Another day another meltdown - I think that should be the theme of this Worlds qualifications.
At the moment, Team USA and Team China have completed their qualifications. There is still another subdivision to complete and subdivision as of this writing. Right now, USA is leading qualification with a 236.611, leading Russia by just over 5 points.
Things didn't go as smooth as predicted however.
Team USA did not have an easy time during qualifications today. There were falls from usually super consistent athletes. They started on floor, and Gabby led off the team. Hitting a double Arabian to stag jump on her first pass and ending with a clean, stuck double back, scoring an easy 14.400.
Brenna Dowell went next. She hit her double front pike and will now have that skill named for her in the Code of Points. However, there was a glitch and she wound up competing floor without music. The audience helped her fill in and clapped the beats. Then she went out of bounds on her last pass, a front full. 13.966, with a 0.1 neutral deduction for going out of bounds.
The rock of the team turned out to be Maggie and Simone. Aly Raisman didn't have a good day either. She went out of bounds on her first pass, the 1 1/2 step out to double Arabian to front layout and incurred a 0.3 neutral deduction. Vault, team USA puts up two double twisting yurchenkos from Brenna and Gabby, hit nice and clean. Aly does her Amanar and takes several large steps forward. Simone and Maggie hit their Amanars, stuck or nearly stuck. Whatevs, no big deal.
Then bars happened. It's painful to talk about. Brenna. Oh Brenna. You were so good during NCAA season! You hit all your bar routines for Oklahoma. You looked so good in podium training. Why, why, why? Aly too. So painful. Bars is a weak spot for the US, even with strong bar workers like Madison, Brenna, Gabby and Maggie (even though she didn't compete bars in qualifications) and obviously, consistency seems to be an issue on this event.
Beam went a little better. Perhaps not by much, but USA was at least able to absorb a fall on beam from Gabby Douglas. Aly managed to at least hit her beam routine. Madison Kocian pulled out a nice, clean routine. The best, from miss Simone Biles. She wasn't infallible. She wobbled on her wolf turn mount, small balance checks on her leap series. She nailed her Barani and finished with an exclamation point, sticking her full in dismount.
Team China didn't fare well either. They are currently sitting in 4th place behind Great Britain with a 225.127. They're going to qualify to team finals, and to the Olympics pretty comfortably. However, who didn't expect more from China? Or at least I did.
They are glorious on bars and beam, but seem to struggle in power events, such as vault and floor. Young Wang Yan, who has a resting bitch face that strikes fear into the hearts of unbelievers, is the opposite, much more of a Cheng Fei then a Huang Huidan or a Yao Jinnan (sigh). She's a great asset on vault, able to pull out a Tsuk double full and a Rudi out in qualifications. But she struggles on bars, only scoring an 11.800 in the qualifications.
Shang Chunsong can pull off ridiculous twisting elements with so many twists, but can only pull off a yurchenko full on vault. She's amazing on beam, but definitely inconsistent. She fell on her layout stepout series during qualifications. She did make bar finals, even though it's not her best event. She has an eponymous skill, a ridiculous piked Hindorff.
This Chinese team is also perhaps a little rough around the edges. They had lots of small errors here and there, and that adds up very quickly. Hopefully, they get it together for team finals. It is another day and sometimes, that's all you need.
Despite this shit storm of a qualifications, there were some wonderful triumphs. On the heels of the Romania disaster, the Netherlands managed to secure a sweet spot in the team finals. Such a triumph for this team. They've been under the radar for quite a long time, but this quad, they've slowly snuck into the consciousness of gym fans everywhere. Starting with the glorious Sanne Wevers and her delightful, spinny beam routine and her sister, Lieke, who had a stellar competition at the 2015 European Games.
As of this writing, Sanne sits in 2nd place behind Simone for the beam final. Her teammate, the equally glorious Eythora Thorsdottier is holding on to the last spot.
Per Dana-B on Tumblr, here are the standings for the event finals as of now, accounting for the two per country rule:
Full results will be posted when they are available.
