here in amurriKKKa, we can’t have nice things–oh, wait, we used to: Kathy Johnson and Bart Conner…
Remember when Tasha Schwikert was giving commentary lol sigh…that was scary
@Anonymous Horrifying. Glad she’s done with *her* fifteen minutes!
The sad thing is that NBC quality used to be much better way back in the 90s (oldtimer here). I actually learned a lot about the sport and gymnasts and programs from Tim Daggett and team back then. It’s how I learned the sport because there was no gymternet and my mom wouldn’t buy me gymnastics magazines. Maybe it helped that USA wasn’t so dominant then. I have noticed that the quality of commentary declines as the country gets stronger in the sport. I also have access to CBC (Canadian channel, live in SE Michigan). They’re fine for gymnastics, but their figure skating commentary became very subjective during the Patrick Chan and Virtue/Moir years. It used to be excellent, but it’s definitely biased now. I know NBC pushes them to create a very easy to understand narrative, which is stupid.
By excellent, I was referring to CBC figure skating, lol. Should have been more separation between that and NBC pushing Tim and Nastia to provide an easy narrative (go ‘Murica!).
@trishag2dao Sorry, but Daggett was always a moron. Yes, some of the other US commentary was better (*cough* KATHY AND BART *cough*) in times past; it has nothing to do with the strength of the team and everything to do with the utter and deliberate destruction of amurriKKKan education. We are now the stupidest First World country on earth, and it shows in every international setting. There’s nothing ‘easy to understand’ about Daggett’s and Liukin’s incoherent, dull-normal comments; the only good thing about them is that Liukin is much less cuntitudinous than Hellfi was.
Do you really think using words like “amurriKKKan” makes you smarter?
@Are You On Crack Do you really think that imbecilic denial of the fascist state we now inhabit, thanks to dRUMPf and Rapeublicunts, makes you SMARTER?
Omg why has this devolved into shitty Salon comment section territory #BeBetter
Actually, wait…
#BeBest
ANY commentary without Al Trautwig is by default better commentary. Never forget the those dark years of the SHUT UP AL!
France, why? Why?!?!?!?!?!
Did Tim, Nastia, and that other dude just get back from a funeral?
Yes Women’s Artistic Gymnastics DIED in that Team Final.
Nastia on MDJDS: “It’s hard knowing you didn’t just mess up your routine, but you disappointed your team and your country.” Okay, settle down. She’s not a disgrace to all of France because of a beam routine.
What did she say about Sunisa’s fall?
Oooh, Nastia … I am French and there is nothing said like she let her country down or whatever, this is competition, things happen !
Eaker looks so sad
Eaker needs new coaches.
Ah yes the amazing, sound, great gymternet advice of what a gymnast should do. The only workout you did today was lifting a fork into your fat gullet. Save the advice for your local knitting club!
Bitch, please. Queen of PROJECTION much? Go shovel some more excrement into your lardassed face; you know you can’t go a day without it 😀
Things have been bad for her ever since she corrected the pronunciation of her name.
Wait Alice went on UB instead of Becky?
Oh just realize it’s Alice D’Amato not Alice Kinsells
Ok Shallon’s execution score? 8.7? WHAT.
lol
Tim needs to stop with the “Simone is mad at the beam judges because of her dismount value” narrative. Simone knows the judges don’t set the skill values. I highly doubt she’s angry at the judges about something that is completely out of their control.
Then he says that she performed the double double when she didn’t.
Cheezy, unfounded, tabloid-level speculation is Timmyboy’s specialty. You weren’t expecting intelligence or actual logic, were you?
The international FIG feed is soooo gooood! Still, need my on-site commentary from Spencer, but I will NEVER be able to watch an NBC broadcast again! the quality of commentary, the lack of a “stoplight” system, the positivity towards all gymnasts, ugh it’s just really well done!
It really is lovely, isn’t it?
They actually aren’t using the stoplight today, praise Nadia. Hopefully it stays gone.
I so agree with you. Using the VPN to see the FIG feed has been so much better. It’s like they know it’s a competition and we want to see everybody and don’t need to be told they should fly high and stick the landing.
