For day 1, everyone competes on all the events, and then tomorrow (5:15 CT), the gymnasts will compete on select apparatuses (usually 2) before the team is named later that evening.

The things most on my mind today:

• Is the floor gap between Kaliya Lincoln and the Carey/Roberson/Chiles crew still as large as at nationals?
  • • Lincoln got on the highest-scoring team from nationals because she was the best option to go on FX instead of Blakely, who struggled there. Is that still the case?
• Can Wong maintain top-3 all-around?
  • • At nationals, Wong’s worlds case was not a highest-scoring-team one but an all-around-usefulness one. Because she doesn’t necessarily have The Essential Event, it’s most important for her to stay on everything. 
• How much are the Chengs adding?
  • • While Carey and Roberson will certainly be looking to up their floor scores compared to nationals, the best argument for them remains their Chengs and the built-in advantage that provides over DTYs. Roberson got on the highest-scoring team from nationals solely for the Cheng. But the execution score has to make that advantage real.
• Can Jordan Chiles pull it back?
  • • Chiles remains very theoretically appealing to fill gaps on the US team with the potential for a top floor score as well as a bars routine that could go in the team final, potentially instead of Biles to take just a little of the everything-all-the-time onus off of her. But she has to improve from nationals.
• Who benefits most from Suni’s absence?
  • • Suni Lee’s withdrawal doesn’t necessarily change permutations because she wasn’t on the highest-scoring squad from nationals, but she did get bronze on beam even with a fall on day 1. Biles and Blakely seem the obvious top 2 beamers for the US—with Blakely’s beam routine in particular looking that much more important now—but that third beamer is basically a different person every day. If it’s Jones again, that really simplifies and clarifies things because she’s highly likely to be on the team regardless of beam, but if it’s not…

Let’s get into it. We’re going two events at a time, with group 1 starting on bars and group 2 starting on beam. The US women will compete in qualification at worlds at about this time, starting on bars, so presumably there was an attempt to mimic the worlds schedule here.

Feed has started. We’re all enjoying standing around right now. Alicia, Chellsie, and Dan have a beam blocks pyramid to lean against.

And we’re looking at group 1, WCC, warming up on bars. Now we’re checking in on Jones and Carey warming up beam. Still very much in the final warmup rotation, so don’t worry, you haven’t missed anything.

Anyway, what we’re seeing here: Hit warmup set from Wong on beam, though she broke the side aerial to switch wolf full combination. The battle of Dicello vs Toe Full continues but she did save it this time. Al Fong has decided to stand right in front of the bars camera, which we love.

You were supposed to start 22 minutes ago.

Oh look, we’re all lined up now. 18 now instead of 19 as Jong was injured on vault in warmups. Intros finally happening. Now we have to do a national anthem for some reason.

Rotation 1

Madray Johnson – BB – wolf double, around – bhs loso loso, some feet position, pretty secure on landing – onodi, knee but hit – side aerial, large break, bend at the hips correction – aerial to split to bhs 1/1, hit – switch, good position, into switch 1/2, OK – double tuck dismount, big struggle, sits it down.

Biles – UB – weiler 1/2 to maloney (legs) to giant full to tkatchev piked to pak, hit comfortably – van leeuwen, well short and falls – we never expect a mistake from Simone, but she doesn’t have to prove a ton here – resumes and does the van leeuwen again, fine – toe full to FTDT, small hop back.

But for the purposes of highest-scoring-team based on today, someone else’s bars will have to count there, which could change things around.

Well, it’s been a start. Still waiting on the score for Johnson.

Blakely – BB – wolf triple, good – back tuck full, secure landing – front handspring to fornt tuck is secure, tries to connect to a short sissone, loses more than it’s worth – switch to switch 1/2, short back leg but secure – aerial, hit, knee, no connection – side aerial, step back – double pike, chest down, solid landing, small movement. A couple small things but did what she needed to do today for sure.

