Team USA- Worlds Ready

Podium training for the 2013 World Championships has finally wrapped up and the competition is ready to begin. Team USA has looked the best in training by far and appears to be well prepared for what this week has in store. If these girls compete like they did in podium training, let's just say team USA will go home VERY happy. Here are our thoughts and hopes for team USA at this World Championships.

Brenna Dowell

Photo Credit: John Cheng

It's very unfortunate that Brenna Dowell won't get the chance to compete this time around but I think being in Antwerp with the team and having the chance to practice on the podium was great experience for her. Brenna, who was originally set to compete on bars and beam, was moved to the alternate spot when it was decided that Mckayla Maroney would be doing the all around in qualifications. (Only three gymnasts can compete on each event, so having three all around gymnasts leaves no room for Brenna to compete.) Brenna had two skills submitted to be added to the code of points (straddle back to half turn on bars and a piked double front on floor) but unfortunately will not get them named after her since she won't be competing. On a positive note, Brenna has been much improved this year and has a lot to be proud of.

                         

Kyla Ross

Photo Credit: John Cheng

Kyla is coming into these World Championships as sort of the veteran and seems ready to go. She looked super good in podium training, nailing all four events in typical Kyla fashion. (Check out her yurchenko double stuck cold!) One thing I did notice from podium training was that she looked a little bit sloppier with the legs then usual, so I'm hoping she can clean that up before the competition actually begins. Kyla will be a strong contender in the all around competition and will hopefully find herself on the podium. Kyla can also make the bar final and hopefully medal on beam too. (She has increased her start value by 3 tenths since Nationals.)

                         

Simone Biles

Photo Credit: John Cheng

Competing in your first World Championships is no cake walk but after podium training today Simone has really made a statement...she is ready to win this World Championships. Simone nailed all four routines during podium training and proved she will be tough to beat if she hits. It has been said that her biggest competition will be the 2010 World Champion Aliya Mustafina, but after podium training, it appears Simone is coming into this competition much more prepared and confident. Since winning the National Championships, Simone has increased her difficulty on beam and floor by 3 tenths. She also has two skills submitted to be in the code of points that she hopes will become the "Biles" if she competes them successfully. (Weiler full on bars and double layout with half turn on floor) If all goes well, Simone will be looking to take the all around and floor gold and hopefully medal on vault.




Mckayla Maroney

Photo Credit: John Cheng

After the training sessions leading up to Worlds, Mckayla has apparently done enough to prove her case as an all around gymnast. It was decided by national team coordinator, Martha Karoyli yesterday afternoon that Mckayla would be the third all around gymnast for the USA. Although Mckayla most likely won't advance to the all around finals due to two per country rule (and not quite being on the same level of Biles and Ross in terms of the all around) she has made vast improvements as an all around gymnast. During podium training, Mckayla did a replica of her vault from the team final in London and hit bars and floor. Despite a fall on beam, she looked great there too. Mckayla will be looking to defend her vault title against some tough competition (Biles and Hong Un Jong) and possibly medal on floor too.

                     

Big thanks to USA Gymnastics for providing us with live feeds. 

2013...What does it mean?

How important is the year after an Olympic Games? I get that question a lot. I think 2013 is a good year for new seniors to show their upgrades and get more experience. The senior field is never that strong the year after an Olympic games, but that leaves room for a lot of fresh faces and newly turned seniors to get some spotlight. The competition gets tougher with every passing year due to returning Olympians/injured athletes, as well as all the upgrades everyone makes as the Olympic year nears. In terms of having a shot for the 2016 Olympic team, 2013 and 2014 aren't that important. Many athletes don't peak until at least the year before (or hopefully the year of) the Olympic Games. The girls dominating the field now might not even be around in 2016! A lot can happen in 4 years.

Photo Credit: Unknown

In 2009, if you were asked to pick the Olympic team for 2012, who would you have put on the team?  Bridget Sloan, Ivana Hong, Jordyn Wieber, Rebecca Bross, Sabrina Vega, Kytra Hunter & the Caquatto sisters would have been the likely candidates. Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross were really the only ones out of the Fierce 5 who many predicted to be on the team all along. One thing that many people do wrong when they try and predict the Olympic team 4 years in advance, is pick their team based on who is currently the "best." In 2009, all of the Fierce 5 were juniors, which means none of the returning Olympians ended up making the team. Kyla Ross won the all around title, Aly Raisman was 3rd, and Mckayla Maroney 27th. Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber did not compete due to injury. (Jordyn won the all around title the previous year while Gabby placed 16th.) Many people (myself included) thought Rebecca Bross was a near lock for London all the way until late 2011. She was at her prime as a junior, and even had a great start to her senior career in 2009 & 2010. In 2011, she injured herself at Nationals and never really recovered as well as we all would have liked. Sometimes all it takes is one injury (and some really bad timing!) Had the Olympic year been 2009 or 2010, she would have made it and been an AA medal threat.



