The 2016 World Cup Circuit
There have been modifications to the World Cup circuit, in number and in the qualification process. There are now 3 World Cups instead of 4: there is no Tokyo World Cup this year. The remaining 3 World Cups - American, Glasgow, and Stuttgart - will all be held in March rather than throughout the calendar year. It's no longer the top all arounders that qualified but rather the top countries that get to pick an all arounder to send. This is why previous World Cup stars Larisa Iordache and Oleg Vernaiev will not be in attendance.
On the MAG side: I see a comeback battle for all the competitions. It's interesting to see what a healthy Sam Mikulak will be capable of doing in the Olympic year. As a matter of fact, 3 of the top 4 that I envision are returning from some kind of injury - Kato, Wilson, and Mikulak. This should be a great battle for the podium. The Glasgow World Cup will certainly favor the 2 talented British men. Marvin Kimble is a young athlete that with a lot of talent but needs to really shine if he wants to pass the US 2012 Olympians and Whittenburg for a spot on that Olympic team. This will be a great test for him to see what he can accomplish and where he falls in a group of talented previous World Championship competitors. Lastly, injury has hindered both Germans to some extent. It will be interesting to see where they fall with a healthy Leyva to throw in the mix as well. Kuksenkov is only recently starting to live up to his potential so he could possibly battle his way onto the podium in Stuttgart.
On the WAG side: This might actually be the most interesting set of World Cups that we've had in quite some time. For the American Cup, the battle will certainly be between Douglas and Nichols for gold but the battle for bronze isn't all that clear with Tinkler and Black but also the recent surge of Oliveira and Murakami. Ferlito, if healthy, could also challenge. Glasgow is probably's Claudia Fragapane's to lose but if she missteps in the least, there are plenty of gymnasts biting at her heels. Honestly, this World Cup on the WAG side seems the most exciting because of the vast array of difficulty and execution. It's early in the season too so we may get to see some potential upgrades for some gymnasts. Lastly, the Stuttgart competition hosts a lot of hype in the battle between Dennis and Downie. Near the end of the US domestic season we started to see shades of the junior Dennis that was phenomenal. If that athlete is the one that competes, it should be a close battle. High flying release moves and insane tumbling height from these 2 gymnasts should make for an exciting competition. We also get to see 2 new seniors and how they will fare in a tougher environment prior to the Test Event.
Home competitors are listed first followed by the remaining athletes.
| Name | IOC | Name | IOC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabrielle Douglas | USA | Sam Mikulak | USA |
| Maggie Nichols | USA | Donnell Whittenburg | USA |
| Tabea Alt | GER | Lucas De Souza Bitencourt | BRA |
| Elsabeth Black | CAN | Pablo Braegger | SUI |
| Carlotta Ferlito | ITA | Andreas Bretschneider | GER |
| Mai Murakami | JPN | Ryohei Kato | JPN |
| Lorrane Oliveira | BRA | Park Minsoo | KOR |
| Amy Tinkler | GBR | Sun Wei | CHN |
| Tisha Volleman | NED | Nile Wilson | GBR |
| March 5 11:30AM ET, NBC broadcast 1-3PM ET Newark, NJ, USA American Cup |
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| Name | IOC | Name | IOC |
| Claudia Fragapane | GBR | Daniel Purvis | GBR |
| Max Whitlock | GBR | ||
| Madison Copiak | CAN | Arthur Nory | BRA |
| Elisabeth Seitz | GER | Yu Cen | CHN |
| Enus Mariani | ITA | Masayoshi Yamamoto | JPN |
| Asuka Teramoto | JPN | David Belyavskiy | RUS |
| Vera van Pol | NED | Christian Baumann | SUI |
| Akash Modi | USA | ||
| Mykayla Skinner | USA | Junho Lee | KOR |
| March 12 13:00 GMT / 8:00AM ET Glasgow, Scotland, UK Glasgow World Cup Coverage Saturday 12th 13:00-17:30, LIVE Gymnastics - World Cup, BBC Online and Connected TV Sunday 13th 16:30-18:00, Gymnastics - World Cup, BBC Two (18:30-20:00 BBC Two Scotland) Updates Maegan Chant replaced by Madison Copiak Marvin Kimble out. Replaced by Akash Modi (Feb 29) Vera van Pol replacing Lieke Wevers (flu) (Mar 3) Kelly Simm GBR out due to minor injury Yufen Xie CHN withdrew. Elisabeth Seitz of GER listed on the nominative list. Maria Kharenkova RUS out due to visa issues. (Mar 11) |
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| Name | IOC | Name | IOC |
| Pauline Schäfer | GER | Fabian Hambuchen | GER |
| Sophie Scheder | GER | Marcel Nguyen | GER |
| Amelia Hundley | USA | Caio Souza | BRA |
| Elissa Downie | GBR | Yu Cen | CHN |
| Elisa Meneghini | ITA | James Hall | GBR |
| Isabela Onyshko | CAN | Donghyen Shin | KOR |
| Seda Tutkhalyan | RUS | Nikolai Kuksenkov | RUS |
| Celine van Gerner | NED | Oliver Hegi | SUI |
| Danell Leyva | USA | ||
| March 19 12:30 CET / 6:30AM ET Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Stuttgart/DTB Pokal Updates Nia Dennis out due to Achilles tear. Amelia Hundley listed as replacement (Feb 29) Tabea Alt and Elisabeth Seitz replaced by Pauline Schafer and Sophie Scheder GER (Mar 10) Yufen Xie of China has withdrawn (Mar 10) Fabian Hambuchen has withdrawn and is replaced by Andreas Bretschneider (Mar 10) |
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Check back here for updates, links to live streams when they become available, and (potential) lineup changes as the events draw near!
Which World Cup competition are you most excited to watch?
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