Why didn't WOGA make the London Team?

  2012, it was a golden year for team USA, but we didn't see a lot of greats on the team. After getting over the amazing shock of the gold medal year for gymnastics, we ask ourselves: Where were the WOGAns? Where were their elites?


Rebecca Bross: Rebecca Bross: 2010 National Champion, 2009 Silver medalist at nationals, 2010 Bronze World all-around medalist, and 2009 silver Worlds all-around medalist. Rebecca has a lot of credentials. She went back home with 4 medals in 2010, and 2 in 2009. Rebecca was definitely exceptional. In 2011 Rebecca dislocated her kneecap at Nationals when she landed wrong on a Yurchenko Double. She then came back in 2012 at the Classic, her gymnastics were effected, she wasn't as great as she was when she won 2010 Nationals. At Trials, she fell off the bars so many times that Valeri just said. "Salute to the judges and be done" That had to be discouraging to 2010 National Champion.


Nastia Liukin: 2008 All-Around Champion, gymnastics' wonder girl, she even had her own competition. Nastia was the best of the best, in the Hall Of Fame. After Nastia quit gymnastics, she had to take some time off to figure just how much she loved the sport. Nastia had to salute for one last competition. Nastia began her comeback at the 2012 CoverGirl Classic, where she only competed on beam, she was really good, we saw hints of the 2005-2008 Nastia. But come Nationals, Nastia fell apart, making mistakes on her best event, bars. and the event that would help her make the team. The Trials were the worst part, she fell off the bars, and had a shaky performance on beam. Not making the team


   Th

Sarah Finnegan: Fading into the Gymnastics World

     I always liked Sarah Finnegan. She had artistic balletic style, she had power, grace, she had everything a great gymnast needed. She was a first year gymnast when London swung around. And she was very good, but just needed more time. Sarah did travel to London as an alternate for Team USA, which, in first year senior, is very great. But ever since the Olympic Trials, I haven't seen Sarah. She did compete in Gymnastics in Paradise 2013, but we haven't seen Sarah since, maybe she is just competing locally, or she has quit. She had already been to the Trials, and just wanted to give up. I guess we will figure this out at Nationals, if we see her, great, she hasn't given up. But if we don't, we will all draw the conclusion: 16 year old Sarah Finnegan is done with gymnastics. I would hate to see such a young talent leave the sport, but some people don't have the love for their sport that others have, and some just want to give up. But the saddest thing is, I've never pinned Sarah for that kind of girl, maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Who knows? I guess we will figure it out right?

Vault Chat: The Pordunova

   There is this vault, this vault that has only been performed exceptionally by one gymnast, and that gymnast is the woman who got this vault named after her, Elena Pordunova. The Pordunova is a double tuck vault. After Elena Pordunova retired. no one was able to perform the vault as beautifully as she did. One gymnast tried it at the Worlds stage, her name is Yamilet Pena Abreu. She has not landed it since the 2012 Zibo Cup. At the 2012 Zibo she landed the vault fairly well, I would give it a 5. She did win gold at the 2012 Medellin. But she never performed the vault well afterwards. The vault has amazing difficulty, if you hit it, you win it, but if you miss it, you're done like dinner. No one has ever hit the Pordunova as well as Russian great Elena Pordunova. And probably never will. But I am scouting the competitions for great talent on this vault. And when I find it, I will blog about it.

International Gymnast Focus: Marta Pihan-Kulesza

   Poland. Before the 2012 Olympics, I never knew that they had a gymnastics federation. But as I was watching Subdivison 2 of the London Summer Olympics, as Poland's Marta Pihan-Kulesza mounted the balance beam, I knew. I watched her as she threw all these skills that I never seen such artistry, such grace. She was lacking in the power department, something this Polish 27 year old phenom could easily fix. I have recently started following Marta's career as a gymnast, watching her routines from her earliest days as a gymnast (Thats right, her JO days). Even as a little 5 year old, Marta was amazing. I always was excited to see her routines, it seemed like Marta added difficulty and new stunts every competition, which in Poland were only like 2 weeks apart. I wish Marta would continue to compete, and hopefully make the beam final there, and maybe even medal like she did at Euros. I wish she would do that, because she can make history for Poland Gymnastics, being an Olympic medalist for the first time.

