Arabian Punch Front: aliya mustafina

Showing posts with label aliya mustafina. Show all posts

Greek gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias had the honor of starting the Olympic Torch Relay

Below you can find a list of both male and female gymnasts set to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The first 8 teams are in order of their ranking at the 2015 World Championships. Teams 9-12 are based on their rankings from the Test Event. The next set of 4 athletes are from teams that competed at the Test Event but did not get to send a full squad to the Olympics. After that, you have the athletes that automatically qualified based on a top 3 individual finish in an event final at the 2015 World Championships. Then, you have the athletes as they were ranked at the Test Event.

ROSTER

WAG		MAG
IOC	Name	IOC	Name
USA	Simone Biles Gabrielle Douglas Laurie Hernandez Madison Kocian Aly Raisman alt - Locklear, Skinner, Smith	JPN	Ryohei Kato Kenzo Shirai Yusuke Tanaka Kohei Uchimura Koji Yamamuro
RUS	Angelina Melnikova Aliya Mustafina Maria Paseka Daria Spiridonova Seda Tutkhalyan alt - Shelgunova, Kapitonova, Ekhaimova	CHN	Deng Shudi Lin Chaopan Liu Yang You Hao Zhang Chenglong
GBR	Becky Downie Ellie Downie Claudia Fragapane Ruby Harrold Amy Tinkler alt - Gabby Jupp, Kelly Simm,	GBR	Brinn Bevan Louis Smith Kristian Thomas Max Whitlock Nile Wilson
CHN	Fan Yilin Mao Yi Shang Chunsong Tan Jiaxin Wang Yan	RUS	Denis Ablyazin David Belyavskiy Nikita Ignatyev Nikolai Kuksenkov Nikita Nagornyy
ITA	Erika Fasana Carlotta Ferlito Vanessa Ferrari Elisa Meneghini Martina Rizelli alt: Lara Mori	USA	Chris Brooks Jake Dalton Danell Leyva Sam Mikulak Alex Naddour
JPN	Sae Miyakawa Mai Murakami Aiko Sugihara Asuka Teramoto Yuki Uchiyama	SUI	Christian Baumann Pablo Braegger Benjamin Gischard Oliver Hegi Eddy Yusof
CAN	Ellie Black Shallon Olsen Isabela Onyshko Brittany Rogers Rose Kaying Woo alt: Roberts, Copiak	BRA	Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti Arthur Nory Oyakawa Mariano Diego Hypolito Francisco Carlos Barretto Junior Sergio Sasaki Junior
NED	Eythora Thorsdottir Lieke Wevers Sanne Wevers Celine van Gerner Vera van Pol	KOR	Kim Hansol Lee Sangwook Park Minsoo Shin Donghyen Yoo Wonchul
Teams 9-12 at Test Event
BRA	Rebeca Andrade Jade Barbosa Daniele Hypolito Lorrane Oliveira Flavia Saraiva alt: Carolyne Pedro	GER	Andreas Bretschneider Lukas Dauser Fabian Hambuechen Marcel Nguyen Andreas Toba
GER	Tabea Alt Kim Bui Pauline Schaefer Sophie Scheder Elisabeth Seitz alt: Pauline Tratz	UKR	Oleg Verniaev Igor Radivilov Vladyslav Kryko Maksym Semiankiv Andrii Sienichkin
BEL	Senna Deriks Nina Derwael Rune Hermans Gaelle Mys Laura Waem alt - Vandenhole, Meyers	NED	Bart Deurloo Frank Rijken Jeffrey Wammes Yuri van Gelder Epke Zonderland
FRA	Marine Boyer Marine Brevet Loan His Louise Vanhille Oreane Lechenault	FRA	Samir Ait Said Axel Augis Julien Gobaux Danny Pinheiro-Rodrigues Cyril Tommasone
Individuals from Remaining Teams at Test Event
AUS	Larrissa Miller	ROU	Andrei Muntean
SUI	Giulia Steingruber	ESP	Nestor Abad
ROU	Catalina Ponor	BEL	Dennis Goossens
KOR	Lee Go Im	CAN	Scott Morgan
Automatic Qualifiers from World Championships 2015
PRK	Hong Un Jong	ESP	Rayderley Zapata
		ARM	Harutyun Merdinyan
		GRE	Eleftherios Petrounias
		PRK	Ri Se Gwang
		ROU	Marian Dragulescu
		AZE	Oleg Stepko
		CUB	Manrique Larduet
Individual Qualifiers from Test Event
GUA	Ana Sofia Gomez	COL	Jossimar Calvo
VEN	Jessica Lopez	MEX	Daniel Corral
GRE	Vasiliki Millousi	BLR	Andrey Likhovitskiy
HUN	Zsofia Kovacs	ISR	Alexander Shatilov
ESP	Ana Perez	TUR	Ferhat Arican
UKR	Angelina Kysla	ARM	Artur Davtyan
MEX	Alexa Moreno	CUB	Randy Leru
CUB	Marcia Vidiaux	CRO	Filip Ude
POR	Ana Filipa Martins	AZE	Petro Pakhnyuk
POL	Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska	UZB	Anton Fokin
AUT	Lisa Ecker	FIN	Oskar Kirmes
JAM	Toni-Ann Williams	ITA	Ludovico Edalli
ISL	Irina Sazonova	NOR	Stian Skjerahaug
VIE	Phan Thi Ha Thanh	CZE	David Jessen
IND	Dipa Karmakar	LTU	Robert Tvorogal
SVK	Barbora Mokosova	VIE	Pham Phuoc Hung
NZL	Courtney McGregor	CYP	Marios Georgiou
UZB	Oksana Chusovitina	IRL	Kieran Behan
ARM	Houry Gebeshian	GRE	Vlasios Maras
PER	Ariana Orrego	ARG	Nicolas Cordoba
CHI	Simona Castro	NZL	Mikhail Koudinov
SLO	Teja Belak	RSA	Ryan Patterson
TUR	Tutya Yilmaz	CHI	Tomas Gonzalez
SWE	Emma Larsson	HUN	Vid Hidvegi
TTO	Marisa Dick	TPE	Lee Chih Kai
CRO	Ana Derek	ALG	Mohamed Abdeldjalil Bourguieg (C)
COL	Catalina Escobar Gomez	MON	Kevin Crovetto (T)
BLR	Kylie Dickson
IRL	Ellis O'Reilly
ARG	Ailen Valente
ALG	Farah Boufadene (C)
EGY	Sherine El-Zeiny (C)
PAN	Isabella Amado (T)

(C) denotes continental spot
(T) denotes tripartite spot

If Russia is truly banned from participating in the Olympics, the next team in rank is Australia for the women and Romania for the men.

