The Rio Test Event - All You Need to Know

The Rio Test Event will take place on April 16-18 at the Rio Olympic Arena. This will be the last chance for gymnasts to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio later this year. Not only is it a high stakes event and a great chance to give international experience and try out new seniors on a big stage, it is also a chance for gymnasts and coaches to scope out the arena, the Olympic Village, training halls, etc. It's a great time to start planning for the big trip - jet lag, climate acclimation, etc.

Teams that placed 9-16 at the World Championships in 2015 will have an additional chance to qualify. The top 4 teams at this meet will go to the Olympics. The other 4 teams will be able to choose one athlete to send to the Olympics. All other athletes competing at the Test Event, are vying for their spot at the Olympics.


On the men's side
Japan, China, Great Britain, Russia, USA, Switzerland, Brazil, and Korea have already qualified a team.
Rayderley Zapata (FX) of Spain, Harutyun Merdinyan (PH) of Armenia, Eleftherios Petrounias (SR) of Greece, Ri Se Gwang (VT) of North Korea, Marian Dragulescu (VT) of Romania, Oleg Verniaiev (PB) of Ukraine, Oleg Stepko (PB) of Azerbaijan, and Manrique Larduet  (HB) of Cuba have already qualified to the Olympics as an individual.
Belarus withdrew as a team. This allows Belgium to bring a team of gymnasts to the Test Event and Belarus will bring 2 gymnasts instead.
Russia has already qualified as a team and is able to send 2 gymnasts but no gymnasts are on the nominative list.


On the women's side
USA, Russia, Great Britain, China, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands have already qualified a team.
Hong Un Jong of PRK (silver on vault) and Pauline Schaefer of GER (bronze on balance beam) have already qualified to the Olympics.
The People's Republic of Korea has withdrawn their team from contention so only Hong will represent them at the Olympics. The 2 alternates will now attend the test event, Colombia and India.
USA, Russia, and Japan have already qualified as a team and are able to send 2 gymnasts each but no gymnasts are listed on the nominative list.



SCHEDULE
The event finals schedule is very interesting and not sure if it'll stay that way.

April 14	MAG Podium Training
April 16	MAG Team and AA Competition
10:30-13:00 BRT 9:30-12:00 EDT	Subdivision 1 (GER, MG 9, MG 1, MG 5, MG 7, CAN) MG9: COL, COL, JPN, JPN, GBR, GBR MG1: AZE, LTU, POR, ARM, AUS MG5: GRE, GRE, GRE, HKG, ARG, PRK MG7: RUS, RUS, SUI, SUI, CRC
14:30-17:00 BRT 13:30-16:00 EDT	Subdivision 2 (ROU, ESP, MG 2, FRA, MG 6, MG 4) MG2: TPE, TPE, HUN, BLR, BLR MG6: USA, USA, UZB, RSA, CZE, ALG MG4: KOR, KOR, PUR, PUR, BRA, BRA
18:30-21:00 BRT 17:30-20:00 EDT	Subdivision 3 (UKR, NED, MG 3, BEL, MG 10, MG 8) MG3: MEX, MEX, CHI, IRL, TUR MG10: ITA, ITA, NOR, CYP, NZL, VIE MG8: CHN, CHN, JAM, ISR, CUB, FIN
April 15	WAG Podium Training
April 17	WAG Team and AA Competition
9:30-11:30 BRT 8:30-10:30 EDT	Subdivision 1 (AUS, ROU, MG 5, MG 6) MG5: HUN, HUN, CHN, CHN, POL, POL, CRO MG6: COL, IND, BLR
13:00-15:00 BRT 12:00-14:00 EDT	Subdivision 2 (MG 4, MG 1, BRA, SUI) MG4: AZE, SVK, UKR, MAS, VEN, ARG, ARM MG1: GRE, GRE, NED, NED, GBR, GBR, UZB
16:30-18:30 BRT 15:30-17:30 EDT	Subdivision 3 (MG 7, MG 8, GER, KOR) MG7: ESP, ESP, SWE, SWE, CUB, TTO, NZL MG8: RUS, RUS, PER, POR, GUA, CHI, VIE
20:00-22:00 BRT 19:00-21:00 EDT	Subdivision 4 (BEL, MG 2, FRA, MG 3) MG2: CAN, CAN, SLO, IRL, ALG, JAM, ISL MG3: MEX, MEX, ITA, ITA, AUT, AUT, TUR
April 18	MAG and WAG EF
13:10-14:10 BRT 12:10-13:10 EDT	MAG FX, WAG VT
Awards
14:25-15:25 BRT 13:25-14:25 EDT	MAG PH, WAG UB
Awards
Break
17:10-17:40 BRT 16:10-16:40 EDT	MAG SR
Awards
18:00-18:30 BRT 17:00-17:30 EDT	MAG VT
Awards
18:40-19:10 BRT 17:40-18:10 EDT	WAG BB
Awards
Break
20:30-22:00 BRT 19:30-21:00 EDT	MAG PB & HB, WAG FX
Awards

LIVE STREAM
Updated Apr 14 - FIG will upload "52 minute highlight videos of both the individual and team competitions" for both MAG and WAG the day after competitions for both qualifications and event finals. Here's the link to the FIG Youtube Channel.