International Gymnast Focus: Greek Gymnast Vasiliki Millousi

   Lets Talk about Vasiliki Millousi. She was Greece's sole female qualifier in London. Vasiliki didn't compete internationally before London since Sydney 2000. A twelve years difference. Vasiliki `decided to come back in 2010, so that was 10 years retirement, and she was still amazing. Vasiliki had a quiet first year back in 2010, not going to the Worlds in the Netherlands, Vasiliki and her coach decided that she shouldn't enter any international competitions until she had a year's training. After she trained her full year, Vasiliki went to Euros in 2011 and became a finalist on her best event. Vasiliki also watched Russian Gymnast, Aliya Mustafina fall during the first rotation of the All-Around. Thats right, Vasiliki is an all-around gymnast. Just like any Euro gymnast, Vasiliki was horrified when she saw the great Aliya Mustafina go down with a torn ACL. Vasiliki was getting set to go to floor exercise when it happened, which is only two feet away. She was chalking up when see saw Aliya fall. Vasiliki was in 10th before Aliya fell, and as the competition went on, she secured a 8th place spot. Vasiliki loved her 8th place spot, making her a Greek Comeback Legend. In addition to being a balance beam finalist at Euros in 2011. She won the 2012 Olympic Test Event Beam Finals getting her into London as Greece's sole female qualifier. Her dream in London was to make it into beam finals, and hopefully medal, that dream did not make it, because of the top eight rule, Vasiliki did not compete on vault in qualifiers, making her ineligible for the all around final, so Vasiliki just competed in Subdivision 1 of the 2012 London Olympic Games. But her performance was amazing. There is no word around the gymternet about Vasiliki being retired or not, but I hope she isn't.

WOGA's Greats: Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin, and Rebecca Bross(?)

  So, in 2004, and 2008, we had back to back Olympic All-Around champion. But, I don't know that you have noticed, both Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin came from the prestige WOGA club. they were both trained by gymnastics legend Valeri Liukin (Yes, Valeri Liukin is Nastia's father. Anyway, those two were amazing. Valeri was pretty much the most prestigious coach in the World. But, Valeri had another little prodigè, Rebecca Bross. But, she was not as successful as Nastia or Carly. She won no gold medals besides a Nationals. Just like Viktoria Komova of Russia, silver was Bross's story. Valeri only deemed her hug worthy when she won the Visa Nationals in 2010. Not when she medaled silver in nearly every event there was. But, in 2012, when neither Nastia Liukin or Rebecca Bross made it due to mistakes. Valeri still loves Nastia, and will still think of her as his prized all-around gymnast, same with Carly Patterson. And will think of Nastia as her daughter, but having no relation to Rebecca, and Rebecca having only one huge success in her gymnastics life, Valeri does not put Rebecca on his prized pupil podium (PPP) Rebecca wanted so badly to be on that podium, Nastia in first, Carly in the silver medal position so to speak. But Rebecca was replaced by little Katelyn Ohashi, who at the moment is the bronze medalist on the PPP.  Katelyn winning the 2013 American Cup, beating the World Champion Simone Biles.

Nastia Liukin: Her Events

With Nastia Liukin being an Olympic All-Around Champion, naturally, I have to do a Her Events segment on her.



Vault: Vault was never Nastia's strong event. She only performed the Yurchenko single twist, but as we saw in the All-Around Final, Nastia sticks that vault. I think that Nastia has a secret fear of the vault, just like her teammate Rebecca Bross did after her injury. Nastia did have her fair shares of injury on this event, downgrading her vault one by one. But hey, she won the All-Around right?


Bars: This is where Nastia truly shined in her career, having a astounding 17.2 start value. From her perfect handstands to her high-difficulty-high-flying releasees. And not to mention the dismount. This has always been a strong point for Nastia, even though she flubbed at the 2012 competitions, to get herself back to the Olympics, Nastia will forever be known as the best bar worker in USA history. One of the best in the world, right next to the Chinese and the Russians.


