Riley McCusker

[Alinxz23]

Doesn’t Simone add like 5 points? I do think however, the rest of the senior gymnast are not as reliable as we have become accustomed to even Sunisa had issues at Worlds. Its unlikely that the Chinese will hit everything they usually mess up at some point.

 

[Doug1233]

All this talk of Suni maybe not doing AA in Tokyo… news to me?!?

 

[emmade]

I think the only scenario in which Lee wouldn’t do AA would be if her ankle was still too injured to allow it.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’m working on the basis that she’s likely to be capable of doing the AA by summer, but of course nobody is doing all 4 events until she is doing all 4 events.

 

[Doug1233]

I can see a TF where Suni AND Simone both do AA. Perhaps Grace does VT/FX and Morgan does UB/BB.

That’s where I’m at right now.

There’s no way on Earth you’d put Skinner on the team over Grace. No fucking way. Especially if Grace has the Cheng (which will be her ticket to being the 3rd lock, IMO).

One could put Riley in Morgan’s spot. I think they are fighting for the same spot.

The fight for the 5th spot will be the most interesting part of the selection process. There really is about 6 or 7 athletes who could all feasibly be picked. McClain, Chiles, Eaker, Wong, Riley are the front runners. Not sure if there are any others who could beat ALL of those for the spot. Maybe DiCello but i doubt it. Ultimately I think it will simply go to the best AAer who isn’t on the main team.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Any chance Forster says “f*ck it” and decides to give Skinner the +1 so that the USA has 3 gymnasts contending for each of the EF spots?

 

[Doug1233]

Please God no. We will NEVER hear the end of it.

 

[emmade]

If they take McCallum, then there is no need for Skinner. When was Skinner last before international judges? Surely she would be torn apart by them. She is too big a risk.

I think McClain would be an interesting option and I guess it is a wait and see how she goes through the trials process. I wouldn’t take Chiles because she is too inconsistent and I think she would crumble under the pressure. Eaker is a risk - if she hits all her connections and gets full difficulty awarded then she is certainly looking for a BB EF spot, but again, worried about how she will be received given her previous results. Wong would be a reasonable option, I think, as would McCusker. However, neither of them would be in the hunt for UB EF spots if both Simone and Suni hit in prelims.

Where is Memmel in all of this? Is she actually going to be ready? Can she be added to the National Team?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

The only way Skinner is getting on that Olympic team if there are injuries and/or splats to the extent that she genuinely is one of the top 5 AAers at selection time. She doesn’t make any sense at all otherwise.

 

[Doug1233]

@ArnoldRimmer i think Skinner has a shot if Grace is injured, she vastly improved floor, and she comes maybe top 6 AA at Trials. Her Cheng is the only reason why she’s not completely dead for selection.

 

[irichluck21]

If McClain is hitting AA come Trials. I expect her to be in the top 2-4.
I could see a team of:
VT (Lee) McCallum, McClain, Biles
UB (McClain) McCallum, Biles, Lee
BB (McCallum) Lee, McClain, Biles
FX (McClain) McCallum, Lee, Biles

But you can literally swap out any athlete with one of 8-10 others and easily win gold. Even without Biles they would be fine. Biles is a lock and Lee is close to one being a contender to win UB gold. But even she could be replaced and the team would be in fine shape, thought they would be lacking a big number on UB to off set China and Russia/ROC.

 

[rue_des_plantes]

Sure. I’ll never turn down technical improvements, but they’re less impactful when the end result hasn’t changed. Improving a DTY is nice when odds say you’re vaulting in TF. It’s also pointless if you’re just going to get lost in the postflight and bomb bars or beam.

Winter Cup may be meaningless. McCusker might rally, and Chiles might revert back to her usual state of entropy. But as it stands, one of them applied their new technique and got some scores, and the other acted a hot mess like usual. McCusker’s UB score isn’t anything the US can’t get from Lee, Biles, Hurd, or even McCallum, according to the FIG in Stuttgart prelims.

 

[RedBirdie]

When was Skinner last before international judges? Surely she would be torn apart by them. She is too big a risk.

Gymnix 2020. The judges were less than delighted by her.

 

[Denn]

With all the talk about Skinner’s Cheng potentially being the little something extra that could get her on the team… Has Chiles been training Amanars again? Are they better than before?

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

The last video I could find of Chiles training the Amanar was from 34 weeks ago


They’d be silly to forego training this. But I don’t think we’ve seen anything more recent.

 

[Doug1233]

I have a feeling that Tom will literally pick the top 5 AAers from Olympic Trials. Barring a disaster from Simone or Suni - it would probably be the fairest way. And would save Tom from any critique. Public Twitter storms about selection is the LAST thing USAG wants or needs right now.

What do ya know!

 

[Doug1233]

Any chance Forster says “f*ck it” and decides to give Skinner the +1 so that the USA has 3 gymnasts contending for each of the EF spots?

Ha I love reading back old threads!

 

[QuietColours]

Prescient in the picking prediction, but I don’t think it saved him from critique!

 

[Seyonne]

Ha I love reading back old threads!

We were so innocent then

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I mean…