How Mykayla Skinner Made Me a Fan

You won't have to scroll far on this blog to find that I did not used to like Mykayla Skinner's gymnastics. The skill chucking and bad form just annoyed the crap out of me. I can't lie, I rooted against her. It sounds mean, but I just preferred other athletes who had better technique.

Fast forward to now. Here is what I've realized, Skinner works HARD. She has cleaned up her forms, she does extremely difficult skills and she's managed to stay at this level of gymnastics for the entire quad. She doesn't give up, she's mostly consistent and she's giving it her all for Rio.

Let's just say, that in a world where certain girls don't appear to be giving it their all, both in training and competition, I admire Mykayla Skinner for killing it in the gym and giving her best effort. If she can redeem herself at Trials, I think she deserves a spot in Rio. In fact, I would not mind a team of Aly, Simone, Laurie, Maggie and Skinner. Stock up the all-arounders and we will be FINE> Yeah, bars won't be great but Simone, Laurie and Maggie can more than get the job done. Beam, floor and vault are SET. We won't make the bars final, but who cares? We'll make all the other finals and maybe take home tow vault medals!

Anyway, that was the story of how I become pro-Skinner.
The end.

USA World Team: Background and Expectations

Simone Biles

Background: Simone has literally been queen of the sport for the past two years. Winning Worlds in 2013 and 2014, Nationals 2013, 2014 and 2015, and earning countless EF medals. With 9 World medals altogether, Simone is two away from beating out Alicia Sacremone for record-holding spot. Unless something very strange occurs in Glasgow, it will happen.

Expectations: Simone has this Worlds in the bag once again, unless she falls a few times. Barring a fluke, she's expected to nab a third AA title (maker her the first to do in a loooooong time), lead the team to gold and possibly end up on the podium in both VT, FX and maybe even BB! Go Simone!

Gabrielle Douglas 

Background: Unless you lived under a rock in 2012, you'd know Gabby. She's the London AA champion and after time off and a gym switch she's back for more. Gabby was a part of the 2011 World champion team and obviously the Fierce Five but other than the AA she's had little individual success outside of the US.

Expectations: You know, I'm not sure. She's not at the top of the pack anymore and has a relatively low D-score on her best event, UB and with the likes of Kocian and Dowell, she won't be able to break into the top ranks. She will however, likely try for the AA but Simone easily has her beat and Aly too if she's in contention.

Brenna Dowell

Background: Brenna was alternate for both 2013 and 2014 Worlds, She retired from elite last year, slayed in NCAA and then decided she'd comeback for another go. She fought her way from not making the national team after P&G's to making the World's team just a month and a half later.

Expectations: We all want Brenna to compete in Glasgow and not be made alternate again...but it is a very real possibility. However, if my prays were to come true and Brenna get's to finally have a go at it, she can absolutely go for an EF medal on bars. She can also be used in qualification (and possibly TF) on both VT and floor. We're rooting for you Brenna!

Madison Kocian

Background: Madison made last years world team with the hope that she and Ashton Locklear would both be in contention for EF medals on bars. Sadly, an error in qualification took her out of the running. Since then, she's battled injuries but managed to come back this summer in good shape and won bars at P&G's. Though she did compete AA at nationals for the first time in 2 years, her part on the world team depends on her bars.

Expectations: Kocian is another athlete possibly to be named alternate. If that doesn't happen she'll most likely only compete bars in qualification and team final. If she nails her routine, she has a change of an EF medal as well.

Maggie Nichols 

Background: So, yeah, it seems a little weird to call Maggie a rookie since she's a 3rd year senior and been around awhile. But, she's the only one on the team not to have been apart of a World's team in some way so that does make her the new kid in some way. Maggie probably would have made last years team if it weren't for an injury at Pan Ams but she battled back stronger than ever and came in 2nd at this years nationals.

Expectations: Though I personally can't see it happening, people are speculating that perhaps Maggie will be the one named alternate in Glasgow. If not (and I hope not), she is dependable and can be put up on any event during quals or TF. I don't see them putting her in the AA with Aly, Gabby and Simone around but who knows.

Aly Raisman 

Background: At age 21, Aly is absolutely the veteran of the bunch after having been a part of two successful world teams and the Fierce Five. After time off, Aly has been back in the gym for over two years and back in competition just since the spring.