Miller – UB – inbar full to stalder shap 1/2, hit – inbar 1/2, solid finish position, to jaeger – stalder tkatchev pike to pak, smooth – van leeuwen, leg separation – DLO, small hop back. Usual form things but nicely done overall. Important hit for her.

Johnson beam 12.250
Biles bars 12.800

Miller bars 14.500

Lincoln – BB – wolf triple, nicely done – bhs layout 2 feet, slight leg separation but secure – aerial, knee, into split to straddle, good split positions – switch, small pause before switch 1/2, good back leg – side aerial, hit – bhs bhs double pike, lunge back. Really nice one for her.

Chiles – UB – toe full to tkatchev piked to pak, clean – maloney to gienger, legs together well – blind to piked jaeger, hit – bail, good vertical, toe shoot – short hs on high – FTDT lower amplitude, hop back.

Sumanasekera – UB – stalder full, some back but works through it into maloney to pak, hit – van leeuwen, legs but hit – blind to front giant to jaeger, flexed feet, catches – giant 1/2, short – FTDT, good stick. Nice hit for her on this event.

Blakely’s beam went 14.350. Chiles bars 14.200. Nice opening scores for both.

Lincoln beam 13.800

Jones – BB – switch mount, small pause before switch 1/2, secure – arabian, just a bit deep but secure again – bhs bhs layout 2 feet, a bit short, step forward, some leg separation – side aerial, good elevation – full turn – switch to sissone, good back leg positions – bhs bhs double pike, step back. Solid hit.

Roberson – UB – clear hip 1/2, very late in yezhova, hit – toe full, some legs but ok finish position, connects to maloney to gienger and hits it, legs – clear hip, toe on – DLO, step back. So she added a release back and hit her best bars of the year.

Sumanasekera bars 13.050.

Roberson gets 13.000 on bars. Now, I don’t know about that……

Carey – BB – forward roll mount – aerial to split jump to korbut, connected – bhs loso loso, secure – switch side – split jump 1/2 from side and falls – switch to switch 1/2, well under, connects to straddle jump and will get the series – side aerial, secure, foot flexed – bhs bhs double pike, chest down, step back. The beam travails continue.

Jones went 14.150 on beam.

Now we start the warmup for the second half of rotation 1. This meet is going to be 9 hours FYI.

12.500 beam for Carey.

Wong – BB – side aerial to switch, wobble before regular wolf jump, no wolf full – now she does the wolf jump full, connects to split jump, solid backup but not the intent – bhs loso, secure –  L turn, wobble, no connection to full turn – switch ring, – side somi, hit – aerial, small arm wave before straddle jump – 2.5 dismount is solid with crossed legs, small hop. Stayed on without major wobbles but some critical connection issues in there which will take down the score.

Disidore – UB – short first hs – stalder 1/2, late into jaeger, hit – Church is solid – pak, good height, small leg break – van leeuwen, legs – toe full, gets caught up in it, does it but very very late and crooked – double tuck dismount is stuck. 11.600

Lowe – UB – toe full hit into gienger, lower but caught – blind to jaeger, good straddle position – pak, hit, large Nastia arch – late 1/2 turn on low – toe shoot, close but works through it – toe on – FTDT, hop back. 12.700

Fatta – BB -wolf triple attempt is a crazy one but she squats it around – bhs loso, secure, some leg position – aerial, low but holds onto it into split to straddle – side aerial, check – switch, good position – switch side – 2.5 dismount, a little under, lunge forward. Through it?

Zeiss – UB – toe full, small leg break – van leeuwen, legs but solid – yezhova, same – shaposh to pak, smoothly connected – maloney to gienger, low but fingertips it – FTDT, small hop.

13.350 for Wong on beam, versus the 13.7s from nationals.

DiCello – UB – toe full is her best of the year, connects to stalder shap to clear hip to Church, good – piked jaeger, solid – pak to toe on, huge struggle in the toe on and comes off, seemed like she was trying to do pak to van leeuwen and it wasn’t there – resumes with the van leuween – FTDT, nice stick.

She needed a big hit day today.

