British WAG (and MAG!) talk

[ArnoldRimmer]

Maybe she’s just doing a Dr Who tour.

 

[Doug1233]

Lol.

I’ll be mad if she gets injured this weekend.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Someone probably will.

I still can’t quite believe that we’re about to see a federation, in this case one receiving public money, allow the spouse of a contending athlete’s personal coach to sit on the selection panel. Colin Still isn’t recusing himself, and everyone is apparently fine with this. It’s almost hilarious.

 

[Doug1233]

And the fact that, until Becky spoke up and the Gymternet reacted, that decision would have been made using scores and routines which were not even public!

I mind a thousand times less about Colin being on the selection panel when HE KNOWS that the scores on which he will base his decision will be made public.

I trust that they will release the Friday AND Sunday scores on Monday - and not just the Sunday scores…?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Even now, it’s going to be made partially based on routines that aren’t public. There’s been no suggestion that we’ll get to see the ones from earlier selection events. I don’t know if footage even exists. Obviously the scores getting out now goes some way to mitigating that, but not 100%.

But yeah, how they thought this was both legitimate and doable is beyond me. Even federations that aren’t being accused of abuse and don’t have head coaches with blatant conflicts of interest are still at risk of someone having a shitfit and posting scores on twitter. It’s not like the last two teams have stayed embargoed either!

 

[Doug1233]

I just don’t understand how they still think closed door selections can be kosher in this day and age.

It’s not like it’s DIFFICULT to post videos and scores. It’s that they actively don’t want to.

Which begs the question - why? What are you hiding BG?

The online backlash and skepticism, given coach/selector relationships, is wholly to be expected and they were FUCKING STUPID for not pre-empting it with a transparent and robust selection procedure.

 

[rue_des_plantes]

This has been quite a ride, ever since Euros when Morgan seemed to be forcing the question of, “me instead of one of the twins?” as best she could.

I don’t know what’s up at Notts, but if I’m betting, Ellie is in greater danger. I’d call the bluff on sacking Becky for an UB error this weekend. However, a meltdown for Becky would be perilous, and if Ellie doesn’t have a Cheng or a strong AA outing, there’s almost no recent data to make a case for her. One 14.150 on vault isn’t enough for 4-4-3/4-3-3.

It seems, as discussed, GBR will not get their optimum, healthiest team because of their Trials timeline vis a vis Tokyo’s, and because what were 2 possible +1s became 0 over a matter of months. If they had one to play around with, they could triage some injuries or inconsistency. 2 would solve everything. Not anymore, which is a shame. A 5-person team like Rio or Paris consisting of Becky, Gadirova x2, and 2 of Ellie/Amelie/Alice could do well.

 

[Jack]

The thing is too that the selection US process for London and Rio worked as it was intended to. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be dialed back (it should to a degree), but when talking about track records of success waiting later to pick a team has a lot of legs up on picking teams months before.

 

[emmade]

What is this business about ‘Potential to medal at the Paris 2024Olympic Games’ as a selection criteria? It seems like they are putting blocks in front of Ellie and Becky that just aren’t there for the youngsters. I’m calling a Downie free BG team at this point.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

You are not the first person to ask this question.

 

[Doug1233]

I think it’s the last criteria in a long list.

The tough point is that if Becky doesn’t score a 15 on bars this weekend, she’s not going.

And if Ellie isn’t getting a 15 on vault and at least a 54 AA, she’s not going either. She’s fighting Amelie in the AA and Amelie has proved she can consistently get a 53 with no real weak point.

We have seen the scores and if we can’t go on scores for selection then it would be unfair on Alice and Amelie otherwise.

 

[Gymfan93]

Unrelated, but BG have revamped their website, does anybody know where they post selection criterias now? I have the one for the Olympics, but its handy to have for the future.

ETA: found it almost as soon as I posted, typical. It’s under Menu - Who We Are - Technical - Artistic if anybody ever wants to access any future announcements etc.

 

[Gymfan93]

It’s a pretty vague and dumb criteria, too.
Nobody can possibly know what may happen by 2024. People retire, or an average gymnast surges forward with a massive routine in one event etc.

 

[Puffin]

Colin Still is still under investigation (since last September) over his behaviour towards Amy Tinkler - yet not suspended and still allowed to pick the team :roll_eyes:

'Fat dwarf' coach helping select British Olympic team for Tokyo

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID COVERDALE: Colin Still was placed under investigation by British Gymnastics in September last year after Tinkler revealed emails she received from him in 2017.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[rue_des_plantes]

“Let’s talk about the husband”

Never thought it would be Christine Still of all people.

 

[Doug1233]

““Fat dwarf” coach” - excellent journalism as always from the Daily Mail

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

We also don’t even have any confirmation where it’s going to rank in terms of selection criteria. You’d hope pretty low, but it clearly isn’t safe to assume BG will take the sensible approach.

Thrilled to see the Mail are wading in with their customary delicacy and high journalistic standards.

 

[Gymfan93]

As it’s possible that no members of the Rio team will feature in Tokyo, I wonder if that criteria was given any weight in 2016?

 

[Doug1233]

It’s gotta be the lowest criteria. I imagine it would only be used to differentiate between two otherwise identical athletes.

Is Ellie continuing? I imagine that, if she’s been injured and Trials don’t go well this weekend, she takes a break and comes back strong for Worlds. With jade, Simone, Steingruber and Melnikova likely not there, and Skinner having ruled herself out, she could have a real shot on vault.

 

[Doug1233]

Interesting that Team GB have categorically said that any coach currently under investigation would not be travelling to Tokyo. But BG say that due to “employment law and contracts” (I.e. bullshit excuses) they can’t comment on the status of the investigation or even if they’ve taken any measures against him. So will they even tell us if/when the investigation is over?!

Given that Amanda is also being investigated- which coaches will be going? Obviously one of the Gadirova coaches will be one. I’m assuming they get another?