Rewatching the 2014 Floor Finals

   Hello guys: The homework is pretty tame today, I just finished my Etymology Homework, so I figured, why not write about the competition I was watching at lunch today? Which was the 2014 Floor Finals

   The field  was monster strong, including defending champ Simone Biles, who was just coming off of the buzz of winning titles in the team, all-around, and beam competitions. Simone could call herself champion in three areas, could she defend her title on floor? With the depth of the field, it seemed like it would be harder than the year before. 

   First up was Great Britain's new threat, Claudia Fragapane, she was going for a really hard pass, a full twisting double layout: Now as we know, difficult passes pay off if they go well, if you land the skill, but if you don't, its not worth it because it'll deduct you a point from your score, and unfortunately, the full twisting double layout did not pay off for Claudia, for the floor was just a little too springy, and she ended up on her stomach, but Claudia got up and delivered her routine like a true champ. She did her backspin and everything (Which looks monster cool). Besides the fall, Claudia had a routine that could contend for a spot on the podium, but a fall is a fall, and did its damage: Claudia ended up recieving a score of 13.100. Unfortunately, this meant finishing in 8th place. But I fully expect Claudia to do better next year 

   Next was Larisa Iordache, any gymnastics fan knows this girl. Unfortunately, Larisa fell in the beam finals, and ended up in 8th, and even though she didn't need to prove that she is truly great to us, and that beam finals was a fluke, she felt as if she needed to. And let me just say, she did. She captivated me with her amazing routine filled with amazing tumbling and beautiful dance. Larisa's great floor proved to everyone, especially me, that beam finals wasn't the norm. I had to rewind the floor routine because I wanted to watch it again and again. Larisa scored a score of 14.800. This would secure Larisa a silver medal on this event.

   After I watched Larisa's floor over and over again, I moved onto Simone Biles. I knew when she saluted and hit her opening pose, that this was going to be a great routine. And I was right. Simone was clean on all her passes, landing with the chest upright, something most of the field struggled to do. Her move, the Biles, which is a double layout with a half twist, was executed perfectly, as usual, and the rest of her routine packed with hard tumbling and dance tailored especially for her, was astonishing. It was a great routine, and she would take the lead after that, with a score of 15.333. Simone was able to defend her gold medal in both the all-around, and the floor final. 

  Next was Vanessa Ferrari, the definition of the word veteran. Vanessa Ferrari had a really mature floor routine, which was perfect for her because Vanessa has so much experience. In addition to having such mature choreography, we saw that Vanessa had great tumbling including a double twisting double back, executed nicely as always.  And even though her chest was down on some of the landings, it was a great routine, worthy of a score of 14.666, and a 5th place spot.

   After Vanessa, MyKayla Skinner was next. She delivered a routine packed full of tumbling, including a double twisting double layout, and a double twisting double tuck. Those are two insanely hard moves to put together in one routine. After she had saluted, she ran down the stairs to hug her coach, and then Simone Biles screamed and gave her one of her renowned monster bear hugs. Even though MyKayla had easy turns, it was great tumbling that made up for it. In my opinion, MyKayla really cleaned up her form since last year. For the time, MyKayla had a bronze medal, with a score of 14.700, but another gymnast would come and take it.

      Then it was Larrissa Miller of Australia. Larrissa has a very clean routine, but not a difficult one. Her turns and leaps were very nice, but she along with her coaches knew because of the low difficulty it could not contend for a spot on the podium, Larrissa ended up finishing in sixth place with a score of 14.233. 

     Next was Italy's Erika Fasana, who had a solid routine, but not as great as her teammate's or any other of the top three girls, Erika had good tumbling as well as dance, a good routine fitted for her, but not to contend for the medal podium, but I could tell that Erika was satisfied by the fact that she got a chance to compete in the floor exercise finals. 

   And last up was Aliya Mustafina. Aliya delivered an amazing routine with great tumbling and dance, not to mention the turns. This was a great routine for Aliya, and what was even greater was the expression on her face when she won the bronze medal: It was like no other. She was so excited because she had had a rough championships so far. And even though MyKayla was devastated because she lost out on the 3rd place spot by just 3/10 of a point, it was amazing to see the olook on Mustafina's face knowing that she didn't miss an element like she did in the beam finals. I was proud of Musty, and was glad she could get this opportunity to stand on the podium

    The Floor Finals were exciting in 2014, and I am looking forward to seeing 2015's. 

Aliya Mustafina: Her Events

  Aliya Mustafina..... 2010 all around champion, was a great great gymnast before she tore her ACL in 2011 at the Euros. But, even after she made a comeback, from what was thought to be a career-ending injury, she was more refined. I think after the injury, she went back and redid her gymnastics, rethought it. And now, we can do a Her Events Segment.



Vault: Before the ACL blow, Aliya was state of the art on this event,  she performed the 2 1/2 the best  in the whole field. But after she blew her ACL on the Amanar at Euros she downgraded to the easier vault, the Yurchenko Double. Not the strongest of vaults, not the most difficult. But what she does she does with style. She has perfect form and can always get near to a perfect 10 in execution. She always gets a near perfect score all the time. But if we are talking event, this is definitely the weaker of Aliya's four. For this event, I have three videos. The Amanar in 2010, before the accident, the Amanar in 2011 at the Euros that caused the accident. And the clean perfect Yurchenko Double, that she does now.


