Let’s round out the collection with some floor routines. Obviously, Simone’s in first, but there are about 80,000 different people that are either in the high 5s in difficulty, or just an “actually getting credit for that D dance element that you’re never getting sweetie” away from being in the high 5s.

Simone Biles – 6.8

So, it’s not super close between Simone and Rest of World, but it is worth noting that Simone’s reigning  highestD-score routine is the one from Classic, without the triple double, where she received a 6.8. The routine from nationals is also intended to get a 6.8 D, but she has not yet received the full 6.8 for that set.

This routine from Classic is more reliant on connection value (0.5 here compared to 0.3 in the nationals routine) and less reliant on skill values (4.3 here compared to 4.5 in the nationals routine) and actually puts her behind Jade Carey in total skill value since Carey is going for 4.4 on skills, just with fewer connections.

Theoretically, if Biles puts out both the triple double and the Biles + front layout combination at the same time (she was doing the stag out of the Biles at nationals), she would have a 6.9 routine.

Jade Carey – 6.4

The most we’ve seen Carey receive for this routine this year is 6.3—in the embedded edition, where she would not have received credit for the split leap 1.5—but she is attempting 6.4 should everything go to plan.

There is no connection bonus in this routine (Carey performs a connection in her final pass with no bonus in order to fulfill the front tumbling requirement), so all value must come from skills.

MyKayla Skinner – 6.1

Skinner is trying to go for a max of 6.1 for this routine. The most she received at nationals was 5.8—where it looks like all the leaps will have been taken down 1 CV (at least that’s how I get to 5.8). She’s nearly there on the skill difficulty, but like Carey, has to go entirely on that because there’s no connection bonus in the routine.

Angelina Melnikova – 5.9

There’s quite a bit of risk in Melnikova’s attempted 5.9 D score because she has to get credit for the double L and the turn combination and the Memmel all in the same routine to get up there, but it worked for her at Euros, where she was credited at 5.9 on multiple occasions. Continue reading The Most Difficult Floor Routines in the World →

In today’s edition, I’m working through the highest D scores that have been attempted on beam in 2019 (and we’ll get to the issue of getting credit for them in a moment).

As such, there may be other gymnasts who have attempted 6.4+ routines this year, but since they got awarded a 0.6 or something, they didn’t make the radar.

Kara Eaker – 6.8

Eaker received credit for the full difficulty she attemped at Classic this year with her 6.8 en route to that 15.400 total.

Her basic value—that is, if she got credit for no connections in her routine and just the skills—is 5.3, which is on the lower side in this company and means she is exceptionally reliant on hitting connections with appropriate rhythm in her routine. Kind of her thing.

Eaker’s 1.5 intention of 7 separate combinations of skills earning bonus is the highest in the world, with even the Chinese connection queens typically going for five.

Ou Yushan – 6.8

Ou has to count her dismount, which is a C, and that takes her difficulty down by a tenth because it means she cannot count her side somi (D) as one of the acro skills. Otherwise she would be at 6.9, the highest being attempted in the world.

Ou has the two single most valuable combination being done by anyone in her routine, the side somi to two side leaps, connecting three D elements for 0.2 for each connection and a tenth for series bonus. It’s a tough one to get credit for, but she did in this case.

In this routine, Ou has the highest connection value being attempted in the world at 1.6. Her base difficulty without connections is just 3.2, so she’s even more reliant than others on getting that combo credit.

Guan Chenchen – 6.7

Guan has a number of different routine options, and we’ve seen this particular 6.7 routine pop up only at Chinese nationals. The routine she attempted this month at junior nationals moves that initial switch 1/2 combination series and eliminates that orphan Korbut, which brings her down a tenth in intended D but seems a more comfortable arrangement overall.

Compared to Eaker’s routine or Ou’s routine, Guan has a bit more skill difficulty and is going for a bit less in connection value, with 1.3 total in connections instead of 1.5 and 5 distinct bonus sequences instead of 7.

Simone Biles – 6.6

The double double routine puts Biles up at 6.6, with composition that’s quite different from the two above since Biles doesn’t rely as much on connections. Her basic score with no connection bonus for this routine would 5.6, and even that would never happen because quite a bit of Biles’ connection bonus is from series like the 2 losos and the dismount, where it’s a true rebounding series and therefore not really a subjective rhythm thing in the same way. If she doesn’t fall on those series, she’s getting the bonus.

Five tenths of Biles’ difficulty here is what I’d consider “whatever the rhythm happens to be on the day” difficulty, whereas a full point of the difficulty in Eaker and Guan’s routine could be lost if it’s a pause-y kind of day, even in an overall hit routine, and 1.4 could be lost in Ou’s routine.

Biles has removed some of the highest value acro skills from her routine this year like That Damn Barani and the front pike, though especially when the new dismount is in, you don’t really notice.

Interestingly, even with the new dismount in, Biles is not showing the highest total skill difficulty on beam this year. At 3.6, her value from elements is close to the highest, but not the highest. Continue reading The Most Difficult (Attempted) Beam Routines in the World →