perfect 10

Here are some of my general thoughts on the recent Pacific Alliance Championships…feel free to post some of your thoughts in the comment section.

• Holly Dykes, from Australia, is amazing. I can’t wait to see more of this athlete. She has it all. Power, precision, grace, flexibility - as Tim Daggett likes to say, “She has the whole package.”
• I know that Jana Bieger’s score on Vault was the only one that counted for Team USA but she actually placed third in the All-Around behind Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel. She missed first place by 0.05 points. Such a stellar performance surely deserved mention and a bit more airtime on NBC.
  
• The Canadian Women were disappointing. I know that Aisha Gerber has been coming back from the flu but she looked like a completely different athlete from the American Cup. Elise Hoffner-Hibbs was the only bright spot for Canada but even her performance wasn’t spectacular.
• Australia’s Dasha Joura has the best salute in the business. I have never seen a more perky salute. She has personality. I dig it. And like teammate, Holly Dykes, she has a fantastic combination of athleticism and grace.
• Once again, Nastia Liukin, came out on top of the competition despite a fall. I know that she is one of the absolute best in the world but I just don’t think you should win if you fall.
• It was great to see Chellsie Memmel back in competition. Despite a few wobbles on Beam, I thought she looked as good as ever.
• Shayla Worley still holds high rank in my book. I was excited that she upgraded her Vault from a full-twisting yurchenko to a 1 and 1/2. I think she can make it a double in due time. Her routine on Bars was impressive. Her release moves were gorgeous and she stuck her dismount. Although she went out of bounds on Floor, her Beam and Floor were likewise impressive.
• I was visiting my family over the Easter weekend and so watched the competition with my parents. While they are certainly not experts on the sport, they have faithfully watched with me for the last bazzilion years and they know the basics. Needless to say, they had absolutely no clue how to decipher the new Code of Points. They were definitely not fans of the plus-ten scores.
• TV Time. I was happy to have 2 hours of TV coverage for this event. Not sure why the Pacific Alliance Championships gets more airtime than the World Championships (which didn’t get any television coverage in 2005) but I’ll take it.