Matthews – BB – bhs mount with a silly spider wobble, stays on somehow – bhs loso, another huge wobble and can’t save this one – wolf triple is well done – switch to split jump 1/2, back leg well short of split – side aerial, good height – aerial, secure – double tuck, small hop forward. 12.150

12.700 beam for Fatta, 12.700 bars for DiCello. 13.650 bars for Zeiss

Zhou – BB – switch mount to switch 1/2 to korbut, lovely split elements – wolf turn 1.5 is sluggish – bhs loso loso, good hit, small arm wave – switch ring, pretty solid closure – side aerial, small check – aerial, small arm wave before split and straddle, good positions again – 2/1 dismount, some legs, hop back. Nice execution. 13.450

So, Zoe Miller is your AA leader after the first rotation, which will definitely hold up. Jones and Blakely continuing to do what they need to do to confirm their prospective spots. Biles falling on bars doesn’t matter as long as it’s not an all-the-events thing.

Rotation 2

Lincoln – FX – double double, big height, good form, possible landing OOB before hopping back in, close, not sure – DLO 1/1, one of the better layout positions, solid control – switch ring to split leap 1.5, good split –  wolf triple – switch full, excellent completion – front full, some legs into double tuck, good secure landing. We’ll see if she went OOB on first pass because otherwise excellent.

Chiles – BB – bhs loso, lots of steps back and falls, oh dear – aerial to straddle to bhs, good series connection – full turn, hit – side somi, lean forward, keeps it on – switch – sissone, short back leg into wolf jump – side aerial, hit – switch side, nice – double pike, hop to the side. It’s not AS important as bars and floor for her I’d think, but it didn’t help.

Jones – FX – wolf double, around – double double tuck, solid, small movement – L turn double today, connect to double turn – front full to double tuck, little hop forward – FTDT, shuffle back, keeps it in – leg up full turn and switch 1/2. No trouble there.

Sumanasekera – BB – candle mount, good – bhs bhs layout 2 feet, large break, leg up to horizontal, keeps it on – aerial, small hesitation before split jump to korbut, nice split jump – switch, pause before switch 1/2, under but secure – split ring jump not quite there – side aerial, good – full turn, hit – bhs bhs double pike, step back.

13.850 floor for Lincoln. That’s not the 14 from nationals, so door a little bit open there. No OOB deduction.

And now 13.500 floor for Jones. They are NOT HERE FOR YOUR SHIT on floor today and I love it as long as that stays consistent.

12.150 beam for Chiles.

Carey – FX – DLO 2/1, solid, small hop back, pretty comfortable position – DLO 1/1, bounce back, some legs – switch – switch 1/1 attempt, under split – double double is way short, large lunge to the side – good split full completion – front tuck to double tuck, way short again and hands down.

Well, I love that she went for the difficulty (and she needed it based on nationals), but it’s not there yet.

Roberson – BB – back tuck full, leg up wobble, keeps it on – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, good connection, switch 1/2 is under – side aerial to loso loso, keeps the back leg up on landing but holds the series pretty well – full turn – onodi, knee, hit and connected to split + wolf – straddle jump from side – bhs bhs double pike, lunge back and extra step after that.

Wong – FX – wolf double, hit – double double tuck, excellent landing – DLO, a little low but fine, small hop forward – leg up hop full was under horizontal to start – switch 1/2 is nice – L turn double to full turn – back 1/2 to front full, clean, small slide back – double pike, really short, lunge forward – popa. After that double double I thought we were going to get another nationals day 2. Some more trouble after that.

It’s 12.300 floor for Carey.

Disidore – BB – loso mount, solid – nice height on layout 2 feet, arm wave correction – split to straddle – press handstand to loso loso, cool but lots of knee  – switch, pause before switch 1/2 to korbut – wolf single – side somi, squats and leans forward to hold it but does – switch side, low back leg – double pike, step back.

