Road To Rio: Wacky Worlds

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The 2016 World Championships in Glasgow were held from October 23-November 1st and served as a qualifier for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

It was a wacky worlds.  That is the best way to describe it.  It started when Kyla Ross did not make the team.  After a disappointing showing at USA Nationals she bowed out of the process and decided not to attend the World Team Selection camp.  She has been part of every World Championship team and won medals there since the Olympics so it was a big deal that she wasn't going to be part of it.  She's been spending a lot of weekends at UCLA.  No one is certain what her next move will be but I hope she hasn't given up on Rio.

Making The Team
People were also shocked that a key gymnast was left off the team and one who didn't seem to have a chance in hell was added.  Bailey Key is that key gymnast.  She was a consistently top performing All-Around junior for years, and had a solid 4th place at her first Senior Nationals.  I could not believe that Marta decided not to take her and just as shocked that she took Brenna Dowell.  I was sad for Bailey.  It had to feel like a slap in the face after doing so much for the team for so many years, but I was really happy for Brenna.  This is an athlete who had her heart broken at the 2013 Worlds when she made the team, got all the way to  China and then at the last minute was not used on a single event in favor of Mckayla Maroney competing the all-around.  She was an alternate for the 2014 Worlds and then left elite Gymnastics to compete at Oklahoma University.  She decided to come back for one last shot at competing in Worlds and getting a signature skill named after her.  The girl just wouldn't give up and her tenacity was rewarded.  After a disastrous 2015 Nationals I didn't event hink she would get invited to World Team Selection camp.  Then, shockingly she was named to the team.   

Maggie Nichols, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman, Brenna Dowell, Simone Biles, Mykayla Skinner

The Final Roster
Once the team was finally named, the big question was who would be the alternate.  It has to be Brenna right?  She is great on bars but the routine is risky and she doesn't consistently hit her routines.  Maybe it should be Gabby Douglas.  She might be reigning Olympic Champion but she's not top on any event and placed 5th at Nationals behind Bailey Key who didn't even make the team.  I knew there was no way she would be an alternate.  The odd woman out was Mykayla Skinner.  She is consistent, but maybe her high risky difficulty and loose form did her in.

Qualifications  
The next big question was who would compete all around on day 1 and have the chance to qualify for the coveted AA finals.  Maggie Nichols who placed 2nd at Nationals was bumped from that opportunity in favor of Gabby Douglas.  Marta put Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Gabby on all four events but only two could advance to All-Around finals.

There was a malfunction with Brenna's floor music and she did her entire routine without floor music.  I have never seen that happen, ever in all the years I have been watching gymnastics.  The crowd clapped a beat to cover the odd silence.  She handled it, with only a stumble throughout only to go to bars and fall twice.  It was really sad to watch.  I was hoping that after finally making the World team she would hit everything and prove to everyone that they should have taken her all along, but it didn't go as planned.  Her consolation prize is that because she completed her signature skill, a piked double front on floor, it will be named after her.  She accomplished that goal at least.  She was near tears in her interviews after worlds in 2013 after not competing and her eyes were filled with tears once again in 2015.  I don't think she will ever get this chance again.  I think she should go back to Oklahoma University and enjoy the rest of her gymnastics career without the pressure of elite gymnastics.  

Aly didn't do so great either.  She put two feet out of bounds on floor and then fell on bars.  She never falls.  Gabby fell on beam, but you know who didn't fall on any events and scored high enough to have qualified for all-around had she been given the opportunity to compete?  Maggie Nichols.  She was rewarded by being the only person put on all four events in team finals.  Not even Simone Biles did all four events.  They let her rest bars since she still had many individual finals ahead of her.   

Perhaps the biggest shocker of the entire qualification round is that Romania had a serious meltdown and did not qualify to the Olympics.  Top Eight qualify and Romania placed 13th.  When you think of gymnastics you think of Romania.  I cannot imagine any team final without Romania let alone an Olympics.  I heard that Nadia Comaneci said, "I am sick to my stomach."  Brazil also did not qualify for their own Olympics placing 9th.  There will be another opportunity to qualify at the Olympic Test event in Rio next year so they better get it together or else they will be out.

I can't remember a competition ever, where girls from the US competed for another country.  Alaina Kwan and Kylie Dickson did not qualify to Nationals and therefore were not in the mix to make the World Team so they decided to compete with a different country.  They staged a temporary defection to Belarus for the opportunity to compete internationally.  They finished 73rd and 74th after qualifications and did not advance to the AA finals.

