Gabby Douglas Comeback Thread (New goal: LA 2028)

[QuietColours]

I find her choice to go to Valeri very odd

Didn't she want to go to him after she left Chow, but he said no?

 

[RedBirdie]

She wanted to go to WOGA when she left Excalibur, but they told her no, and she ended up at Chow's.

 

[MaryClare]

Yes but that was when she was 14 and he was the coach of the reigning Olympic champion. She’s now an adult and has experienced a number of different gyms

 

[ucrgirl]

During her comeback, I got the feeling that she still had a lot to figure out about what she really wants. I think she truly found her love for gymnastics again has a passion for going to the gym and training every day, but she doesn't have the same feelings about competing. She seems like she's improved her mental health a lot, but the pressure of competition is still a major roadblock.

Improved mental health and finding passion for a sport you used to love is a big deal. I would call her comeback reasonably successful.

 

[wishfulgoddess]

Oh, I absolutely consider her comeback as successful. I don't think it is really over. She still has a fire in her. I really hope she can find a gym and a coach that can make her feel at home and help her to feel motivated instead of pressured. I may be crazy, but I'm still holding my breath that we'll see her making a run for Worlds.

 

[dweiss324]

I wish I had the money and facilities to casually train. Why bother with competitions? My experience is... I usually don't win them.

 

[rlayt]

A lot of people do athletic type things just for the enjoyment. Chelsea still trains a few things. I hike but I’ll never do big things. i do dog sports but I’ll never be at the top levels.

Gabby can do whatever she wants.

 

[MaryClare]

A lot of people do athletic type things just for the enjoyment. Chelsea still trains a few things. I hike but I’ll never do big things. i do dog sports but I’ll never be at the top levels.

Gabby can do whatever she wants.

Gabby was in incredible physical shape when we saw her compete. Even if she is not training gymnastics right now, I think she will be maintaining a high level of fitness

 

[rlayt]

I wasn’t saying that she wasn’t in great shape. I hope she got enough out of it and does what she wants whatever she does.

 

[dweiss324]

I was just saying I wished casual gymnastics as an adult was affordable slash free and there was no pressure

 

[RichardL]

Olympic AA champion and two-time Olympian coming back 8 years after her last competitive season and 12 years after winning AA gold looking as good as she did is a hugely successful comeback. She could have easily had the Hezly Rivera spot if everything had gone better for her competitively. When she dropped out, we still had Jones, DiCello, and Blakely in the mix, so it seemed less likely than it could've ended up being. Alas.

 

[crdubb17]

She could have easily had the Hezly Rivera spot if everything had gone better for her competitively. When she dropped out, we still had Jones, DiCello, and Blakely in the mix, so it seemed less likely than it could've ended up being. Alas.

I think about this occasionally. On some level, I feel she just bowed out too soon. And then there’s another side of me that feels her composition was just so poor (specifically beam and floor) that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

 

[RedBirdie]

I'm sure we must have done this previously, but what routine construction could we come up with with an eye towards reducing/eliminating downgrades and maximizing hit rate, based on what she showed at American Classic?

Because that was some absolute shit routine construction. Just mind boggling bad choices.

 

[crdubb17]

Honestly, I’m not sure where to start. I was hoping that during the comeback she had learned some of the ‘compulsory’ elements such as the triple wolf on floor and beam and the shap+tkatchev combo on bars. With the latter combo and a bit of confidence, she really could’ve been one of the top bars girls:
Chow or Maloney+tkatchev
L grip 1/1+L grip 1/1+jaeger
Downie+pak
Chow 1/2
DLO
6.5 D?

I struggle with trying to figure out her dance elements on beam or floor because her ring elements and switch half/full had such issues idk what would actually be credited. Obviously the Gogean and Ferrari needed to be chopped. Her Memmel turns wasn’t really much better either iirc.

Floor: Based on what she was planning at classics I believe? I never found the podium training footage. But:
front 1/1 through to full in?
DLO?
Double tuck/pike
Switch ring
Strug
Memmel
Switch full

So hard to really choose because pretty much all of these elements were in downgrade territory at the moment. I can’t bring myself to conjure up a beam routine, fantasy or reality based lol.