Saturday, May 26, 2012

Chellsie Memmel's Petition Denied



Nancy Armour just tweeted that Chellsie Memmel's petition has been denied.  Is this fair?  She didn't appear to be anywhere near contention today and was beyond a long shot, but should she have been given a petition based on past experience?  USAG gave Shawn a pass to Nationals after her mistakes last year.  Chellsie is a fan favorite and has given a lot to USAG.  It certainly wouldn't have hurt to give her a petition.  I can see where she didn't earn it and has been unable to go to camps, but it does feel a tad harsh given her track record.  Shawn Johnson should be nervous about expecting a position at Trials if she is too busy traveling and promoting her book to pretend to be a gymnast the week of Nationals.  It is unlikely the judging panel will do her any favors.

Sound off.

65 comments:

  1. Wow. This is Marta saying "you play by my rules, don't forget that".

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    1. maybe she's saying, "You play by the rules that everyone in the world plays by. The ones where 11.9 is a terrible score, and don't you forget that."

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  2. EVen if she didn't make the Olys, she would have added a lot of pizazz to the Nationals. Marta is a downer. It's more than just selection camp in the open. Let her go to Nationals, you old grumpy grump.

    Or...maybe her shoulder is fooked and she is in denial and Marta is being realistic. Like when Chelse tried to cover up for it poppiing out last year...

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    1. I am somewhat leaning towards this argument. Chellsie just had surgery on her shoulders last February... this has limited her Bars training. I think USAG felt that given the short span of time before Nationals, she may not have enough time to come up with a decent bars, w/o the risk of injuring herself again

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    2. Since when has USAG been concerned with injuring their athletes? '03 worlds they lost Hatch, Kupets, Postell. '08 they lost Worley, Memmel, Peszek. '11 They lost Bross, Caquatto, Sacramone. Preventing injury doesn't seem like one of their top priorities.

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  3. Shawn qualifies automatically from her assignment to PanAms, so there's no issue there. But unfortunately Chellsie rolled the dice by not attending any camps, and placing all her bets on nailing it at Secret Classics. I get that maybe she didn't feel ready for the stress of camps, but she's not the only strong gymnast who is going to fall by the wayside between now and London.

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  4. I feel Chellsie should have been given a chance. It is a sad day when a much loved gymnast isn't given a fair shot while another is too busy shopping in LA and begging to get votes to be put on DWTS All Star Season to bother remembering she wants to make an olympic team.

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  5. Shawn automatically gets a spot at Nationals, not Trials.

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  6. She still should be been here....she acts like she has nothing to prove. I could see if she had opted to train at home instead of showing up but she wasn't. I am not a Shawn hater by any means but I think she is another that needs to put up or shut up.

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  7. I think it is ridiculous to not grant her petition! Why didn't she compete floor? Wasnt she doing full routines during podium training?

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  8. I just dont get it? What is the rationale? It is clear the issue is numbers not ability. But you know the girl and the coach and you know they have dealt with coming back from injury many time before and will put in the work (not galavant all over doing TV appearances). And its not like this is someone who decided to start working out three months ago. She competed at this meet last year and only took a break for surgery. Marta even put her on the Pan Am Team with Shawn! Its heart breaking because this is a girl that is in the process for the love of the sport, not for TV appearances or book sales. What does USA Gymnastics lose by letting her petition to nationals after all she has done for them?

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  9. Remember, they did this to dominique when she wanted to compete at nationals? Anyway she might have been able to help the team on bars, but she was probably going to run out of time. Anyway the thing that is interesting is if they actually did put it in writing that they needed a 14 to qualify. You can bet your ass that nastia would have gotten a 14 come hook or by crook.

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    1. this has nothing to do with Nastia, leave her out of it.

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    2. it has everything to do with nastia. She never should have been allowed to compete. Did she qualify for classics? Did she go to a single camp? Did she do anything the last three years except sit next to marta and kathy kelly? Did she openly and inappropriately talk about other gymnasts and what went on in the selection committees? Nastia is the one that has no business being invited to nationals. Granted she looked good, but all she did was do n over rated beam routine.

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    3. They could have let her compete, just like they let Kristie Phillips compete when she was totally out of shape in 2000. My problem is that why didn't they make everyone compete at least two events if not three. Nastia could fall 7 times on beam, score a 2.2, and they would have to let her go through if her bar routine was in the 16's. Same thing with memmel.

