Judging Her Gymnastics: Aliya Mustafina

    So, as we have a study hall in 1st period, and I have no homework or anything, I have decided to do a Judging Her Gymnasts on Russian Diva, Aliya Mustafina

Vault:

Even though Mustafina only competes a Yurchenko Double, she does it beautifully. She can absolutely nail it. Even though the twisting form is not perfect, its getting better. Aliya can stick that vault 98% of the time (She did not in the Nanning Team Competition or The 2014 AA) But, my point is, that this, despite having an easier vault, is a good event. Its not her strongest, but its good.

Bars:

Aliya is the Olympic Champion on htis event, that should say it all. But in case it doesn't, let me break down the bar set for you: Perfect handstands, perfect releases, perfect transitions (Especially that Pak Salto). Team Russia can always count on Aliya to compete for them on the uneven bars.

Beam:

Aliya is the 2013 World Champion in this event. Just like bars, she can do brilliant connections and hard series. But, since 2013, Aliya has kind of declined on the event, wobbling on the easier skils on her routine like a side aerial.

Floor:

This is where Aliya can express her diva-ness. As we saw in London, her floor routine was full of expressive choreo to highight her attitude. And as of 2013, that choreography changed into a mature style to show off Aliya's maturity. 

   So here, are Aliya Mustafina's events.

Gymnast of the Day: Simone Biles

As I wait nervously for my English teacher to take a look at my rough draft of my research paper, I decided to calm myself by writing about what I love, gymnastics. So, lets do a Gymnast of the Day on 2x World All-Around Champion, Simone Biles. It is also important to note that Simone and her coach Aimee Boorman left Bannons Gymnastix in pursuit to  open their own gym, World Championship Centre. And, it was a great move for Simone, because thats how she won all her golds, and became known as $imoney.

   Simone Biles was raised by her grandparents, Nellie and Ronald. She has a few siblings, one of which is also a gymnast, Adria. Simone began her career in 2011, as a junior. At the American Classic, Simone placed third in the all around, and won vault and beam, she also placed 4th on the vault and the Uneven Bars. Now, she wasn't as lucky at the U.S Junior Classics, where she placed fifth on the balance beam and floor exercise. Simone then ended her season by tying for seventh place on the vault at Nationals. Even though she didn't look like it in 2011, later on, Simone would start becoming the girl we know her as now.

   Once again, the first meet of Simone's season, was the American Classic. She did much better at the 2012 American Classic than at the one in 2011. Here, she won the all-around for the junior session, she also won vault. She then tied second for floor, placed third on balance beam, and placed fourth on vault, meaning that she got two golds, one silver, and one bronze, in addition to placing on her worst event. This means, that Simone is truly on the rise. The next meet that our girl, Simone would compete at would be, once again, the Junior U.S Classics. But once again, she did better at that meet in 2012 then she did in 2011. She won the all around competition, and the vault. She placed second on floor, and unfortunately, 6th on the beam. After the buzz of her wins at the Classics, we saw Simone return to Visas. Here, she finished in the bronze medal position in the all-around, won vault, and finished 6th on all the remaining events. But she did make the Junior National Team

