Tag: Videos

2014 US Classics Senior Recap with Results and Videos

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The 2014 U.S. Classics went surprisingly without a lot of surprises for this point in the Olympic cycle and in the year. A few gymnasts brought new upgrades, but it was not crash after crash or fall after fall as it can sometimes be. Adding some of the future junior stars to the senior session was a great success, as it let many fans who don’t follow gymnastics as closely start to get to know some of the players on the road to Rio. Plus, they are just so cute! Let’s start with the seniors however.

Simone Biles of World Champions Centre began her bid to defend her World All-Around title with a bang. The Secret US Classics are just a warm up meet for the rest of the season. But Biles looked ready to win another all-around and floor title tonight. Competing what is probably the best floor routine she has ever done, she started the night with a whopping 15.8. That score includes a US only sticking bonus which added .2 to her score. She went on to rock a powerful first vault and managed to hold on to her second vault. She had a little rough start on bars, but came through with a great routine. She ended the night with a solid beam routine and easily won the all-around with a 61.7.

Simone Biles – Floor – 15.8

Simone Biles – Vault – 15.9

Simone Biles – Bars –  14.75

Simone Biles – Beam – 15.25

Kyla Ross of Gym-Max continues to be an important player in the world of US gymnastics. The undeniable team leader, she is one everyone can count on both on and off the floor. She started the evening by adding a new upgrade to her floor routine. It was actually nice to see Ross take a risk of competing something that is not yet perfect. That is exactly what the US Classics are for, but it left her with a slightly lower score than usual. Ross moved on to vault, where she competed her beautiful DTY and stuck the landing. A back injury earlier in the season has kept Ross from competing at as high of a difficulty level on bars as she has the last two years, but she holds on to every point with beautiful execution. A solid, steady, quintessential Ross beam routine easily clinched the silver for her, and helped her to break that 60 all-around score barrier with a 60.05

Kyla Ross – Floor – 14.6

Kyla Ross – Vault –  15.2

Kyla Ross – Bars – 15.0

Kyla Ross – Beam – 15.25

Maggie Nichols of Twin City Twisters took third with a 57.6. Nichols was steady on all four events, taking advantage of other athletes falls and falters. She looked clean and confident and competed very well.

Maggie Nichols Bars – 14.7

Maggie Nichols – Beam – 14.1

Maggie Nichols Floor – 14.3

Maggie Nichols Vault – 14.5

Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics was very impressive. Making her senior elite debut at these Classics after being out for a year due to injury, Gowey made a splash. Beautiful long lines and the ever clean form that is the mark of all of Chow’s gymnasts made her a standout, and her difficulty on top of that make her a strong contender for this years world’s team. She fell on her amanar, but made enough of them during training that it would seem she will have the vault in time.

Rachel Gowey – Beam- 14.85

Rachel Gowey – Floor – 14.15

Rachel Gowey – Vault – 13.85

Rachel Gowey – Bars –

not yet uploaded

Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati Gymnastics was a junior standout, and her senior debut has been long awaited. So it was a dissapointment to many fans that she was not shown during the broadcast at all. Hundley is a steady athlete on all four event, but really shines on floor. The calm girl becomes an animated performer.

Amelia Hundley – Floor – 14.25

Amelia Hundley – Vault- 13.9

Amelia Hundley – Bars – 13.8

Amelia Hundley – Beam – 13.5

 

Ashton Locklear of Everest Gymnastics missed most of last year with injuries. However, her incredibly clean lines and beautiful technique stood out clearly on bars. Her bars were some of the most impressive gymnastics of podium training, and brought in a huge score during the competition.

Ashton Locklear – Bars – 15.7

 

Madison Kocian of WOGA began the competition first up on her best even. Kocian has good all-around potential, but her real spot on a world’s team will come on bars. She did not disappoint, with a clean, difficult, fluid bar routine. However she fell off the beam and then scratched the rest of the meet sitting on the sidelines with ice on her ankle. Fans are hoping it’s nothing serious as it was the same ankle that kept her out of competition last year.

