I’m here in the arena in Liverpool for the first day of women’s podium training, where we’ll have two of the ten subdivisions in action. The first subdivision will feature the US and Belgium, while the second subdivision will have Spain and what’s left of Romania.

In this first subdivision, we’ll get some insight into the US lineup decisions and who might end up doing the AA based on the competition order. We’ll also have Nina Derwael, who hasn’t competed yet this year.

The women will have 90 minutes for each subdivision, the same amount of time the men had in their first of two podium trainings, which has caused some consternation at the event since the men have 2 more events to get through in the same time period.

The floor vacuuming team just yelled “four minutes,” so that’s where we are.

Athletes being introduced now. There’s no stage in the arena to do a little intro dance, just a floor-level catwalk.

All six US women in the floor first touch. Blakely will start.

Blakely – FX – DLO 1/1, pikes down some, bounces OOB – DLO, bounce back, solid – wolf doubleish – switch ring to split leap 1.5 attempt, not quite all the way – front 2/1 – switch 1/2 – double tuck, small movement, chest down. Fine.

Nina started for Belgium on beam, a tentative one with a couple larger lean checks, but she stayed on. Had the funky split ring in there – gainer pike full dismount –

Jones – FX – wolf double, good – double double tucked, hop back – split leap full – lovely high DLo, slide back – double L turn – front tuck to double tuck, shuffle – L hop full to switch 1/2 – nice one. Don’t use it up!

Chiles – FX – 1.5 to FTDT, hop back – DLO 1/1 is around, chest down – wolf double – L hop full to split leap full – switch side 1/2 probably not getting all the way around – front loso to double tuck, step back

We have an ankle roll for Belgium on beam dismount. I was watching the US but it wasn’t Nina, Brassart, Verkest, or Vaelen. So let’s go with Louon.

Carey – FX – DLO 2/1 is back – DLO 1/1 second pass – switch full – front loso to double tuck, bounce back – split leap full didn’t go for that position – FTDT, short landing, lunge. So she’s bringing back some difficulty.

Wong – FX – double double tuck, landed, chest down – popa – goes for the piked double arabian, very deep, nearly sits it but doesn’t – L hop full to switch 1/2 – 2.5 to pike 1/2, litle hop – double pike, bounce back.

Zeiss will go next, so this order tells me the four in Q will go Blakely, Jones, Chiles, Carey, and then Wong is the odd one out, which we would expect on this event based on selection.

Zeiss – FX – 2.5 to front pike, some leg crossing on the 2.5 – back 1.5 is very low, tries to connect into front full and sits it down.

So the US went one and done on routines and now will wait for the other events to finish.

Nina 2nd beam turn – loso mount, good – bhs loso, clean – switch to split ring leap – aerail, small pause before split jump to bhs – side somi – wolf double – gainer pike 1/1, hop forward. MUCH more solid than her last turn.

Zeiss did get back up on floor and redid the pass she fell on in her turn.

Looks like Wong is warming up in the first spot on vault. Blakely 5th and Zeiss 6th.

Wong sits down her first DTY attempt, lots of leg crossing.

Now Chiles and Carey doing timers for their second vaults.

Jones with a super high DTY (and not her best block even), a couple steps back, not really trying to control the landing today.

Blakely pretty clean DTY, small step back.

Zeiss hits a DTY, crossed legs, step –

Now Wong does a timer for a round off 1/2 on vault.

Chiles deep on a Lopez attempt, sits it down, not REALLY a try to land.

Carey warms up a Lopez.

Next tries:

Wong – gets her DTY to her feet this time, step back, lots of leg crossing still. A struggle.

Wong will do another vault – A Lopez, has to tuck it some at the end –

Jones – another strong DTY with a hop back. She has looked good in this rotation.

Chiles – good DTY, hop back, some leg crossing.

Chiles VT 2, easy Lopez this time, a large bounce back

Carey managed to stick a Cheng just now, it was alllllll over the place in the air, but she channeled Paseka and was like, I LAND THIS.

Carey’s second vault is DTY, very solid, some leg crossing, small hop back.

Blakely – solid DTY again, medium step back.

Zeiss pulls around a DTY, chest well down.

