Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Champions













43 comments:

  1. My first thought was, "Maybe Vika will stop pouting now..."

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  2. I liked Nabieva's bar routine much better than Komova's, yet she didn't come close to winning. lol.

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  3. Vike lost by a 0.033 she can pout as much as she wants let her be.
    I'm just so sick and tired of this type of comments,good for all the people that if put in the same situation,in which they worked so hard to reach a certain goal,miss it by that small of margin,and can be all "ohh i'm just happy to be here...i didn't lose gold i won silver.."bla bla bla,well good for you,not everybody are like that let us pout and be bitter and upset if we want to.

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  4. Huh? So sportsmanship and class mean nothing? It's one thing to look disappointed, but it's quite another to act like a spoiled three-year-old child denied a cookie. It's pathetic and makes her look foolish.

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  5. If you need an example, anon. just look at Shawn Johnson in 2008...it was pretty obvious she was disappointed at silver, but she still smiled and did her thing. Vika should be ashamed.

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  6. I have to say at this point with the code being what it is I'd rather watch MAG. I'm so happy Uchimura won his third title, can't wait for him to win in 2012. I'm loving Phillip Boy, he may not be as polished but he has a great attitude and sportsmanship. I'm also super proud of the American men's team for grabbing bronze, I hope they keep the momentum going for London.

    I also want to chime in that if I was Vika I'd be annoyed too! If she doesn't get AA gold in London and Weiber does I will officially lose all hope in WAG. I wish the code would be revised so the artistry vs power debate could die down just a little bit. :(

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  7. I wish Maroney would do her hair. Jesus.

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  8. Shawn shouldn't be an example of smiling and doing your thing since that perma smile IS her thing.

    Look at how Nastia reacted to her loss to Chellsie. Slim margin, she was upset and it showed. They're human. Komova didn't slight Jordyn, she cried into her coach. Big deal.

    Go look at Alicia for bad sportsmanship. She straight up sulked away from Shawn and Nastia when she had been snapping pictures with them as she thought she had it.

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  9. These girls train for gold their entire life. Especially in countries like Russia & Romania their family happiness can depend on their success on the field...er, gym mats. No no I don't mean their families will be sent to the gulag if they don't win but it is obvious that they have tons of pressure, they get money from the State, their families benefit, etc.

    Vika acted appropriately. She was hugely disappointed. She thought she won gold (did you not see her sweet smile after she was done on FX), Jordyn/Geddert have acknowledged that they too thought she won gold, the BBC commentators made it seem like it was a slam dunk, those in the media zone at the arena have said they thought Komova won...drum roll...she didn't. End of story. She was incredibly disappointed and shocked. Of course she reacted the way she didn't. She didn't go slap Jordyn around or rip the medal off on the podium, she was super sad. Afterwards she acknowledged mistakes to the press and said she had to train harder.

    And yes, does AOGC not teach their girls to comb their hair? Mattie Larson did the same thing!

    BTW, Aliya Mustafina needs to have a chit chat with Vika when she returns re how to have true grit in a meet. Vika continuously looked defeated during team finals.

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  10. Being upset shows that you care.

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  11. C, well said about MAG.

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  12. Whether she won rightly or wrongly, I feel like this entry should have included Wieber, since it included Uchimura for winning the AA.

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  13. When Wieber wins for being an ARTISTIC gymnast, she'll be recognized ;)

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  14. Honestly, she's really just a kid. She's 16, she's under enormous pressure, she's exhausted no doubt, and she lost by a tiny margin. Who WOULDN'T have been upset?

    You'd think none of these commenters hating on Komova had ever been a teenager who'd suffered some kind of disappointment, and I highly doubt any of them had to deal with countless TV cameras and photographers documenting it either.