Team Finals

Another shocker was Russia not making the podium for top three and that Great Britain did.  Russia was 4th and Great Britain placed 3rd to win their first World Championship ever.  Team USA won as expected by a whopping five points.  They have won every World team title since 2011, plus the 2012 Olympics.  There was no World Championships during the Olympic year so this makes five years of Team USA World domination and maybe gymnasts from other countries are getting sick of it.  During 2013 Worlds Italy's Carlotta Ferlito was called out for racist comments about Simone Biles. This time Russia's star Viktoria Komova accused the USA of steroid use and claimed that Great Britain and China just got lucky on a Russian message board.  Russia's last team gold victory was 2010 Worlds and Komova was not part of that team.  They placed 2nd at the 2012 Olympics.  Russians only like gold, so I can see why she was a little bitter but it was a three up three scores count format and every single Russian girl fell off balance beam.  They probably hoped they could still hang onto bronze.  I've seen them reduced to tears over a bronze and remove the offending medal from their necks before they make it off the podium.  In contrast, Great Britain cried tears of joy.  The Netherlands qualified 8th making this the first time they have qualified a team since 1976.   Full results here.

All Around Finals 

Those wily Russians and Romanians will not be denied medals at Worlds.  Larissa Iordache salvaged something of this World Championships for Romania by winning the Bronze medal in the All Around with a solid performance.  Gabby Douglas proved her comeback is real snagging the silver.  She had clean execution all around.  She is not my favorite, but her gymnastics is nice to look at.  Were it not for falls from two competitors she would not have medaled, but that is the thing about gymnastics.  You have to hit when it counts and Elsabeth Black (Canada) and Giulia Steingruber (Switzerland) did not do that.  Simone Biles put her hands on the beam saving a fall after her punch front and landed with two feet out of bounds on floor after a leap.  I wasn't worried because, it has been said that she could fall about 3 times and still win.  This time she won by just a little over a point, which is still a very big gap in gymnastics.  Her difficulty is insane.  The girl truly is unstoppable.  The rest of the World is just clamoring to catch up and they have less than a year to do it.  Full Results here.   

Event Finals 

Simone Biles qualified for three events, Gabby Douglas qualified for Bars and Maggie Nichols qualified for Floor.

Vault

There are so few who even qualify for vault because in order to do so you have to compete two vaults from two different families.  Simone Biles was the only US Gymnast to do this.  She placed third, while Russia got redemption with a Gold for Maria Paseka.  The silver went to Un Jong Hong from PRK.

Bars

Bars was another wacky worlds event because there was a tie for gold.  Not a two way, not a three way, but a four way tie!  Fan Yilin (China), Viktoria Komova (Russia), Daria Spiridonova (Russia) and Madison Kocian (USA) all earned 15.366 in that order.  Gabby Douglas ended up with no medal in fifth with the second best score.  All four fit up top the podium.  There were four flag bearers, one for each medal, and three national anthems played one after the other in alphabetical order.  The FIG allows ties the USOC does not and I think that's a good thing because I hate tie breakers. It doesn't seem fair to withhold medals from athletes who technically earned it.

Beam

This event was shaky.  Half the qualifiers fell off, but Simone Biles came through again for the win and another Gold.  I was glad to see athletes from two countries who don't medal often win.  The silver went to a beautiful routine for Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands.  Her twin Lieke Wevers qualified to floor finals.  The bronze medal went Pauline Schaefer of Germany.

Floor

This is getting redundant now, but in a really good way. Simone Biles won yet another gold and she is dominating gymnastic right now like no other.  She just hits and hits and hits.  That is what she does.  Russian Ksenia Afanaseva scooped up another gold for Russia.  I was most excited for Maggie Nichols who won Bronze.  She nailed every single event she competed on for Team USA and I am glad that she got to hit for herself and get an individual medal.  It was a great way for her to go out of her very first World Championships.  She needs to be on that team in Rio and I think that she has earned it more than anyone else.  Except Simone Biles.  Because Simone Biles.  You can't ever feel too bad about her beating you because she's just that hard to beat.After three World Championships she has amassed a total of fourteen World medals.  Ten out of fourteen are Gold.  All event final results here.

So that was Worlds.  I was fully immersed in gymnastics coverage for a week and I loved it.  Team Finals and All Around finals aired on NBC over the weekend, but I was so happy to be able to get see everything online.  USA Gymnastics posted playlists of all team USA events and entire meet coverage on You Tube so I got to watch everything!  The SSE Hydro Arena looks like a space ship.  All the gymnasts were introduced like rock stars to blaring music, strobe lights and fog with their image displayed on a huge screen while they stood on stage.  I could feel the energy just watching it online.

This competition set the state for Rio and I can't wait to see what happens next.  You are only as good as your last competition.  These athletes have less than a year of continuing to prove that they belong on the team.

Fierce Five Update 

 
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The Fierce Five-Where Are They Now?

The gymnastics world is all a buzz because the road to Rio has officially begun with the 2015 US Secret Classic and continues with P & G Championships this weekend.  What makes it even more exciting is that there was not one, not two, but three members of the 2012 US Gold Medal winning Fierce Five team back in the mix and very serious about going for a second Olympics.  In a sport where you peak at 16 if not sooner this is unheard of in gymnastics and hasn't been done since Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes did it in 1996 and 2000. 

Kyla, McKayla, Aly, Jordan, Gabby

Here is an update on the gymnastics darlings from London. 