ROSTER

WAG		MAG
IOC	Name	IOC	Name
USA	-	JPN	Chihiro Yoshioka
RUS	-	CHN	Sun Wei Liao Junlin
GBR	Becky Downie Gabby Jupp	GBR	Brinn Bevan Nile Wilson
CHN	Zhang Jin Gong Kangyi	RUS	-
ITA	Giorgia Campana Lara Mori	USA	Jake Dalton John Orozco
JPN	-	SUI	Marco Rizzo Kevin Rossi
CAN	Isabela Onyshko Victoria Kayen Woo	BRA	Sergio Sasaki Arthur Zanetti
NED	Lieke Wevers Sanne Wevers	KOR	Hansol Kim Wonchul Yoo
BRA	Rebeca Andrade Jade Barbosa Daniele Hypolito Lorrane Oliveira Flavia Saraiva Carolyne Pedro Milena Theodoro	GER	Lukas Dauser Andreas Bretschneider Marcel Nguyen Philipp Herder Andreas Toba Ivan Rittschik Helge Liebrich - alternate
FRA	(Camille Bahl - alternate) Marine Boyer Marine Brevet Loan His Anne Kuhm Louise Vanhille Oreane Lechenault	FRA	Samit Ait Said Kevin Antoniotti Guillaume Augugliaro Julien Gobaux Cyril Tommasone Axel Augis Zachari Hrimeche
BEL	Axelle Kinckaert Julie Croket Laura Waem Rune Hermans Gaelle Mys Senna Deriks Cindy Vandenhole - alternate (Nina Derwael)	NED	Michel Bletterman Bart Deurloo Frank Rijken Casimir Schmidt Jeffrey Wammes Epke Zonderland Anthony van Assche - alternate
GER	Tabea Alt Leah Griesser Pauline Schaefer Sophie Scheder Elisabeth Seitz Pauline Tratz Maike Enderle - alternate	UKR	Oleg Verniaev Igor Radivilov Vladyslav Kryko Maksym Semiankiv Illia Yehorov Andrii Sienichkin
ROU	Diana Bulimar Ana Maria Ocolisan Catalina Ponor Dora Vulcan Silvia Zarzu Andreea Iridon - alternate Maria Holbura	ESP	Nestor Abad Joel Plata Adria Vera Alberto Tallon Rayderly Zapata Ruben Lopez Andres Martin - alternate
AUS	Georgia-Rose Brown Emily Little Larrissa Miller Rianna Mizzen Kiara Munteanu Emma Nedov Alexandra Eade - alternate	ROU	Alexandru Andre Ursache Cristian Ioan Bataga Vlad Cotuna Andrei Muntean Marian Dragulescu Marius Berbecar Daniel Radeanu
KOR	Jeong Hee Yeon Kim Chae Yeon Kim Ju Ran - alternate Lee Eun Ju Lee Go Im Lee Hye Been Yun Na Rae	CAN	Rene Cournoyer Mathieu Csukassy Scott Morgan Anderson Loran Jay Hugh Smith Jackson Payne Kenneth Ikeda
SUI	Caterina Barloggio Thea Brogli Nicole Hitz - alternate Ilaria Kaeslin Laura Schulte Stefanie Siegenthaler Giulia Steingruber	BEL	Maxime Gentges Jimmy Verbaeys Daan Kenis Bram Louqije Siemon Volkaert Dennis Goossens Florian Landuyt - alternate
ESP	Claudia Colom Ana Perez	BLR	Dzmitry Barkalau Andrey Likhovitskiy
HUN	Zsofia Kovacs Noemi Makra	COL	Jossimar Calvo Javier Sandoval
POL	Gabriela Janik Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska	ITA	Ludovico Edalli Matteo Morandi
PRK	-	GRE	Vlasios Maras Eleftherios Kosmidis
MEX	Ana Lago Alexa Moreno	PUR	Luis Revera Andres Perez Gines
SWE	Emma Larsson Jonna Adlerteg	HUN	Botond  Kardos Vid Hidvegi
AUT	Lisa Eckerle Elisa Haemmerle	TPE	Chen Chih-Yu Lee Chih Kai
GRE	Argyro Arfrati Vasiliki Millousi	MEX	Kevin Cerda Daniel Corral
VEN	Jessica Lopez	CUB	Randy Leru
POR	Ana Filipa Martins	ARM	Artur Davtyan
UZB	Oksana Chusovitina	CRO	Filip Ude
CUB	Marcia Vidiaux	HKG	Shek Wai Hung
SLO	Teja Belak	CHI	Tomas Gonzalez
TTO	Marisa Dick	POR	Gustavo Palma Simoes
PER	Ariana Orrego	NZL	Mikhail Koudinov
GUA	Ana Sofia Gomez	CZE	David Jessen
JAM	Toni-Ann Williams	TUR	Ferhat Arican
TUR	Tutya Yilmaz	CYP	Marios Georgiou
ARM	Houry Gabeshian	NOR	Stian Skjerahaug
MAS	Farah Ann Abdul Hadi	LTU	Robert Tvorogal
ALG	Farah Boufadene	FIN	Oskar Kirmes
NZL	Courtney McGregor	IRL	Kieran Behan
BLR	Kylie Dickson	AZE	Petro Pakhnyuk
ARG	Ailen Valente	RSA	Ryan Patterson
VIE	Phan Thi Ha Thanh	UZB	Anton Fokin
AZE	Marina Nekrasova	ISR	Alexander Shatilov
SVK	Barbora Mokosova	JAM	Caleb Faulk
UKR	Angelina Kysla	VIE	Pham Phuoc Hung
CHI	Simona Castro	ALG	Mohamed Abdeldjalil Bourguieg
IRL	Ellis O'Reilly	CRC	Tarik Soto
CRO	Ana Derek	ARG	Nicolas Cordoba
ISL	Irina Sazonova	AUS	Michael Mercieca
COL	Catalina Escobar Gomez	IND	alternate
IND	Dipa Karmakar	SVK	alternate
RSA	alternate	DOM	alternate

Bookmark this page and keep checking back for updates as they become available!

Jesolo 2016: The Olympic Year is Here - Seniors

Below we have part 2 by Ele recapping the senior and event final competition! If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

The senior competition was less balanced in terms of winners, but in no way less exciting. The American gymnasts did not come to play games, and neither did Brazil or France. These two teams will soon be competing at the Rio Test Event to try and qualify a full team to the Olympics, and this was an important chance for them to test their level of preparation. Italy completed the roster of the competing teams, though with a heavily limited lineup of Ferlito, Carofiglio, Campana, Leolini, Mariani, and Ugrin, due to a long list of injured or recovering gymnasts (Ferrari, Fasana, Rizzelli, Busato, Marongiu, and Mori) and with Meneghini competing at the Stuttgart World Cup at the same time as the Jesolo competition. The US easily managed to win the team competition by a huge 13 points over silver medalist Brazil. Third place for Italy, who managed to lead over France thanks to a solid floor rotation, and fourth for France, who still posted fantastic bars and beam scores.

It was overall a very exciting competition, full of surprises and breathtaking moments. One of them was definitely Aly Raisman’s fall on her Amanar vault. She didn’t look convinced on this apparatus during warm-up and when the time came to compete, she sat it down. At first she looked put off and disappointed, but after a few words from her coach Mihai Brestyan, she quickly got herself together, like the champion we know her to be, and proved herself on every apparatus, making two finals, and winning a bronze (beam) and a gold (floor) medal on the following day. Some people read a lot (possibly too much) into this fall, claiming that it could jeopardize Aly’s spot on the Rio team. Personally, I think that this actually proved the opposite: mistakes happen all the time, but Aly is an experienced gymnast who knows this and knows how to not let a mistake influence her overall performance. The fact that she managed to leave that fall behind speaks louder than the fall itself, and Martha Karolyi seemed to agree while speaking to Aly at the end of day 2.

Gabby Douglas had yet another stellar competition, hitting all of her routines with great confidence both on day 1 and 2. She and Aly were fan favorites at Jesolo and the crowd cheered the loudest for them out of all the competitors, and Gabby’s stuck passes in her floor routine had everyone clapping and shouting at the top of their voices. She won the all-around competition and also won a silver medal on bars and a bronze medal on floor. Ever since her comeback, she has not taken a single false step, and this is a very important aspect that Marta will definitely keep in mind while drafting the perfect Rio team.