The European Championships will take place from in Bern, Switzerland. It will be held in the Olympic format with 5 athletes on each team. In qualifications and finals, 3 will compete on each event with all 3 scores counting. There will not be an all around competition for the seniors so the primary focus is the team medal, and, of course, trying out new skills on the lead up to the Rio Olympic Games.
(Corrected: Format is not 5-4-3 for seniors, but will be 5-4-3 in quals for juniors)

The two teams most likely to battle for the title are Russia and Great Britain. The Russian team has new senior and Russian 2016 All Around Champion Angelina Melnikova. Melnikova has been one of the stars as a junior and, thus far, this has transitioned well to her senior career. She is joined by Olympians Ksenia Afanasyeva and Aliya Mustafina and worlds team members Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan. Tutkhalyan was a substitution for injured vaulter Maria Paseka. Her position may change prior to the actual competition.

This team has many strengths, the top being experience. On vault, they'll have three double twisting Yurchenkos in Afanasyeva, Tutkhalyan, Melnikova. On uneven bars, Russia boasts a great lineup, with Olympic Champion Aliya Mustafina and World Champion Daria Spiridonova. Beam, as always, is where things get interesting for Russia. Melnikova and Mustafina, who has struggled to find a suitable acrobatic series, will most likely do beam. The other spot is open to either Tutkhalyan or Afanasyeva. Though Afanasyeva has not competed beam recently, the veteran has often competed beam in team finals situation for Russia along with making multiple international event finals. Tutkhalyan boasts high difficulty on that event though her consistency leaves her spot in question, a large part of why she was initially not named to the team. Russia will have no problem staying competitive on floor.

Russia will battle for gold with Great Britain. Team GB will send an entirely veteran team. The good thing is that we don't have to worry about all around performers - Fragapane will not have to compete on uneven bars, this is the way it is listed in the nominative list. On vault, GB has 3 solid DTYs in Claudia Fragapane, Ellie Downie, and Ruby Harrold. Rumor is that Becky Downie has started working vault again and even a serviceable FTY from her or Gabby Jupp, if able, would ease the stress of not having a 4th score in prelims. On uneven bars, GB boasts a great lineup, similar to Russia in capabilities but with a very different routine composition (#shaposh4lyfe). Beam will likely be a toss up between Harrold and Jupp for the 4th spot. While floor exercise will likely consist of everyone but Jupp. This will serve as a great test - international test for Double Downies and Fragapane who's errors cost them placement in event finals at 2015 worlds - and a test for Harrold and Jupp, especially once Tinkler is added back to the possibilities list.

Rounding out the podium will be difficult to assess. The next few teams from Worlds - Italy, Netherlands, France, and Belgium will not be sending an A-team. Here's what to look for in each of them.

Italy will be without their F trio - Ferrari, Ferlito, Fasana. Their team consists of Enus Mariani, Elisa Meneghini, Lara Mori, Martina Rizzelli, and Sofia Busato. Sofia Busato is a first year senior that has been dealing with injuries for quite sometime. As a junior, she had a lovely floor exercise that started with an intricate headstand double stag pose. She hasn't competed much but vault so look for her to compete a solid DTY and floor. It will be important to see how the Mariani, Meneghini, and Rizzelli fare on UB. Rizzelli boasts a DTY which be useful for Team Italy in Rio but as one of the strongest uneven bar workers, she would need to show good execution and consistency to keep herself in contention. Mariani and Meneghini are fighting for much the same UB/BB spot and seem to switch competition to competition in terms of rank so look to see who hits and makes any event finals. (Note: On the initial start list, Meneghini is not listed on UB but this may change with the addition of Busato in place of Erika Fasana.) Lara Mori has a strong all around score but a strong performance on uneven bars and floor would be crucial for her.

France's team is middle of the road. Look for strong performances from Boyer, Brevet, and His, particularly on uneven bars and balance beam. Allison Lepin is replacing Louise Vanhille so look to see where she can hit as she has not competed much in 2016.

Like some of the teams mentioned before, Belgium is not sending an A-team. They recently competed at the Test Event and are using the European Championship as a chance to test out other athletes. Nina Derwael is recovering from a hand injury so how she performs on bars will be crucial.

The Netherlands is not sending any athletes in contention for an Olympic spot (though with Top down with an ACL tear, this may change). Tisha Volleman competed at the American Cup earlier this year. Mara Titarsolej is a very even all arounder and capable of 55+. Watch her on balance beam and floor exercise.

Germany's team will be led by Kim Bui who recently returned from ACL tear. Look for a strong all around performance from her and a possible uneven bar event final.

Americans Kylie Dickson and Alaina Kwan will be joining Belarusian teammates at Euros. This includes Sviatlana Lifenka and first-year senior Dziyana Hramko. Dickson earned the Olympic spot at the Test Event so look for improvements on all events from her.

Switzerland just missed out on a shot at sending a team for the Olympics. Look for them to fight for a spot in team finals and possibly on the podium. Led by Giulia Steingruber, look for her to make vault and floor finals with a possible medal in either... or both Also look for Ilaria Kaeslin on balance beam and floor exercise.

Spain's team will include future Olympian Ana Perez. A favorite of mine is Cintia Rodriguez who is known for her beautiful lines. Look for her to possibly compete her original skill - a stalder full shoot to the high bar. She has also worked a double Y turn on beam.

Greece will be led by veteran Vasiliki Millousi. Watch for a spectacular beam performance from her but also look out for Argyro Afrati who is more than ready to take the lead, especially in the all around.