Beam: This is Nastia's second best event, she has a move named after her on this event. She has great artistry, and a decent amount of power on the event.


Floor: Nastia is also good on this event, but not great. She could improve on the power area, but her choreography is amazing.




   In addition to being a great beam worker, a great bar worker, and a typical great all-around gymnast, Nastia is a great cover upper, see this beam routine at the 2006 Nationals, if you haven't seen it already, it is truly a great save.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u483g1-8AYM


    Despite the save, and gripping the beam, Nastia still won the all-around competition, make sure to watch the 2006 Visa Championships, where Nastia won the all-around, the bars competition, naturally, and the beam. She was a phenomenal athlete, and we are going to miss her, but will likely re-watch her competitions which she shined at. Which she won.

Catalina Ponor: Her Events

  With Romania's Catalina Ponor being retired, I thought it would be a nice treat if I did a Her Events segment on this Romanian Great.


Vault: This was never Cata's best event, but what she does, she does cleanly, as we saw in 2012, Catalina did the 1 1/2 twist, not the hardest vault, but that vault among others gave them an edge over China, giving them the team bronze, and allowing them to medal in team finals 10 years in a row.

Bars: Catalina hasn't competed on this event since 2004, she does not do amazingly on this event, Romania never relies on her for this event, instead, she is more of a beam-worker or a floor exercise specialist


Beam: Catalina truly shines on this event, having tremendous difficulty on this event. She won the 2004 gold, beating the All-Around champion Carly Patterson. She was amazing. She stuck every trick, and stuck her dismount, which meant that she was Olympic Champion. Unfortunately, Catalina did not get to defend her title in 2008, making a comeback, or in 2012, having issues on beam, tying for third, with USA's Alexandra Raisman, but on behalf of tie breaking, Aly clenched the bronze, leaving Catalina with nothing


Floor: Once again, Catalina is dominant on this event. Once again, winning gold in 2004, but then, in 2012, Aly Raisman beat her on floor, with dynamic routine.

2020 Olympian Chat: Morgan Hurd

  When I first saw this little pint-sized gymnast at the 2014 Nastia Liukin Cup, I knew that little Morgan Hurd could go far, She has amazing skills, and she is so tiny! She is as tiny as a Chinese Gymnast, probably because she is of Chinese lineage.  Little Morgan was born in Hong Kong, and trained there for a little bit, ha, China thought that they had a 2020 Potential, but now the USA does. Anyway, little Morgan is so tiny that she doesn't even have to bend her body when transitioning from high bar to low bar! Wow! She has artistic beam work, a good sturdy vault, and good routines on bars and floor. Even though Morgan did not win the Nastia Liukin Cup because of difficulties with her routines, she was amazing. I can't wait to see Morgan when she turns senior, here are all her routines that I have seen, some of them might have been shaky, all of them were amazing


Morgan's Vault:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vosrK9YD9c



Morgan's Bars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfW_Lj4dkaU



Morgan's Beam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWuTru6oWRY



Morgan's Floor:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP7Ql3j6Igw



  In addition to dreaming about Tokyo 2020, Morgan also wants to write her own book, design her own line of leos, getting her own competition named after her, and just to chillax. She was amazing amazing! She can definitely go to Tokyo, and make all her dreams happen. Morgan is a huge name in the junior gymnastics scene, and she is only 12 years old! I can't wait to see Morgan in Tokyo, and making her dreams come true, because unless Morgan gets injured, or retires for some bizarro reason, she will be in Tokyo.

