Mckayla Speaks

Thoughts on Mckayla Maroney's Wednesday Gymcastic interview...

1. First off, though we all knew it was coming, I'm quite sad that we won't see her in competition. I think she really had so much to offer after London. If anyone could nail a triple, it would be her. I teared up a little bit when she said she just the other day was able to tell someone that she wouldn't be in Rio. That's got to be so hard for her. 
2. I was really impressed by the way she spoke. I think because of her other youtube videos that were very teenager, I was expecting something similar. Instead, she sounded very mature and adult. Underneath all of the "likes", she is very well spoken. 
3. The revelations about USAG and the thirty day nonstop pre-London camp...holy cow what? No wonder so many people get hurt before big comps if this is how they train them. And who was given a flashback to Abby Lee Miller of Dance Mom's screaming "Everyone is replaceable!" when Mckayla said no one is ever really on the team until they compete and how she was told she would be replaced if she was too hurt. 
4. The AOGA stuff. It must have been really hard for Mac to speak so honestly about her coaches but I could tell that it was important that she told her full story. There wasn't bitterness to what she was saying at all which was very impressive to me. Still, it really sucks that her coaches "messed her up mentally" like they did. It made me really sad to think of all of the other girls having fun on the bus and Mckayla not being allowed to participate. 
5. I'm so glad she finally feels healthy and it's inane to me that there isn't already a nutritionist working with these girls. And training with injuries as she did, that does so much harm. But at the same time, as she said, the team did achieve their goal. But at what cost? I can't help but wonder if she could still be competing if the methods of training hadn't been so harsh. 
6. The leotard line. Please Mckayla, no pink! I have high hopes for her though, because her leo from 2013 (the ombre peacock one) was really cool. 
7. The music career makes me nervous but I'll be rooting for her. She seems to be going about it in a good way. 

I met Mckayla at 2014 Classics and it was one of the most exciting moments of my life. She was so nice to everyone and she asked to shake MY hand when I got up to get her autograph. I remember telling her that I was rooting for her to make it to Rio. And she said, "I'm going to try my best, I'm going to do it". I could tell then (and backed up by the interview) that her attempt to comeback was serious and she had so much fire! That's what makes me the saddest. But I know she gave it her all and some things just don't work out. I'm glad she is at peace with everything now and I wish her all the best of luck in the future!

Please excuse the scary smiley face but I'm anonymous so it is what it is!

A Tribute to Kyla Ross

I was at the library yesterday, attempting to figure out my school schedule when I decided to check instagram and saw that Kyla Ross had announced her retirement.

I'm really sad about this for the fact that I love Kyla's gymnastics and have always been a big fan. To me, it is so enjoyable to watch an athlete who executes every move so cleanly and has choreographed right down to the fingertips (Tim Dagget once said this, but it's true!). Despite the fact that Kyla wasn't chucking crazy skills, her elegance and superior technique pushed her ahead of a lot of gymnasts who may have had higher start values. I wrote a post about last year, comparing Kyla to Skinner and ended by saying that I think Kyla's clean consistency will pay off in the end. And you know, it did for awhile.

Kyla had so much international success and it all started with the pinnacle of the sport, Olympic gold! From there there were world medals and national medals and other various achievements. Kyla's method of training absolutely paid off for quite awhile. Then this year happened and I think for a lot of gym fans, it was a slow realization that Kyla might not be able to hold out for Rio. It's to know fault of her own, I think her height hurt her a lot and with the extra height came other issues. After bowing out of World's selection, the writing was on the wall. Now Kyla will get to go shine at UCLA where I know she'll do great things.

So yes, like I said at first, I am sad that Kyla will not be in Rio and will never get to try for individual Olympic medals. But on the other hand, I'm happy for her. She's had an amazing career, she will always be remembered. And she got to go out on her own terms. She won't have to be like Vanessa Atler and live with not being named to the team or like certain other people (ahem) who humiliated themselves at the trials. Kyla gets to walk away from Elite gymnastics knowing that she gave it her all and left when it was her time.

I'll never forget Kyla's near perfect beam routine in the AA at last years Worlds or her 2014 floor routine that I loved so much! And getting to watch her compete live at Classics these last two years which was such an honor.

