Team Focus: Team USA

So in this segment, I will be writing about specific teams as mentioned in the title section above. Anyway, this is about team USA, where I will be doing a combonation of "Their Events" which is basically "Her Events", but talking about how the event goes for the whole team, and I will also be grading their performances in competitions I saw them in. Ok, right now I am pretty much confusing myself as I write this, and I am probably confusing you as well, so I"ll just write it now

 USA's Events

Vault: 

This is where the USA shines. Team USA has the hardest vaults, including a couple perfect Amanars, A Rudi, A Cheng, and a couple of Yurchenko Doubles. USA is great on this event, we have the hardest vaults in the World, and often, some of the best executed.

Bars: 

   This, is definitely our weakest events, we often have issues with hitting handstands, and nailing those transitions, although we have had a few greats on this event, such as Nastia Liukin, Rebecca Bross, Kyla Ross,, Gabrielle Douglas, Ashton Locklear, and Madison Kocian......... our uneven bars, as a team, is not perfect.

Beam:

USA's beam is pretty great! We can hit sequences, and we have difficult tumbling skills on beam, which can give us the edge in case of tiebreakers. But, we do have difficulties on our dance sometimes, as we see with the more powerful athletes. But as we saw with Jordyn Wieber, who had a one handed backhandspring layout, and Shawn Johnson, who had a GORGEOUS layout on beam, we can bring power to the table. And lets not forget Carly Patterson, who got one of the hardest dismounts ever named after her, the Double Arabian

Floor: 

Much like vault, team USA has the hardest tumbling passes, and while US athletes struggle with teh artistry, we make it up with the legendary tumbling passes such as Asac's Double Arabian, or Aly's 1 1/2 twist to double arabian punch layout. This is a great event for Team USA, and in my opinion, it will continue to be.

Viktoria Komova: Her Events

Hey guys, lets do a "Her Events" post on Russian Great, Viktoria Komova. Now, as both you and I know, Viktoria is a great gymnast, and those mistakes in London and Tokyo were just that, mistakes. I know that Viktoria is way better than London and Tokyo. Lets analyze her gymnastics, to prove it.

Vault: This is a weak event for Viktoria, weak being the operative word. Like McKayla and all the other American girls competing right now,  Viktoria is capable of performing the Amanar vault, but did not do so in Tokyo or London. But as I tell gym-nots that, they are all like, "Well why didn't Viktoria or whatever her name is, do the harder vault?" and this discussion took nearly an hour and a half, but I know all of you have lives, and can't read this ALL DAY.  And I can't write all day, so I'll give you the Cliff-Notes version. "Basically, gym-not, its because the coaches and Viktoria did not want to risk it. So anyway, all the gymnastics superfans out there know that Viktoria wanted to play it safe so that the team, and herself, would medal. Sure, Viktoria only performs two twists usually, but I have a feeling when she comes back from injuries, she'll be doing an Amanar. But, even if she does a easier vault, you'll see an extended body, perfectly pointed toes, and a stuck landing. The only reason why Viktoria can be perceived as "weak" on this event, is because of the fact that she does not to an Amanar. Yet


Bars: This is an event you will want to watch Viki on. Viktoria extends every limb of her body. She hits every handstands, and has the typical gorgeous, and difficult, Russian bars routine. Now, Vika did make the finals in this event, and she performed great, but thanks to the depth of the field, she was out of the podium. While Viktoria is great on bars, she had to beat her own teammate, Aliya Mustafina, who was  fine-tuning and doing nothing but bars while she was recovering from her injury, and then you have 2008 uneven bars champion,  He Kexin, and then legend Beth Tweddle, who has like a Kajillion connections in her routine, and then in fourth, you have Yao Jinnan, who is another Chinese athlete who only had one mistake in her routine. Now I understand why Viktoria was crushed, but after she examined the extreme depth of the field, I hope that she was proud of herself for placing so high!!!!

Beam: Viktoria is good here too, let me just tell you that she doesn't struggle with form/connection, although I found it interesting that Vika fell on a sheep jump, which is one of her greatest performed skills, Viktoria is great on beam, but she fell in 2011 on a back handspring step out combo in team finals, and then in 2012 she fell on the sheep jump in beam finals, as I mentioned earlier, and on her Patterson dismount.


Floor: Viktoria may not have the greatest tumbling, but having years of ballet training, she has the greatest dance, which is a great part of the routine. Viktoria's floor music in 2011-2012 was Swan Lake, and it was beautiful, and lets not fail to mention the upbeat-pop tune that came in about halfway in the routine. Viktoria has the style on this event, that all Russian greats are known for, that style that you can see, and if you dont know who that gymnast is, or what country she's from, you cacn tell she's Russian, and that ladies and gents, is the balletic style, its just simply beautiful.

