Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[MaryClare]

I can’t imagine it, because it isn’t going to happen

 

[Doug1233]

Which athlete out of those 5 do you think has no shot at making the team?

Weirdly enough, I think it would be Simone. Looking at her SM she looks pretty done.

 

[Hatsumomo]

I’d bet more on Gabby Douglas making a comeback than Simone Biles at this point.

 

[MaryClare]

Simone is definitely the least likely, not least because as you point out, she seems done, but because the others are actually training.

I think Simone is more likely to be expecting a baby by Paris than in contention to make the team.

Shilese…I dunno, it just doesn’t seem to me like she’s on an upward trajectory to me. She should concentrate on maxing out on bars, whilst maintaining a usable AA set

 

[JaJa]

Can you imagine Gabby (Olympic AA 2012), Simone (Olympic AA 2016), Suni (Olympic AA 2020), Jade (Olympic FX 2020, World VT 2022), Shilese (World AA silver 2022).

pure fantasy

 

[JaJa]

Simone is definitely the least likely, not least because as you point out, she seems done, but because the others are actually training.

I think Simone is more likely to be expecting a baby by Paris than in contention to make the team.

Shilese…I dunno, it just doesn’t seem to me like she’s on an upward trajectory to me. She should concentrate on maxing out on bars, whilst maintaining a usable AA set

I think Simone is for sure done and has moved on. And I think that is very wise if true. As for gabby , my very strong hunch is there will not be a viable come back.

 

[dweiss324]

I quite agree with you, my only thought is that if Shilese isn’t going, then who is?? Once you start removing names like Simone and Gabby and Shilese… There’s not even Grace McCallum around anymore to auto-fill the 5th spot.

 

[irichluck21]

There’s not even Grace McCallum around anymore to auto-fill the 5th spot.

DiCello, Wong, Blakely, Chiles

 

[Denn]

Why? Seems pretty easy to have all 3 do AA:

VT: All but Jones
UB: All but Carey
BB: All but Carey
FX: All but Jones

 

[Doug1233]

VT: All but Jones

You’d have Suni and Gabby vault (and floor!) over Shilese?

You’d only do that because you wouldn’t want to bench an AAer (not that Shilese isn’t an AAer - at her 2022 best she would probably outscore any AA set that Suni or Gabby could pull together this year).

 

[Denn]

Yeah. It’s prelims. Who cares about a tenth or two.

Lee and Douglas had very good vaults and floors as AAers. Douglas regularly scored very well with her DTY and Lee

Also, I’m not saying that’s what I want. But you said “You’d literally have to bench an Olympic AA champion from an event in prelims” and it’s not even a little true. Those 3 could do prelims all alone and fall 10 times and still make it to finals probably.

 

[Doug1233]

Ha ok Denn, you know when people say “literally” online, they don’t actually literally mean “literally”

 

[Laura722]

I respect Gabby for keeping things quiet, but I’m dying for some sort of update on her training.

 

[makam]

WOGA isn’t really known for vaulting powerhouses though I can’t imagine Gabby not having at least a NCAA FTY or a less-than-her-former DTY. Heck, she might be as good or better–Memmel’s vaulting improved in her recent comeback. But Gabby on bars and beam would be a nice complement to Carey. Add in Chiles and Lee and whoever of the non-Olympians is looking best and you have a solid team (as long as Chiles can keep her NCAA consistency and at least half of the execution when she goes back to longer elite routines).

Either way, it is fun to speculate! Since we can’t have Memmel make another comeback attempt, I’d love watching Gabby go for it.

 

[gymfan]

I feel it’s difficult for Gabby to fill the Paris spot (but I hope she will prove me wrong). Her bars difficulty depend on inbar. Using Komova and Mustafina as reference, both of them lost inbar in their comeback. Without inbar, either she has to learn F skills (harder to learn) or do a toe on version (much lower difficulty) of her routine. There are three potential bars (Shilese Jones, Suni Lee, Zoe Miller) that are not less than 6.3D.

Or she will need a strong and consistent beam score, but it’s unclear how her beam routine will fit the current code. The beam code requires fluency, motion with good rhythm and body extension, which are completely different from the code when she competed on beam.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Switch leap mount + switch 1/2 DD .2 (could connect to Korbut or a back full in my dreams. the switch mount would be new)
Turn A
Front tuck D
FF + loso BC
Free walkover + split jump + straddle DBB .2
Tuck full F
Switch leap C
FF + bhs + DP BBE .1
FEDDCDDC 3.3 + 2.2 + .5 = 6.0

 

[Denn]

I could have sworn I wrote that up as a routine a few weeks ago but I can’t find it. The only difference is that I didn’t have her doing switch leap + switch half, and I did have her do the FF + LOSO after the switch leap (which she can already do).

I think that mount is a great idea given her abilities but the combination, I think, is not a good idea. The switch half was never great, honestly.

 

[Doug1233]

I wonder if she could put a BHS before the full, for the extra 0.2 and nix the redundant LOSO.

 

[Caligym]

I had forgotten she competed both a front pike and tuck. How does her 2016 routine hold up to todays code?

 

[gymfan]

She would’ve taken the switch ring out at least. Also, quite a lot of adjustments (each -0.1) in today’s standard. The beam code today is just crazy.