Let’s do this thing. Welcome to The Simone Vault Show: featuring some other girl, probably named Lisa or something.
The first session was a little…roughety rough, which is to be expected at Classic, but we’ll see whether that continues for the second session, which is a bit deeper with top athletes than the first group was.
In the first rotation, the Skinner/DiCello group is on vault, the Lee/Hurd/Lee group is on bars, the Simone/Chiles group is on beam, and the GAGE/Arizona group is on floor.
Hurd is scratching bars we hear, so she wouldn’t compete in the first rotation, but Sunisa’s bars and the status of McCusker’s floor will be key routines there. NEVER MIND Riley is off the list for floor.
Confirmed that Jade will not do vault/floor, which was reflected on the original start list draft even though she did spend some time on all four in PT.
Updates: Sunisa Lee will not do VT/FX.
The only new person to get her qualifying score from the first session was Ava Siegfeldt. McCallum and Blakely also got the score but were already qualified.
OK here we go.
We’re going to start by talking about Ciena Alipio.
Just kidding it’s Simone’s vault.
Rotation 1
Skinner – VT – opens with Cheng – really solid, medium hop back, chest was pretty high up, piking, twisting form, not too bad.
14.700
Skinner – VT 2 – goes with Amanar – hits it, gets it around – larger lunge forward, slightly cross over.
Wong – UB – L turn double, around for credit – pulls around her double double but hops OOB with both feet – popa is pretty – whip to 3/1, small hop back, chest slightly forward – L hop full, I like that she actually does that one like you’re supposed to, with the leg clearly above horizontal – switch ring – 2.5 to front full, good control, takes it right into the corner but no OOB – double pike, deep, hop back. Got through it. First pass deductions will hurt.
Sorry had to GIF that shot of Simone yawning, obviously.
Anyway, we’ve seen two whole routines!!!111!!
13.550 for Wong on floor.
S Lee – UB – Nabieva to Bhardwaj – tries to connect it to the Maloney this time but falls, peels off and improvises a freont tuck. Oh well. Nabieva had a bit of a clear straddle this time as well. Resumes with Maloney to Gienger, lovely – 1/2 turn to piked jaeger to pak to VL, super clean – giant full – FTDT, hop to the side. Very pretty once she resumed after the fall.
For Suni, falling here isn’t super significant.
Biles – BB – wolf triple, very nice – sounds like rat loudly died in the background – aerial to split to straddle – ight on split, short of position but very secure – bhs loso loso right on – switch to switch 1/2 to back, very well connected – side aerial, solid – straddle 1/2 from side to split 1/2 from side, a little slow in combination – FTDT dismount with a large lunge back. Very good.
Aleah Finnegan went 13.300 for a floor we didn’t see. DiCello 14.350 for her DTY.
SIMONE TAPE JOB CLOSEUP. Didn’t want to see DiCello’s vault or Eaker’s floor so that’s fine.
13.500 for Suni on bars.
LET’S WATCH MORE TAPING TAPING TAPING LA LA LA LA.
14.850 for Simone’s beam.
Chiles – BB – side aerial to loso to loso, very solid, some foot form – aerial, small hestiation before straddle to bhs, so possible no connection – side somi, little wobble – switch to switch 1/2, secure – straddle 1/2 from side, good height – sissone, back leg low into wolf jump – does the full in dismount and lands it, chest well down and lunge forward but a successful hit.
Maybe seeing Simone’s tape instead of Kara’s floor was for the best. 12.550 for Eaker on floor.
Chiles went 14.050 on beam, second-best score on beam of the day.
Just a 12.450 for German’s beam.
Simone interview, prerecorded so there’s not another “let’s just casually ask her about assault” moment. Discussing that she has a platform and can tear USAG a new one as needed.
Suni’s score lowered to 13.500 from 13.900. Original D score was 6.4, lowered to 6.0. I’ll have to go back and see what happened there.
Rotation 2
Riley moved to Arizona. Nothing prompted it! It was normal things! This is fine!
McCusker – VT – weird old landing on her DTY, looks like she hurt herself, which sucks because it looked really nice in the air. Now she’s mid-cry. Did a weird like “I burned my foot” jump up with her left foot. Now getting it looked at.
Still gets 14.400 because she successfully Strugged it.
Finnegan – VT – nice Y1.5 – very clean, medium hop forward, good distance. 9.850 away, 9.900 at home.
Hurd – BB – tuck full, holds it, little hesitation – side aerial to loso, tentative, large leg-up break – aerial to split jump to split ring jump, pretty positions – switch to straddle, again hits positions crisply – switch ring, leg-up wobble – double pike, a bit deep, hop back. Some big breaks, a nervy routine, but through it.
Biles – FX – triple double to start, hops back and one foot goes OOB, too comfortable for her – Biles I to stag, hit, better than PT – swithc full to choreographed little fall-to-earth butt slam – doubel wolf is fine – front full through to full in, nailed landing. switch to split leap 1.5, around – double double is wayyy short and falls.