   Biles' senior debut came in 2013. Her first meet as a senior was with teammate Katelyn Ohashi at the American Cup. She and Katelyn were the replacements for Elizabeth Price and 2012 Olympian, Kyla Ross. Simone was looking good for the first two rotations, she was expected to win, but on beam, she fell on her back handspring back handspring layout series, and when Katelyn had a hit beam routine, it was looking bleak. But not impossible. But it became so when she stumbled back on her landing, ultimately giving the title to her teammate, Katelyn Ohashi. After her second place finish at the American Cup. Simone went on to compete at the Jesolo Trophy, where she won the vault, beam, floor, and all around competitions, also contributing towards the team's first place finish. After this, Simone went to Germany to compete in a tri meet with USA, Germany, and Romania. Once again, the U.S won the team gold, and Simone swept the titles on vault,, balance beam, and floor. But she tied for second in the all around behind Kyla Ross due to a fall on the bars. Next, Biles competed at the 2013 US Classic, where she performed poorly. She fell several times, and scratched vault after hurting her ankle on floor. Next, was the Nationals. Simone won the all-around here, as we are all aware. She also won silver on vault, bars, beam, and floor. Simone of course, made the World Team for USA. She qualified into first for the all-around final, second for the vault,  sixth for the uneven bars finals, fifth to the balance beam finals, and first to the floor. Yes people, thats right, she made all five finals, becoming the first woman to do so since Svetlana Khorkina, and the first American woman since Shannon Miller. She won the gold medal in the all-around, finishing nearly a point ahead of her teammate and silver medalist, Kyla Ross. Next was vault, where she came in second place, behind teammate and world-renowned vaulter, McKayla Maroney. Next was bars, and the only event Simone didn't medal in, but came in fourth. In beam, she won bronze behind World Champion, Aliya Mustafina, and her teammate Kyla Ross, and finally, she picked up another gold medal on floor, making her final medal count, two golds, one silver, one bronze. Lets just assume that Simone left those World Championships VERY happy. 

   People had thought Simone had had all the success one could have in 2013. But that is not true! Simone was supposed to  compete at the 2014 American Cup, on account of wanting to rest up a shoulder injury. So, Simone skipped that one. After missing out on the American Cup, Simone went to the Pac RIms with the US team, but that pesky shoulder injury stopped her from competing there as well. So, the first few weeks of the competitive season weren't going so well for Simone. Her first competition back was the US Classic (Finally!!!) She ended up defeating 2013 US Classic Champion, Kyla Ross, and by a large margin.  She also won vault, beam (Tied with Kyla) and floor. After Classics, it was  Nationals for Simone, where she won the all-around title once again, defending her title from the year before, she won it by nearly four points over silver medalist, Kyla Ross. She also won titles on vault and floor, tied with Alyssa Bauuman for the silver medal on beam, and placed fourth on bars. 

 

 Next was the 2014 World Championship. Simone qualified into every event final but the uneven bars. First was the alll-around, where she won. Even though her performance was great in Nanning, as expected, what was even greater was when Simone was chased off the medal podium by a bee! Simone was proudly accepting her medal and boquet, but when she picked up the boquet, there was a bee!! Simone started running around the podium, and dropped her flowers! Teammate and bronze medalist in the all-around, Kyla Ross, joined in. And Larisa Iordache, the silver medalist from Romania, didn't even flinch. Many are still watching it today, 5 months later. Anyway, next for Simone,was the team competition, where she did every event but bars. Then,  was the vault, where she won the silver behind North Korea's Hong Un Jong (Even though many thought Jong didn't deserve it), and ahead of teammate MyKayla Skinner, who took the bronze. Next, was the beam. After watching her teammate Ashton Locklear compete in the bars finals, Simone was eager to get out there. Simone competed a stunning set, grabbing the gold medal, with China's Bai Yawen and Russia's Aliya Mustafina behind her. And finally for Simone, was the floor finals, where she defended her title from the year before, just like she did with the World All-Around Title.  So, Simone had even a better 2014, than 2013. And that is crazy

 Even though the 2015 season has barely started, I wanted to note that Simone dominated at the AT&T American Cup, winning by nearly 5 points ahead of copatriot MyKayla Skinner. She not only won the all-around, but won everything. Yes, that means she won the all-around, the vault, the bars, the beamm, and hte floor competitions. BAM! THERE IS NO BETTER WAY FOR SIMONE TO START HER 2015 SEASON. NO BETTER WAY! Seriously, I think the last 2 years have panned out well for Simone. 

   So, with Rio only a year away, things are looking good for Simone. I really want to see her winning golds in Rio. Good luck Simone, you're amazing! 

