Useless Speculation Time

Gotta love useless speculation for gymnastics world championships!

Unless they get injured, Rebecca Bross, Alicia Sacramone, and Mattie Larson are virtually locks. Bross should compete on bars, beam and floor in the team final. She is usable on vault, but I think she has one of the sloppier DTYs on the National Team. Sacramone should compete on beam and vault in the team final and Larson is usable on floor, vault and bars.

I would be surprised at this point if Aly Raisman didn't make the team. Though she did not look as good at Classics and Nationals as she did during the spring season, she is still very usable on beam, floor and vault in the team finals. If she actually manages to get her Amanar down, that would also be quite helpful.

A healthy Bridget Sloan should also make the team. While she's the defending World All-Around Champion and a fantastic vaulter, maybe a better strategy for her would be focusing on bars and floor. She would probably be in the team finals line-up in both of those events. While her DTY would score well, so should Larson's and Raisman's.

Macko Caquatto and Cassie Whitcomb have been mentioned extensively as "bar specialists" for the last spot on the team and both have good shots at that role. Caquatto has a higher start value and therefore higher scoring potential, but has been a "headcase" in the past. As good as her routine can be, I'm not convinced she can hit in a team final. Though Whitcomb has a lower start value, she has room to upgrade and tends to consistently hit her routine. However, her Gienger is wonky and she had recently been injured. I'm really not sold on either of them currently.

I actually kind of prefer Chelsea Davis for that "bar specialist" spot. She currently has the same start value as Whitcomb and also has room to upgrade. I think she tends to have cleaner form and that her miss on her Jaeger on day two of Nationals was more of a fluke than anything.

Kytra Hunter also still probably has an outside shot. She is a great tumbler and maybe could get an Amanar, which boasts team start values a ton. I doubt Amanda Jetter, Morgan Smith, or Sami Shapiro will make the team. Honestly, sometimes I'm just sad that Vanessa Zamarripa is no longer in contention and that Kyla Ross, Katelyn Ohashi, McKayla Maroney and Gabrielle Douglas are not age eligible.

Gymnastics Nationals

Halfway through the women's competition at the US Championships, one thing is fairly certain: finishing in the top 6 AA will be very important. I have a hard time believing that Alicia Sacramone, Jordyn Wieber, Cassie Whitcomb, Amanda Jetter, Bridgey Caquatto, and Ivana Hong won't be named to the National Team. There go six of the eight discretionary spots...

In other news, Maria Sharapova looked the best I had seen her in a while tonight. Now, if only she'd stop double faulting.

I'm Back

Hi readers (if any are still out there)! Sorry for my absence; I just moved and that whole process was quite time consuming. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to do a better job of updating over the next several weeks. I will be attending a couple of professional tennis tournaments soon, so I should have fun reports from those.

The CoverGirl Classic was last weekend and the US's juniors showed much more promise than the seniors (though neither Sloan nor Bross competed the All-Around). As of right now, I would say that Bridget Sloan, Rebecca Bross, Alicia Sacramone, Aly Raisman, Mattie Larson, and Mackenzie Caquatto are the front-runners for the World team (though, let's be honest, this could change about a million times between now and then). With this team, Sacramone would be off bars and floor (obviously), Caquatto would be off beam, and either Larson or Caquatto would be off vault in the prelims. In the finals, I would probably put Sloan, Raisman, and Sacramone on vault; Caquatto, Sloan, and Bross on bars; Raisman, Bross, and Sacramone on beam; and anyone but Caquatto on floor (that's training).

Assuming Larson stays healthy, I'd assume Macko's spot is the least secure because she will be heading to the NCAA in January will probably not factor into the international scene for the rest of the quad. Though I would love to see Cassie Whitcomb get the "bars" spot over Macko, she really did not look particularly great at Classics. Bridgette Caquatto could also very much be in the mix depending on how she looks at Nationals. Honestly, if she looks good on bars, I think she will get the sixth spot on the team as she will probably be around for the rest of the quad. Kytra Hunter, Amanda Jetter, and Chelsea Davis are also probably still in the mix. I would love to see Sami Shapiro and Vanessa Zamarripa be major factors, but the former will probably be too injured and the latter really needs to upgrade to have a serious shot.

I love the budding Contador/Schleck rivalry. Not related to Olympic sports news, but get ready for the union of T.O. and Ochocinco. The Bengals will be the most entertaining team in the NFL this year.

International Skill Level

Should there be a cut-off for major international gymnastics competition? A couple of bar routines, Sarah El Dabagh from Denmark and Meenakshi from India, have made me think about that question.

