Hello, and welcome to Gymnastics Insider!
Worlds start in just a few weeks, and the final competitions are wrapping up, giving us some insight into what to expect in October.
First off, Asian Games (replays, results) went mostly as predicted.
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China’s 166.462 was good for team gold and is the second-best team score of the year (the highest score, of course, is their 168.498 performance from Asian Championships). They also tied with Japan for the most medals, winning seven out of a possible 11.
Their team strengths, as usual, were beam (44.266) and bars, and the weaknesses, as usual, were vault, where they had to count a 12.366, and floor. That left them with just under a point of wiggle room ahead of Japan, which came in second with a 165.362, and had a strong performance overall on home turf.
Weaknesses notwithstanding, China proved once again that they are not to be counted out of the team gold conversation this year — if they hit. Because while we know what they’re capable of, they don’t always show it.
The qualification round, which also counted as the all-around final, was the biggest shock, as Japan edged ahead in the team standings following a shaky day from China. Things fell apart on beam. Ke Qinqin fell first, then Zhang Qingying fell on her acro series. Qiu Qiyuan had an incredible performance for a 14.833, but Zhang Yihan fell as well.
Meanwhile, Sugihara Aiko had a solid day to become the first Japanese woman — and the first from any country other than China — to win the Asian Games all-around title, with a 55.599:
Ke took second despite her beam fall with a 55.199, and Nishiyama Misa rounded out the podium with a 55.032.
Moving on to event finals, Qiu easily won bars with a 15.100 for this glorious routine:
She was followed by Nishiyama with a 14.433, and Zhang Qingying with a 14.233.
I assumed the beam title would go to China, but Hwang Seohyun of South Korea (14.700) swooped in to take the gold following another beam fall from Zhang Qingying, who came in fifth with a 13.700. Qiu (14.566) came in second with a gorgeous routine, followed by Okamura Mana with a 14.300.
Hwang’s gold was well deserved; she hit her difficult leap series and her bhs stepout + full, and just had a step on the landing:
Japan went 1-2 on floor. Sugihara followed her golden all-around performance with a 14.033 to win this one. Nishiyama (13.900) — who wins the Most Hardware award, with four medals — came in second, and Zhang Yihan (13.566) took bronze.
Yeo Seojeong of South Korea won vault with a 14.483, in accordance with prophecy:
An Chang Ok came in second with a 13.666; she did a Cheng and DTY to qualify in second but upgraded to an Amanar for the final. Unfortunately, the risk didn’t pay off, as she hopped all the way off the mat and scored lower than her DTY. Oksana Chusovitina made the vault final and finished fifth with a 13.199.
Are these athletes going to be exhausted going into worlds? Probably. Can the team that excels on the most precarious event figure out how to hit it when it counts? We’ll see.
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Szombathely WCC
All hail Queen Flavia!
Flavia Saraiva was the star of the show at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup (results, replay) this week. She won bars (13.366) and beam, plus a silver on floor.
As per usual, the highlight of her performance was beam (13.766), featuring her beautiful ring positions:
Andrade, who opted to skip vault this competition, came in second on beam with a 13.600 despite a massive wobble and a big step on her landing. The silver is a testament to just how great she was otherwise:
Dulcy Caylor won floor with a 13.466. She fell out of her turns and none of her landings were great, but this was an otherwise lovely routine:
Upcoming
Paris Challenge Cup
Sept. 26-27
(live scores, live stream)
Qualifications start today at 10:30 a.m. Paris time, and finals start Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The nominative roster has slimmed down quite a bit, but it includes Sabrina Voinea, Lila Richardson, Izzy Stassi, Ruby Stacey, and Emily Roper, along with everyone from France. Elena Colas will compete on bars and beam.
U.S. Worlds Trials
Sept. 30-Oct. 1
This week, Jayla Hang withdrew from trials with injury, as did Leanne Wong. Assuming no more news is good news, the rest of the roster is intact and the team equation is no different than it was following nationals:
Vault: Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, Reese Esponda (Pease)
Uneven Bars: Charleigh Bullock, Claire Pease, Rivera (Carey)
Balance Beam: Bullock, Pease, Rivera (Carey)
Floor Exercise: Esponda, Carey, Rivera (Pease)
Alternates: Skye Blakely (traveling) and Dulcy Caylor (non-traveling)
If everyone does what they’re capable of at trials, then this shouldn’t change. Significant slipups from the top contenders could create opportunities for the likes of Skye Blakely, who has the potential to do much more than what we’ve seen from her this season. And there are a few athletes who would work well to round out the team in case of an injury. Caroline Moreau could contribute on beam or Zoey Molomo could be a pinch floor worker.
As for all-arounders, Dulcy Caylor and Tatum Drusch just came back from Szombathely, so I assume they’re in the alternate category. Meanwhile, I wonder if Lila Richardson and Izzy Stassi will even compete just days following their performances in Paris.
In short, as of yet there are no great dilemmas over leaving a top three athlete at home, and the team is in good shape overall in case of injury.
World Championships (Rotterdam)
Oct. 17-25
The pieces are coming together for Rotterdam, which kicks off in less than a month. We have a nominative registration, and The Gymternet is keeping track of team announcements. Also, if you want to know who’s competing when, check out the qualifications draw.
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Five at the IX: Oksana Chusovitina
Oksana Chusovitina said she still has another Olympics in her, in an exclusive interview with the Global Times.
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