My World Championships 2017

Photo by Alexandra Leask for thegymter.net


Being able to attend the 2017 World Gymnastics Championships in Montreal will be an experience that I will never forget. This post will be a bit of fan perspective with gym thoughts throughout.

I've been to Montreal twice before, all centered around gymnastics. Once was to go to the 2015 Canadian National Championships and the second was to prepare a documentary on Rose and Victoria Woo. Again, gymnastics brought me to Montreal. Thankfully, I'm driving distance from Montreal. I wasn't able to get the whole week off but I could get a weekend off which gave me the opportunity to attend the event finals. We drove up on Friday night which meant my boyfriend was reading live blogs and twitter feeds to me. [He started slowing down near the end, speaking really slowly, and I've never been so antsy in my life!]

We were lucky enough to stay in the Olympic Village. This now apartment/condo complex was used as the village for the 1976 Olympics, the very Olympics where gymnastics Queen Nadia Comaneci scored her first perfect 10. We had a great view of the Olympic stadium and the way it lights up at night. We were about 2 train stops away or a 20 minute walk.





The first day, we walked there and I was so freakin' excited!! Think my boyfriend thought I was insane but, oh well, now he knows. We got inside and took a picture in front of one of the #MTL2017GYM signs. I wanted to do a handstand but he said he wouldn't support me. Lame... Not sure if we'll make it to this sickness and in health thing...



We got there in time to see some of warmups. Nothing too interesting happened.

Since we were driving the night before and I was working through parts of qualifications, I went into event finals blind, not fully knowing who was in and who was out. For example, I still thought Georgia-Mae Fenton had made it into uneven bars final.

The men started us off on floor. The craziest thing is just how far above the rest Kenzo Shirai is. His twisting form is impeccable and it's like he has this uncanny sense of how exactly to punch the floor to get maximum benefit from it. Yul Muldouer was also super impressive. Crazy that he beat out one of the floor specialists to make the finals and beat out the second one for a medal. He has crazy clean gymnastics and my guess is that he's even more motivated after his first World Championships. With a veteran team, he was the only one to walk away with a medal. Sorry, TWO medals. Manrique is just as beautiful to watch as I had hoped. Sad that he walked away without a medal, same for Leru, but we'll get there.

I was so excited to watch a high level vault finals. Vault and uneven bars are my favorite women's events and the finals didn't disappoint. Giulia Steingruber, my one true love, was first up and I was just as in awe of her as I was before.The height she gets on her Rudi is out of this world. I was nervous before the double twisting Yurchenko because it's not her strongest but she hit it well. And then we waited.

I got on twitter and saw the Shallon Olsen was going to attempt a triple twisting Yurchenko and was so confused on why anyone thought this was a good idea. From what I gathered, she had been training it for sometime and decided to submit it. However, during warmup, she didn't hit any of them so she opted for the Amanar. From what I saw, before she went, she was terrified. She fell forward but, thankfully, wasn't injured. I'm amazed her Cheng went relatively well for how scary the Amanar was and how upset she was afterwards. But Shallon picked herself back up.

Then oh Paseka... The disappointment is real. She seemed relatively comfortable with her Cheng and lo and behold, it's one of the worse Cheng's she's done in awhile. Her Amanar, on the other hand, was one of the best she's done. Paseka, I don't know what to do with you anymore.



I know we talk so much about the #goworld going around this worlds but I truly loved how the athletes AND coaches had such respect for each other. Many of them have been in multiple event finals together but it was really great to see how supportive they were or how they went to every gymnast even if it wasn't their teammate or their own athlete.

When Jade went up, I was truly hoping that she would have enough to knock Paseka from the gold medal position but with the big step on the Amanar, I wasn't sure it would be enough. She gets great height and has good form but I agree with most: imagine what she could do with more time with those vaults. Maroney was competing her Amanar for quite some time before having to hit in a big international competition. Jade literally became an elite for this meet. Her accomplishments are amazing.

