Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[irichluck21]

Its not rumor, its about as close to fact.

 

[MaryClare]

Its not rumor, its about as close to fact.

I was being diplomatic. I’m known for it

 

[irichluck21]

I was being diplomatic. I’m known for it

 

[tsarinajen]

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Beam mount.

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[blake]

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I think that's the best this mount has been done.

 

[makam]

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Dayum! Wonder if she is going to try to connect it.

 

[Hatsumomo]

I'm so hopeful that we'll finally see her fulfill the potential she never quite reached before. Everything we've seen of her comeback so far has her looking better than she did in even 2012.

 

[RichardL]

I'm so hopeful that we'll finally see her fulfill the potential she never quite reached before. Everything we've seen of her comeback so far has her looking better than she did in even 2012.

There's a way that I agree with this, but then I think about how she's an Olympic AA champion and World AA silver medalist, and twice an Olympic gold medalist with her team. She definitely achieved her potential but I do think that her qualities will be rewarded by this COP more than they were in the one under which she competed last.

 

[irichluck21]

Dayum! Wonder if she is going to try to connect it.

Oh she definitely is! You can see she is about to go into another leap.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I’m still very doubtful that Valeri will keep her healthy, but it is so nice to see a return to 2012 form for Gabby and to see all those amazing qualities she had back then.

It’s so rare to find an athlete who has the quick twitch muscles of Simone and the flexibility of Nastia.

 

[JDB]

I always wondered what Gabby Douglas could have achieved had she not been surrounded by people who were 100% morally bankrupt. It's good for her that she's experiencing it now.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It's interesting how so many of us can still have 'what ifs' for someone who was the Olympic AA champion. But I get it. Gabby was the whole package. Not just the talent, but the big match temperament too. I think in terms of ability to do it when it mattered, the only person we've seen in the same league in recent years is Mustafina.

 

[tsarinajen]

 

[Snowfan]

It's a lovely handstand. Now as a question and I'm just curious. Don't handstands like that break the flow of the routine? It kind of has a start stop just like Mustafina's did. Is that something that people like? Would it be better to be within 10 degrees and keep the flow going? I don't care what the judges prefer but I am curious what the members of this board think in regards to stop control vs continued swinging.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

It's a lovely handstand. Now as a question and I'm just curious. Don't handstands like that break the flow of the routine? It kind of has a start stop just like Mustafina's did. Is that something that people like? Would it be better to be within 10 degrees and keep the flow going? I don't care what the judges prefer but I am curious what the members of this board think in regards to stop control vs continued swinging.

Unfortunately, I feel like the code has conditioned me to find this satisfying, even though it seems like a total arbitrary way to evaluate a skill. Finishing a pirouette at a 90° is really inconsequential to how nice a skill looks compared to landing a dismount in a deep squat. It’s a prime example of useless micromanaging skill performance the WTC is known for.

 

[tsarinajen]

It's a lovely handstand. Now as a question and I'm just curious. Don't handstands like that break the flow of the routine? It kind of has a start stop just like Mustafina's did. Is that something that people like? Would it be better to be within 10 degrees and keep the flow going? I don't care what the judges prefer but I am curious what the members of this board think in regards to stop control vs continued swinging.

I’ll say it depends on how it looks. A brief pause, I don’t mind. If it’s too long then it looks stalled and almost like an error.

 

[makam]

I'm not a judge, but I'll admit to being super satisfied when a gymnast holds a vertical handstand on the UB. I think there were times that Kyla Ross in NCAA would pause and be like, deduct this bitches! I love it and don't care what it does to the rhythm of a routine. In fact, I think you could say it helps vary the cadence and adds a bit of personal pizzazz.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Holding the handstand like that, in a way, reminds me of yesteryears when women competed PB, and subsequent UB routines comprised holds and balances. So yeah, it does disrupt the rhythm but it's intentional and demands great control, so I don't mind it.

as of the November camp, Douglas's rumored UB routine was a 6.2-6.5 depending on the connections. Has she shown inbars on socials? Could be:

Stalder 1/1 + Downie + Pak + Chow 1/2 DFDE .4 (she needs a backup Van Leeuwen if she's going for this connection)
Inbar 1/2 + Healy + Ling + 1/2 + giant + giant + DLO DEEBBBD .2
FEEEDDDD 3.7 + 2.2 + .6 = 6.5

could go a lot lower than 6.2 for missed connections, though. I'm stumped.

Now that we've seen her beam mount, I think this might be the routine:
Switch leap mount + switch 1/2 + back tuck DDC .4
Free walkover + split jump + straddle DBB .2
Front pike E
FF + loso BC
Back full F
Turn A
Switch leap C (has she shown a ring?)
FF + bhs + double pike BBE .1
FEEDCDDC 3.4 + 2.2 + .7 = 6.3

There are myriad combos she could be doing. The individual skills we've seen are textbook. I love that we're collectively dying to see more

 

[irichluck21]

Douglas always had big E scores on bars and in Rio had the top execution scores in TQ/TF IIRC.

I can see her getting to a top bars score even with less D difficulty just because she is clean and and judges appreciate her execution.

 

[RedBirdie]

New article. Interesting statement: "I never wanted to have a hatred for the sport I love. I don’t want to end it that way."

https://olympics.com/en/news/gabby-douglas-pushes-through-hard-days-paris-2024-in-mind