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  15. Anon @ 11:08, thank you. :) I only in past year or so started really paying attention to MAG, I can't believe what I was missing! When WAG actually becomes "artistic" again I'll bring myself to truly give a shit. At least in MAG they can stick Amanars without me crossing my fingers that someone's legs don't snap off. They're also graceful in their own way. I wouldn't mind Wieber if I could lock her in a ballet studio for the next year or so.

    I could ramble on and on about this. :p

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  16. It's done! The judges f it up and gave the girl the gold medal, it is done, let's move on! What I am interested in is if the uproar in the media and some good night sleep gave the judges time to reevaluate this shit show that has been scoring in this World Championships and if e will see Weiber get finally deducted for the bent knees and bad feet on beam and the lack of 180 degree splits and if we are going to get some decent scores. I am still baffled at how Weiber scored more in E than Ferrari who did the cleanest floor of the competition. I hope the event finals today are better judged and we get some medals for people that are actually doing good, clean gymnastics.

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  17. I streamed the competition from some Spanish/Portugese/I don't even know wtf channel last night, and I have to say that the bars final was pretty interesting with the scoring. If someone can educate me as to where Huang's bars execution came down to 8.133, I'd love to know. I was completely shocked by that, regardless of the fact that I was cheering for Komova before she even started her bar set.

    Meanwhile.

    Wooooo Mother Russia!!!

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  18. Echoing evil apprentice re UB finals, could someone please explain Huang's (or for that matter, Teramoto's) crazy-low E scores? I honestly don't get it. Huang sure looked cleaner than either Wieber or Nabieva to me, but maybe I'm missing something. And why on earth is a basically hit routine in UB finals at Worlds getting an E score below 8?!? I agree with Komova winning, but I'm not sure I agree with Nabieva second over Huang, and I don't agree that Komova was close to a point better than the rest of the field in E score!

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  19. The problem with the Chinese routines are that they are way too long. Nabieva and Wieber do about 16-17 skills in their routines, the average Chinese routine has way more skills to be evaluated by the judges. Huang has around 25 skills to get deducted on. In addition, they rely on way too many priouettes that have to be done in handstand. It's the composition of the routines that is killing them.

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  20. Yeah, Wieber should be included in the post. Right or wrong, she won, and she's hardly the least artistic gymnast that has won the AA. Her floor is actually one of the better ones right now. I can't say the same for Komova. She is one of the most beautiful and elegant gymnasts that has come around in a while, and they chose to give her that techno Swan Lake crap (it's pretty, but has no substance). Hopefully, she has an FX suitable for the AA Champion next year. I have no doubt she'll win next year when healthy.

    I have to say that I'm glad that neither Komova nor Wieber appear to be anywhere near as petty as some of their fans have been the last 2 days. The bashing of these 2 16 years old girls has been ridiculous. Both are class acts. Komova has since acknowledged that she made a ton of smaller mistakes that hurt her score and put her in 2nd, so people can stop calling her a brat! For Wieber's sake, she was the first one to shake Komova's hand when she thought that Vika had won.

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  21. Agreed re: Komova on floor. And it's a shame, too, because she moves well enough yet the routine does nothing for her. But, I'm not sure a crap music choice completely negates her floor. It is awful though.

    I'm actually curious why AJ left Wieber out. I know he stans for anything thin, long limbed and Russian, but since this IS a champions post ...

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  22. Does anyone think the Chinese will reduce the number of skills now that the judges seem to be hammering away at them in favor of fewer that they can do well in hs? It would make since as before they were doing it to get the big score, but now that the big scores aren't coming with the pile of deductions being taken, why not tone it down and settle for a slightly less massive scoring potential?

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  23. While the Chinese did get hit harder this year, they were pretty bad on bars in general. I can't think of one routine, except for maybe Huang's EF, that I thought was great. They were missing handstands left and right and very labored. I don't think the judges care for their style of bars anymore, but I think they will still score well if they clean up by London. The Chinese just looked rough at Worlds. I'm not sure what is going on there.