Those routines, along with the floor routines performed by gymnasts from Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Championships, help to facilitate an interesting discussion in the gymnastics world: Should their be a skill-level cut-off? Compulsories (which I really do miss) used to take care of this question. While the elimination of those exercises might have expanded the number of countries that can compete internationally, when is the skill level just too low? Are these girls benefiting from representing their countries and competing on a large international stage (which is undeniably a huge honor)? Or do they feel embarrassed to be competing at this skill level when their routines are being compared to those of gymnasts such as He Kexin?

This issue affects other Olympic sports as well, most famously, Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel. Though Eric the Eel was undeniably inspiring, should the Olympics be the showcase for these types of performances? Or should they only show the best in the sport?

Personally, I think it is great to see athletes from non-traditional countries compete internationally. I do question at times if the World Championships and Olympics are the right place to showcase these routines. However, if competing in those events is what motivates the athletes, then I support it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue, so please comment below!

Death of the All-Around Gymnast

I miss true All-Around gymnasts. By this I mean gymnasts that were competitive in both the All-Around and in all event finals. It was fairly common for the top All-Around gymnasts to be threats to qualify for all event finals in the past.

Let's take a look at the routines of the lovely Mighty Mo (yes, I know that she never pulled it together enough to dominate competitions, but I still love her, her routines, and her potential).











She could do everything and do it well.

I know that changes in the sport have facilitated the demise of All-Around gymnasts beyond what the gymnasts can control. The 6-6-5 format has not been around since 1992. The fact that not everyone has to compete on every event has led to the specialist movement. While this is advantageous for gymnasts with a particularly glaring weakness, it hurts the heart of the sport, the All-Around.

The last time a gymnast was really a threat to make every event final was in 2000. Jiang Yuyuan probably had the most potential to do this in 2008. Let's make everyone train two vaults again. Let's have a code that encourages looking awesome while preforming, as opposed to throwing the hardest skills you can kind of do. The winner of the team final should truly be the best, most well-rounded team instead of the team that messes up the least. Let's go back to 7-6-5 or 6-5-4 instead of 6-3-3 or 5-3-3. I want to see more gymnasts that can do it all and look clean and confident while doing it.

Quick Update

Just a quick post before I head out of town yet again.

Chinese gymnastics nationals are going on now. Check out Komova's Youtube Channel for videos. Canadian nationals are going on as well. Blythe at the Gymnastics Examiner is liveblogging the event.

Former USA Swimming national team director Everett Uchiyama was those named a list of lifetime bans. Uchiyama was banned for inappropriate sexual behavior.

Dinara Safina lost in the first round of the French Open to Kimiko Date Krumm who turns 40 this fall.

Caster Semenya's return to competition was delayed after the meet in which she was supposed to run was canceled.

TJ Lanning will skip the 2011 skiing world cup circuit as he recovers from a fractured neck suffered last November.

A good read on Jesse Owens being awesome can be found here.

Go Bruins

Who'd want to dance with the stars when they could dance with Miss Val (and Stella Umeh's sister)?

Carol "Lefty" Johnston

Lefty, a Disney movie about Canadian gymnast Carol Johnston, was recently posted on YouTube. Johnston competed for Cal State-Fullerton in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was a member of the 1979 undefeated National Champion team. More notably, Johnston was a collegiate All-American despite only having one arm. She did some impressive gymnastics and competed in the All-Around in college. He bar works highlights another advantage of old-school bars—that it is possible to put together a competitive routine on one arm. Watch the movie below!

TGIF

In gymnastics news, Chellsie Memmel is not retiring, Kayla Williams is now at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy with Mary Lee Tracy, and the US will not be sending a female competitor to the Youth Olympics, ostensibly because the the Games are too close to US Nationals. I am intrigued by the Williams/MLT pairing. Vault tends to be a weak event for most CGA girls. Hopefully Kayla will get bar upgrades out of this, but I believe CGA's bar coach recently relocated.

Greg Louganis is going to mentor American divers. I have a ton of respect for him and hope he enjoys that role.

2008 Olympian Mary Wineberg received an elite development from USA Track and Field. We went to the same high school and she recently had her first child, so I am excited to see her get back into the groove.

Olympic Controversy

Double Olympic gold medalist in short track speed skating Lee Jung-su of South Korea and Olympic teammate Kwak Yoon-gy have been suspended for three years each following a race fixing scandal. Lee failed to qualify for the national team try-outs in March. Though he cited a knee injury, it was later discovered that the national team coach had coerced Lee to give up his spot to Kwak. Lee has denied his involvement, but Kwak has admitted to being part of the fixing.

Countries will only be allowed to enter one racer in each event in track cycling in the 2012 Olympics. This decision is meant to encourage more track cycling development throughout the world, but I think it seems like another attempt to short-change a sport that was already forced to drop five events following Beijing.