Pommels was pommels. Confession. Pommels and still rings are my least favorite so I went to the bathroom, came back, decided to see if the boo was feeling it and he wasn't, so we went to grab food. Thankfully in the area, they had broadcasts throughout the concessions so you were still able to watch even if you weren't at your seat.

Bars finals. So like I mentioned, I went into things a little cold. I think I subconsciously knew Diana Varinska made it more because of the "Ukrainian gymnastics isn't dead!" posts but I was still surprised. I'm glad that she hit. I was so glad to see my girl, Nina D. It was hard watching her wait to see if/what color medal she would get but I'm still so happy for her. Seeing Eremina's routine was great. A NABIEVA IN REAL LIFE!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Then the shocker moment. I really can't believe Fan Yilin won. There was that one pirouette that was super late and muscled. I thought it wouldn't be enough but in true 4-way world champ, she shocked me! I'm sad and don't understand what happened to Ashton. She had one job which was to hit. She's still a beautiful bar worker so we'll see if this affects her for future teams.



I'm writing the rest of this way later so it will just be bullet points. I apologize. I'll take notes next time! But still rings was impressive to have such a star studded final. There was also a very knowledgeable group. everyone was ecstatic for Samir Ait Said when he landed. And I blame Zanetti, I think, for the crosses with the hand out (or is it Petrounias?). But then Liu went further with his little neck game. Way to try and make still rings more interesting.

Boo thang and I walked around for a bit. I wanted to look for the mini olympic Museum (that's not what it's called). But I know last time I was there, there was info on the stadium and it's design and previous Olympics. As we went to fnd it, turned out we were in the area where the athletes got on the bus to their various hotels. So I got a picture with Tutya, told her I loved her and her Olympic beam and how amazing it was. I got a picture with Nagornyy and then a group of like 20 8 year old girls bombarded him after haha. Whoops. Sorry! Before we left the area, Khorkina was there and we got a picture with her too! Cray!






Oh yeah, then we were walking around town and bumped into eventual floor world champ on our way to exchange some money. More cray!!



Man vaults are cool. Crazy to see Dragulescu vaulting the Dragulescu in person. There were some real judging issues - your knees almost touch, maybe could be counted as a fall, and your E is like 8+. Alrighty then.

I don't have much to say about beam other than I'm very happy for Alt and Schafer, her little voodoo skill is cool. Obviously, I'm happy for Morgan too but I think these days, as long as the American hits, they'll medal. Beam scoring was still weird with only Schafer getting the only 8.0 E but still.

PBars. Heart broken for manrique. Again. Oleg is beautiful to watch.

Mai was up first for floor and I didn't know she was seeded first. She hit her routine beautifully with excellent difficulty and clean skills. Brookyln Moors was just as amazing to watch as you would expect. Jade Carey reminds me SO much of Brenna Dowell. Excellent tumbling but with some work to do on the dance. The biggest surprise was how excellent Claudia Fragapane was. Honestly. Her presentation was great. When Tyra walks about H2T, head to toe, modeling, Fragapane embodies H2T dancing. It truly was a joy to watch.

Also, sad times to ending with Ferrari's injury. That was heartbreaking.

High bar. What a freakin hilarious mess. Bart goes up. So so routine. Epke has his huge ass error. We were shocked the first time. Shocked with every slow mo. Then the way the scores went up, shocked to see him pass the medals and for so long. SO SO sad for Leru!! The only thing that made it tolerable was the fact that adding the point back didn't get him a medal. More mistakes. The one hit routine! Goodness gracious it's enough for gold. That final was a wild ride. The skills are enough to make it crazy. High bar is truly a great way to finish meets. The releases are heart stopping. You're constantly on your toes wondering if people will catch releases, how many can be connected, crazy German giants, crazy dismounts. It's just non stop excitement!

