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Kittens, it's been a while! Catty Comments here in the penthouse headquarters for the AJ San Francisco bureau. Since the warmups aren't televised (boo - it's called "Red Carpet" Universal Sports, and if you're not into it, it's called Bravo), I'm looking at quickhits on Gym Examiner, Gymnastike, and Couch Gymnast. The first victim of the red carpet is Shawn Johnson - gurl, no. That would get you auf-ed on Project Runway. Thanks to Couch Gymnast for that photo & Gymnastike for posting it.
Per Gymnastike, Anna Li warmed up a full-twisting double layout dismount on bars. She is gunning for Tokyo with that bars routine - you go girl! Can't wait to see the Legacy Elite leos since their dolphin-blue shiny warm up leo yesterday was so purty.
Macko on beam - really solid, calm routine. She's just oozing calm dismounting roundoff double full - stunning performance. Marta is going to make everyone go NCAA now. She goes 14.1 but what's notable is the 8.9E score - lovely.
Jordyn Wieber mounts beam like she's out for blood. Switch side 1/2 lovely. Small bobble on side somi. Standing back full, bobble & pause, bhs. Solid 2 bhs to 2.5 dismount
Shawn rocks a bars set, hit the handstands, landed her full-twisting double layout lock-legged and awkwardly bounced to her hands. Tough break, but that's what conditioning is all about. I don't expect those same dismount mistakes from Legacy & WOGA.
Commercial for Visas - hey kids, after 2 world AA medals, did you know Rebecca Bross is a "rising star?" Sigh.
Raisman barely caught her Shaposh for extra swings, pauses in other pirouettes, and then bombs a handstand. Wow - that routine was a disaster. Surprising. I always expect her leg separations & club feet, I don't expect that bars meltdown. A horrendous 6.75 Execution score leaves her with a 12.45.
Maroney is up on beam. Easy punch front to bhs layout stepout. Gorgeous. Nice full-twisting split leap. Bobble on full turn. Solid switch leap, back tuck. Solid side flip. Dismount ro double tuck, 1 step back. Solid routine. 14.55.
Gabby Douglas on bars - huge Tkachev to Pak, stalder full pirouette immediate stuck tucked full-out. She did her job today - I'll be interested to see her D score. ETA: 6.4 Difficulty, overall 14.95 score. Good difficulty.
Chellsie Memmel on beam - excellent piked barani. Front aerial, immediate straddle jump full-turn. Bobble on standing Arabian. Another punch front, immediate bhs layout stepout. Nice switch-1/2 leap. Huge roundoff double pike dismount, 1-step back. 14.7, 8.6 Execution.
Yay - I *finally* have video. Was relying on the TV coverage until now, which is far enough away so that I can't properly snark on the leos. All I can say is that if Shawn wore her teammate Gabby's solid red leo, she'd look a *lot* better. Fellow broad-torso ladies - a long diagonal does the same thing as a horizontal - nothing good.
Vega on beam looking good - bobble on the punch front. Bobble on leap to back pike. Huge bobble on her switch ring to grab her legs. Nice high double pike dismount - she needs to keep her legs together. She seems to have grown into her height and looks sleeker than last year to me - very pleasing lines. Vega, Memmel & Wieber all competed 6.1 Difficulty scores on beam - the difference, as always, was Wieber's 9.1 Execution score.
Now we get the obligatory on-camera Tim interview of co-anchor Amanda Borden on the 15th anniversary of the Mag7 gold medal. As they yak I can get some good leo & bitchface action. Sacramone in sparkly dark burgundy with cray-cray white shape explosion on the bodice.
Bridgey on floor - the Legacy leo is dark blue, 1 white arm & neck with small squiggly things on the bodice in Easter colors. Leo designers, stop with the random squiggles. Imma looking at you GK. Opening fhs front double full, front full - absolutely stuck! Nice pike full-in with 1-step back. Calm dancing - she really looks gorgeous on floor now that she's taller. If only she could dance to match her body! Nice back 2.5, then ass-plants the dismount double pike. Lovely routine, and I have no worries for her hitting that routine at Visas.
