I can hardly believe it's 2014 and that we are already half-way through the next Olympic Cycle! It is an exciting year for gymnastics with the Commonwealth Games and the Youth Olympic Games both being held this year. Here is my wishlist for 2014, enjoy!
New Zealand's Jordan Rae, hoping to compete at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games
10. Australia sends an entire team to Worlds
I don't know about you, but I was quite disappointed not to see any Aussies at the 2013 World Championships. While they may not be one of the top teams, they have great innovation and style (think Canada) and are fun to watch.
The Aussie girls had a disappointing Olympics and failed to qualify to the team final (credit: The Australian)
9. Stanford makes the top five
Currently ranked #8 I reckon Stanford can do much better! They had a good start to the season, winning over the Georgia Gymdogs.
The 2014 SWG team (credit: SWG Facebook page)
8. No more ACL tears!
I know this isn't really possible, but I am fed up with gymnasts getting this injury, that takes them out for the season. To name a few: Gabby Jupp, Kim Janas, Peng peng Lee, Julie Crocket and Sam Peszek.
7. A Triple Turning Yurchenko in Competition
Will it be Biles, Maroney or someone else?
6. Dowell and Price on the Worlds Team for USA
These girls are both phenomenal gymnasts and should be given the chance to represent the US at Worlds. 2013 does not count for Brenna.
Brenna and Ebee with Kyla, McKayla and Simone (credit: USA Gymnastics)
5. Nush to win beam for UCLA at NCAA's!
I mean, that dismount. Have you seen it?
4. For Russia to get it together!
Russia had a very up and down year, with the illness of Komova, the issues over Grishina, Afan's injury, the dismissal of Pavs, the retirement of Demy and Nabs. I know we can't expect world domination like in 2010, but somebody has to challenge the Americans!
Anna Rodinova- Russia's hopes for the future?
3. For Roxana Popa to win Spain's first AA medal since I don't know when
This girl is looking good, and she's only going to get better!
2. A strong performance from the Kiwi girls at the Commonwealths
This team will be our strongest team ever, things are looking exciting for NZ elite gymnastics!
Some members of the NZ Commonwealth Games squad (credit: CSG gymnastics)
1. That Viktoria Komova transitions gracefully through her growth spurt
The young Russian has grown up since the Olympics (let's hope in terms of maturity also!). Hopefully the extra height will make her even more graceful than she is already.
Anyone else miss this? I sure do!
That's about it. Can't wait to see if these come true!
The 2013 Glasgow World Cup took place this weekend at the Emirates arena, and I was lucky enough to attend! It was tight at the top, where defending champion Elizabeth Price (USA) fell uncharacteristically on her Amanar vault, leaving the door wide open for Larisa Iordache (ROM). A fall from Iordache on her layout 1/1 on beam was not enough to prevent her from taking the title over Price, winning by a margin of 0.6 points. 23-year old Vanessa Ferrari of Italy was again impressive, taking the bronze medal with a respectable total of 56.633.
The fall from Ebee on vault I guess was a lapse in concentration, she normally has no problems with it and had indeed successfully completed an Amanar in warmups. But a lower score of 14.233 compared to Larisa's 14.766 for a clean DTY put her at a disadvantage from the start. The youngest competitior, Spanish Roxana Popa also ran into trouble on vault where she only performed a layout yurchenko instead of a (double twisting?) that she is capable of. Ferlito (ITA) was also clearly injured, she was having problems with on of her ankles in all of the warmup vaults. Asuka Teramoto from Japan debuted a new vault, which she spent much of the general warmup time perfecting. She was the only competitor not to compete a yurchenko.
Ebee's warmup Amanar
Teramoto's vault
Bar
Bar was a disappointing rotation for both of the British girls, Ruby and Raer who both peeled off. Ferlito who was clearly having an off day also fell. Was really nice to see her helping straight afterwards prepare the bars for Vanessa. Both girls also pulled each other's springboards away- they hardly needed a coach on the floor! Iordache again scraped through another routine, Popa and Teramoto were good, but the highlight was definitely Ebee. That girl is so powerful and so strong that she makes it look easy! She was rewarded with a 14.833 for this routine. I reckon she should be in the lineup for bars at the 2014 Team World Championships.
