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

SIMONE BILES

Double layout full (H) + Split jump (A) = 0.1 CV

Biles (G) + Front layout (B) = 0.2 CV

Switch leap full (D)

Wolf turn double (D)

Front full (C) through to Mukhina (E) = 0.2 CV

Switch leap (B)

Split leap 1.5 (D)

Silivas (H)

Acro – HHGEC – 3.1

Dance – DDD – 1.2

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 0.5

Total D – 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

JADE CAREY

Moors (I)

Popa (C)

Double layout full (H)

Leg-up hop full (C)

Switch leap full (D)

Silivas (H)

Split leap 1.5 (D)

Front tuck (A) through to Mukhina (E)

Acro – IHHE – 3.0

Dance – DDCC – 1.4

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 0.0

Attempted D – 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

MYKAYLA SKINNER

Moors (I)

Front tuck (A) through to Mukhina (E)

Leg-up hop full (C)

Switch leap full (D)

Silivas (H)

Split leap 1.5 (D)

Double L turn (D)

Back 2.5 (D)

Acro – IHED – 2.6

Dance – DDDC – 1.5

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 0.0

Attempted D – 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

ANGELINA MELNIKOVA

Double L turn (D) + Double turn (B) = 0.1 CV

Double layout full (H)

Switch leap (B)

Sankova (D)

Double layout (F)

Wolf turn double (D)

Front tuck (A) through to double tuck (D)

Memmel (D)

Double pike (D)

Acro – HFDD – 2.2

Dance – DDDD – 1.6

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 0.1

Total D – 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

KARA EAKER

Switch split mount (D) + Split ring leap (D) = 0.2 CV

Y spin (C)

Front aerial (D) + Split ring jump (D) + Back handspring (B) = 0.3 CV, 0.1 SB

Side aerial (D) + Layout stepout (C) + Layout stepout (C) = 0.3 CV, 0.1 SB

Split leap (B) + Side somi (D) = 0.1 CV

Switch ring (E) + Back handspring (B) + Korbut (B) = 0.1 CV, 0.1 SB

Switch leap (C) + Switch side (C) = 0.1 CV

Back handspring (B) + Back handspring (B) + Back 2.5 (D) – 0.1 SB

Acro – DDDD – 1.6

Dance – EDDD – 1.7

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 1.1

Series bonus – 0.4

Total D – 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.

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Ou Yushan – 6.8

OU YUSHAN

Back dive candle mount (D)

Front handspring (B) + Front tuck (D) = 0.2 CV

Switch leap (C) + Switch leap 1/2 (D) + Korbut (B) = 0.2 CV, 0.1 SB

Front aerial (D) + Split jump (B) + Straddle jump (B) + = 0.1 CV, 0.1 SB

Switch ring (E) + Split ring (D) + Back handspring (B) = 0.3 CV, 0.1 SB

Full turn (A)

Side somi (D) + Split jump 1/2 from side (D) + Straddle jump 1/2 from side (D) = 0.4 CV, 0.1 SB

Round-off (B) + Back 2/1 (C)

Acro – DDC – 1.1

Dance – EDDDD – 2.1

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 1.2

Series bonus – 0.4

Total D – 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.

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Guan Chenchen – 6.7

GUAN CHENCHEN

Switch split mount (D) + Switch leap 1/2 (D) + Back handspring (B) = 0.3 CV, 0.1 SB

Round-off (B) + Layout (E) + Split jump (B) = 0.2 CV, 0.1 SB

Switch leap (C) + Sissone (A)

Korbut (B)

Front handspring (B) + Front tuck (D) = 0.2 CV

Front aerial (D) + Straddle jump (B) + Back handspring (B) = 0.1 CV, 0.1 SB

Split jump 1/2 from side (D) + Straddle jump 1/2 from side (D) = 0.2 CV

Full turn (A)

Round-off (B) + Double pike (E)

Acro – EEDD – 1.8

Dance – DDDD – 1.6

Composition – 2.0

Connection value – 1.0

Series bonus – 0.3

Total D – 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.