The order here would seem to indicate a Q vault order of Wong, Jones, Chiles, Carey, but I would definitely have Blakely in the lineup instead of Wong based on this training rotation.

Maneuvering the use of time and apparatus in these mixed specialist groups has been an adventure.

The US moves to bars now in the third rotation.

Bars warmup order for their little partial first touches looks like Chiles, Carey, Wong, Jones, Blakely, Zeiss. So I guess we’re going to assume Blakely is out on bars at this point.

Louon has not returned for Belgium on the remaining events.

Chiles – UB – toe full to piked tkatchev to pak, solid – maloney to giegner, solid height on this one – piked jaeger, good – bail, hits vertical, connects to toe shoot – FTDT, near stick. Strong one.

Vaelen landed a rudi, lots of legs and a lunge.

Carey – UB – Ray, hit – yezhova, clean – maloney, legs, to bhardwaj, leg break only at the end – van leeuwen – giant full – FTDT, hop back. Fine.

Wong – UB – stalder 1/2 to jaeger – toe full to bhardwaj, leg spearation – maloney to pak, takes it too close to the bar and improvises a hip circle – van leeuwen is hit – DLO, a bit short, hop forward.

Jones – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to tkatchev – toe full to stalder tkatchev piked to pak, excellent – van leeuwen, hit – blind to front giant to double front, lunge forward. Another really nice one.

Blakely – UB – stalder 1/2 to piked jaeger, clean – Ricna to pak, good – teo full, gets to vertical pretty well – van leeuwen, some leg break – double front 1/2 out, near stick. She’s having a nice day. Second event where Blakely is allegedly not in the lineup but did not have the weakest routine.

Zeiss – UB – toe full is late into pak – maloney to gienger, gets it – yezhova, legs apart – van leeuwen – FTDT, good stick.

Wong gets back up and does toe full to bharwaj, maloney to pak – the pak is still close but works through it just fine this time.

The feelings about Laurent’s blue polo shirt that matches the leos are MIXED.

On to the fourth rotation.

Initial touch order on beam was Carey, Jones, Chiles, Blakely, Wong, Zeiss.

Nina just did a spectacular middle-of-routine in the initial touch.

Carey – BB – forward roll mount – full turn (because they feel she’ll get fewer deductions with that than if she tries to dance) – bhs loso loso is secure – side aerial to split to straddle, comfortable – aerial, some knee position – switch 1/2, short, a check – switch side, slightly crooked – split jump 1/2 from side, secure – bhs bhs double pike, large stumble back, a couple steps.

Jones – BB – Arabian, small check – switch to sissone, good – bhs, a bit of knee, to loso, small check – swtich side, leg-up wobble – good straddle jump from side – side aerial, solid – bhs bhs double pike, step back. Some things, but a good one.

Chiles – BB – bhs loso loso, right on – aerial to straddle to bhs, some feet in straddle, again secure – small hesitation in full turn – side somi – switch to sissone, slightly wobbly – side aerial, another small lean – switch side – double pike, step back. Only small corrections in that one, a good one.

Derwael – UB – Stalder tkatchev 1/2 to yezhova to Stalder shaposh to pak to maloney to bhardwahj – all connected – van leeuwen, good – toe full to FTDT, small hop. So she’s back. Excellent.

She went at the same time as Blakely so I missed some of her beam first touch, but I didn’t see a fall out of the corner of my eye or anything.

Wong – BB – struggles on her wolf jump full, grabs the beam – bhs loso, short on her loso and falls – L turn and falls again, she is really fighting it today – swtich ring, arm wave – aerial is pretty – side aerial, smooth – side somi, secure – 2.5 dismount, legs, hop forward.

Wong has had a rough podium training today across the events. Interested to see how her second beam routine goes.

Normally it would be ridiculous to have Wong on this team and not have her in the beam lineup, but…

Zeiss – BB – bhs mount – bhs loso loso and falls – wolf double is hit – side aerial, arm wave – split jump to sissone – switch 1/2, feet – aerial, short, step back – double tuck, good, small step.

Wong is back up on beam for a second try, just checked on choreo – switch to wolf jump full is pretty this time, good combo – bhs loso, step back – L turn, good, kept leg up – switch ring, lower back foot – aerial, smooth – side aerial, hit – side somi, arm wave – 2.5, legs, hop to the side. Miles better than her first routine.

