Ellie Black Attack

Okay guys, I'm kind of a huge Ellie Black fan.

Don't worry, I do have eyes and I can see the sometimes wonky form, but this girl appeared from Middle Earth and threw a 2.5 into triple twist combination. She has my heart forever.

Gymnastics these days can feel pretty stagnant. There is an arsenal of about five floor passes, four beam dismounts, three bars dismounts, and two vaults that girls choose from. That's me being generous about it. So you'll forgive me if I can't help but love someone who gives my eyes something different to see. And I'm creative. I can imagine constantly pointed toes.

Mostly what I love about her is the guts. To me, she has sort of that Produnova/early Nabieva "I don't curr" badassery about her gymnastics that makes me so happy. I don't condone this, but I do get the sense that sometimes in practice she's like, 'you know what, I'm gonna chuck it', lands on her feet, and decides to compete it.

So let's celebrate her uniqueness everyone! Who knows if it will take her to London (Team Canada is looking pretty spectacular either way) but I'm happy to be along for the ride. A 1.5 into triple twist just seems so ordinary now!

Heck yes toe-on dismount! Heck yes 1970's style bar transfer with no attempt to cast to handstand. This is no sarcasm. I love that. It's sort of like blatant code neglect in an awesome way.

This choreography is lovely. The opening sequence before that epic first pass is a nice use of music as the guideline for the dance (which sounds like it should be an obvious factor but you know, that's gymnastics for you). Just a lot of really interesting stuff going on here all around. Also a big fan of the punch full into the double back. Minus the Maroney style cowboying and OOB- flirtin.

The way she attacks the beam but still manages to have a lightness to her skills. Perfect. And if it hasn't been made clear enough, I love her because she does a cool and interesting dismount that is also really hard. Girlfriend is trying all the tricks everyone else is too scared to do. Go girl. Go forever.

Did you forget that tsuk style vaults are still in the code? I know. Me too.

Anyways, I'm done with my open love letter to the gymnastics of Elisabeth Black. I like you girl. Thanks for being daring and keep trucking along towards London. I BELIEVE.

The One-Term Olympics

I have watched all the Pac Rim training videos on loop about three times now, analyzing and admiring team USA. I like the 3 senior, 3 junior format of this competition because it's a great way to see the younger girls up against our current seniors.  I took to imagining this team as the Olympic team, with Hundley as an alternate. Obviously this situation is not possible for 2012, but imagination allows it for this one time. Anyways, as I was watching, I just thought "Man, this team would DOMINATE."

Then I was thinking about how the Olympics are basically a one-term presidency for US gymnasts. As the format gets tighter and our talent grows larger, it becomes nearly impossible for carryover from quad to quad. Just four short years ago, everyone was crying, "Shawn! Nastia!", and now both girls have marginal shots at making this team(not to mention the 3 other Beijing girls who are still in the hunt. Their chances are even slimmer).

It's hard to imagine a time where Jordyn Wieber could seem like yesterday's news to US gymnastics. Well, actually, I take that back. It isn't that hard to imagine. It's already happening. Gabby Douglas is already clouding up her spotlight and we haven't even gotten to London. But  that's the truth of the sport in current times. Gone are the days of Dominique Dawes, hanging around for three Olympics in a row. Chellsie is our only girl from the '04 senior days, and  at this point I'm not sure she'll continue to fight. She has a reputation for being more of a liability (love her though I do) than an asset, and we have so much young blood that deserves a shot at this.

Which is basically my point. There are so many girls that DESERVE a shot at the Olympics. There isn't room for Nastia, Shawn & Co., who have already seen the dream come true. We don't need Olympic vets when our rookies are strong enough on their own (ex. Worlds 2011). We need to let these girls have their moment before the limelight fades and the Ohashi/Priessman express rolls through. And who knows how long those girls will stay on top? Remember when Bross was the great WOGA-hope for this quad? Even if she makes this 2012 team, there is no way she's going up in the all-around finals. Too many girls with bigger skills.

Embracing the reality of my newly anointed "One-term Olympics" is hard, but necessary. It's incredible the amount of high-level gymnastics coming out of America. Arguments over the lack of grace and style may be valid, but we are making ridiculously difficult skills seem borderline compulsory. Standing fulls on beam, double-doubles on floor, Amanars on vault. <-- These were the skills of the 2008 Olympics. Now, on this 2012 Pac-Rim team: 4 of 6 do a standing full, 2 of 6 do a double-double, 4 of 6 do an Amanar. Those are amazing numbers!

It's a lot for me to wrap my head around. I'm anxious to see where the sport goes from here.

For these routines, I will Emerge From Hiding

Whoa. It has been a few months since I've touched this site. The page may have gotten a little dusty, but I promise my dedication has not wavered.

HOW INCREDIBLE IS TEAM USA?

Oh my word. Girls, you have brought me back. Just perused the American Cup Podium Training videos. I'm freaking out. First, Jordyn and her inevitable three-peat win.

The front handspring step-out into the standing full plus back handspring. INCREDIBLE. Some bizarre mistakes were made (the random pause between her split jump, sissone) but she's coming out fighting. She sees you Komova. She sees you Mustafina. SHE DON'T CURR.

Her bars had some of the best flow I've seen from that routine ever. I actually checked it against her event finals routine in Tokyo to see if she'd changed any skills. She hadn't. It was just twenty times cleaner and more beautiful. That double layout is something to marvel at.

The other day I was rewatching her floor routines from Worlds thinking to myself, "Man her 2.5 into front layout is troublesome for her. She needs to change that".  Alas, I initiated some serious self congratulations today.

Took her a while to "jump" on the code whoring secret to avoid landing deductions. In Wieber fashion, she executes brilliantly. 

