MyKayla Skinner Olympic participation

[lovegymnasts]

Oh! This is heartbreaking. Her world is going to be rocked to it’s foundation in devastation.

 

[Big_rock_show]

[No message]

 

[esta]

Hmmm… I suddenly have Tonya Harding flashbacks.

 

[RedBirdie]

Not making the team shouldn’t come as a surprise to her. The writing has been on the wall. But she’s delusional, always has been.

 

[irichluck21]

 

[blake]

It’s probably hard for her to accept that she never had a case for being anything more than alternate in Glasgow, Rio, or Stuttgart. Except for Rio, she was pretty lucky to even be given the alternate position. Hopefully when she has some space from the sport, she can process that.

I don’t see any scenario where she’s even close to the team, but then I’ve said the same thing the last three go-arounds. She seems to turn up under pressure while the rest of the contending field either meltdown or get injured. With the USA limping into Tokyo and Tom’s affinity for rank order, I’m like half worried we’ll all be having to eat our words.

 

[Doug1233]

I agree with all except Rio. IMO, she was definitely the replacement athlete for Aly and Simone.

Ragan would have replaced Laurie.

Locklear would have replaced Kocian or Gabby.

 

[irichluck21]

Unfortunately for Skinner, she faces double the competition that she didn’t face in 2019 or in 2015 and 2016.
Not only with 2004 ladies but now 2005 (although only Blakely left) plus Emily Lee has upgraded and gotten more consistent, Aleah Finnegan has upgraded and is no longer limited to beam, Chiles has improved dramatically, I was gonna say McCusker is back but she is back to being injured, and Hernandez made her comeback (albeit unlikely to surpass Skinner)

 

[Doug1233]

I still think MyKayla has a shot at being alternate IF she can improve on floor. She’s a natural alternate for Simone. I think her Cheng will score well internationally. Better than the 8.7 USAG gave her at Classics anyway.

However, without a FX score in the low 14s, forget it. Literally 0% chance. She needs to nail all the tumbling, and the dance elements and take out the Wolf Turn.

 

[Puffin]

If only she had used her time better and not bothered with the insanity of the upgrades on ub and delusion turn on bb (all of which seem to be gone now) she might have been able to have more polished routines.

 

[Doug1233]

I was saying this to @Denn the other day.

She literally spent her whole year on bars learning a Bhadwaj, a Clear Full and a Triple Double DMT. sHe’S gOnNa hAvE tHe hIgHeSt bArS D-sCoRe oN tHe pLaNet!!111

We all knew that, come competition time, they’d disappear. Or, they’d stay in her routine, give her an E in the 6.0’s and then get pulled when the real competition comes along.

If only she had spent that time improving the Pak salto.

Next victim - her Double Wolf on floor. In Nanning, they nixxed it for a (pretty nice looking) simple full turn.

Podium (at 0:38)



Prelims (at 0:45)



Even if it didn’t have much effect on the score, it just raises the overall look and presentation by so much. The last thing she wants is one of the Belarussian judges cringing on the panel. I know I cringe whenever she does it.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Wouldn’t say either 2015 or 2019 were that lucky. It’s true she probably wouldn’t have been in those positions if others hadn’t fallen, but then if you hit and others don’t, is that good fortune or you being better prepared than the competition? No point being the best on paper.

 

[Doug1233]

Watch from 29 minutes onwards…

 

[dweiss324]

Woof the shittiness of being an alternate so many times. Man I feel for her. This is the most “listenable” and honest/relatable I feel like I’ver heard her as well.

 

[lovegymnasts]

Boy, if/when she is alternate again
wincing over here
To me, it feels like they are prepping/boosting her up for the announcement that she is alternate again.

 

[irichluck21]

It might bode well for Skinner as they have her on the advertisements for Olympic Trials alongside Biles (replacing Hurd).

So

 

[makam]

I’m sure the powers that be want Skinner to make the team but if she doesn’t come with something more compelling than a few tenths on vault, I don’t think they’ll make it happen for her. If her floor and beam are cleaned up enough to use in a “suni’s ankle is bothering her” situation, maaaybe. But otherwise, she had better be prepared to be chosen as an alternate again. (of course, she is carrying her own foot injury…)

 

[Big_rock_show]

I’m worried for her and her fans. With the over scoring at trials so far, it sets up perfectly for an uproar of “Skinner was robbed!!!” cries from spectators who don’t know the scoring system inside and out. They need to be careful to judge as fairly as possible so fans don’t needlessly get set up for disappointment. If she legitimately earns a spot, great:

 

[Doug1233]

Exactly this.

 

[Hatsumomo]

If they have to artificially inflate her scores to justify giving her the 4th spot, then is there really any justification? Especially if she gets to Tokyo and the international judges are giving her low 13s where the USA judges gave a 14+