After school activities

A photo posted by Jordyn Wieber (@jordyn_wieber) on Jan 7, 2015 at 5:22pm PST

After London everyone except Jordan Wieber was certain about coming back.  She was the it girl that year and everyone was expecting her to win the All-Around and she didn't even get to compete for it.  I  was so, so sad for her.  Aly Raisman edged her out for a spot in All-Around finals and then Gabby Douglas went on to win the whole thing.  Out of all of them Jordan suffered the biggest disappointment and would have the most to prove by coming back for redemption.  She didn't commit, but she also didn't rule it out.  She was not eligible for collegiate competition having gone pro, but secured a place as gymnastics team manager at UCLA.  She continued some training there but could not find the motivation to mount a serious comeback and officially announced her retirement earlier this year.  I think she is enjoying college life and that California sunshine too much to go back to the cold of Michigan and the daily grind of gymnastics.  Who can blame her?

A photo posted by McKayla Maroney (@mckaylamaroney) on Jul 9, 2015 at 8:51pm PDT

 McKayla Maroney made made it clear that she loved gymnastics too much to give it up and was serious about continuing onto Rio.  She did some acting gigs and appearances after London.  I feel really bad for her because she made a valiant effort to continue.  She got injured on the post Olympic tour, but came back and was competing at a World Championships in the All Around just a year after the Olympics.  Having been known as a vault specialist in London it was a really big deal for her.  Having missed out on a Vaulting Gold that really should have been hers it was also a really big deal that she won it at 2013Worlds the year after.  She was looking so good and was so determined but she had injury after injury and a few surgeries.  Her body just wasn't having it and it looks like she's down for the count.   If she's not in the mix now I don't imagine it's possible for her to even dream about coming back now.  I don't think there has been an official announcement but the only thing I've seen from her lately is sexy selfies on Instagram. But really, what is with the sexy selfies?  It's pretty much all she posts.  According to an interview with Marta Karolyi she is having some ongoing medical issues with her heart.

Kyla Ross never left the gym.  At fifteen she was the youngest member of the 2012 team and just getting started so it was no surprise that she didn't skip a beat and was right back to serious training.  She was the only one of her teammates not to turn pro and do the full post Olympic tour.  She only did West Coast dates so she could continue to train.  She's continued to be a fixture on the US National team winning medals at every Worlds and Nationals.  She would have been girl on top but Simone Biles came onto the scene and bumped her out of a World All Around title in 2013 and she has placed 2nd to her at every nationals.  She has only had a few minor injuries which is amazing in this sport where you expect to get injured constantly.  She has stayed the course and I will be so disappointed if she doesn't make next year's team.  She has had to deal with a growth spurt and has been criticized over and over for doing the same skills from 2012.  Marta loves her for her consistency and pretty gymnastics but the rest of the pack is catching up and I don't think Rio is possible unless she upgrades her difficulty.  Her gymnastics continues to be solid and she is right in there with the young whipper snappers coming up provided she upgrades.

 

Aly Raisman did Dancing with the Stars and all kinds of fun stuff after the Olympics.  She got her own leotard collection from GK Elite and was recently featured in ESPN's 2015 Body Edition.  My goodness that girl is fit.  They all are.  She needed some time off to live a normal life for a little while, but her intention was always to come back.  She had an amazing Olympics walking away with a Gold on floor and a Bronze on beam in addition to team gold, but just missed out on an individual AA medal medal.  She started training at the end of 2013 in Massachussets with her same coach, was back at US National training camps at the end of 2014 and competed at City of Jesolo Trophy 2015 in March.  I love her.  I love her attitude, her consistency, and her personality.  She has had so much success and yet remains humble and hard working.  She is still full of power, but really needs to clean up her form which has always been one of her weaknesses.  I really want her to make the team.  I want EVERYONE to make it!   

 

The third Fierce Five member who is making a comeback is none other than 2012 All Around Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas.  She basked in the post Olympic glory as well, with TV appearances and magazine covers.  She had a movie made about her life and slo got her very own GK Elite leotard collection.  She moved to Los Angeles and then got back in the gym mid 2014.  She originally went back to Chow's who trained her through the Olympics, but then bounced around to a few other gyms before settling down at Buckeye's in Ohio.  She was looking kind of flaky, but has stayed put.  It was announced earlier this year that she was going to have a reality show set in LA, but I haven't heard anything else about it.  She went back to training camp around the same time Aly did and had the first comeback meet at Jesolo last year as well.  She is looking really good.  I have mixed feelings about Gabby.  I loved her underdog story from 2012 and her gymnastics, but found myself put off by her cocky attitude in interviews right away.  I don't know what it is, but arrogance is just not a likable character trait in my opinion and she oozes it.  I though she had toned it down a bit when I watched a few interviews while she was training for her comeback, but no.  It's back. I want to like her a lot more than I do, but her gymnastics speaks for itself.  Physically, she hasn't changed much since 2012 and her gymnastics looks really clean and solid. 