I have to mention the scoring. I should've mentioned this earlier. On the board, they would show Bart Duerloo, let's say. He was on first and they'd put his score on a sort of bar graph. then on the right was Epke Zonderland. And as his score went in the bar would raise. So there were quite a few things where you stood with bated breath (Jade vs Paseka for example) waiting to see if the bar would surpass the other person. It added to the crowd's anticipation, excitement, and involvement. We screamed a lot haha.

It was my first World Championships and was such an amazing experience. Hope I get to go to another major international meet again!

Team USA: More Questions Than Answers

I will be attending my first World Championships in Montreal and I am beyond excited. This is the first worlds in a long time where most of the medals are up for grabs and quite a few top level teams have a few question marks in their lineups. One of those teams is the US, the defending world and Olympic champions. US Nationals created more question than answers. Ten women were invited to the worlds selection camp that will take place September 18-22: Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Margzetta Frazier, Emily Gaskins, Morgan Hurd, Ashton Locklear, Riley McCusker, Alyona Shchennikova, Ragan Smith, and Trinity Thomas.

The only obvious part to this story is that Ragan Smith is going and that she will compete in the all around. After winning the American Cup earlier this year and as a 2016 Olympic alternate, all eyes have been on Smith for big things this quadrennium. Though she didn't perform all around at US Classics, she competed well on uneven bars and balance beam. At the 2017 US Gymnastics Championships, Ragan easily won the all around by over 3 points and finished top 3 on every event. Barring injury, Smith is an all around lock for the team.

The second all around spot is a bit trickier. The spot most likely will go to one of Riley McCusker or Jordan Chiles (should they choose to do two all around gymnasts). McCusker was anointed as the new "chosen one" - excellent uneven bar work, performance capacity on floor much like her former teammate Laurie Hernandez. Like Smith, McCusker competed at the American Cup but that performance left quite a bit to be desired. She has since competed at Classics and Championships though clearly not at 100% as she has been coming back from injuries. Her performance at Championships was much improved and reminded us why she has the potential to be the new it girl. She finished third at Championships and the meet could have been closer if she was able to vault her double twisting Yurchenko. She finished first on bars, ahead of specialist and Olympic alternate Ashton Locklear, second on beam and fourth on floor.




Jordan Chiles career reminds be a bit of her (semi) namesake, Jordyn Wieber. We have known about Chiles for quite some time with her incredible Amanar vault as a junior. She's had quite a few international competitions under her belt. She had an injury and some coaching changes that kept her more in the background over the past few months. To be quite honest, I was about to erase her from my list of gymnasts to watch but then she had a good enough performance over 2 days to end up second in the all around. She, unfortunately, fell on her Amanar but is reportedly training a Lopez. The second vault makes her a medal asset which is going to be important to consider when figuring out the final team.

The next obvious choice is Jade Carey. She vaulted onto the scene out of nowhere (cliche, I know). She vaulted a tucked Tsuk double twist during the JO season and was tapped by National Team staff. Carey was then invited to camp and has progressed from there. She now vaults a laidout Tsuk 2/1 (technically a Kasamatsu 1/1 but WAG Code of Points doesn't differentiate) and an Amanar. The Amanar gave her quite a bit of trouble during Nationals. Her vaults are valued at a 5.6 and 5.8 respectively. Chiles' theoretical vaults are valued at a 5.8 and 5.2. On D score alone, Carey has the edge, however, the questionable landing on the Amanar leaves a few questions. Carey also has the fact that she is an excellent floor worker going for her. She finished 2nd behind Ragan Smith and boasts explosive but clean tumbling passes.



Could that be a team of 4? It gets a bit odd having 2 VT/FX girls as it would force McCusker out of the AA (only 3 can compete on one event). Smith would do AA. McCusker UB/BB. Carey and Chiles VT/FX with one of them able to do BB. Carey has the potential to be Kayla Williams, stellar vaulter that medals at a World Championships but then goes on to do great things in NCAA. I'm not sure what Carey's long term plans are if she doesn't make the worlds team (she is committed to Oregon State for 2018) but would it be more worthwhile to invest in Chiles? Though very few athletes are the same as they transition from the junior to senior ranks, Chiles is one that we've been waiting on for quite some time to wow us. Is now that time?