Hungary has a powerful trio of gymnasts but only one could be named to the Olympic Games. At the moment, it seems that spot will go to Zsofia Kovacs who had a higher placement at the Test Event. However, watch for strong performances from Noemi Makra, particularly on uneven bars, and veteran Dorina Boczogo on beam and floor.

I wrote this entire thing and then realized I left out Romania. Romania still has not named their Olympian so keep your eyes open. Of the athletes going to Bern, Ponor seems to be highest in the ranking to go to Rio. Watch all her performances closely. We'll see if she debuts bars for the first time in nearly 8 years. We'll also see if she competes her piked full in dismount off beam and her full twisting double layout on floor. She's also been training a DTY again so we'll see if she shows that. Ocolisan is basically next in line to look to see where she ranks in the hypothetical all around (if she competes all 4). (Corrected: Bulimar will not be competing due to Achilles tear.)

Who are you most excited to see compete?

Photo Credit: sportgymrus.ru
Edited by me

The 1st European Games were held in Baku, Azerbijan in an arena that was specifically constructed with the success of future Azeri gymnasts in mind. The format of the meet was different than any other major international meet - three were able to represent a country, 2 scores counted in the team final, and only one gymnast per country was allowed in event finals for a total of 6 finalists in event finals and 18 in the all around. Overall, there are quite a few topics to discuss about the meet, but let's start with the most important - the competitors.

This meet proved to be really exciting in my opinion! While many countries opted to send an A- team or B team, there were quite a few accomplished athletes or new seniors who were able to get experience on the international stage. The timing of the meet was difficult with the European Championships just a little over two month ago but the final roster, and final outcomes, proved to be very exciting.

First and foremost, we have the comeback of Olympic All Around Silver Medalist Viktoria Komova. She had competed at a gala in Mexico and at a smaller competition in Hungary but was nowhere near full difficulty. This was Komova's first meet at full strength and with all eyes on her and she fared amazingly well. Due to the one per country format, Komova did not make any finals but there were still excellent results from her first time back. In the all around, she scored an admirable 56.965 with .4 worth of neutral deductions for an out of bounds on vault and floor. Her bars score was also deducted for hitting the low bar. Like fellow Russians Mustafina and Spiridonova, Komova has the Maloney to Pak to van Leeuwen combination and it was on that last transition that she hit the low bar as she reached for the high bar. Her beam showed a lot of promise and she fought for every skill and her floor exercise showed a new double layout. I was impressed to see such an upgrade from a gymnast who has fought so long just to come back to competition. The qualification proved to be a highlight of the meet for me simply because we got to see a happy and healthy and competing Viktoria Komova.

Aliya Mustafina also made a comeback of sorts after receiving treatment for her back and staying out of competition since December. In that time, Mustafina has found a new coach in Sergei Starkin. For the most part, things seem to be going well. Her block on vault is much improved and she often finds the stick on her double twisting Yurchenko. The pair have mentioned in interviews that Mustafina plans to upgrade vault - whether that means an Amanar or the return of her second vault, we'll have to wait and see. On uneven bars, she showed a solid routine, downgraded from her maximum but appropriate for this time of year with one year still to go to Rio. Her D score was a 6.5 without her signature Mustafina dismount. Her piked Jaeger seems to be doing weird things with a slight straddle at the onset, but we'll see if that returns to it's normal lovely height and position.

Then we get to beam and floor which prove to be her... interesting pieces. Mustafina's D on beam is 6.1 but the flow of the routine seems off and she seemed to miss many connections. In qualifications, it seemed like she would get ready for a connection but then change her mind. In the all around final, it seemed choppier still. But the difficulty is there and in this world where difficulty and execution matter, this routine proves to be competitive. On floor, Mustafina too has a new double layout which I thought we would never see. Her new music is to "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. Personally, I love the piece of music. I think it says a lot about Aliya and what she has done to get to this point - after her ACL tear, after losing her coach, etc. She has done this, largely, her way. I also feel like it's a nice little slap in the face to Valentina Rodionenko who has called Aliya fat and stubborn, the gymnast who went on to be Russia's most decorated athlete at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Ok, Valentina. I digress... I love the music but Aliya has no connection to it. She has four passes this time compared to the three she had at Worlds in 2014 - the new double layout, 2.5 to front full, back 1.5 to front 1.5, and double tuck. With this extra pass, she has less time for actual dance (like everyone else). The music rises just as she does her down to the floor part but she basically rolls and stands up. There is nothing captivating in the choreo like in her past routines.

Aliya's floor at 3:40

I'm not too concerned though. Mustafina is a gymnast that often changes her routine prior to the major competition she actually cares about. If we don't see a change in the music, I'm sure at the very least we'll see a choreography change. She's struggling with her dance elements - her Mustafina is going well and she has a (new?) Gomez (quad turn). She's working on a new attitude turn to Memmel turn but it doesn't seem to be going well. I'm sure that connection will change, or get better if we look at the initial struggle but current consistency on her Mustafina as an example. The other question was whether her whips through to double arabian to stag will return and I certainly hope it does. Is it gone because of inconsistency or because of her back? It remains to be seen.

One of the other stars was Giulia Steingruber. There's no secret story behind Steingruber other than a story of great gymnastics. At European Championships, some discounted her medals because competition like Iordache and Mustafina were not present. Here, Steingruber proved that she can hold her own and compete against the best and, most importantly, win. In the all around, she came second to Mustafina as "expected" but errors on beam almost cost her that medal. On vault, she showed a phenomenal Rudi. Really superb and near stick! Someone on tumblr mentioned that the Steingruber may be coming soon and I had forgotten - maybe the front handspring 2/1 will be real! She kept the full twisting Yurchenko as her second vault and it had amazing height and distance. Her uneven bars construction is very smart in my opinion, maximizing connections and minimizing time on the bars. She has some issues with flexed feet, a low catch on her Markhelov/Khorkina, and the cowboying in her double front but it gets her through the event and keeps her in the all around hunt.

Floor is where Steingruber really shines. Her tumbling is out of this world and it makes you wonder if her difficulty can approach the heights of someone like Simone Biles. Steingruber has a full twisting double layout and a double layout that meets her Rudi up in the rafters. She ends with a double tuck and double pike which are too easy so she often can't control the landing and hops out of bounds. An out of bounds in the floor final nearly cost her the gold medal but didn't because the interior of her routine was solid. One hopes that there are upgrades for the last 2 passes - possibly a full in for one of them.