Juniors To Keep An Eye On: Naydenov's Jordan Chiles

In case you did not know this little fireball, you will after this post. Jordan trains and represents Naydenov, and does so well. At the young age of just 14, Jordan is a little fireball, having hard passes in her floor routines like a Double Arabian. On vault, she can get a great score, she can get high in the air. It's also to be noted that Jordan was the 2014 U.S Secret Classic Winner, despite a low-ish bars score. Jordyn even has some foward tumbling which reminds me of one of my personal heros in the sport, Ukraine's Lilia Podkeyeva, who was of course, a gymnast of power. Even though Jordan is not eligible for Rio in 2016, she is for 2020, and when I imagine her competing at the 2020 Trials, I imagine her either grabbing that first place spot, or making the team. So, guys, if you haven't been already, I would keep my eye on this dynamo from Naydenov.

Grading Claudia Fragapane's Performance At the American Cup

So, as I was watching the American Cup the other day, I was keeping my eye on British standout, Claudia Fragapane. And I did not like what I saw. I would give Claudia's performance an D- Because I was not impressed at all. Let me just give you a rundown of her routines

Vault- This was actually Claudia's best routine of the night, and it had bad leg form and a weird landing to it.

Bars: There were so many missed handstands, and am I the only one who adresses the leg split on her Pak? She also fell on her Piked Tkatchev, which as you know, never bodes well in any type of routine. She also piked her double layout dismount, and I seriously thought that the judges would classify that as a pike

Beam: While I was waiting for Claudia's routine to start, I read through the YouTube Comments, and one said "Oh God Take that Sheep Jump Out" And then I saw why, and I have to say I agree. It was a really bad sheep jump and I couldn't stress that enough.

Floor: Claudia's routine was really clunky, she even messed up on her famous back spin. And she only landed one tumbling pass, and even that one was a stumble.

     So, if you are a Claudia fan and are like cursing me right now, don't, because I'm grading them like I'm seeing them, and a D- Performance is how I saw Claudia in this years American Cup

Judging Her Gymnastics: Italy's Vanessa Ferrari

Vanessa Ferrari has been a big name in the gymnastics world ever since 2006 when she won the all-around gold, making history for Team Italy. So, with such a big name still competing, lets judge her gymnastics shall we?

What I Like: I love Vanessa's floor. She is so mature! It looked like in 2006, that was her peak. But its 8 years since then, and she's improving! Which you rarely see! Vanny is still improving, and thats what I love. When you compare now to 2006, she has so much more maturity. Its just gorgeous. Her beam and floor are gorgeous. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.

What I Don't Like: Even though she has gotten so much more mature over the years, I am still not the biggest fan of her bar work. They are clean, granted, but it kind of puts her at a deficit because they aren't as hard as Mustafina's or Jinnan's. Thats why she hasn't gotten a medal in the all-around because she scores low on bars when Mustafina and Jinnan get in the high 15s low to mid 16s.

   I love Vanny, and I am dreading the day when she will retire. 

Comparing Their Styles: Kyla Ross and Simone Biles

Even though both Kyla Ross and Simone Biles represent the United States of America, they can not be more different. 

Kyla- Kyla has that gorgeous international look: Clean lines, stellar toe point, all around impeccable form. Even though Kyla doesn't have a lot of difficulty, she can have almost a perfect ten in terms of execution. You rarely see Kyla have bent legs, and she always sticks that dismount whether it be the double layout off bars or the double tuck on beam. Even though she only does a Yurchenko Double on the vault, vault is considered one of her best apparatuses because she can land with minimal deductions. Kyla is known for the international look.