First year seniors Ragan Smith and Laurie Hernandez had a fabulous competition as well, showing that young age and relatively little experience mean next to nothing when you have confidence, skills, artistry, and a great deal of talent on your side. They respectively won silver and bronze AA. Ragan also won silver on floor and beam, while Laurie won gold on beam and silver on vault. Ragan has a new floor routine on a theme from The Addams Family and it is the perfect balance of cute and sassy. It is extremely entertaining, smartly choreographed, and executed with a great deal of attention to every detail. The tumbling is difficult and performed with precision, but what makes this routine stand out among so many others is Ragan’s ability to “sell” it so well. The audience already loved her as a junior, and this performance only reinforced those feelings. Everyone was clapping and enjoying the originality of her movements (you could even see Ragan’s teammates performing parts of her choreography alongside her while waiting for their turn). The audience was extremely excited after day one when they realized she had made floor EF, which meant they could watch her lovely routine a second time!

Everyone on team USA had a really good competition overall, including Ashton Locklear, winner of the UB EF gold medal and whose extremely precise lines left everyone speechless; Mykayla Skinner, whose execution has improved remarkably on all four events, excelling on VT where she secured herself a gold medal; Emily Schild, a gymnast who in a way flew a bit under the radar before this competition, where she came out with a very valuable and very well executed UB routine (very similar to teammate Locklear’s) that allowed her to make EF over other US gymnasts; and new seniors Sydney Johnson-Sharpf and Emily Gaskins, who despite not standing out on any particular event, still posted solid scores that would benefit any team in the world (but sadly, not the USA team, given their current insane depth).

It was really cute to see Brandy Johnson, Sydney’s mom and coach, beside her daughter, encouraging her and giving her last minute advice and hugs. All the coaches in general, and Marta most of all, paid very close attention to the girls and some, like Kim Zmeskal, literally went through the routines at the same time as their gymnasts, if only with their head and expression.


Team Brazil showed a very high level of preparation on all four apparatuses, thanks to the stellar AA performance of Flavia Saraiva who managed to end up in fourth place. She hit her difficult beam set with ease, she hit her upgrades on uneven bars, including her pretty piked jaeger, and she enchanted the audience with her new upbeat floor routine that she performed with her usual grace and flow. When I first heard that she had changed her previous music and choreography, I was a bit sad because I thought nothing could compare to the cuteness of that routine. But then I saw this new one and was sold from the start. She is an incredible performer and the Rio crowd is going to go absolutely crazy for her when she executes it at the Test Event and (hopefully) during the Olympics. But most importantly, Flavia whipped out her brand new double twisting Yurchenko on VT, a very important upgrade for her and her team, especially in view of the upcoming Test Event. She didn't get much height on the table (probably also due to her own limited height), but her form was absolutely neat and she landed it with no problems, for a huge 9.250 in execution.

The team was also helped by the comeback to international competition after a bad injury of Rebeca Andrade. She did not compete on floor, but her clean lines and her great power were remarkable. Sadly she counted a fall on bars during event finals, to which she had qualified with a beautiful 14.6, or she could have probably challenged for a medal, but this is not surprising after such a long time away from competition, and this is all good experience for her before her future, more important, assignments.

All the gymnasts in team Brazil had beautiful performances, including veteran Jade Barbosa and second-year senior Carolyne Pedro, who scored in the 13s everywhere. Daniele Hypolito was not as solid and reliable as usual, but still hit an important 13.750 score on bars. Sadly, Lorrane Oliveira did not get to compete, probably for some minor pain, but she was sitting with the audience, supporting her team with loud cheers.

Despite the unusual lineup, team Italy performed generally well. Enus Mariani had a fall on bars, which prevented her access to the final on her favorite event, but was otherwise solid everywhere else and showed a lot of confidence and dance moves in her new floor choreography.

Desirée Carofiglio, debuting here as a senior, showed her beautiful double front pike (Dowell) and double front tuck on floor, two very difficult and unusual skills for an Italian gymnast, a team that usually does not favor front tumbling. She had falls on beam and bars (where she landed her beautiful double front dismount though), but delivered a nice 14.550 on vault, with her 1 ½ Yurchenko. Her lack of experience was an issue, and it is why it is so important for her to compete internationally, especially in view of the next quad.

Tea Ugrin had barely recovered from a fever, and for this reason she was not in perfect shape. She downgraded her floor tumbling, opening with a double pike, but showed her new choreography to the music of Let It Go, from the Disney movie Frozen, which was very much appreciated by the audience and her teammates. She hit a clean UB routine, where her inbars looked beautiful, but sadly she fell on her dismount during EF. Hopefully she'll be able to get back in shape soon, as she is scheduled to participate in the Rio test event together with Lara Mori.

Both Alessia Leolini and Giorgia Campana had a clean competition with no falls, but their D scores on the low side compared to their teammates need some upgrading in order for them to be more competitive.

The most successful Italian gymnast of the competition was predictably Carlotta Ferlito, who ranked 8th in the AA, first among the Italians. She performed her 1 ½ Yurchenko with a much better form than in past competitions, and national team coordinator Enrico Casella mentioned that the DTY she has been working on for a while is now ready and she'll soon show it in competition. Her bars were mostly clean, just like her difficult beam (she only had a deduction for a low landing). On floor, she finally managed to complete her stunning Mustafina turn, and amazed once again the audience with her engaging choreography. She is one of the most popular Italian gymnasts and the crowd went crazy for her routines.

The following day she was supposed to compete on three event finals (FX, VT, BB) but she announced on Twitter that she had withdrawn from FX and VT due to exhaustion. She had in fact competed two weeks before at the American Cup, where the time zone change had taken a toll on her, and then had an intensive team camp in view of the Jesolo meet, after which she traveled straight to Jesolo. Keeping up such a high level of training for almost a month is not easy, and this is why she and her coaches decided to just have her compete on her favorite event. Carlotta is a professional athlete and when she went up on beam she hit all of her skills with confidence. However, looking at her face, it was clear that she did not feel she was on top of everything as she normally does. She looked very tense and it took her a longer time than usual to set up for each skill and series. She was also wearing her “unlucky” leo, aka the one she wore during Italian nationals last year and with which she counted three falls in the AA, making her lose the title of national champion that ended up being Tea Ugrin’s.

When the time came for the dismount, she completely missed her footing on the last back handspring, getting next to zero push from the beam itself to go into her double pike dismount. Everyone who knows a little bit about gymnastics immediately knew this was going to end up really badly. She still went for her double pike and landed it in the worst way possible: right on her neck. The time basically froze as the audience and everyone in the arena fell completely silent. She was resting on the mat, face down, holding her neck with her hands, and not moving. Only after a while she started crying really loudly and her coach and other people started crowding around her. They put a brace around her neck and carried her away to a stretcher and after a while she was taken to the local hospital to have a CT scan and an MRI.

