The rostrum at this 12 months’s Swiss Cup
It’s time for the 345th version of You Requested, The Gymternet Answered!
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What do you concentrate on the introduction of a combined staff competitors on the European Championships subsequent 12 months and in addition for the Olympic Video games in 2028?
I personally love the combined staff competitions as a option to convey slightly one thing enjoyable and out-of-pocket to an in any other case severe competitors. The athletes clearly take it critically and wish to medal so I don’t wish to say that it’s not a severe competitors, BUT I do assume it’s a bit extra enjoyable for the viewers to have a number of elimination rounds and it’s additionally good that with a smaller discipline and fewer occasions, it doesn’t final as lengthy and retains the eye of the individuals watching, whereas with one athlete going at a time it provides them extra of an opportunity to focus versus the three-ring circus that’s usually a staff or all-around closing.
So inherently for these causes, I’m at all times very excited to look at a combined staff competitors! However on the identical time, I don’t know if it will likely be the appropriate match for main worldwide meets like Euros and the Olympics? I believe the precedence will nonetheless be the normal staff and particular person finals, and because the combined staff occasions would require athletes to qualify by identify, I concern many high athletes could not wish to add one other day to an already robust schedule, particularly because it’s simple to know the place you stand in a lot of the conventional occasions when it comes to being a medal risk, whereas a combined staff occasion is sort of up-in-the-air. A combined staff closing practically at all times favors the staff with a famous person MAG specialist, so usually you see a staff take gold after the MAG athlete will get a 15+ on parallel bars whereas the WAG athlete will get a 12 on beam or flooring. Sometimes the stability is healthier, and if somebody like Simone Biles on vault or Kaylia Nemour on bars have been a part of a combined staff it might make issues extra even, however I believe total it’s too skewed towards MAG specialists to make it a good competitors the place each athletes are contributing on the highest stage.
My compromise could be to vary the scoring to one thing just like the Bundesliga factors system so the scoring variations between MAG and WAG (and even simply between the completely different occasions inside MAG and WAG, as one of the best parallel bars specialists usually rating practically a degree larger than one of the best rings specialists!) aren’t as defining, however even then I believe a combined staff occasion at main worldwide competitions could be extra suited to gala evenings than slated as medal occasions. On the finish of the day, MAG and WAG are completely different sports activities with wildly completely different guidelines and codes, so whereas combining them for one-off meets just like the Swiss Cup or making them a part of, however separate from, meets just like the DTB Pokal competitors is a lot enjoyable, I don’t agree with including them to Euros or the Olympics, not less than with no full overhaul of the qualification and scoring methods.
What do you concentrate on McKayla Maroney? Was she actually the queen of vault?
I believe Maroney was extra just like the queen of the Amanar, or extra usually, the queen of Yurchenko-entry vaults. She was clearly wonderful as a vaulter, however I believe the truth that her Yurchenko half-on was by no means actually good and that we by no means noticed her critically try another entries with excessive problem flight makes me hesitant to think about her the queen of vault generally. To be honest, it’s uncommon that we see somebody who’s so versatile on this equipment that they’re doing each model of entry or flight, and maybe if she’d tried different households she would’ve been simply as implausible as she was with a Yurchenko, however the completely different households of vaults require completely different strengths and I believe there are different extra well-rounded WAG vaulters I’d think about as vault queens over Maroney, although this shouldn’t diminish what she was able to and all the pieces she did throughout her time within the sport!
How widespread is it for a gymnast to drag a Laurie Hernandez and win an Olympic gold medal with out ever having gone to world championships earlier than or after?
It’s so not widespread in any respect! The one different athletes I can consider who received Olympic gold medals with out ever having attended a world championships over the previous 40 years are Guan Chenchen and Daniela Sofronie, who was an alternate for worlds in 2003 however by no means competed as a part of a staff. We additionally haven’t seen 2020 and 2024 staff gold medalists Viktoria Listunova or Hezly Rivera at any world championships – except for junior worlds, which I wouldn’t rely on this sense – however I believe there’s nonetheless time for each of them to make it occur, particularly with Russia now planning on making use of for impartial standing for some athletes.
Previous to worlds being held yearly it was extra widespread to see athletes win medals on the Olympics however by no means make it to worlds, so up till the 80s there are fairly just a few extra names, with essentially the most notable most likely being Mary Lou Retton, Simona Pauca, Margit Korondi, Andrea Bodo, and a few billion Soviet athletes throughout a number of a long time, in addition to each member of the Dutch staff in 1928 and the German staff in 1936, and doubtless most members of the gold-medal successful Czech staff in 1948, since world championships didn’t exist in ladies’s gymnastics till 1950.