Jones is repeating the Arabian a couple times.

So that does it for the first subdivision. Interesting day. Jones and Chiles looked very strong, and Carey mostly looked her normal and showed an upgraded floor. Blakely, much like the selection camp, did everything she could do. And then it’s sort of…what do you do with Wong? And is there anyone on national staff empowered to do something.

Even though she struggled on her pak today, I think you still want her possible bars score. And I don’t think, in the post-Martha era, you would just drop an athlete from the five and go with all AAers.

We’re into subdivision 2 now, and the stark reality of just two Romanians in this subdivision is really setting in.

Casabuena got a spot on a piked full in to start Spain’s floor and now she’s working Y spins.

Barbosu – UB – Ricna to pak, hit with legs – van leeuwen – toe on to blind to front giant 1/2 – FTDT, pings a little but holds the stick with some coaching help. Solid.

Preda – UB – clear hip 1/2 to jaeger, feet but caught – Ray, pak, straddled – van leeuwen, legs apart – toe full – double pike, step forward.

THE ENTIRE ROMANIAN BARS LINEUP HIT.

Emma Fernandez finishes out her floor turn with a double pike, bounce back

Casabuena – FX – hits her piked full in solidly – double y spin, around – double tuck, a little short, hop forward – pretty solid split positions and finished with a stuck double pike. That would score quite well if repeated in competition.

Barbosu added in a clear hip piked tkatchev in her next turn and it was successful.

Ok we’re going on to the next rotation with Spain on vault and the Romanians on beam.

Barbosu – BB- great front tuck mount – fhs, checks – sissone, short leg – does a fhs front tuck – switch to switch 1/2, secure – wolf double full, lean forward – split leap full, pulls it around, quite short of split – 2/1 dismount

Preda – BB – bhs mount is hit – side aerial to bhs, pretty – side somi, falls – switch to split to swingdown, good – switch 1/2 – split ring jump will probably get hit – full turn – aerial, good – 2/1, step to the side. Some really nice moments. A fall, but some pretty elements.

Meanwhile, Spain is working Yfulls, and we’ve got some mixed groups on floor and bars. Leon just come off on a gienger. Raz is back up on floor working leaps and wolf turns. Ofir Netzer back up to hit a very solid FTDT.

Adalsteinsdottir having her turn on bars – weiler to jaeger and falls – mat bounces her back up in the air, which gets a good laugh from the rotation group.

The two Romanians are just like, LET’S ALL DO 50 ROUTINES IN THIS WARMUP. Even they’re done now, just bars trying to finish up. We’ll see if they succeed.

Now literally everyone is done with this rotation, but there’s still time left, so everyone is just standing around.

A theme so far has been the coaches having a LOT of trouble adjusting the bars. The apparatus people are out with some WD40 now.

Nice 2.5 to front full from barbosu in the initial floor warmup.

Preda – FX – falls out of double y attempt, gets one spin around – double pike, small slide back – front full, dance-step out – double tuck very short, hands down – split leap full is pretty – switch ring to split ring 1/2 –

Barbosu – FX – wolf double turn, good – split leap 1.5, pulls the twist around, short of split – FTDT, chest down, lunge forward – 2.5 to front full, has to tuck and lands it somewhat short with a step back – doubel pike, chest down, jarred bounce back – double tuck, again very short with a lunge. That one was a struggle to get through.

Lihie Raz had been doing Yfulls. She went for a DTY there and landed it on hands and knees. And now just a Yurchenko timer.

Will be missing the final rotation of this one to prep for our late night GymCastic update show for members where we’ll discuss US women’s podium training and maybe a little bit more, like men or something.

Back to it tomorrow!

We arrive at the final day of the US women’s world selection with perhaps the clearest picture of what the worlds team should be…ever? Shilese Jones, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Skye Blakely, and Leanne Wong were the only athletes to place top 3 on an event yesterday, and those five also happened to make up the highest-scoring team heading into the competition. (What that says about the dwindling depth of the US women’s program is another issue.)

So, what are today’s supplementary 2-event performances even about?

