American Cup 2010

Crazy, huh? A whole year since I've last blogged. Recently the American Cup 2010 has taken place. USA was able to once again identify the next "it girl." Rebecca Bross.

R. Bross - Sadly she has not added that extra 1/2 twist on her vault, but she still has enough difficulty to get her through. Her bars routine looked much more polished. And although she had a minor mishap at the beginning of her beam routine she was able to stay composed and finish with a solid dismount. And finally floor, her new music seems to fit her much better and her tumbling passes still continue to amaze me.

A. Raisman - Her debuy as a senor was obviously a success, but then again what do you expect from a gymnast coming from the same gym as Alicia. She has a very nice line, and her gymnastics is very similar to Alicia's. I hope she does not suffer the same plague that Alicia had to suffer, because she is a very talented and bubbly gymnast.

Now for the men's side, USA was able to go 2 3. But looking at the scores, if both Chris Brooks and Johnathan Horton were able to stay on the apparatus they would have been able to go 1 2.

C. Brooks - Sadly they did not show much footage of the men's event, but thats to be expected. Besides the mishap on Pommel Horse, he seemed like he was up fighting for the top spot. He had the difficulty and the form.

J. Horton - Although he was leading into the fourth event, Parallel Bars was able to claim another unexpected victim. Horton had an empty swing, and a disasterly fall on a revelently easy skill. But he was able to stay composed and finished on a high note on the High Bar. Sadly he took out his triple twisting double layout and substituted it with a full twisting double lay out.

American Cup 2009

I haven't been on in a while and I apologize for this being late. Anyway, the American Cup took place in Chicago during February, and is the stepping stones for this next quad leading to London. The American Commenters obviously favored Jordyn Wieber and Bridget Sloan. Both performed great rountines.

Jordan Wieber- Talk about a photocopy of Shawn Johnson, her rountines are practically the same! But, unlike Shawn, Jordyn seems to be trying to improve her flexibility and is aware that she is lacking. Nonetheless she stole the competition after landing a scary vault (2.5 Yurchanko) with straight legs. Her balance beam may not have the difficulty of a Nastia Liukin or Shawn Johnson quite yet, but it surely has the "wowing" factor. Look out for this girl in 2012

Bridget Sloan- Bridget did fairly well, after being on an Olympic Team she seems to not really know what she wants to do. (Along with Nastia Liukin.) Which in my opinion, puts her at a disadvantage because if she doesn't know what she wants to do, how is she suppose to find the drive to continue. Her rountines were great, yet she still followed 13 year old Jordyn Wieber. But who knows, she may be a force to reckon with at this years World Championships

Now After The Olympics

The Olympics are finally over, and now a new generation of gymnasts emerage. But some previous Olympians seem to want to still fulfill some small tasks. For one I heard Shawn Johnson may continue (as long as her body holds up.) And I know for a fact Nastia Liukin is back in the gym training for Nationals, which will be held in Dallas, Texas (a home crowd for her.)
Also it's about time we start looking at some Jr.'s, that may possible come to be the next Olympian. Some gymnasts include;

Rebecca Bross- She is obviously a contender, considering she comes from the same gym (WOGA) as Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson. And she trained alongside with Nastia. She is also a very strong gymnast (more like Carly than Nastia) performing arabian like skills on balance beam, and her floor is superb. She currently competes a yurchanko 2/1, but who knows it may change to a 5/2 soon. The only downfall for this girl is that when 2012 rolls around she will be in the same position as Nastia (age 19) and rumors have it she has a "gym mom."

Jordyn Weiber- Now this girl is only 12, and will turn Senior in 2011, making her a "perfect age." But obviously from the last olympics that matters only as much as the gymnasts determation. But she already has the spot light on her at such a young age, which may turn out to be a disadvantage going into the senior rankings. But Shawn Johnson handled it very well, but only time will tell.