It was a really scary fall and even her coach looked shaken when he informed the press of the situation. The girls who had to go up next on beam tried their best not to watch any of the happenings. Aly Raisman, Ragan Smith, and Laurie Hernandez kept warming up and going through their own routine to keep themselves “in a bubble” and trying to prevent the external world from penetrating and weakening their mental focus. This was effective as all of the remaining competitors hit their routines cold, including Enus Mariani, who had to go up right after this commotion and whose dismount was exactly the same as Carlotta’s. Resuming the competition after such a scary event was hard, and everyone kept waiting for news of Carlotta’s, but the show must go on, and so it did. Luckily, everything took a turn for the best and Carlotta’s medical exams did not show anything seriously wrong with her, not even her foot. Her neck was just sore and so was her ankle after hitting the beam in an awkward position, but hopefully she'll be back to full health in no time.

Witnessing such a scary event in first person was really hard and it seriously makes you realize how dangerous this sport can be and how incredibly good elite gymnasts are at what they do. They are so careful and train so perfectly that 99% of the times they make you forget about the dangers, but then an episode like this happens and the whole perspective suddenly shifts. On a different note, one that is considerably less important than Ferlito’s health, all team Italy supporters can't help being extremely grateful that Italy already qualified a full team to Rio during the Glasgow World Championships, because if they had to undertake the test event right now, against the high level teams that will compete this year, counting all of these injuries plus Ferlito’s, things would look extremely difficult.

The amount of concern Carlotta’s fall raised throughout the gymnastics world and especially her competitors during the Jesolo meet was, in a way, very heartwarming to witness. Once recovered from the initial shock, the audience cheered for her the whole time while she was being taken care of and carried out of the arena. She also received an overwhelming number of messages from fellow gymnasts, including a tweet from Aly Raisman herself, wishing her a speedy recovery on behalf of the whole team USA. Such sportsmanship displays are always lovely to see.

Before the Jesolo competition I had doubts about whether or not the French team had what it takes to qualify for Rio. Now I have even more respect for them and I can appreciate even more what a great competition the Test Event will be. They started out on bars, where they posted a series of amazing scores, all of them in the high 13s, with the sole exception of Camille Bahl who is a VT/FX specialist. Loan His scored the highest and proceeded to gain a bronze medal during EF, the only non-American who was capable of making a podium and thus preventing the US from making a clean sweep. The team was also very solid on beam, where new senior Marine Boyer scored an impressive 14.850 with a confident routine. Also remarkable was the AA performance of Marine Brevet, first ranking French gymnast who finished her competition in 10th place. Her lowest score of the day was a 13.450 on floor, so overall she had a really good day.

Speaking of floor, the team in general seemed to suffer on this event. No one had a higher D score than 5.2 and despite delivering mostly clean routines, this prevented them from reaching a higher team total. Lack of difficulty aside, Oréane Lechenault’s routine was really original and entertaining to watch. In her floor choreography she impersonates a puppet doll, replicating its mechanical and jerky movements in a very different and enjoyable way. Her leaps were also well executed and she had a lovely presence and smile.

Camille Bahl did not have a stellar day, counting a fall on both floor and vault, two events where the team was counting on her to lead. This does not bode well for her imminent future in the national team, especially since new senior Juliette Bossu (who was not at Jesolo), has a lovely floor with considerable difficulty and, if healthy, could challenge for a spot on the team.

At the end of the meet, on both days, the audience literally crowded around the barriers to get an autograph or a picture with the gymnasts. A lot of them had flags or handmade posters and their level of excitement was comparable to that of someone trying to get the attention of a movie star which was very cute to see. This goes to show how much the sport of gymnastics has grown in Italy in terms of popularity. The American gymnasts were the main focus of course, especially Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, whose presence at Jesolo has become something of a ritual. They were happy to comply, under the watchful eye of Marta Karolyi, who only allowed them a limited time with the fans, as their bus was already set to depart. Ashton Locklear, Emily Gaskins, and Laurie Hernandez were among the ones who spent more time signing autographs, for the utter joy of many young girls. Among them were also many of the junior gymnasts from Italy and Finland who had competed in Jesolo too, and who approached the seniors with the same level of deference as any “regular” person in the crowd.

Overall this meet did not disappoint the high expectations. It was packed with excitement, surprises and, most importantly, excellent gymnastics, and definitely raised the bar for the next few months leading up to the most important meet of the year: the Rio Olympic Games.


Thank you, Ele, for the wonderful recap. You can follow her on tumblr at elisaminimeneghini!

Jesolo 2016: The Olympic Year is Here

To recap Jesolo, we have Ele of elisaminimeneghini who was in attendance. Here's her perspective on the junior performance.


This year’s City of Jesolo Trophy has been one of the most anticipated competitions of the year and it definitely didn’t disappoint the expectations. The opening ceremony reminded everyone that this is the Olympic year, through a really well choreographed metaphor of the gymnasts from all over the world striving to reach Olympic glory, in the form of five girls dressed in the colors of the Olympic rings and dancing around row upon row of gymnasts wearing the green, white, and red colors of the Italian flag, and flag bearers carrying the flags of the nations taking part in the Jesolo Trophy. It was really dramatic and emotional, the perfect opening chapter for a high-level competition.

The junior all-around competition that took place on the morning of Saturday 19th featured 4 super-star level juniors from the USA: Jordan Chiles, Emma Malabuyo, Gabby Perea and Trinity Thomas. The first three girls had already competed just a few weeks earlier at the Gymnix junior competition in Canada, and, as per everyone’s predictions, they did not disappoint this time either.

Jordan Chiles delivered a really solid performance across all the apparatuses, breaking the total AA score of 58.2 (over two points higher than the silver medalist). The highlight of her competition was definitely her Amanar on vault (which also allowed her to win gold on VT EF the following day, being the only junior capable of this difficult vault). A lot has been said about her performing such a high difficulty element while still being a junior, and I saw her crash it a few times during warm up, making the whole crowd take sharp intakes of breath. Therefore, when her time to go came, I was really nervous. But there was no need to be at all, as she landed one of her best vaults so far, with a nice block, great form in the air, and an upright landing, for a huge 15.7 score. Simply beautiful.

Both Emma Malabuyo and Gabby Perea (respectively, silver and bronze AA medalists) had a very good competition, with Emma being rock solid especially on bars and beam, where she wowed the audience with her lovely lines and flexibility. Her consistency on these events helped her secure a silver medal on bars and a gold medal on beam.

