Kyla Ross has gone from the Queen of Clean to the Empress of Elegance. Last year, I was always so impressed with her beautiful lines and lightness of movement. But her gymnastics didn’t keep my attention. It didn’t inspire me. No longer. Kyla now commands my attention on every event.
The change is not only in her incredibly improved expression, artistry and dance on floor and beam. Her experience in Olympic competition, the media frenzy, fame and the incredible bond of her team has given her a poise, a presence, a confidence that shows in everything she does. From her interviews to her height, her bright red lipstick to her beautiful routines, Kyla has grown up.
Kyla stepped out onto the floor today in a beautiful red leo with red lipstick to match. She looked gorgeous. And fierce! She was raring to go, always the first one off from the line-up to prepare for the event.
She did a beautiful DTY, but not the best she can do. She had a much bigger hop on her landing than normal, but it is still quite a gorgeous vault.
5.800 (D) +9.366 (E) = 15.166
Kyla’s has such a light and airy swing and competes bars with a calmness that is almost peaceful to watch. She is a little short on a few of her handstands, but other than that, it was a great routine. Stuck landing and all.
6.400 (D) + 8.733 (E) =15.133
Kyla competes beam like she is dancing in the clouds. Every movement is done with a lightness and a preciseness that just makes it look like she is floating. This was a great routine. She missed one of her connections and had the tiniest of wobbles. But this is a routine I will watch a few times.
5.900 (D) +8.666 (E) = 14.566
I really am falling in love with this floor routine. The choreography is beautiful, playing with little nuances and hits in the music and really expressing the music well. And Kyla is performing it so well. She has great musicality, expressiveness and of course, execution. This is undoubtedly the best floor routine she has ever done. And a stick on her last pass to boot!
5.700 (E) + 8.633 (D) = 14.333
And perhaps where she has grown the most is her ability to interview. She is delightful, humble, authentic and just fun to hear from.
What a great start from our Empress of Elegance!
Beam Dreams 
any ideas where the judges found 1.344 in beam deductions? The only things i see are the step full turn and tiny dismount hop, a few tenths only.
None. I was pretty frustrated with it. They do seem to be consistently low, but still. It is ridiculous. The only other thing I can think of is that she had a number of small pauses, so maybe they took an overall deduction in that? But even so, it is just crazy.