2015 Secret Classic and P&Gs Preview (Seniors)

I was lucky enough to get to see the Secret Classic live in Hoffman Estates on July 25th. I sprung for platinum seats this year which were not only amazing, but also allowed me the chance to meet two incredible gymnasts that never in a million years did I think I'd ever meet -- Alicia Sacramone and SHAWN JOHNSON! Shawn is my 3rd favorite gymnast of all-time (behind Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert) and meeting her was just unreal!! I can still hardly believe it happened when I think back on it! I also went down early Friday for the HOPES meet and was lucky enough to meet almost the entire group of seniors that were competing (minus Gabby Douglas) as well as many of the juniors, coaches, and former gymnasts and Olympians! I also got to meet one of my friends from the gymternet that I'd been talking to via Twitter and her and her daughter were wonderful!! We had the best time. I put my pictures together in two collages below. 

It was seriously the most incredible weekend ever! I couldn't have ever asked for a better experience!

So, lets get to the meet!! I was super excited to be able to attend this one, mainly because it was Aly and Gabby's first US meets back. Also, Classics is always interesting because other than American Cup and international meets we haven't seen full routines from the gymnasts or any upgrades that they might be working on. There's always speculation through rare training videos and Instagram posts and such, but we never really know for sure what they will throw until this meet begins. 

Other than Aly and Gabby, of course I was excited for Simone and to see what other amazingly ridiculous skills that she could come up with for her routines! I was also anxious to see how Kyla would do and if there were any upgrades added in to her bars and beam routines. Other than those obvious headliners, I was very happy to hear that my personal favorite gymnast of the quad, Madison Kocian of WOGA, would be competing. Along with her, all the other members of the 2014 World Championships team were also there (minus Madison Desch, who qualified from the Pan Am Games). I was also very excited to see how Bailie Key would do in her first senior Classics competition and of course, another of my favorites is Maggie Nichols who went down with an injury last year before after Pan Am Champs. Lastly, I was psyched to see Brenna and Sabrina back in the line-up! So mainly I was excited about almost everyone! Here is how it all played out…

All Around

1. Simone Biles 62.400

2. Gabrielle Douglas 60.500

3. Maggie Nichols 60.000

4. Bailie Key 59.450

5. Alexandra Raisman 59.050

Again, Simone wins All-Around by over 2 whole points. She is utterly unstoppable right now. Simone started off on beam in Rotation 1. Her beam was solid, minus a couple missed connections and a lapse after a front arial. Her full in dismount was off the charts as usual. Seeing Simone's floor exercise in person was amazing. Her opening pass is now a full twisting DLO, which was just through the roof. Oh and you know, not to mention her other three -- DLO half out, double double, and full in. Like are you SERIOUS?! Love the new music as well. Vault was close to perfect as usual, I cannot wait for hopefully an upgrade shown at P&Gs! I'd love for her to win the World Vault title this year. And to finish, her bars were clean and solid. 

Wow, Gabby Douglas is BACK. She was the biggest surprise to me of the entire meet. Did I ever expect her to finish second in the All-Around? NO WAY. Maybe fourth or even third, but I never expected this. Okay, started off on bars - while it was a great and solid routine, I feel it may have been overscored just a tad. There were little form breaks here and there but overall it was great. Her presence and calmness on beam may have been what impressed me the most. She hit her acrobatic series cold, which is the part of her routine she always seemed to struggle with back in 2012. She also nailed her standing back with a full. Very, very impressive! I really enjoy her new floor exercise routine as well. The music suits her perfectly and she already has a considerable level of difficulty back in her routines with her passes - double Arabian, full-in, double pike, and double tuck. She hit a beautiful DTY to close out her night.

I wanted Maggie to medal so badly. She is one of my new favorites this quad, and I was so sad when she was injured last year and not able to get a spot on the Worlds team. Maggie was leading after the first rotation because of her Amanar. Huge power, good form, and just a small step to the side. I absolutely love her bar routine and the way she just ATTACKS it, yet still looks elegant and graceful at the same time. Perfect combination. On beam she had a couple little wobbles, but was still overall very strong and stayed on the apparatus. Her last rotation on floor exercise was also consistent and it was very fun to watch and see her get into the routine so much.

I actually expected Bailie to medal in the All-Around, but she wasn't far behind in fourth place. This is still one of her first competitions as a senior and she did a wonderful job! She started out on the beam  with a great acrobatic series but had a missed connection and a couple balance checks which I think affected her score. She is beautiful to watch on beam, however. I absolutely love her floor exercise music, it is so unique! She added a DLO in this season, and it is awesome!! On vault she did a great DTY but she had a significant step back. Her bars routine was definitely her personal best of the day and she received the third highest bars score of the meet. We know that anyone who can impress on bars can definitely catch Martha's eye!