Maybe I saved the best for last, certainly the most surprising. The most decorated female gymnasts of the Games were Aliya Mustafina, Giulia Steingruber, and Dutch gymnast Lieke Wevers. Wevers is the twin sister of Sanne Wevers who recently won bronze on uneven bars at the European Championships. The two are coached by their father so gymnastics is truly a family affair. Wevers had a phenomenal competition helping the Dutch team to bronze. She made the all around final and earned the bronze medal after a clean competition and also won the bronze on floor and with the team. The real highlight came on balance beam where Wevers has a routine unlike any other - full of wonderfully connected turns and a neat side aerial to side aerial combination. My favorite parts are rather simple things like how she does choreography right into her back handspring and continues choreography right out of it. Sometimes, it's the little things.

All-Around
1. Aliya Mustafina (RUS) 58.566
2. Giulia Steingruber SUI 56.699
3. Lieke Wevers NED 55.065
4. Sophie Scheder GER 54.932

Vault
1. Giulia Steingruber (SUI) (15.566, 14.433) 14.999
2. Seda Tutkhalyan (RUS) (14.833, 14.533) 14.683
3. Lisa Top (NED) (14.133, 13.900) 14.016

Bars
1. Aliya Mustafina (RUS) 15.400
2. Sophie Scheder (GER) 15.200
3. Andreea Iridon (ROU) 12.800

Beam
1. Lieke Wevers (NED) 14.200
2. Andreea Iridon (ROU) 14.000
3. Giulia Steingruber (SUI) 13.700

Floor
1. Giulia Steingruber (SUI) 14.266
2. Aliya Mustafina (RUS) 14.200
3. Lieke Wevers (NED) 13.800

Complete results for MAG/WAG and Rhythmic can be found here.
Stay tuned for an additional recap talking about the competition format, the Romanians, and more.

Erika Fasana and Aliya Mustafina on Fasana's instagram

This week has probably been the most exciting in terms of upgrades. We have eleven athletes featured today and, while 3 are juniors, the remaining 8 are all seniors that were chosen as part of their countries World Championships delegation. Despite the fact that Worlds was less than a month ago, these athletes are back in the gym working hard towards the next World Championships in Glasgow.

The upgrade I'm probably most excited about is Erika Fasana's full twisting double layout (FTDLO). She does it as a beautiful full in and I think she keeps the stretched body position really well without piking in the second half (which I hate) and without overarching for those that hate that. Bravissima, Eri!

Ragan Smith (senior in 2016, USA) was recently added to the National Team. Here she is training a nice Patterson dismount. If you check the comments, Carly Patterson praised Smith's dismount.

A video posted by kimzb (@kimzb) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:45pm PDT

Nia Dennis (senior in 2015, USA) showed her Amanar at the recent camp. She is also working hard on upgrades showing a FTDLO.

A video posted by niaadennis (@niaadennis)

Lisa Top (NED) included this with the caption "Playtime" so I have no idea if we'll ever actually see it. Nevertheless, here she is showing around off to 1.5 twist punch double front. It's insane. IG: lisa_top.

Roxana Popa (ESP) has a few meets lined up for the winter season but that hasn't stopped her from working new skills in the gym. She's working a new low bar sequence on uneven bars. Most exciting, for me anyway, is her new double double. Roxi already has a very exciting FX with whips through to full in. This will only make her FX tumbling that much more exciting.

Jordyn Pedersen was the Canadian alternate at World Championships. She has verbally committed to the University of Georgia but plans to defer to after Rio 2016. Here she is showing a Maloney (toe-on shaposhnikova) to pak to Maloney. We talk a lot now about the need for a Shaposhnikova variation in routines and Pedersen has them.

Ana Lago competed in the 2014 World Championships for Mexico, her first meet after an ACL tear, where she competed vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. Here she is training a full in dismount on BB. If I'm not mistaken, Biles is the only gymnast competing it at the moment and it's the hardest dismount being competed.

Post by International Gymnast Magazine.

Laurie Hernandez (senior in 2016, USA) had missed out on the last competition due to a wrist injury then knee injury. Her coach tells us not to worry as Laurie has recently been cleared! Here are some of the skills she's been working on. At the end, she shows a Downie (stalder piked Tkatchev) and Ricna (stalder straddled Tkatchev).

Post by MG Elite Girls.

In most surprising upgrades, that goes to Tatiana Nabieva who shows a super high round off layout full on the low beam.

Not to be outdone, teammate Aliya Mustafina again shows a double layout. She first showed one probably 6 or so months ago. Just keep in mind Aliya has managed a 6.2 difficulty on floor with just 3 passes. Oh, the possibilities! IG: musaliya135.

This week in bloopers, we have Celine van Gerner who works whips to a tucked full in. She has some trouble on the first one but gets it right for the second one! Van Gerner continues to surprise me as she was selected as the sole 2012 Olympian for the Netherlands and continues to show upgrades even after injury and time off.

Continuing Predictions vs Reality with my take on the individual event finals. You can read part 1 ft Team Final and All Around Final here

Vault
Predictions: Simone Biles, Hong Un Jong, Mykayla Skinner
Reality: Hong Un Jong, Simone Biles, Mykayla Skinner
I had the right 3, just in the wrong order. I'm actually still a little surprised that Biles didn't win but I think that's just a testament to how much Hong's Amanar has improved. Hong's Amanar is Maroney status - square on contact with horse, head squeezed between arms, arms not bent at all, good height on block and with an even tighter layout position. Impressive. Her Cheng still needs work but clearly that change in Amanar execution was enough. Biles' score is very admirable especially when you consider her D average is 5.95 compared to Hong's 6.35. Once I found out that Giulia was having twisting issues and that Alla had her Cheng, I figured it would come down to Sosnitskaya and Skinner for the bronze medal. Skinner has the better execution overall compared to Sosnitskaya so I think the placements were correct.

Can we just appreciate the difficulty in this vault final?! Sure Steingruber did a FTY but we otherwise had some great vaults - FTY and DTY, Lopez and Cheng (Yurchenko 1/2 on, layout 1/2 and layout 1 1/2 off), Rudi (technically a Chusovitina), and a Zamolodchikova (Tsuk 2/1). Great job, ladies!

