Finals! Finals! Hurray for Finals!

Vault
Surprise, surprise. I did not expect anyone but Simone to get that gold. It came down to difficulty and Simone just doesn't have much on her second vault. I think the top three were deserving, Skinner's form looked a bit improved. I would have loved to see Chusovitina competing out there, alas there's always next year.

Bars
I was hoping that Aliya could pull out a medal here and possibly Locklear as well but it wasn't to be. I know Ashton is our best bar worker but do her feet/legs drive anyone else crazy? It's like her legs are apart but her feet curl into each other to make it look like they aren't. I can't rightly judge her though because the same thing would happen to me (blasted bow legs). Kind of reminds me of Rebecca Bross's legs, they just never looked very pretty. I hate to say it, but if Dowell had been on the team and she had hit, she would have medaled. Anyway, the Chinese finally got some redemption on their best event and I was glad to see it.

Beam
Falls, falls, falls galore. Down goes Yao, down goes Larissa, down goes someone else that I can't remember (Ruby Harold??). Kyla's routine was not nearly as good as AA so I didn't expect her to medal. I was happy with the podium, Mustafina deserved it, Bai deserved it and of course, Simone did as well. Nice to see her hit a solid set after some faltering this week .

Floor
This final made me SO happy! I love Larissa so much and to see her pull out that amazing routine was so exciting. She really gave Simone a run for her money this competition. Simone took gold and her routine was topnotch as always. For the bronze, I was pretty overjoyed that Aliya won over Mykayla. I know Skinner had more difficulty and more tumbling but Mustafina's routine was gorgeous and showcased what FX used to be about, artistry and grace.

I'll be doing a leotard post sometimes this week and possibly another final worlds wrap up. Until next time!

Simone WIns! (Again)

I was really happy with this podium. I think Simone could have performed better (not her best beam routine) but she deserved the win. I also was thrilled to see Larissa have such a good day as she tends to not hit when it's needed. She really gave Simone a run for her money! Kyla would not have been on that podium if Aliya hadn't fell on floor but I was glad to see her consistency pay off. She had one of the best beam routines in awhile.

Yao had a rough floor routine but her beam and bars were lovely. I think it would be very hard for any of the Chinese girls to challenge in the AA with their low D scores on floor and lack of power on vault. However, I do expect to see them come out with a few medals at EF which I will post about tomorrow.

World Championships Team Final

GO USA

Even though the field was weak and USA pretty much had this in the bag, it's still exciting to see them win! I watched the live stream on Universal Sports and was pleasantly surprised to hear the BBC commentators. They showed all of the countries competing in the final, which I liked. The didn't show Simone on vault (of all people!), Kocian on bars or Baumann and Biles on beam. So I watched those routines on USA gym's youtube channel. Kyla looked good today, her floor routine didn't look as exhausting and she had a nice clean bar set. Her beam and vault could have been cleaner.

Simone had a rough time on beam as well but she had an amazing vault and great floor routine as always. Kocian's bars were normal for her. Locklear did a great job. Skinner was Skinner. Baumann managed beam. There always seems to be a lot more wobbles in big comps.

Other countries: China had a fall on bars and floor. I think it was Shang on bars, I heard she was sick. I understand them wanting to rest Yao Jinan for the AA but they lost quite a few points. Still, I don't know if they could have challenges the US with their low difficulty on floor. They really do have hte loveliest bar sets. Such awesome form and position. Their worst bar worker on this team is better than our best.

Romania didn't get shown much, but Lordache looked solid. I hope she places in the AA

Britain looked good but I find a lot of their gymnastics to be dull. I do LOVE Gabriella Jupp's floor routine. Break dancing is always a good thing. Always.

Ferrari was the only Italian shown, she looked strong and confident on beam but it wasn't perfect. Her floor routine was solid.

All in all, it was a nice win for the US and it really does show how shallow the field is right now. Our worlds team is probably one of the weakest we've sent in awhile (minus Simone/Wonderwoman) and a lot of the girls are on by default. Still, we managed a gold!