Aly Raisman also proved her comeback is legit by placing fifth All-Around even with a major error on floor exercise. She started off on Vault. I think its crazy amazing that she already has her Amanar back, however definitely lots of form breaks (bent knees) in the air and she incurred a mandatory deduction on the landing for an out of bounds and also a couple for the step. Her bars to me look better than they did in 2012. She definitely is not messing around there. Of course there was the usual form issues, however I think that she can work to make this much better by next year. Aly's beam was really good except she had two significant checks - one on a leap and one on an acrobatic skill, however she hit almost all of her connections and stuck her Patterson dismount! Love, love, LOVE her new floor routine. The piked Arabian to punch front will be AMAZING when she hits it, which I'm sure she will at P&Gs. Very proud of Aly and this comeback, I know she's been giving it her all.

Other gymnasts who didn't factor into the top five but who I will be watching …

Alyssa Baumann was a member of the 2014 World Champion gold medal winning team last year in 2014. She finished 6th in the all around after suffering a very uncharacteristic fall off of her best event (beam). It seemed like other than her first pass (DLO), the rest of her landings were a little clunky on floor exercise. She also had a bad landing on her DTY in the next rotation. Her bars were clean and okay, but it just seemed like she had a bad day overall. 

MyKayla Skinner was also on the Worlds team from last year winning gold with the team and a bronze on vault. MyKayla is coming back from an ankle injury and this was most definitely not her best meet. She fell off of the beam in the first rotation and on what is normally one of her best events, floor exercise, she had bad landings throughout and a major problem on the last pass and put her hands down. I am not a fan of her new music at all. For vault she did her Cheng and a DTY, and actually had a quite solid performance on her weakest event (bars) to close out the night. Hopefully the ankle will continue to heal and not be a problem at P&Gs.

Madison Kocian is my favorite gymnast of this quad. She only did beam and bars at the Classic. Her beam routine could definitely have been better. She nailed all the big parts of it, however, those leaps and jumps were where she had a few wobbles. She will for sure want to be better on this event next week. I am so so proud of Maddie being the 2015 Secret Classic Uneven Bars Champion!!! Her bars set was gorgeous!! I also heard rumor that Maddie may be doing the All Around in August at P&Gs, which would be super amazing!! I know it will be an uphill battle for her but I hope she makes Worlds again this year.

Ashton Locklear is also coming back from surgery and I don't even think she was scored at Classics. She only did beam and bars, however, looked pretty good for coming back from injury. I am wondering if she will be fully back and able to compete at the P&Gs next week.

Of course, Kyla Ross is always someone to watch. Kyla had a pretty disappointing meet, however. On her best event, the bars, she missed her hands on her new upgrade called the Bhardwaj. She then came off again on a fairly simple element. We were speculating that maybe she had a grip problem or something of that sort. Either way that is a shame. Her beam routine was average, however, no upgrades and wobbles here and there didn't allow it to contend for top scores at this meet. Kyla is supposed to be doing All-Around at P&Gs, I hope that she can go out there and really make a run for the podium.

Brenna Dowell had a scary dismount off beam where her foot missed the beam and she almost fell directly on her neck. Its incredible that she was okay and came back out to watch the rest of the meet. However, she also had a fall off of the bars, so she really needs to improve before Championships next week. I hope she can do it, I'm always rooting to see her succeed.

Also a shout out …

To Sabrina Vega, who competed at her first meet in three years. She was unable to qualify to P&Gs with a low beam and floor score. Sabby, we love you and hope to see you back in 2016!! Don't ever ever give up girl! So happy I got to see you compete live and also meet you! You're wonderful. 

This takes us onto the P&G National Championships next Thursday and Saturday nights. This will be a huge chance for the gymnasts to prove that they are worthy of being considered for a spot on the World Championship team that will go to Glasgow to compete in October. There is so much talent and depth on this team I just don't even know how to go about choosing. 

I think that there is one lock right now, obviously Simone Biles, however, the other four spots are completely up for grabs. They have so many strong all-arounders (Gabby, Aly, Bailie, Maggie, Alyssa and more) that I don't even know what will happen to the specialists. And lets not forget that the senior gymnasts who were on the Pan American Games team (Amelia Hundley, Madison Desch, Rachel Gowey, Emily Schild, and Megan Skaggs) will factor in as well.