      I guess my biggest problem with this whole thing is that it was never put in writing that you needed a 14. Again USAG makes the rules as they go along.

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    4. Anon, personally I did not think that memmel looked heavy, certainly not any thicker then nastia, but she did break connections. They could have done a life time achievement award if they wanted to and put her through.

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    5. that's just a lot of useless speculation about what would have happened if people had competed two events and not one. Who cares? They let them compete only one event, Chellsie chose to compete just one event and she didn't hit. And whether or not it was in writing is irrelevant, 14 is relatively low, but it could have been 12 and Chellsie would have fallen short.

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    6. It is totally relevant that usag did not put a 14 in writing. They have only ever refused one petition. People in the past have petitioned on without even doing a competitive dismount on their one event. I remember one gymnast who did a partial solitary event without a dismount. I remember one girl who petitioned to olympic trials final selection without even doing nationals, or olympic trials. I also remember one gymnast Betty Okino who did not compete all year, could not vault in the final selection, and was petitioned onto the team. She was injured. It is ok to make exceptions if it is someone they want.They will bend all of the rules.

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  10. If she were thinner, would they let her?

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  11. TPTB didn't want to seem like petty bitches so they set minimum scores required, they told Chellsie she needed a 14.0 to go to Nationals. That way it's cut and dry and doesn't allow for any leniency.

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  12. How is Wofford pre qualified but Memmel not if she was named to the Pan Am team?

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  13. I 'd bet my life if nastia had a 2 fall day shed be going to nationals.

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    1. Well, she didn't. She showed up and looked great.

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    2. Let’s be honest here. Chellsie has no shot to make the Olympic team. Her beam was awful and Marta is all about these girls hitting under pressure. And why even bring Nastia into it? She did her job. She hit her routine, she didn’t fall apart, Chellsie did. It is time for Chellsie to retire.

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  14. Chellsie showed up to compete, unlike some people, and even performed beam and floor in podium training. That showed commitment and that she truly wanted it (again, unlike some people). Unfortunately, competition night didn't go Chellsie's way, but I definitely think her petition should've been granted. Even if she didn't qualify or get invited to Olympic Trials, one final Nationals would've been a commemorative way to end her terrific career. Chellsie is an amazing gymnast, and I'm sad to think of a gymnastics future without her in it. :(

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  15. Call USA gymnastics at 3172375050 go to the extension menu spell Steve penny's last name with 7366 and leave him a message... That's his voicemail Better than the general number let him know what you think. She verified a floor routine.... She should at least move forward and compete at visas what harm would it do to the process

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  16. Contact the USAG sponsors.. Visa... Secret... Proctor and gamble let them know it's a fraudulent competition!!!!

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  17. I think Shawn's agent forgot to tell her she's supposed to be 'sick'

    I say Shawn should give her spot to Chellsie the girl who, you know, was actually trying to make the Olympic team

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    1. I say shawn should not give up her spot because she didn't give up after classic and she not give up her spot after working so hard so u need to shut the hell up and back off on shawn Fool

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  18. I think Chellsie just didn't have an actual shot at making that team, and them denying her petition was them finally saying it out loud. It stinks that such a great gymnast had to go out on a bad note as tonight, but she DID neglect her competition assignment for PanAms last year. People can even say that she only did that to protect her shoulder, but that only brings up another can of worms: Chellsie's body just might not hold up like she wants it to. And this is her THIRD try for an Olympic team.

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  19. She'd more likely be "in" if she hadn't been blatantly circumventing Marta's system for months. I doubt we've seen Memmel-tron do gymnastics for the last time. You know she worships at the shrine of Chuso.

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  20. Chellsie has done many many things for USA gymnastics.

    She deserves ONE thing from them.

    http://qkme.me/3pgtbx

    -Oscar WB-

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  21. NOOOOOOOOOOOO. That screams "unfair" to me. I'm more than sure that if Nastia had 2 falls she'd still be allowed to compete. Shawn gets to compete at nationals without attending any camps and without competing at classics. Why not Chellsie? EVen if she doesn't make the team, what's so wrong about letting her compete after EVERYTHING she has done for the team since 2003, after competing injured in 2006 because if she didn't USA would finish after Spain in team finals, after landing a double front on a hurt ankle in 2008 because without her on bars USA would be even more screwd. NO NO NO, I'm so mad right now. I'm so mad I wish USA gets a 0 on vault and finsish last in olympics TF.