 

The it girl of this Olympic cycle is undoubtedly Simone Biles.  She wins everything.  She is the 2013 and 2014 World AA Champion and not even Alya Mustafina from Russia could beat her.  She is a machine.  She is powerful, solid and while she does not have long graceful lines she is very clean. The girl is seriously blessed with natural talent for this sport, plus she is a work horse.  Everyone, including the former Olympians are chasing her and it's pretty much a given that barring some bizarre unforeseen circumstance she will be on the 2016 team.  I expect her to win too, but Jordan's story and Mckayla's fall when she was a sure thing for Vault gold is a cautionary tale.  You never know.  Not only is she good, but she has the most adorable personality ever and always looks like she is having fun.  There is not an arrogant bone in her body.  She committed to UCLA, but then announced her decision to turn pro on July 29th.  I don't blame her.  Gymnastics is expensive and if things go the way they should she will make enough money to finance a college education and then some.  It can be a risky move, but she WILL get endorsements and make a ton of money provided she continues doing exactly what she's doing and doesn't get hurt.

How did they do at Classics?  Simone Biles won of course.  Gabby Douglas came in an impressive 2nd, just 2.0 points behind Simone who has been known to win by so many points that she could fall five times and still win.  Aly fell on floor and came in 5th.  Kyla, who only competed bars and beam fell on an upgraded bar move.  It's basically Simone Biles and then everyone else, but the rest of the pack is catching up with Kyla.  She needs time to get comfortable with upgrades so I hope the fall doesn't send her back to her safe moves. 

It is absolutely ridiculous how deep the US team is right now and how hard it is going to be to make the World team this year let alone the Olympic team next year.  Next year!!  It's less than a year away now.  As much as I love a good comeback story and want all the veterans to make it I don't see that happening.  And you know what?  I want to go to Rio too.  I am getting so excited that it getting so close and it is just killing me right now that I've been shut out of two ticket request phases and that when they finally did live sales I was in Kauai without my Visa card.  Gymnastics is one of the hottest and hardest to get tickets around.  I got the email that day, but if you weren't trying to get tickets within minutes of going live they were as good as gone.  I can still go if I want to see Taekwando or Basketball, but for me it's gymnastics or bust.


Watch more videos on Gymnastike
3 minute P & G Championships (USA Nationals) podium training video

P & G Championships will be televised on NBC and Universal Sports if you are lucky enough to get that channel.  

 
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Wanna Be Photographer

There are 6 Conferences in NCAA Gymnastics:  Big 10 Championship, Big 12 Championship, Pacific 12,  Mid-American Conference, Southeastern Conference and Western Athletic Conference.Each conference has it's own championship for the Conference Title AND qualification to Regionals.  The top 6-7 teams in each region earn a place in Regional Championships and are assigned to one of six held across the nation.

Road to NCAA Championships
Columbus Regional– UCLA, LSU, Arizona, Ohio State, Central Michigan, North Carolina State
Corvallis Regional  – Georgia, Oregon State, Arkansas, Boise State, Arizona State, Cal
Gainesville Regional  – Florida, Minnesota, Auburn, Maryland, Bridgeport, Pittsburgh
Morgantown Regional  – Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina
Norman Regional– Oklahoma, Stanford, Penn State, Washington, Iowa, Southern Utah
Tuscaloosa Regional  – Alabama, Utah, Denver, Kent State, Brigham Young, Iowa State

• The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors not from an advancing team at each regional receives a berth in the NCAA Championships.  In addition, individual event winners who did not already qualify with their team or as an all-arounder will advance.
• At the national championships, the twelve teams that made it compete in two different qualification sessions on Day 1 to make it into the team finals. 
• The top three teams from each session advance to the Super Six Team Finals which is held on Day 2.
• The top four individuals from each semifinal in each event (including ties) from Day 1 of competition will compete in the individual-event championships which is held on Day 3. 
• There is no separate event for the Individual All Around.  The top finishers who did all four events in the team qualification round are ranked based on those results. 

So what we saw at the 2013 NCAA National Gymnastics Championships was the best of the best college gymnasts from across the nation and lots of great gymnastics.  Gymnastics levels go from 1-10 with competition starting at level 5.  After Level 10 is Elite.  The girls you see in the Olympics are Elite gymnasts which is a whole other ballgame and the girls that are competing division I college gymnastics are closer to level 10 although a lot were former Elites.  You will not see the difficulty that you see in the Olympics in College Gymnastics.  They are limited to 20 hours per week of training per NCAA rules whereas Elite gymnasts will train 30 hours plus.  Elite routines require a lot more difficulty then the level required for NCAA Gymastics but almost everything at any competitive level of gymnastics is pretty incredible considering a lot of people can't even do a cartwheel.  Very few make it to the Elite level and even fewer make it to Worlds or Olympics.  For some girls College is the dream and for others it's what they do after their Club/Elite gymnastics career is over so there are quite a few former Elites, Olympians and World team members in NCAA's. The vibe in college gymnastics is a lot looser and fun then what you see at the elite level.  They are just as competitive and determined but they let loose a lot more.  A lot of the girls broke into random dancing to the piped in music between rotations and they always high five their whole team after each routine.