So let's go back to only taking one VT/FX girl. McCusker will do AA and that leaves an UB/BB spot available. Morgan Hurd has previously been hand picked by Valeri Liukin as an athlete to watch. Hurd has also been one that we've watched thrive in front of our eyes from the Nastia Liukin Cup now to US Nationals as a senior. She had a recent injury that prevented her from being her very best at Championships. She finished 6th in the all around not showing full difficulty and with a few errors. If she's back at 100%, she is absolutely someone that could fill that UB/BB role but the question is will she be back in time.

Trinity Thomas finished third on BB and can also fill the BB role. She's incredibly steady there and also has a solid uneven bar.

Alyona Shchennikova is an interesting one. She's been making a name for herself over the past few years. She won the US Classic but went from being a talked about girl to being forgotten in the shuffle. I have a hard time calling her a true bar worker because of her flexed feet and dangerous dismount but she does have excellent swing. Will the fact that she's a stronger reincarnation of Nastia Liukin change anything? Her floor is literally Nastia 2.0.

Ashton Locklear seemed to be an easy and obvious choice except for the fact that she is not, at the moment, the number one uneven bar worker in the US. Locklear took some time off after Rio and has been working hard getting back in shape. She's yet another gymnast not quite at 100%. Locklear has room to improve her UB D by adding back her in bar skills. She is still training balance beam though I don't think that changes much, especially since this isn't a team worlds. I can't tell if she's injured or has a lot of pressure on her shoulders as the new grandma of the team but she seems a little worn down. She's still my favorite American bar worker but she's not quite giving that exclamation mark that she used to give.

The last 2 are Emily Gaskins and Margzetta Frazier. I don't think Gaskins has much of a shot of making the team barring injury from others. She finished 4th on floor exercise. Frazier, on the other hand, finished just outside of the medals at Championships. She is another one that boasts an Amanar vault but didn't compete it due to a recent injury. Should she rise up in the AA competitions at camps, there's a chance that she could be the second all arounder with McCusker UB/BB and Chiles OR Carey as VT/FX. If she's not on the team, she'd make an excellent alternate.

My final pick for the team... I can't quite make. I think Ragan Smith and Riley McCusker are locks. I think in the end, McCusker will do all around leaving specialist spots open. What are your thoughts?

Partial Roster 2017-2018

A running list of rosters. Next year it will contain all 4 years! This is for the Top 20-ish schools and I plan to grow the list with time. Class year determines when the athletes matriculated for their first term as a freshman unless otherwise noted. For example, class of 2016 means the athletes started college in 2016 and first competed January 2017.