Also, my favorite leos from Classics were:

1. WOGA (umm AND their warm ups too)

2. Texas Dreams

3. Aly Raisman

4. Maggie Nichols

5. Kyla Ross/Simone Biles (because they were almost identical).

I'm so excited for the Road to Rio to start at the P&G Championships! 

Worlds Wishes

1. Simone to repeat as All Around and FX champion.

This will happen unless something catastrophic occurs in Simone's mental game. She is just honestly that much better than the competition and the routines that are being competed right now. 

2. Aliya to make the All Around medal podium.

This is definitely doable and to be honest I would be extremely happy with a complete repeat of this podium, or with Aliya and Kyla switched. I'd also be happy with Simone and then Aliya and Lari in either order! I just want Aliya to make the podium!

3. Madison to make EF on Beam or Bars and have solid contributions to Team Final.

 If she and Ashton hit their bars sets, they will make finals over Kyla. Her score if she hits full difficulty could definitely get her there both on bars and beam, but she will need a little help and will need to nail both routines in QF. I hope that whatever she competes on in TF (bars for sure and maybe beam) that she hits and helps the team! She's my favorite and I want so much success for her!

4. USA to repeat as Team gold medalists.

Again, this should not be hard to do. TF is the only event I won't fully see live and I'm okay with that because I know that barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should win.

5. Lari to win gold on Beam.

OMG I DIED FOR HER LAST YEAR. I want her to have beam gold, she deserves it!

6. Simone and MyKayla to go 1-2 in the Vault EF.

This could definitely happen, Simone will win gold for sure (assuming she hits) and MyKayla could definitely win silver if she vaults like she has been recently in PT and at Pan Ams.

7. Kyla to medal in the Beam EF.

I really hope that Kyla medals in the Beam final because I really don't think she will in Bars this year. Her beam routine is still one of the most beautiful and well executed of any in the world.

8. Aliya to make Bars, Beam, and Floor final and medal in all 3 (haha).

AHAH ... I can dream, can't I? I think that she should definitely make bars of course, and hopefully medal. Beam will be tricky, she will probably need some help. And I don't know about Floor, with what I saw from PT it looks like she only has three tumbling passes with some difficult turns thrown in that she wasn't executing perfectly. But we all know we never know what Aliya has up her sleeve until she actually goes out and does the routine.

Can't wait for the excitement to begin!

2014 World Championships Preview: Team USA

I have been slacking so much with this blog. I meant to post after Classics, then after Nationals, then after Pan Am Champs ... and nothing. I'm really going to try and be better about it! So I am SUPER EXCITED for Team USA competing in Nanning, China for the next two weeks at the World Championships!! I am most excited because I was right about everyone who made the team (with the exception of Maggie for Alyssa because she got injured), and my favorite gymnast Madison Kocian made the team!! I am also excited to see this team DOMINATE everyone else!

Meet Team USA

Simone Biles - World Champions

Simone's resume is quickly beginning to grow. She is last year's World AA Champion and also brought home a gold on Floor, a silver on Vault, and a bronze on Beam. Her most recent accomplishment was being crowned back-to-back National Champion at the P&Gs in August. If Simone hits, she will win the AA by a significant margin. I also expect her to win Vault and FX gold in the individual EFs. 

Kyla Ross - Gym Max

Kyla Ross is still as elegant and beautiful as ever on the gym floor, however, she has some injuries going on and definitely hasn't been at the top of her game. She has not upgraded on any event going in (unless she pulls her whip to double arabian on floor) so it should be interesting to see where she places in QFs. I think even though the US has 4 All Arounders she still should make the AA final, but stranger things have happened -- she will have to be totally on her game. With Kocian and Locklear in the Bars line up, there is a real chance of Kyla not making the bars final if both of the other two girls hit. I still think she will make the beam final, and has a good shot at a medal there.

MyKayla Skinner - Desert Lights

MyKayla has had a really good season, fresh off her AA and Vault title at the Pan Am Championships about a month ago. I'm really happy for her that she is starting to become more consistent with her big skills and get noticed more. If Kyla falters or falls on any event, MyKayla could definitely sneak into the AA. Actually, even if Kyla hits but MyKayla hits everything and gets decent E scores she could still make the All Around. I also expect/hope to see her in the Vault and Floor final, hoping her and Simone will go 1-2 in both of those finals.

Madison Kocian - WOGA

I have been waiting for this gymnast's return since she injured her ankle at Nationals last year and had to withdraw. I am so proud of her for everything she has gone through and I am so happy for her that she made the team. She took silver on bars at Classics and Nationals, and has a real shot to make the event finals on bars. She also has a gorgeous beam routine. She will be doing all around for QFs and I couldn't be more excited about that.