Madison Kocian – Bars- 15.4

 

MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights Gymnastics has been working hard to improve her execution, form and artistry. Though she has a ways to go, you can definitely see the progress. Known as the daredevil of the US, she brings incredibly difficult skills to the table. However a fall on floor and lower execution scores all around left her out of the running for the podium.

MyKayla Skinner – Floor – 13.4

MyKayla Skinner – Vault – 15.0

MyKayla Skinner – Beam –

Brenna Dowell of GAGE sprained her ankle a few weeks ago and only planned to compete bars at this competition.

Brenna Dowell – Bars – 11.2

Check out the full results and watch all the routines in HD!

 

 

2013 Secret Classic Junior Results and Videos (Session 1)

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Jordan Chiles made quite a splash in the junior session of the 2014 US Secret Classics, currently leading the juniors with a 57.35. The competition is not over, as the top Rio eligible juniors are competing in the senior session. But this puts her in a strong position to finish on the podium as the strongest juniors in the next session Nia Dennis and Norah Flatley were right in that same range at their last meet, the Pacific Rims Gymnastics Championships. Dennis scored a 57.95 and Flatley a 56.85 respectively, however there were no sticking bonuses at that meet.

Chiles trains at Naydenov Gymnastics Inc., and at 13 years old is not age eligible for the 2016 Olympics. However, she has been a crowd favorite in the junior elite division since her debut last year. She came in to today’s competition looking calm, confident and poised, much grown from her oh so cute presence of 2013.

Chiles started the meet with a strong floor performance, showing a maturity and precision beyond her years. She moved on to vault, where she was the only junior to do a DTY and currently holds the highest score. She continued with a strong set on bars and finished the night off with a super solid beam routine.

Jordan Chiles – Floor – 13.95

Jordan Chiles – Vault – 14.9

Jordan Chiles – Uneven Bars – 14.1

Jordan Chiles – Beam- 14.4

Deanne Soza finishes the junior session currently in second with a 56.45. Soza trains at Arete Gymnastics and is also not eligible for Rio. She put in clean, solid performances on all four events, but definitely stood out on bars, where she is currently in the lead.

Deanne Soza – Floor – 13.95

Deanne Soza – Vault 14.4

Deanne Soza – Uneven Bars – 14.2.

Deanne Soza – Balance Beam -13.9

Maile O’Keefe of Academy of Gymnastics – Salcianu Gymnastics rounds out the current top three with a 55.900. Like the two before her, she is not eligible for Rio in 2016. O’Keefe was a standout on floor, currently holding the highest score, and beam where she sits in third.

Maile O’Keefe – Floor- 14.1

Maile O’Keefe – Beam – 14.35

Megan Skaggs of Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta, who is eligible for Rio was strong on vault and bars, where she finished third and tied for second respectively.

Megan Skaggs – Bars –  14.1

Megan Skaggs – Vault – 14.3

Rachel Baumann of WOGA is currently following in her sisters footsteps and is outstanding on beam. She is currently leading beam and is second on floor.

Rachel Baumann – Balance Beam – 14.45

Rachel Baumann – Floor – 14.0

USA Gymnastics has all you need to catch up on what you missed. Check out the full list of results, every routine in HD on youtube or watch the full replay.

Secret US Classics Senior Podium Highlights, Predictions and Video Roundup

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The seniors looked remarkably consistent for this point in the year at podium training for the 2014 Secret US Classics. There are a handful of upgrades and new skills or combinations being debuted, and a handful of new seniors. Here are the front runners.

Simone Biles should be able to walk away with the gold medal tomorrow with her eyes closed.  At this competition last year, Biles had an incredibly rough day. But that girl is gone, and the current World Champion is here to stay. Vault, beam and floor all look as strong as ever and could easily contend on the world stage right now. However, Biles is still coming back from a shoulder injury, and bars are not yet up to snuff. If she is not able to do a whole routine without a fall tomorrow, she could open the door for Ross to catch her.

