Lightbulb Hands

Since USAG is not posting information yet, these are tidbits from the gymn boards (thanks to various peoples).
AA Results:

1.) Ivana Hong (YUSH!)
2.) Ashley Priess
3.) Chellsie Memmel
4.) Mattie Larson

Darling (not a typo, actually her name) Hill is supposedly injured, but there is no confirmation yet. A-Sac made her three events her bitches, including a 16+ on BB.

Gymn.ca had this to say about the Canadian reps:

Emma Willis of Bluewater Gymnastics club was the top Canadian all-around gymnast at this week’s friendly international competition in Houston, Texas. Willis scored 55.95 after hitting all for events to rank 8th in a field of gymnasts representing the United States, Canada, Germany, Columbia, Italy, and Venezuela. Also competing in the all-around for Canada were Sydney Sawa (10th) and Catherine Dion (13th). Aisha Gerber competed two events only (vault and floor) while Alyssa Brown competed all events but floor. Competition was to conclude today with apparatus finals, with each Canadian planning to compete on two events. This friendly competition was held at the conclusion of a week long training camp.

Nothing about EFs yet and those are what will really tell us anything. This blogger wishes to know about Ivana Hong's upgrades and especially her bar routine, especially since she recently said that she's taken out her signature German giant to reverse hecht because she was getting killed for that.

Recently, a wonderful, creative, and talented member of the gymnastics community has passed away. I have no idea what to say when others have already said it better (except 21 is way too young to die), so I'm going to let my favorite montage by him speak for itself:

So apparently China held an internal test event recently. News to you? To me, too. Wenshuli from one of the gym boards graciously provided information. The girls were divided into two teams: blue/white & red/yellow.

Jiang Yuyuan (my favorite of the Chinese; she's so cute!) does indeed have an Amanar (15.7). But her overall AA score wasn't where it needs to be if she's going to contend for an AA medal.

Cheng Fei won FX and VT, of course. Was there any doubt?

He Kexin broke 17 on UB.

Li Shanshan has a 7.3 BB A score, but was wobbly. The Olympic BB gold would be hers to lose, but she's so inconsistent. Not to mention that her inconsistency could lose her spot on the O-Team.

Deng Linlin (also adorable) won the AA with a DTY and a 7.0 BB A score.

Xiao Sha also had a 7.0 on BB and won the event.

Sui Lu (?) has a 6.4 on FX and 7.1 on BB. I have no idea who she is.

Yang Yilin's foot is still injured, so she only competed UB. Did well, placing second.

Pang Panpan was 4th AA. She has a FTY, but a 7.1 UB A score.

Not much about Zhou Zhuoru. Zhang Nan is fit, but without much difficulty (this does not bode well for my hopes). Same could be said about He Ning.

Pictures:
http://sports.qq.com/a/20080423/000664.htm
http://sports.qq.com/a/20080423/000652.htm

It's looking more and more like it'll be China's gold to lose.

1. Super consistent. What else can one call a gymnast who is called at the 11th hour to compete AA in TFs at her first World Championships and nails each routine? And wasn't even an alternate in the first place, more like the alternate to the alternate? Even after puberty and into the next quad, she's kept her consistency. So you know she'll hit when it counts in high pressure situations. Not even the It Girls and locks for the O-Team can boast such a thing (except for Alicia Sacramone, also a rock, though it took a few years and NCAA for her to reach rock status).
2. Is rather self-sacrificing. She injures her shoulder in the UB rotation in Aarhus and instead of saving herself and      preventing further injury, she continues to compete and rips up her shoulder something fierce, taking her out of commission for a year and a half. So she sees the bigger picture and while probably somewhat masochistic, would probably be willing to make the sacrifice again for the team.
   