The US is gonna run away with this but based on that bars and uneven bars rotation #shouldvebroughtmorgan
I thought the same thing. #MCLUREmethod
Yup Morgan clearly should have been there. I hope Tom gives her a big apology.
LOL for what? lol dork.
Lol okay
Oh I hope Italy hangs on for a medal! That would be so cool for them
“not quite as tidy as others we have seen today” got to love the B
rits… and GOOOO Italy
Team U.S.A. should have competed with some combination of Hurd, Wieber, Sloan, Johnson, Memmel, Miller, and Zmeskal…
Yes, that US team would be a bit young since they are all younger than Chusovitina.
I am reading through these comments like 15 hours after the fact and this is my favorite one so far. Thank you!
an over 5 point margin to the US. but they have finally brought an end to the fall-free era….. get ready for the simone less era in a few more years. the score will be a lot closer then…
I wonder if Simone will attempt a third quad and third Olympics – she still needs a skill named after her on Bars and perhaps two more floor passes on Floor for the ‘Biles Floor’ – but the age gap between her and the other members of Team USA would be larger.
I’m wondering if Skinner was brought to give Simone a more age-friendly teammate to hang out with, since Hurd is closer in age/maturity to the other girls…
PS – BartandKathy are only good because of Queen Kathy. Bart makes tons of mistakes, mis-speaks as Tim, it’s just that Kathy is great at covering them and getting things back on track. Kathy also makes other commentators great when Bart is off at the OU Perfect 10 weekend.
John/Alica are a great pairing as well and complement each other. I love that he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
She has said she won’t. Who knows? No one has won three all around gold medals before. Would it be tempting to go for it? Phelps retired plenty of times too.
@Anon Nope. Sacramone is pleasant but nowhere neer Johnson’s intelligence, acuity, or memory levels. Johnson remembers things Sacramone will never learn about. And as for Conner, he’s Erasmus compared to Daggett–you must have missed the last ten years of Timbo.
Yeah Bart’s not as effective when he has to be the adult in the room (read: OU meets)
I don’t know whether it factored into anyone’s decision but to be honest I was glad Skinner was chosen in part because she’s friends with Simone. It’s seemed like she’s struggled a little being the one hanger-on from last quad, she doesn’t seem interested in being the Aly Raisman mom type. Skinner seemed to fit very well into that role, which was a nice surprise from an “aww my feelings” perspective.
Can’t imagine how much Spencer is enjoying these rope skipping milk maids.
I am deeply disappointed that this didn’t make the live blog. Why else am I here, for frickin routine recaps? NO THANK YOU, not when there are German stereotypes jumping rope and also frequently screwing up while doing it.
ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
asdflkasjdfl;kajgoi
BRAVISSIME RAGAZZE!!!!!!
I’m watching the BBC commentary version in Australia via a streaming service. The commentators are such a pleasure. And I’m so chuffed I got to see this event live. That never happens here!
Ever since the men won team bronze at 2012, during teatime, we have been pretty lucky on our coverage!
BBC coverage and commentary is actually adult and intelligent. It’s the antithesis of The Tim and Nastia Show.
Tom Forrester needs to go.
Because the USA won a gold medal, with a margin over 5 points, and no mental abuse scandals reported about him personally? Because Sunisa’s fall is the shame of an entire nation and she should have been replaced with someone who scored less than her throughout the season? Because Grace had an uncharacteristic mistake similar to Simone’s beam grab in 2015? Because Valeri Liukin, Liang Chow, and Mihai Brestyan had better results in the Team Final? Because his lineup decisions are not 100% in agreement with everyone?
Grace’s mistake was not uncharacteristic. She can’t hit that new bar routine.
Sunisa was absolutely the right person for the team. Under Marta, Sunisa never would have fallen, and Kara Eaker’s beam routine would be far better constructed. I’m not saying to bring back Marta. On the whole, Forrester is way better because there is no abuse, and that’s necessary. However, it is a false dichotomy to say you have to choose between athlete health and results.