As a former gymnast myself I know how hard the sport is.  And I wasn't even that good!!  Gymnasts are incredible.  No matter how many times I watch it I am never any less amazed at the tricks they do.  They are so strong and they make it look so easy.  The thing is, that people aren't supposed to do the things that they can do.  Not only do they they defy gravity but they are fearless.  They stand there, raise their arms over their heads and launch into a tumbling series on a four inch beam like it's nothing.  They are in such good shape too.  Muscles popping out everywhere.  In the crowd there were a lot of gymnasts and you can spot them a mile away because of their toned legs and build.  I have abs and pretty solid muscle tone to this day that I think is from doing gymnastics so many years ago!  I maintain that gymnastics is the best sport in the world and nobody can tell me any different.

The real photographers were on the floor where they were confined to this little taped off square box area.  I'm a wanna be photographer so I got what I could from the stands.  We had pretty good seats.  Here are some of my favorite shots.

Marissa King, Florida- Team Qualifications // 2008 Canadian Olympian

Shayla Worley, Georgia- Team Qualifications // Former World Team member

Nansy Damianova, Utah-Team Qualifications // 2008 Olympian for Canada

Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA-Team Qualifications // Former Elite & US National Team member

Marissa King, Florida-Team Finals

Mackenzie Caquatto, Florida- Team Finals // Former World Team member

Bridget Sloan, Florida-Team Finals // 2008 Olympian, 2009 World Champion

Oklahoma, Team Finals

Chelsea Davis-Georgia, Team Finals // Former Elite & US National Team Member

Shayla Worley, Georgia- Team Finals

Ashley Priess, Alabama- Team Finals // Former Elite

Shalya Worley, Georgia-Team Finals

Bart Connor and Kathy Johnson were right in front of us

Chelsea Davis, Georgia Bar Finals

Emily Wong, Nebraska- Floor Finals, 3rd Place

Standings after Team Qualifications Session I and II
1. University of Florida, 197.775
2. University of Alabama, 197.350
3. Louisiana State University, 197.325
4. University of California-Los Angeles, 197.200
5. University of Oklahoma, 197.200
6. University of Georgia, 197.150

Final Results

1. Florida, 197.575

2. Oklahoma, 197.375

3. Alabama, 197.350

4. UCLA, 197.100

5. LSU, 197.050

6. Georgia, 196.675

Bridget Sloan from Florida won the All Around.

 
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Weekend With Mom and Gymnastics

All set and ready to go

Outside Pauly Pavilion before Session II of Team Qualifications Day 1

It's a good thing my mom and I never run out of things to talk about and that she really likes gymnastics because last weekend with my mom involved a whole lot of both.  We headed up to Los Angeles  in the morning, checked in with our hotel so we could get a parking pass for my car and went straight to Session I of the NCAA Team Qualifications at Pauly Pavillion on the campus of UCLA.  It was so exciting to be there!! After that we walked back to our hotel, checked in, and then grabbed a bite to eat.  It was tempting to go to Denny's because for some reason I really like that place but Mj will not go there with me 'cause he thinks it sucks.  Even though it was right next door we didn't eat there once.  We had to explore someplace different since we were in a new town and there were so many options to choose from.  We found this little Mediterranean restaurant around the corner and ate some delicious Panini's.  Then walked back to UCLA for more gymnastics; Session II Team Qualifications.  Dance Moms fans will get a kick out of this one.  Maddie and Mackenzie were sitting not too far from us.  Mom Melissa was not there; they were with a younger man and woman.  During the meet they had people coming up to take pictures with them and then after they had a line of little girls waiting for pictures and autographs.  My mom had no clue who they were but I sure did because I'm addicted to that show.  Is it sad that I thought seeing them there was pretty cool and kinda wanted a picture with them for myself?  Oh well.  That night we went back to the room, watched TV at snacks and popped open a bottle of red wine.

Hanging out at Coffee Bean

We had so much fun that day!!!

Day 2 of our LA Gymnastics weekend adventure started out with the Coffee Bean.  I really wanted to try to get some writing in as the month is about gone and I had not hit my page goal yet.  We spent a few hours there and I got a lot done.  What do girls like to do together on vacation?  Shop of course.  We spent hours making our way through the shops in the cute little college town of Westwood that surrounds UCLA.  We both found cute hats at Target and a few other things too.  I totally got gypped on my college town experience when I was at UCSD.  There was nothing within walking distance and it was mostly surrounded by business/residential apartments.  Too bad I got into UCLA but made the "sensible" decision and went closer to home.  I don't regret it but thinking back it sure would have been cool to have experienced the college life at UCLA.  For lunch we stopped at 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria.  It's a build your own pizza place where you choose white or red, pick from a ton of amazing cheeses and toppings and then they bake it up for you in less then 10 minutes.  It was so good!! 