-Leanne Wong. While Wong did place in the top 3 on bars yesterday, she ended up only a half tenth ahead of Lexi Zeiss in the all-around because of a rough floor routine (and a beam score that wasn’t particularly high). She’ll be looking for a beam hit that scores comfortably into the 13s today just to say, “…but we’re good, right?” Watch the D score there. She got 5.2 yesterday. Full credit for what she tried would have been 5.5. You could have gone down to like 4.7 yesterday if you wanted to be a total dick about it.

-Skye Blakely. Even though Blakely grabbed the beam on her most important routine yesterday, the fact that she still recorded a top-3 beam score with a major error spoke well of her ability to contribute a usable score on that event. But she’ll be looking to erase any doubt with a full hit today.

-Traveling alternate. Lexi Zeiss and Addison Fatta were neck-and-neck most of yesterday until Fatta’s fall on floor dropped her behind Zeiss in the AA and made Zeiss look like the clear frontrunner for a plane ticket. Today, Fatta is one of the few athletes competing FX as one of her two events, hoping to show that she can hit a floor routine and that her overall AA scoring potential is higher than Zeiss’s.

Only Fatta and Disidore are going for BB/FX today. Everyone else is UB/BB. No vaults.

The random milling about is ON FIRE today.

Looks like we’ve got the two people who are doing floor today (Fatta and Disidore) warming up first. And they each get 900 minutes? Seems like we have a delayed warmup and not-ready-to-start timing. Maybe they were looking at the wrong clock.

Disidore – FX – double double is hit, chest down, slide back – FTDT, pretty secure landing, again chest down – split leap full – wolf double around – switch 1/2 – 1.5 to front full, step, some knees – popa – the rebound she does after each dance element makes it look like they were all intended to be a 1/2 turn more and were dramatically under – double pike, larger bounce back.

Fatta – FX – 2.5 to double tuck, bounce back, keeps it in bounds – DLO, hit today, low element but around with a small slide back – wolf double – split jump full – front 2/1, a little under rotated, crossover step. Hit today. We’ll see how the score compares to Zeiss’s FX from yesterday (13.2). If we get scores. Who can say.

12.950 for Disidore.

13.700 for Fatta and 8.300 execution score. HAPPY HOUR STARTS AT 5. That’s a big score for her in terms of putting her ahead of Zeiss right now in the better-of-two-days standings. Fatta’s previous best floor score this year was 13.150.

Rotation 2

Jones – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to tkatchev is nice, a bit of elbows on tkatchev catch – toe full, solid finish position to stalder tkatchev piked to pak – van leeuwen, a bit of legs – toe 1/2 to front giant to double front, step back. Good one. 14.600

Blakely – UB – stalder 1/2 to piked jaeger, hit – Ricna to pak, leg separation, hit – toe full with leg separation to van leeuwen, hit – double front 1/2 out, good stick. Nice one. 14.200

Meanwhile Jade Carey had a larger lean correction on a side aerial on beam but was otherwise solid. Her split jump 1/2 from side is back in the routine and closer to the required technique than at nationals – double pike, step back. 13.000

Matthews – UB – toe full, late but connected into stalder shap, only barely and she can’t really get her hand around on the shap and peels off – resumes with stalder shap to stalder tkatchev, nice – jaeger, clean – pak, good amplitude – van leeuwen, clean – toe on – DLO, chest down, hop. Pretty after the fall.

That Blakely bars score is significant because it beats Wong’s from day 1.

Neal – BB – switch to split jump 1/2, a bit short on split – bhs bhs loso, lots of knees on the bhs, secure – side aerial to split jump, secure – L turn, around – aerial, solid control – side somi, small lean – double pike, super deep and sits it down. 12.400

Chiles – UB – toe full to piked tkatchev to pak, high and clean – maloney to gianger, just a tad close – a ltitle short on hs on high – piked jaeger, hit – bail to toe shoot – strong final cast hs – FTDT, small rebound. Overall stronger cast handstand positions than her last couple routines. 14.25. Which is lower than yesterday, though I thought this one was better.

