MCSMaria's Artistic Gymnastics Blog

Two years into the quad and we're starting to see up and comers likely to be big contenders for Rio. This was the first real meet of the elite season, so most everybody was a little rough around the edges. Since I don't have time to analyze every single routine by every single athlete, I'm going to be analyzing some top players and up and comers.

After much back and forth, it is confirmed that Ksenia Afanasyeva will indeed be competing at the upcoming Russian Championships in Penza.

The Ukrainian crisis has forced Stella Zakharova to postpone her annual eponymous competition, The Stella Zakharova Cup. The competition was originally slated to be held March 29-30 in Kiev, but is now being held April 26-27.

Larisa Iordache and her partner Andrei Muntean took the top spot at the Swiss Cup, winning the title for Romania for the first time since 2007.

On the heels of the World Championships end, the gymnasts selected to compete at Elite Masilia in Marseilles, France November 15-17 has been announced. Anna Rodionova will be representing Russia and gaining some valuable international experience after her debut at the World Championships in Antwerp. Joining her is  Ekaterina Kramerenko who won the bronze medal on the uneven bars in Stuttgart in 2007.

It was announced today that World Cup medalist Elizabeth "Ebee" Price and gymnastics legend/unicorn, Oksana Chusovitina will compete at the Mexican Open. Ebee announced the news via her Facebook page today. The competition is being held November 29-30 in Acapulco, Mexico. The International Youth Cup will also be held the day before.

After months of anticipation and waiting very, very patiently, Sandra Izbasa has returned her awesome self to competition. Great timing with Worlds in a few weeks. Sandra made her post Olympic debut at the Dutch Invitational this weekend in, Alphen aan den Rijn. Sandra only competed on the floor exercise. But she debuted a new routine and she took second behind Olympic teammate, Diana Bulimar.

The Final Night of the P&G Championships crowned a new victor. Simone Biles managed to keep her lead over Kyla Ross and win her first national title as a senior. A close competition, Simone won with two night total of 120.450 to Kyla Ross's  120.250, both women performed with all they had, but it came down to a couple of arm swings on the beam.

Today, the list of competitors for the Russian Cup, happening this weekend, in Penza was released on sportgymrus.ru .

Kyla Ross, the baby of the Fierce Five showed everyone that she's not going anywhere with her win yesterday at the Secret Classic, the qualifier for the P&G Championships next month. Kyla took home the gold with a total of 58.650, just .4 ahead of Texas Dreams' Peyton Ernst, a first year senior. Kyla also had the highest score on the uneven bars with a 15.400, well deserved, it was a gorgeous routine and spectacular execution. 

This Saturday is the long anticipated Secret Classic, the qualifier for the national championships! It's all very exciting. It's the start of a new competitive season and a new quadrennium leading up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It's full of possibilities and new beginnings. Here is a few things too look forward to for the competition on Saturday.

USA Gymnastics has released the official list for the competitor field for the Secret Classic on July 27. McKayla and Kyla are just as excited as we are for Classics! Source: Teen.com Returning Fierce Five members, McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross have been officially confirmed to the field. No surprise, McKayla and Kyla were spotted at National team training camp in early June working on new floor routines. Kyla was seen doing some gorgeous beam connections which we hope to see at the Classics in a full routine.

Did you miss the University Games team finals and individual qualifications? Were you away from the internet or overslept and totally missed out? Don't fret! Gabrielmcdonough on YouTube has posted the repeat on his page . Watch it now, watch it later, watch it again, and again and again. What is Tatiana Nabieva staring at? I have posted them all here for you. You can choose to watch them here, or you can watch them on YouTube. Regardless of what you do, enjoy them to your heart's content, gym fans!

It has been confirmed Tatiana Nabieva is making a comeback as a part of the Russian team going to the University Summer Games in Kazan, Russia, or Universiade Games. The 2010 World Champion was an alternate on the team going to London after experiencing some setbacks due to injury

Aliya Mustafina added the title of European All-Around Champion to her already stellar resume. Coming off a successful Olympics, Musty beat out teammate, Anastasia Grishina and Romanian team silver medalist Larisa Iordache.

The European Championships are only five days away! We know who is going to be competing. But when are they competing? Yesterday, the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) posted the schedule for the competition and the broadcast information. The UEG is also keeping up with the digital age by posting a live stream of the competition on their website. Remember, the rules are the same as in the Olympics or the Worlds, only two per country may qualify for an individual all-around final or event final. The top 24 athletes will advance to the all-around finals and the top eight athletes on each event will advance to the event final.  Here is the competition schedule for the championships:

After the whirlwind Olympics and after the Kelloggs Tour of Champions, Elizabeth "Ebee" Price and Danell Leyva will compete for the US in the World Cup Competition in Stuttgart, Germany and Glasgow, Scotland this upcoming December. Ebee is certainly having a great year,