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?