The Case For Chellsie Memmel

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*