Gabby Perea also delivered a fantastic UB routine, where she qualified in first place for the event final with a 14.65 (event in which she won a gold medal on the following day during EF), and she probably would have reached second place AA if only she had hit beam like she is capable of doing. During her routine on this event, she nailed her tuck standing full and her gorgeous layout, but then she sadly missed her footing while landing after her switch ring leap, straddled the beam, and miraculously prevented herself from putting her feet down, thus not counting a fall. It was really impressive to see her fight so hard and succeed to remain on the apparatus and the audience really appreciated her effort. Despite this mishap, she still scored 13.6 on beam, allowing her access to the final, but once again she had a mistake on her switch half and this time she counted a fall. That was unfortunate, as her beam is probably one of the hardest and she would have had no problem winning gold had she hit, but she is still very young and I am sure this experience will help her gain more confidence and perfect her set.

Trinity Thomas completed the US junior lineup and she was definitely the less experienced gymnast on the team. This led her to make a few mistakes on bars and beam, but her floor was really entertaining and her high D-score (5.8) coupled with her clean form and high tumbling helped her qualify for finals where she won the gold medal. In the AA she ended up in fifth place, because precious Ana Padurariu from Canada outscored her finishing up in 4th place helped by an absolutely fantastic beam routine that scored 14.850, with a 6.1 D-score. The highlight of Padurariu's routine was the triple acro series featuring a side-aerial to two layout step-outs which was really solid during AA but which she sadly fell on during EF. Her floor was also really enjoyable and nicely performed, with her lovely smile making everything look way more effortless than it really was.

The first Italian junior in the final ranking was 2003 born Giorgia Villa. This young gymnast is a very promising all-arounder and it is a shame for Italy that she will not be age-eligible for the junior European Championships, later this year. She and Martina Maggio were in the same rotation as the American girls and you could definitely tell they were both in awe of them and terrified to go up after them on the apparatuses. They tried not to look at the super talented US gymnasts before their turn, probably to avoid losing confidence and staying concentrated, and this makes Giorgia’s performance even more impressive. She especially impressed on uneven bars, where she executed a mostly clean 5.7 D routine (a really great start value for any Italian gymnast, let alone a junior), that allowed her to qualify for the final where she placed third, right behind Perea, Chiles and Malabuyo (the latter two tied for silver).

Speaking of the junior Italians, Martina Maggio was undoubtedly the most successful of them all. She had a great day, qualifying into three finals where she proceeded to secure three medals (silver on VT and BB, and bronze on FX). Her beam is lovely and solid, she recently upgraded her vault to a Yurchenko 1 ½, and her floor choreography is sassy and capable of engaging the audience. She was born in 2001 and, barring injuries, she’ll have no problems making the junior Euros team.

All the Italian juniors showed promising routines, even though some of them made mistakes that prevented them from accessing to the finals. Elisa Iorio has a difficult 5.8 D bars routine, and Martina Basile has a lovely double Arabian on floor, a Yurchenko 1 ½ and a layout to two feet on beam. Last but not least, Francesca Noemi Linari hit all of her routines, making three EFs and ending up in fourth place on beam.

It was lovely to see the young gymnasts from other countries as well. Helene Schaefer (Pauline’s sister) from Germany looks really promising and with her clean work she went home with an important bronze on beam. Canadian Jade Chrobok has lots of potential on VT (where she earned a bronze) and FX. The young Slovenian and Finnish girls still need some time to be competitive, but it was still great to see them taking part in an important international competition and see how ecstatic they were to be there. All the juniors in general looked very star-struck looking up to the seniors (especially the Americans) and patiently waited at the end of the competition for them to sign their autographs and take pictures with them, just like all the other gym fans in the audience. It was really heartwarming to see!

Stay tuned for the senior recap!

Recap of the 2016 World Cup Series

The World Cup Series has come to an end with USA winning both the men's and women's team title. On the women's side, they had a 1-2 finish at the American Cup with Gabby Douglas and Maggie Nichols. Mykayla Skinner won the World Cup in Glasgow. At the Stuttgart World Cup, Hundley finished in third place.

There were high hopes for the American Cup to be a great competition. Douglas and Nichols had gone back and forth in ranking throughout the 2015 domestic US season. At the 2015 World Championships, Nichols competed the all around in team finals. Douglas surpassed this score in the all around final where she earned the silver medal. I was hopeful that this competition would be a true battle between the two athletes for the title. The scores were close after vault, especially since neither athlete showed their Amanar vault. On uneven bars, Maggie missed a connection (added in a toe-on giant) and lost several tenths in difficulty. At that point, Douglas went into the lead by 0.7 and it continued from there. After a near flawless balance beam routine and an energetic floor exercise, Douglas secured her win with Nichols in second.



The battle for 3rd would also be interesting. Tinkler and Black had a back-and-forth going for sometime. A fall for Tinkler on floor cost her a shot at a medals after a great meet with impressive upgrades on uneven bars and her lovely gainer layout step out - loso-loso combo. Black showed consistent routines which earned her a medal. Special shoutout to Carlotta Ferlito and Tabea Alt. Ferlito looks the best she's looked since the last quadrennium with a balance beam reminiscent of her junior days that made us all fall in love with her and an excellent floor performance which draws you in. Alt made her senior international debut at American Cup and held her own relatively well.

Tisha Volleman, a member of the Dutch 2015 World team, also competed and showed a great individual competition. Lorrane Oliveira was also present but did not have a great competition with multiple (painful) falls that landed this all around finalist her in last place. Mai Murakami showed a somewhat average performance for lack of a better word. It was not the same as her illuminating performance at worlds, as she may have been affected by the time difference, but it was still a good start as Japan determines it's worlds team.

At the Glasgow World Cup, the battle was between Mykayla Skinner and Claudia Fragapane, a hometown favorite. Fragapane had unfortunate errors on bars and beam which lowered her in the rankings. Her impressive difficulty on floor, however, was able to bring her back into the medals. Skinner managed to win the competition though there was some general unsteadiness on beam and her Moors on floor exercise (laidout double double) was dangerously tucked. If the judges choose not to credit it, she would lose lots of difficulty since it would look like she does the same skill twice. She is also working on adding back her triple twist floor exercise dismount. Eli Seitz of Germany earned the silver medal here. She has taken out her Def on uneven bars and she has shown immense improvement on that event.



We wrap up the World Cup Series with the Stuttgart World Cup where countrywoman Sophie Scheder had an emotional win. She made it through vault safely and showed an excellent uneven bar routine. Her beam was secure and she sealed the win with a 3-pass floor exercise with some unsteadiness on the landings. Isabela Onyshko, like Black at the American Cup, was steady throughout to earn the silver medal. Amelia Hundley had to take an extra swing on uneven bars and then had to play catch up through the rest of the meet to earn the bronze medal. Seda Tutkhalyan, to the irony of everything in the world, fell on vault and hit her layout full and layout on beam. She also showed a new Bhardwaj on uneven bars. Unfortunately, this was not enough for her to get into the medals.