Uneven Bars
Predictions: Yao, Aliya, Becky Downie
Reality: Yao Jinnan, Huang Huidan, Daria Spiridonova

In terms of predictions, UB and BB were the hardest for me to predict just because I had no idea who would even make the finals. For UB, I had Yao and Huang (or another set of 2 Chinese), Daria and Aliya, Ashton and Kyla, maybe Becky and Ruby, maybe at least 1 German (was not expecting Lisa but thrilled for her all the same), maybe Youna if she was hiding some upgrades. Overall, I loved the gymnasts that made the final. They all have great swing and good level of precision. Sure you could fight about flexed feet, sickled feet, whatever you want but, as a whole, this was a phenomenal group of the best uneven bar workers in the world.

I agree with the final placements. Based on our view, Aliya had a few minor errors while Daria just had one missed moment before her dismount. Huang's pirouetting style seemed really labored while Yao has the low Tkatchev. Everyone talks about Yao's construction but I actually do really like Huang's, if only she could fix her pirouetting technique. Lisa had a few handstand issues and sickles her feet in a way that is more noticeable based on her knee alignment. Either way, she is one of Germany's top bar workers and I'm glad she had the chance to show it off. Becky and Ruby both have immensely unique routines which Ruby was not able to complete successfully. Becky did not medal in her final but did manage to have a solid routine. One of the things that has been important for Becky Downie is her ability to hit routine after routine. Becky should be very proud of her successful year, making the World Championship event finals and successfully competing in said finals.

In terms of performance, this might have been my favorite final.

Balance Beam
Predictions: Kharenkova, Iordache, Aliya
Reality: Simone Biles, Bai Yawen, Aliya Mustafina

Looking back now this prediction is funny... or unforunate. Depends on how you look at it. Definitely unfortunate for Kharenkova and Iordache. With Kharenkova out, it was almost surely Iordache's to lose and unfortunately, she did just that. We were all worried about the layout full when, in the end, it was her tuck full that took her out of contention. I was a bit disappointed that of the 8 finalists, only 5 had routines without falls. Alas, such is the balance beam.

I don't know why I didn't have Biles on the podium. Maybe I thought she would wobble. Maybe I thought others would just be better. Clearly I thought wrong.

On Bai Yawen, just a thought. I do enjoy her balance beam but I wonder if China gets the "artistry" deduction. In their exactness, they lose a lot of the fluidity. Bai is probably the least offensive compared to, say, Shang Chunsong. For her specifically, however, she does seem to have excessive preparation on her skills. I might sound like I'm picking on her, I'm just trying to understand her E score in relation to other athletes. I did enjoy her routine, however.

I'm probably most bummed about the third place medal. I did see Teramoto's missed connections and wobbles that caused the deductions, it's just unfortunate. Le sigh.

Floor Exercise
Predictions: Simone, Larisa, Vanessa
Reality: Simone Biles, Larisa Iordache, Aliya Mustafina

My predictions went a bit further - Biles, Iordache, and if anyone was on the podium other than Ferrari, it would be Skinner. Boy was I wrong.

Words cannot explain how much I love Iordache's floor routine. It makes me so happy. Again, like in the AA, I was glad she did her upgraded routine. She's gotten 6.5D before so I'm curious what she wasn't credited or didn't do (quad turn? leaps?).

Once Mustafina upgraded per twitter, I figured she would get it. There was just too much in the "name of artistic gymnastics" and Nellie Kim and Bruno Grandi for Skinner to win. I'm not necessarily boycotting or anything, I'm just still angry about balance beam...

To end on a positive note, Larissa Miller's double arabian to stag is what dreams are made of. After Kyla falling earlier in the season and Aliya falling at Worlds, this was just the thing I needed to see to remember how beautiful of a skill the double arabian is and how lovely it can be when connected to stag. The form was great, the height she got was amazing. It was just one of those jaw droppingly beautiful moments in gymnastics.

Full results can be found here.

What were some of your event finals highlights?

Photo Credit: Getty Images (via gymnasticsmedals)

Glad to finally get back to blogging after a tough few months. Thank you all for being so patient. I thought the best way to recap Worlds would be through my predictions - moderately accurate, somewhat hilarious.

These predictions are from September 27, so after Asian Games but before World Championships.

Team Finals
Predictions: USA, China, Russia
Reality: USA, China, Russia

I will say, the battle for 2-4 was closer than I expected.

First off, going to team qualifications, I had 7 of the 8 teams correct but I had Germany in for Australia. I'm thrilled for Australia after a disappointing finish at London and missing most of the international 2013 season. They've come back fighting and have shown that even without one of their best, Lauren Mitchell, they are still a team to be reckoned with. On the other end, Germany missing out was a bit disappointing. As a nation that has become extremely strong on uneven bars, 4 of the 5 routines had falls in them. Of 4 girls with event final worthy routines, only 1 made it. That has to be a tough pill to swallow but I'm sure they'll come back stronger next year.

For teams 5-8, I can't say I'm too surprised about the team final placement after you consider who qualified. Italy was massively boosted after having 3 very serviceable double twisting Yurchenkos in Fasana, Ferrari, and Rizzelli. They've also improved on uneven bars, while still not perfect, they are showing advances. Also, in general, Ferrari is no longer alone in pulling the weight of the country. Fasana joins her as a strong all arounder, Campana has Olympic experience, and the new ladies all held their own, even on balance beam.

Now, for teams 1-4, I did have the correct order but it did end up a lot closer than expected... Oh, for teams 2-4! I knew the US would win but I did not, by any stretch of the imagination, predict the margin would be nearly 7 points. Not only were the other 3 nations struggling with injuries and depth, they all had to count at least one fall in the final 3 up, 3 count format. I put China in second because of everyone's belief that they would "bring it" for a home championship but also after seeing their performance at the Asian Games. Yes they would be tired, but the difficulty was undoubtedly there. Russia and Romania being as close as they were was also shocking. While we often acknowledge Aliya as the one who carries Russia, she does get a bit more help than Iordache does. Aliya has her best friend since 2010 by her side, also a World Champion. She's joined by European event finalists and medalists and another Olympian. Iordache was joined by Stefania Stanila, the one who joined Larisa at Worlds last year. The one we thought was just there for experience and never thought we'd see her again. Here she is now, crying after the team final believing her errors are the errors that most hurt the team.