Simone-  Well I think Simone's stats prove it all: 1 time US Secret Classic Champion, 2 time National Champion (AA), 2 Time World All-Around Champion, Two time floor world champion, one time beam world champion, one time team world champion, and much much more. Simone is an athlete of absolute power. She has the hardest floor routine in the world, and even has a move named after her (Double layout with half twist) Simone can bring an Amanar to the table, a huge beam set, and a AMAZINGLY POWERFUL floor routine. Simone is known for chucking the biggest skills, and most of the time, does so successfully. We barely ever See Simone waver, thats what makes her so dominant

    So even though these two girls represent the same country, their gymnastics styles are TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

Gymnasts Who I am Excited For To See Contending For Rio

   Yes, Rio is almost a year away. And as we look onto the next Games, we say goodbye to London. And gymnasts like Jordyn Wieber unfortunately. But, as we say hello to the new Games, we have to say hello to some new gymnasts, we have to  do this every quad, but I want to talk about some contenders I am looking forward to seeing in the next year before Rio. Some of them are new, some of them are old, like Larisa Iordache or Aliya Mustafina.

1. Simone Biles

Simone Biles has been dominating since she stepped onto the floor as a senior gymnast in 2013. We won't see her burn out like Jordyn Wieber did in London, because Aimee has been pacing her so well. Simone will be in Rio, and she'll dominate there, just like she did in Antwerp and of course, Nanning. I am so eager to see what Simone does in Rio.

2. Larisa Iordache

Usually, an Olympics is a peak for a gymnast, and after they compete in the Olympics, they retire or start spiraling down. But, for Larisa, that was not the case. Since she was only a ripe 16 year old representing Romania in London, Larisa continued in 2013. And she did well, doing good at European championships, and then she went on to win the bronze on the floor, placing fourth in the all-around, and after an unfortunate fall in beam finals, landing 7th, but if she wouldn't have falled, she would have medaled, maybe even gold. Larisa then went on to Europeans 2014 winning gold with the team, bronze in the vault, silver on beam, and tying for gold on the floor. Bam! She then went onto worlds and got silver in the all-around and placed 4th with the team (I mentioned this because Larisa got the team from 7th to 4th, and carried the whole team on her back!) She did great and I am so excited to see what the world will hold for this girl. She can definitely make the Olympic Team.

3. Nia Dennis

Nia debuts as a senior this year, and I am excited to see her. I have been since Nationals when I saw her stick her Double Arabian, and most of her floor routine. I have Nia Fever and I am amped for her debut this year. She can actually fight with Simone and others for the all-around title

4. Kyla Ross

Kyla Ross has always been known for her perfect form, but has been trashed on for her lack of difficulty. But, last night I was watching Camp Videos, and Kyla said that SHE IS upgrading. If Kyla can upgrade, she can possibly make the second Olympics. For ages, I have been waiting for Kyla to upgrade. I cannot wait for the Italy meet, where Kyla said she wil debuting her upgrades.  I can't wait. When I heard that Kyla was upgrading, I fell out of my seat.

5. Huang Huidan

Despite the loss of her bars title in Nanning, Huang is amazing on the event. She is the definiton of the word uneven bars. Anyway, she can win an Olympic UB finals, and she can be a great addition to the team. True, all Chinese gymnasts are great bar workers, so you may think that Huang's work doesn't differentiate her. But I guarantee, it does. She does great on the connections. She FLOATS up to the bar. Its just gorgeous. Even though she isn't really spectacular anywhere else, she will make the team because she is one of the best bar workers in China.

6. Claudia Fragapane

At first I did not like Claudia because she had no type (Power, artistry) But as I watched this girl more and more, I fell in love with her. Her floor was upbeat and fun, her choreo amazing. Claudia can definitely make Great Britain's Olympic Team, and I would be devastated if I don't see her doing so. She can definitely bring in a great floor score for Team GB, and can also bring in solid scores on the other three events. I can't wait to see  what the coaches at Bristol have in store for this rising star.

7. Aliya Mustafina

Aliya has always been the gymnast everyone loves, including me. I love her because she has a great attitude and is a tough cookie. Aliya has gone through a lot in the last 2 or 3 years and I am glad to see her recovering. I think that the Russian Federation will be stupid not to let Musty on the Rio Team, they need her.  They need her amazing leadership and toughness, they need her bars, her beam, and her dramatic floor. They need Mustafina all-around and that should make her a shoo-in.