Check out the third issue of the Couch Gymnast's magazine here.

News and Notes

Shawn Johnson announced that she intends to resume intensive gymnastics training in hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics. She returned to the gym four days ago. I am really indifferent towards both her and Nastia. Please let me know when Miller, Lysenko, Onodi, Mo, Podkopayeva, or Silivas decides to return to competitive gymnastics shape. Or even Courtney Kupets from the "actually realistic list."

The New York Times published a great story on Kevin Pearce's return home following his traumatic brain injury suffered in December. It can be found here along with a video clip of Pearce's appearance on the Today Show. He has made an impressive recovery and intends to snowboard again. For the record, his dad is also a super talented glass artist.

Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova will play doubles together in a Legends match at Wimbledon. Since when did Anna Kournikova become a tennis legend? She's attractive, but was not a particularly remarkable tennis player.

Weekend Update

In a week of changing the results of Olympics past, Polish cross country skier Kornelia Marek was officially disqualified from the Vancouver Games after testing positive for EPO.

Justin Gatlin will return to competition July 24th following a four year doping suspension. The sprinter is a former world record holder in the 100m. In other track and field news, sprinter LaShawn Merritt accepted a provisional suspension following a positive drug after. He used an over-the-counter male enhancement product that contained a banned stimulant. Some people need to learn how to read labels...

The Bryan brothers won their 60th ATP tour title this weekend. With two more titles, they will hold the all-time tour record. Justine Henin won her first WTA tour title since un-retiring, winning the Porsche Grand Prix while playing with a broken finger.

Ian Thorpe is considering making a comeback to competitive swimming. I love the Thorpedo.

Sidney Crosby fails at growing a play-off beard. The joys of being a 22-year-old star...

Mark Grimmette was named Sports Program Director for USA Luge, a nice way to begin retirement for the five-time Olympian.

Jordyn Wieber's much talked about new floor exercise from Pacific Rims:

China Stripped of Olympic Bronze

China's 2000 Olympic team was stripped of its bronze medal after team member Dong Fangxiao was discovered to have been underage. Members of team USA will now receive a bronze medal 10 years later. This decision furthers the disaster that was the 2000 Olympic women's gymnastics competition.

I am more or less against age limits in sports. While I understand the concern of keeping young athletes healthy, there are already junior gymnasts doing Amanars and gymnasts not even age eligible for London doing full-in beam dismounts. Setting an age limit for senior international competition does not stop young gymnasts from doing really difficult skills, making them still injury-prone, more or less defying the point of an age limit rule.

That being said, China did break a rule and is being punished for it. Why is this not being enforced across the board? In 2002, Alexandra Marinescu, a member of Romania's 1996 Olympic team, admitted to being underage. Nothing has been done to punish the Romanians. Is racism at work? If the FIG wants to keep a silly rule in place, the consequences should at least be enforced unilaterally.

Update Time

Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was hospitalized earlier today in critical condition. Twenty minutes after checking into the hospital with heart trouble, he went into shock and is now on a respirator.

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and Armenia are scratching from the men's European Gymnastics Championships due to travel difficulties following the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Since these countries are not members of the European Union, securing visas to travel across Europe by car or train was too costly. Russia is making every effort to send its women's team to Birmingham as the competition begins later.

The South African government will be issuing free visas to any foreigners holding World Cup tickets. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Ryan Miller signed 139 pucks to commemorate the number of saves he made during the Olympics. President Obama will get one of them.

I am heading out of town again and will probably not be able to post again for a bit. Until then,

News and Notes

Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon. Ryan Hall finished fourth in the fastest American time ever.

Michigan won the men's NCAA gymnastics title while Wolverines Chris Cameron won the All-Around and Ryan McCarthy won high bar. Oklahoma's Steve Legendre won floor and Alex Naddour won pommel horse, Stanford's Eddie Penev won vault and Ryan Lieberman won parallel bars, and Ohio State's Brandon Wynn won rings. Pommel horse standout Daniel Ribiero failed to qualify for event finals.

Wayne Odesnik accepted a voluntary provisional suspension after pleading guilty to importing human growth hormone to Australia.

Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh won their first beach volleyball tournament playing together. The past weekend's tournament marked May-Treanor's return to competition after tearing her Achilles and a calf muscle on Dancing with the Stars.

Undefeated Venezuelan boxer Edwin Valero committed suicide in jail after admitting to killing his wife.

Kevin McDowell and Kelly Whitley will represent the US in Triathlon at the Youth Olympics.

Contrary to popular belief, Shawn Johnson is not the only Olympic level athlete to attend normal school. Weighlifter Sara Cowles is a full time student at Northern Michigan University.