Expectations: If Aly does the AA, she can compete for silver or bronze. As far as EF, she could potentially medal on FX and go up on beam. She's only won an individual bronze at a Worlds before.

Mykayla Skinner 

Background: Mykayla made it onto last years World's team and earned herself a bronze on VT. This year, she had some difficulties at Classics and Nationals but was still named to the national team. I have to be honest that I didn't want her on the Worlds team as I'm not a fan of her gymnastics but girl is a fighter and earned her spot so good for her.

Expectations: Mykayla could possibly be named alternate but now I think it's unlikely that she has her Amanar back. She can contend for an EF medal on VT for sure but with Aly on the team, FX will be more difficult for her.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Comment down below if you have other suggestions for future topics :)

Here it is!

With Key and Bauman as non-travelling alternates. Not exactly the team I expected but pretty close! No Key is the shock for me but I'm psyched for Brenna!

I'll write more about this later, college calls :).

Whoa, look at Simone and Maggie's arm becoming one! I didn't mean to do that but it's pretty awesome.

The Final Countdown!!

Well, tonight is the nigh folks!! The World's team announcement is drawing ever near and I can't wait to finally find out who will go to Glasgow. The picture above is from yesterday's first night of camp competition. Everyone looks pretty happy, what could this mean?? 

As far as final predictions go, I suppose I'm going to stick to my initial one. Perhaps because I think it's most likely or perhaps because I don't like to go back on my word! Here it is: Biles, Douglas, Key, Nichols, Raisman, Kocian Alt. Skinner.. 

Now, in a perfect world I'd replace Douglas with Dowell but I just don't see that happening. 

We will know soon enough!

World's Team Prediction UPDATED

You heard it here folks! My world team predictions for the good 'ole US of A!

Let's see if I end up being right, because last year I was a clueless sap who thought the team was made up of only 5 people! Imagine!

I digress...

Simone Biles
Aly Raisman
Maggie Nichols
Bailie Key
Gabrielle Douglas
Kyla Ross OR Madison Kocian (this part remains to be seen)

Alt: Kyla (if not named), Maddie K (if not named), Mykayla Skinner, Nia Dennis

The lineup for Quals if Ross makes the team (fingers crossed!)

VT: Ross, Key, Raisman, Nichols, Biles
UB: Raisman, Biles, Douglas,  Key, Ross
BB: Key, Nichols, Raisman, Ross, Biles
FX: Ross, Nichols, Key, Raisman, Biles

What do you think???

Nationals Night Two

Ahhh now I can breathe.

Simone was in beast mode. Beautiful beam dismount, stuck Lopez vault, stuck bars dismount, classic floor. So naturally, despite that one fall on floor, she won by 5 points. Seriously??? This girl is a champ. Can I say that I think she should add a full twist to the Biles move on floor? She definitely has room and power.

Coming in second was Maggie Nichols! She has to be sooo proud of herself, What improvement she's had. Her Amanar looked great, especially on day two. It's funny, in person, her tumbling looks so light and effortless bu tit doesn't quite translate that way on TV. I think the loud booms from everyone's landings doesn't help. They're much more magnified during broadcasts than in the actual arena. Anyway, Maggie deserves a spot on the World's team for sure. That being said, her form isn't so great and I'm a bit of a stickler about those things.

Third was Aly and she looked back to her usual self despite that scary vault. I'm torn with thinking she needs the high D-score from the Amanar but also knowing that it's done so poorly, maybe she's better off with a nice clean DTY. But even with that she still wouldn't score as well as a crappy 2.5 so oh well. I don't really love her floor routine right now. The tumbling is great of course but the choreo and music isn't as engaging as it was in London. Maybe they can tweak it a little.

Then we have Bailie and her tuxedo. This girl is growing on me. I think I can get behind her quiet gymnastics and steady form. She sort of reminds me of vintage Kyla Ross with her lower difficulty but nice execution and consistency. So yeah, I've decided I'm rooting for Bailie Key. And she had a beautiful bar routine

Gabby looked slightly better on some events on night two and slightly worse on others. Her beam was a mess of balance checks and tentativeness but her landings on floor were improved. I still hate that floor routine, something just isn't right about it. Maddie K, Ashton and Bailie can beat her on bars so she really isn't anything special there right now. I wouldn't put her in Glasgow just yet.