USA Gymnastics: Domination 2012

   We all remember London 2012 right? The Olympics, Michael Phelps winning the gold. This is not a swimming blog, its a gymnastics blog, so lets talk about that. Not only did the USA win team gold with the Fierce Five. A lot of the Fierce Five won individual medals, shooting them way high in the medal count. Team Gold won by the Fierce Five, Vault Silver won by McKayla Maroney, All-Around Gold by Gabby Douglas, Beam Bronze by Aly Raisman, and Floor Gold by Aly Raisman (Aly left as the most decorated gymnast on the US Side, both men and women. The USA has such a strong hold on gymnastics right now that it is unbelievable. And until Rio 2016, they will continue to have this amazing hold on the sport. The USA hasn't rocked the sport since 1996 since the Magnificent Seven won gold. They rocked the sport, and are still rocking it with fresh senior Simone Biles,  Fierce Five Members Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney, Simone getting into every final, and medaling in almost all of them at the Worlds, Kyla Ross medaling silver in almost every final that she got into, and McKayla Maroney winning vault gold, setting a record for team USA, a record that only team US has. Defending a Worlds Title. I believe that that was Maroney's redemption. That she is redeemed, but still will try for Rio De Janeiro and try to steal the vaulting gold. But overall, USA has had a strong hold on the sport, and will have it forever.

Aliya Mustafina: Her Events

   I did this Her Events Segment with McKayla Maroney, but no website is complete without a slew of articles about Aliya Mustafina.  Before I do an article about how she is the comeback kid, I will judge each of her events


Vault: This used to be a great area for Aliya, she performed the Amanar vault that the USA gymnasts do so well on, and she was amazing on it. But, ever since her injury in 2011 at the Euros (I have the link below) She stopped doing it, just because of pure trauma, that injury could have ended her career, and she didn't want to risk it again. Aliya may pull that smaller vault, but she relies on precision, great form, great landing, sometimes her twisting form is really bad.

Aliya Mustafina Vaut Accident:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmGumoki1Vc


Uneven Bars: Aliya is a true prodigy on this event, winning gold in 2012. Beating a Chinese athlete! Aliya is truly a golden girl on bars,  the best in the world. She is the reigning Olympic Champion, and I think I will see her defending her title in Rio. From the mount to the dismount, and every handstand and release in between. she was beautiful. She was just, amazing. No words can describe.



Balance Beam: Aliya was amazing on this event as well, especially in 2013, when she won the gold on the balance beam. She had that perfect blend of artistry and power. She blended them to perfection. Aliya won her first gold 2013 at an international meet. Once again, beating Chinese athletes. She is a power, and can truly win gold in Rio, as well as defending her title on bars


Floor Exercise: Aliya has very powerful music this event, and even if she had issues with her double arabian in the qualifications for 2013 Worlds All-Around and other events, she can really rock this event, she medaled bronze at the Olympics with a powerful routine. I respect Aliya on this event, and I cannot help being enticed by Aliya and her choreography and power.


   Aliya Mustafina is a very good athlete, she had a history of struggles on vault, including that injury that we saw. But, after Aliya gets vault put aside, watch out, this girl is a contender!

Kyla Ross: A Whole New Gymnast

   So,  on only her 1st year on the senior scene, Kyla Ross made the Olympic Team, which was huge, and she was a part of the gold medal effort for the USA. But, Kyla was not as big of part as she wanted to be.  She wanted to be an all-arounder for the USA team, but obviously didn't have enough experience to do so, only allowing her to compete on bars and beam, her strongest events. But since 2012, Kyla has been in the all-around hunt, she placed second at Nationals to the dominant Simone Biles, and then got into the all-around competition at World Championships, and placed second, as well as placing second on nearly all the other events. This winning medals in almost every event thing is foreign territory for Kyla, she never won anything in terms of single event medals, and now she has three! I hope to see Kyla continuing to climb the mountain of gymnastics, and I hope she has a very successful expedition.

What Do I Think About the NBC Trio?

  So, we all know the infamous NBC Gymnastics Commentating Trio RIGHT? Consisting of Tim Dagget, once great male gymnast, Elfi Schlagel, Canadian National Gymnast, and Al Trautwig.... Actually, I have no clue who Al was until I first listened to NBC Commentating. Here are some pros and cons, and then what I think about each individual member of NBC Gymnastics Commentating


Pros:

• They offer insightful thoughts about gymnastics
• They don't have annoying English Accents

Cons:

• They do not offer enough coverage, the 2012 team finals come to mind, they only focused on the top four teams, but didn't offer enough coverage for the bottom four teams, like Italy, or even the hosts of the Games, team GB. Unlike the Olympic Commentators who flip-flop between the teams
• I find them extremely critical, unlike BBC, they don't highlight the good parts of a routine, only the bad. While BBC says stuff like "Wow, that form was amazing",  NBC says "That landing was a little bit sloppy 
• NEGATIVE

Tim Dagget: With Tim Dagget being a former gymnast, as well as a coach, commentating is his element, or so he thinks. Sometimes he can be good, but sometimes he can be slightly annoying, make that hugely annoying. 