Fatta – FX – back 2.5 through to double tuck, bounce back, keeps it in bounds – DLO, hit, some chest position, little rebound – double wolf turn, hit – split jump full, around – wild rudi, jumps around the extra half turn after landing with a lunge –

13.450 beam for Roberson and a 13.500 beam for Disidore

Lowe – BB – hits switch mount nicely – split ring leap is a credit challenge – bhs bhs layout 2 feet, leg up wobble – switch to switch side – side aerial to loso, secure landing, just some knee at the end – aerial, pause before straddle to split to korbut – side somi, holds it with an arm wave – bhs bhs 2/1, large bounce back. 12.950

First half of rotation 2 is complete, and critical falls from people who really needed to show hits today was the story there, with Carey missing floor and Chiles missing beam. Lincoln and Jones tied for first AA right now.

13.100 floor for Fatta.

Matthews – FX – FTDT, some leg separation, steps back OOB – switch 1/2, good position – front full to 2.5, lunge forward – good leg up full turn and switch full – wolf double is around – double tuck, slide back –

Zeiss – BB – Bhs mount, lean – bhs loso series, hit, lots of leg form – wolf double, secure – side aerial, small lean – split jump to sissone, hit – switch 1/2, good – aerial, knee, secure – double tuck, step back.

Zhou – FX – DLO is low but around, small hop – switch full – back 1.5 to front full with a college dance out lunge – split jump full – switch ring – switch leap full, comfortable – doubel tuck, just a tiny rebound. Good again. Team Alicia Zhou For Pan Ams?

Big 13.650 for Matthews on floor. With an 8.350 E score. OK now the floor scores are here.

DiCello – BB – hits candle mount – wolf triple, no trouble – bhs loso loso, knee but hit – switch to switch 1/2, switch 1/2 is well under – aerial to split jump to sissone is comfortable – side aerial, hit – double pike, chest down, lunge back. The victory here was that the split leap full is gone. Maybe Kelli Hill isn’t actually just pranking Kayla by giving her a bunch of skills she can’t do?

13.800 beam for DiCello another big number as we get to the end of rotation 2.

Johnson – FX – lost the feed for a sec at the beginning of this one –

Biles – BB – switch mount to switch 1/2, very small hesitation before back pike, solid landing – wolf triple, solid – aerial to split, check before straddle jump – bhs loso loso, arm wave, holds it – side aerial, solid – bhs bhs FTDT, hop back. Just a little checky at the start but no real trouble.

Blakely – FX – double double tuck, large stumble back OOB, multiple lunges – DLO is hit, little hop back – wolf double and a little more – switch ring and split leap full are solid – split jump full, hit – switch full, hit – front tuck through to double tuck, good tuck position but overcooks it with another lunge back.

14.050 beam for Biles.

14 is still a good number for Biles, but she lost like 6 tenths in D because of small checks.

Miller – BB – full turn, hit – bhs loso loso, hit, foot and knee but solid – aerial, short but saves it with an arm wave – good split to back tuck – switch to switch 1/2 is hit – side aerial – sissone to wolf jump –  bhs bhs double pike, chest down, step back.

OMG it’s only been two rotations.

Jones and Lincoln will remain tied at the top, followed by Blakely and then Miller in 4th, Biles in 5th (LOL), Wong in 6th. DiCello jumped back up to 7th after that beam.

12.900 for Miller on beam.

Rotation 3

Score corrections: It’s actually 13.450 for Matthews on floor and 12.450 for Blakely, and 12.500 for Fatta, which makes more sense. They’ve been adding for OOB instead of subtracting, which I’m obsessed with.

Roberson – FX – DLO 2/1, bounce back, looks like she stepped OOB – DLO 1/1, just a tad forward today with a little slide – leg up hop full, split leap 1.5 – wolf triple, around and then some more – front full to double tuck, bounce back, might have kept that one in – front loso to double pike, more secure landing, step.

13.850 for Roberson matches Lincoln there, a bit development.

Carey – VT – Cheng is pretty good, larger bounce back and leg crossing but a hit. 14.650

Carey – VT 2 – DTY is more trouble, lands hunched over with a lunge out of the area.