Kara’s beam routine composition alone is enough reason to get rid of Tom. If you’re the team coordinator, it is your job to understand the COP and the Olympic qualifying procedure. Amateurs on the internet should not be better at this than you. I don’t care too much about the US’s results – I think their performance was totally fine. It bothers me that he appears not to understand things that are of fundamental importance to his job.
However, I don’t think we have a better option at the moment, and I am glad he’s gotten a good start at building a healthier culture, so I don’t think there is a huge hurry to replace him just because two gymnasts fell and one had her D-score eviscerated.
Lmao, these comments are out of control. What a world we’re in that winning by a 5-point margin is failure because it could have been 7 instead. Would 6 points have counted as “results” or would that have been unacceptable, too?
Y’all wonder why Tom Forrester was cagey in his interview with Jessica….
@Anonymous at 10:43 Jordyn Wieber’s 2012 beam composition happened under Marta, so I think it’s a stretch to say she wouldn’t have allowed Kara’s beam composition. As far as Sunisa falling, how many times did American women fall in the Olympics when Marta was the coordinator? Falls happen, no matter how amazingly you’re coaching your athletes. Yes, Marta got excellent results (though through unacceptable methods), but that doesn’t mean she had some magical ability to make humans be perfect and error-free.
Again, I don’t personally think the team performance is a big deal (it was fine) nor do I think this team selection is that bad either given the margin we won with and the program’s recent history of being nontransparent in team selection.
The problem is Tom’s obvious lack of awareness of the Code of Points and the Olympic qualification procedure, two things absolutely fundamental to his job.
And Mary, I don’t believe that just because Martha did something poorly (e.g. Jordyn/Kara’s beam composition) means Tom’s off the hook for it. I would’ve fired Martha (after Beijing actually) too if I got to make those kinds of decisions.
Matthew Bottom Boyle needs to go!
Poor TingTing. I feel so sad for her. What a great team; i mean, despite that meltdown. Poor thing.:(
I felt sad that she was the last to go on floor and ended with a front full! tf!
Dear spencer, Would just like to remind you that team USA had 2 falls and not 1
Two? Grace had a big error on UB but stayed on.
The kind of error Grace made counts as a fall in terms of deductions. So it depends on whether you mean counting a fall for the purposes of scoring (2 falls) or just how many times an athlete actually fell down/off the apparatus.
When Spencer says fall, he means literal fall. But yeah, Italy had probably the cleanest overall meet of all 8 teams, which is insane (in a good way–at least, I’m glad for Italy.)
I’m so sad for China! That team was far and away the 2nd strongest team out of that field and they really didn’t perform up to their potential at alll 🙁
I hope no one blames it on Chow since he seems to have really improved things for the team, and I hope LTT gets some opportunities to redeem herself (at least she has some EFs).
haha. Yes this logic! If we like him, dont blame it on Chow. If we dont like him, BLAME BLAME BLAME! Hi Tim F!
I like how he’s improved the team’s depth and ability on the leg events, so I hope he doesn’t get blamed for what I think was an uncharacteristically bad performance. Pretty simple.
I don’t know who Tim F is… probably some unholy combo of Tim Daggett and Tom Forster. Maybe you feel it is illogical to criticize Forster and not Chow? I didn’t criticize Forster here. “Anonymous” is actually more than one person.
So why did they have suni do BB after that fall in Q instead of Grace? She did the same thing day 2 of selection camp. I hope she hits it in AA final.
So happy for Italy though!
Grace also fell in quals. But I do hope they decide to remove the layout for AA.
Eaker inquiry talk time…I was watching Gymcastic interviews on their YouTube, and was struck by the contrast between the men’s and women’s programs. Right after quals, McClure said that he had been watching every routine, independently judging e and d score so he could compare.
Whereas they asked Armine about the inquiry, and she said that because of the lights and “8 teams going at once” (was she talking about finals??) she couldn’t even tell where the US sat in the standings.
Like…shouldn’t the US women’s team, the best team in the world, have the resources to have someone designated to watch the scores at the very least, even if they didn’t have an independent judge? What was Tom doing from the stands?