Ebee rocking bars
Beam
Good routines from both British girls here, although sadly not the difficulty to bring in the big marks. Iordache received the top score here, 14.10 even with the fall on the layout 1/1. I guess the difficulty and the 'wow' factor is worth the risk for her. She also seems to have trouble with this pass when there is no twist, so why not chuck it in? Price and Ferrari were also impressive here.
Clean and stylish routine from Ruby, but lacking in difficulty to bring in the big numbers. Great experience for her though, and the crowd loved it!
Another professional and confident performance from Ferrari, she just keeps getting better!
Floor
The excitement was high in the last rotation, with Men's high bar running simultaneously. The audience was very involved and clapped many of the gymnasts through their routines. I would like to give a special mention to Ferrari. I like her floor routine and I enjoy watching videos. But at the top of the stands I was captivated by her! She really performs the routine, which makes a difference to some other gymnasts who just go through the motions. She was captivating! Also worth a mention is Larisa's artistic routine, where the leaps and tumbling stand out. I also love the choreography and all of the smiles! Ebee was her usual impressive self with dynamic tumbling and powerful dance. Popa is also very expressive for such a young gymnast and has great tumbling. I'm so pleased for her success this year and am looking forwards to seeing her grow over the next quad.
Roxana (in a fabulous leotard) on floor
Larisa tumbling, smiling and leaping her way to gold
Vanessa's impressive floor performance and a well deserved bronze medal!
Results
1. IORDACHE, Larisa (ROM) 57.932
2. PRICE, Elizabeth (USA) 57.365
3. FERRARI, Vanessa (ITA) 56.633
4. TERAMOTO, Asuka (JAP) 54.866
5. POPA NEDELCU, Roxana (ESP) 54.532
6. FERLITO, Carlotta (ITA) 51.866
7. HARROLD, Ruby (GBR) 51.432
8. THEAKER, Raer (GBR) 50.632
The biggest congratulations has to go to Iordache, who has had a grueling month of back-to-back competitions and managed to put it all together to win in Glasgow. She did have a disappointing fall on beam, but her overall difficulty and consistency prevailed in the end- well done Larisa!
Was pleased to see Ebee up there as well, it hasn't been an easy year for her, having to recover from injuries to both hips. Expect her to be back in full force for 2014!
Also to Ferrari- what a competitor! Although it seems as though she is at then end of her career, she seems to be getting better and better- such an inpiration! We hope to see her continue, Italy needs her consistency and leadership.
To top things off, I was lucky enough to meet Beth Tweddle, my favourite (sorry everyone else) British Olympian! We were stoked.
Shona, Beth and I after the competition
Article by Imogen Browne (Follow on twitter @ImogenMireille)
Roxana Popa is a Romanian born first year senior who made her debut competing for Spain at the European Championships and the World Championships this year. She showed promise as a Junior and competed well at the 2012 Junior European Championships, where she qualified to the vault and all-around final (11th place).
Romanian-born Popa competes for Spain (credit: FIG)
Roxana was one of the standout rookie gymnasts at the 2013 World Championships held last month in Antwerp, Belgium. She was particularly impressive on bars where she has a strong swing and and floor where she shows much class and charisma for a young gymnast. She finished in 12th position with 53.366 behind Italy's Carlota Ferlito and Canada's Victoria Moors. Not bad at all for a first year senior!
Here she is on bars at Worlds
Here is her qualification floor routine from Worlds
Roxana is a very strong gymnast, which is clear from her bar work and her powerful vaulting and tumbling. She is also a strong all-arounder and is a great hope for Spain (who qualified strong teams to the Olympic finals in 2000 and 2004). It is lovely to see another Spanish gymnast achieving good results on the World stage. We hope to see you at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Roxana, keep up the great work! Also see her responses to The Couch Gymnast's 15 Questions here Article by Imogen Browne (Follow me on Twitter @IFlip4GymBlog)
The gymnastics World Championships only happen once every year, and the gymternet always explodes with live hits, blogging, tweeting, you name it! This year is no exception, where competition is in the beautiful city of Antwerp, Belgium. Although I am not there to see the action myself, much information from numerous bloggers is available; The Couch Gymnast, the Gymnastics Examiner- Blythe Lawrence and Gymnastike among many! Thanks in advance for the great work that you always do! Here I have outlined some of the highlights from the Qualifications round.