Zeiss – BB – bhs mount, hit – bhs loso loso, feet, secure – wolf double, smooth – side aerial, feet, hit – split jump to sissone, rushed somewhat in position – switch 1/2, check – aerial, knees, arm wave correction – double tuck, step back. Good one. 13.400

Wong – BB – switch to wolf jump full, connected today, turn mostly around – bhs loso, smooth – L turn, and does it to full turn today – switch ring, small rebound – aerial, well done to hold it without a check since she was a little under – side aerial, small movement – side somi, hit – 2.5 dismount some leg crossing, step to the side. That was the hit she needed. 13.750

Disidore – BB – falls on loso mount – bhs loso series, lots of leg form and a second fall – switch, pause before switch 1/2, under, check before korbut – side somi, holds onto it – side aerial with a check – full turn – switch side – double pike, bounce back. 10.500

Wong helped herself with that 13.750 on beam, tying for the highest beam score of the camp. Blakely also showed a usable bars score. And Zeiss and Fatta both doing what they need to do.

Carey’s beam score adjusted down from 13 to 12.9. But she remains just ahead of Wong on 2-day beam average.

For having 1.3 routines in it, this competition is sure taking a long time.

Rotation 3

Neal – UB – toe full, somewhat late – maloney to pak, legs together, some feet – van leeuwen, legs – short cast hs – clear hit,goes over the wrong way, falls on jaeger

9.850

Blakely – BB – wolf triple is around well – back tuck full, solid – bhs to front tuck, hit today with small step forward – swtich to switch 1/2, OK split position – aerial to split, just a bit of knee in aerial, small check – side aerial, feet, secure – double tuck, solid. That was the one.

Blakely with a really strong 2-event day. 14.550. Gigantic number.

Zeiss – UB – toe full to pak, hit – maloney, legs to gienger, low but caught – ywzhova, some crazy legs – van leeuwen, foot separation – FTDT, step back. 13.700

Matthews – BB – nice bhs mount – side aerial to loso, holds onto it today with a lean – wolf triple hit with arm wave – switch to split, short of position, into bhs – aerial, knee, arm wave correction – double tuck, hop back.

Wong – UB – stalder 1/2 to jaeger, nice – toe full to bhardwaj, hit just a bit of form – maloney to pak, solid – van leeuwen, small leg break – DLO, holds the stick. Another strong routine today. She did what she could do.

Carey – UB – Ray, hit – 1/2 to yezhova, solid – shap to high bhardwaj – shap 1/2 – giant full – FTDT, stuck. Good.

Chiles on beam had a little check on side somi, but otherwise strong start, very secure bhs loso loso – switch side with an arm wave and leg up – just a little hop in place on double pike.

Wong goes 14.100 on bars which is under Blakely’s score today but will keep her top 3 on bars by average.

13.650 bars for Carey.

Fatta – BB – wolf double, hit – switch to split, some loose legs in split – bhs loso, chest a bit down, holds it small check – aerialm knee, holds it but breaks combo into straddle to korbut – side aerial, solid – switch 1/4? – bhs bhs 2/1, bounce back.

Just one routine left today, which is beam from Jones, who is already locked onto the team from yesterday.

But basically the headline is that Blakely and Wong both improved noticeably on their day 1 performances on both events, not letting anyone else in.

Fatta at 12.750 on beam.

Jones is off on her Arabian today, off line and landed about half a foot on the beam – switch to sissone – bhs loso, step back – swtich side to staddle jump, good elevation – split jump 1/2 from side, nice – side aerial, secure – bhs bhs double pike, chest down, step forward.

Not a super significant miss for team purposes because Jones was already on the team and beam is the one event you would rest her in TF anyway. But significant for consistency questions.

Basically, I felt like it was already done with Jones, Chiles, Carey, Wong, and Blakely before today, and nothing changed my mind. Blakely had a great day to solidify her spot, and Wong improved on both her events. I also imagine Zeiss stays ahead in the race for alternate by hitting both her events today, though Fatta gave it a good run with that floor score.

But Blakely’s performance today made who goes in qualification on which events a much harder convo. Bars today made Carey look like your 5th-best bars worker. But also Jones looked like your 5th-best beam worker, but you have to put her in the AA because she’s the best one.