People make fun of McClure’s spreadsheets, but at least he would never make this simple error, or probably allow Kara’s composition in the first place.
She’s soooo smooth and wonderful on beam, and their mistakes cost her the chance to compete for the world stage.
Feel better? You stuck it to their coaches! Feel relieved? Go girl! Preach it! You good now?
The US women’s program has the luxury of not usually having to care about math. They may be fighting for every tenth individually, but they’re not collectively, and I think the TEAMTEAMTEAM culture of the US has made the personal coaches often ineffective advocates for their athletes.
Yeah, I also thought that was puzzling. It’s hard to understand how – between all the coaches on the floor, the fact that it was the last subdivision, and the screens updating scores (including one listing the event finalists as they qualified in real time, I believe) – there could have been that level of confusion around the standings. You’d think they’d have a more professional way of managing these competitions.
I liked how Armine handled the questioning, though. Knowing now that she still thought Kara’s EF qualification was in jeopardy I understand why she did what she did. It’s a shame, but understandable, especially since Kara hadn’t been penalized for her ring leaps at FIG events in the past. Fortunately Kara killed it in EF, and I hope they can rework the composition of her routine to give her a shot at the Olympics.
Yep. You know sometimes even top people make mistakes. We can say darn it, that was a dumb mistake, and we can be mad at them for a day, but it doesn’t mean all coaches and team coordinators should suddenly be fired. And Kara scored huge with international judges at Pan Ams and was credited with her leaps last year at Worlds, and the general fan consensus was that she should be on the team for her huge beam score, so based on all available evidence, Kara was going to score big here. She didn’t. Now that’s known and they can go from there. Mistakes happen and life is about learning. For everyone. Whether you’re an adult or a teen. There’s nothing to do about it now but learn from this. Every mistake doesn’t require crucifixion and banishment.
Very much agree with both Anon and square444. Super reasonable takes.
I don’t agree that it’s just a “dumb mistake” though. Being unprepared for something you should’ve been prepared for isn’t like “oops, bad call, that happens sometimes.” It’s… being unprepared; it’s not meeting the standards of your job.
We not only have the bad decision of the inquiry, we also have being unaware of what was going on in the meet, and giving Kara a routine that is terribly designed (as people have pointed out, just switching the order of elements would’ve allowed her to meet CR), and giving her a routine reliant on skills she doesn’t perform well. I see four “mistakes” there and only one of them (the inquiry) actually seems like you can call it a dumb mistake. The rest seem like showing up unprepared.
I’m not sure if anyone should lose their position over this, but I swear people seem to think that Armine and Tom and co. are volunteers or something? They’re not. They make a lot of money doing this. It’s perfectly reasonable to expect them not to suck at their jobs.
Also Kara should probably read the COP too.
Chewing gum on the podium is bad manners. Chewing gum while your anthem is being played is so disrespectful. Someone should train coaches how to behave while on the podium. Please please respect your gymnasts and be a proper model when you are next to them 🙁
Oh please. With the way USAG is, Laurent chewing gum on the podium is the least of our concerns.
I dunno about “disrespectful” but it sure seems embarrassing to be a grown man chewing gym on tv. I laughed at him.
Russia has had the best worlds they could have possibly hoped for so far. They came in with a team that barely covered the necessary bases and everyone has more or less done their job. This should have been China’s easiest silver in years, yet they completely bombed.
I was so happy to see Italy rise nearly to their full potential and capitalize on other team’s mistakes.
The USA had a rougher showing than even last year’s worlds with an actual fall and a huge error on bars. I would have liked to have seen some improvisation on bars from Grace. When she knew she was short, she should have changed her grip and done a tap giant 1/2 instead of her crazy legged half turn. She still would have incurred deductions, but not nearly at the level she did.
I hope Sunisa can figure out beam before the AA final. She’s too talented not to get silver.
Suni fell on BB in qualifications too and had half a point lead above Melanie who was in 3rd, but it would be nice if she sticks it.