   So...... after reading this article, are you still thinking that 2011 Worlds Viki and 2012 Olympics Viki, is actually Viki 365 days a year? No? Thats what I thought

Highlights of London 2012 (And the lowlights)

Hey guys, I just decided to blog today! Anyway, with Rio less than two years away, once again, we begin to think about the highlights (and lowlights) of London 2012.



1. McKayla Maroney Vaults Her Way into history


     Remember that perfect vault that we saw from McKayla Maroney? That sky-high, perfect form, stuck landing vault, I am getting just as excited as Tim Dagget was in London, ok taking a minute to cool down, settle. Ok, So. Where was I? Ok, so the reason why Mac successfully stuck this vault, is because of the air she gets, she finished that final 1/2 twist so early, that Mac was just flying in a pencil down-position, So she had plenty of time to stick it! Ok, the reason why Mac went down in history is because few people can do the Amanar in the World, and Nobody can do it as well as Mac, and certainly no one can stick it! Mac is truly the best vaulter in the World, and with that stuck landing in London, she received a massive 16.233, some believed, including me, that Mac should have gotten a perfect 10 e-score, which would have been a 16.500 score, but as we know,  in today's world of gymnastics, nobody gets a perfect 10, that was so 1900. But Mac received pretty close to it, earning a near-perfect 9.733 E Score.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNG0QJw7-4A

2. Jordyn Wieber loses out on the all around


Like I said, there were some downsides to London. And this, by far, was one of them. Jordyn won the All-Around competition in 2011, in Tokyo, but after some out-of-bounds, some steps on landings, some missed handstands, some wobbles, Jordyn was knocked out of the all around, thanks to the two per country rule, by her own teammates, Alexandra Raisman, and Gabrielle Douglas. Jordyn was devastated. She missed out on her true dream, Olympic All-Around Champion. I cried as Jordyn cried. It was definitely one of the most devastating moments of the Olympic Games.



3. Aliya Mustafina comes home as the most decorated Gymnast, after dealing with a giant ACL injury the year before.

   When I did not see Aliya in the 2011 Worlds, I was devastated. Aliya dominated at the Worlds the year before, I actually wanted to see her dominate in Tokyo as well. I was searching frantically by the Russian team. There's Nabieva, Komova, dah dah dah, and then I heard over my computer, that Aliya had injured herself just months before Worlds. She was competing an Amanar, and she had torn her ACL. As I heard this news, I was freaking out. Would Aliya be able to make it to London. I guess I would find out about 7 months later. And when I saw Aliya greeting the judges I was giddy. And later on, Aliya would win Silver with the Russian Team, Bronze in the all around, bronze in the floor finals, and most importantly, she beat legendary bar worker He Kexin, and won the uneven bars gold. My girl, Aliya, had become the most decorated gymnast ever, less than a year after a potentially-career-ending injury.


 4. Aly Raisman loses her chance of bronze in the all around.

One of the most devastating parts of the Olympic Games, Alexandra Raisman loses her bronze medal thanks to a series of tiebreakers, and the bronze was awarded to Aliya Mustafina of Russia.


5. Aly Raisman tumbles and dances her way into history.

     In floor exercise finals, Alexandra Raisman of the USA gave the floor performance of her life and secured the first floor exercise gold medal for the United States. Aly had a massive 15.600 score. Its no 16.233, but it is hugely impossible to get above a score of 15.600. Aly watched as the other 7 competitors, including 2004 champion Catalina Ponor, and 2008 Olympic Champion, Sandra Izbasa, fell short (Sandra actually fell) And before she knew it, Aly was standing at the top of the podium, hearing the United States background playing in the background, her eyes tearing up, and the United States flag raising the highest. She was surrounded by Catalina Ponor, and the person who had beat her for bronze in the all around earlier that week, Aliya Mustafina.