Disidore – FX – double double tuck, hit, little hop to the side – popa, around – FTDT, short, lunge forward – switch to switch 1/2 – back 1.5 to front full, hop – double pike, step back OOB. 12.800

As we wait, we hear someone say “6 and 5 is 11” on the feed, so everything is under control.

Lowe – FX – double arabian, leg separation lunge forward – switch ring to switch full, pretty nice positions – switch ring 1/2 is one of those – back 2.5 to front full, small movement – popa – doubel tuck, secure. 13.350

Wong – VT – good control on her DTY, only small movement and a little bit of legs

Wong – VT 2 – ro 1/2 on layout 1/2, lovely position, hop back

14.450 DTY for Wong. Good number.

Zeiss – FX – front 2/1 is all over the place, well short and falls – back 1.5 to front full, ginger hop forward – switch to split leap full – wolf double – switch 1/2 – double tuck, slide back

Fatta – VT – DTY is pretty good, bounce back –

Fatta – VT 2 – ro 1/2 on, lay/pike 1/2 is a little short, hop forward

DiCello – FX – double double tuck, good control on landing, some legs in the air – wolf triple, nice – split jump full, hit – back 1.5 to front full, little hop – switch ring to split leap full – double pike, jelly legs on landing with a couple steps back and OOB – was going really well until that.

13.550 is in for DiCello, which is still pretty high for that last pass.

Zhou – VT – clean yfull, step to the side and over the line

I’m having an issue with the floor E scores here now because I just don’t see how Lincoln would be only 0.2 ahead of Roberson on execution.

Biles – FX – DLO 1/1, lovely and hit, step back – front full through to double double, nailed the landing – wolf double, a little wobbly but around fine – switch to split leap 1.5 – Biles, little shuffle around in the corner, no connection – switch full – DLO, bounce back OOB. Good one.

Johnson – VT – Y1.5, nice in the air, step

Blakely – VT – DTY, really good landing, just a little rebound, should be a large number.

Blakely – VT 2 – ro 1/2 on layout 1/2, great height, bounce back

Miller – FX – wolf double, hit – DLO is solid, small movement – split jump full, good – FTDT, small shuffle – switch to split leap full, good – front loso to double full, legs, small hop – double tuck, stuck, One of her best floors.

Lincoln – VT – pretty solid DTY some leg crossing in the air, rebound back

14.250 vault for Lincoln.

Jones – VT – DTY more trouble controlling the landing with a large bounce back, great amplitude

“Just” 14.300 floor for Biles with 0.4 in OOB.

Chiles – FX – DLO 1/1, bounce back, good – back 1.5 to FTDT, an amazing save to keep than in bounds with a lean on the line – leg up full to split leap 1.5, pulls it around – wolf turn double – DLO is way short, hands down – switch side 1/2, double pike, hop back.

14.150 vault for Jones.

Lincoln will have the AA lead after 3 (!!!!!) by 1 tenths over Jones and .750 over Biles. Biles is going to vault, but Jones is going to bars, which also looks to be a major number. What a wild hallucination of a day.

And it’s 12.950 floor for Chiles with a fall, which would have then been a massive number if she had hit. But wait did she do any front tumbling in this routine?

Sumanasekera – FX – double double tuck, bounce back OOB – wolf 2.375 – DLO, hit but a large-ish slide back – switch ring to switch full are nice – back 1.5 to front full, step forward – switch 1/2 – double pike, good lift but lands short, step forward

After 3:
1. Lincoln 41.900
2. Jones 41.800
3. Biles 41.150
4. Wong 41.000
4. Blakely 41.000
6. Miller 40.350
7. Roberson 40.300
8. DiCello 40.050

How about we all just jump in a volcano instead of coming up with a worlds team?

