Arabian Punch Front's Olympic Wishlist

I was going to make this my banner (click to enlarge) but
1. Raluca Haidu wasn't chosen for the team (bottom left)
2. It's too big
3. I'm just not sure I like it anymore.

Either way, these are my Olympic favorites and I'll base Part 1 of my wishlist off of these guys.
1. First and foremost, I hope we have an injury free meet!

2. I hope judging is fair.



3. I do hope that Team USA wins gold but I hope it's a nailbiter for all of the top 4 teams.

4. I hope Gabby does well in the AA and UB final. I'm nervous about her balance beam, nervous enough that I think Aly could sneak into the AA final if she messes up. Also, Gabby made UB EF at 2011 Worlds but hit her foot on the low bar (0.5 deduction) and missed a connection because of that. I hope memories of her last performance on an international stage don't affect her this time. Her routine is lovely and I hope it comes through as such each time she performs it.

5. I hope Rebecca Tunney does well representing GBR and maybe makes FX final. I love her floor routine and love how high she gets on all of her tumbling passes. I would also like for her to prove Al Trautwig wrong! [At the American Cup, Tunney fell 3 times off the beam. He said, "She's going to need Dr. Phil after that.]

6. I hope Kristina Vaculik does well representing Team Canada. I'm not sure if she'll make UB or BB final but I hope she makes the AA and even places top 16 (top 10?!). Canada didn't qualify a team to the 2008 Olympics and she was not chosen as the athlete to represent the team. Vaculik has stayed involved with Canadian gymnastics and took the last year off from Stanford in order to train for the Olympics. She's one of the most underappreciated gymnasts. Her bar routine is exquisite and her beam routine is lovely and innovative.  I hope she does well!

Watch her BB routine here or below:


7. Someone on TCG said it well - "Grishina wins an individual medal in something ... I want to see her come out of the Komova/Mustafina shadow a little bit." Personally, I hope it's on UB but that's probably the toughest one for her to be one of the top 2 Russians on that day.

8. I hope Youna Dufournet hits bars like it's nobody's business. Dufournet has had a rollercoaster of a quad. She missed out on a World Medal because the coach present at that meet touched her as he was spotting her - an automatic 0.5 deduction. After that, her personal coach wanted to make a point by keeping his hands away from her on that same release move. Unfortunately, Dufournet fell and injured herself. She's finally back, with a new coach, and has probably the largest UB skill repertoire of any gymnast out there right now. Dufournet can compete a Gienger or a Def (a full twisting Gienger), different tkatchev combinations and has even added Weiler kips. She has some amazing Tweddle-esque connections (aka breathtaking) but also has the control to finish almost all of her moves and complete them in handstand. I hope Dufournet makes it to finals and does an excellent routine that can contend for a medal.

Watch her UB routine here or below:

9. In general, I love UB so I hope it's a good final. Athletes I'm hoping to make it - He Kexin and Huang Qiushuang (CHN), Viktoria Komova and Anastasia Grishina or Aliya Mustafina of course (RUS), Beth Tweddle (GBR), Elizabeth Seitz (GER), Youna Dufournet (FRA), Gabby Douglas and Kyla Ross (USA), and perhaps one of the Japanese or Heo Seen Mi representing Korea. I hope that there are no falls. I hope judging is fair. I hope this final is really exciting.

10. I hope Victoria Moors makes the FX final and medals. She has an exquisite floor routine and I love for athletes from non-Big 4 (USA, Russia, China, Romania) countries to shine in event finals. She will also probably be Canada's 2nd AA gymnast so I hope she does well in that and helps Canada qualify to the top 8.

Watch her AMAZING floor routine here or below:


11. I hope Aly Raisman makes it to BB and FX final. I'm hoping more for FX and for a FX medal. Ever since Secret Classic it seems like Aly's had a little extra sass, a little extra pep in her step. I hope that sass comes out again and she performs and medals on FX.

Who are you rooting for?

Remember, Qualifications begin on Sunday, July 28th at 9:30am London time/4:30am ET/2:30am MT/1:30am PT with Mixed Group 2 (Elsa Garcia, Ana Sofia Gomez), 6 (Vasiliki Millousi, Valeria Pereyra, Heo Seon Mi), 1 (Yamilet Pena), and Brazil!