Alabama
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Kylie Dickson Lexi Graber Bailie Key Alonza Klopfer	Wynter Childers Madison Desch Shea Mahoney	Abby Armbrecht Jenna Bresette Amanda Huang Avery Rickett
	Caitlin Cole	Angelina Giancroce Ariana Guerra
Notes: Amanda Huang transferred to Ohio State for her sophomore year Avery Rickett ? medical retirement Bailie Key changed commitment from Florida to Alabama Bressette, Cole unknown
Arizona
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Payton Bellows Sydney Freidin Laura Horton Adra Parks	Christina Berg Courtney Cowles Heather Swanson	Charlie Dembo Haylie Hendrickson Brittany Robertson Skyler Sheppard Danielle Spencer
	Shannon Farrell Isabell Hutchins Jenny Leung Maddi Leydin	Lauryn Mattson
Notes: Christina Berg '16 was Auburn Robertson is no longer at Arizona. Farrell, Dembo, Hutchins unknown Sheppard transferred to Auburn
Arkansas
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Sophia Carter Kailey Gillings Sydney Laird	Michaela Burton Hailey Garner Sarah Shaffer Jessica Yamzon	Mackenzie Anderson Sydney McGlone
Lakin Legereit Ellie Wylie	Kirby Rathjen
Notes: Shaffer is a redshirt and will have an additional year
Auburn
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Sydney Bassett Allie Riddle Ashley Smith Meredith Syliva Drew Watson	Katie Becker Gracie Day Kendal Moss	Samantha Cerio Emma Engler Taylor Krippner Emma Slappey*
Jada Glenn		Telah Black A'Miracal Phillips Skyler Sheppard
Notes: Christina Berg '16 switched to Arizona Slappey is a redshirt and will have an additional year Skyler Sheppard transferred from Arizona in her junior year.
Boise State
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Tatum Bruden Emily Muhlenhaupt Rachel Obmann Tessa Otuafi	Isabelle Amado Courtney McGregor McKinley Pavicic	Sarah Means Shani Remme
	McKenna Morrell Maddison Nilson
Notes: Emily Muhlenhaupt '17 was a Utah commit.
Cal
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Kyana George Alma Kuc Victoria Salem Nina Schank	Cassidy Keelen Rachael Mastrangelo	Emily Howe Sofie Seilnacht Sylvie Seilnacht Chelsea Shu
Maleah Pearson Mariah Peterson Lauren Ramirez	Alex Dudschus Mariah Peterson
Notes:
Denver
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Lynnzee Brown Emily Glynn Mia Sundstrom	Maddie Karr Courtney Loper Samantha Ogden	Claire Kern Kaitlyn Schou
		Grace Broadhurst Diana Chesnok
Notes: Mia Sundstrom early?
Eastern Michigan
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Megan Benzie Cali Harden Brianna Price
Notes:
Florida
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Vanasia Bradley Jazmyn Foberg Megan Skaggs	Maegan Chant Rachel Gowey Amelia Hundley	Alicia Boren Amanda Cheney Lacy Dagen Peyton Ernst Ashley Hiller
Alyssa Baumann	Sierra Alexander
Nicole Webb
Notes: Chant graduated in 2015, signed NLI in 2016. Peyton Ernst was medically released Baumann was c/o 2016 but is deferring a year for medical reasons. Foberg was c/o 2018 but graduated early
Georgia
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Ashley Foss Emily Schild Marissa Oakley	Rachel Dickson Sabrina Vega	Caroline Bradford Gracie Cherrey Sydney Snead
Madison McPherson	Jordyn Pedersen
Notes: Pedersen deferred to 2016 Alexis Beucler (2016) changed commitment to NC State. Samantha Durante was c/o 2017***
Illinois
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Nicole Biondi Grace Gough Kylie Noonan	Rae Balthazor Lindsay Dwyer Karen Howell Brittany Jones	Julia Hutcherson Lizzy LeDuc Brielle Nguyen Haylee Roe