Shawn on beam with her all flesh-paneling arm decorated with squiggly lines of purple crystals that from far away look like a skin disease from Vegas. Off on her 2 bhs to layout. Front tuck, pause, sheep jump. Switch side 1/2, bobble. Big bobble on L-turn. Switch leap, gainer layout, back pike - stuck! Roundoff double pike, solid landing. She gained confidence throughout the routine - good for her.
Maroney on fx - WOW - 3.5 with a step oob. But WOW. 2.5 to front full. 1.5 to tucked double back. Low double Arabian, low steps to sit down. Too bad, but that's going to be a great routine.
Sacramone beam - her face doesn't look well. Solid pike front mount. Full-twisting split leap. Punch front, pause, bhs layout stepout. Switch side leap, bobble. Fugly chinstand. Pike front. Switch leap, sissone. Hating the white blocking on the leo - it makes her torso look wide and her bust look huge, and she doesn't have a big bust. And her torso is quite slim.
Memmel fx - MONSTER opening dos Santos - holy cow. She does a high double full where her double layout will soon live. The music is cool - I don't even hate the disembodied voices. I wish someone could give her a couple of good moves. Excellent 2.5 front full. Cool seat bounce sequence. Double pike, one step back. And that, kittens, is how you hit the shit out of floor. Welcome back Chellsie!
Shawn says in an interview that it was "scary" and that she "completely forgot" how competition was.
Raisman on beam - lovely dark blue leo with lighter deep blue sleeves & shoulder. Raisman looks good here - hitting the tumbling. Front pike immediate layout stepout. Switch leap 1/2, pause, back pike. Aerial. Switch leap, back tuck. Standing back tucks & pikes on the end of passes is the new put a bird on it. Patterson dismount, large step forward. 6.2 D, impressive 8.8E for 15.00.
Vega floor - shiny dark red leo, crystals, stupid white torso squiggles. Good pike full-in, step back. 1.5 to tucked double back, step back, oob. Double L-turn. ACTUAL CHOREOGRAPHY. With the music no less. 2.5 front layout. High double pike dismount, step back. After losing my fangirl status for her last year, she now has me back. 5.7 Difficulty, 14.25 total score.
Magee, beam!!! - Ro layout mount. Korbut. Back spin. Double full to full turn. Aerial, bobble. Swtich leap, split leap 1/1. Side flip, big bobble w/ steps to stay on. Ro 2-foot layout - nice! Triple turn, bobble. Amazing. Front hs to knees. Ro gainer double full off end - good for her! Thank you Universal Sports for showing her! 5.9 Difficulty for 14.2 total. She's 23 and over a year ago she was finishing her NCAA career with Arkansas. Nice team, nice person.
Now I want to see Wofford's beam routine - she's rocking a 6.3 Difficulty. I'm still trying to get over the junior Ohashi earlier today rocking a 7.0 D beam score - that kid could be amazing in Rio 2016. Who cares if she's falling now? Valeri has 5 more years to ensure she can hit when the pressure is on.
Sacramone floor - she's got the bitchface on! After a 15.2 beam, she wants her first fx since falling in Beijing. Huge opening triple full, 1 step oob. Giant double Arabian, 1 step oob. 2.5 front layout. Like the huge music for her, wish she'd use her body & arms more. And fucking learn to ignore her fucking wrists and keep her hands occasionally at the same angle as her arms so as to - wait for it - create a line. Double pike, 1 step oob. Controlled tumbling & execution, lovely. I'm sure Marta's not concerned with the oobs today.
Bridgey of the Caquatti vt - easy fty. Since she warmed up dty and had a recent shin injury, hopefully she'll compete it at Visas.
Tim says that Sacramone calls Raisman her mini-me. Gurl, club foot can't be your mini-you unless you suddenly develop matching club feet.
Raisman fx - This may be the screechiest fx violin music in the history of screechy fx violin music. And whistling. Yikes. Giant 1.5 double Arabian to punch front - 2 steps oob with the same foot. Not kidding. Massive dos Santos, immediate sissone. Can we just re-choreograph a dance section she spends on her stomach? High triple full. Easy double pike. Nice routine.
Chellsie fucking Memmel vt - high, easy fty. She looks like she can do a dty right this second.
