Biggest what ifs/if onlys?

[OnoNoKomachi]

What if Brody Malone had qualified for AA and HB EF.
He probably wouldn't have medaled in the AA, but who knows.
HB he would have had a shot at a medal had he competed his hardest routine (which he did not in TF).

 

[SBaity]

What if Jade hadn't gotten sick?

YES!

Absolutely. It's been wonderful to see new teams break into the medals in recent years, but it's definitely largely thanks to the absence of the Russians. I'm very curious to see what the dynamic will be like when Russia comes back. Will teams like Italy and GB be able to give the Russians a run for their money, after the latter has been out of international competition for so long? Or will they continue to consistently take team silver or bronze?

I will be super interested to see how it goes. I have loved all of the new teams, and of course love the US winning gold, but the Russian gymnasts are always so lovely to watch, and are always a force. It's not the same without them. While I think China always has a chance, I've been watching for SO long and they ruin it for themselves more often than not.

Some What If's I think about:

What if Simone hadn't had the twisties in 2020(1)? Would she have come back? What if the 2020(1) Olympics hadn't been the Covid Olympics - would nearly the entire team have made a comeback for this Olympics?

I have thought a lot about the what if's with our injured gymnasts, but I have such a soft spot for so many of our US girls that except for the beam disaster and of course the later drama we aren't speaking of - the podiums made me SO happy each time!! It was such a wonderful Olympics for the most part, and I was thrilled for the girls.

 

[makam]

Trials rankings using Blakely and DiCello's scores from Nationals, and Jones' score from Classics doubled.

1. Biles - 117.225
2. Jones - 115.300*
3. Blakely - 113.850*
4. Lee - 111.675
5. Chiles - 111.425
6. Carey - 111.350
7. Rivera - 111.150
8. Roberson - 110.975
9. DiCello - 110.800*
10. Wong - 110.425
11. Sumanasekera - 109.550
12. Lincoln - 109.400

I too had DiCello only as an alternate (though she was looking quite strong early in the season), she just didn't have any wow moments. Jones beats Lee by ~4 points with those numbers but how did her Olympic scores compare to her Trials scores? She was clearly on a pace to peak at the Os--I wonder if Jones would still have made AA finals over her or if she could still have prevailed (that could have been an awesome fight).

 

[irichluck21]

I would have had the Olympic Team as
Biles (AA) TF: VT/BB/FX
Jones (AA) TF: UB/FX
Blakely (AA) TF: VT/UB/BB
Lee (UB/BB) TF: UB/BB
Carey (VT/FX) VT/FX

alternates: DiCello, Wong, Chiles

 

[blake]

Video of DiCello training an upgraded second pass pre-injury. 3/2 to 5/2 punch 1/1.

 

[RichardL]

I too had DiCello only as an alternate (though she was looking quite strong early in the season), she just didn't have any wow moments. Jones beats Lee by ~4 points with those numbers but how did her Olympic scores compare to her Trials scores? She was clearly on a pace to peak at the Os--I wonder if Jones would still have made AA finals over her or if she could still have prevailed (that could have been an awesome fight).

It was an awesome fight as it was between Lee and Chiles, in an extremely close margin... my money would've been on Jones beating both of them.

 

[Big_rock_show]

What if they would have allowed background music in the BB final?

 

[tempest]

I really wanted a Lee

https://fb.watch/ulQW2tfq0H/