Kasey Meeks Tessa Phillips		Rachael Donovan
Notes:
LSU
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Reagan Campbell Christina Desiderio Gracen Standley	Kennedi Edney Ruby Harrold Ashlyn Kirby	Julianna Cannamela Sarah Finnegan Mckenna Kelley Lexie Priessman Kaitlyn Szafranski
Bridget Dean
Notes: Harrold deferred to 2016. Desiderio was c/o 2018, matriculated early Kaitlyn Szafranski went to Arizona State
Michigan
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Lauren Farley Sydney Townsend	Lexi Funk Maggie O'Hara Madison Osman Polina Shchennikova	Olivia Karas Emma McLean
Carly Gordon	Sam Roy
Notes:
Minnesota
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Ona Loper Lexi Montgomery Lexy Ramler	Casey Betts Ivy Lu Kristen Quaglia Ryan Stach Rebecca Taylor	Rachel Cutler Selena Ung
	Julia Huebert Nicole Rogalski
Notes:
Nebraska
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Anika Dujakovich Torri Hutchinson Kynsee Roby	Alexa Clark Sierra Hassel Taylor Houchin	Kami Amemiya-Shows* Sienna Crouse Catelyn Orel Megan Schweihofer
Kelsye Kurtiak Rachel Thompson Brooke Wrage		Kelli Chung* Megan Kuo*
Notes: Shows, Chung and Kuo are red shirt freshman
Oklahoma
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Abigail Matthews Evy Schoepfer Ellie Wylie	Jade Degouveia Maggie Nichols Brehanna Showers	Alex Marks Nicole Lehrmann Megan Thompson
Notes:
Oregon State
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Savannah Force Alexis Gonzalez Kaitlin Yanish	Isis Lowery Brianna McCant	Mariana Colussi-Pelaez McKenna Singley
	Sabrina Gill
	Halli Briscoe Kaitlin Campbell Destinee Davis Lena Greene Jaime Law Maela Lazaro Alyssa Minyard	Mary Jacobsen Elizabeth Yu
Notes: Gill deferred to 2016 Brianna McCant passed away summer 2017
Penn State
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Alissa Bonsall Lauren Bridgens Kourtney Chinnery Ava Verdeflor	Tess McCracken Kristen Politz Mikayla Waddell	Sabrina Garcia Mason Hosek Jessica Jones
		Amber Autry Madi Heckman Gianna LaGuardia Peyton Schuller
Notes:
Stanford
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Kyla Bryant Rachael Flam Taylor Lawson Lauren Navarro Catherine Rogers	Kaylee Cole Aleeza Yu	Taryn Fitzgerald Hailee Hoffman Dare Maxwell
	Ashley Tai	Nicole Hoffman
Notes:
UCLA
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Nia Dennis Pauline Tratz	Anna Glenn Grace Glenn Felicia Hano	Katelyn Ohashi Madison Preston Macy Toronjo*
	Madison Kocian Kyla Ross
Savannah Kooyman Francesca Lawal Lilia Waller	Maria Caire Gracie Kramer Giulianna Pino Mercedez Sanchez	Matteah Brow Stella Savvidou (Jan) Nicki Shapiro
Notes: Kocian and Ross signed with the class of 2015 but deferring to 2016 Biles '15 is a professional athlete Nica Hults verbally committed but unfortunately has not matriculated Toronjo is a red shirt freshman Shapiro and Brow are not on the 2016-2017 roster
Utah
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Alexia Burch Sydney Soloski	Melissa Reinstadtler Kim Tessen	Shannon McNatt MaKenna Merrell Erika Muhaw Sabrina Schwab
	Mykayla Skinner
Sarah Smith		Macey Roberts
Notes: Skinner is deferring to 2016 Hannah Miller '16 was initially verbally committed to Utah but signed NLI for BYU Roberts is a transfer from Maryland for the 2017 season
Washington
Class of 2017	Class of 2016	Class of 2015
Jennifer Oh Geneva Thompson
Rachel Kaplan Hannah Willmarth
Notes: Skinner is deferring to 2016 Hannah Miller '16 was initially verbally committed to Utah but signed NLI for BYU Roberts is a transfer from Maryland for the 2017 season