At the moment, Team USA and Team China have completed their qualifications. There is still another subdivision to complete and subdivision as of this writing. Right now, USA is leading qualification with a 236.611, leading Russia by just over 5 points.
Team USA did not have an easy time during qualifications today. There were falls from usually super consistent athletes. They started on floor, and Gabby led off the team. Hitting a double Arabian to stag jump on her first pass and ending with a clean, stuck double back, scoring an easy 14.400.
Brenna Dowell went next. She hit her double front pike and will now have that skill named for her in the Code of Points. However, there was a glitch and she wound up competing floor without music. The audience helped her fill in and clapped the beats. Then she went out of bounds on her last pass, a front full. 13.966, with a 0.1 neutral deduction for going out of bounds.
The rock of the team turned out to be Maggie and Simone. Aly Raisman didn't have a good day either. She went out of bounds on her first pass, the 1 1/2 step out to double Arabian to front layout and incurred a 0.3 neutral deduction. Vault, team USA puts up two double twisting yurchenkos from Brenna and Gabby, hit nice and clean. Aly does her Amanar and takes several large steps forward. Simone and Maggie hit their Amanars, stuck or nearly stuck. Whatevs, no big deal.
Then bars happened. It's painful to talk about. Brenna. Oh Brenna. You were so good during NCAA season! You hit all your bar routines for Oklahoma. You looked so good in podium training. Why, why, why? Aly too. So painful. Bars is a weak spot for the US, even with strong bar workers like Madison, Brenna, Gabby and Maggie (even though she didn't compete bars in qualifications) and obviously, consistency seems to be an issue on this event.
Beam went a little better. Perhaps not by much, but USA was at least able to absorb a fall on beam from Gabby Douglas. Aly managed to at least hit her beam routine. Madison Kocian pulled out a nice, clean routine. The best, from miss Simone Biles. She wasn't infallible. She wobbled on her wolf turn mount, small balance checks on her leap series. She nailed her Barani and finished with an exclamation point, sticking her full in dismount.
Team China didn't fare well either. They are currently sitting in 4th place behind Great Britain with a 225.127. They're going to qualify to team finals, and to the Olympics pretty comfortably. However, who didn't expect more from China? Or at least I did.
They are glorious on bars and beam, but seem to struggle in power events, such as vault and floor. Young Wang Yan, who has a resting bitch face that strikes fear into the hearts of unbelievers, is the opposite, much more of a Cheng Fei then a Huang Huidan or a Yao Jinnan (sigh). She's a great asset on vault, able to pull out a Tsuk double full and a Rudi out in qualifications. But she struggles on bars, only scoring an 11.800 in the qualifications.
Shang Chunsong can pull off ridiculous twisting elements with so many twists, but can only pull off a yurchenko full on vault. She's amazing on beam, but definitely inconsistent. She fell on her layout stepout series during qualifications. She did make bar finals, even though it's not her best event. She has an eponymous skill, a ridiculous piked Hindorff.
This Chinese team is also perhaps a little rough around the edges. They had lots of small errors here and there, and that adds up very quickly. Hopefully, they get it together for team finals. It is another day and sometimes, that's all you need.
Despite this shit storm of a qualifications, there were some wonderful triumphs. On the heels of the Romania disaster, the Netherlands managed to secure a sweet spot in the team finals. Such a triumph for this team. They've been under the radar for quite a long time, but this quad, they've slowly snuck into the consciousness of gym fans everywhere. Starting with the glorious Sanne Wevers and her delightful, spinny beam routine and her sister, Lieke, who had a stellar competition at the 2015 European Games.
As of this writing, Sanne sits in 2nd place behind Simone for the beam final. Her teammate, the equally glorious Eythora Thorsdottier is holding on to the last spot.
Per Dana-B on Tumblr, here are the standings for the event finals as of now, accounting for the two per country rule:
Full results will be posted when they are available.
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