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Simone Biles – 6.6

SIMONE BILES

Squat through mount (A)

Wolf turn triple (E)

Front aerial (D) + Split jump (B) + Straddle jump (B) = 0.1 CV, 0.1 SB

Back handspring (B) + Layout stepout (C) + Layout stepout (C) = 0.1 CV, 0.1 SB

Switch leap (C) + Switch leap 1/2 (D) + Back pike (C) = 0.2 CV, 0.1 SB

Side aerial (D)

Split jump 1/2 from side position (D)

Sissone (A) + Wolf jump (A)

Back handspring (B) + Back handspring (B) + Double-twisting double tuck (I) = 0.2 CV, 0.1 SB

Acro – IDDC = 2.0

Dance – EDDC = 1.6

Composition requirements = 2.0

Connection Value = 0.6

Series Bonus = 0.4

D-SCORE = 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 →

A D-score analysis of the most difficult bars routines of 2019 so far. Just because.

Routines are arranged in descending order of D score, and I haven’t included elements like casts and giants in the D-score breakdowns because snoozer.

Nina Derwael – 6.7

NINA DERWAEL

Nabieva (G)

Downie (F)

Derwael-Fenton (F) + Ezhova (D) + Stalder Shaposhnikova (D) + Pak (D) + Van Leeuwen (E) = 0.6 CV

Toe-on full (D) + Full-twisting double tuck (D) = 0.1 CV

GFFEDDDD = 4.0

Composition requirements = 2.0

CV = 0.7

D-SCORE = 6.7

In this group of highest D routines, Derwael is performing the most difficult individual elements (the only one getting 4.0 for her skills) and is in a tie the second-most connection bonus at 0.7—so kind of a recipe for the lead in the D-score race. She’s the only person in the world right now performing 3 elements rated F or higher on bars.

The only category in which Nina doesn’t reign is in most connection value gained on bars, a title that belongs to Fan Yilin.

Fan Yilin – 6.5

FAN YILIN

Piked-Stalder 1/1 (E) + Komova II (E) + Pak (D) + Stalder Shaposhnikova (D) + Gienger piked (D) = 0.6 CV

Piked-Stalder 1/2 (D) + Healy (E) + Ling (E) + Fan (D) = 0.3 CV

EEEEDDDD = 3.6

Composition requirements = 2.0

CV = 0.9

D-SCORE = 6.5

What’s remarkable about this routine is that Fan is done in just two sequences of skills, requiring just two cast handstands—the lowest of any routine here. Most have four different sequences of elements, meaning four cast handstands and that many more opportunities for deductions.

Fan has no skill in her routine rated higher than E, but she gets up to second-highest in difficulty through connection bonus, which at 9 tenths is clearly the best of the bunch. The only downside is that she has to add in an extra element (9 elements of D or higher in this routine when only 8 can count) to get that CV total, which is another opportunity for deductions.

Sunisa Lee – 6.4

SUNISA LEE

Nabieva (G) + Pak (D) + Maloney (D) + Bhardwaj (E) = 0.5 CV

Van Leeuwen (E)

Giant 1.5 (D) + Piked jaeger (E) = 0.1 CV

Full-twisting double tuck (D)

GEEEDDDD = 3.8

Composition requirements = 2.0

CV = 0.6

D-SCORE = 6.4

With Derwael, Sunisa Lee is the only other one performing a G element. That allows Lee to get up to this 6.4 plateau despite having the lowest CV of all the gymnasts reaching 6.4, with 6 tenths in bonus. The rest are at 7 or higher. Lee is also the only one in this 6.4 group performing an isolated dismount with giants beforehand. For now.

Elisabeth Seitz – 6.4

ELISABETH SEITZ

Maloney (D) + Ricna (E) = 0.2 CV

Piked Jaeger (E)

Downie (F) + Pak (D) + Van Leeuwen (E) = 0.4 CV

Toe-on full (D) + Full-twisting double tuck (D) – 0.1 CV

FEEEDDDD = 3.7

Composition requirements = 2.0

CV = 0.7

D-SCORE = 6.4

No one’s composition is exactly identical here, but they all have the same general idea (except for Fan). The same basic style and type of skills and Van Leeuwens, just in different orders. What’s interesting about Seitz’s routine formulation is that she saves the most highly valued portion of her routine—the most difficult single element and most important CV sequence—for the second half of her routine when most gymnasts try to get that out of the way at the beginning. Continue reading The Most Difficult Bars Routines in the World →