I'll miss you  in Elite gymnastics Kyla but I wish you all the best of luck at UCLA. We will all be watching and rooting for you!

200 Days!

Today marks 200 days until the opening ceremony in Rio and last week marked 6 months until USA names their team at trials!

I for one, am pretty stoked for the coming months. All of the competitions leading up to the trials and then of course, those themselves should be very intense but very awesome.

Six months...a lot can happen in that time so take this prediction with a grain of salt but I will hereby make a guess as to who will be on our team for Rio based on past performances and future upgrades.

Drumroll....

Simone Biles!!! (Duh)

Aly Raisman!!! (Lest she falls apart a la Worlds again)

Maggie Nichols!!! (Unless she gets Hollie Vise'd which is actually very possible)

Bailie Key!! (Leaving her off the Glasgow team was a terrible headgame but I still thinks Marta likes her)

and...

...last of all

 my girl Norah Flatley!!! (She has to be there, or I'll storm the floor mat at Trials!)

Alternates: Kyla/Gabby/Laurie

I'm sure I'm wrong but I this is more the team I *hope* is named. I actually hope for Kyla to be on there too, I guess she'd replace Norah or Bailie. Now that I look at it, this team is set just about everywhere but maybe weak on bars, though Norah will probably come out with many upgrades. I just don't know...there are a lot of different combos that could happen.

We shall see. 

Gymnastics Profile, What the Heck Kind of Gym Fan Am i Anyway??

So I took these prompts from this lovely gym blog and now I'm going to have a go at answering them!

Get to know the blogger - Gymnastics edition

Name: (G)race

DOB: Spring, 1994

Gym fan since: 2008ish but not seriously until 2012

Gymnast since: Half past never! I wish though. I had scoliosis and a fused spine and an overprotective dad, so it was not going to happen for me.


Gymnastics coach since: I coached my younger sister in the front yard when I was 14, so that definitely counts.

Favorite Quad to Date: Oooh ok. I love 1996-2000 because there was so much going on behind the scenes but Sydney was a hot mess! So I guess, gymnasts/gymnastics wise, I really enjoy 2004-2008.

Favorite Olympics: Hmmm...I really enjoy rewatching Athens for some reason even though that quad tends to bore me. I'm also partial to London because that's when I got REALLY into the sport.

Favorite Worlds: Stuttgart, 2007.

Most Disastrous Competition: 2006 US Nationals, falls galore.

 

Favorite Gymnast of All-time: Shannon Miller but I also enjoy Lilia Podkopayeva and Shawn Johnson. Shannon takes it though.

Favorite Gymnast Currently Competing: I love Simone of course but also Shang and Daria Spiridonova.

Met any gymnastics celebrities?: Yes! Maybe not all super famous but I met McKayla Maroney, Jordan Chiles and Lexie Priessman in 2014 and Shawn Johnson, Sabrina Vega and Nia Dennis in 2015.

Favorite Event to Watch: I love watching uneven bars, always have!

Gymnastics Pet Peeve: I hate ugly floor choreo, boring mounts (especially beam), front or side ariels on floor, overused wolf turns, bad form/technique in general, sloppy vaults just for difficulty, cowboyed giants...there are more that I can't think of right now.

Favorite Skill: Geinger on bars, completed and well formed triple twist on floor, needle or illusion turn on beam and vault...I don't think I have a favorite. I guess, a clean Amanar. 

Thanks for reading! What are your answers??

Gymnastics Hopes for 2016

Holy cow, here we are folks! I remember watching the closing ceremonies in London and being soooo bummed it was over, I couldn't believe I would have to wait 4 years for another Olympics. And now, it's officially 2016: THE YEAR OF RIO!
I'm pumped, you?

So, with that in mind, here are my hopes for gymnastics in the coming year:

• I have an ideal team for Rio but there are a lot of variations that I'll be happy with so basically, I just want a team that's earned it and that deserves to be there. 
• Additionally, I really want Norah Flatley on that team. 
• I want Simone to make her Olympic mark and win the AA. 
• Way deeper fields everywhere, I don't want to already know the outcome for every event in advance. 
• Romanian redemption. 
• Someone in the US to really shake things up, a dark horse that no one saw coming. (Coming soon to a theater near you!)
• Good showing for the returning veterans (Ponor, Mustafina, Yao). 
• The new Seniors to come in and actually be in the mix for Rio. 
• Exciting competition during the Trials. 
• A lovely, feeling inducing, song to go along with the fluff montages during Rio. Hey, I'm still jamming out to Phillip Phillips "Home". 
• Leotards that are creative, especially in the US. In my humble opinion, the Under Armour ones from Glasgow left a lot to be desired. 
• Fair judging. 