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    1. You're "more than sure"? well then, it must be true. But I guess we'll never know because Nastia didn't have two falls, she had the second highest score.

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    2. Third highest score. On beam. After three years of not competing. Yet Chellsie competed last year and placed 8th in the all around national championships, attended camp and was selected to the Pan Am team before she had to withdraw for injury. Get it together.

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    3. blah blah blah last year blah blah blah. who cares!? it's not last year anymore, it's this year, and this year she fell twice on her only event. That's all that matters. You get it together.

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    4. LOL @ you, whatever you say. as long as nastia is in and you're happy, right? I've had it together for a long time, so... checkmate.

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    5. If Nastia had scored below 12 I would be more than happy to see her not make nationals. If Chellsie had scored a 14 I would be happy to see her comeback continue. It's not always about wanting to see your favorite gymnast compete. Sometimes it's about what's best for the team.

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  22. Know this is off topic, but where the heck are the Coquatto sisters, Mackenzie and Bridgey? Thought they were going to make a run for the 2012 team as bar specialists? Now hearing they moved to Texas Dreams and they weren't at the Classics - what's up?

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    1. I read somewhere (couch gymnast, maybe) that they have chosen to concentrate on college gym. Bridgette has been dealing with back injuries, and Macko has been dealing with ankle problems. She was limited to bars at Florida this year (with a few beam exhibitions).

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  23. OMG everybody stop crying! I love Chellsie Memmel, and I hate to see her career end on such a low note, but is USAG really being THAT unfair? Is asking competitors to score a 14 on just one event really that much to ask? Honestly, and threatening to call Steve Penny, or National sponsors and bitching and moaning about fraud, that's just pathetic. Grow up and move on.

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    1. Seriously! Chellsie knew the score she needed going in, and she knew the risk of not going to camps. Everyone has to play by the same rules, world champ or not. Her record as an amazing gymnast for the USA will never change. But as for continuing to compete, these gymnasts all know you are only as good as your last meet.

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    2. SHE DIDNT KNOW THE SCORE SHE NEEDED GOING IN. THATS THE WHOLE POINT.

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  24. What Chellsie has done for USAG can hardly be denied. If USAG hadn't set that 14.000 threshold for one event beforehand, and if it hadn't held Casey Jo to the similarly-set threshold for three events, I'd probably be crying foul. For all the criticism we might have of her, Nastia met that set threshold. Same for Shawn, Alicia, and Anna - they legitimately met set qualification standards by virtue of being on Pan Am/Worlds teams. Of course, whether the qualification standards are appropriate or consistent across the board is always going to be debatable. Yet, with the standards that did exist - and of which all the gymnasts were aware, far in advance - USAG has so far not deviated from them, so at the very least they can't yet be accused of bias.

    Personally, I wouldn't have argued if Chellsie's petition had been accepted, but that would have just been from a fan standpoint. Objectively speaking, I can understand why they didn't accept it, based on pre-set rules. Getting a 14.000 on one event at Classics was the absolute least a gymnast had to do at Classics to qualify, and Chellsie didn't come close, unfortunately.

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  25. Usag made Chellsie a Brevet judge, she could have been judging that competition. Clearly they do not want her competing again. If I was her, I would get on these meets and actually judge them, just to piss everyone off and give actual scores, not the scores that she is told to give.

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    1. they didn't make her a judge, she made herself a judge. Not everything is a giant conspiracy. Why do you even watch the sport if you're so sure it's all fixed?

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    2. Well honey, they technically did make her a "brevet". She is not certified through the international courses and cannot judge FIG competitions.

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    3. Well darling, I just meant that she made the choice to become a judge, it wasn't thrust upon her.

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  26. How does the Marta system for gymnastics work? How are the Karolyi camps a way to qualify for Nationals?

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  27. I can already hear Chellsie saying, "Oh, HEEELL no!" She's not bowing out like this. She may rest for a year or so and wait for Marta to retire (or at least for other girls to injure themselves). Then she'll open her usual can of whoop ass (no media whoring necessary) and get herself back in the scene. Behold: the American version of Oksana Chusovitina.

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    1. The girl's body has been through hell and back, maybe it's time for everyone to just let it go

      She gave USAG a lot and shouldn't have gone out like this but the girl wasn't making the Olympic team. By competing at nationals it would just be putting her body through unnecessary stress

      We should all be happy that Chellsie can finally heal and recover fully

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  28. This has everything to do with Nastia. They are breaking the rules for her but not Chellsie and Chellsie made the Pan Am team last year. She just couldn't compete because she was hurt but non traveling alternate Anna Li gets a free pass based on going to worlds but not competing.

