Post qualifications WAG musings

[Doug1233]

The fact that D scores are still calculated manually BOGGLES MY BRAIN.

Like, have the D Panel talk into a microphone and have a computer nerd input the elements and connections based on the voice.

They’re still in the fucking Stone Age.

 

[KristyJ]

I would flip floor and bars for Jordan in finals from your order @Doug1233. I think Jordan has more upside on floor and Grace has had consistent landing issues on her first and third passes on the Japanese floor, but I do think Grace is more stable on bars.

Vault- Grace, Jordan, Simone
Bars- Grace, Simone, Suni
Beam- Grace, Suni, Simone
Floor- Jordan, Suni, Simone

 

[Doug1233]

Exactly. They pick and choose the headline to favor their own narrative.

The fact that their new argument relies on a Jordan meltdown, despite that NEVER being the thing at Trials, is completely irrelevant to them.

 

[Gymfan93]

Something just seems really off about these Olympics. Maybe it’s the no spectators, but it just doesn’t feel like an Olympics. I think some of the teams felt it too, and that may be why it was off.

 

[Doug1233]

The problem with Jordan is that she got a 7.6 E for a relatively hit set on floor. That’s a problem.

Grace got a low 8 with a BIG error on her Mount.

 

[Milgymfam]

I guess I’m just not loving the way everyone is dragging on Simone (and yes, even her landings). As far as I noticed- and I know I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong- she’s the only woman to make all the finals, all four events plus the AA. Even with the landings and even with the tight scoring. It seems that everyone is poised to turn on her at the drop of a hat, but she’s still amazing even when she’s human. I also don’t get why there is anything remotely controversial about MyKayla going home empty handed. She had the opportunity in front of her and within the realm of possibility on vault. She didn’t live up to her potential and that sucks, but that’s reality. It’s not like the 2 per country rule (which I hate) was unknown to everyone going in. She had to know she had to leave it all on the table for vault. Of everything in qualifications, the one thing I would change if I could change just one thing would be to get Chuso into one more vault final.

 

[Sanzhirovka]

To be frank, that’s a weakness of the US system if Twitter can sabotage the High-Performance Coordinator’s selection process. And honeslty, I can only scoff.

Second, there are ways to quietly get around “domestic jugin sucks and we need an alternative”, for example by attending more internatonal meets and having camps with the US’s own FIG brevet judges.

Russian mock meets are only judged by a handful of judges. The ones whose names you’ll find on the Tokyo judge’s assignments for the most part, plus others who judge on the FIG circuit.

If the US cannot do the same, then they need to find another avenue for improving routine construction and alerting coaches and gymnasts to what they should expect internationally.

 

[KristyJ]

That’s fair, and Jordan improving in finals would depend on her forward pass not getting tuck-y or low, so I suppose which error is easier to fix? Forward pass amplitude or big landing bounce? I’d almost need to see which is more consistent in training.

 

[Doug1233]

The judges at trials were literally pulled from the audience.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

And that’s a huge yikes.

 

[Doug1233]

I worry that Jordan isn’t in a good headset right now.

 

[KristyJ]

Fair. For a variety of reasons, I feel for her.

 

[Sanzhirovka]

Can you expound on that? Because I do not understand that at all.

 

[irichluck21]

I honestly think that the pressure of the Olympics and the media harping on her mother’s upcoming incarceration has an effect. She looked less confident in podium.

USA can easily beat Russia in team finals but they cannot afford meltdowns like a, 11.5 on beam.

 

[Sanzhirovka]

If we ever meet, let’s have a beer. I’ll share stories if you will

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Well a part of it stems from the very well publicised US problems with abuse, so yes of course it’s a weakness. That’s sort of the point. But something doesn’t become not a consideration because we can come up with reasons why life would be easier if it weren’t.

I would definitely agree that more international exposure and experience is definitely the way to go. Covid hasn’t helped, and that’s just bad luck, but again we’re talking about a culture that was in place way before Tom. It seemed to really take root during Marta’s tenure, especially later on. The US have had a wake up call, and even if they win they should still take heed. It’s likely the US will have quite a rookie team at 2022 worlds, so there should be opportunities to attend world cups earlier in the year.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

The Gina stuff is the $64,000 question, I think. Obviously Jordan will have known all about the sentence for months, but it wasn’t impending when she was competing earlier this season, and nor was it public. It would also be interesting to know whether Tom was aware.

 

[Alinxz23]

I think the lack of international experience really hit Jordan hard, whereas international exposure really benefited Jade. Shout out to Jade’s father for an excellent job of peaking Jade, although she had the benefit of knowing she made it to Tokyo. For me the surprise came with Biles, the judges finally addressed her landing issues, sadly that routine would score nearly a 15 at a US meet and would have been 14.5 + at previous Worlds. I’ll also say good job Russia they showed that when they hit 4 for 4 they are indeed competitive. Ilyankova finally hit everything in her bar routine hopefully she can do it again. I’m also glad Melnikova made it into the AA but Paseka’s Cheng made it to Tokyo with Melnikova. I’m also happy that the work she’s done on bars has been rewarded she really came a long way. That being said I expect the USA to win the TF by a sizeable margin I can’t see the Russians replicating that performance. Also how is no one talking about Andrade?if she did her bars to her usual standard she would have qualified in 1st. Nina made the top group in the AA if anyone makes an error she can cause an upset. Unpopular opinion but China was underwhelming it’s like by the time they get to a major international competition they are too injured to be great. I agree with questions surrounding their beam scores but I think those pauses are killing their scores. Fan also has a lot of little issues in her bar routine and the judges seem to only notice them when it comes to the Olympics. Happy retirement to Chuso as well a true legend.

 

[Hatsumomo]

No one here thinks it’s controversial that Skinner is going home empty-handed. In fact, several people predicted that would happen. People are just pointing out several ways how that ended up happening and how it needs to be fixed, e.g., USAG domestic scoring.

As for Simone, this is pretty much the only place you can criticize her gymnastics without having a lot of Only-Here-For-Simone fans who never have watched gymnastics jumping on your ass. We all know she’s amazing, but she has a lot of weak points, and qualifications showed how much of her cushion can easily be eaten up without her falling or making major errors. We’re talking about somebody who was five points ahead of second place in 2013 to now being about half a point ahead. And the fact that MSM is writing articles about her being poised to win six golds (again) when her winning UB and BB gold would require meltdowns from the Russians, Chinese, and Sunisa Lee.

 

[Doug1233]

Can you expound on that? Because I do not understand that at all.

Jessica at Gymcastic reported that they ran out of judges at Trials. So they were literally pulling USAG judges out of the audience who had come as spectators - onto the field of play and into judging seats.

They didn’t have enough.