Overall, I have mixed feelings about this World Cup Series format. I think in the Olympic year, it works out well since teams get to try out multiple athletes in a 1 month block period. It was a great way to trial athletes for the Test Event, European Championships, or the ever-elusive Rio Olympics. It's great for gymnastics fans because we get to be in a gymnastics coma for an entire month. Overall, on the women's side, the World Cup Series was more exciting with battles for gold at each competition and the remaining medals not as obvious.

What were your favorite performances from the World Cup Series?

Chantysha Netteb (NED) Back From ACL Tear

Chantysha Netteb is a Dutch elite gymnast who will try to fight for a spot on the Olympic team. In 2012, Netteb had her international debut where she helped the Dutch team to a solid 6th place finish and won the gold on vault. In 2013, she again attended the European Championships, this time as a senior. Unfortunately, she had a fall on vault in the event finals which kept her out of medal contentions. Later that year, Netteb was selected to the World Championship team, again eyeing a spot in the vault event finals in her first worlds. She had upgraded to a new double twisting Yurchenko and her 2nd vault was a Tsukahara full. Unfortunately, Netteb was unable to show her second vault after tearing her ACL on the first vault. She has spent quite some time out of gymnastics and has had multiple knee operations since.

How did you first get started in gymnastics?
When I was little, I liked to do gymnastics things. I did things like somersaults on the couch, which frightened my mom, so she decided to put me in a gym for little children.


What's your favorite memory as a young gymnast?
My favorite memory as a young gymnast was winning the Dutch Championship on the day of my 11th birthday, because that was what I wanted as a birthday present. I knew at the beginning of the season that the Dutch Championships was scheduled on my birthday and had lived for months up to that moment. I remember that I woke up that day, my mom had a birthday present. I was very happy with it but said to her that my biggest birthday present would be winning the Dutch Championship. My mother laughed and said, I cannot give you that, that is a present only you can give to yourself.


When did you start to realize that you were good at gymnastics?
Difficult question, people around me always told me how good I was, I was not thinking about that at all. The funny thing was, that I was looking at other gymnast and thinking how good they were. I will say it in another way: when I was a youth/junior that is when I realized that I was strong enough to compete against the older and more experienced gymnasts.


What is your most proud accomplishment?
Winning the first ever gold medal for the Netherlands at a WAG European Championships, beside that I am also proud for making vault finals in my first senior year at the 2013 Worlds Championships.



Can you talk about your initial injury - what happened and how you felt afterwards?
I had torn my acl at the World Championships in 2013,  this happened during the landing. My right knee gave in, which tore my cruciate ligament.

Afterwards several things went through my mind. It was my first World Championship and it meant a lot to me. I was really happy that I had qualified myself for the Vault finals and I wanted to do better in the finals but could not finish it. I realised I was going to be out for a long time and I was very sad and heart broken.


How have you been since then?
After my recovery operation of my cruciate ligament, I took the time to recover, it went well with my knee. I started building up, but during the trainings I noticed that I had some stability problem with landing on one leg, so I decided to do another operation to fix that. I am now building up again and working with my coach on a program. It goes well.


Did you watch the World Championships in Glasgow? What were your thoughts?
I watched the World Championships. I was hoping that the Dutch gymnasts would do well and would be able to stay in the running to go to the Olympics with a team. They did very well and I am really happy that the Netherlands can send a WAG team to the Olympics.


What are your goals for this year? When may we see you in competition again?
My goals are to be fully fit and able to do a good program so that I can qualify myself for the Olympic team. I am now busy building up my program and I hope that everything will work out fine, so that I can be back soon at competitions.

HAPPY! :)Vandaag buiten mededinging meegedaan met een aangepast programma in Volendam. Na 2,5 jaar weer sprong (D 5.0)...
Posted by Chantysha Netteb on Sunday, March 20, 2016

Floor and beam can also be found on her facebook page

This weekend was Netteb's first time competing vault in 2.5 years. She competed watered down routines but was successful with all 3 - VT 5.0/14.100 (DTY), beam 4.7/12.650, and floor 4.5/12.350 (with a front 2/1!). Congratulations, Chantysha, on your comeback and best of luck as we continue through this Olympic year!

Gymnix 2016 Event Finals Live Blog

Live blog of the Gymnix 2016 event finals!

The senior competitors start on vault, challenge competitors on beam, and the junior competitors on floor. Keep refreshing for updates!

4:35PM Hope you guys enjoyed that! Go through in reverse order. Scores for juniors and seniors should be there. Think vault is missing for a rotation or 2. As soon as I get them, I'll post. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Rotation 4
Juniors on Beam, Seniors on FX, Challenge on Bars

Ooh they heard me!


Click to enlarge!

4:30PM - Will post full results once they become available. The commentator has signed out so not sure if the stream will cut off without showing the scores like the other rotations.

4:25PM
Klinckaert BEL FX - Damn. Superb DLO! Best one today hands down! tucked full in. Double Y but falls out early. switch ring. switch full. 1.5 wolf. Sky high double tuck! Double pike. The audience loves it!!!

Lapp FRA BB - Nice mount. Triple series, steps back and comes off. Leaps. Side somi. Switch ring. Side aerial-sissone. Front aerial to sheep. One of the few to truly connect them today. 2.5 small hop back.

4:20PM
Hanawa JPN BB - nice mount. wolf-split. front aerial leg up wobble. sheep. leg up again. switch split-back tuck small adjustment. bhs-bhs-layout 2 ft. solid. wow! bhs-bhs-loso. why both, girl? switch ring? adjustment. full turn. double tuck step back.

Meyers BEL FX - more dramatic Belgian music and she's drumming. leaps. double pike with steps back OOB. double tuck. switch ring to switch full. single wolf and puts her hand down a la Paseka. we'll see what they do. Nice jazzy beat.2.5 OOB again.

4:15PM
Gabby Perea USA BB - double turn. soli standing full. split leap-sissone. falls on her layout! nearly saves it but comes off. split-switch half and leg up again but stays on. switch ring. front aerial. side somi. 2.5 step back.

Onyshko CAN FX - ring full. whips through to double tuck. Is this a new routine? switch ring to switch split to stag. Nice. Full in dangerously low oh man. Her face was close to the ground. turns to illusion. double tuck


4:10PM
Zubova RUS BB - nice layout. nice scale. bend at hips after her Y turn. what is that skill? it's like an Onodi with a handstand in between. Nice connections. Double tuck and lurches forward.

Rousseau CAN FX - double arabian. 1.5 to double tuck. double pike hops forward.

