Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[Hatsumomo]

Skye's inconsistency on her premiere event doesn't have her in contention for more than an alternate right now. Depending on how Classic and Nationals go, Douglas and DiCello would be vying for the same spot.

 

[rlayt]

Long-term Gabby still could make teams.

 

[Jerkin]

It's a lovely bars routine! But what is that a 5.9 D score? Even a perfect hit she can still get beat by Shilese, Skye, Simone, and (potentially) Suni. Not exactly her ticket to Paris.

But... that's totally OK! We can normalize an olympian's epic comeback in which not making the olympics isn't failure. Weeee!!!

??? It's a 6.4 D with exactly 8 skills. That's more than competitive. If she is able to do this in competition and cleans up the pak, the E will be great.

 

[Laura722]

 

[navyblue]

??? It's a 6.4 D with exactly 8 skills. That's more than competitive. If she is able to do this in competition and cleans up the pak, the E will be great.

d'oh. missed an E in my calculation.

I retract it all. That could by Shilese-challenging then eh? Very interesting.

 

[Aeris]

Skye's inconsistency on her premiere event doesn't have her in contention for more than an alternate right now. Depending on how Classic and Nationals go, Douglas and DiCello would be vying for the same spot.

There's many ways the team could go after Simone and Shilese, I don't think anyone is in direct competition for a specific spot at this point, nor is Skye inherently locked out. Whoever places 3rd AA at Trials is pretty much guaranteed to be on the team with the way they do things, and the battle for that is wide open right now. Placing top 4 AA at both Nationals and Trials will probably secure a spot too if there aren't enough people with stand-out events making cases for themselves.

Jordan Chiles is the only contender I've crossed off my list so far, it seems she hasn't been able to recover from her injury.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I'm also not ruling out the fact that she was (in addition to the above issues) extremely nervous. 8 years without feeling competition pressure is a hell of a long time.

Yeah, it was absolutely a numbers and nerves situation. The fact that her DTY was at her 2015 level and her tumbling passes were way overpowered pretty much indicates she was in great shape.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Skye's inconsistency on her premiere event doesn't have her in contention for more than an alternate right now. Depending on how Classic and Nationals go, Douglas and DiCello would be vying for the same spot.

I think the issue with Skye is that she always performs very well domestically and proceeds to fall apart at the big event. I doubt the selection committee will take her 25% hit rate at worlds into consideration.

If there is anyone who absolutely should have taken an international assignment this spring, it was her.

 

[rlayt]

Unfortunately I agree that Skye’s record of inconsistency is going to count against her.

eta But she’s a lovely gymnast. I hope she does well enough to not be unhappy.

 

[Aeris]

I think Skye's record will only be held against her in the specific situation of trying to fill a beam specialist role for the team. Like if she somehow ends up placing #1 on Beam at trials, but not top 4 in the AA or on any other individual event, then I think they will take a different specialist.

 

[makam]

I think Skye's record will only be held against her in the specific situation of trying to fill a beam specialist role for the team. Like if she somehow ends up placing #1 on Beam at trials, but not top 4 in the AA or on any other individual event, then I think they will take a different specialist.

I'll be honest, the only way I would take anyone as a beam specialist is if they went to 6 or 7 person teams again. BB is such a crapshoot, unless you had spots going begging (or 0 depth in your program), it is such a bad bet.

 

[irichluck21]

If Skye has a Cheng and a top 3-4 bars set she will make the team.
They used her only on bars last year at Worlds in TF after she fell off beam in TQ.

Her beam is such a bonus to the team if she hits.

She nearly won beam at worlds in 2022 if not for bowgate.

 

[JaJa]

I'll be honest, the only way I would take anyone as a beam specialist is if they went to 6 or 7 person teams again. BB is such a crapshoot, unless you had spots going begging (or 0 depth in your program), it is such a bad bet.

Apparatus of the Devil

 

[makam]

Apparatus of the Devil

Yep. I appreciate China going balls to the wall on UB and BB but FX and VT should be lower hanging fruit for good (or at least solid) scores. China's reliance on hitting BB really helps the other teams in the world sneak into medals.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

If Skye has a Cheng and a top 3-4 bars set she will make the team.
They used her only on bars last year at Worlds in TF after she fell off beam in TQ.

Her beam is such a bonus to the team if she hits.

She nearly won beam at worlds in 2022 if not for bowgate.

But she never hit beam at worlds other than 2022 prelims, and that is the glaring issue.

It sounds like she hasn’t shown up to classics with a Cheng so in my eyes she is a non starter for the team.

 

[RedBirdie]

Skye's Cheng is like Grace McCallum's Cheng.

 

[KristyJ]

Didn't Skye actually show it at a camp, though?

 

[RichardL]

But she never hit beam at worlds other than 2022 prelims, and that is the glaring issue.

It sounds like she hasn’t shown up to classics with a Cheng so in my eyes she is a non starter for the team.

But like others have said, if she ends up top 3 AA (certainly possible), she won't be left off the team because of some missed beam routines in previous seasons. At least she made those teams, unlike Jordan Chiles prior to 2021, who still made it impossible for them to leave her off by strong showings at Nationals and Trials. This isn't the old era where gymnasts are punished for past mistakes in the way that you're implying should be done in Blakely's case.

 

[Laura722]

Skye looks just as strong, if not better than she was last year. If she performs consistently, as she did up until Worlds in 2023, leaving her off the team will be hard. She will perform 2 vaults (she did 2 different timer entries in PT), but it's probably just her Lopez.

Kayla, Kaliya, and Jade all looked strong yesterday, so it's anyone's game. I thought Jordan looked good from what I saw, but people were saying she didn't have a good PT for some reason. PT does not always translate to competition either.

 

[lovegymnasts]

But like others have said, if she ends up top 3 AA (certainly possible), she won't be left off the team because of some missed beam routines in previous seasons. At least she made those teams, unlike Jordan Chiles prior to 2021, who still made it impossible for them to leave her off by strong showings at Nationals and Trials. This isn't the old era where gymnasts are punished for past mistakes in the way that you're implying should be done in Blakely's case.

Past behavior is the greatest indication of future behavior.
I agree with the original poster. If she can't hit internationally, there is no point in taking her. She should have been put out there more internationally to overcome whatever the issue is/was.
But if she is a top AA, she's earned her spot. Taking her soley for beam, nooooo!