perfect 10

Here are some general thoughts on the competition…

I was surprised by the outcome of the Classic. I certainly didn’t expect to see two first-year seniors (Ashley Priess & Natasha Kelley) tie for the title. I now have 2 more gymnasts that I’m excited to see compete at Nationals in a couple weeks.

Unlike at the Pacific Alliance Championship & the Commonwealth Games, I was happy to see that an athlete who fell off one (or more) apparatus didn’t prevail over competitors who had a clean performance on all four events. I saw this as one of the many flaws in the new scoring system but hopefully this particular flaw is being weeded out as the athletes and judges get the hang of things.
Like so many others I was anxiously awaiting the competitive comeback of Dominique Moceanu. I’m impressed at her ability to return to top competitive form after 6 years away from the elite level of the sport. I was disappointed, though, to only see her compete on Vault & Floor. I’m not a fan of the event specialist so I hope that she plans to add Bars & Beam to her repertoire soon.
Athletes I’ll have my eye on at Championships?