Irina Alexeeva USA UB - Maloney to Gienger. toe 1/2 to laidout Jaeger. very straight bail. toe giant. giant half to double front. not bad!

4:05PM
So I missed Chrobok on beam.

Eythora Thorsdottir NED FX - she's just standing on her toes for like 5 seconds... leaps. double pike a few steps back. ro to switch ring half. 2.5 punch front tuck to stag. Think she missed the ring in her switch ring. Connected to a ring leap. Not her best.

4:03PM
Emma Malabuyo USA BB - double wolf. wobbles the last 1/4 turn but makes it. bhs-loso-loso lovely! sheep jump small wobble. front tuck to sissone. great (like gabby)! nice tucked arabian! side aerial. front aerial-split-straddle. switch ring leg up wobble. double pike. chest low. awesome international debut. WOW!!

Yuna Hiraiwa JPN FX - Addams family FX. twisting pass. falls on double tuck. missed that pass? fhs-front full to stag? don't quote me. Falls on 2.5 just kinda slips. That's what I get for telling you guys I like her.

4:00PM
Missed Botnaru on BB. No falls that I saw.

Olsen FX - tucked double double very low but didn't put hands down. Double tuck. Nice triple. Stuck double pike!

3:55PM
Perebinosova BB - fall ons layout. Side somi. Nice double tuck dismount.

Kajita FX - missed beginning. Nice triple. FHS-2/1. Double Y. Double tuck step back.

Dick UB - clear hip half, straddle shoot to high. Giant full. Toe tuck half. Missed the beginning.


Rotation 3
Juniors on Bars, Seniors on Beam (oh dear God), Challenge on Vault! Apparently challenge is done on vault so hopefully I don't miss too much this time!


Nina Derwael 13.975

3:46PM
Derwael BEL BB - Can I watch? I can't watch... I'm watching. I apologize in advance...
Great mount. Switch split - ring leap. Front aerial-sheep wobble. Slow connection. Side somi. bhs so-bhs so-loso leg up wobble. Solid side aerial. Steingruber dismount.

The beam scores might be tight!


3:43PM
Apparently scores aren't registering on bars now either.

Mys BEL BB - switch ring. sheep. Onodi (wanted to connect but wobbled). split-front aerial-sissone. full turn. bhs loso loso small wobble. Nice double pike. [I missed the middle so not sure if she had skills after her triple series]

Soza USA UB - toe full to Tkatchev. Ray. toe 1/2 to Ezhova. kch 1/2 toe shoot to high. FTDLO


3:38PM
Onyshko CAN BB - bhs-bhs-lo 2 feet. switch split-side aerial nice. bhs-tuck full on the beam but off to the side, 1 foot basically off, and falls. split-wolf. front aerial to switch half. Y turn. switch ring. Double tuck.

Padarariu CAN UB (lol I almost typed Romania) - jump to high- giant 1/2 totally misses straddled Jaeger. Ouch. Padarariu (inbar piked Tkatchev). Bail. stalder, stalder shoot. Giant full. FTDB. Good finish.

Perea USA UB - toe giant-Chow 1/2; inbar 1/2 to straddled Jaeger; toe full to Pak had to reach but makes it. Van Leeuwen. pin straight DLO. small step. 14.275.

3:35PM
RWoo CAN BB - wolf hop, front aerial side somi. falls on punch front. bhs-layout 2 feet. switch split-split/sissone who knows. switch half. double pike.

Boo. One of the gymnasts clocked her feet on the bar before her dismount in warmup. She's ok walking away gingerly.

Charpy FRA UB - nice Shaposh-Pak. Great van Leeuwen. Nice pike Jaeger. DLO.


3:31PM
The juniors literally sprinted to the bars haha. Part 2 getting ready!

3:29PM
The 2nd group of juniors waiting to warmup. One more to go on beam before we swap!

Kajita JPN BB - wolf-sissone, small wobble. damn great extension in switch split-back tuck. front aerial to split. bhs so-bhs so-loso. so beautiful. over rotates Y turn. switch ring little adjustment. side aerial with some loose legs. slightly cheated triple twist dismount.

3:25PM
Semple BB - My feed froze during her leap. beautiful triple series (bhs-loso-bhs? It was very pretty!). Jeez beautiful leaps. Pretty low double pike

Iliankova UB - Shaposh-clear hip full to huge Tkatchev. Hindorff a bit close. Pak. Shaposh, giant 1/2, full in.

Shaver VT2 - Tsuk layout step back

3:20PM
Thorsdottir BB - sissone-side aerial-Korbut hit! Onodi-sheep  (a little slow) wobble. Illusion 3/4 not sure if that was intentional... split-front aerial to scale. L turn. switch split-Y turn-full turn wobble. split-wolf. 2.5 not bad but she's not happy. 13.875.

Maisie hitting bars

Jurca CAN - huge Ray. Scoops the Pak and has to take an extra swing. Maloney. giant 1/2. tucked Moors.

Dick VT TTO - piked FTY, low chest. Nice leo
VT2 - boo FHS tuck front. She did a great one in warmups.

3:16PM - This whole single device thing is annoying...
Perebinosova - I had to log in and out like 5 times but she did well. Nice Ezhova.

YUNA HIRAIWA - OH EM GEE MY BEAUTIFUL BABY. saw her double wolf and 2.5 dismount. Not bad. I discovered her I think before 2014 Worlds. She made the team but got injured so couldn't compete. Wasn't back good enough for the 2015 team. And here she is now :)


3:14PM - They're doing a handstand competition with 3 gymnasts vs Ellie. Ellie's shirt is like falling over her head haha. She's moving around and the gymnasts are just standing there, one of them in a stag handstand. Her name is Kennedy aka baby Brittany Rogers. That was really cute. Ellie picked her up now.

---

Rotation 2


Believe she said vault score reports were down. I'll update if I hear anything!

3:05PM
Soza
VT1: DTY - a little sideways on her block and doesn't land all the way around (she's facing the table but angled out a bit)
VT2: very straight Yurchenko straight. Very nice.

Megan Phillips' leo is so pretty. Goodness gracious! Didn't realize it has lace but it's so pretty. Double L turn. Double tuck small steps. Beautiful movement throughout. Switch split switch half. Double turn - think she was going for more but came out. Punch front full. Switch full. Has to watch the feet. Commentator said 2.5 twist (I thought 1.5). Man oh man that was beautiful!

3:01PM
Golgota
VT1: FTY - Great height and distance and form. NCAA 9.875 I'd say (so much height but not much distance)
VT2: missed it

Deriks UB - inbar-Komova. Pak. stalder, Chow to stalder 1/2 looks not sure if that was an error because she does another half turn. giant full. nice Tkatchev. gaint 1/2. FTDB not bad.