Jetter beam - weird white, gray, pink leo, all shiny & stripey in the torso. Tuck back. Switch side leap. Omfg, has she learned how to compete on beam?! Standing Arabian, small bobble but controlled. Low side somi, tiny bobble. Punch front stuck. Bhs, layout stepout. Switch leap, sissone, wolf jump. Rushed full turn. 2 bhs double tuck, small step. Watching her last year on beam at classics and this year - it's such a huge difference I wonder if she's been brainwashed into a cult. Mary Lee Tracy, you're amazing.
Vega vault - dty, huge, far, step back. Lovely improvement!
Wofford fx - black leo with shiny, shiny reflective yellow arms & side-torso decoration. She's come to the meet as an over-designed traffic sign. Cute kid, blond & freckles. Quirky music. Nice opening pike full-in. Low double pike, 1 step forward. Ro 1.5 front layout. 2.5 dismount.
Sophina DeJesus beam - yay! Sparkly eyeliner, and loud electric green & blue leo. Front aerial, bhs layout stepout. Side aerial. Switch leap, back tuck. Low front tuck and immediate fall. Nice step-through front pike. 2 bhs to low tucked double back, step forward. Per Tim her 1 beam fall is "devastating", while Shawn's beam fall is a step in the right direction. Bokay Timmay.
After 3 rotations, Vega, Memmel, Wofford, Raisman, Lee are your meaningless AA leaders. Memmel is .8 behind Vega. Bring on the bars showdown.
Raisman warms up dty. We'll see whether she throws that or her stated Amanar.
The commercials stops and the vault warmups continue. Show Sacramone, have Tim gush. He's making his own fluff right now mentioning her 2008 Olympics experience.
Sacramone vt - GIANT layout rudi, small step back. Seriously, does she keep getting this vault better? Small pause to put her wristguards on for the dty. Or rather, an fty. Can we bottle that fty for NCAA? Amazing.
ANNA LI bars - YAY! - kchs - save before maloney 1/2 - gorgeous Shush - AGH - crazy fluke fall on low bar stalder peeled off onto her back. After remounting, full-twisting double layout with a leg separation, small step.
Raisman vault - Amanar - good for her! Low, couple of steps back, but completed the twist. That more than makes up for any bars issues - her job is to do an Amanar in Tokyo and London TFs.
Chellsie fucking Memmel bars - kchs, Maloney, bail 1/2, stalder shoot to high. Full pirouette to high Tkachev. Jam to hs, German giant, double front. Good for her - clean AA performance! 14.4, 5.8 Difficulty.
Sacramone interview - she looks calm and relieved to be done.
Vega bars - lovely Endo, nice Geinger, then an extra swing to piked Tkachev, then straddled Tkachev. Stuck tucked full-in. 13.5.
Macko of the Caquatti - she's tan and looks like a chipmunk trying to do a bitchface. I love her - adorable upturned nose like Sandra Bullock. Nice Jaeger, excellent Church, almost over-shot the Pak. Maloney, bail 1/2. Tkachev, then ends with a tucked full-in. Go Caquatti - 14.75!
Now it's Wieber's turn on bars - Weiler kip, Maloney immediate uprise back hip circle. Easy Tkachev. Tucked double-double dismount - low & step forward, but she's got it. And it turns out she got the 15.2 for the bars win, with a 6.5 D.
Bridgey of the Caquatti - stalder full, Maloney 1/2 - extra swing - Ricna - Produnova (piked Tkachev) - double layout, stuck.
And Raisman beats Memmel in the AA by .3 with the Amanar. The top gymnasts stand around and talk for the cameras. Memmel seems happy in her interview and said she was more nervous here than in Beijing because of lack of preparation.
That's it for the TV/semi-streaming web coverage! I'll add on as I see what others have posted and will answer questions below. Final standings via Couch Gymnast:
1) Raisman 57.250
2) Memmel 56.950
3) Vega 56.850
4) Wofford 55.600
Any luck getting the video to work?
ReplyDeleteIt's not working for me either...I'm hoping that it's just because the feed hasn't gone live yet.
ReplyDeleteNo video for me either. Just says universal sports.
ReplyDeleteARGH, I've been looking forward to this all day! C'mon, Universal!
ReplyDeleteChellsie Memmel is a beast! She made that punch front to bhs-layout step out because she is made of pure fight. Rebecca Bross is Chellsie Memmel 2.0.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't gotten the video to work yet, try going to universalsports.com home page and clicking on the picture of Shawn...that video is working.