Right after Super Six Team Finals Day 2

We took our sweet little time and the next thing you know we were late which is ridiculous since we were a 15 minute walk away and didn't even have to deal with traffic or parking.  For some reason I thought the competition started at 6 like it did the night before instead of 4pm.  I only realized it when I saw something from USA Gymnastics pop up on my News feed announcing the time.  We practically ran to the arena and we were so mad at ourselves for mixing things up for the most important competition of the Championships.  Super Six Team Finals was the loudest and most attended night of the whole weekend.  Florida won it.  After the meet we thought about stopping at a bar for a drink but instead went back to the room and finished off the bottle of wine and talked about anything and everything until we were both too tired to keep our eyes open.

Day 3 Individual Event Finals // Bridget Sloan on Bars

The last day of a trip is always bittersweet.  You just never want it to end!  My mom and I woke up, went to breakfast at the hotel, checked out and then took our time stopping at a few stores along the way back to UCLA for the Individual Event Finals.  We made sure to be there early which was cool because we got to watch open warm ups.

The Royal Palace Westwood Hotel is a real gem.  I have to give myself a pat on the back for finding this one.  Actually, I can't even really call it a hotel.  It's a motel.  It was relatively inexpensive but still way more expensive then you might think for what you are getting.   Hotels; even motels are so expensive these days!  It had almost no amenities to speak of but it was clean, perfectly located and had free parking.  This saved us from having to pay hotel parking then drive to UCLA and pay campus parking because we could walk back and forth.  It had a continental breakfast which we utilized both mornings and a microwave and refrigerator in the room.  We were there for gymnastics so I was only looking for the basics anyways and that's what we got.

I loved the 80 degree weather and getting to watch gymnastics all weekend.  I've been watching whatever was televised and I'd already seen most of the girls on TV at some point.  We had the same seats every day and they were right up front.  These girls are so talented and so good at what they do.  Being a former gymnast and fan for life I am in love with gymnastics and so so glad I got the chance to see them live and up close.  When Mj got me the tickets I should have known from the start that my mama would be the best person to come with me.  It could not have worked out any better.  Mom's always remember to bring snacks!  And it was so great for us to get to spend so much time together.  My mom and I both have a pretty bad sense of direction.  We got lost every day!  It may have taken us some wrong turns and a few extra circles to get where we needed to go but we always figured it out and we had a good time doing it. 

Did you think I'd go to a gymnastics competition with my DSLR and not take a ton of action shots and share them on my blog?  I got some really cool pics but I'm saving them for the next post. The Championships is being televised on ESPNU tonight 4/23, 4/30, 5/1 if you want to check it out.

Last Chance: Event Finals

 Did anybody notice that no other sport had it's very own theme song and special intro for it's TV coverage?  The husband didn't notice it either but I made sure to point it out.  I realize that I am totally biased but clearly gymnastics is awesome and I'm not just saying that.  The song is Home by Phillip Phillips and hearing it will always remind me of Fierce Five Olympic Gold.

Mckayla Maroney Vaults to win Silver [Photo Source:  NBCOlympics.com]

 Disappointed [Photo Source: NBCOlympics.com]

Vault
Everyone knows that Mckayla Maroney is the best vaulter in the world-maybe even of all time and that she was guaranteed a gold medal as long as she landed on her feet.  Her Vault got her on the Olympic team and is the only event she competed in London.  She soars above the vault higher then anyone else man or woman and her form is perfect.  She's just gifted with some natural talent when it comes to vaulting.   She got the gold medal at worlds last year but at the 2012 Olympic Vault finals...no dice.  You have to hit on the right day at the right time and shockingly she didn't.   She did her Amanar well enough with just one big step out of bounds then landed on her butt on her Mustafina vault.  It was good enough for Silver but not the Gold everyone including her knew she could get.  She couldn't hide the disappointment.  It was written all over her face.  She accepted a hug from Romanian winner Sandra Izbasa but did not accept one from Russian Maria Paseka who got the Bronze; it looked kind of awkward.  She seemed to be in a daze.  It's very sad that the best vaulter in the world doesn't have an Olympic gold medal.

GOLD- Sandra Izbasa-ROU- 15.191 (15.383, 15.000)
SILVER- McKayla Maroney-USA- 15.083(16.066, 14.300)
BRONZE-Maria Paseka-RUS-15.050(15.400, 14.700)
4.Janine Berger-GER- 15.016 (15.133, 14.900)
5.Oksana Chusovitina-GER- 14.783 (15.100, 14.466)
6.Yamilet Pena-DOM- 14.516 (14.566, 14.466)
7.Brittany Rogers-CAN- 14.483 (14.766, 14.200)
8.Elsabeth Black-CAN- 0.000 (0.000, 0.000)

Aliya Mustafina- Gorgeous bar routine [Photo Source:  NBCOlympics.com] 

Uneven Bars
This was a very deep field including two Chinese gymnasts who are very difficult to beat.  Aliya Mustafina was not intimidated and she did a beautiful bar routine with no mistakes.  Gabby Douglas was the only American to make finals.  There are so many amazing bar workers that I didn't expect that she would medal.  She probably would have needed someone to have a major break AND the best performance of her life in order to end up in the top three.  She had one error that most people wouldn't even notice when she had to add an extra 1/2 pirouette in to cover for falling the wrong way on a handstand and finished 8th.  Aliya flashed a sneaky smile when Gabby messed up and she knew for sure she'd get Gold and her teammate Russian Victoria Komova cried again when she clipped her legs on the low bar.  At age 27 Beth Tweddle from Great Britain got the home team it's only gymnastics medal on her best event.  And she finally earned herself the Olympic medal she was holding out for before retirement.