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor

Kyla Ross is looking as composed and confident as we have seen her. The leadership and senior team member role just sits so nicely on her. She had a beautiful training and even debuted an upgrade on floor!

Vault

Bars

Beam

Whip Arabian Double Front (new pass)

Floor

MyKyla Skinner is out to prove that she belongs on the world stage. Her difficulty level could easily put her in silver, but she is still improving on her execution level, and is unlikely to overtake the ever solid Ross tomorrow. That being said, she is much improved. Her floor routine is really well choreographed, allowing her personality and trickster ways to shine. She really struggled on bars during podium training, so hopefully she can pull it together for tomorrow.

Beam

Double Double Layout

Floor

Rachael Gowey is looking amazing in her senior debut and after a year out of competition. She debuted her amanar, which was clean and controlled after a few attempts. She could definitely be making a bid for the bronze at this meet.

Vault

Beam

Brenna Dowell is also in strong contention for the podium. However she didn’t look as sharp today in podium training as she did at the American Cup. That being said, there were no major areas of worry, and she seems to be able to pull out her bar routine when she competes.

Beam

Lexie Priessman was looking great, but the senior career that will never start is postponed once again as she sustained an injury in the evening training session.

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor

Amelia Hundley looked solid on every event and is steady as she goes. Then she gets out on floor and you can’t take your eyes off her! She transforms into a different person! Don’t miss this routine tomorrow.

Floor

Madison Kocian looked solid today, and her bars are as beautiful and soothing to watch as ever. She will be trying to make a case again this year that she can fill in on a worlds team as a bars specialist. She is making a good start.

Bars

Nica Hultz will also be looking to make her bid as a bars and beam specialist. She looked great today.

Bars

Beam

Let the competition begin!

Secret US Classic Podium Junior Highlights, Predictions and Video Roundup

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The strongest junior contenders for the awards podium at the 2014 Secret US Classics are all competing in the same session as the seniors. As a group, these juniors look sharp, prepared and raring to go.

Nia Dennis said in an interview that she feels confident, and she has every reason to. She looks every bit like a senior out on the floor, and there is no reason that she should not walk away with a gold medal tomorrow. Here were a few of her podium routines.

Vault

Beam

Floor

Norah Flatley also looked great and should challenge Dennis for the gold. If she cannot overtake her, she should easily walk away with silver. Here were some of her routines during podium training. As always, her beam stands out amongst the rest and is just so beautiful to watch.

Bars

Beam

Floor

The bronze medalist will most likely be one of the following.

Ragan Smith looks confident and competitive. This little spitfire wants to win. And her time at Texas Dreams seems to be serving her well. Her “Puttin on the Ritz” floor routine is as darling as ever.

Vault

Beam

Floor

Emily Gaskins form, presentation and skill level continue to improve, making her such a pleasure to watch.

Bars

Beam

Jazmyn Foberg will definitely mark tomorrow as her entry into the top junior ranks. Her podium training looked great minus a fall on beam, and her floor routine has the typical MG Elite stamp on it.

Beam

Floor

City of Jesolo Video Roundup

Published on by Stacie Fletcher1 Comment

The City of Jesolo Trophy was live streamed this weekend, allowing us to catch all the action. You can watch the team and all around competition and the event finals competition in full. Or, you can follow the links below to go to each individual routine that earned a medal this weekend.  (Videos linked in gold are from Gymnastike and require a subscription to Gymnastike Gold).

Seniors

All Around Top 10

1) Kyla Ross – USA – 58.00 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor
2) Peyton Ernst – USA – 57.650 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor
3) Maggie Nichols – USA – 57.450 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor
4) Mykayla Skinner – USA – 57.20 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor

Senior Vault

1) Mykayla Skinner – USA – 15.634 average – 
2) Alesia Leolini – Italy – 13.617 average – watch here

There were only two competitors in the senior vault final.

