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. 

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.

What Do I Think About: Simone Biles?

    Simone Biles has all the qualities of the Fierce Five. She has Gabby's Ferocity. Aly's Grace. Jordyn's power. Mac's height. And Kyla's artistry. Which coincidentally, is everything you need in this sport we call gymnastics. Simone Biles is an amazing gymnast, and she is the current National Champion, and the current World Champion, once again taking over one of Jordyn's qualities: Her winning everything she enters trait. Simone has all the necessary components of an Olympic Gymnast, but as we saw at the American cup in 2013, Biles can struggle with confidence when under pressure. She fell off the beam on her back tuck with one twist, which was rather uncharacteristic of Biles, but it can happen, and Biles was coming off a win at the National Championships, and was probably under an enormous amount of pressure to show the World what she can do. But like a twig, Biles snapped under the pressure, giving up the title to her fellow team member, Katelyn Ohashi. But, coming in second in an international competition like this is pretty major for a new senior. But, lets not forget, Simone went from second place, to first, at the World Championships later that year. Which, in fact, gave her more publicity in the gymnastics world, than she would have had if she had won the American Cup.

2013 American Cup: Champion.

  Simone Biles, an amazing gymnast, winning the National and World Championships, but surprisingly, she did not win the American Cup, 2013. Another budding, just senior gymnast did. And that gymnast was artistic beauty: Katelyn Ohashi. She delivered amazing vaults, bars, beam, and floor. Her beam routine placed her in front of the pack, after Simone Biles fell, Katelyn aced her routine, and on floor, Katelyn dominated, while Biles came short on a landing, and had a stumbled landing, so, because of all of her aced routines,  and Biles's flunked routines, Katelyn Ohashi of WOGA, made her coach Valeri Liukin very proud.

Simone Biles: Domination

   We know Simone Biles right? New Senior on the block, making her senior debut in 2013. And her first year as a senior, Simone won Nationals. And Marta was wowed at the "Raw Potential" that she saw in Simone. So, she decided to put Simone on the Worlds team. Simone delivered a beautiful performance in qualifications, where she placed in every single event final, including AA. Simone won gold in the All-Around and the floor finals,  she medaled bronze in the beam finals, medaled silver in vault, and sadly, did not medal in uneven bars finals due to an unnatural shaky performance in the finals. I am looking forward to 2016 Trials: Because You know what?! This Girl, Simone Biles will be there. She might not make the team, (Doubtful) But she definitely will be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!