2:57PM
Chiles - sat her Amanar in warmup
VT1: Amanar with a big step forward! Not bad. I wanna give her a hug. Tbh, it's really not that bad. I think she'll have a very consistent stick.
VT2: Step to the side on DTY. Not sure if she stepped OOB.

Onyshko UB CAN - Maloney to clear hip full to Tkatchev. Hindorff with huge height. Gets a little stick on Pak. Van Leeuwen with a little leg bend. Nice double front.

Baby Moors - double front steps OOB. front 2/1. lovely music.

Woo CAN - Shaposh to clear hip half. clear hip half to straddled Jaeger. clear hip to bail to shoot to high. giant full. DLO. small hop.

2:56PM:
Kuwajima
VT1: missed first vault
VT2: Tsuk full. Step back.

Waem - had to fight at the beginning on her pirouette. Maloney to bail to shoot. toe full a little slow to Tkatchev. A little messy on half in half out.

2:50PM: 2nd half warming up. I'll get the template ready! Is anyone actually reading this? *crickets*

2:46PM:
Hanawa
VT1: missed the first vault - FHS front pike 1/2 stuck per commentator
VT2: FHS front pike - large step forward but great form in the air.

Kennedy SCO FX - jump L turn, OMG what is all this dance before her first pass? 1.5 through to double tuck that was great! switch ring switch straddle 3/4 I think. Nice down to the floor.  Boo she fell on her double pike, knees down. Was up for a great routine.

2:43PM:
Methuen
VT1: handspring front pike 1/2 that was pretty clean!
VT2: nice FHS pike. small hop forward.

Miyakawa - I didn't process that Sae made UB finals! jump to high - clear hip-stalder-stalder full-giant half. piked Jaeger. Pak that was caught super close to the bar but came up from it stalder 1/2 shoot to high. Wow no clue how she's swinging out of anything. Amazing front double pike dismount. 13.275

2:39PM
Kinsella
VT1: FTY - doesn't travel much. Pike down on landing. I think she's tired...
VT2: nice Yurchenko layout. Steps back.

2:36PM
Chrobok
VT1: very nice 1.5TY. I actually thought she was doing a double. Hop forward on the double.
VT2: and there she goes with the double. Great! Lost a little form in the air - slightly tucked

Kajita UB JPN with great stalders, excellent body line. Great high Jaeger. Full twisting double back with hips back a little so 2 steps back.

Polderman UB NED - Komova? to Pak, toe on, toe shaposh to bail shoot to high. full turn. giant 1/2 to nice straddled Jaeger. Full in dismount not bad. She just had some issues with her pirouettes. 14.0



Juniors on vault, seniors on bars, Challenge on Floor.

---

Rotation 1 - scroll down for start list. I'll stick to VT and FX this rotation.


Emma 14.350

Rose-Kaying Woo - guess she scratched.

2:22PM Malabuyo USA - nice full in tuck. Little hop. Double wolf comes up a little bit but comes back down. 1.5-2.5 and itsy bitsy steps close to the line. FHS-2/1 to stag. She was working on them a lot in warmups with Kim. Nice double pike.

2:17PM Padurariu CAN - nice opening pose. Ferrari. 2.5 punch front half. Had to pike a bit and one leg pops up. Nice switch half (she does it like Aly but definitely hits the split) and switch ring. 1.5 punch front full to stag that was lovely. Not sure where her D falls compared to Cimpian but she's definitely challenging. Nice double pike to close. 13.950

Phillips with a beautiful green leotard. I hope they get a picture of that. Great beam. Wobble on side aerial and just some foot issues on her leaps. Ooh. Good routine but tripped on her punch. Not sure if it would've just been a tuck full?

2:15PM:
Cimpian ROU - first place qualifier. Mys I think? Switch ring half. She definitely didn't get all the way around. Nice full in tucked. Great height and control on double pike. Double arabesque a bit sloppy (back leg goes up and down). Switch ring to switch full. NICE TRIPLE! Switch full great. Commentator tells me she's a former rhythmic gymnast which I did not know. Great double tuck to close. Just a hop! Forminte greets her off the podium. OMG her birthday is January 1. Shoot me now. 13.6.

Ramler USA - front aerial - sissone- split. very pretty. nice triple series. shoot. she has a new switch leap Onodi but fell. Kinda crumpled in her Onodi. Leaps and wobbles but stays on. 2.5 twist deep landing and a hop. 13.0

2:10PM - Oguchi JPN dramatic onto floor and opening pose. Super high double layout. Wow baby! 2.5 misses her punch but gets the front layout. Split full? Not great... Double Y. Punch double full punch front tuck and nearly sat but stayed up. Nice switch ring. 2.5 probably supposed to be a triple. She did not have the endurance.

2:08PM - 2nd group warming up

Perebinosova RUS - She's in the pretty blue sweetheart leo that Aliya often wears. Nice mount. Nice 2.5 punch front. Ooh great height on her switch leap, not so great on her switch half. 1.5 through to 2/1 hop back. Uh h wolf. Ugh. Double wolf and stands after one and fakes it into her standing full turn. Great height on double pike but has to take a step back.

2:02PM:
hmm. I have the vault stream on and no Rose...

Botnaru ROU - piked full in, steps OOB. Very nice double pike. Switch ring - switch half-split. Nice double tuck. Stuck! Switch full. Double full. Her twisting axis was off so she kinda popped out of it and kicked a leg out.

1:57PM:
Sae Miyakawa
VT1: DTY - a little piked
VT2: just a FHS layout. It was very clean. All I know is i looked up during warmups at some point and she was on the ground so probably just playing it safe.

Kinsella GBR - nice Y turn. 1.5 through to 2.5 jump to the side. low triple. was worried she wouldn't make it around. hop in place. nice double pike. double tuck low chest again. nice routine just didn't quite have the endurance for it.

1:55PM:
Shallon Olsen
VT1: nice DTY hop in place - 14.825
VT2: Khorkina - tucked Yurchenko 1/2 on tuck 1.5 off. Stick! Chest a little low.

Iliankova RUS - nice full in. missed a pass for Shallon's vt. nice L turn. double tuck stuck and end pose.

1:47 Athlete presentation. New Russian leo on the left. Will try and get a better picture.


1:45PM: Ellie just told you to go chase your dreams. Do it!!!

1:40PM: They're presenting past Olympians! Ellie Black getting recognized as well. Loud roar for her! Flag presentation. Think it's a remix of I like to move it move it. I feel like I should be watching Madagascar right now.

1:33PM: Flash mob time!! Fireball by Pit Bull. I wonder if there's one at the end that the gymnasts can participate in as well.

1:30PM: Athletes were just advised to get ready for march in

1:26PM: Warm ups have finished but no athletes waiting by the events. Guessing we still have a few minutes.