Do you assume there’s any advantage that the FIG put a rule in place requiring every gymnastics staff to make use of all of its members in a staff closing? It was disappointing to see the U.S. determine to drop Hezly Rivera for the ultimate this 12 months.
I believe the FIG will get annoyed when groups don’t use every member, which is a part of the reasoning for why they restricted groups to 4 athletes on the Olympics in 2020 – they have been like, we’re supplying you with spots for 5 athletes, however you’re simply bringing somebody for no cause and solely utilizing 4?! I wouldn’t be shocked in the event that they made it a rule that every one athletes on a staff should compete in a staff closing barring damage, BUT I personally wouldn’t agree with it.
A part of main a staff is to strategize, and even if you happen to go in with one of the best intentions to make use of all 5 athletes, if {qualifications} present that one athlete wouldn’t be an excellent slot in a three-up three-count state of affairs, I believe it’s the coach’s proper to determine to depart that athlete off the ultimate roster. It sucks and is disappointing when athletes are unnoticed – Rivera is much from the primary to have this occur! – particularly when a staff is up to now forward. It doubtless wouldn’t have made ANY DIFFERENCE to the tip outcome had the U.S. used Rivera rather than Jordan Chiles on bars, even when she fell! A part of me is like, she’s 16 years outdated, she sort of shockingly made the Olympics after probably not being anticipated to get right here, give her an opportunity! However the different a part of me feels that spots on groups should be earned, and whereas she earned her spot on the Olympic staff, she didn’t essentially earn a spot within the staff closing. It might have been good, and as a softy, I most likely would’ve thrown her a bone if I have been main the staff. However I additionally perceive and respect why the U.S. wished the very best staff regardless of how far forward they have been anticipated to finish up, particularly after lacking gold in Tokyo.
Is there an up to date record for WAG accidents and retirements after the Olympics?
I don’t actually preserve damage lists as a result of statuses change so usually when it comes to the place athletes are of their restoration, however when it comes to retirements, I believe essentially the most notable have been Olympians Maellyse Brassart of Belgium, Filipa Martins of Portugal, and Becky Downie of Nice Britain, although I don’t know if Downie ever introduced and assume hers was extra implied? Hmm. Within the U.S. we’ve seen many athletes – together with Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey – return to NCAA applications, however whether or not they’ve retired from elite or will proceed on whereas competing in faculty continues to be not official. I consider I additionally heard Marine Boyer of France is retiring? On the MAG aspect, the most important losses to retirement are most likely Max Whitlock of Nice Britain, Igor Radivilov of Ukraine, and Lukas Dauser of Germany.
When a gymnast does a toe-on talent on bars, do her ft should be collectively? I simply realized that Nastia Liukin’s legs have been extra straddled for her toe-on abilities. Would a straddled toe-on be a deduction within the code at this time?
No, ft or legs don’t should be collectively for a toe-on! Each the straddle and pike positions are allowed for toe-on components, and Liukin’s straddled toe-ons wouldn’t be a deduction in at this time’s code.
Why was Kaylia Nemour given such low E scores on beam and flooring in Paris? To the bare eye, what parts have been the primary sources of her deductions? I assumed she could be on the high of the sphere on each based mostly on different latest worldwide outcomes and was shocked at her scores in Paris. Will she look to fine-tune her present routines, or is her routine development holding her again?
Her beam connections particularly have been a bit sluggish and I believe worse than her execution, the judges completely destroyed her anticipated begin worth. The abilities she carried out ought to’ve had her at a 6.4 D, however as an alternative within the all-around closing she ended up at a 5.6, and I believe that’s as a result of they didn’t credit score her change leap to change half, after which additionally doubtless the entrance aerial to separate bounce. The connection worth for the previous is just a tenth, BUT if she missed that sequence, she additionally misplaced 5 tenths for the leap connection requirement as a result of she didn’t make up for the misplaced connections elsewhere in her routine.
Possibly she didn’t understand she wouldn’t get the leaps credited, or simply wasn’t considering on her ft? Typically when gymnasts understand they’re sluggish, they’ll add in a easy break up bounce to sissone or one thing elsewhere within the routine to make sure they get the requirement in, so I assume Nemour simply didn’t anticipate that one thing like this could occur. Slower and tentative components additionally normally have an effect on the athlete’s E rating, and I don’t assume her change half actually seemed as tidy or precise because it did in different competitions the place she scored larger.
I really feel like her flooring was fantastic and once more she didn’t have any obtrusive issues that will’ve taken her E rating down dramatically, however within the all-around she had touchdown deductions on each tumbling run, together with a extremely quick end on the triple that will’ve resulted in a chest-down deduction in addition to a number of tenths for the steps, after which she additionally got here up quick on the double tuck on the finish, taking a three-tenth step ahead. These two passes alone have been most likely chargeable for practically half of her E rating deductions, so whereas it wasn’t BAD, it’s only a bunch of issues including up.