ReplyDeletebross looks bloated and gross. Anyway with anna li looking so good, it just makes me wonder what she could have done if she had not wasted the four years with val and ucla. I am sure it was a fun situation for her but she wasted four years of development.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that sac seems to be back mentally. Finally! This is important because she was the one that essentially lost us the gold.
ReplyDeletetrying to watch on universalsports.com from canada, but i keep getting the message that "this video is not loading properly"... is this b/c i am outside the usa?
ReplyDeleteOMG jetter does not even look human. what is up?
ReplyDeletefuck universal sports and their crappy stream. Sure, it works fine for the "commercial breaks" but it can't show a 1 minute (or 15 second vault) all the way through without freezing. And this is what I get to look forward to for Nationals. This blows. Thanks for the updates, Chatty, they are the only thing coming through with reliability.
ReplyDeleteThat Amanar was hideous, DO NOT WANT.
ReplyDeleteWay to go by legacy/florida on bars!
ReplyDeleteAny idea why Maroney only competed beam and floor??
ReplyDeleteI AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE BACK!
ReplyDeleteMemmel won the meet no questions. The judges were obviously instructed to give it to the jewish girl who can not do bars.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how Raisman being Jewish has anything to do with her doing a sloppy amanar or terrible bar set.(Sac's Italian, does that make her prone to going OOB?) The latter is becuase her coach a (*cough* *cough* Romanian) is a terrible bars coach, not a single bretstyan's girl can compete bars worth a damn.
ReplyDeleteAnna Li's bar routine was disappointing, but her fall was such a freak thing. She seemed shocked when she peeled off.
So does anyone know if Shawn is qualified to Nationals, or if not will she petition? She did not look ready for Worlds at this point.
Chellsie earned the title of Chellsie Fucking Memmel, certified BAMF. She can eat a granola bar mid compeittion any time she wants to. I seriously hope she's not doing the fruit chicken fruit thing, she needs her calcium. Ladies, take note this is how you execute a comeback.
Shawn's petition to Nationals was accepted.
ReplyDeletewhat really shocked me is that memmel has lots of room for improvement, and I think she can improve quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteBAMF. Suits the Memmls. Beautifully. I just hope she continues to grow because bitch deserves to be an American icon just because she has more stamina, grit, and guts than Chuck Norris.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else think it's a bit tacky to have competitors commenting on the other competitors? Shawn and Alicia were gracious, but it's just weird.
ReplyDeleteYES. but Tim Daggett and NBC are tacky. It was absurd to have Shawn and Alicia commenting on girls they were directly against. But at least Universal Sports is upping the quality of their commentary by replacing John Roth and Nastia with Amanda Borden. She has a much more natural talent for commentating.
ReplyDeleteI actually liked that they were commenting, because you actually heard from someone who knows what is going on! For example when Alicia explained that everyone had been complaining about the bars being to bouncy it made sense for some of the falls problems on bars. And Shawn watching Casey Jo Magee and saying oh that is cool when she was doing her beam spin was a real reaction. I didnt feel they were really commenting more like they were wearing a mic while watching a routine and it was cool to hear their reactions. If felt candid.
ReplyDeleteI personally liked Shawn's leo.....
ReplyDeleteChelsie's black sparkly one was probably the best leo of the night, though. I did like Raisman's as well.
But, ugh, that screechy floor music. I like Hava Nagila, and I play the violin, so in theory that music could be so good. They need to re-do it. No screechy, electric sounding violin and please loose the whistling. It hurt my ears over the television, so I feel sorry for those stuck in the arena with it.
ALSO, coming home from a 53+ hour work week to find AJ was back made my day!
Is it too early to play "If I were Marta Karolyi"?
ReplyDeleteI know things will remain fluid until the last possible second, but if I were picking the world team I'd put Wieber, Sacramone, Raisman and Bross on it without too much thought. The first three look like they'll be in top form by October. Bross may be a little more of a question mark but I think she'll be back to all-around by then. I'd put Anna Li on the team strictly to do bars. For the 6th member, I'd need an all-arounder with a decent bars to be the alternate for team finals and good floor to be the alternate there as well. Looks like Memmel is gunning for this spot if she ups her difficulty.
New behind the team, filed within the last three months I'm guessing...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usa-gymnastics.org/pages/post.html?PostID=8173&prog=