Melanie fell on her BB today too and ended up 2 pts behind Suni’s day 1.
Even without a fall by Angelina today she was even farther behind than day 1, over half a point behind Suni.
The battle for silver and bronze will really only be close if Suni falls and makes another significant error, otherwise, she has a very solid silver.
I think you’re right and I think Suni with a fall can beat Mélanie with a hit meet given the judging, but IMO that shouldn’t be the case. Sunisa’s scores have been somewhere between a little and much too high, varying by event.
LOTS of coaches could take note of Sunisa’s beam routine construction though – falls and wobbles don’t decimate her D-score.
Great job to all teams, especially to USA. They were under a lot of pressure to repeat and this was first Worlds for Sunisa. I wonder how it would have turned out had they had Skinner instead of McCallum competing. She would have brought in big scores on FX and V.. hmm.
Mykayla would not have brought a big score on floor. Suni would have outscored her there. Vault would have definitely outscored Grace though.
Skinner would have been around 0.4 higher on vault than McCallum. However, a McCallum hit on bars was worth more than 0.4 over Eaker’s potential.
A big question that will be asked is if McCallum should have been considered reliable enough on bars to use in team final. She’s struggled with that routine on multiple occasions. Kara has fallen on her bars routine as well, but she seems steadier on it than Grace.
All of this circles back to the original question of whether Hurd should have been on the team. Under the bars scoring climate at Worlds she would have been around 14.8-15.0 for her routine but arguably wouldn’t have been able to provide any other routines if her vault was looking shaky like it does from time to time.
I might be wildly wrong, but I think Skinner being the alternate may have actually helped her Tokyo prospects more than hurt her. McCallum’s ability to bring team final event scores came under question as did Eaker’s status as a beam specialist. Lee’s argument now is her bars and floor, but ideally she’ll prove herself on beam at least once this competition. Skinner already has a top 3 vault and if she can get a consistent top 3 floor score (excluding Carey) then she becomes hard not to take.
I could see Biles and Lee doing the all around in the Tokyo team final, Skinner on vault and floor and McCusker on bars and beam.
Re: Anon 3:29
I agree. I think Grace is directly competing with MyKayla at this point for a spot on the team in Tokyo for VT. Ultimately Grace needs a vault upgrade or it’s not looking good in her favor. Neither of them can medal on UB/BB, but I don’t think they’d use them anyway in TF.
I do suspect Simone, Suni and Riley will be the other three, Kara & Jade as the non-team spots. Obviously things can change, but this is how it’s been looking for quite a while now. It’s possible Kayla, Leanne or Morgan can contend by summer, but USAG wants top 6 AA + top 5 worldwide EF medal contenders all in one.
I highly doubt McCusker’s body will hold out for Tokyo. I’m not even sure she will be up for much of an NCAA career. I could see her never really competing.
I actually came away thinking that they really should have brought Morgan after all, if only as the intended alternate. It’s not just her bars that would have been useful – she’s a solid beam worker, and has the experience and resilience to succeed at high-pressure competitions like Worlds. Sunisa’s BB has always been a trouble spot for her and she wasn’t convincing in quals. But neither was Grace (or Jade), and I honestly was not sure who would wind up in the TF spot until the lineups were released.
Given the team they did take, though, I also thought they should have had Grace as the alternate. Might as well lean into what they brought to Stuttgart, which is a very VT-heavy squad with a shallow UB lineup. However, since little to no strategy seems to have gone into selecting the team composition, it would have been too much to expect a strategic choice of alternate… sigh.
Why do we think there wasn’t a strategic choice in alternate, given the team that was there? Per Spencer, Skinner was not vaulting well in their earlier training. So either they go with the person who’s there to deliver a big number on one event, knowing that she had a day where her vaults were, quote, “baaaaaaad,” and that her bars and/or beam will be rough, even if only used in qualification. Or they go with the person who can cover all of the events with mid- to mid-high range scores, including vault, where she’s maybe most reliable at this point.
I say all of this as someone who likes both gymnasts and would have been fine with them going either way. Going with Grace may not have been your choice, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t made strategically.