3. Tenacious and determined. At an impasse after being picked as an alternate for the 2004 O-Team, despite being a double World Champion the year prior, she decided to continue on and go for 2008. And many gymnasts would have seen the shoulder injury as a career-ending one.
4. Is favored by the international judges. Her scores speak for themselves, despite her form issues. I would love for her gymnastics to be all Ivana Hong-Samantha Shapiro pretty-like (in fact, wasn't she supposed to spend at week training with Shapiro's coach?), but it's not going to happen.

I dunno. I think I'd want her on my team, assuming her SVs are where they need to be. And she's a sentimental favorite. After the hell she's gone through trying to make a spot for herself on the Olympic team, I'd be a little heartbroken to see her left off again.

And Amanda on the Difficulty Plus Execution blog brought up a good point: only in America will we leave not one, but two double World Champions off the O-Team. In other countries, that's like an automatic seat reservation to major competitions. Then again, that was done in favor of a failed gamble on a virtually untested gymnast and a one-event gymnast. *shrugs*

• World/Olympic rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabayeva is reportedly marrying outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Um...yeah.
• NBC aired the Pacific Rim Championships:
• Dasha got a fluff!
• Elfi tried to imitate Dasha's accent. No, Elfi. Just...no.
• Britt Greeley of Australia shows promise, but the house music FX needs to go and the UB set needs some cleaning.
  
• Many of the Canadians were shown, including my favorite junior, Peng Peng Lee (her UB routine was shown and they replayed her gut-busting Bhardwaj several times in slo-mo)
• Samantha Shapiro won over many fans and looked like an overjoyed wriggling puppy. She was so cute!
• Rebecca Bross, the PRC AA champ, was shown only once on UB. Rebecca Clark wasn't shown at all.
• Darlene Hill got plenty of airtime, but was accompanied by the Head Trauma Trio's constant schmaltzy commentary about how her grandmother (and guardian) had passed away the month prior. Condolences to Darlene, fist shaking to Al, Elfi, and Tim. Was it really necessary to mention her mother's drug addiction?
• None of the Japanese gymnasts were shown, much to my chagrin. Not even Erika Lynn Danko and one would figure NBC would love to comment on a half-American half-Japanese gymnast.
• Nastia got a bit too much of a pass by the commentators on her FX. I like her and all, but FX isn't her event and you know if another gymnast performed like Nastia on FX, they'd be downright nasty.
• Not shown in the NBC broadcast, but Myzdrikova of Russia did a rarely-seen combo of triple twist-back tuck.
  
• The 2008 European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France came and went:
• Romania is a drama-llama, what with Stelliana Nistor doing AA in qualifications (there was no AA competition) and Romania winning the team title, Russia taking silver and France the bronze.
• Sandra Izbasa unveiled one of her best FX routines (and I did find out her music!) and won the FX title.
• Anna Pavlova showed the world that she is back with probably one of the most artistic FX routines in this quad (including a double layout!) and showed an Amanar vault (of which she flopped, but she has time to fix it up and make it pretty).
• Isabelle Severino had to say goodbye in one of the worst ways possible: torn Achilles' tendon.
• Beth Tweddle did indeed compete and unveiled an impressive new skill on the uneven bars. And she got braces!
• Vanessa Ferrari came, competed, and left...with nary a medal to her name. Everybody wonders what this could mean for her Beijing AA medal prospects. Her FX music makes me want to stick something sharp in my ears.
  
• Cottbus came and went:
• He Kexin (CHN) got an impressive 16.85 on UB. The UB EFs in Beijing will be the EFs to watch, what with Tweddle, He, Liukin, and Semoynova all gunning for the top spots and one of them will be left off. It'll be exciting and I for one, cannot wait, even if I know fuck all about UB.
• Chusovitina won vault.
• Marta did not send any of the USA girls. Not even any of the bubble girls like Hong or Sloan (who had to miss out on her chance with the Italy meet due to tweaking her knee).
• Izbasa won FX again.
• Daiane Dos Santos competed a very watered down FX and ended up last.
• Sanne Wevers (NED) did a double turn with leg at horizontal on BB flawlessly when most can barely do a single turn without a wobble or fall (see: Li Shanshan 2007 Worlds BB EFs).
• Jade Barbosa only performed a DTY and LO Pod on VT, not her Amanar and Cheng. Took 2nd, though.
• Yang Yilin supposedly broke her foot colliding with another gymnast. There really is not much other information out there about her injury.
• A US Olympic Media Summit was recently held. GettyImages has portraits of the athletes. Ivana Hong looks seriously buff. Since her foot was injured for so long, maybe the Fongs worked heavily on arm conditioning? *crosses fingers and hopes her bars have vastly improved*
• Speaking of Ivana Hong, her mother has told the New York Times about her escape from Vietnam.