Aliya Mustafina World Gymnastics 2010 AA - Vault

Aliya Mustafina (RUS) VT - AA Final - European Championships 2011

Aliya Mustafina 2012 Olympic Vault AA

Bars: Aliya is state of the art on this event. She has an amazing bar set. She was the gold medalist on the bar final, and was ahead of a Chinese athlete. Here is her bar routine from Finals with aerial views. It was so amazing. I was intoxicated with her, and she was amazing and beautiful. Oh, I'm rambling, Here is the routine.


Aliya Mustafina Uneven Bars EF -- 2012 London Olympics



Beam: In 2013, She won this event with a near-perfect routine. She was always rock-solid on this event. But why show the old footage when you can show the new, gold winning one? I found it online and was able to copy a link: Here you go! P.S, also she came in 8th place qualifying because of falling, but she climbed the ranking going from 8th to 1st.

Aliya Mustafina becomes Balance Beam Champ - Universal Sports


Floor: Aliya is also great on this event she is World Class, medaling bronze on this event in 2012. She has grace and tumbling. I was really glad when she won the bronze in London. I loved her routines in team finals, qualifiers, and the event finals. Here is her event Final video. Excuse the weird part in the beginning of the 2000 Olympics. Svetlana Khorkina vaulting/ Anyhoo, weird footage, but she is state of the art once she gets started

Aliya Mustafina RUS EF FX 2012 London Olympic Games


 

Aliya Mustafina is a wonderful gymnast and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the years to come as a gymnast. She was great before the accident, but this injury redefined her gymnastics and she is a beautiful gymnast now. She has more experience than all the others on the Olympic Team.

2011: Loss of Two Great Athletes

Well, I have an article for you guys!!!!!!! So here I am. Blogging about the loss of two of the Worlds greats (At least in my opinion)


Russia's Aliya Mustafina: Everyone knows who Aliya is. The 2010 World Champion, Russia's favorite gymnast. Aliya was expected to go sweep titles in gymnastics at the Euros and the Worlds. It was her turn to go to vault and perform the biggest vault in gymnastics, the 2 1/2 twist, known as the Amanar. I watched as Aliya rounded off hit her feet upon the springboard and flew into the air.  I said to myself.  "Aliya's going to blow us away." I watched as Aliya landed. Right then, I knew something was wrong. I watched as Aliya saluted with a forced smile, tears in her eyes. I knew right then and there, it was an ACL. And I was right, Aliya collapsed onto the floor and was taken out of the arena. It was a sad day for all of us in the gymnastics world, seeing a World Champion being carried out of the arena.

Aliya Mustafina injuried in the European Championships 2011 at Berlin

USA's Alicia Sacramone: Alicia Sacramone, 2008 Olympian, who had a disappointing Olympics, decided to come back in 2010 for a "Do-over" and planned to tumble all the way to London. She was on the silver-winning 2010 team, which felt like a repeat for her 2008 incident. But Alicia hung around for 2011, she had an absolutely buzz-creating performance at the Nationals, qualifying her to Worlds, along with gym mate, Alexandra Raisman. Two days before the qualifiers, Alicia was practicing her double Arabian on floor, and tore her Achilles Here is a video of her interview with NBC.



Alicia Sacramone Interview 2011   (Sorry about the quality, only vid I can find)



    Even though it is 2014, not 2011, the loss of these athletes, and the way they fell, still weighs heavily on our minds. Or at least on my mind. Aliya came back, but Alicia never came back fully.

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!

MIG: Team Russia

You've heard of MVP right? For football and basketball and stuff, but MIG is Most Important Gymnast. And for my first MIG article, lets focus on the MIG of team Russia, and that would be Aliya Mustafina, Aliya shocked her country when she left as the most decorated gymnast of the country on both sides (Men and women) She walked home with Uneven bar gold, beating a Chinese gymnast! Wowzers! She walked home with the team silver, the all-around bronze, and the floor bronze. Aliya certainly made me proud, when I watched her compete on bars, she was high-flying and I was caught up in her routine, the artistry and the beauty of it, and the floor routine was so dynamic! Basically, Mustafina had the Olympics that her fellow teammate Komova was supposed to have. And Komova wasn't too happy, but she isn't the MIG, Mustafina was, and to think, only a few months before, Mustafina was out with an ACL tear. Congrats Mustafina! We are proud of you. Good luck Liya! See you in Rio!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aliya Mustafina: Russian Star

   Aliya Mustafina of Russia is an amazing gymnast, in 2010, she helped her team win the team competition, and she won the all-around. And placed second in the vault and uneven bars finals, and in 2011,  she tore her ACL, major, major injury, but she came back as an Olympian on the Russian team, and helped them win the silver, and won the uneven bars final, placed bronze in the all-around and floor finals. She was amazing, and is shooting for Rio 2016! She has to be my favorite Russian gymnast (Because she is not annoying like Grishina or  Komova) So, I am so amped to see Mustafina in 2016, and the 2014, 2015 worlds.