And I guess that's all I can think of for now. Additionally, on a personal level, I really just want to have the time of my life at the Olympic Trials. I can't believe that I asked my mom to accompany me last spring and she basically said, "yes" with no hesitation! Now we're making a whole family trip out of it. I can't wait, I really can't!

What are your hopes this year??

2015 Hopes Revisited

Sorry for the extended blogging break. The end of the semester sucked and then there were a lot of Christmas festivities that kept me away but I'm back!

So, last year around this time I wrote a post with my hopes for gymnastics in 2015. Let's revisit them and see if they came true, shall we? My current comments will be in bold.

• I want Larissa to stay a strong force and win a gold medal at the next worlds, beam or floor is probably her best bet.
  Well, Larissa did stay a strong force even after coming back from injury but she win gold. AA should have been silver but we all know that story.
• Simone to stay healthy but have some competition both in and outside of the US. I'd love to see upgrades on a few of her events.
  There were upgrades but competition? Not much.
• Kyla, your strategy of constancy (with low difficulty) really worked this year but now it's time to upgrade. I want to see more on bars and beam and put that whip to arabian back in floor.
  Well ok, Kyla did upgrade but it didn't work out well at all so my advice sucked.
• Someone to surprise us all and come out of retirement.
  Here's to you Catalina Ponor!
• Aly to crush it at her first competition and continue to improve.
  There was no "crushing" at Classics because of the floor mishap and there were issues at Nationals and World's too but I'm confident she'll have the kinks worked out before Rio.
• Norah Flatley to not headcase and make a habit of falling off beam.
  Sad :(, Norah was out for injury from Summer onward so we really didn't get to see her much but she did well competing in the spring and I know she'll be back full force in 2016.
• Bailie Key to live up to the hype as a Junior and not go all Krystal Uzalec on us.
  Wow, this sort of happened. I mean, it wasn't even really her fault and she didn't get hurt like Krystal but she didn't live up to the hype. Though, it wasn't entirely her fault as she really should have been in Glasgow.
• Deeper fields everywhere
  Joke. Though China and GB are on the up and up.
• China to get it together on floor.
  Negative.
• Mykayla Skinner to either work on her form/execution or start getting more seriously deducted.
  Form didn't really improve but it is what it is.
• Mckayla Maroney to comeback stronger than ever or quietly retire. I love you Mack but don't hurt yourself if it's a losing battle.
  She won't be back but I'm guessing she also won't announce her retirement until the last minute.
• I want Viktoria Komova to reappear and actually stay healthy for more than a day.
  Vika did well at Worlds so yay for that
• Give Aliya some time off but have her be at Worlds again.
  Half way came true.
• I want to know exactly whats going on with Ernst and Finnegan, are they done?
  Off to college for those two.
• Rachel Gowey, Maggie Nichols and Lexie Preissmen to get some redemption and stay healthy. Specifically, I want some international success for Gowey.
  College for Lexie, shaky comeback for Gowey and redemption indeed for Nichols. 

A lot of these did not come true.
Sad. 
I'll be back this week with my hopes for 2016, a far more pivotal year!

Stuff

• Hooray for Kyla being at November camp, there may be hope for her yet. And yay for Chow's girls to be back in business. I'm still rooting for my girl Norah Flatley. 
• The Olympic hopeful photo shoot happened this week, looks as though the whole world team was invited. It was sad to see Brenna in those pictures and know that there is no way in the world she'll see Rio...
• So I'm thinking of doing another "Where are they now" post again soon, let me know who you'd like to see. Right now I'm leaning toward the 1996-2000 quad, the team or girls who didn't make it. 
• BUT, I have a crap ton of papers to write as the semester comes to a close so I can't promise that I'll have anything posted until all that is over but I'll try my best. 

Back soon!