I'm side tracking a bit because I think this is the first time I've really had to process that the "babies" of London are now the team leaders. The way we saw Catalina Ponor help nurture Larisa Iordache, we now see Iordache doing that with her teammates. The way Ponor was so excited when Larisa won floor exercise gold at the 2012 European Championships, we now see Aliya Mustafina reacting in the same way to Daria Spiridonova. Our previous rebels off in the corner in Mustafina and Nabieva, are now team mothers, comforting the younger gymnasts.

Overall, the team final wasn't too exciting other than the unfortunate falls that made it closer than expected. If anything, I hope this motivates the young Romanians seeing how close they were. Perhaps they counted themselves out and didn't need to. Every routine mattered and they were just 0.5 away from a medal. That says a lot of this young team.

All Around Final
Predictions: Simone Biles, Aliya Mustafina, Larisa Iordache
Reality: Simone Biles, Larisa Iordache, Kyla Ross

The all around final was phenomenal. I was clapping. I was jumping. I was screaming. My jaw was dropping. Intense!

If my memory serves me right, things were going fine for the top 5 girls (the 4 mentioned above plus Yao) until balance beam. Aliya "I Make Up My Beam Routine As I Go" Mustafina made up a routine with not the greatest difficulty and had a few form breaks.

Then, we go to floor exercise and all hell breaks loose.

Yao Jinnan fell on her dismount and I was in complete and shock. Word was that Larisa warmed up her piked full in. This made me so happy to see that she would really push for an AA and event finals medal. Her reaction to going into first with just two gymnasts to go was priceless. Then, Aliya falls on her double arabian. There are just some things people should never fall on because of how beautifully the skill is performed. This is one of them. Again, with the jaw dropping and the screaming. That's when it also became clear that Kyla would be on the podium. Consistency matters. I didn't have Kyla on the podium because she had three people in her way for the silver medal. Clearly, that didn't matter.

And Simone hit her floor exercise. One of her best and dramatic finishes (in terms of performance, not result obviously).

Overall, I really enjoyed the all around. I'm still upset about the falls in the team final that I don't anticipate rewatching that any time soon. While the all around was heartbreaking, I did like the fact that it came down to the last event and the podium was largely undecided.

Event finals predictions vs reality will be coming soon :) What were your podium guesses and how did they end up?

Russian National Championships are currently taking place. Here are results from the senior all around competition. The senior team final will take place tomorrow (Saturday) and the junior and senior event finals will take place on Sunday. Click on the score for links to video.

All Around medalists
1. Aliya Mustafina 14.733 / 14.333 / 15.400 / 15.100 // 59.566
2. Alla Sosnitskaya 14.700 / 14.467 / 14.067 / 14.833 // 58.067
3. Anastasia Grishina 13.867 / 13.900 / 14.400 / 14.300 // 56.467

Of note from the above 3, Grishina had some difficulty on the UB competing a "tucked" Tkatchev. Mustafina competed a new FX with three excellent turns - a triple Y turn, a quad spin, and a double Y connected to a full turn.

Other notable scores and routines
Viktoria Komova VT (FTY) 14.257 / UB 14.9
Tatiana Nabieva UB 13.993
Dariya Spiridonova UB 15.133
Ksenia Afansyeva VT / FX 13.000

Here is the remaining schedule for the competition.
Saturday 5 April
11:00 - 13:00 Senior Team Final

Sunday 6 April
11:00 - 13:00 Junior & Senior Event Finals
Times are GMT+4, competitions start at 3am EST.

Keystone for blick.ch

I've been sharing montages since the start of this blog and can never get a feel of whether or not people actually enjoy it as much as I do. I love how a 3 minute video can capture the emotion of an athlete, the triumphs and downfalls of a meet, and the beauty that is gymnastics. Maybe I'm alone in this passion. Maybe not. But something exciting happened for one video editor.

Mustafinauniverse made a montage called "Giulia Steingruber - Champion." I was just searching through youtube for montages and started with Steingruber. I decided to click on this montage even though I already shared it after European Championships because all I saw was "Edit: I'm kind of freaking out..."

Edit: I'm kind of freaking out right now...

Giulia has seen this montage! I kik'd it to her and she saw it :)

Edit: Giulia kik'd me again asking for the name of the music
and now this song is her floor music...

Song: Love and Loss - Two Steps From Hell

Wow! What are the chances?! It's one thing for an athlete to share the montage, it's another for them to decide to use the audio for their floor music. Great work, mustafinauniverse!

Here it is again in case you missed it in an earlier Montage Monday.

McKayla Maroney will undoubtedly be on the list of greatest vaulters of all time which includes athletes like Oksana Chusovitna, Cheng Fei, and fellow American Alicia Sacramone. However, as time goes on, it is likely that her position as the greatest vaulter at the moment will be threatened. The more we see slow motions of her Amanar vault, the more we notice the slight break in form and the harder she pushes for the stick, the worse the potential landing errors seem to be.

My biggest issue with calling Maroney the greatest vaulter of all time has very little to do with her Amanar, the vault that made her irreplaceable to the 2012 Olympic team and made her famous around the world for sticking it in team final. It has a lot to do with her 2nd vault, the round off half on, full twist off. This vault is sometimes called a Mustafina although it is not officially named for Aliya Mustafina in the Code of Points nor was she the first one to compete it. Something about that vault always rubbed me the wrong way and the best I could do was describe it as wonky. It wasn't until PQST made some screen caps comparing Maroney's block to Simone's that helped me realize what it was. Simone competes a round off half on, half twist off which is sometimes called a laid out Podkopayeva (who did it piked) or a Lopez.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THESE PHOTOS

credit: PQST

"Simone has a FAR superior block & technique on the roundoff 1/2 on entry than McKayla. If you look at them head on from behind the table, McKayla’s hands make contact with the table before she completes the 1/2 turn and therefore she blocks with her shoulders at different angles, one hand in front of the other and doesn’t get the height or rotation that she should. Simone, on the other hand, completes the 1/2 turn fully before her hands make contact and push off the table and gets a much cleaner, higher block. Out of the two, I’d say Simone is much more likely to master a good Cheng. The difference in their shoulder angles is pretty remarkable, IMO." - The Pushy Queen of Slut Town (PQST) on tumblr for quotes and screen caps

We're a little bit further from Worlds and now the montages are coming out. Hope you enjoy this week's Montage Monday!

