WAG Qualifications Preview

Tomorrow, the women will compete in the qualifying rounds of the Rio Olympic Games. The drama, the lights and the tears, all of it.

So what can we expect from the women tthis morning? Keep reading and I will walk you through what really could be a bigger blockbuster than the latest Captain America movies. (Cap's got nothing on Simone, pssh).



Subdivisions 1 & 2
Competitors:

Subdivision 1  

Vault: Mixed Group 7 -

Uneven Bars: Belgium

Balance Beam: China

Floor Exercise: Mixed Group 1

Subdivision 2 

VT: Italy

UB: Mixed Group 5

BB: Russia

FX: Mixed Group 6

For teams, it's going to be all about Russia and China. Russia has been very un-Russia like in podium training. They seem to be adopting Martha Karolyi and Team USA's philosophy of "practice how you compete." No major meltdowns, no real half assing it. Even Aliya Mustafina decided to go balls to the wall and pulled out all her upgrades, including bringing her eponymous bars dismount. Maria Paseka is Chenging it up on vault. There is the question of if they are all healthy, since Melnikova was reported to be suffering from an injury. China allegedly has their star, Shang Chunsong as suffering from the flu. Romania's lone survivor, Catalina Ponor will be competing in subdivison 2. Since she'll be competing the all around and she hasn't competed bars in oh, twelve years or so, this should be interesting. Also look for the contraversial "Belo-American" Kylie Dickson making her Olympic debut for Belarus.  There is also Cal gymnast, Toni Ann Williams, who is competing for Jamaica. Look for her bad ass double front beam dismount.

Subdivision 3

Competitiors:

VT: Mixed Group 8

UB: Great Britain

BB: Brazil

FX: Germany

The teams competing in this subdivision, Brazil, Britain and Germany are all teams to watch. Brazil has a stacked team of returning Olympians including Daniele Hypolito and Jade Barbosa. Also look for Flavia Saraiva, the tiny Brazilian sprite that stole hearts around the world when she competed in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.  Britain has the bars phenom, Becky Downie who's routine is guaranteed to be stacked ala 2012 bars bronze medalist, Beth Tweddle. There's also Claudia Fragapane, who could be the british equivalent to Laurie Hernandez with her funky floor routines. Germany has Elisabeth Seitz, also a bars ninja and Pauline Schaefer, the bronze medalist at the 2015 World Championships. This is going to be a battle to see who makes the team final. Great Britain is a team on the rise, so no doubt they will be in that team final. The battle will be between Brazil and Germany.

Subdivision 4 

Competitors:

VT: Mixed Group 4

UB: Netherlands

BB: Mixed Group 2

FX: United States of America

Obviously, the dominant team here is team USA, but the team I'm looking forward to seeing is the Netherlands. They're led by fraternal twins, Sanne and Lieke Wevers. Sanne is gorgeous on beam, with a routine composed of turns, double turns, triple turns, etc. Lieke is just as beautiful on floor, with her billion turns. Then there is Eythora Thorsdottir, who has exquisite form. For individuals, watch for  a couple past and present NCAA gymnasts, including former Denver gymnast, Jessica Lopez who competes for Venezuela, Marissa Dick of Trinidad and Tobago and her eponymous beam mount, the ethereal Vasiliki Millousi of Greece and current  Boise State Gymnast, Courtney McGregor, representing New Zealand. 

Subdivision 5 

Competitors
VT: Japan
UB: France
BB: Canada
FX: Mixed Group 3

In this group, another NCAA gymnast, Brittany Rogers of Georgia is leading the Canadians. Also look for Sae Miakawa and Mai Murakami of Japan.