8.  Bailie Key

Bailie Key impressed me at the national camp a few weeks ago when she beat THE Simone Biles in the all-around verification. Simone did have falls on a few of her upgrades, but it still proved that Simone does have mistakes. I think its going to be a miniature war between the two, and I cannot be more excited! A Bailie vs. Simone showdown is what I've been waiting for since that camp. I think that Bailie can dominate, just like Simone has been doing. Let the Biles-Key showdown begin.

9. Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman, 2012 Team Captain of the Gold Winning Olympic Team, beam bronze medalist, and floor Olympic Champion is back. I fell in love with Aly's gymnastics in 2011 when she took over the leadership role for Team USA after Alicia Sacramone fell to injury. I then watched her compete at the Games, dominating once again, and then I really got to like Aly when she became a dancer on ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Aly is coming back at the Italy meet this year and is going to come back strong, and I am excited for that. Aly can definitely make the second Olympic Team, because she is a great team captain and has so much experience. She can definitely help the younger girls when they are going onto their last event. 

10. Laura Jurca

Just like Bailie Key, Laura made a huge splash on the junior scene. This little Romanian sweetheard turned senior this year, and I look forward to seeing her compete with the big dogs at Romanian Nationals, European Championships, and other big competitions. I am so excited for Laura, and I think she can definitely make the Romanian Olympic Team. 

11. Emily Gaskins

So, as dominant as the US Team is right now, one area that the rest of the world (Especially Russia and China) are beating them at, artistry. Even though we have girls like Kyla Ross, we don't really have any artistic girls on the senior scene, but that is all set to change in 2016 when Emily turns senior. As we saw at the 2014 Junior Nationals, Emily has a balletic style on floor that we never see from the American women. She can also do great bars and beam sets, on bars she excentuates every key detail. A lot of people on the Gymternet (Mostly Russian Stans) are trashing on the USA for their lack of dance, but just wait till Emily steps onto the stage, that'll show em.

12. Norah Flately

This little dynamo has had my attention for a while now. She comes from one of my favorite gyms, Chow's, the gym that produced Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas. What I love about Norah is her flexibility. Have you seen this girl do a needle on beam?! There's not a bend in her knee! She is also a power athlete but mixes it with the flexibility and precision needed for bars, which you can never find nowadays, like her copatriot Emily Gaskins mentioned above, she also turns senior in 2016. Norah is sometimes incosistent, but she has a year to get that down. She is also competing the Amanar vault, which is why I said she is incosistent (She fell on it at the 2014 Classic). But, once again, she has a year to get that huge vault down. 

13. Laurie Hernandez

Laurie is full of spunk, let me just tell you that. She is a spunky little fireball, and she just overcame an injury. Luckily she got a spot on the National Team after winning the junior competition at verification camp (In physical abilities). Laurie is another junior I've been keeping my eye on, and like Norah and Emily, turns senior just in time for the Games, and boy, am I excited for that!

14. McKayla Maroney

McKayla suffered an injury after the 2013 Worlds, where she successfully protected her World Vault Title from 2011. That took McKayla out of competition for the whole 2014 Season. But now that her Olympic teammates Aly and Gabby are back, Mac's more determined to get into the gym than ever. And I am excited to see that passion back. Mac wants an Olympic Vaulting gold and she's not giving up on the dream. You can pretty much guarantee that by Worlds this year, McKayla will be vaulting towards her 3rd world gold vaulting medal. 

15. Ruby Harrold

I have been a fan of Harrold's bars for a while now. From the Van Leeuren to the bail-out transition, I am a fan. She has just blown my mind with her latest bar set, and she can definitely contend for a world title if she gets more consistent, and I believe she can. An example of the incosistency is in the Worlds Team Final, when she had a big leg split on the Van Lueeren.

   So here are some of the gymnasts I am looking forward to seeing in Rio/Contending for Rio in the next couple of months.