GOLD-Aliya Mustafina- RUS- 16.133
SILVER-He Kexin- CHN- 15.933
BRONZE-Beth Tweddle- GBR- 15.916
4.Yao Jinnan- CHN- 15.766
5.Viktoria Komova- RUS- 15.666
6.Elisabeth Seitz- GER- 15.266
7.Koko Tsurumi- JPN- 14.966
8.Gabby Douglas- USA- 14.800

Deng Linlin from China wins Gold [Photo Source:  NBCOlympics.com]

Balance Beam
I don't think I have ever wanted a gymnast to win a medal more then I wanted Aly Raisman to get one on beam.  There is something about her work ethic, fierce competitiveness and sweet personality that just makes me want to root for her.  She missed out on the All Around Bronze in a tie breaker.  Give the girl a medal!!  There were two Chinese gymnasts in the lead.  They own beam when they hit so after that it was basically a battle for 3rd.  Gabby Douglas fell off.  Russian Victoria Komova had a melt down falling off and then falling on her dismount.  She seemed to give up, but this time there were no tears.  I think she'd just had it.  Romanian Catalina Ponor did a decent routine but had some pretty big wobbles and a big step back on the dismount.  It was good enough for 3rd.  Then it was Aly's turn.  She had one slight wobble that seems to have lost her a connection but aside from a tiny hop on the landing it was a great routine.  The judges come back with a 14.966 placing her 4th which was ridiculous.  She hasn't scored that low since she's been in London and now they are going to low  ball her in event finals?  Her coach Mihai groaned.  You could see Bela and Marta gesturing in the stands that he should put in an inquiry.  Meanwhile, Aly being the good sport that she is offers Catalina a hug.  Her coach gets the paperwork and runs it to the head judge, there is a viewing of the replay and the passing of a paper to another table.  Nobody knows what's going to happen.  The arena is filled with tension, her parents look like they are about to pass out and everyone is staring at the scoreboard in confusion.  The judges increased her difficulty score so it went up to 15.066 but now it's a tie between Catalina and Aly for the Bronze!  Tie breaker math lost Aly the Bronze in the All Around but this time she won the tie Breaker with a higher execution score and got 3rd.  Whew!!  I was so happy for her her!! 

GOLD-Deng Linlin- CHN-15.600
SILVER-Sui Li- CHN- 15.500
BRONZE-Aly Raisman- USA-15.066
4.Catalina Ponor- ROU- 15.066
5.Kseniia Afanaseva- RUS- 14.583
6.Larisa Iordache- ROU- 14.200
7.Gabby Douglas- USA- 13.633
8.Viktoria Komova- RUS- 13.166

Aly Raisman nails Floor [Photo Source:  Getty Images @NBCOlympics.com]

Her 3rd Olympic Medal  [Photo Source:  Getty Images @NBCOlympics.com]

Floor Exercise
Aly had one more chance for an individual Gold Medal and with the highest difficulty of anyone in the finals it really was hers to take.  She nailed it with a 15.6; the highest score awarded so far on floor.  Nobody could even come close to touching her.  She may not be the most artistic gymnast but she wears you down with her consistency, she works with what she's got and she does it well.  After her All Around disappointment she ends up with the most medals out of all the Americans.  She put that Gold medal around her coaches neck as a show of appreciation.  How sweet is that? There was another tie breaker for the bronze.  This time tie breaker rules put Vanessa Ferrari of Italy in 4th and Aliya wins the bronze even though they had the same score.  Tie breakers are heart breakers for whoever loses out and I still don't understand why both can't get a medal if they are equal.  Why give out less medals when you can give out more?  Floor was Jordan Wieber's only chance for an individual medal.  She went out of bounds and sort of stumbled through her dance elements.  I've never seen her have a worse floor routine.  I felt so bad for her.  It hasn't been officially evaluated but she might have a stress fracture in her right leg.  It's been bothering her enough for her to not be at her best but not enough to keep her from competing.