WAG ANTWERP 2013- Combat
Anna Burns/@AnnaBurnsy
Stunning montage with high quality footage of all the women's event finals. It's a nice montage to appreciate the beauty that is gymnastics and the routines we got to enjoy at Antwerp 2013.

Aliya Mustafina || Radium
SuperGymmie/@SuperGymmie
SG made 2 lovely montages since Worlds. This Aliya montage is a commentary montage and is beautiful. Everything was combined so perfectly; it's like poetry.

The video editors have already managed to crank out a few montages as footage from 2013 European Championships is still being uploaded. Here are the first few.

Team Russia. 2013 Euros.
This is my favorite of the bunch. It's a great video highlighting the highs and lows of the Russian team. "All of them had some rough times and came back strong! They did an amazing job and were absolutely beautiful to watch."

Aliya Mustafina - Army of Me (2013 Euros)
Highlights of Aliya's performance at European Championships. The segment near the beginning of Aliya on balance beam, reminds me a bit of a video game and Aliya powering up as she does her difficult combination.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (Gymnastics) - IRON
This is a more general montage and features gymnasts from many countries at the European Championships.

We just did our first #gymfan night. Hope you enjoyed it! This was done on April 17, the evening we learned the qualifiers for AA and EF at European Championships and the night before NCAA Women's Gymnastics National Championships. Read a few responses below and check out the related video! This doesn't include all of the responses but I tried to include at least one per person.

Q1: Rank the 4 WAG events in order from favorite to least favorite (ties allowed) and why
@ArabianPF_blog: UB - breathtaking to watch, VT - amazing when done well, falls change things quickly; FX(3rd) - some interesting choreo (sometimes) and mindblowing tumbling, BB (4th) - boring, everyone does the same thing

@DoubleDoubleGymBlog: beam- it's awesome to see their confidence, floor, you get to see their personality, vault, such an adrenaline rush, and I hate bars [We were complete opposites!!]

@elliemdi: speaking as a gymnast: beam, floor, bars, vault! speaking as a #gymfan: bars, floor, vault, beam.

Q2: Name 2 routines from European Championships that you will be most excited to watch once video becomes available
@ArabianPF_blog: Steingruber's VTs and I actually have no idea for the 2nd one. Maybe her FX since she did a full twisting double layout.

@MrsMcLean11 1. Ruby Harrold bars love the routine 2. Afan floor love her artistry

candycoateddoom (tumblr): Didi’s floor in EF and… let’s go with Lari’s beam in AA and EF.

@AllFlippedOut This may sound bad but Mustafina's two beam falls… curious to see what went wrong.

Mustafina on BB in Qualifications - user has link to Russians in qualifications but currently unlabelled

Comparisons
This video is pure genius, I can't get over it. Both Aliya and Vika are shown vaulting together and someone on tumblr (anontube) noted how in sync they are (1:28 for vault, on beam at 0:37). The youtube commenters acknowledge that only Kohei can be compared to Kohei (1:47). Many compared Maroney and Paseka's Amanar vault (1:33). While I don't think the timing is right, you can tell Maroney gets so much more height because she's out of the frame for a significant portion of it and she lands facing forward.

This week was full of some brilliant montages. No words. Just watch them.

Aliya Mustafina. Story. by uswntgymfan

Echoes in Eternity, Fierce Five Forever by CSaccullo

Team Italia. Cherry Waves by CSaccullo (Check out 1:27 - editing madness!)

Elisabetta Preziosa - I want Beam that way by SuperGymmie

The youtube videos were added to the March Montage playlist.

Credit: elitegymnast
Sisters Becky and Ellie Downie

The English Championships were this weekend as was the first few days of the Russian Championships set to finish on March 7th.

English Championships
Hannah Whelan won the all around competition and finished 1st on beam. We finally see the return of 2008 Olympian Becky Downie who was dealing with illness and injury throughout the last quad that took her out of the running for 2012. She looked fabulous on uneven bars winning that event with a 14.3.

Ruby Harrold was also seen with some great combination on bars - a toe-on Shaposh to Bhardwaj and a toe-on Shaposh 1/2 to a stoop shoot through to low bar. Not sure I named that correctly so you can check it out here. She finished in 4th after a fall on that event. English Championships saw the return of 2000 GB Olympian Lisa Mason. She won vault with a half twisting Yurchenko and a stuck front handspring on - front pike off. Watch here.

Welcome back! Hope you all had a lovely New Year! Montage Monday is switching to bimonthly. Check out Arabian Punch Front on facebook or twitter (@ArabianPF_blog) in between to check for any updates.

The Beauty of Gymnastics. London 2012 Edition.
By uswntgymfan
Song: Varou by Sigur Ros
Great montage of gymnastics and London 2012. How beautiful gymnastics is! She included a lot of my favorite footage that makes me laugh or smile. It's definitely one of those slow motion montages but it reminds you that every moment is important and significant in gymnastics and that each athlete brings shines her own light on the sport.

Fight For You. The Fierce Five & the Magnificent Seven.
By AshleyakaFlipper2
Ever wondered what the Fierce Five would look like up against the Magnificent Seven? Ashley does so well with match up montages - comparing Dominique Dawes' double layout with Jordyn's double double on floor, Amanda Borden and Kyla Ross' double tuck dismount off beam, or both Jordyn and Dominique Moceanu's full twisting double layout dismount off bars. Guess which two vaults were compared? I know we all wondered what the two teams would look like side by side, and now we get to see.

Алия Мустафина - Небо принадлежит тебе / Aliya Mustafina - The Sky Belongs To You was made by Chris Saccullo. Chris continues to push the envelope with his montages. Here, he overlays scenes of earth from space as Mustafina's tumbling. I love how she's tumbling over off and that there are clips of her saluting in the sky - the sky belongs to you. Let him know what you think in the comments to the video!