Tim pretending like this has never happened before. It happens sometimes at the first meet of the series.
Hurd 13.200 on beam with a 7.6 E score. Followed a 13.700 for Emily Lee, which we didn’t see but was kind of a significant routine for her. She wanted a bigger number.
S Lee – BB – attempts triple wolf and can’t bring it around and falls – aerial to split to bhs, nice – switch ring, hesitation into pretty split leap – switch to switch 1/2 to split ring jump, nice ring position there – of course the individual skills are gorgeous – side aerial to loso to loso is no problem – bhs bhs and adds back a dismount, 2/1.
So…not a great day for Suni.
14.250 for Simone floor, top score on floor by a ton.
Chiles – FX – wolf triple attempt, I would credit double though, not quite around – follows with wolf double – DLO 1/1, very good, small slide back – DLO, also well under control, very small movement – switch to split leap 1.5, looks like she just did wrench it around – front 2/1 to front full, solid, just a little short – split leap full, flexed feet – doubel pike, hop back. Great tumbling, We’ll see about some dance credit.
Update that McCusker has withdrawn from the rest of the meet.
Looks like Leanne Wong hit a DTY for 14.200. She was struggling in p[odium training.
Big 14.600 for DiCello on bars that we didn’t see.
13.950 on floor for Chiles, #2 score of the day on that event as well.
DiCello is in 2nd, Chiles 3rd among the people in this session.
We’ve entered the MyKayla Skinner’s Shock Therapy portion of the broadcast.
18 floor routines have happened while we’re watching MyKayla do the jiggles.
OH A REPLAY OF DICELLO ON BARS, THE TECHNOLOGY DOES EXIST.
DiCello – UB – stalder full to stalder shaposh to tkatchev, a bit ragged but hit – piked jaeger, nice – shortish cst hs – Church, good height – pak to van leeuwen, keeps legs together well – FTDT, hop forward.
Skinner – UB – Weiler 1/2 to maloney to tkatchev, looked like she hit her foot on tkatchev but kept going – Ricna to Pak, hit – van leeuwen with crazy legs, hit – clear hip full is very late with a large straddle – does pull out the Fabrichnova and it’s solid.
So I mean it was Skinner’s bars. She got through it. Has the difficulty, ragged form, all of this “She’s really improved her bars form” isn’t really…true? At least for elite. Her college routine got a lot cleaner, but not the elite difficulty elements.
13.400 is REALLY HIGH for that.
So two rotations are done I guess? Skinner moves ahead of Chiles for 2nd among the session 2 people.
Rotation 3
Simone’s vault warmup time. Probably her best landing of the five we’ve seen so far.
OK now the competition version of the Simone vault. Hits it, probably the weakest landing of the six she’s done so far, which is probably predictable, but obviously very strong. Bounce back and another extra rebound.
Tim and Nastia are using a lot of “everybody was doubting” straw men that…didn’t really exist?
6.6/9.500 for 16.100. The 9.500 is too high of course because she incurred more than that just with landing deductions. But you know.
Chiles – VT – elects not to do the 2.5, DTY is fabbb. 2.5 didn’t look ready in PT, so that makes sense.
Hurd – FX – Is doing FX today, we weren’t sure – DLO, pretty nice, small hop back – full in, nailed landing, chest just a bit down – double y spin, around – switch 1/2 – front lay to front full, a little more ragged, hop forward – switch ring, lovely – split leap full, solidly around – split jump full – double pike, feeeeelling it on that one but does pull it around, a little deep.
That’s a better progress point for her than I anticipated on floor here, though gets just 12.900.
14.950 for Chiles DTY. Great day for her so far.
Eaker – UB – Church is hit, no connection – pak, clean – shap1 /2 – short hs into clear hip – clear ghip full – 1/2 turn to piked jaeger, nice – DLO, hit, hop back. Clean individual elements so a solid showing for her on bars, but very few connections. 13.750 is strong for her, though bars scoring has been quite loose today.
Carey – UB – see, explaining Jade’s spot wasn’t so hard! – Chruch, hit – short cast hs – 1/2 turn to Yezhova, pretty clean – maloney to bhardwaj, quite clean on the bhardwaj – van leeuwen – clear hip to giant full, verrry late there – FTDT, hop to the side. Good for her. The handstands are tight, but she really has improved a lot here. 13.800
DiCello – BB – candle mount, nice – wolf triple, very shaky and has to grab the beam, which will not be deducted as much as it should because ugh – side aerial to switch to split, nice – aerial, small check before straddle jump – bhs loso loso, right to the end of the beam but secure – switch 1/2, well short of split but solidly landed – straddle 1/2 from side, solid position but a check – bhs bhs double tuck, chest down, hop forward. Will probably still score pretty well. 13.300 and 7.5 E score.
