British WAG (and MAG!) talk

[Seyonne]

I’m so happy for the Brits. I honestly didn’t think they had a prayer.

 

[Doug1233]

I’m so happy for the Brits. I honestly didn’t think they had a prayer.

I’m going to sound crazy - but I kind of did.
The Gadirova girls are ROCKS. It’s crazy that their only senior meets prior to this was Euros and Scam.

 

[rlayt]

I’m looking forward to seeing more of those Gadirovas.

 

[Seyonne]

Me, too, but one of them needs to tattoo a dot on her forehead, so I can tell them apart.

 

[RedBirdie]

I know Amelie is going to the same gym as the Gadirovas. Does that gym have any juniors? The twins have such fantastic basics and technique that I could see GB contending for years if there’s a pipeline of girls that are similar.

 

[RAFIKI]

It’s bonkers that the Gadirovas are Olympic medalists before their first senior nationals.

I’m thrilled for all of them, especially Alice given qualifications and the trial drama. She really did smash it today. I just finished a rewatch and once again all the reaction shots, their interview and Beth/Christine trying to talk through tears had me in pieces

I’m still angry at BG and their process and I still think Becky should have been on the team. However I agree with the comment about being much less nervous with Amelie going last than Becky. Mind you I can’t believe our most consistent beamer of the year fell for the first routine of the day.

How it started vs how it’s going this millennium

 

[Angelika]

One red scrunchie and one blue scrunchie would be a good start!

 

[MaryClare]

I haven’t commented on this previously as I haven’t read the whole thread, but I am pretty appalled by some of the responses from supposedly GB fans.

1. Was the overall selection process great? No. But neither were the selection processes of other countries.
2. There was never going to be a good way of dealing with the tragic situation with the Downie’s brother. It’s not something a sports governing body can plan for. Sometimes tragic events throw our lives completely off course. There are some things you aren’t going to be able to make allowances for. Plus the team selection deadline is set by BOC, not BG
3. If you think Becky wasn’t selected because she has spoken out, you are living in cloud coo coo land. Speak to the now retired gymnasts who were on teams with Becky Downie about how stressful, impactful and mentally draining it was being around her at a competition.
4. It was made very, very clear to non AA gymnasts at the start of the quad, just how difficult it would be for them to make a 4 person team.
5. Alice is favoured because of which gym she attends? Um, Park Wrekin has a terrible record when it comes to team selection. There are only 2 gyms in GB that are favoured and one of them is a shadow of its former self

 

[blake]

I had a feeling the British were going to get bronze narrowly the other day, but I figured they were out after BB. It could’ve been anyone’s bronze with China falling to pieces. Japan might’ve nicked it if Mai had hit bars.

 

[Doug1233]

I had a feeling the British were going to get bronze narrowly the other day, but I figured they were out after BB. It could’ve been anyone’s bronze with China falling to pieces. Japan might’ve nicked it if Mai had hit bars

And there wasn’t much between 3rd and 6th. Less than a point j think?

 

[QuietColours]

.832 point

 

[Doug1233]

How many falls did they each have? I know we had 1.

I haven’t seen Amelie’s beam yet what did she fall on?

Awful start!

 

[blake]

Just looked, 8 tenths. Italy was in the same position as Stuttgart, in 3rd heading to BB in the last rotation. A healthy Villa would’ve been crucial for them. They didn’t break 13.1 on BB! Japan had a fall on UB, France on BB. I think Italy is the only team to hit all 12?

I remember thinking at the start of the rotation how monumentally stupid BG were for not selecting Becky because I figured they needed her 15+ to sneak bronze.

 

[blake]

I haven’t seen Amelie’s beam yet what did she fall on?

bhs-loso-loso

 

[Dympie]

I said from the time they were selected that this team had medal prospects. The Gadirova twins could slot into a US or Russian team very easily, they are class gymnasts. The team selection was geared towards a team medal and not individual medals as it should be. Having said that there’s a real prospect of an individual Gadirova medal still. Can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

 

[Dympie]

Look at their smiles, they have very slightly different teeth. That’s how I manage it

 

[Gymfan93]

Lol I got into an argument on twitter with someone (I know, I know!) who said that the team was mediocre and inexpeienced. Between them, they had multiple European, junior worlds and junior European, YOG, CWG experience and medals.
And now they can add an Olympic medal to their hauls! Thats WITH Amelie and Jennifer still watering down a little bit from injury.
I thought yesterday morning that it might be a heartbreakingly close fourth, so I’m not shocked but it was a lovely surprise!
I’m still not fully over that this is Jessicas second and Jennifers FIRST major senior meet (I don’t think we can count American Cup really).

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

These points are a rather mixed bag. Now I’m not necessarily a GB fan, rather I am a fan who happens to be from GB, but the discussion is worth having nonetheless.

1. Other countries selection processes are irrelevant.
2. There wasn’t, no. That doesn’t actually mean that inviting Becky to compete in the aftermath, in good faith, at a trial when they subsequently said they’d already decided they wanted to focus on AAers wasn’t a much worse way of doing things than simply being honest with her.
3. Yet none of this was a problem before Becky spoke out about abuse. GB have selected her for competition after competition, mostly only omitting her when injured. Added to which what we know about the treatment of whistleblowers generally and within BG specifically, there simply isn’t any way of accepting your contention here that doesn’t involve giving BG the benefit of the doubt. They have done nothing to deserve this.
4. If this actually happened, arguably legitimate but depends how it was done. There is also the question of whether such a policy, so far out, would maximise medals.
5. PW’s previous record is neither here nor there. There is a clear potential conflict of interest when the head coach is married to one of the coaching team of a contending athlete and neither he nor BG feel the need to recuse him from the process. All the selection document said was that such an individual might sit it out, which is meaningless.
   Added to the fact that the selection process was primarily secret and that nothing was released at all until PW, not even BG did it, means there are clearly some issues here, and the people who are pointing them out are emphatically not the ones in the wrong.

The idea that those who would identify as GB fans are doing anything wrong by being critical of a process that at absolute minimum, has been poorly designed, badly handled and leaves massive gaps in transparency given that they’re publicly funded, is also one that requires critical examination.

 

[Gymfan93]

There is obviously a difference between being critical of the organisation/process and being particularly nasty online to individual athletes. (I’m not accusing anyone here, to be clear- but of course social media is a cess pit)

I’ll be slightly controversial and say that I don’t think 2019 worlds was particularly relevant to the selection. It was almost 2 years before this Olympics, gyms were closed for a period, there was limited recent data to go on apart from Euros.

Either way, Becky obviously feels that the process was unfair. She’s definitely not the only one who has encountered/spoken of shady behaviour from GB. There is clearly a problem within the organisation itself, somewhere.

That doesn’t mean that the ones selected didn’t deserve their spots, of course.

 

[shirai]

Glad the twins got their picture with Simone, they’ve spoken a lot in interviews about how much they wanted to meet her and how starstruck they would be