Today, the 10 women who remain standing will begin their quests to make this year’s worlds team with the first day of selection camp competition. The competitors are:

Rotation group A (start on vault)
Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Nola Matthews, Jordan Chiles, Addison Fatta
Rotation group B (start on floor)
Jade Carey, Amelia Disidore, Marissa Neal, Lexi Zeiss, Leanne Wong

In terms of pre-camp scores, they paint a pretty clear picture that Jones, Chiles, Carey, and Wong would be on the highest-scoring US team, basically regardless of which approach you try to take. Average, peak score, nationals only, all of 2022…it’s the same people. The only fifth member who adds something to that team score would be Skye Blakely on beam if she replicates her 14.300 from Pan Am Trials or her 14.250 from the WOGA Classic, so that’s basically where we are heading into this competition.

The outright AA winner today automatically makes the team, but unless things get really crazy that shouldn’t be news because we have 3 people who have more or less automatically made the team.

I’m looking out for:

1. Leanne Wong’s health. She was injured at nationals and didn’t do the AA. Honestly, just doing her normal 14 on bars should be enough to get her on this team in a sensible world, but the lingering stench of the 2018-2021 all-around selection strategy remains pungent. We’ll see how much she pushes it on all four—and how relevant that becomes.
2. Skye Blakely’s beam. Her theoretical beam score would help the US team, but we didn’t see that performance at nationals. If she’s not hitting beam, she’s opening the door for someone else to get a mid-13 on beam and look like she’s the one who could add something to a team score on an event where the US is somewhat light following McClain’s withdrawal.
3. Traveling alternate. The US women’s team typically names a squad of 6 without officially defining who the traveling alternate is until after podium training. At least one “someone else” is going to make it onto the flight, and everyone competing here will at least entertain a slight possibility. Lexi Zeiss and Addison Fatta are probably the frontrunners at this point given their all-around scoring potential and their successful results at Pan Ams and Szombathely respectively, but if you end up deciding to look at whose selection results add the most to a team score should a frontrunner go down, then we may be looking at Matthews’ bars, Neal’s beam, or Disidore’s vault. But really, based on precedent, I’d imagine it’s going to be pure AA standings when it comes to the alternate.

So far, warmup reports from Jessica and Scott at the event indicate that everyone is amazing and no one has ever known sadness. I’ll be the judge of that.

We are currently in the post-warmup milling about portion of the event.

Everyone is in the same The Queen of Spiders Has Her Now leo.

Rotation 1

Carey – FX – DLO 1/1, bounce back, some legs – DLO, comfortable, slide back – L hop full to switch 1/1, completes the turn – front loso to double tuck, bounce back – split leap full, some short position – FTDT, most secure landing. So no big upgrades but a difficult routine and competitive hit. 13.800 w/ 5.7 D

Jones – VT – DTY – pretty solid DTY, hop back, not her most controlled landing but fine, great distance, some legs apart. 14.500

Blakely – VT – DTY – good legs together and rotation, lunge back is larger than Jones’ – 14.200

Disidore – FX – double dobule tuck, quite deep, chest down, large lunge forward to save it – DLO to her hands and knees – L hop full, a bit low – wolf double is around – switch 1/2 – 1.5 to front 2/1 is a nice pass – a little under rotated on popa – double pike, chest down, hop to the side. 11.350

Matthews – VT – OK DTY – easily hit, some pike in the air, bounce back. 12.900

Chiles – VT – very high DTY but an uncontrolled landing, large bounce back – 14.200

Neal – FX – double Arabian, lunge forward – FTDT, chest down, lunge back – split leap full is around – 2.5 to front lay, low on the lay but got it around with a step – double pike, bounce. 12.600

Chiles – VT 2 – exceptional Lopez – good layout shape, only the slightest pike, and only small movement in place.

Fatta – VT – good distance on her DTY, small amount of legs, hop back. Should score competitively with the “team” gymnasts DTYs. 14.050

Zeiss – FX – 2.5 to front pike, good control, leg crossing on 2.5 – 1.5 to front full, again some legs, only a little movement – wolf double – switch to switch 1/2, solid elevation – double tuck, bounce. 13.200

Fatta – VT 2 – Tsuk lay full, some ragged legs, bounce back, solid hit.