Wong – UB – stalder to toe full, pretty into maloney to pak, small leg break into toe on – stalder Shap 1/2, legs apart there – stalder 1/2 to jaeger, takes it too far and falls – was pretty at teh beginning but started to get off on her toe on after her Pak – finishes with a clean DLO and a stick-salute.
Her score is two “hmms” and an “oh boy”
Skinner – BB – candle mount, a little past vertical but holds it – bhs tuck full and off the beam, off line out of the bhs – side aerial, small check before split and straddle – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, pretty quick in connection – straddle 1/2 from side was tight but hit – straight jump 1/1 from side went well – L turn, pause wobble, doesn’t connect to full turn – double tuck is strong.
Meanwhile Emily Lee went 13.800 on floor that we didn’t see. I guess she wasn’t in TIM’S TWELVE.
Just 11.900 for Wong on bars.
Chiles comfortably ahead of DiCello now in the race for second from this session. Slash the whole thing.
Boy this meet has felt long. Probably because we’ve seen about six routines. NBC can even take a meet where Simone debuts a Yurchenko double pike and make it feel like a slog.
Rotation 4
Chiles – UB – piked jaeger, hit – toe full is verrrry late, broken combo – tkatchev, hit – piked tkatchev to pak, great height and clean – maloney to gienger, nice – FTDT, hop back. A broken connection early but solid individual skills except that wacky toe full.
Eaker – BB – switch mount, pretty, small pause befroe switch side, well done – y spin, good – aerial to split ring jump, check – side aerial to a single loso, hits it, check – sissone to split leap to side somi is strong, good rhythm – switch to switch 1/2, good positions, breaks combo before Korbut – switch ring at the end now, risking no credit – round off bhs 2.5, small hop. 14.100 with an 8.2 E score. That 8.2 E score is the same panel that went 6.2 for Memmel. That panel hasn’t showed for everyone.
Didn’t get several of her connections but good work overall.
14.150 on bars for Chiles. Anotehr 57 day for Chiles.
DiCello – FX – double double, landed comfortably, bounce back – DLO, again secure, small slide, just some chest down – wolf triple, around – wolf double, overturns by about a quarter turn – 1.5 to front full, small hop, some knees – switch ring to split leap full – double tuck, chest down, hop forward. 13.850
Tim still thinks grabbing the beam on a wolf turn is a point off. NOPE.
Carey – BB – full turn, tightlish but fine – aerial to split to straddle, comfortable – bhs loso loso, larger leg-up break but much improved extension there – switch to switch 1/2 with a check – split leap, back leg low – side aerial, secure – switch side, check – split jump 1/2 from side, still some feet – double tuck, lunge back. Good. 12.750
DiCello done with 56.1
Skinner – split leap 1.5, around? goes for the Moors and hits it but looks like both feet OOB on it – double double tuck, secure – wolf double, pulled around, credit – full in, very comfortable – L hop full, better leg up position – front tuck through to 2.5, doesn’t quite get the 2.5 around and has to take a bit lunge to the side.
Wong – BB – switch to straddle, gorgeous – side aerial to loso, secure – L turn, very good horizontal – switch ring, hit but credit risk as to whether the back leg was to shoulder height – aerial, smooth to split ring jump, same – wolf jump full with a wobble – split leap to side somi to jump 1/2 from side, loverly – tries the 3/1, does pull it around, just a littel under and soem crucnhed position.
It’s a shame that she’s not really peaking right now because her strengths would fit the Olympic team well.
The idea of Leanne Wong is so appearing for the Olympic team, but she’s not there right now.
12.900 for Skinner on floor. 7.300 E score. Her scores have been all over the place today in terms of whether they look high or low.
Biles – UB – Weiler 1/2 to maloney, leg break into tkatchev, hit – toe full goes super crazy and she’s off. A two fall day for Simone. toe full repeatrs into piked tkatchev to pak, hit – Shap 1/2, some legs, hit – doubel double tuck dismount is very strong, hop back.
Two falls and it doesn’t matter at all.
Wong went 14.450 on beam. Good one for her, better than Eaker, #2 beam score on the day.
Simone still goes 13.200 on bars (bars scores loose all day).
Finishes 58.400 with two falls.
FINAL:
Biles – 58.400
Chiles – 57.100
DiCello – 56.100
Big deal that Chiles went 57 for the second time this year. DiCello also looked strong. Good progress point for McCallum in the first session. They’re the ones who will be happy with today.
Aleah Finnegan ended up in 5th with a 54.150, which is a solid deal for her.
Wong had some probblemmms but also a really nice beam result. GAGE, what are we going to do about you.
Lee did not have a strong day, but I don’t think that matter too much for her, yet. Hurd’s scores weren’t too high, but based on podium training and injury, she exceed expectations on floor.
The Rily McCusker injury is a real problem.
If you’re asking me today, Biles, Chiles, DiCello, Lee. Ask me again tomorrow.
GymCastic cocktail hour for members coming up in 30-45 after media is finished.