Senior Bars

1) Madison Kocian – USA – 15.033 (6.10/8.933) – watch here
2) Kyla Ross – USA – 14.967 (5.90/9.067) – watch here
3) Giorgia Campana – Italy – 14.00 (5.30/8.70)

Senior Beam

1) Andreea Munteanu – Romania – 14.833 (6.40/8.433) – watch here
2) Alyssa Baumann – USA – 14.20 (5.80/8.40) – watch here
3) Elisa Meneghini – Italy – 14.20 (5.90/8.30) – watch here

Senior Floor

1) Mykayla Skinner – USA – 14.533 – watch here
2) Kyla Ross – USA – 14.233 – watch here
3) Andreea Munteanu – Romania – 13.967 – watch here

Juniors

All Around Top 10

This event was not livestreamed. All videos for the junior all around and team are from Gymnastike Gold, which requires a subscription.
1. Bailie Key – USA – 58.25 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor
2. Nia Dennis – USA – 56.3 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor
3. Norah Flatley – USA – 56.1 Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor

Junior Vault

1) Bailie Key – USA – 14.934 – watch here
2) Jordan Chiles – USA – 14.350 – watch here
3) Laura Jurca – Romania – 14.234 – watch here

Junior Bars

1) Bailie Key – USA – 14.267 (5.60/8.667) – watch here
2) Nia Dennis – USA – 13.933 (5.40/8.53) – watch here
3) Marina Kawasaki – Japan – 13.367 (5.40/8.533) – watch here

Junior Beam

1) Norah Flatley – USA – 14.667 (6.10/8.667/-0.10) –watch here
2) Bailie Key – USA – 14.533 (6.10/8.433) – watch here
3) Andreea Iridon – Romania – 14.30 (5.80/8.50) – watch here

Junior Floor

1) Bailie Key – USA – 14.533 (5.90/8.633) – watch here
2) Laura Jurca – Romania – 13.733 (5.40/8.333) – watch here
3) Yuka Momiyama – Japan – 13.633 (5.30/8.433/-0.10) – watch here

Photo from USA Gymnastics by Filippo Tomasi
If you find videos on you tube not listed here, please let me know in the comments and I will add them.

Floor Finalists – Start List, Qualification Scores and Videos, Predictions.

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The Women’s World Championships will wrap up tomorrow with the Floor Finals. How this week has flown! You can watch them live here. Event finals start at 8:30am EST.

Here is the start list (the order they will compete in):

170 FERRARI Vanessa ITA
179 MURAKAMI Mai JPN
229 BILES Simone USA
204 IORDACHE Larisa Andreea ROU
218 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI
205 IZBASA Sandra Raluca ROU
232 ROSS Kyla USA
110 BLACK Elsabeth CAN

This is how they qualified into finals:

  1. BILES Simone USA 6.500 (D) + 8.533 (E) = 15.033 Q
  2. IZBASA Sandra Raluca ROU 6.200 (D) + 8.533(E) = 14.733 Q
  3. IORDACHE Larisa Andreea ROU 6.100 (D) + 8.400(E) = 14.500 Q
  4. FERRARI Vanessa ITA 6.300 (D) + 8.200(E) = 14.500 Q
  5. MURAKAMI Mai JPN 6.300 (D) + 8.166(E) = 14.466 Q
  6. ROSS Kyla USA 5.700 (D) + 8.633(E) = 14.333 Q
  7. STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 6.100  (D) +8.033(E) – 0.1 = 14.033 Q
  8. BLACK Elsabeth CAN 5.800 (D) + 8.200(E) = 14.000 Q

My Predictions

I think that all of the gymnasts performed well in qualifications. I don’t think there is someone in the field that can do significantly better than they did, and I think the top girls are all pretty solid competitors. So I am actually going to go with the order that they qualified in.