GOLD-Aly Raisman- USA- 15.600
SILVER-Catalina Ponor- ROU- 15.200
BRONZE-Aliya Mustafina- RUS- 14.900
4.Vanessa Ferrari- ITA- 14.900
5.Lauren Mitchell- AUS- 14.833
6.Kseniia Afanaseva- RUS- 14.566
7.Jordyn Wieber- USA- 14.500
8.Sandra Izbasa- ROU- 13.333

I'd say it was a very successful Olympics for Team USA.  Maybe now that all this competition business is over the girls can relax and have some fun exploring London.  I'm not gonna lie.  I'm pretty sad that Olympic gymnastics is over.  It's been so awesome getting to watch the best gymnasts compete on TV night after night and I've really enjoyed watching their stories unfold.  There were tears, drama and so much controversy.  There is all kinds of hating and bashing going on around the interwebs.  Everything up to and including Gabby's hair, Team USA leotard selection, Russian divas, fake injuries, favoritism, score fixing and terrible NBC TV coverage is up for debate.  There are disagreements about unfair stupid rules and who "really" should have won.  When all is said and done the gymnasts competed their heart out, the judges made their decisions and medals were awarded.  They are all talented and deserving athletes and it's just too bad that everyone can't win.

Back to the Beginning: Team Qualifications

Gabby Got Gold

Cha Ching!  This is what happens when you win the AA Olympic Gold [Photo Source-USAGymnastics.com]

What can I say?  The girl is good.  She took the lead after vault and never looked back.  She is a totally changed gymnast from last year.  She was consistent from start to finish.  Even the Russian ballerina gymnast Victoria Komova couldn't stop her.  There was another staring contest with the scoreboard.   All eyes were on it awaiting the results.  Victoria had her hands crossed tightly in front of her chest and with her eyes you could just see her silently begging for first.  She narrowly missed out on a Gold medal to Jordan Wieber at last years Worlds and when it happened again she burst into tears.  Gabby's wins her first AA title at the Olympics.  Not too shabby.

Standing full twisting back tuck on beam [Photo Source:  NBCOlympics.com]

I felt so bad for Aly.  She hit every single routine for her team but when it was time to do it for herself she put her hands on the beam and almost fell off which was her first real mistake of the Olympics.  Aliya Mustafina actually did fall off beam.  She's a beautiful gymnast. Having come back from an ACL tear just last year she has to be happy with 3rd even though those Russians want nothing less then Gold.  I would have loved to see two Americans on the podium and Aly was totally capable of it but as we've seen it only matters what you do on that one specific day in that one specific moment.  The worse thing about it is that as you can see from the results below Aliya and Aly actually tied in the AA.  Nastia Liukin lost out on a Gold Medal on bars in 2008 with FIG tie breaker math and now it's Aly on the wrong side of the mathematical equation.  They did some funny formula where whoever had the highest execution and difficulty total on 3 events with their lowest event score dropped got the medal.  Why can't they both just get the bronze?  I'm not sure why it makes sense that this formula is the best way to determine who gets to stand on the podium but as we saw when Jordan didn't qualify for All Around finals due to the 2 per country technicality, rules are rules.  No matter how unfair they might seem.

Golden Girls:  Mary Lou, Gabby, Carly and Nastia [Photo Source:  USAGymastics.com]

Mary Lou Retton won it in 1984, Carly Patterson won it in 2004 and Nastia Liukin won it in 2008.  With that win Gabby Douglas becomes the 4th ever and the 3rd American Olympic All Around Gold Medalist in a row.  She's also the first ever African American to win it.  If she didn't know that moving away from home to train and dedicating her life to gymnastics was the right choice she certainly knows it now.  Her sacrifice has paid off big time and her life is forever changed.  Seriously, how did they get that Corn Flakes box made so fast?  Maybe the whole team will get the Wheaties box!  Not only is she going to be able to cash in on some major endorsements but she has the satisfaction of working hard for a dream and achieving it.  I can't take credit for noticing this on my own but all the letters in Gabby's last name Douglas actually spell out USA Gold when you re arrange them.  Guess it was meant to be.

Based on NBC's coverage you'd never know it but there were actually 24 and not just 5 gymnasts in the competition.  Here are the results.

WOMEN'S ALL AROUND
1. Gabby Douglas (USA)- 62.232 (GOLD)
2. Viktoria Komova (RUS)- 61.973 (SILVER)
3. Aliya Mustafina (RUS)- 59.566 (BRONZE)
4. Aly Raisman (USA)- 59.566
5. Sandra Izbasa (ROM)- 58.833
6. Deng Linlin (CHN)- 58.399
7. Huang Qiushuang (CHN)- 58.115
8. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA)- 57.999
9. Larisa Iordache (ROM)- 57.965
10. Elisabeth Seitz (GER)- 57.365

11. Asuka Teramoto (JPN)- 57.332

12. Celine van Gerner (NED)- 57.232

13. Rebecca Tunney (GBR)- 56.932

14. Giulia Steingruber (SUI)- 56.148

15. Emily Little (AUS)- 55.765

16. Rie Tanaka (JPN)- 55.632

17. Dominique Pegg (CAN)- 55.565

18. Jessica Lopez (VEN)- 55.5

19. Marta Pihan Kulesza (POL)- 55.465

20. Ashleigh Brennan (AUS)- 55.332

21. Carlotta Ferlito (ITA)- 55.098

22. Ana Sofia Gomez Porras (GUA)- 54.899

23. Aurelie Malaussena (FRA)- 50.166

24. Hannah Whelan (GBR)- 41.999

Next Up: Event Finals