Brazil’s National Championships

[MaryClare]

Schwikert was the likely pick.
She was normally someone who peaked at the right time.
Her bars for sure would have gone up in team finals instead of Patterson. I would have put Schwikert on beam (instead of Kupets) and floor too. Her leaps were almost always around.

Memmel was also an option but we didn't see her at Trials so no idea how she looked at camp.

I think that by camp, Memmel was pretty much back on bars and beam.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I’m guessing McCool’s leaps were not around at all at trials but still got credit?

 

[MaryClare]

I’m guessing McCool’s leaps were not around at all at trials but still got credit?

I have no idea why the domestic judges went totally McCoolAid that year.
It definitely didn’t help that when she went to the test event in January 04, none of the international judges had heard of her (she’d stayed junior all of 2003) and were genuinely astounded that the US had another top 10 gymnast. So they possibly didn’t judge her with their normal pens

 

[navyblue]

Yeah so is Brazil gonna have any meets prior to Olympics to we can watch Flavia and Rebeca compete?

 

[RedBirdie]

Domestic judges were high on McCool because Marta loved her. As far as Marta was concerned, it was Kupets who screwed everything up by returning for her Achilles injury and winning nationals and trials. Marta's plan was Patterson and McCool getting to two guaranteed spots.

 

[Concorde]

Because this thread is already going way off topic...

The gymnastics community's perception of McCool's scoring both domestically and internationally is quite inaccurate.

1. Misconception # 1: McCool was consistently being credited with her full start values in the U.S.

At U.S. Nationals and Olympic Trials, a 4 panel judge system where each judge calculated a routine's start value and evaluated execution was used. On balance beam, she was only credited with a 10.0 SV on 7 scores out of a possible 16. On floor, she was only credited with her full start value on 5 scores out of 16.

For all the criticism that judging in the U.S. receives, it should be noted that other than Patterson, every gymnast received at least one downgrade on floor over U.S. Nationals and the Olympic Trials (and yes, this includes the likes of Kupets, Schwikert, and Yim).

2. Misconception #2: McCool was consistently receiving scores in the 9.6+ range on beam and floor in the U.S.

McCool only received a 9.6 or higher (maximum of 9.625) on three routines out of 8. At Olympic Trials, her floor scored as low as 9.325 and 9.450.

3. Misconception #3: McCool was not going to be credited with her elements and connections internationally.

• In beam finals of the Test Event, McCool received a 10.0 SV on beam.
• In qualifications at the Olympics, McCool received a 9.9 SV on floor meaning that the judges credited her dance elements. Had she not tucked the front layout in her final tumbling pass, she would have been credited with a 10.0 SV on floor.

4. Misconception #4: McCool's lower scores at the Olympics were a result of stricter judging.

If you look at the scores McCool received in Athens considering the mistakes that she made, it is clear that judges were willing to reward her for clean routines. On beam she had a 0.3 wobble on the Onodi meaning that both it, and the switch leap + Onodi connection were not eligible for bonus, which is the main reason for the 9.6 SV. Adding 0.3 back to the 9.112 she received for this mistake alone bumps her up to a 9.412, even disregarding any changes to her SV. Similarly, at the Test Event she made several major errors in the beam final, yet still scored a 9.450. Therefore, the 9.5 to 9.6s that she was receiving at Nationals and the Olympic Trials for higher quality routines do not seem unrealistic. I absolutely think McCool could have been scored more harshly both within the US and internationally, but the evidence does not indicate this is what would have happened.

 

[Aeris]

4. Misconception #4: McCool's lower scores at the Olympics were a result of stricter judging.

If you look at the scores McCool received in Athens considering the mistakes that she made, it is clear that judges were willing to reward her for clean routines. On beam she had a 0.3 wobble on the Onodi meaning that both it, and the switch leap + Onodi connection were not eligible for bonus, which is the main reason for the 9.6 SV.

That was a very bad call from the D-panel, 0.3 was the maximum balance deduction at the time and her error was not that severe, there's no way the execution judges took that much, considering she also had multiple obviously underrotated skills, a not-great sheep jump, and a step on the dismount.

But ultimately yes, she just performed worse at the Olympics than other times. She didn't do poorly though and a lot of her deductions were avoidable with better routines, there was no reason to have her doing triple twist (on both floor and beam) and the double lay 1/1 on bars. That straddle full and sheep jump on beam weren't good choices either.

If I'm her coach in that code, these are her routines:

BB:
Handspring mount + sissone ring
Front aerial
one-hand bhs + loso + loso
Johnson + shush 1/2
Switch split + straight 1/1 jump + tuck 1/1 jump
Gainer layout 1/1 dismount

UB:
Jump to handstand + stalder shoot
Toe 1/2 + Khorkina
Toe 1/1 + Giant 1/1 + Giant 3/2 + Bail handstand + toe shoot
Double Layout

FX:
2.5 twist + front layout 1/1
Double L + Popa
Cat "2/1" (these were such a farce LOL) + Cat 3/2
1.5 twist + front tuck 1/1
double turn + tuck jump 2/1 to prone
Front 2/1 + front layout