Wong – FX – L turn double, turn is around, leg dropped a little toward the end – double double tuck, chest forward, lunge back – double arabian piked is very deep but she saved it with a lunge back, it was excellent in the warmup – L hop full to switch 1/2 – combo pass is an issue again, 1/2 twist with a deep lunge to the side, just stays in – double back, deep with a step.

Landing errors on floor shouldn’t really do anything to her chances, but that was not ideal. 12.450. So there’s some AA work to do.

Rotation 2

Blakely – UB – stalder 1/2 to piked jaeger, a little low but hit – stalder tkatchev to pak, some legs apart, comfortable – toe full, solid finish, no connection – van leeuwen, just a bit of feet – toe 1/2, late – double front 1/2 out is new and workable, lunge back. 13.450

Disidore – VT – gets her DTY around, chest down, hop to the side and out of the area. 13.350

Either this feed is super delayed or that clock behind vault is wildly slow and it’s killing me.

Matthews – UB – toe full, late – stalder shap to Ricna, nice, good toes – jaeger, high – pak, good, just a bit of feet – van leeuwen, can’t get her hand around and falls. That’s a shame for her as this is the routine she needed the most. Finishes DLO, hop back. 12.550

Disidore – VT 2 – Handspring pike 1/2 is solid, not the biggest but good shape, bounce back, nice NCAA option.

Chiles – UB – toe full, arch but around – piked tkatchev to pak, very good – maloney to gienger, comfortable – piked jaeger – bail, clean handstand to toe shoot – FTDT, nice stick. Very solid routine. So many cast handstands to be issues but very solid. 14.350

Neal landed a very solid Y1.5, just some knees.

Zeiss – VT – DTY is around but kind of a struggle, chest down, bounce to the side, leg form. 13.750

BIG LOVE the stream cutting out for Fatta’s bars. No notes on this paid service.

Anyway we’re back now. Fatta went 13.300 on bars.

Wong – VT – Hits a DTY, bounce back, some hip angle and chest position on landing, good distance and direction. 14.150

And we’ve cut out again. Flo is dead, long live Flo.

We’re back to see Jade Carey hit a Cheng – not her best but fine, chest forward, step.

And we’re out again.

Back for the rotation break! Fun!

Jones goes 14.500 for a bars routine that we missed. Carey’s Cheng goes 14.300, which is not great as far as better-than-DTY vault scores go. She’s behind Jones there.

AA is currently Jones, Chiles, Carey, Blakely, Fatta – with Wong .750 back of the top 5 in 7th place. Bars and beam hits would make up that margin, but you know, hits.

Rotation 3

Matthews with an early fall on her series on beam – pretty wolf turn – switch to split, back foot, into bhs – aerial – double tuck, chest

Neal – UB – maloney to pak, good height – van leeuwen – toe 1/2 to jaeger, good – and the stream is out again. I’m having so much funnnnnnn.

Anyway I guess Matthews went 12.450 on beam and Neal went 11.800 on bars.

THE US COULD SEND THREE TEAMS TO THE OLYMPICS AND THEY WOULD ALL WIN GOLD.

Seeing the end of Chiles on beam with a secure double pike, small hop. 13.300.

Zeiss went 13.350 on bars.

Wong – UB – stalder 1/2 to jaeger, nice – toe full, good finish to bhardwaj, form, some legs – maloney to pak, hit – misses feet and extra cast hs before van leeuwen, hit, small leg break – DLO, holds the stick. Good overall. Will get hit for the extra hs but not too too much. 13.800. That will put her ahead of Zeiss by a tenth going to beam.

Fatta – BB – wolf triple, good first two, slows down on the third but gets it around – switch to split, solid – bhs loso series, good extension, clean – aerial, small arm wave, breaks connection – side aerial, check –

Carey – UB – Ray, hit – yezhova, solid – maloney to bhardwaj, clean – van leeuwen, solid – giant full – FTDT, stuck. A good one. 13.600

Fatta finished her beam routine out with a hit. 12.700

Disidore – UB – short first hs – Piked tkatchev to pak, some legs on pak, hit – full turn on low is late – van leeuwen, legs together, some feet – stalder 1/2 to jaeger, close catch – orphan giant 1/2 on hgih – DLO, pike way down, bound forward. 12.000

Shilese has been waiting for this beam routine for 84 minutes.