Elfi Schagel: Elfi was in gymnastics in the olden days, those days where gymnastics was artistry rather than power, when a gymnast could hit their legs on the bars and receive no deductions. So in other words she's an ancient gymnast

Al Trautwig: He knows squat about gymnastics

    So, I had more criticism in the personal section, but all in all, NBC is an ok commentating channel.

Harsh Realities: Is Jordyn Wieber Coming Back?

    So, Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney are still continuing in the sport of gymnastics. And one more Fierce Five member has confirmed her return, and that is my personal favorite gymnast, Alexandra Raisman of Brestyan's Gymnastics. Jordyn Wieber has also talked of a comeback last September, but has not said anything since. So, she lets the gymnastics world assume that she is happy with her assistant coaching gig at UCLA, and does not love competing anymore, but I am not one of those people. I believe that Jordyn will come back, just because of her disappointment in 2012. But I can not predict the future. But even I, gymnastics expert, can not read the mind of Gymnastics Royalty Jordyn Wieber. Time will tell, Jordyn will tell.

Simone Biles: Did She Peak Too Early

For those of you who are new to the sport of gymnastics, peaking means that you are at the top of your game, the best you can be. And National and World Champion, Simone Biles, has peaked on her first year on the senior scene.  I loved watching Simone win Nationals, and then Worlds, defending the USA''s dominating hold on the sport of women's gymnastics. From vault to floor, her skills are amazing. But, the question often asked in the sport of women's gymnastics..... Has our amazing gymnast Simone peaked to early?




    Often, a gymnast peaks on her 2nd year, or even 3rd year, as a senior gymnast. But, this was not the case for Simone. She knocked out the competition as soon as she entered it. Simone is definitely a  different athlete. She is ahead of the game, World Class Athlete. But, as good as a gymnast as Simone is, she has peaked way to early. The big danger of that? After a gymnast peaks, she will not keep going up, she will start gradually going down. And going down will come with injuries, incapabilities of doing those huge skills, and the gymnast could get surpassed by the younger, not yet peaked gymnasts. Although I do not think this will be the case with Simone, it has happened to some of the greats, such as Nastia Liukin, Courtney Kupets, and Rebecca Bross, and if it can happen to the greats, it could happen to her, because in reality, Simone is a great. She could start going downhill, and if she does, it will be hard for her to go to Rio in 2016, because there is a thin chance that she can make it if she starts going downhill like this. She could be replaced by some of those budding juniors, such as Bailie Key who will be turning senior in 2015. I am not being a hater of Simone, but there is such a thing as early peaking in this sport, and it can come with consequences. But, I hope that doesn't happen with Simone, I hope she'll make it, and will be the next Gabby Douglas, Olympic All-Around Champion.

Judging Her Gymnastics: Jordyn Wieber

   Jordyn Wieber was a great all-around gymnast, she won everything she entered up until the 2012 Olympic All-around. With her being retired, for the moment at least, its time to judge her gymnastics.




What I liked: Jordyn was an amazing power athlete. She did some of the most difficult tumbling in the whole entire world, from her Amanar on vault to her double double on floor (Two flips, two twists) Jordyn had the perfect amount of power. She even had outstanding artistry on beam. Jordyn was a fearless athlete. She didn't let risk of injury stop her from attempting the big stunts. Thats what I liked about Jordyn: No fear.


What I didn't like: The only thing I didn't like was that her bars were weak, Jordyn often missed handstands on bars, which is one of the most important parts of the apparatus, and often had that lower back arch.






        Jordyn was an amazing power athlete, and she thinks she will skip a year or two of college and enroll later just to focus o on her redemption: If Jordyn makes the Rio team, she will get into the all-around. Jordyn WILL win.