Alyssa Baumann - WOGA

I'm so happy that Alyssa was able to come back from her injury at Nationals to compete on the World team. She is a brilliant All Around gymnast, however, she will be off of the bars due to I'm assuming the injury to her elbow. She will compete all the other 3 events in qualifying. I especially love her Floor.

Ashton Locklear - Everest

Ashton is primarily a bars specialist. She did also warm up beam during PT today, however, she fell, and I think that she will just be used on bars. With that being said, she is awesome on the bars and has the potential to make the bars final and also win a medal. She was UB champion at Classics, Nationals, and Pan Am Champs. 

Maddie Desch (Alternate)

Maddie had a shaky competition at the Pan Am Champs last month, however, she was named the alternate to the World's team. She did warm up every event today, I'm sure just in case so that she'd be ready to go. I have to say if worse came to worse and someone got injured I think that she could fill in anywhere. 

Team USA's Line Up for Prelims (I think per PT today):

Vault: Kocian, Baumann, Ross, Skinner, Biles

Bars: Skinner, Biles, Ross, Kocian, Locklear

Beam: Skinner, Kocian, Baumann, Biles, Ross

Floor: Kocian, Baumann, Ross, Skinner, Biles

My guess for Team Final lineup:

Vault: Ross, Skinner, Biles

Bars: Ross, Kocian, Locklear

Beam: Kocian/Baumann, Biles, Ross

Floor: Ross, Skinner, Biles

Happy Worlds Week everyone!!

Secret Classic Preview

The Secret Classic is quickly approaching! I will be attending both the junior and senior sessions live this year and I'm super excited about it! Below are some of the gymnasts that I'm most excited to see!

Seniors

Kyla Ross & Simone Biles

I'm very happy that both Kyla and Simone will be All Around contenders again this year. I am really hoping that Kyla has added a few upgrades to her routines to compete with Simone's difficulty. I know that she is all about execution, but I wouldn't mind seeing her win an All Around this season!

Madison Kocian

I can't wait to see Madison back in action this season! I loved her routines at the Nationals last season and I was so disappointed when she injured her ankle and had to withdraw. I am super excited to see her bars set, and I'm hoping that she can challenge for a spot on the World's team!!!

Lexie Priessman

Another gymnast who had to withdraw during Nationals last year ... I can't wait to see what she has been working on in the past year! Most especially to see her FX! Excited that she is back.

Amelia Hundley

This will be Amelia's first year as a senior and I'm really looking forward to seeing her compete against the seniors. It will be sad that her and Lexie are competing for different clubs now, but I hope she does amazing in her first Secret Classic as a senior.

Juniors

Bailie Key & Norah Flatley

I absolutely love this picture that someone made and I think it is so true. We still have a wait until they can compete as seniors, but these two are among the nine junior gymnasts that will be competing with the seniors at the Classic. This is due to the fact that there are so many more junior gymnasts than seniors and the nine that are competing during the senior competition are the nine that will be age eligible for Rio in 2016, which makes it even more interesting. These are my two favorite junior gymnasts and I can't wait to see how they will do and what they've been working on.

I will definitely be missing the injured Laurie Hernandez :( 

Who are you most excited to see compete at Classics?

2013 World Gymnastics Championships -- Floor Event Final

Gold - Simone Biles USA

Silver - Vanessa Ferrari ITA

Bronze - Larisa Iordache ROU

This floor final was absolutely STACKED with incredible talent, I couldn't even predict a podium for this one, although I thought Simone would win the gold.

First up was Vanessa Ferrari. Great routine, love her full in connected to the back tuck. I was worried for her a bit because on two of her landings she had hops but stuck her double pike at the end and all in all it was a great exercise. 14.633.

Mai Murakami. Beautiful stuck double layout, perfect full in with a hop on landing. Nice triple twist, fun routine, she is so cute!! Awesome quadruple spin! 14.466.

Next Simone Biles, amazing as usual. I cannot get over the Biles, her double layout half out. It is just incredible. ALSO, who ENDS their FX with a full in back out?!? She just has the most massive difficulty and sells the routine so well. 15.000!

Larisa Iordache next, and I personally really wanted her to medal! She has amazing tumbling, high difficulty, and beautiful dance. I also love love her floor music!! 14.600.