Fansgymnastic just made this montage of Gabby Douglas back in November. It's to a rap/hip-hop song and some of my favorite parts are the clips of other people reacting to Gabby's performances, like the rest of the Fierce 5 during her UB and Jordyn and Gabby's mom, Natalie Hawkins, during the AA. Check it out! Gabby Douglas - I WANNA BE BIGGER

These are some of my favorite things from 2012. I got into tumblr and used a lot of links from there so make sure to check them out. Also, please don't copy any images and claim them as your own. These images are not my own and the source is posted beneath them. The artists worked very hard so I tried to link to my tumblr or the original poster so you can easily reblog or cite properly. Enjoy!

source
1. We can start things off with our all-around champion. One of my favorite quotes of the year is from Gabrielle Douglas and is about the crowd gasping on her uneven bar releases.
"I try to make it so high to impress you guys," she said with a giggle. "I hear people (gasp) and I'm like, 'Calm down, I'm going to catch the bar.'"
source

2. Favorite Floor Choreography: The handstand choreography of Anastasia Grishina's routine. Gif here.

3. Favorite Stag Leaps: Favorites goes to Aliya Mustafina for Arabian to stag and Simone Biles for double layout to stag. Biles' makes my jaw drop every time!

4. Gymnast I Fell in Love with in 2012:

source
Kyla Ross - I love that Kyla is one of the athletes that you know is capable of sticking her dismount. I love how long her lines are - she has the prettiest bail to handstand on uneven bars and I normally don't enjoy watching that skill. I also love that she connects a lovely switch ring to back tuck on balance beam. Hopefully, she can make the 2013 World team and stay around until Rio.

At Olympic Trials she was the only athlete of the Fierce 5 not to cry but at the Olympics, she was the first one to cry. She even runs to tell Aly after BB to which Aly replies that her goal is to make Kyla cry and Aly laughs when she sees Kyla cry after FX. Other funnies: Kyla cracking up on the podium in Jesolo, and McKayla, Kyla, and Jordyn reacting to something.

Winner of Best Dressed of the Quad goes to Russia. They've had a few misses but they've had many hits, and they've managed to stay patriotic as well. Considering their colors are red, white, and blue, quite a few countries could take notice. The source can be found by clicking on the athlete's name.

EDIT 1/1/13 - Post has been reorganized in order of votes - most to least favorite. There was just 1 point separating leotards 1&2, and 1 point separating leotards 3&4!

And the winner is, by just 1 point!
1. 2012 Euros TF

Anastasia Sidorova
I didn't love this leo. It's nice and very elegant and I see why people like it but the mesh ruins it for me. And I think it's the location of the mesh - this very, very deep V-neck. I do see it's appeal since it's simple and classy and the deep purple gives it a more regal feel.

2. 2012 Olympics UB EF

Aliya Mustafina
This was one of my favorite leotards but was definitely my favorite of the Olympic leotards.

3. 2012 Olympics VT EF

Maria Paseka
I flip-flop with this leo. I think it fits everyone really nicely and it's an example of mesh done well. My one problem is that it's a little too dominatrix for me. Something about the way the bust is outlined is a little too much.

4. 2010 Worlds TF

Aliya Mustafina
I really like this leo - the 3/4 length sleeves and the way the design rises to the neck. The only problem is that the mesh makes bra straps visible. Granted, the athletes have other things to worry about, like landing Amanars.

5. 2012 Jesolo

Anna Rodionova
This is one of my favorite leotards of the entire quad. I love that it's patriotic with the red, white, and blue, but I also love the simple, clean lines. There's some asymmetry without it looking tacky. I think this leo inspired the Olympic leotard which is also one of my favorites.

6. 2011 Euros AA

Anna Dementyeva
This leo is from 2011 and Anna Dementyeva has a reason to smile. I like this leo, even the pink version of it. The only problem is that the mesh makes bra straps visible. Granted, the athletes have other things to worry about, like landing Amanars.

Did I leave your favorite Russian leotard of the quad out? Let me know in the comments. ~~Now you get the chance to vote on your favorite leotards. I'll announce the results January 1, 2013.~~

The results are in for the first Arabian Punch Front Photo Edit Challenge! Thank you all for the submissions. I decided to make another division so only the Top 2 pics in each division are represented here. Click the photos to enlarge.

Please do not steal the photos. If you put them on tumblr, twitter, etc. please make sure to give credit to the person who made it. The link is above the photo.

There are 3 montages in this week's Montage Monday. Vika & Aliya, Andreea Raducan, and one of Rebecca Bross, Sarah Finnegan, Sabrina Vega, and Elizabeth Price, and the dynamic between the gymnast and the coaches.

This is a fabulous edit by Chris of the friendship between Russia's Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina. He tried a few different effects and I really liked how it turned out. Viktoria's sheep jump looks like it's in an orb that protects all things fragile and beautiful. Aliya has sparks firing from her hands, which goes well with the drama that she normally creates with her performances. Chris also uses a cartoon-esque effect which I really like. Vika has shared the video on her VK :) Congrats Chris!

Viktoria Komova, Aliya Mustafina - BY YOUR SIDE from CSaccullo on Vimeo.

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Rio 2016 - The Athletes

2016 European Championships WAG Senior Preview

The Stars of the First European Games

This Week in Training: Can't Stop, Won't Stop

2014 World Championships: Predictions vs Reality EF

2014 World Championships: Predictions vs Reality

Russian Nationals 2014 Senior Results and Video

Montage Monday: The Montage That Mattered

That Wonky Second Vault

Montage Monday: Maroney & Mustafina

Montage Monday: European Championship Edition

GymFan Apr 17: European Champs & NCAA Edition

Gymternet Videos

Montage Monday: Brilliant

English Championships Wrap Up and Russian Championships Qualification

First Montage Monday of the Year!

Favorites of 2012

Best Dressed of the Quad

APF Photo Edit Challenge Results!

Montage Monday

About

Follow Us

Translate

Popular Posts

Labels

Blog Archive

Followers