    On Komova's floor. The music is the worst, but the choreo is pretty lackluster as well. Her ability to move, combined with her gorgeous lines is the saving grace of that routine IMO. With Wieber, it's says more of the state of artistry in gymnastics that her FX has been praised on the message boards so much, but she does SELL it, and it works for her - even if it's not my cup of tea.

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  24. For me at least, I can appreciate Wieber on floor because she has markedly improved compared to her earlier years. So, at the very least, she is trying. She'll probably never move all that well, but she definitely stepped it up and is working with what she has got at the moment. I can appreciate that.

    I think the problem with "artistry" is that instead of being truly looked at, it seems like for the most part the easiest/only way to be praised is to have a certain build and certain music. And instead of being taught to actually move and dance well, it's here is some violin music and some 'nice' poses. For example, Porgras's previous routine -- all of the ooh's and ahh's and "it's like watching a ballet!" Lol. No. It definitely was not like watching a ballet.

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  25. Honestly I like Komova's floor. The techno swan bit, and the swan-like movements are all quite nice... but I don't think it sells as well as her previous YOG James Bond one. Artistry is not about being balletic, it's about having nice, extended lines, musicality, (maybe innovative choreography is too much to ask for), all of which can be taught and worked on just like somersaults. The COP just doesn't reward it and make it worthwhile. Aly Raisman's floor for instance, should incur artistry deductions (like the code theoretically dictates).. maybe then she'll work on her dance. They were really smart choosing Hava Nagila though, it's a charming piece of music that gets the audience going no matter what the gymnast is doing.
    And people use the term balletic too loosely, its a rather specific type of carriage, posture, and lines, it certainly does not mean posing to flowy music. Even Nastia is not balletic. The last truly balletic gymnast was maybe Lilia Pod. Anyway, that's not what's asked for...
    RE chinese bars. I think the judging is really harsh for missed handstands now, and all their E pirouettes are really really hard to finish in perfect handstand... so their routine composition incurs a lot more deductions. Add that to the normal labored swing/dead hang (the Russians *swings* a lot better). I hope they can change their composition a bit, do more transitions between bars ala Russians and Wu Liufang... but then again Chinese bars have always been characterized by those pirouettes. Would be interesting to see what happens in London.

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  26. Re: Vika-- she was upset. Sure, I get that. Being upset and sulking are two different things. She isn't the only one who's ever reacted this way; Alicia also handled things extremely badly in 2007 when she lost her floor gold to Shawn. There have been many cases of bad sportsmanship from many different countries over the years, and unfortunately Komova is the most recent. She has some growing up to do.

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  27. I fail to see how Komova was that bad. First of Alicia's behavior was ridiculous because she was rude to her own teammate. Jordyn is not Komova's teammate.


    Its not like Komova refused to shake Jordyn's hand, ripped of her medal on the medal stand, made a scene for herself on the podium etc. She cried, and looked unhappy big deal. Why is it necessary for her to act like a train monkey. This is one of the biggest disappointments in her career.

    And from interviews she's at least trying to take responsibility for her own issues.

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  28. Nobody said she shouldn't be upset. Or disappointed. But she acted poorly on the podium by sulking, pouting and giving Jordyn death stares. Uncalled for.

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  29. You have got to be kidding me. Did we watch the same medal ceremony?? There is a big difference between "showing disappointment" and having your lower lip sticking out so far you could trip over it. Come on. She was pouting and acting like a baby.

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  30. Komova's behavior didn't bother me and honestly I felt they handled it well -- they could have petitioned her score or whatever, but instead they just accepted this and went on. Again, she didn't blow off Jordyn. If it's required to be a beaming, gleeful person up there then sure, she failed at that. After her tears dried she looked the same way she had looked the entire day, kinda miserable.

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  31. I don't give a shit what her facial expression was on the medal stand (though she IS a grim little mouse, isn't she?), but that giant half ruins the entire bar routine for me. That with the horrible FX music/choreo makes me so disappointed with her this year. Better things to come next year, I hope. I appreciate her Soviet aesthetic but she's not the Mostepanova II I thought she would be. I actually prefer Mustafina and Grishina.