  1. Simone Biles
  2. Sandra Izbasa
  3. Larisa Iordache

BILES Simone USA 6.500 (D) + 8.533 (E) = 15.033 Q

IZBASA Sandra Raluca ROU 6.200 (D) + 8.533(E) = 14.733 Q

IORDACHE Larisa Andreea ROU 6.100 (D) + 8.400(E) = 14.500 Q

FERRARI Vanessa ITA 6.300 (D) + 8.200(E) = 14.500 Q

MURAKAMI Mai JPN 6.300 (D) + 8.166(E) = 14.466 Q

ROSS Kyla USA 5.700 (D) + 8.633(E) = 14.333 Q

STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 6.100  (D) +8.033(E) – 0.1 = 14.033 Q

BLACK Elsabeth CAN 5.800 (D) + 8.200(E) = 14.000 Q

The Bars Finalists – Start List, Predictions, Qualifications Scores and Video Roundup

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Here are your 2013 World Uneven Bars Finalists. They will compete in the Saturday morning event finals session, starting at 8:30am. You can watch it here.

The gymnasts will compete in this order:

  1. 118 YAO Jinnan CHN
  2. 121 HUANG Huidan CHN
  3. 145 DOWNIE Rebecca GBR
  4. 150 SCHEDER Sophie GER
  5. 229 BILES Simone USA
  6. 232 ROSS Kyla USA
  7. 211 MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS
  8. 148 HARROLD Ruby GBR

The qualified in this order:

  1. YAO Jinnan CHN 15.433
  2. ROSS Kyla USA 15.133
  3. HUANG Huidan CHN 15.133
  4. DOWNIE Rebecca GBR 15.100
  5. MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS 14.900
  6. BILES Simone USA 14.800
  7. HARROLD Ruby GBR 14.600
  8. SCHEDER Sophie GER 14.566

My predictions for the podium….

  1. Aliya Mustafina
  2. Kyla Ross
  3. Rebecca Downie

The Chinese are without a doubt the leaders. But I just have a feeling they will both fall. I hope not!!! I think Aliya will pull an Aliya… come out super fierce for finals. But this one is pretty wide open. If Yao Jinnan hits, she will win it.

Here were their routines in qualifications:

1 YAO Jinnan CHN 6.700 (D) +  8.733 (E) = 15.433 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM2FniCtrys
2 ROSS Kyla USA 6.400 (D) +  8.733 (E) =  8.733 15.133 

3 HUANG Huidan CHN 6.600 (D) +  8.533 (E) =  15.133 

4 DOWNIE Rebecca GBR 6.600 (D) +  8.500 (E) =  15.100

5 MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS 6.200 (D) +  8.700 (E) =  14.900 

6 BILES Simone USA 6.000 (D) +  8.800 (E) =  14.800 

7 HARROLD Ruby GBR 6.300 (D) +  8.300 (E) = 14.600 

8 SCHEDER Sophie GER 6.400 (D) +  8.166 (E) =  14.566

The Vault Finalists – Start List, Predictions, Qualification Video and Score Round up

Published on by Stacie Fletcher1 Comment

Tomorrow (Saturday October 5) are the first two event finals of the World Championships. You can watch live in the US here starting at 8:30am EST.

The 2013 WAG World Championship vault finalists in the order they will compete (start list) are:

  1. 218 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI
  2. 133 PENA ABREU Yamilet DOM
  3. 233 CHUSOVITINA Oksana UZB
  4. 238 PHAN Thi Ha Thanh VIE
  5. 191 NETTEB Chantysha NED
  6. 229 BILES Simone USA
  7. 200 HONG Un Jong PRK
  8. 231 MARONEY Mc Kayla USA

Their qualification scores were:

  1. McKayla Maroney USA 15.641
  2. Simone Biles USA 15.550
  3. Hong Un Jong PRK 15.249
  4. Phan Thi Ha Thanh VIE 14.966
  5. Giulia Steingruber SUI 14.799
  6. Oksana Chosovitina UZB 14.750
  7. Yamilet Pena DOM 14.683
  8. Chantysha Netteb NED 14.516

The general predictions (and I agree) for this event finals are pretty easy. The top three will finish the same way they qualified:

  1. McKayla Maroney USA
  2. Simone Biles USA
  3. Hong Un Jong PRK

The plot twist will be an possible half twist. Hong Un Jong has submitted a Triple Twisting Yurchenko to be named after her. If she is able to add a half twist to her amanar and stay on her feet, she will undoubtedly win. We have yet to see her do the vault, but anything can happen in a World Championship Final!