I barely saw Madison Kocian because the stupid NBC broadcast only showed like five of the athletes. Made me miss the blasted livestream. They showed her bars and beam. Bars looked a little worse than night one and they took out the standing full from her beam which was a safe move.

Oh Mykayla Skinner, that leo. Good grief, someone needs to tell this girl that Ireland and Scotland are not the same land. Honestly, it's just embarrassing at this point. Her vault is so ugly with that block, sorry I can't give it up. But her floor landings looked nice and she was solid on beam so good effort for her. At 7th place, I don't see her on the World's team.

 Kyla. Sigh. Same issue on bars, headcased vault and a shaky floor. That beam helped a bit but overall a disastrous night for her. Ugh, I so want her to get it together but maybe her body is just tired and needs a break. She's been training elite for so long. It's such a catch-22 with her. If she doesn't upgrade, she hits nice watered down routines but has such a low D-score it's hard to break into the top ranks. If she does upgrade, she barely hits despite having that higher D-score. I don't know the solution because I think everyone is tired of seeing the same routines she's been competing since 2012.

Brenna Dowell had a great first half of her bar routine and then got tired of something and bombed the end. But she hit all the other events so I'm a bit pissed that she wasn't named to the NT. Headgames I guess, Brenna is always the resident punching bag. If she can become consistent on bars and gain some difficulty on floor, I really think she's a contender but sadly, I see her as being alternate again.

Rachel Gowey had a nice showing, even if it was just bars and beam. Did she do the AA at pan ams? I don't know. I hope she hasn't hurt her ankle again. But she did have a great bar set night one and her beam looked solid.

Didn't see much of Bauman or Dennis so no comment there but both were named to the team so they must have done alright.

I'm going to do a leotard post this week so stay tuned!

Upgrades Vs. Consistancy

The way I see it, these two are POLAR opposites. One has great form, one has crap form. One has a ton of difficulty, the other does not. One focuses on the technical aspect of the sport before chucking skills, the other chucks and chucks and chucks.

So what is better? To chalk your routine full of difficulty even if you're sacrificing form and technique? Or is it better to compete at a rather low difficulty, risk coming up short, and trying for more refined skills.

Personally, I think Ross's approach is a lot better in the long run and for the sport. Skinner has been upgrading on nearly every event since Worlds and it has me scratching my head. She did not beat Ross out in the AA and she came up short on floor. Her difficulty was MUCH higher than both Ross and Mustafina respectively but her technical issues put her behind them.

If I were MyKayla, I would have gone home and worked on my form and technique because clearly there are problems there. Instead, she's adding more difficulty to try and overrule the form deductions. Why oh why?? I would have a lot of respect for her if she kept her routines and worked on cleaning them up.

Meanwhile, Kyla is always working on cleaning up, I mean always. And it has done her a lot of good. She has been super consistent and it has paid off. Now that she has worked on her form, technique etc., she can focus on upgrading which she plans to do this year. I would have said that Kyla waited way too long to upgrade but after her success at Worlds, I'd say she did the right thing.

It's hard to say what will pay off in the end. Will Skinner's skills push her past Kyla's consistency and refinment? What do you think??

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!

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!

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.

My Expectations for Worlds

Alyssa Bauman: Only girl besides Desch who I think could be chosen as alternate but I still doubt it. No finals for this one

Simone Biles: If she competes like her usual self, she has that second all around title in the bag. Same with vault and floor really. She could easily sneak in a medal on beam too.

Madison Desch: I think she'll probably end up as alternate, unless one of the others is hurt or performs badly in training.

Madison Kocian: Maybe (but probably not) a medal in bar finals but that all depends on how the other athletes perform. Hopefully she stays healthy but I have a bad feeling.

Ashton Locklear: I imagine she'll compete just bars and do a decent job but not the amazing routine we saw at Classics. Definitely a medal for her if she hits.

Mykayla Sinner: She'll make the vault and possibly floor final. I hope to the heavens that she doesn't medal on floor because her form is truly atrocious. She most likely has the vault silver or bronze unless she messes up...but come on, that Cheng?? It's an insult to Cheng Fei, it truly is.

Kyla Ross: She won't do her upgraded pass on floor to play it safe. All-around silver is possible for her again but both WOGA's and Locklear can challenge her bars, not to mention Queen Aliya. She could make finals in all but vault and floor but I don't see her being quite as successful as last year.

