Worlds 2021 US Selection Camp (October 8-11)

[Hatsumomo]

I don’t know, but Japan just lost one of its most legendary actors to Covid so I kind of hope they cancel Worlds and get the disease under control there.

 

[Doug1233]

I didn’t think she deserved silver over Kupets tbh.

She didn’t have a great body line. She had like, knock knees.

 

[RedBirdie]

The top 4 were separated by less than a tenth, the medalists by .05! A decision to take or not take a .05 deduction could affect medal placement.

All 3 medalists had significant issues, IMO. LePennec had sloppy legs, Humphrey terrible extension, and Kupets with some of the most anemic releases of the 21st century.

 

[esta]

I’m surprised they credited her Voronin with a Markelov/Khorkina release. Was a Voronin a C in that code?

 

[Concorde]

Were Terin’s improvements on bars that vast between Trials and the Olympics? GGMB was such a mess that I’m not sure I ever saw an explanation.

Humphrey significantly improved her handstands, especially the full pirouetting elements between Olympic Trials and the Olympics. That being said, I thought her scores in Athens were both a little higher than where I expected them to be and felt they should have been.

I’m surprised they credited her Voronin with a Markelov/Khorkina release. Was a Voronin a C in that code?

Yes, the Voronin was a C in the 2001-2004 COP. Kupets had performed the Markelov in her routine since a junior, and internationally at the senior level for the first time at the 2001 Glasgow Grand Prix. However, the controversy over what skill she performing was first raised at the 2002 World Championships. If you’ve seen her Markelov from the side / judges’ angle the call makes more sense because you can see that she travels backward over the bar, rather than flanking / going sideward over the bar. However, the criticism that the skill is not as difficult and more of a Voronin because she never loses sight of the bar is also fair.

 

[KorbutFan]

Am I making this up or was the Voronin upgraded at the 2003 Worlds? As I’m sure I remember thinking how coincidental it was that at the ‘91 Worlds one of Betty Okino’s skills was upgraded in value as well.

 

[Concorde]

Following 2002 Worlds an update to the COP was issued that formally stated that what Kupets performed would be credited as a Markelov.

Having Jackie Fie as head of the WTC certainly helped in both cases, though the value of Okino’s dismount in 1991 was an obvious abuse of power, while there was some actual technical basis in the ruling for Kupets.

 

[dweiss324]

I thought UB routines this quad were yawn-inducing, but after watching Humphreys bar routine several times today, that was a big bag of boring.

 

[MaryClare]

You don’t get to say bars routines yawn inducing until you sat through the bars final at Russia Cup

Currently the bars routines are very similar in composition but they are at least dynamic. 2001-2004 bars routines had more casts than a fracture clinic

 

[irichluck21]

Currently the bars routines are very similar in composition but they are at least dynamic. 2001-2004 bars routines had more casts than a fracture clinic

 

[Jack]

I will die on the hill that the open-ended code has vastly improved bars.

 

[irichluck21]

I will die on the hill that the open-ended code has vastly improved bars.

I have to disagree. We had more variety prior to the open ended code, and with the strict guidelines of landing in handstands, few gymnasts attempt pirouettes to avoid execution deductions.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

Yeah, big no to belly-beating, but I would much rather watch this than any bar routine produced in the last 15 years.

 

[RedBirdie]

Somehow, Humphrey standing on the low bar to get to the high bar still shocks me every time. She couldn’t manage even a toe shoot?! Standing on the low bar and coming away with Olympic silver in 2004 pisses me off.

 

[MRR]

Depends on what period of the open-ended code. London was a terrific Games for bars: three distinct styles on the podium and a balance achieved with inverted pirouettes and difficult releases/transitions. Beijing wasn’t helped by the 10 skill, marathon sets and Rio/Tokyo had less variety.

I love some 10.0 bar workers: Gnauck, Ma, KGS, Lu Li, Luo Li, Khorkina (more so 2000), among others. Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney all had high quality, diverse finals, but they weren’t totally representative of the work within those quads. Athens was a big letdown with each of the three best bar workers faltering in the EF, but that quad (or quint) wasn’t a great sendoff for UB in the 10.0 code anyway.

So, it’s a mixed bag for me, and depends on the specific era, competition, or field within 10.0 or open-ended.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

I think I’m too young to have an appreciation of bars routines before 1990. I can’t stand the belly beating.

 

[MaryClare]

Bars was probably at its toughest in mid 80s. Bars still very close together but a lot of the skills and combinations like yurchenko’s Tkatchev- Deltchev would still be considered difficult today.
Dismounts were far more diverse and interesting for sure

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

The correct answer.

That being said, for all the issues with 10 counting skills, the top 4 in Beijing were all brilliant bars workers. They all had their significant flaws, but the way they played to their strengths instead gave us some incredible and varied work.

 

[MRR]

Sorry for the late reply. Penny wanting Maroney in the AA was told to me by a relative of a gymnast part of that Worlds selection. Apparently he only wanted Ross to compete UB/BB, Jenny and Howie fought back, and Martha, already hinting at 3 AAers from Nationals, made the final call.

Kocian’s injury night 1 of Nationals gave Martha little incentive to compete a fourth gymnast. Dowell was treated terribly, but she also brought nothing to the table, and Price was coming off injury. The latter might have contributed a bar routine of use, but based on Nationals wasn’t bringing in a score Simone wasn’t capable of.

WRT 2015, it was a bonkers selection but I more and more think @ArnoldRimmer’s theory is correct that it didn’t require much explaining. The top 6 AA from the first camp and Kocian in 9th (with the top bar score) became the nominative roster and eventually the team. We heard at the time that Dowell/Skinner hit at the final camp and Baumann/Key didn’t, so changing the team looked unnecessary. This isn’t to say I didn’t find the selection outrageous—Dowell’s 15.4 UB was a myth under competitive lights and the team could’ve used Baumann as a strong beamer—but they were so far out in front it didn’t matter.

Martha couldn’t have cared less whether Dowell got a skill named: she was hitting at camp and that’s why she was sent.

 

[Doug1233]

The latter might have contributed a bar routine of use, but based on Nationals wasn’t bringing in a score Simone wasn’t capable of.

Yeesh



Her night 2 was way better though.