Today's News

The volcanic eruption in Iceland is wrecking havoc on the Olympic sports world. Two dozen runners including Moroccan elite Abdellah Falil are stuck in Europe trying to figure out a way to get to the US for the Boston Marathon. The European Gymnastics Championships, scheduled to be held in Birmingham, have been postponed a day.

A broken ring is causing havoc at the NCAA men's gymnastics championships. Follow the action live here.

Misty May-Treanor will publish an autobiography in June. It details her childhood, growing up with two alcoholic parents, and her life as an elite beach volleyball player. She also talks passionately about wanting to be a mother but does not mention wanting to make a comeback for 2012.

Love this mount sequence:

News and Notes

World Cup tickets are selling for as little as $20 and are not selling as quickly as predicted. Now if only I had the time and money to go to South Africa...

Amy Palmiero-Winters, an amputee ultra marathon runner, won the 2009 Sullivan Award. On New Year's Eve, she beat all able-bodied men and women competing the Race to the Future, a 130.04 mile event. Read about her impressive accomplishments here.

China will be sending Zhou Qiaohong, Zeng Siqi, Tan Sixin, Huang Qiushuang, He Ning, and Jiang Tong to Pacific Rims. The US's nominative team is Bridget Sloan, Rebecca Bross, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, and Sabrina Vega. That team is rather meaningless though because the selection camp has not been held. I hope that Aly Raisman is not sent to three major international competitions in a row.

Russia is sending to Aliya Mustafina, Tatiana Nabieva, Ekaterina Kurbatova, Anna Myzdrikova, and Ksenia Semenova to Euros. Their junior team will include Viktoria Komova, Violetta Malikova, Anastasia Grishina, Anastasia Sidorova, and Maria Paseka. Their Pacific Rim team includes Anna Rodionova, Kristina Sidorova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Yuliya Belokobylskaya, and Ramilya Musina. Zamo will be a judge at PRC.

An Overdue Update

I'm back and kind of caught up. Think long and hard before taking any lengthy train trips no matter how much money it may save. Here is a brief rundown of the past several days in Olympic sports.

Piotr Nurowski, the head of Poland's Olympic Committee, was among those killed in Saturday's tragic plane crash.

UCLA looked great at regionals while Georgia failed to advance to nationals for the first time in 26 years. Missouri advanced for the first time since women's gymnastics became an NCAA sport. Vanessa Zamarripa is interested in trying elite gymnastics.

Nordic Combined athletes Billy Demong, Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick, and Brett Camerota are visiting troops in the Middle East.

Yelena Isinbayeva, the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in women's pole vaulting, has decided to take an indefinite break. She has, however, vowed to return for the 2012 Games.

Canada won the men's curling world title, defeating Norway and their famed pants in the championship match.

In an effort to find the best synchronized diving pairs for the 2012 Olympics, American divers can now compete with more than one partner. This led to David Boudia and Nick McCrory finishing first, Boudia and Thomas Finchum finishing second, and Finchum and McCrory finishing third at the USA Diving World Cup Synchronized Trials.

News and Notes

The IOC has supported FIFA's decision to bar the Iranian women's team from the Youth Olympics because the IOC believes it is up to individual governing bodies to establish and enforce rules. Though I can see why they would be hesitant to set a precedent, I still find this to be a very disappointing decision. I plan on exploring the nuances of this issue a bit more when my life calms down a little (probably sometime next week).

Caster Semenya's lawyers told South African press that gender test results have shown that she can compete as a woman. A more contextualized look at this is also coming.

The official investigation into Nodar Kumaritashvili's death concluded that there was no one cause.

Send good thoughts to tennis great Martina Navratilova who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Routine of the Day:

Gymnasts Update

Anna Li will be giving elite gymnastics another try following her graduation from UCLA this summer. This is great news because the US definitely needs bar workers. Kytra Hunter is apparently injured right now, as is Lauren Mitchell, so neither of them will be at Pacific Rim Championships.

The Australian team will be:
Georgia Wheeler
Emily Little
Larrissa Miller
Amelia McGrath
Georgia Rose-Brown
Emma Collister

The rumored Chinese team is:
Huang Qiushuang
Wu Liufang
Jiang Tong
Tan Sixin
Zhou Qiaohong
Zeng Siqi

The US's provisional team is:
Rebecca Bross
Bridgette Caquatto
Kayla Williams
Lexie Priessman
Jordyn Wieber
Sabrina Vega
However, this is pretty meaningless, as Marta will just choose whomever she wants a couple of days before the meet.

Caster Semenya has agreed not to run until the results of her gender test come back. Her first meet should be in Zaragoza June 24th. This is getting ridiculous. Let the girl run!

Finally, just because we all need humor in our lives: