Hello, and welcome to Gymnastics Insider!
We have two big competitions coming up this week, the Asian Games and the Szombathely World Challenge Cup. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
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Asian Games (roster)
Tuesday, Sept. 22, 12:00 p.m.: Qualifications/All-around final
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 7:00 p.m.: Team final
Thursday, Sept. 24, 5:00 p.m.: Vault and bars
Friday, Sept. 25, 3:00 p.m.: Beam and floor
China clearly has never heard of pacing because they’re sending the same five athletes to Asian Games who competed at Asian Champs in June: Du Siyu, Ke Qinqin, Qiu Qiyuan, Zhang Qingying, and Zhang Yihan. Yang Fanyuwei, the second-ranked bar worker this year, has not been seen since May.
This is an incredible team that broke the gymternet when they earned 168.498 in the Asian Champs team final. This is the only team score we have from China this year, and it was earned on home soil, so we’ll see if Team China can replicate their performance on a bigger stage.
Then, we’ll see if they can replicate it again in just a month at the World Championships. Can these ladies get a break?
Japan is also sending the same team — Okamura Mana, Kishi Rina, Nishiyama Misa, Sugihara Aiko — save for Miyata Shoko, who was swapped out for Nakamura Haruka. Kishi and Nishiyama are slated to do the all-around, and while China hasn’t submitted their lineup yet, Ke and Zhang will likely compete all four.
Team-wise, I expect South Korea and North Korea to follow. Actually, that’s how I expect most of the finals to go: China will rake in most of the medals, followed by Japan, and the rest will get, well, the vault medals.
Yeo Seojeong of South Korea should make the vault final and contend for gold. Notably, North Korea has opted to skip Worlds this year, so An Chang Ok should feel free to go all out in the vault final. She competed an Amanar and a Cheng at Asian Champs, but she may want to play it safe to medal (and keep her legs intact) here.
Qiu Qiyuan can make up for Yang’s absence on bars; she earned a 14.833 in the final at Asian Champs to take the gold. Actually, both China and Japan are pretty strong on bars, so the rest of the final will be made up of whoever hits.
Beam will be a bloodbath. Zhang holds the highest score there this year with a 15.333 from Asian Champs; Nakamura is right behind her with a 15.250, though that was from a domestic meet. Ke Qinqin, Hwang Seohyun of South Korea, and Qiu Qiyuan could reasonably take this title as well.
Floor should go to Japan, if all goes well. Kishi and Sugihara have both topped 14 this year, though Zhang holds the Asian Champs title with a 14.066.
Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan) will also compete, along with Amanda Yap (Singapore) and Levi Jung-Ruivivar (Philippines). Speaking of Levi, she’s parked on a cruise ship for the duration, which sounds like an absolute nightmare.
This is going to be fun to watch. Still, I can’t emphasize enough how ill-advised it is to go full-out four days in a row less than a month before Worlds. Those legs are going to be tired.
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Szombathely Challenge Cup
Saturday, Sept. 19, 3:00 p.m.: Vault and bars
Sunday, Sept. 20, 3:00 p.m.: Beam and floor
Szombathely consists of a qualifying round, which happened yesterday, and event finals. Without any all-around or team competition, it’s a good opportunity to make sure routines are solid going into next month. Finals will be live streamed via eurovisionsport.com, and you can find live scores on Elevien.
Rebeca Andrade was supposed to compete on vault and beam, but she appears to have skipped vault, and I’m not sure why. She sits in second on beam with a 14.100.
The rest of her team is thriving — Lorrane Oliveira sits in second on bars and floor, and Flavia Saraiva sits in third on bars, beam, and floor. If all goes well in finals, this could be a good confidence booster for the team going into Worlds.
Emily Roper of the UK leads vault instead, followed by American Tatum Drusch and Greta Mayer, who is thriving on home turf and also leads on beam. Compatriot Bettina Lili Czifra is doing great as well, and leads on bars with a 14.333. Dulcy Caylor is ahead on floor with a 13.333.
Athlete safety news
Thankfully, it’s been a minute since I’ve needed to whip out my “Athlete safety news” header. And thankfully, this time it’s because some justice is being served.
GAGE coaches Al Fong and Armine Barutyan-Fong have been permanently banned from coaching, though they can still appeal, reports The Kansas City Star.
Artur Akopyan and Galina Marinova of All Olympia Gymnastics Center have also been suspended, Gymcastic reports. The coaches are under investigation for the second time since 2020 following allegations of abuse. Former AOGC athletes include Mattie Larson and McKayla Maroney, who spoke at length with Gymcastic about her experience at the gym.
Overall, these are welcome developments. We can’t move forward while these dinosaurs are walking around at competitions re-traumatizing everybody. The news also brought us this gem, a response to the gym mom who rushed to the coaches’ defense:
“Tammie what is wrong with you,” indeed.
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More news
Argentina led the South American Games, with Julieta Lucas at the helm (results). She won the all-around with a 52.435, along with bars gold, beam silver, floor gold, and the team gold.
The British team hosted the Senior Team International, a friendly competition with France, Germany, and Switzerland (results). Alice Kinsella showed up and won the all-around mere moments after giving birth. Showing up with your baby is such a flex.
Georgia Godwin will not make a bid for worlds this year, opting to rest instead. Silja Stoehr of Germany is also out.
Shilese Jones is looking great on bars. As per usual, her toes touch the ceiling.
Reese Esponda is playing around in the gym some more, adding twists and all that.
Aly Raisman’s body still hasn’t recovered from gymnastics, which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Gymnastics is bad for you, guys.
Sydney Sweeney struck a nerve this week. Here’s what Gracie Kramer had to say about it:
Fall meet calendar
Paris Challenge Cup
Sep. 26-27
Nominative roster includes: Shallon Olsen, Elena Colas, Lorette Charpy, Maïana Prat, Alia Leat, Abigail Martin, Ruby Evans, Sabrina Voinea, Leila Vasileva, Lila Richardson, Izzy Stassi
U.S. Worlds Trials
Sept. 31-Oct. 1
World Championships (Rotterdam)
Oct. 17-25
Qualifiers
Qualifications draw
Five at the IX: Levi Jung-Ruivivar and Avery Neff
Levi Jung-Ruivivar talked to Olympics.com about coming back to the Asian Games following her recovery from an eating disorder.
Avery Neff was profiled in Forbes.
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