Qualification Thoughts

I woke up before the sun to be able to watch live! Here are my thoughts;

Rotation One:BB

Skinner: Looked like her usual self, a few big balance checks. Those leaps and splits are NOT even near where they should be. People got on Shawn for not having enough flexibility but this is worse IMO.

Kocian: It was a good routine for her but it looked pretty nervey.

Baumann: Almost off on the standing arabian. Way too many checks and pauses for the score she got.

Biles: Homegirl is back in business after missing at Nationals! Nice clean routine.

Ross: Here is the Kyla we know and love! Just one small error toward the end but that routine = classic Kyla!

Rotation Two: FX

Kocian: Not to be mean but her routine bores me to tears. She did an ok job with it but it's not all that difficult. The choreography is so repetitive. How many times can she pose with her arms in the air??

Baumann: Good effort for her. Very bent knees on her (second?) pass landing, looked like she almost fell forward.

Ross: Go Kyla! Nice routine! Solid landings.

Skinner: Was she OOB on her first pass? It really looked like it from the camera angle but I didn't catch if she had any penalties. The rest of the routine was typical from her, bad form galore.

Biles: Simone always brings it for floor! Her landings weren't as good as they have been but it's only quals so no big deal. It looked like she was about to fall out of her wolf turn but she saved it.

Rotation Three: VT

I spent the greater part of this rotation eating banana bread so I may not have paid the best attention.

Kocian: Solid, not much height.

Baumann: I honestly don't remember, I think her landing was good.

Ross: Super clean in the air and (almost) stuck it.

Skinner: Form may not have been as bad as usual but it was hard to tell with no slo-mo cam.

Biles: Good first vault, I think she was out of bounds on the second but stepped back in. She has teh gold already if she lands on her feet.

Rotations Four: UB

Skinner: Bit 'ole leg separation going from low to high but hey, what's new? I think she hit just one handstand that whole routine.

Biles: Error in the middle, looked like she almost lost her grip but saved herself. It was hard to tell exactly what happened. I think she wasn't able to get up in a handstand.

Kocian: Similar error from her. She looked pretty defeated.

Ross: Nice hit routine! Clean and stuck!

Locklear: I'll admit that I'm not as impressed with her as Marta seems to be but she looked good today. I was happy to see her do well, she has a great chance of a medal in EF

Overall, I'm glad the AA will be Simone and Kyla again, they deserve it most. And again with the pink leotards?? Ugh, please let there be red white and blue for TF!!

Qualificiation Start List

Here it is folks:

Looks like Biles, Ross, Skinner and Kocian will by vying for the two all-around spots. I'd say that Kocian is a no, barring an injury for another girl. I'm hoping that Kyla's technique and form can edge out Skinners difficulty.

As for ER, I definitely see the US having the maximum 2 girls for each apparatus. Vault and floor is pretty obvious but the other two can go a few different ways.

As suspected, Desch is the alternate. I know she's not a consistent athlete and she's failed to impress many times but for some reason, I prefer her to both Kocian and Bauman. I thought she looked better than Bauman at podium training but that's here nor there now.

There will be a live webcast tomorrow at 6 am. I'm thinking that I'll wake up early and watch, worlds only happens once a year so I might as well make the most of it and see it in real time. I'm really excited to see what happens!

This Just In...

Kyla suffered a hip injury at camp. Looks like she has it heavily taped today and she seems to be ok to compete. But come on now, another camp injury? How long will it be until Marta breaks every athlete on this team? Bauman and Kocian are also hurt apparently and we all know the story with Nichols.

I hope Kyla can hold it together these next few weeks. It would suck if she had to back out and let someone else take the only other deserved spot on the team.

If Only, If Only

Last night I was getting sort of sad that the worlds team is so ho-hum. I was on my ipad and decided to type out the team that I wish could be there but can't because of injuries or getting unfairly passed over. Here it is:

Simone Biles
Brenna Dowell (in place of Locklear)
Rachel Gowey (in place of Bauman)
Maggie Nichols (in place of Kocian)
Lexie Preissmen (in place of Skinner)
Kyla Ross

This team would have been much more interesting and worthy. If only, if only!

Podium training starts today! I have a ton of work to get done so I can't watch but I think it's eing broadcasted live on Universal Sports or USA gym.