Rotation 4

Fatta – UB – piked jaeger, hit – Church to pak, legs apart but smooth – toe on to maloney to gienger, a closer catch with some form – giant full, late – DLO, small hop. 13.450

Lowe – VT – good control on Y1.5. 13.850

Matthews – UB – jaeger, hit – stalder tkatchev – pak, nice one – oe full to toe on to van leeuwen, clean work – stalder – DLO, small hop. Better feet and leg positions than a lot of today’s bars work. 13.650

Zeiss hits a Y1.5 with knee position. 13.400

DiCello – VT – bounce back on DTY but good direction, some knee form, solid

Zhou – UB – inbar, some elbow – stalder full to maloney to pak to toe on to van leeuwen, pretty work – toe 1/2 to jaeger – FTDT, a bit deep, step back. Nice one, very good form.

14.200 for DiCello on vault, which brings her to 54.250 with a fall. She pulled that one back.

Biles – VT – Yurchenko double pike and falls, overdid it and sits it right down.

A strange day for Biles here.

Johnson – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to toe on, elbows 0 to tkatchev piked, nice height – pak to toe on to van leeuwen, good – toe 1/2 to jaeger, nice feet – double tuck, step.

Miller – VT – Y1.5, a bit off line, hit with a hop forward over the line

Biles goes 14.550 on vault with a fall, which is still the #2 vault score on the day. Just a 55.700 for her today with two falls.

Blakely – UB – stalder 1/2 to piked jaeger, good – stalder tkatchev piked to pak – little hesitation in hs but fine into toe full, good finish, to van leeuwen – front giant, double front 1/2 out, stuck. Did what she needed to on bars and beam today.

14.200 bars for Blakely, which puts her in 2nd there, tied with Chiles, below Miller. 55.000 in the AA, not 56 as the scoreboard is trying to lie to us.

Lincoln – UB – stalder full, hit, no connection – stalder shap to tkatchev – holds her hs – Ray, a little close, gets the connection to pak – toe on – van leeuwen, small leg break – blind to front giant 1/2 – double tuck, stuck landing.

Chiles – VT – DTY is good, nice height, just a bit of leg corssing, but a pretty large bounce back.

Chiles – VT 2 – good Lopez, hop up in place, nice layout position

Jones – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to tkatchev, nice – toe full to stalder tkatchev piked to pak, fingertips on the tkatchev but nice – can leeuwen, clean – toe 1/2 – double front, hop back. Big day for her again.

Sumanasekera – DTY – nicely done, just a little leg crossing, hop back.

Chiles 14.350 vault.

Lincoln 12.450 on bars to go 54.350, 3rd AA right now, will be 4th after Jones score comes in.

Roberson – VT 1 – Cheng, good one, hop back, some legs, that should be the score she needs there.

Roberson – VT 2 – DTY, pretty much all the way around, hop back

Jones bars score is in as 13.500. What did I hallucinate and miss? Or was there just a contractual obligation to make sure Simone won.

Carey – UB – Ray – blind to yezhova, hit – maloney, small leg break -into bhardwaj, good hit – van leeuwen, some legs – short cast hs on high – giant full, over – FTDT, stuck. Solid.

13.350 bars for Carey. Disidore hit a DTY first vault, chest forward, kind of jarring.

Wong – UB – clear hip 1/2 to jaeger – toe full, legs into bhardwaj, hit – maloney to pak, lovely position – van leeuwen – DLO, kind of large bounce back but a pretty routine.

Hearing that Shilese hit her feet on the mat but I didn’t see that on the stream.

So that was a meet that happened.

Biles ends up winning the AA with 55.700, followed by Jones, then Blakely. Roberson in 4th. 13.850 bars for Wong puts her .050 back of Roberson in 5th, Lincoln takes 6th, and DiCello 7th.

Love my highest scoring team from today of Biles, Jones, Blakely, Roberson, and Miller.

Taking into account nationals, nothing happened today to change the Biles, Jones, Blakely, Roberson, and Lincoln group by average score and best-of-three scores. Wong is very close to that group (as is Miller now that she has a good bars number), so wouldn’t be surprised to see Wong on the team, though she would be my alternate.

I imagine they would be more scared of bars on a team with Roberson and Lincoln on it than I am, but we shall see.

DiCello would have been like…2nd AA if she had hit bars today, but it would have been an AA-based case, and she didn’t hit bars.