I think that's it, word-wise. How about some videos?

What in the @#$%& is Sandra Izbasa's floor music called?

Sorry, I would do a more comprehensive post, but too many days in a row at work + a nasty back injury = me being tired and lazy:

• Darlene Hill kicks a little butt, wins FX, and begins making her case to Marta et. al for Beijing.
• Erica Lynn Danko, a half-Japanese half-American from Japan wins silver on vault, beaten by Rebecca Bross. Bross and Danko were the only junior vault finalists to do DTYs.
• Speaking of Bross, she proves that she's a tough little cookie. After taking a nasty spill on her head on the UB and opting to not to continue, she comes back big time to win on floor and tie for gold on BB.
• Danko's teammate, Shizuka Tozawa, ties for silver on FX.
  
• Samantha Shapiro didn't have as good a night as she did for TF. While she did win gold on UB (kind of helped by Bross' 6.025), she stumbled on the other events. Here's to hoping her consistency is remedied in the next quad.
• Peng Peng Lee landed her Bhardwaj in UB finals and won silver and surprisingly did not qualify to BB finals.
• Nastia Liukin messed up on UB in finals, including falling on her Geinger and takes silver behind teammate Jana Beiger. Liukin does come back to win gold on BB, but doesn't medal on FX. Who really expected her to, anyway?
• Jana Beiger finally starts her comeback trail and takes home gold on UB and bronze on BB. Her feet and toes still haven't figured out the pointed position yet.
• Some generous scoring, especially for Liukin's FX, but who is surprised by that?

Yeah, I think I got it all. I know I promised videos, but the videos aren't the best (and many are completely unlabeled, so I don't know who's performing), plus some of the really good performances ones aren't even up yet.

I'll start on the Euros soon. Finally have a few days off coming up.

Not that I'm upset, just saying it's not a surprise. Results from International Gymnast's Quick Hits and pictures from Gettyimages (obviously).

Team USA cheering on Bross.jpg

Team
1. USA 245.275
2. Canada 233.475
3. China 233.075
4. Australia 232.675
5. Russia 230.250
6. Japan 224.925
7. Mexico 214.325
8. Chinese Taipei 191.400 (poor Taiwan. They were putting up scores on UB that resembled the old code)

Liukin on BB.jpg

Senior All-Around
1. Nastia Liukin USA 62.850
2. Jana Bieger USA 59.925
3. Dasha Joura AUS 59.200
4. Ashleigh Brennan AUS 59.025
5. Qiushuang Huang CHN 58.850
6. Kristina Vaculik CAN 58.425
7. Mengsi Tian CHN 58.025
*. Lauren Mitchell AUS 57.950
*. Xin Zhang CHN 57.025
8. Alyona Zmeu Russia 56.575
9. Ericka Garcia MEX 56.000
10. Chinami Otaki JPN 55.325
11. Marisela Cantu MEX 55.175
12. Nanaho Hidaka JPN 54.475
13. Jessica Gil Ortiz COL 53.550
14. Nathalia Sanchez COL 53.200
15. Hiu Ying Angel Wong HKG 52.625
16. Jia Hui Tay SIN 51.975
17. Heem Wei Lim SIN 51.275
18. Noor Hasleen F. Hasnan MAS 49.275
*. Xi Hui Tay SIN 48.650
19. Nim Yan Choi HKG 46.850
20. Chun Min Chen TPE 46.725