How do gymnasts qualify for world championships in 2025?
There isn’t a qualification for particular person world championships! Whereas groups and people must qualify by means of continental championships and world cups in 2026 and 2027, the primary worlds of the quad will as soon as once more permit any nationwide federation in good standing to attend.
After years of trending in direction of packing in as many flooring passes as allowed, I really feel like we’re seeing much more three-pass routines this quad. Are you aware if there’s a particular cause why that pattern appears to have abruptly reversed?
Most athletes attempt to be environment friendly with all of their routines, however particularly on flooring, the place endurance can actually have an effect on the way you carry out. As a result of the code values connections throughout the identical cross, particularly with the present requirement to have a real ahead factor as an alternative of with the ability to get away with a random aerial as in earlier codes, a gymnast would relatively pack a number of components right into a single run and get all the pieces out of the way in which in three as an alternative of 4. Many of those gymnasts are usually robust at dance as properly, and with solely three passes taking on time of their routines, they will have extra time to do extra sophisticated dance components. In fact, we nonetheless have the Simone Biles of the world doing 4 troublesome passes, however for gymnasts who don’t have her energy or endurance ranges, going for 3 is a way more sustainable possibility.
Why would the FIG charge the Yurchenko double pike with a comparatively excessive begin worth however solely add a measly tenth for her double double beam dismount? Donatella Sacchi’s rationale for undervaluing the beam dismount was associated to issues of safety, however the Yurchenko double pike appears much more harmful.
I don’t assume they have been capable of realistically negotiate something decrease for the Yurchenko double pike than what they ended up giving it. On vault, the Yurchenko double pike provides a complete different flip, which is kind of completely different from merely including a full twist. In fact, a double double off course is ridiculously onerous and based mostly on the development of components under it, ought to’ve been valued larger. There’s no argument there. However with an athlete including a whole additional flip, the technical committee can’t get away with arguing it ought to solely be a few tenths larger than different troublesome Yurchenkos, all of which solely have single flips. Despite the fact that it’s clearly harmful – rather more so than a double double beam dismount – additionally they needed to think about simply how troublesome this was compared to another vault mainly ever finished and charge it with that in thoughts. Truthfully they most likely might have gone even larger and certain have been being a bit conservative!
Why did gymnasts trouble starting to compete Yurchenko double fulls if each that and a 1½ have been each out of a ten? Looks as if an pointless threat to me.
Since a Yurchenko 1½ has a blind touchdown, it might truly be simpler for some athletes to land a vault with extra twists the place they’re capable of spot the touchdown than it’s for them to constantly have good landings on a 1½, the place they’re unable to identify. The double clearly takes extra energy and talent, BUT if a gymnast has each and struggles with touchdown the blind vault with out taking steps, it is smart that they’d go for the vault that’s in the end cleaner and simpler for them.
Had Aly Raisman not retired, would she have needed to improve her flooring to proceed to face on the rostrum given the variety of H-level components we’ve seen?
I believe she would’ve needed to improve, particularly compared to different People who got here after her, however I nonetheless assume she would’ve been fairly solidly within the combine with the present group? Possibly the double pike to complete would’ve been ‘too simple’ compared (although I’m positive she might’ve been ready so as to add a entrance full or one thing into it!), however I additionally assume she was usually so strong along with her routine, even when her problem was barely behind, it wouldn’t be by a lot and she or he doubtless might have outscored lots of the present gymnasts with H abilities due to her skill and management.
Are you able to clarify to somebody who has by no means finished gymnastics what it means when individuals say {that a} gymnast swings bars properly?
I at all times consider an excellent bars swinger as somebody who makes her bars look ‘pure’ within the sense that she’s not displaying all the great effort that goes into swinging. I believe it turns into simpler to identify the extra you watch, however I can usually inform when somebody seems to be labored of their swing, like you possibly can see them doing the work and you’ll inform that it’s onerous. However there are some gymnasts – like Viktoria Komova as a first-rate instance for me – who swing bars prefer it’s nothing. Mainly, they’re doing a LOT of labor to make it appear to be they’re merely breezing by fully unbothered. This normally encompasses a mixture of faucet method, velocity, flexibility, momentum, and management, which somebody who has by no means finished gymnastics could not have the ability to perceive on the bodily stage, however I believe the extra you watch, even if you happen to can’t see every of this stuff individually, you can begin to acknowledge when somebody has each factor of what it means to be an excellent bars swinger!
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Article by Lauren Hopkins