So really, 2013 doesn't mean very much as far as 2016 is concerned, but it does prove that you can go from a "nobody" to an Olympian in just 4 short years (hello Gabby Douglas!) Anything can happen because the people we expect to make it this early on, might not make it 4 more years. 2013 is a year to take it easy, and work on getting more confidence. Anyone who is throwing all of their big tricks now (in competition) is doing it all wrong in my opinion. Leave that for 2015 when it actually starts to matter. I don't think this year tells us anything about 2016.

*If you are playing our 2016 Olympic team prediction contest, the last day to change your team (remember you can only change 2 people) is September 23rd. Please contact us to change your people if you wish. If you want to leave them the same, tell us. Anyone who doesn't contact us by September 23rd will be deleted from the spread sheet.

http://www.tripletwistgymnastics.com/p/4-year-olympic-team-prediction.html

2013 Junior Japan International- Preview

The Junior Japan International is an international competition for junior elite gymnasts that is held every 2 years. This competition often showcases the future talent of some of the top countries.

Where:Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yohokama, Japan

When: September 22-23

Competition Format: 
All around finals and event qualifications (September 22)
Event finals (September 23)

Who's competing?
Meet the rising talent from some of the top "gymnastics countries" and check out some of their career highlights. 

Aleeza Yu- Canada 

Grace Chiu

2012 Junior Pan Ams: 1st team, 3rd AA, & 2nd bars.
2013 Elite Canada: 3rd AA and vault, 1st bars.
2013 Nadia International: 1st team and bars, 2nd AA, 3rd vault.

Liu Tingting- China

2013 Chinese Nationals: 6th AA, 8th beam, 4th floor

Wang Yan- China

2013 Chinese Nationals: 10th AA, 4th beam

Georgia-Mae Fenton- Great Britain

2013 English Championships (Espoir): 1st AA

2013 British Championships (Espoir): 1st AA and bars

Catherine Lyons- Great Britain

British Gymnastics

2012 British Championships (Espoir): 1st AA, 2nd beam

2012 UK School Games: 1st team and beam
2013 AYOF: 2nd team, 4th beam and floor

2013 British Championships (Espoir): 2nd AA, 1st floor, 3rd bars

Kim Janas- Germany

Thomas Schreyer

2012 FRA-ITA-SUI-GER Friendly: 1st AA, 2nd team 

2012 Dityatin Cup: 2nd AA, 1st floor, 2nd vault

2013 EYOF: 2nd AA (due to tie breaking procedures), 4th vault, 2nd floor, 

Pauline Tratz- Germany

2013 GER-ROU-USA Friendly: 8th AA, 2nd team

Sau Chung Kwan- Hong Kong
(No information found)

Tsz Sum Chan- Hong Kong
(No information found)

Wakana Yasui- Japan

2013 Jesolo Trophy: 2nd team, 14th AA, 4th floor

Minami Honda- Japan
(No information found)

Andreea Muntanu- Romania

Thomas Shreyer

2012 Europeans: 3rd team, 3rd AA, 2nd beam, 3rd floor

2013 Gymnix: 3rd vault, 1st beam, 1st floor

2013 GER-ROU-USA Friendly: 3rd team, 2nd AA

2013 FRA-ROU Friendly: 1st team, AA, vault, beam, and floor

2013 Romanian Nationals: 1st team, 2nd AA and beam, 3rd floor

Andreea Iridon- Romania

2013 GER-ROU-USA Friendly: 3rd team, 10th AA

2013 FRA-ROU Friendly: 1st team and bars, 3rd AA, 2nd beam and floor 

2013 EYOF: 3rd team and beam

2013 Romanian Nationals: 1st team, 3rd AA and bars

Maria Kharenkova- Russia

2012 Pacific Rim: 3rd beam and floor

2012 Europeans: 1st team, vault, beam, and floor. 3rd vault

2012 Massilia: 2nd vault, 1st floor

2013 EYOF: 1st team, AA, and floor

Maria Bondareva- Russia

Y. Mikhailova

2012 Gymnix: 3rd AA

2012 Jesolo: 3rd team, 8th AA

2013 Gymnix: 1st team and AA, 2nd beam, 4th floor

2013 EYOF: 1st team and beam

Bailie Key- USA

2012 Jesolo: 1st team, 3rd AA, 2nd vault

2013: Jesolo: 1st AA, vault, beam and floor. 3rd bars

2013 GER-ROU-USA Friendly: 1st team and AA

2013 National Championships: 1st AA, beam, and floor

Lauren Hernandez- USA

Gymnastike

2012 American Classic: 2nd beam
2012 Secret Classic: 7th beam, 6th floor
2013 American Classic: 2nd AA, 3rd vault and beam, 1st floor
2013 Secret Classic: 1st floor
2013 National Championships: 2nd AA, bars, and floor. 3rd beam

Previous Winners: 

2011- Lexie Priessman, Amelia Hundley, Sung Ji Hye
2009- Viktoria Komova, Natsumi Sasada, Briley Casanova
2007- Rebecca Bross, Aliya Mustafina, Emma Dennis


*There will not be a live steam for this event but individual routines will most likely be up on YouTube shortly after the event