Overall
All-Around: Gold and silver/bronze
Team: Gold or silver
Vault: 2 medals
Bars: 1 medals
Beam: 1-2 medals
Floor: 1 medal

Brenna Get's Screwed Over Again (2014 Worlds Team)

Team: Alyssa Bauman, Simone Biles, Madison Desch, Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear, Kyla Ross and Mykayla Sinner. 

Brenna Dowell is non-travelling alternate, other alternate TBD in China

Honestly, this whole thing seems a little bit suspect to me. First of all, Maggie Nichols petition must have been denied which REALLY makes me angry. This was most likely her one and only shot at being on a worlds team and it's now ruined in the name of Pan Ams?? :(

Then you have the whole Brenna debacle. She must have performed well enough at the camp all around in order to be named alternate but they are taking Desch over her? Yeah, they'll probably both end up alternates but still.

The actual team is just "meh" for me. I hate that Skinner is near it, I'm not a fan of Kocian but what other choices were there really? It is what it is. I think that Skinner and both WOGA's will be seriously in for a shock by the international scoring. Locklear even makes me slightly nervous because she apparently seemed a bit shell shocked in Canada. Hopefully she is prepared for the crowds and such.

I'll have my predictions up for what I think each athlete will end up doing but for now, I just wanted to check in.

Also, not sure if everyone has heard but Deanna Soza (JO National Team member), has a very serious eye infection in both eyes and her sight could be in jeopardy. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

World's Team Predictions

(This was originally posted on my personal blog before making this one :)

Last week at school I was so very bored and so I came up with my predictions for the US Team.
Here was my original list:

Simone Biles (duh)
Kyla Ross (duh)
Mykayla Skinner (say it ain't so...)
Madison Kocian (because WOGA)
Alyssa Bauman (because who else is there)
Alt: Desch, Locklear 

Vault: Ross, Skinner, Biles (backup Bauman)
UB: Kocian, Bauman, Ross (backup Biles)
BB: Kocian, Ross, Bauman (backup Skinner??)
FX: Bauman, Skinner, Biles (backup Ross)

Hmm...seems alright?? Then I remembered Locklear! The girl who came from nowhere and has better form than the WOGA's. So I might just switch Bauman for Locklear. But then we run into a problem for FX and possibly beam because apparently Marta doesn't like to use her there. So here is a revised list with Locklear:


Simone Biles (duh)
Kyla Ross (duh)
Mykayla Skinner (say it ain't so...)
Madison Kocian (because WOGA)
Ashton Locklear
Alt: Desch, Bauman

Vault: Ross, Skinner, Biles (backup Kocian?)
UB: Kocian, Ross, Locklear (backup Biles)
BB: Kocian, Ross, Locklear (backup Skinner??)
FX: Ross, Skinner, Biles (backup Kocian)

I'm pretty positive it has to be one of these two teams. I have this weird soft spot for Maddie Desch because she was so promising as a Junior and can't seem to reach her potential as a Senior. If she would just tighten up those floor landings and learn to stay on the beam...
We shall know by the end of next week!

A Little HIstory

I've been a full fledged gymnastics fan for the past two years. I caught bits and pieces of Athens as a 10 year old and vaguely knew who Carly Patterson was. I got more involved with each Olympics. In 2008, I stayed until one in the morning watching the All-around but I had no idea how anything worked. In 2012, I closely followed London and was captivated for life. Since then, I now know that the sport is so much more than the Olympics. I follow it all year round and can't wait for the World Championships this year!

Other than flipping around in my yard, I haven't done gymnastics a day in my life. I would have loved to though, my mom was a gymnast. But my dad was against the sport for the injury factor and I had back problems that would have prevented my from it anyway. Still, it is my biggest regret.

I'm a fairly opinionated person and it didn't take me long to form some strong opinions about gymnastics! Here are a few

• Shawn should have won the 2008 All-around
• Khorikina was good, but overrated 
• So was Mary Lou
• Shannon Miller was the best female gymnasts the USA has ever seen
• Skinner should be nowhere near a World's team but will be on it by default
• Marta is an evil dictator

I'm sure more will come out in time :). As selection camp starts tomorrow, my predictions will be posted then as well!
-G-