6. Gabby Fails to get two more medals 

After an amazing win in the all around finals, not to mention the team golds, Gabby had two beautiful gold medals in her possession. And she had the opportunity to win two more, in the bars and beam finals. Children, allow me to take you to the great land of the bars finals. Let's see how Gabby Douglas did after amazing performances by Mustafina and Kexin and Tweddle. Douglas mounted the bars by that bland, grab the high bar, kip up mount. yawn. Anyway, the routine then continued as a nervous routine, there were only a few select handstands that were hit. The rest of them either had leg separation, lousy swings, otherwise known as the lower-back-arch, and didn't get high enough. Gabby missed her chance for bars medals, but she still had beam. A few days later, she went to beam finals, with teammate Aly Raisman. She watched as Aly hit a great great great set, and watched as Viktoria Komova, who won silver in the all around days before,fell off the beam, and then on her dismount. It was finally time for our girl Gabby to mount the beam, she came out solid, with teeny-tiny balance checks along the way. Gabby stared at the balance beam and performed her leap, it was looking so beautiful in the air, but Gabby landed with her foot off the beam, and grasped the beam, in a desperate try to stay on, but she ended up grasping the beam, then falling.  After she watched Aly Raisman earn the bronze, she knew her medal race was over, and for the floor finals, she could relax and watch her teammates compete. Even though her medal race was over, Gabs had no reason to be disappointed, she had two golds in her possession, two golds that she would treasure forever, and of course an amazing experience.


7. Jordyn Wieber gets over loss in all-around to push her team to gold
Everyone in the gymnastics world was worried that Jordyn Wieber would have a shaky performance because she would be distraught over not getting in the all around, but those thoughts were immediately dispelled. She vaulted. It was right smack on the middle line, the tiniest hop forward. Beautiful. Bars=beautiful, all events=beautiful. Jo helped the team to the gold medal, and she loved it. She finally had an Olympic gold around her neck, it was better than any other gold, because she won it with her team, with her sisters.

8. Viktoria Komova Does Not Have Planned Olympics

     Viktoria Komova was expected to win the golds in all the Finals she entered. We saw a beautiful performance from Vika in qualifications, she qualified into Team Finals, All-Around Finals, Bars Finals and Beam Finals. The night of qualifications, Viktoria was excited because she had the opportunity to sweep the golds. First was team finals, and during the first rotation of Teams, she saw her dreams cracking for team golds after the USA drilled their vaults, and Russia slightly struggled. Viktoria sighed, smiled, and marched to the next rotation. They began to close the USA's gap, and then beam came, and once again, the gold for Russia began to crumble after the Russian girls made many mistakes, and the USA's lead was widened. Viktoria was not in the last rotation, she watched as Mustafina hit her set, and she smiled and clapped,  and after another routine, it was Grishina's turn, and Grishina's set was horrible, Grishina had fallen on one pass, and had bailed out on another, Viktoria started to sob, because she knew that the USA was super strong on floor and Russia had two fallers (Afaneyseva had fallen on her last pass right after Grishina's routine) Viktoria knew that her chances of team gold had disappeared. So, as she listened to the USA Anthem, and watched as Team USA's flag rose higher than hers.

   Next was all around, Viktoria had a hard first rotation, she stepped off the vaulting mat. She watched as the United States girls, once again drilled the vaults. Going into bars, Viktoria stared at the leaderboards, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman leading over her. She went to bars, and managed to get to second place. She then went to beam, and struggled, maintaining her second place, then floor, Gabby had delivered a great routine. And Viktoria tried to catch up, but failed to She stood in the silver medal, once again, watching Team USA win



  Next for Vika was bars finals, she delivered an average routine, with some weak-legged form, and managed to secure a fifth place finish. But she did get to watch as Aliya Mustafina of Russia, won a gold. One gold for Russia!


   Next was beam, Viktoria had a horrible beam set, filled with balance checks and form errors, and a fall on a skill, and on her Patterson dismount. She went home with two silver medals, and no gold. That was her last final, she was not in the floor final, and she lost her chance at more Olympic Medals

9.  Canada Makes History by getting into the team Finals, and placing fifth

Canada, until 2012, they were not one of the well known gymnastics teams. Except by me. I know Peng Peng Lee and Victoria Moors, and all the other girls. After subdivision 5, the top 8 teams flashed,, and Canada was in there. I was so amazed, and happy that the 2012 Olympic Canadian Team made it! Yay! Even though they had lost their best gymnast, and team captain, Peng Peng Lee to injury, they still were able to make it into team finals, with their honorary team captain, Peng Peng Lee cheering them on. Some teams gold medals are actual gold medals around their necks, but Canada just wanted to get into team finals. That was their gold medal, just being in team finals. But it seemed as if their luck would keep on going. They then placed fifth! Thats right, only two places away from the podium! I am so looking forward to see Canada in Rio, and to see if they can actually get on the medal podium!


10.

