MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

USA Gymnastics has announced the rest of the field for the upcoming American Cup, being held March 7 in Dallas, Texas. Two time world champion, Simone Biles accepted the invitation to compete before the end of 2014, joining her will be her teammate and 2014 vault bronze medalist, MyKayla Skinner. Last year's men's American Cup champ, Sam Mikulak is accepting the invitation for the men for the second year in a row, he will be joined by his teammate, Donnell Whittenburg.

Surprise surprise (not really) Team USA pulled out another world championship win during today's team final. Team USA, led by Simone Biles and Kyla Ross, left no prisoners as they led their team to victory with a huge 6.693 lead over team China. Taking the bronze, team Russia, led by Aliya Mustafina. The ladies of team USA pulled out all the stops and performed near flawlessly while their competitors littered the floor with falls and mistakes.

Brief synopsis: England is leading after two rotations with an 85.390. Following is Australia ins second with an 83.883 and Wales in third with 81.398. Individually, Beckie Downie is leading the uneven bars qualifications. Claudia Fragapane is sitting in third for the all-around final and is leading the vault qualification ahead of Canada's Ellie Black. Australia's Georgia Rose Brown is leading the all-around qualification after two rotations.

It's official. I'm hooked on this routine. Claudia Fragapane's floor routine is definitely a huge favorite of this year so far. Claudia goes just as hard on her dance as she does her tumbling. This is the type of routine the new floor rules were made for.

Team Great Britain is on a roll. Since London, they have been quietly joining the upper echelon of the   elite gymnastics world.

Great Britain has some major talent coming through their ranks.  Two standout gymnasts are Claudia Fragapane and Catherine Lyons, who both have absolutely glorious floor routines. The two athletes have totally different styles on the floor with their dance, but the level of performance and expression is breath-taking.