Shapiro on BB.jpg

*couldn't find one of Bross yet, so here's a picture of who I hoped would win*

Junior All-Around
1. Rebecca Bross USA 61.050
2. Samantha Shapiro USA 60.100
3. Viktoria Komova RUS 57.600
4. Charlotte Mackie CAN 57.575
5. Peng-Peng Lee CAN 57.375
6. Wenli Guan CHN 56.925
*. Brittany Rogers CAN 56.875
7. Jie Cui CHN 56.750
*. Rebecca Clark USA 56.725
8. Shizuka Tozawa JPN 56.225
9. Erica Lynn Danko JPN 56.050
10. Britt Greeley AUS 55.700
11. Emily Little AUS 55.675
*. Akiho Sato JPN 54.875
12. Nailiya Mustafina RUS 54.375
*. Violetta Malikova RUS 54.275
13. Karla Salazar MEX 53.200
14. Britt Reusche-Lari PER 50.350
15. Yu Chun Chen TPE 50.050
16. Paula Martinez MEX 49.650
17. Yu Ju Lo TPE 47.350
*. Chen Hsuan Wu TPE 46.975
*. Daniela Espinosa MEX 46.400
18. Wei Zhang CHN 42.825
19. Frances Audrey Munoz PHI 41.300
20. Ka Man Leung Hong Kong CHN 38.475

* Two athletes per country may qualify for all-around rankings

Hill on FX.jpg

Darlene Hill tweaked her shoulder, so she did not compete BB or UB, unfortunately. This doesn't help her already long shot at the O-Team. She did put up good scores on VT and FX, though (14.9 and 15.125, respectively).

Samantha Shapiro (pictured above) did quite well for herself last night. She put up the second-highest score on UB for USA (15.225), had a 15.8 on BB (witnesses say it was a gorgeous routine), and was just solid all night. I've watched some of her previous competitions and she's just impressive. She needs new floor music because Blues for Klook isn't quite working (literally. Her music cut out on her last night. To her major credit, she kept going and the audience clapped along. She was the very last competitor of the night and received the biggest cheers). New favorite junior, y/y?

Peng Peng Lee (CAN) didn't have such a good night. She had gone OOB on almost all of her tumbling passes on FX, had a scary crash on the LB attempting a Bhardwaj(!)(pak salto full), and fell and wobbled on her BB set. I'm going to say points for her for being the first gymnast I've seen this quad attempting the Bhardwaj (or rather heard. There are no videos yet). I do wish her coaches would slow her down. We're all more than aware this kid is capable of incredible difficulty, but she's not eligible for the Olympics until 2012 or a Worlds until next year. I think the best thing to do for her is start teaching her consistency, work on the little stuff in her routines, and refine the skills she already has. Clean her up a little and she'll have a World beam medal in the bag. Let's not burn her out and cause a career-ending injury before then, please. This little American wants to see her on a World stage, kthx.

Rebecca Bross is on her own little winning streak. Looks like she'll be the new "It Girl" come the next quad. Only to be replaced by Wieber in 2011 and start being called "old" and "washed up" and "crippled" if she's been out with injury. I'm going to be really pissed if that's how it'll play out. I don't like predictability like that.

Videos next post.

Coach Rick of Gymnastics Coaching (also linked on the sidebar) gave me a sweet mention in his blog! Thanks! He mentioned something about the RSS feed. There is an option in the sidebar. It's kind of buried in there in between the credit for the blog's design (above the poll) and the blog archive.

Also thanks to difficulty plus execution who I noticed had linked me as well.

I think I'm long overdue for another Beijing Watch post. Since she was given a nice Pacific Rim (formerly Pacific Alliance) assignment, meaning good videos and another opportunity to see what she can do, I'll do a post on Darlene Hill. Her chances to make it on the O-Team are pretty slim, but there are still 130 days. Who knows?