Next, Guilia Steingruber. I really love this gymnast. She does a full twisting DLO, unfortunately she stumbled quite a bit on the landing. Her DLO is one of the best I've ever seen though, huge height. Huge double pike as well. Loved the routine. Not quite enough difficulty to contend though .. 14.333.

Sandra Izbasa, 2008 Olympic FX champion next. Her 1 and a half to triple twist was the most elegant I've ever seen. Stuck full in back out. Beautiful dance, but a fall on the last pass :( 

Kyla Ross up next. I absolutely am in love with her routine. Her dancing is so elegant and beautiful, however, her difficulty needs to be increased to compete at this level. Beautiful landings though. Also love her music. 14.333.

Elisabeth Black was last to go. Awesome first pass with very difficult 2.5 and triple twist combinations. Love the music. Out of bounds on the last tumble. 

Thanks to anyone reading my recaps 3 months late :)

I just wanted to catch up with them.

It was a fabulous World Championships!

2013 World Gymnastics Championships -- Beam Event Final

Gold -- Aliya Mustafina RUS

Silver -- Kyla Ross USA

Bronze -- Simone Biles USA

The balance beam final ended up being my favorite event final at Worlds :)

My favorite non-US gymnast, Aliya Mustafina, was up first. She had a wonderfully clean routine with many difficult combinations that she hit for the most part. She did not have hardly any balance checks, and she actually turned her double spin into a 2.5 to avoid one. Stuck dismount, beautiful routine. 14.9.

Carlotta Ferlito of Italy was up next. She had a good routine with impressive looking skills, but there were several balance checks throughout, a missed connection, and a hop on the dismount. 14.283.

** Mustafina submits enquiry **

Vanessa Ferrari next. I absolutely love her flight series, it's super beautiful. She did miss her front arial/sheep jump combination though, and she had a big lunge back on her dismount, almost sitting down. 14.3.

** Mustafina enquiry rejected, ends up adding her SV up by hand** (LOL)

Chunsong Shang next up. Hit her flight series this time, but big break on her punch front and several other wobbles throughout, even on simple elements such as her back tucks. 14.133.

Next Simone Biles. Hit all connections, but big check after her punch front and a lunge forward on the dismount, almost hit her head on the beam!! Saved both mistakes though. 14.133.

Kyla Ross came next. Gorgeous routine, very elegant! Only mistake was a missed connection (free walkover to sheep jump) and a step on the dismount. Definitely challenging for the lead. 14.733.

** Biles submits enquiry**

Larisa Iordache of Romania unfortunately suffered another fall off of the beam on her first flight series, such a shame because her routine is amazing! I felt so badly for her. 13.933.

**Biles enquiry accepted 14.333*

**Ross submits enquiry**

Anna Rodionova of Russia last competitor to go. Fell off on her backflip into Arabian, but the rest of the routine was wonderful. 13.1.

**Ross enquiry accepted 14.833*

I was so proud of Aliya especially after her performance in qualifications overall to come out and win as many medals as she did. She now also has a World medal on every event and is on the list of gymnasts with most medals at Worlds with 8 :) 

2013 World Gymnastics Championships -- Bars Event Final

Gold - Huang Huidan CHN

Silver - Kyla Ross USA

Bronze - Aliya Mustafina RUS

Yao Jinnan of China was first up for the bars final. Since I wanted the 2 Americans and Aliya to medal in this final, I was really nervous that Yao would take the gold with her Mo. Unfortunately, she fell on the skill during finals, ending up with a score of 14.633.

Huang Huidan also from China came next. She had a wonderful routine and stuck the landing cold! Huge score -- 15.400!! I knew that would be extremely hard to beat, but I thought they were pretty generous with that score.

Becky Downie was next up for Great Britain. I'm very disappointed that she had a fall during her routine because her routine was actually one of my favorites of the final. She had lots of exciting release moves and it was a shame to see her fall.

Sophie Scheder was next. Ultimately clean routine -- 14.633.

Next was Simone Biles from the United States. For this being Simone's "weakest" event, she has steadily improved. It was a great routine and had her thinking about a medal possibility at that point with a score of 14.716.

Kyla Ross's routine was gorgeous and flawless as usual, with her normal stuck landing!! I though it was definitely as good as Huidan's but the score was 15.266.

My girl Aliya Mustafina was up next. Her bars routines are ALWAYS amazing to watch, but during finals she missed a connection when she was supposed to go immediately from the low bar to a shaposh to the high bar, and unfortunately it cost her the gold because her SV was lowered by .2 -- 15.033

Ruby Harrold was last. She had an exciting routine with lots of different skills, but SV was a bit lower than the others.