But you guys...

 VAULT. 

VAAUULLT.

 It's the event that has reunited me to my blog. 

Wieber has had a stellar Amanar for a while now. Raisman has been trying for a few years and in the past has showed something better named "leg breaker" than "Amanar". I don't want to jinx her and get too excited but holy moly, I think she's got it! 

But watch out, y'all. Our vault lineup for 2012 is going to have all Amanars. I am positive. And you know who really might be there? You know who is sticking her tongue out at us right now?

This girl.

I am proud of Team USA. It is a 100% fact that no other nation can come close to the amount of vaulting talent we have. Douglas is a real threat with that beautiful 2.5 twisting yurchenko and her bar set. 

At this point, I have no idea who is locked for 2012 outside of Wieber. I feel mild anxiety at the thought of possibly narrowing my choices down to five girls. Can you imagine the kinds of conversations happening in Marta's office? We are so stacked that any team we assemble will cause heartbreak. Someone is going to be on the sidelines with a double twisting yurchenko in her pocket and a crushed dream in her heart. 

A Smart Sport with Stupid Mistakes

Gymnastics has always been a smart sport. It requires intelligence from all aspects. Our gymnasts must have incredible awareness and focus at all times, not to mention physical and mental toughness beyond normal capabilities. Our coaches must understand how a body can fly through the air and what it takes to guide said body.  Judges must know the mechanics of thousands of skills and what it takes to execute them properly. And we as fans have to be able to amalgamate all of this.

We have to know that our gymnasts and coaches and judges are human beings. Mistakes are made by all. Mistakes are missed by some. The sport will never be perfect. Would we want it to be? If Komova and Wieber had both given flawless performances, would we have been happy then? Probably not.

The code had to evolve because we were too smart to believe perfection could be achieved so easily. We had moved outside the 10.0 box. Is it confusing to the general public? Absolutely. But as I said, our sport requires intelligence.

With that being said, its sad to know that we have made steps in the right direction while still holding ourselves back. We recognized in Athens that the 10.0 code was no longer giving fair results. So we made a change. Once again, this change is far from perfect. However, if we recognized that our scoring was no longer effective, what about the equipment? We saw that the old horse was wrong, but why can't our vault landing mats be more forgiving?  Or any of our mats. We are still holding to these archaic equipment standards while asking our gymnasts to be progressive with their skills. These girls rarely train on the surfaces they use to compete. 95% of the time they're tumbling into pits and padding the beams. The 5% of the time they are using the competition surfaces, they are ending up injured. Obviously injuries occur into pits too, but the point I'm making still holds true. When we evaluate and change this code after the 2012 Olympics, I hope points like these are taken into consideration. While I believe the artistry versus power debate is very valid and needs to be addressed, I hope the safety of our athletes is the number one priority.

"This is like, gonna be like, the most special moment of our lives"

At 1:46, Aly Raisman is shown huddling with Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney, preparing for their final rotation: floor. Though we can not catch all of what she says, we hear,

"This is like, gonna be like, the most special moment of our lives if we all do a good routine." 

Though it isn't exactly worthy of a spot in the most inspirational sports speeches, the moment shared between these three athletes is wonderful. In my last post, I talked about the backlash USA received for ending up with a team with very little international experience. I knew the tenacity in our five athletes would prevail. I had a feeling we could believe in these girls. I am so happy I was right.

Watch more video of World Gymnastics Championships Tokyo 2011 on gymnastike.org


John Geddert is spot on when he says 'can we ask any more out of athletes than going 32 straight routines...' Geddert wonders if maybe the young team couldn't even comprehend what was at stake. I don't feel that way. I think they wanted to show what happens when you underestimate the power of being a teenager. Of course many of the athletes that competed today are teenagers, but you know what I mean. It's that "I told you so" moment I still find myself striving for. The 'Don't doubt me because of my age or lack of experience' mentality.

Boom. USA showed that we can not be doubted. So proud of these girls for winning GOLD! And of course, happy to see McKayla putting up a monstrous vault score and hitting floor. Stand by for my ecstatic post about her vault title. I feel it in the future. Motivating Miss Maroney Part Three? :-)

Go Big or Go Home- USA at Worlds 2011

I've been reading all the blogs and watching everyone crunch numbers and analyze line-ups. They have done all the hard work for me. I am prepared to simply enjoy Worlds and cheer on my home team, the greenest we've seen in a long while.

I know that when I was 15, I never felt anything close to the pressure that is on our five girl team from the US. It's funny because many people wish the age restrictions were changed to allow younger competitors into the Olympics/Worlds. Most fans recognize that younger gymnasts are more capable of handling the difficulty required in this code. So, we finally assemble a team of little baby seniors (and Aly, a toddler senior), and the backlash hits.

I personally don't care. I would have loved to see Shawn out there, but I am just as happy that Sabrina Vega can take the stage. Her chances of making an Olympic team are bleak, with the new format and the ridiculous abundance of US talent. (When Bross, Sacramone, Memmel, Sloan, Caquatto, Liukin,  and Johnson return to full capability, picking a team will be nearly impossible. Not to mention the fact that juniors like Kyla Ross will be age eligible)

So may these five girls perform their hearts out tonight. I can tell how proud they are to represent team USA, and I am proud to have such focused, tenacious gymnasts fighting for that title. They have persevered and proven that they are ready for whatever comes at them. I will be ecstatic, regardless of the outcome. Their sheer resiliency in the face of adversity has made them all winners to me.

GO USA!

P.S- How incredible was she here? Even with that questionable 2.5 to LO, she was on fire! You really can tell how much she loves this sport. It's wonderful to see.

Becca, We miss you!

Stumbled across this in my recommended videos on youtube.

Definitely worthy of a smile.