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  32. Omggggg you guys Sui Lu didn't smile once on the podium. She totally slighted Jordyn. Omg couldn't she smile at least once what a pouty winner. Suck it up for the podium.

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  33. "giving Jordyn death stares" lol.paranoid much?
    seriously people the cold war is over get over it.

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  34. First of all, congratulations to all the champions! Great job!

    Second, for goodness sake, this is an athletic competition, not a beauty pageant! These girls are here to tumble and sweat, not to look groomed within an inch of their lives. And since we're on bad hair, I thought Komova's was a bit of a hot mess, but I didn't really care because I was watching her skill set.

    Last, I haven't seen the AA comp yet, but I like whoever mentioned these girls are 16. This is their world. Most people are competing in high school athletics at this age, not worldwide televised, elite level competitions. I'm sure they've all behaved a little bitterly at some loss. Though I do have to agree, Komova seems very given to emotion. She certainly didn't hide her dejection during TF. Hopefully that'll come in time because pouty isn't becoming to her.

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  35. sui lu is just a very serious and reserved person in general, she rarely smiles much even in front of the chinese cameras. nothing to do with sportsmanship.

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  36. I also think Komova's routine and choreography suck. There are spots where it is nice and others when she looks rushed and silly. I hope they get her a better routine. Give her one of Afan's oldies!

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  37. NO I will cry if they start recycling routines amongst themselves. Komova needs a new routine, but not someones old one. Something suited to her and hopefully not a techno remake.

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  38. AJ is saving Jordyn for an AA post. He has been away all weekend. He hasn't exactly trashed Jordyn on formspring or said much of anything about the AA final.

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  39. I think it's Komova you should be doing her hair. Her bangs are definitely waaaaay too long. and ugly. She is a hot mess, hair going out everywhere. She look like a poor, depressive child. Which I think she is (depressive, I don't know about poor).

    Maroney's hair is nice : very well held in a ponytail, simple, none of that %?&*( poof...

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  40. LOL, not that I want to turn this into a hair debate because that's not what this board is for, but it IS Komova's bangs that bug me most! She's so tiny and the bangs just seem to complete the ultimate waif look.

    On the other side, I liked the way Ana Porgras had her hair. :)

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  41. Everyone seems to be arguing over a floor score. In qualifiers, where Vika performed better, she scored a 14.49. In finals she scored a 14.333. I don't remember people overly complaining by how underscored she was in qualifying, but of course she came out on top then, so the result was what they expected. When suddenly their choice of winner comes second (a huge accomplishment in itself), then that's when the outcries start. The Russians never protested the score, and if there had been cause, surely they would have, yet they still acted out against it. How is Vika supposed to react, if the adults react that way?
    Also, Jordyn doesn't have the same build as Vika, which everyone loves, and so she is not classified as artistic enough. While it would be nice if everyone was elegant and beautiful, since when does artistic just mean balletic? Look how far Jordyn has come on her floor exercise? She actually performs it and looks to be enjoying herself, instead of just trying to get through a routine. She found music and movements that work for her, and that is her artistic expression. Just becuase it's not as pretty as some others, does that mean she should give up gymnastics? What about aly's first pass? That is some awesome tumbling right there, and was cool and exciting in itself. Sre she has a way to go in the artistry department, but she is working on it, and maybe we can just enjoy the high parts anyway.

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  42. Agreed with anon 1:08 about, of all things, Vika's hair. The bangs are much too long--I love bangs, and I have them myself, but when they're too long they look straggly and greasy--and the ponytail could use a little TLC from a blow dryer. It looks like she slept on wet hair. I'm sure her skills will improve before the Olympics next year, but I hope she gets some new fx music and some help with her hair. Aliya has some time on her hands, she should help a teammate out!

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