9- Chuso (Oksana Chusovitina- GER) On Vault
Ok, this woman is amazing. She has been competing at the international level since before most of her fellow competitors were born, and she's still producing vaults like these to qualify for World Championships vault finals- respect.
Chuso, the gymnastics legend! Qualified 6th into the VT final
8- Mustafina's Bars (RUS)
Aliya, the most decorated gymnast of the Russian Olympic Team in London had a very rough qualifying round (although somehow managed to qualify for BB final with a very sub-par routine). She somewhat redeemed herself on bars by pulling off this excellent routine, complete with a daring new transition from low to high bars. Let us hope that she gets it together for the AA final. I have faith that she will, because she is Mustafina.
I could watch her on bars all day. Qualified 5th into the final
7- Ellie Black's Floor (CAN)
Really enjoyed this Canadian's floor routine, a very polished performance with great expression, music and tumbling to match. Thankfully we will get to see it again in the finals, Ellie qualified in 8th place! Team-mate Victoria Moors sadly faltered on her new I-rated (read: impossibly difficult) double-twisting double layout, and did not advance to finals. We will see both Ellie and Victoria in the AA finals.
6- Iordache on Beam (ROM)
Come on, you know you love her! After an extremely long wait on the podium, Iordache went up and rocked this beam routine. I love watching Romanians on beam, you can really relax and enjoy the routine! She is one of my favourites both for the AA and the beam and floor finals. I wonder if she will add a full-twist to her layout for finals...
Very confident performance from Larisa on beam- top qualifier to the beam final
5- Best Newcomer- Roxana Popa (ESP)
Roxana Popa, a Romanian-born gymnast who cpmpetes for Spain has been on the radar for a while as a Junior gymnast. She delivered today to qualify in 10th position for the all-around final. I'm pretty sure this is the highest a Spanish gymnast has finished for a while, she is a great hope for the country! I particularly enjoyed her floor routine, where she shows a real flourish for matching her dance with the music. Tumbling is pretty great too!
Popa's great floor routine today, contributing to a good all-around finish
4- McKayla Maroney is back (USA)
An unsual choice for the US to compete McKayla Maroney as an all-arounder, nevertheless she did well apart from a fall on beam. Interesting to see her on other apparatuses besides vault, which she is still amazing at by the way. I am sure that she will successfully defend her World Championships title on vault this year.
Freaking incredible. Do the triple already! Top qualifier to vault final (only final due to the 3 per country rule)
3- Duo from Great Britian in Bars Final!- Ruby Harrold and Becky Downie
These two gymnasts from GB have both had trouble with their bar routines this year, but both pulled out excellent routines to qualify for the bars final! This is a great achievement for Team GB and we wish both girls all the best for finals!
Becky on bars (4th place qualifier)
Ruby qualified in 7th place, love her unique transitions!
2- Izbasa (ROM) and Yao (CHI) doing what they do best
Beautiful music, beautiful choreography and beautiful tumbling from Romanian veteran Sandra Izbasa. She will be looking to medal on floor after a disappointing mistake during the 2012 Olympic Games on floor. She is a real treat to watch on this event, and this very well may be the last we see of her :(
So elegant, so Sandra, love it!
What would a World Championships be without the Chinese on bars? Beautiful routine from Yao Jinnan (3rd qualifier to all-around), who qualified in first place AND is capable of adding the Mo salto to her routine (wonder if we will see it in competition?). Would love to see her win the bars title in Antwerp.
1- Simone Biles- A name to remember (USA)
This bubbly first-year senior powerhouse from the US will be World Champion on Thursday if she hits 4/4, which she is certainly capable of doing. She also qualified to ALL FOUR event finals. Think Shawn Johnson in 2007, she is hands-down the best gymnast in the World right now. Go Simone!
Best event of the day for Simone was floor, it's going to make for an exciting all-around final (floor competed last)
Should be a good World Championships!
Article by Imogen Browne (Follow on Twitter @IFlip4GymBlog)
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