Yes, great job to all. This was a very good team who all deserved to be here. Morgan could have done a great job too, but there’s no telling what would have happened. Morgan has fell/made big errors at both Worlds she has been to and has had various problems all year. Just because Grace and Suni fell doesn’t magically mean a different team would have done better. And Grace was part of the team last year that kept the no-fall streak alive. This is gymnastics. It’s hard to hit. Great gymnasts from Gutsu to Khorkina to Patterson to Zmeskal to Liukin to Johnson to Sacramone to Mustafina to Douglas to Biles to Raisman have all fallen at Worlds/Olympics. It would be easier to find an athlete who hasn’t fallen.
If the men’s TF follows today’s logic, we should expect USA to get on the podium, since of all the team finalists they had the most disastrous qualifications. 🙂
For WAG – Italy was a predicted medal spoiler. For MAG – US has almost no chance of it. We’re talking US would all have to hit their best routines and one of the top 3 teams have 4+ falls. There’s a big drop between the top 3 teams and the next tier that the US is a part of.
Ok, thank you for that analysis, but I meant it as a joke. It just seemed funny to me that, should the MAG TF follow the precedent set by WAG, the team with the worst quals would come back to medal. In this particular case that means the US, which – given your assessment of their prospects- makes the scenario even funnier.
Hot tip if you haven’t seen it: when Russia is named as the silver medal winning team, the announcer lists off their names and butchers like 5/6 of them and the gymnasts all crack up to varying degrees. Very entertaining.
Just watched my recording and then read through this live blog and (with intermittent regret) the comments.
NBC was…way less bad than usual. I think we saw multiple routines from every country and remarkably little of Americans drinking water/putting on their grips. No stoplights on scores, E and D scores listed explicitly. Slightly less inane than usual commentary. I hate to be grateful for this, but I am.
Kara got a 6.0 D on beam (at least according to the NBC broadcast – but I generally find their on screen numbers are right even though Tim’s 5.8 D for a Y2/1 isn’t). Curious that no one’s talking about that. Such a difference from Q’s 5.4.
What a day for Italy!
To what extent is the final order just “# of 1.0 or larger deductions”? Italy had just 1, I suppose Russia had about 4, so I guess not so much. Kinda feels like it though.
MDJDS’ bars are my meet highlight.
Re the big difference in D score for Eaker: it’s likely because she completely omitted the switch ring attempt. One of the huge hits to her D score in quals was getting the switch ring downgraded to a switch leap which then made her actual switch leap a repeated (and thus unrecognized skill). Since that was part of her only attempted combo that meets the CR for leap combo, she lost 0.5 in CR. By not attempting the switch ring, she got that 0.5 in CR back, and that is nearly all the difference in D score from quals to finals. I thought removing that skill was a great call by Armine or Tom or whoever made the decision.
I totally should have caught that! Makes perfect sense – thank you for the clear explanation.
You’re welcome! Thank you as well for your thoughtful comments!
SQUARE444 – about the most sensible and balanced comment. Good for you. One of the biggest problems in gymnastics today are SOME of the fans. Gymnastics needs fans not armchair officials who condemn, criticise every single aspect of athletes coaches and officials. It’s like they expect gymnasts, coaches and officials to be superhuman, never make mistakes, be condemed to being fired at an instant – like a new person wouldn’t be immediately in the same position. I ask them as they are pointing fingers to look at the four fingers pointing back at them and ask truly – could I do a better job, would I NEVER make a mistake or miscalculation? Does the constant critisism actually help? Whether it is children or adults, we make mistakes, we grow (if allowed to before being put in immediate eternal armchair official hell) we make mistakes again and grow again. Let them look at themselves and ask do you never make errors? Do you want to be shunned forever more for them and not be allowed to grow and learn? How would your lives be like if you placed the same condemnation on yourself as you do to others. That all being said – it’s a mistake your making, think, learn from it and move on – allow the same for others.
Dude… the people being criticized are not reading these comments, I promise you. 🙄. Fan takes have no effect on their jobs.