US Nationals WAG Day 2

[JaJa]

What the heck has Laurie Hernandez done to earn an award as Sportsperson of the year?

I think we are all wondering the same thing

 

[RAFIKI]

Cool, thanks for the calculations. Adding Simone to the Spanish team lifts them to 4th in qualifications. I should be working so the other ranks will have to wait.

 

[RedBirdie]

So there seems to be a whole lot of screming on Twitter about how its ~~sO uNfAiR~~ that Hurd and Memmel’s petitions to trials were denied. Like, total crazyland talk about how everyone else should boycott Trials(!!!). Comparing it to 2012. And I’m just thinking

what the everliving fuck?

Look, I’m the biggest Chellsie fan there is, but she’s not ready for Trials. I said that after Day 2; the best thing for Chellsie is to go home, use the summer to train smartly and get ready to kick ass at fall camps. Hurd is pretty clearly not going to be ready for Trials, either. I realize Tom selected an unusually large group for trials this year, but Hurd is not anywhere close to being competition ready–why waste her time and drag this out longer than it needs to be?

Now, the assertion that Tom informed Hurd and Memmel before the trials announcement was made that their petitions were denied, and then told the media the petition process was still underway? If true, that’s not okay. Frankly, I don’t understand why Memmel and Hurd, or anyone else who competed at nationals had to petition. The selection procedures are written in such a way that Tom could select anyone from nationals for whatever reason he wanted. Petitioning, to me, would be limited to those unable to compete at nationals.

 

[cats]

I mean, Twitter is populated by kids.

I’m fully on board with both Nationals and Trials being larger than usual because nobody had anything approaching a normal preparation, but Chellsie just isn’t ready, and Morgan had a nightmare.

 

[irichluck21]

Morgan isn’t ready either.
There is no way she would have been in Olympic shape in three weeks time. She had triple the amount of time to prepare beam and floor exercise and we saw how beam went.

It is sad, but it’s also unfair to expect an athlete to get named to Trials based on name and previous reputation alone.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

In Chellsie’s case I think there was slightly more here, though I’m not against the decision to refuse the petition. While I think she’s unlikely to be at worlds, her Day 1 routines and scores mean it’s possible to envisage her having a usable and solid beam set by the time the US selects. This year is so batshit that there’s an argument for extending competitive experience to anyone who might still be in the picture in September. This is different from Morgan, who hasn’t shown anything to indicate readiness and who isn’t in the picture for worlds afaik.

 

[QuietColours]

Summarizing the four page essay I just put on Tumblr: The issue to me isn’t that they were or weren’t included. It’s the fact that standards and expectations were so poorly communicated that they were genuinely surprised they weren’t included. Athletes of their experience level should have a very good idea of if they’ve performed well enough that petitions would be accepted based on the qualifications. It’s possible they were both fooling themselves, but it seems way more likely that USAG was that bad at communicating expectations to the athletes.

 

[Doug1233]

Gymnastics Twitter is literally the worst. Followed into a close second with Gymnastics Reddit.

I’m so glad we have a space on this forum for nuanced and intelligent discussion and debate.

 

[RAFIKI]

I just wrote something very similar elsewhere. Tbh I was surprised to learn that Chellsie had petitioned for the same reasons. It makes more sense for her to get bars and floor ready without the pressure of another comp and be fully prepared for a run at worlds. Grrrrr that late 2020 ankle injury. That’s easy for me to say though, I’m sure she wanted a shot at performing floor in front of a crowd. Her latest video was raw, honest and heartbreaking. Wish she’d recorded a day one reflection as I wanted to see happy Chellsie as well.

I’m completely fine with Laurie and Chellsie’s petitions being denied, the arguments are clear. Hurd I’m more on the fence about because of the five alternate thing. However it is a defensible decision and TF is completely within his rights to deny petitions. If, as it seems, he did lie; then that is clearly just self-protection on his part as he didn’t want to answer difficult questions. Well who would but sometimes it’s your job.

 

[RAFIKI]

IIRC Morgan deferred college until January so she could do worlds and she has previously said she wanted to do worlds. However that doesn’t fit with her doing the tour so who knows now.

 

[QuietColours]

That’s what I recall her original plan being too, but it’s entirely possible she’s just changed her mind, especially after the last year (and COVID, and all those surgeries, and just dealing with USAG), and is now on the “Do the tour, have fun, maybe earn some money depending on the new NCAA rules” train. Which, more power to her for changing her plans when what she wanted changed.

 

[onodian]

shut the f*** up, you artistry-hating bitch

:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

 

[arabiandoublefront]

Fans in general (sports, tv shows, movies, books, etc.) act so entitled these days, and Twitter has fed into the madness.

 

[lovegymnasts]

 

[RedBirdie]

US World Team selection procedures have been posted: https://usagym.org/PDFs/Pressbox/Selection Procedures/w_21worlds.pdf

Here’s the really relevant stuff:

• Simone and Suni have auto invites to selection camp based on their finish at nationals (I don’t think any of us expect either of them to attend).
• At least six more gymnasts must be invited, they can invite as many as they want.
• Day 1 of selection will be all around.
• Winner of Day 1 is automatically named to the team.
• Day 2, each gymnasts will compete at least 1 but no more than 3 events, as determined by the Committee.

 

[choclatechip45]

The worst take is Gymcastic saying Morgan was denied because she has been outspoken because of social justice issues.

 

[RedBirdie]

Right?! Like, if Morgan finished 9th AA and was denied while gymnasts who finished below her got invited to trials, maybe that would have some validity. But Morgan only did 2 events; she fell on beam BOTH days (and twice each time), and had floor scores in the 12s.

 

[choclatechip45]

Yup. She finished dead last on beam and 23 out of 25 on floor. The only reason her petition should have been considered if it is true that American Cup 2020 counted towards Olympic Trials even then I don’t think it is enough.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

This is a ludicrous take. Tom’s evidently not in petition from previous champion acceptance mode per se.

 

[choclatechip45]

Gymcastic kept bringing it which is why I said if it is true. In a non-covid Olympic year I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t factor past results from that year. I don’t think Morgan’s petition should have been approved by the way.