Jones – BB – arabian, excellent save as one of her feet slips, minimizes the wobble – switch to sissone, pretty – bhs loso, good extension and elevation – switch side, a bit crooked angle on split – straddle jump from side – split 1/2 from side, some foot position – side aerial, comfortable – bhs bhs double pike, bounce back. A beam hit. On her way to clinching her spot today. 13.600

Blakely to finish the rotation on beam, one of the most important routines of the day.

Blakely – BB – should roll legs mount, good – wolf triple, solid – back tuck full, hit, leg up check – fhs front tuck, grabs the beam – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, solid – aerial, small pause before split jump – side aerial, solid – double tuck, some cowboy, solid landing, step back. Well, a large error in there that will prevent her from getting a “YOU NEED THIS” score.

13.550 for Blakely still puts her in 2nd on the event thus far and keeps her in 4th AA going to floor. So not a complete disaster.

AA is Jones, Chiles, Carey, Blakely, Wong. A big beam hit from Wong in the next rotation is all we need for a very, very straightforward selection process.

Rotation 4

Chiles – FX – 1.5 through to FTDT, hit, bounce back – DLO 1/1, a bit short, hop forward – L hop full to split leap full, some feet – switch side 1/2, not quite all the way around, so a credit risk – front loso to double tuck, small movement. 14.250 is a bit high for me.

Zeiss – BB – bhs mount hit – hits her bhs loso loso series with a little lean – wolf double, slow but solid – she had a larger break on an aerial later in the routine but kept it on, step on dismount – 12.900

Fatta – FX – 2.5 to double tuck, nicely done, got it around – DLO super super low, hands down, critical for her AA ranking today after Zeiss just stayed on beam – split jump full – front 2/1, crossover step. 12.500

Wong – BB – switch to wolf jump full, not quite around and a large lean – bhs loso series, secure – L turn, drops a little at the end, good toe point – switch ring is secure – aerial to split jump, small check – side aerial to sissone to wolf, pretty and smooth elements – side somi, hit – 2.5 dismount, hop forward, leg crossing. One larger error but should still be a good score. Hmm, 12.850, low. A lot of that is D score.

Jones – FX – wolf 2.25, definite credit – double double, solid, small hop back – split leap full, a little low on front leg – DLO, good height, bounce back, stays in bounds – double L turn, also definitely around – front tuck to double tuck – L gop full – switch 1/2, a bit short of split. 14.100

Nice one. That will win her the day.

Carey – BB – bhs loso loso, secure landing – side aerial, pause before split jump straddle jump – aerial, check before switch and swithc 1/2 – switch side, hit – bhs bhs double pike, step back

Blakely – FX – DLO 1/1 to open – secure landing, pike – DLO, chest down, small shuffle – switch ring to split leap 1.5 attempt, a little under – front 2/1, some twisting form, good landing control – switch 1/2 – double tuck, has to squeeze for dear life a little, shuffle back. Not bad. 13.450

Wong ends up finishing the AA only .050 ahead of Zeiss today, but ahead, and with a top-3 score on bars.

Armine’s stopwatch is a person of interest in every investigation.

Matthews – FX – 3/1, basically around, good control on landing, a bit of leg crossing – wolf double – 1.5 to front full, OOB with both feet – final pass is solid double tuck

Disidore – BB – loso mount hit, step back – press handstand to bhs loso, crazy form and falls – switch and a very short switch 1/2 to korbut – side somi, another fall – another large break on a side aerial – switch side, under split – double pike, bounce back. 10.700

Carey went 13.750 on beam because beam specialist.

Matthews goes 13.050 on floor, waiting on Disidore’s score and Neal’s routine on beam.

Neal – BB – switch to split 1/2, a bit short on split, nice switch – bhs bhs loso some crazy legs in those bhs – side aerial is good – L turn – aerial, leg position but secure – side somi, lean and leg up – double pike, chest down, large bounce back. Stayed on. 13.250 is a nice number.

No need to consult Excel on this one.

Jones, Chiles, Carey, Blakely, and Wong were the only athletes with top-3 scores on any event today.

I’d imagine Zeiss’s AA score today will get her on the traveling 6 as well. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m probably partial to Fatta for that position, but that floor fall might have spoiled her chances.