MyKayla Skinner's Cheng: Terrifying

    MyKayla Skinner has became known for the difficulty level of her vault. MyKayla is one of the only girls in the World to be performing the Cheng vault. It is an incredibly intricate vault, there are many steps to the Cheng. You must do a half turn onto the springboard, half twist onto the vaulting table, and 1 1/2 twists off. So, if I were to describe this vault in two words, it would be intricate, and hard. But just because MyKayla can do the Cheng, doesn't mean she can do it correctly. MyKayla has the nasty  habit of only blocking off with one arm for the Cheng, not only is that a built-in deduction, but is also dangerous. If MyKayla blocks off of only one arm, she can seriously injure her arm. I can not express how many injuries can occur to her because of her blocking, and I do not like it. MyKayla is an athlete who has great potential, but she just needs to be careful. If MyKayla injures her arm on vault, it  could seriously damage her shots at making International Assignments, and Marta, her coaches could make her downgrade her vault. MyKayla needs to properly block off, or this vault will come back and bite her. So MyKayla, if you are reading this, please, please, please, please, please, please try and change your blocking, try blocking with both arms, or else you will break your right arm. So do this for us, MyKayla, not us, do it for yourself. Yourself.  Don't  hurt yourself, and you will get plenty of international assignments

McKayla Maroney: Scandal

    Mac fans ev erywhere you may of heard that she is currently involved in a huge scandal. Gymnasttike, posted nude photos of her on Twitter. I always thought that Gymnastike was a great great gymnastics blog, they, along with Tripletwistgymnastics, inspired me to make this blog that has so many readers. But now? Now I hate them. They have wronged Mac, and let me just tell you, that is not true, this whole scandal, its not true. Absolutely. Not. True. If you are a true McKayla fan, you will be behind her, and post on all Social Media that McKayla Maroney is truly innocent. Many stars have been involved in scandals like this, lets help McKayla's go over smoothly. Gymnastike is responsible. So unfollow Gymnastike on all social media, because it is them that have caused Mac this pain and hardship. We will make Gymnastike unpopular. So if you post a pic of Mac, caption it "Stay Strong Mac" and then hastag it #boycott gymnastike. If you are a true McKayla fan, you will not bash on her. You will support her until this whole thing blows over. So if you want to support her, stand behind her, and don't bash her. McKayla Maroney is truly innocent. It just depends on your fan level to believe her. If you are a minimal fan, you will bash her, but if you are a Mac lover, you will support her until everything blows over. Comment which one you are. a Mac Supporter, or a Mac Basher.








WHAT TO HASHTAG

#staystrongmac

#boycotgymnastike

#Macfan

Claudia Fragapane: Does she have what it takes?

We all know Claudia Fragapane, the four time Commonwealth Games champ from England. She was amazing, winning team gold, vault gold, floor gold, and the all around. She was a great gymnast. And she is on the rise, team England would be insane not to put her on the women's team. Claudia will make it. She will. And she will be one of the two, Brit girls to be in the all around, but as I was watching the CWGs, as a gymnastics aficionado, that her form, was kinda bad, and she was not a power athlete, she was in kind of a void, in between. Claudia did have unique choreo on floor, but that was about it. If Claudia wanted to actually contend for an all-around/event medal, she will need to categorize herself as a gymnast before she can medal at a Worlds or Olympics, dont hate on me for speaking the truth, Claudai Fragapane guys. The CWGs was a weaker field than a World Championships, we don't have any of the top four countries in the field, i.e, USA, Russia, Romania, China, it's just a bunch of mixed groups like Korea, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Israel, and all those other countries that we didn't know had a gymnastics program until now. So, the field isn''t that strong. So even the people with mediocre form, can medal. I do believe Claudia can medal at an International medal, with the top four countries, if  she steps up her form.

Gymnastics News: Aly Raisman

   If you have been a long-time reader of triplewhip, you will know that I am obsessed with Alexandra Raisman, double gold medalist, and one time bronze medalist. Even though Aly didn't have the best bars routine, she was dominant on beam and floor, and could contribute a steady vault. Altogether, Aly was a true all-arounder. After she won her two golds and one bronze, Aly came home and chillaxed. She was originally supposed to come back at Nationals 2014, but Aly, along with her parents, and coach Mihai Brestyan, decided that she needed more time to condition, and train her events. I am sad, that Aly decided to push her comeback back a year, but after getting over the initial sadness, I realized that this really was a great choice by Aly, because, as much as Aly fans hate to admit it, her bars are bad. She lacks proper toe point, and lets face it, she has been out of competition for a year, and she needs to come back with a bang. So, all Aly fans, remember, this is a truly great idea. Aly needs another couple months to continue to train, she can't worry about competitions,  not just yet. She just needs to get back those skills, you know like the Patterson on beam, or the 1 1/2 to double Arabian to punch front layout on floor, you know, all the good stuff. Aly's just not ready for competition, but in 2015, she will be. So look forward to that, Aly Raisman fans, I know I am, and DI may be a little overly-anxious.