Check out each of their qualification vaults!

McKayla Maroney USA 15.641 
6.300 (D) + 9.550 (E) = 15.850

6.000 (D) + 9.433  (E) = 15.433

Simone Biles USA 15.550
6.300 (D) + 9.600 (E) = 15.900

5.600 (D) + 9.600 (E) = 15.200

Hong Un Jong PRK 15.249
6.300 (D) + 9.333 (E) = 15.633
6.400 (D) + 8.566 (E) – 0.1 = 14.866

Phan Thi Ha Thanh VIE 14.966
5.800 (D) + 9.066 (E) =  14.866
6.200 (D) + 8.866 (E) = 15.066

Giulia Steingruber SUI 14.799
6.200 (D) + 9.166 (E) = 15.366
5.000 (D) + 9.233 (E) = 14.233

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCM9MLHo4OQ

Oksana Chosovitina UZB 14.750
6.200 (D) + 8.800 (E) = 15.000
5.500 (D) + 9.100 (E) 0.1 = 14.500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcwJ7OJlxKE

Yamilet Pena DOM 14.683
1 7.000 (D) + 7.900 (E) =  14.900
2 5.800 (D) + 8.666 (E) = 14.466


Chantysha Netteb NED 14.516
5.800 (D) + 9.133 (E) – 0.1 = 14.833
5.200 (D) +9.000 (E) = 14.200

McKayla Maroney – the Princess of Poise

Published on by Stacie Fletcher1 Comment

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Photo by John Cheng

McKayla has gone through so much in the past year, it truly is quite amazing that she is not only at Worlds, but has improved since last year. Three surgeries, media frenzy, meme fame and a changed life. She has made no bones that she has some unfinished business called doing her best at the Olympic vault finals. So between now and then, she will give gymnastics her all.

Though vaulting is what she shines at, she really wants to be an all-arounder. And floor is her favorite event. So it was incredibly meaningful for her to be able to compete all around in the qualifications. She didn’t have her most spectacular day, but she did really well.

She started her day out on floor. She had a number of small bobbles on her landings and her leaps weren’t quite all the way split. But it was really a great routine. Many on the gymternet felt like she was really underscored here.

After seeing her INCREDIBLE vault in podium training, this amanar was anticlimactic. But it was a normal, amazing vault from McKayla.

Her second vault however, was one of her better ones.

McKayla is not known for her bars. But this was most definitely one of the best bar routines she has ever done!

On the other hand, this beam routine was most definitely not her best. Getting into the swing of competing beam again often takes some time.

As always, the highlight of the day was McKayla’s interview. Such poise, so much authenticity, and so much grace. i fall more in love with this girl every interview.

She only qualified into the vault finals, being another victim of the 2 per country rule on both floor (where she tied with Kyla Ross but the tie was broken with Kyla’s higher E score) and the all around (where she placed 5th in the world).

Watch the 2013 Secret U.S. Classic Floor Champions

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Floor was quite a treat! I think the next few years we are going to see quite a change in the US floor offerings. We are seeing quite a few girls who can tumble AND dance in the mix! Not to be missed is my favorite routine of the meet – Laurie Hernandez and McKayla Maroney’s new floor routine.

Seniors

Floor Champion –  Lexie Priessman (14.8)

Floor Silver – Peyton Ernst (14.5)

Floor Bronze – McKayla Maroney (14.35)

Juniors

Floor Champion – Lauren Hernandez (14.65)

Floor Silver – Nia Dennis (14.6)

Floor Bronze – Amelia Hundley (14.45)