Gymnastics Injuries 2017

I'm back! I don't particularly like this list because I do indeed have a heart. I also like having a reference though for injuries and such. So... here we are! I've included the 2016 list below just so we know who's still out in this new quad.

2017
Name (Country)	Injury	Return to Competition
Becky Downie GBR	Elbow tear (Apr)
Sofia Busato ITA	ACL tear (Apr)
Georgia-Mae Fenton GBR	Hamstring injury (Apr)
Ellie Downie GBR	Ankle injury (Mar) Ankle surgery (Aug)
Kelly Simm GBR	Foot surgery ()
Gabby Jupp GBR	Foot surgery (Mar)
Abi Solari GBR	Foot surgery
2016
Name (Country)	Injury	Return to Competition
Tyesha Mattis GBR	??? (Mar)
Carlotta Ferlito ITA	??? (Mar)	Jul 2014
Ekaterina Sokova RUS	??? (Mar)	? retirement
Fan Yilin CHN	Shoulder pain (Mar)	Apr 2016
Pauline Schaefer GER	Shoulder pain (Mar)	Apr 2016
Alyssa Baumann USA	Elbow surgery (Jun)	retirement
Larisa Iordache ROU	Finger fracture and surgery (Mar)	Jul 2016
Nina Derwael BEL	Hand injury (Mar)	Aug 2016
Viktoria Komova RUS	Back injury (Mar)
Kim Janas GER	ACL tear (May '15) Elbow dislocation (Feb)	Nov 2016 retirement
Mary-Anne Monckton AUS	ACL tear (Mar)
Lisa Top NED	PCL and meniscus tear (May)	retirement
Aleeza Yu CAN	Knee injury (Oct '14) Ankle injury (Feb)	Feb 2016 retirement
Tabea Alt GER	Knee injury (Mar)	Apr 2016
Jonna Adlerteg SWE	Meniscus surgery (Mar)
Maggie Nichols USA	Meniscus surgery (Apr)	Jun 2016
Roxana Popa ESP	Meniscus surgery (Mar)
Nia Dennis USA	Achilles surgery (Feb)	Jun 2016
Wyomi Masela NED	Achilles surgery (Feb)
Maartje Ruikes NED	Achilles injury (Feb)	retirement
Norah Flatley USA	Ankle injury (Feb)	May 2016 (c)
Ksenia Afanasyeva RUS	Ankle injury (Jul)
Maria Kharenkova RUS	Ankle injury (Jul)
Laura Jurca ROU	Ankle fracture (Mar)	Nov 2016

Larisa Iordache Set to Return

Larisa Iordache is set to make her return to major competition at the Stuttgart World Cup. This will take place in Germany on March 18-19. It's been nearly a year since we last saw Iordache in competition. In that time, Romania failed to qualify a team to the Olympics. Catalina Ponor was chosen as the Romanian delegate since they only had an individual spot. This competition will mean a lot to Iordache and also the Romanian federation. This will be a chance for all to see where she is in her training and give us an idea if Romania is set for better things this quadrennium.

There are new qualification rules to the 2020 Olympics to try and encourage higher level participation at the World Cups. USA did send athletes last year and seems like the trend will continue this year. New senior Jordan Chiles has been selected to compete. She was injured at the 2016 US Championships. She was one of the juniors the boasted incredibly high difficulty, including an Amanar vault. She has the potential to be in the running for the US Worlds team and this will likely be a step towards that selection.

Member of the Dutch Olympic team and all around finalist Eythora Thorsdottir will also be in the competition and looking for a medal. She recently competed at a meet in Iceland where she scored a 56.350. This was one of our first chances to see the new code in action. One of the things to note is that the scores are considerably lower with lower vault D scores, fewer composition requirements, and changes to some dismount rules. So this score would be the equivalent of about a 58. Thorsdottir is here and on a mission.

Canada's Isabela Onyshko is set to compete. She recently missed Elite Canada due to injury so we'll see if she's healed enough for the upcoming meet. Claudia Fragapane of Great Britain will set to compete in her first competition since the Olympics. She was recently on Strictly Come Dancing so there's much excitement to see what may have changed in her form and dance. Two of Germany's Olympians, Tabea Alt and Pauline Schaefer, will be in attendance in front of a home crowd. Rounding out the competition is China's Zhang Jin, who was sent to the 2016 Test Event.


2017 Stuttgart World Cup competitors - Women
Canada: Isabela Onyshko
China: Zhang Jin
Great Britain: Claudia Fragapane
Germany: Tabea Alt
Germany: Pauline Schaefer
Netherlands: Eythora Thorsdottir
Romania: Larisa Iordache
USA: Jordan Chiles

2017 Stuttgart World Cup competitors - Men
Brazil: Francesco Barreto
China: Sun Wei
Great Britain: James Hall
Germany: Lukas Dauser
Germany: Philipp Herder
Japan: Kazuma Kaya
Russia: Nikita Ignatyev
Ukraine: Oleg Vernaiev
USA: Sam Mikulak

The Stuttgart Team Challenge will take place alongside this competition March 17-19.

