British WAG (and MAG!) talk

[RAFIKI]

I volunteered at the 2014 CWG and it was a fantastic experience. I was up in the press gallery which meant I got to use my knowledge and watch some of the events. I also had the joy of journalists asking “I’ve never covered this sport before, what do I need to know?”!

I’ve got tickets for Liverpool but I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to see because I’m a university lecturer and it’s term time. Couldn’t commit to volunteering for the same reason but tbh it’s been so long since I’ve seen live gymnastics that I just want to watch. Speaking of which, I just bought tickets to the British. I don’t know how I feel about arenas right now but at least I’ve got the option.

 

[onodian]

I also had the joy of journalists asking “I’ve never covered this sport before, what do I need to know?”!

I don’t think any of us can say we’re absolutely shocked. The Spanish commentator has been at it 25 years and i still think she just randomly blurts out a number between 1 and 3 whenever she sees a twisting element

 

[RAFIKI]

No not surprising but it was genuinely a joy though. I asked them if they wanted the 1 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute or a much longer explanation

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I actually live for the day a random stranger needs help with basic gymnastics understanding. I will SWOOP IN.

 

[Gymfan93]

I had this moment at work during one of the Olympics- maybe Rio? We had it playing and someone asked what happened to the 10 system. Bet they wished they hadn’t asked after.

 

[Gymfan93]

MAG news: Dominic Cunningham has changed FIG nationality and is now competing for Ireland (https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?idNews=3440)

 

[Doug1233]

Hmmm. not a huge fan of that. but obviously he was not gonna make another GB team

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Sounds like a good move. As Doug says, he probably wasn’t going to be on another GB team, but still plenty to offer. I hadn’t realised he was Irish as well although the surname should’ve been a clue. Quite a few of the GB gymnasts have Irish connections actually. The Gadirovas and Alice Kinsella too.

 

[RAFIKI]

(post deleted by author)

So intrigued to know what this post was

I hope Dom has a good time competing for Ireland and I look forward to seeing his gymnastics again.

Tis a bit awkward that he’s on all the CWG promotional stuff now.

 

[Doug1233]

haha it was about winter cup and I posted it in the wrong thread haha

 

[RAFIKI]

Not as juicy as I was speculating then!

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

English championships are next week and the competitor list is out.

https://www.gymdata.co.uk/Download.ashx?ProcessType=document&EventID=2221&DocumentID=32

Gadirovas, Alice, Ondine, Becky D, GMF are all down to compete.

 

[Doug1233]

NICE!!!

I hope someone will be videoing??

 

[Gymfan93]

I hope so! Someone was uploading to twitter whenever the last one was. I’ll be home most of that weekend, so I’ll keep an eye on twitter when I can.

 

[irichluck21]

Obviously Amelie Morgan is competing with Utah and missing these Nationals.
But has she officially retired from elite or is she planning to do both like Suni (maybe) and Leanne?

 

[Gymfan93]

Interesting question. If she’d planned to do both, I should think she could fairly easily make the English CWG or even Euros team over the summer, seeing as they are so close together. I would imagine that the top 5 will be used for Euros (as its a world qualifying event), which doesn’t leave a huge pool of athletes to compete for the home nations in CWG.

 

[Bob]

I don’t think she will try to do that. She has battled seemingly continual injury for the past 4 years. I am actually astounded she came through fit enough to go to Tokyo. Her coach also retired unexpectedly the day the team flew to Tokyo (was listed as a coach to go to Tokyo then announced retirement instead) so I don’t think she would want to come back to training in a UK. I think she is smart and has moved on and won’t risk her NCAA career which is going so well. With an Olympic medal she has little to prove. I think CWG will see a chance for some unexpected choices. The new seniors this year are dominated by a group of Welsh gymnasts to fill their team. It will be interesting who picks up the England places. The lovely Shannon Archer seems to be leading the Scottish contingent at this point. Looks like an interesting summer.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It is, but they only need to come top 13 at Euros to make worlds. That would take a disaster of epic proportions, so there’s really no need to send the A team. Possibly not even the B. However, you never know whether BG are going to see it that way.

There’s also the Russia sized elephant in the room. If they stay banned, GB are never going to have a better chance to win the European WAG title. The chances of a world team medal, and in fact worlds hardware generally, also increase. So if the federation does decide to take the ban into account when considering tactics, and I could understand it if they didn’t given that we have no idea how things will look in a few months, there’s potentially an issue of what gets prioritised there too. It isn’t just about CWG and Euros being very close together, there’s also the question of recovery time before worlds.

 

[dweiss324]

“Russia-sized elephant” is a veeeeeery large elephant. Good one

 

[Gymfan93]

Absolutely. I don’t think she would choose to do any elite comps, but I expect she’d fairly easily make a team of some sort if she did chose to.