    The rules also state that if a gymnast competes certain events at Classics those are the only events they can compete at Nationals unless your name is Nastia. They break the rules for Nastia then they owe Chellsie who actually showed up last year and competed.

    Try and get around that one Nastia fanatics

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    1. I believe that's if you are qualifying for that event. Nastia petitioned just like Chellsie.

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    2. Nastia and Chellsie both petitioned before the competition and not after. The rules were explained to them both! Nastia petitioned beam and bars, Chellsie petitioned AA. They were told by MARTHA that they need to score at least a 14.0
      Why do we always have to resort to a Nastia bashing? I believe Nastia would have wanted Chellsie to be there at Nationals together with Shawn, Bridget and Alicia... The Veterans vs the Newbies!
      It's unfortunate that USAG denied Chellsie's petition, but don't ganged up on Nastia

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  29. Who the hell are you to tell Chellsie what her body can do?

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    1. The fact that almost every time she competes she gets injured gives me a pretty good idea

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  30. There is no rule for one event. That is a rule Marta made up in her head.

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    1. *Sigh* It wasn't a made up rule... Neither Nastia and Chellsie could verify 2 events, so they had to PETITION! The rule says, you need to score at least a 28 on 2 events... since they're only doing 1 event. THEY NEEDED TO SCORE AT LEAST HALF OF THE REQUIRED 28.0 which happens to be a 14.0

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    2. John, I'm not sure you understand how gymnastics works. First of all, you can't actually expect the fans to know the rules. Secondly, anytime a gymnast that you really like loses a competition, or gets a bad score, or doesn't make a team, it's a conspiracy. Also, anytime a gymnast that you hate wins, or gets a good score or makes a team, it's also a conspiracy. The whole thing is run by Nastia and Marta (in that order). The fan's job is to watch, (knowing full well what's going to happen) and them complain on the internet when we don't get our way.

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    3. Yup! That's how gymnastics (and all sports for that matter) works down to the letter. I think I'm going to start a petition to get Beth Tweddle's bar routine in the event finals at the 2011 World's in Tokyo from last year. I mean, have you seen that bar set? She deserves a gold medal! Screw prelim scores, she deserves one more chance! Meltdown, shmeltdown! It's a conspiracy against Beth of the illuminati variation because she has long teeth and a strange face. Make your voices heard! http://www.change.org/Beth-Twiddle-2011-bars-finals-petition.html SIGN IT YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS!!!!

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  31. I've never liked Memmel's gymnastics. I think her form is atrocious, just a step above the likes of Jana Bieger and Aly Raisman. And like them she can't dance. But the girl has a serious set of cojones. She practically sacrificed her shoulder/ankle for the Team at World Championships and the Olympics. It seems a mean-spirited, petty thing to keep her out of Nationals-a kind of final fuk you from Marta because Memmel declined a spot on the Pan Am team after not being named to the Worlds team, and because Memmel chose to preserve her oft-broken body from further abuse at the hands of Marta and her Death Camps. I hope the US Gymnastics over rules Marta and they let Chellsie compete at least one more time. The kid has earned it in spades. I wouldn't mind if she hung on for Worlds 2013 too.

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  32. @AnonymousMay 27, 2012 7:58 AM
    Quote: it has everything to do with nastia. She never should have been allowed to compete. Did she qualify for classics? Did she go to a single camp? Did she do anything the last three years except sit next to marta and kathy kelly? Did she openly and inappropriately talk about other gymnasts and what went on in the selection committees? Nastia is the one that has no business being invited to nationals. Granted she looked good, but all she did was do n over rated beam routine.

    Your blind hatred of Nastia Liukin is ridiculous. First-you say this has every thing to do with Nastia. That's obsurd. Liukin stayed on the beam and did damn good job after a 3 year layoff. Chellsie didn't. She fell-TWICE Second-You say that Liukin 'did not attend a single camp'. Please check your facts before posting stupid remarks. Liukin attended the January camp and was subsequently named to the National team. Her beam set looks close to being competition ready for the Games. Memmel's did not. How dumb to blame Liukin for Memmel's lack of preparation. *ROLL EYES*

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