Samantha Shapiro- This girl has a great smile and a great attitude. She is a mix of personalities between Shawn Johnson (having the "bubbly" side) and Nastia (with her great lines.) At age 14 currently she would be age 17/18 during London (sorry I didn't do much research, correct me if I'm wrong.) She already, like the other two, is getting internationals experience, but as we have seen before burn-outs do happen regularly.

Many, such as Shawn Johnson, don't appear in the "scene" until a year before the Olympics. Making it very difficult to tell who is/ who isn't going to make that team. Injuries and mental factors have taken many Olympic/World Contenders out of the run.

Shayla Worely

Okay I am obviously a huge fan of Shayla Worely, and it's uh-mazing talking to her. But I have just recently figured out that she is going to be a "Gymdog!" (Which means she is going to Georgia for gymnastics.) I am soo happy with her, but also a little sad.
I mean it's great that Shayla is going to stick out her gymnastics career a little longer. Because she is such an amazing gymnast.
But from my point of opinion I don't think she would still be doing gymnastics if she had made that olympic team. And considering they needed another "bar worker" at the time. Shayla fit that catagory, and she had international experience. But it does sadden me that she would not be in this position, if her leg hadn't broke. But that's just my opinion. And not that I'm not happy she is a Gymdog. But I was looking forward to see her "take over" and manage the new team in 2012. But nonetheless, Shayla is an inspiration.

New Scoring System Updates...

This is only for men's gymnastics, considering I am a male gymnast. Anyway optionals in men's gymnastics, as many of you know, is judged the same way as elites.
With that falls have increased from .8 to 1.0. But deductions are still the same (i.e. "small, medium, and large".) But the thing that really annoys me is that the compulsuary boys are using this system also. No longer can they go to school excited because they got a 9.3. Now they go screaming through tha halls yelling they got a 16.3? No longer is gymnastics enjoyable to watch for the average person, considering they don't "know what a good score/bad score is."
I am sorry that I have not updated the Blog as normally as I used to, but then again school and gymnastics do take up a large part of my life =]

Event Finals

Okay overall I was pretty pleased by how things worked out. Both men and women did good in my opinion just one major error that I was very displeased with. Everything else turned out okay... It wasn't amazing, but then again it wasn't horrible.

Mens:
Jonathan Horton - Finally grabbed a silver on his high bar! Amazing! I was soo happy, I mean if he would have stuck his landing who knows he probably would have got gold. But for his first olympics that's pretty good!
Sasha - Sadly he fell, and if he hadn't he would have probably ended up with silver/bronze, which is un-mazing! Considering he made it to event finals and was only an alternate.

Womens:
Nastia Liukin - Nastia got 2nd on beam which was fine with me even though she is my favorite, because I wanted Shawn to get a gold. Because every gymnast has worked so hard, and each one should be able to live there dream. Nastia also got 3rd on floor, which I thought she had second. But then Romania came out of no where and took first. But BARS! OMG Nastia tied for the gold and was "ranked 2nd." Whats with that? Can there not be 2 gold medals? Apparently not in this new world of gymnastics! Anyway He Kexin is amazing, a daredevil, but most importantly ... UNDERAGE!
Shawn Johnson - Okay I was soo pleased that she ended up getting a gold, even though she is not one of my favorites she deserves to get a gold. She was put under to much pressure being named the "it girl" which I think is what did it in All Around Finals. And on Floor I was sure she had it, and was hopping that she had it. But she lost it to the last competitor, no doubt, she would've won if she went last...
Alicia - Okay how messed up is this, Cheng Fei FALLS! OMG I know, but then what? She still medals a bronze pushing Alicia out who landed both vaults, which a small hop/step? I think that the only reason Cheng Fei pushed Alicia out because of her reputation.

USA medals 1 and 2

Nastia finished first, and not just a 1st, but a solid 1st! Thank goodness that Shawn Johnson finished second. I was a little disappointed because Ksenia Semenova didn't finish with a bronze status, but her time may come in 2012.