I have two dimensions to this question/idea prompt
Who in your eyes are the outright best gymnasts on each event right now? – – Regardless of team placements, geopolitical bans, etc.
What would your fantasy event final look like?** (including the limitations of finals like 2-per-country and international politics and so forth)
VAULT:
Simone Biles – but when will she reemerge with her second vault?* And will she keep taking the hit for her spotter?
Rebeca Andrade – Will her Amanar re-appear? Does she even need it?
Jade Carey – WIth her Amanar gathering dust in the corner and her Cheng somewhat regressed compared to Tokyo, is she still #3 in the world?
Others: Anyone else laying low with a sneaky Cheng? Will Skye Blakely or Jordan Chiles unveil one to get their names in the mix? Will Alexa Moreno’s Yeo vault become a real thing?
UNEVEN BARS:
Kaliya Nemour – Everyone is eager to see her perform internationally. No notes.
Qiu Qiyuan: That huge D score has everyone talking… can she hit at a high stakes meet?
Wei Xiaoyuan: Did I hear correctly she wasn’t even placed on the Chinese world team for 2023?
Others: Any Nina bars routines in 2023? Listunova and Andrade also have legit 15.0 potential…
I think eventually Simone won’t have Laurent in the podium during her YDP. Laurent said Simone will be doing the Cheng but he doesn’t like the way it looks right now. I like how he takes on the responsibility for defending skill choices and timeline for presenting them. It takes the heat off of Simone for explaining them.
Qiu Qiyuan – Seems like Chinese judges might be the only ones who keep a strict pen at domestic meets. 6.8 D + 8.1 E =
Simone Biles – might not have the most exciting beam, but consistency has to count for something on this most unpredictable of events.
Zhang Qingying – incredible work here and we love the sideways korbut.
Others: Suni might be missing from the bars ranking at the moment, but probably my #4 in the world on beam right now…
FLOOR
Simone Biles – well, yeah.
Viktoria Listunova – can’t say I love her performance style, but it definitely checks a lot of boxes. And when you can stick a Dos Santos…
Jessica Gadirova – I actually do love her performance style. And the height of those leaps! I’m not that pressed about her weird Silivas technique. She’s my #3 for sure.
Others: Andrade can obviously medal here, if her knees can hold up. And then, there’s always 3 or 4 Americans who can sneak into the 14 club on any given day as long as they leave their sketchy dance elements on the shelf.
Agreed. He’s in the rare position of gymnastics coaches who are universally respected, which makes him a perfect spokesperson for the world’s most famous gymnast.
I’m not sure we can really include Simone on vault at this stage. We’ve not seen her do 2 vaults since Tokyo prelims. Yes, as soon as she has a 2nd vault, she’ll be number 1, but currently competing a 2nd vault needs to be a pre requisite I feel!
Wei Xiaoyuan hasn’t been able to recover her full difficulty from last season. She struggled with a downgraded set at University Games, and according to Chinese gymternet she regressed even more in between those and the Worlds/Asian Games trials. She wasn’t selected for either meet.
For a 2x world champion, I find her bar work kinda underwhelming. She had a great DLO 1/1 tho.
Biles 2. Andrade 3. Carey 4. Yeo (5. Chiles) 6. Devillard (7. Roberson) 8. Moreno 9. Godwin 10. Black
Landi said he doesn’t like the way Biles’ Cheng looks right now? I thought they just weren’t focusing on it at the moment–in my mind she’ll do it at Worlds. Moreno is lower because she hasn’t done the DTT this year.
Uneven Bars
Nemour 2. Listunova 3. Andrade 4. QQY 5. Jones 6. Derwael 7. Alice D’Amato 8. HZF/Roshchina/Miller/De Jesus Dos Santos
Nice rankings, but Chiles has never outscored Gadirova on floor, and she has also regressed since last year based on PT videos. I love her but I’m worried about her even being top 3 this weekend on her two key events. She now has the same D score on vault as Blakely and Wong, for example, who look great. Chiles could easily be 5th there, and floor as well. And then she doesn’t go to Worlds, sadly. I hope this isn’t true though!
