Now that the 2013 Elite season is firmly underway in the US, many are asking questions about the end goal of the season – the World Championships. Here is the breakdown for you.
The 2013 Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held in Antwerp Belgium. They will begin on September 30th with an Opening Ceremony. Men’s and Women’s qualifications will take place from the 30th to October 2. Men’s All-Around finals will be on the 3rd, Women’s on the 4th and then Event Finals will be help on the 5th and 6th.
The year after an Olympics, there is no Team Finals competition at the World Championship. Each country may bring four gymnasts, and two per country may qualify for each final. The top 24 all-around scores will go to the All-Around Finals and the top eight will move on to each Event Final.
Most countries will be looking to bring the combination of gymnasts who will win the most individual medals. After each meet, I like to take stock and say, if I had to name a team today from the US, who would it be. So lets take a look at the possibilities in the US. All scores from below are taken from Uncle Tim’s awesome post.
All-Around
Simone Biles and Kyla Ross have pulled the top two all-around scores this year. Simone scored a 60.4 at the City of Jesolo (the highest all-around score in so far in the world during 2013) and Kyla scored a 59.3 at the GER-ROU-USA Friendly Meet. Close behind are Katelyn Ohashi with a 51.199 at the American Cup and Elizabeth Price with a 59.165. If either of them are healthy enough to return before the selection camp, they could definitely play into the picture. Especially if Simone does not show consistency and the ability to hit when it counts at Nationals.
However, in addition to being a top all-arounder, Simone has put up some of the highest scores in the world on Vault and Floor. She is second only to McKayla on Vault and to Ksenia Afanasyeva on floor. This makes bringing her especially appealing as she has the ability to take home three medals. Lexie Priessman did not compete all-around at the Secret Classics. Her performances earlier this year looked a little lackluster, but she is the reigning US National Champion. And her performance on the events she DID do in Chicago showed only good things to come. So we shouldn’t count her out quite yet.
Event Specialists
Vault
McKayla Maroney has put up the highest score on Vault this year at the Secret US Classic, and seems a very likely candidate to be brought along for an event specialist medal. MyKayla Skinner will be working hard to overtake McKayla as she actually has more difficulty. However, she will need to make some major improvements in execution for that to happen.
Uneven Bars
Kyla Ross has the most potential to make the Uneven Bars final, and has actually put up the second highest bar score in the world this year (a 15.4 at the Friendly meet compared to Aliya Mustafina’s 15.5 at the Russian Nationals -though Aliya was doing a watered down version of her previous routine). Katelyn Ohashi is in the top 6 as well.
Balance Beam
Katelyn Ohashi has a monster beam routine, and has put up the top score in the world for beam so far. She scored a 15.8 at the Woga Classic to Larissa Iordache’s 15.65 at Anadia. Simone and Kyla rank in the top ten, but are unlikely to be up to the podium level unless Kyla brings a lot of upgrades (she watered down her routine at Classics).
Floor
Simone put up the second highest floor score in the world with a 14.9 in Jesolo behind Ksenia Afanasyeva’s 15.166 at the European Championships. Just behind her is Lexie Priessman with a 14.8 at the Secret Classic.
So what does all that mean?!?
At the current state of competition readiness and health, Marta would most likely send Kyla Ross (AA, UB), Simone Biles (AA?, V, FX), McKayla Maroney (V, Fx?) and Lexie Priessman (Fx, AA?). If Katelyn comes back healthy and ready to compete, she could definitely take one of those slots (FX, BB, UB?). Though there are a number of other talented girls that could come into the mix (Peyton Ernst, Brenna Dowell, Abigail Milliet, MyKayla Skinner, and Elizabeth Price) all of them would have to put up higher all-around scores or a much higher event score than they have currently.
P&G US National Championships will shed more light on the team selection. But as there is likely to be another selection camp in September after Nationals, it definitely won’t tell the final story!
Part of the Texas Dream Team, at 12 years old, Bailie is already a seasoned international competitor and well known in the world of gymnastics. She is a great performer, a strong all-arounder, and shows a level-headedness that belies her young age. Her performance abilities brings to mind the gymnasts of the 80’s and 90’s, bringing back an artistic AND athletic style much missed in the gymnastics community. She is definitely a favorite for 2016 and one we will continue to watch over the next few years.
Amelia has had a distinguished junior career, and there are high expectations of her continued leadership in the junior field. She has been competing internationally since 2011 and this will be her third U.S. Classics. She has an incredibly entertaining floor routine, Everyone will be watching her performances carefully.
Polina brings such a strong reminiscent of Nastia, many look forward to her beam and bars contribution in the future. Polina is without a doubt a talented, hard-working, beautiful gymnast who has a lot of potential for the future. This will be her 4th Classics as a junior.
Laurie is most definitely one of the most charismatic gymnasts since Shawn Johnson or Mary Lou Retton. In addition, the girl can perform and dance like very few US gymnasts. Laurie 
Nia is really fun to watch on floor with her unique style and powerful tumbling. She is also very strong on the beam. This will also be Nia’s fourth US Classics.
Emily caught my eye – and the eye of many others- at the Nastia Liukin Cup this year. Though she didn’t place well or catch much TV time, she was obviously full of talent and potential. Emily is a new elite and has the potential of being one we should watch.
Ariana skyrocketed from level 8 to level 10 in 2012. She qualified to junior elite this year and went on to win the American Classic – beating her teammate Lauren Hernandez. She is a little pixie and seems to have the potential of a strong all arounder. Considering that just last year she was a level 8, this girl is quite extraordinary!
Sydney not only catches your eye, she demands your attention when she performs on floor – and then captures your heart. This little girl can perform! Daughter of Brandy Johnson, Sydney seems to have the genes and the coaching, as well as her own special spark to be one we want to watch.
Maggie also has been given a number of international assignments this year. She has a fun floor routine opening with a beautiful double layout!
Beam Dreams 