LSU Dominates at Season Opener

The NCAA season is officially upon us. #2 LSU beat #9 Georgia in their season opener with a 197.825, the highest score in LSU opening season history.

The LSU Tigers started off warm on vault but then the fire was unleashed when freshman Kennedi Edney stuck her one and a half twisting Yurchenko and scored a 9.950. The rotation continued with Myia Hambrick sticking her Yurchenko full for a 9.925. Ashleigh Gnat was the anchor with a superb double twisting Yurchenko with excellent height and improved form. She had a hop back for a 9.925.

Bars has a new lead off routine in Canadian senior Shae Zamardi. Due to an injury, the decision was made to take out her unique Markhelov release. Because of this and her difficult to stick double arabian, Zamardi was moved to the start of the lineup. The nice thing is that LSU now has a solid easily 9.8+ gymnast leading their lineup with the hope that scores will only build. Zamardi hit her routine for a 9.850. Hambrick had a great routine for a 9.875. Gnat was next in the lineup and got stuck on her full pirouette and lost her form in a few places to score a 9.775. Edney continued to deliver in her college debut with a beautiful Hindorff and a 9.875. Finnegan showed off her beautiful lines throughout her routine for a 9.9. Lexie Priessman has the anchor spot on bars and earned a 9.875.

Erin Macadaeg is back from a foot fracture to lead the Tigers off on beam. Macadaeg was training the all around but had to pull back for the first meet while recovering from her injury. She had an excellent routine without a single wobble for a 9.9. Lauren Li, transfer from Penn State, made her debut as a Tiger with a wonderful beam routine and a 9.850. Ewing, Finnegan, Gnat closed out the lineup with 9.9, 9.95, 9.875, respectively. Finnegan showed her triple wolf turn.

The Tigers then went to floor, the event for which they are well known for difficult tumbling and unique choreography. Sydney Ewing started things off with a 9.85. Senior Zamardi was 2nd up and mounted with a beautiful double arabian but had to take a large step forward. She earned a 9.850. Priessman had the 3rd slot. Unfortunately, she fell on her double pike dismount and scored a 9.200.  Hambrick was up next with a cute but sassy routine. Her opening double layout was a little short but the remainder of her routine was solid for a 9.9. McKenna Kelley had a phenomenal routine with a double layout mount. Her second pass was a very open and high full in. She dismounted with a double pike and scored a 9.925. Gnat closed out the meet with a lovely double arabian at the start of her routine and scored a 9.950.

Notably missing from the floor was Ruby Harrold. An Olympic alternate in 2012 and an Olympian in 2016 for Great Britain, Harrold is best known for her unique releases on uneven bars. She competed at Gymnastics 101 where they mentioned that she had been ill recently and was working to get her strength back. She is a gymnast that has a Yurchenko 1.5, worth a 10 so I imagine they would want her in that lineup as well.

Myia Hambrick won the all around with a 39.575. Close behind was Ashleigh Gnat with a 39.525. Georgia's Sydney Snead finished 3rd with a 39.225.

Georgia had a rough meet finishing with a 193.600, their lowest opening score since 1999. Beam continued to be rough for Georgia having to count four scores ranging from 9.150-9.625. Highlights of the meet were all arounder Sydney Snead who had a hiccup on floor but finished well everywhere else, including Georgia's team high on beam of 9.800. Sabrina Vega made her return to competition for the first time in almost 4 years. She had some wobbles on balance beam to earn a 9.625. Her floor exercise was lovely, mounted with a full in, and earning a 9.775. Morgan Reynolds returned on 3 events (all but beam) after missing the majority of last year's season due to severe infection with E. coli.

Notably missing for Georgia was Natalie Vaculik who would be a helpful score on beam but especially on bars.


The Tigers will compete again next week against #3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Alabama just suffered a loss against #1 defending National Champions Oklahoma, 196.700-197.750. They will be eager for a win at home.

Results
Photo by Chris Parent