Some thoughts on the 2008 US Women’s Nationals
No introduction really needed here. I watched the televised coverage on NBC and have seen a few extra routines on youtube. In no particular order, here are my thoughts on the competition…
- Alicia Sacramone really needs to ditch the random chin-stand split in her beam routine. I’ve blogged about it before and I still think it needs to go. She’s not full split and it looks ridiculous in an otherwise world class Beam routine. I think a teammate of mine back in the day did the same skill. She was a level 8.
- Speaking of Sacramone, why have we been watching the same floor routine from her this entire quad? Isn’t it time for something new?
- I have been reading about the athletes being over-scored and couldn’t agree more with this article on International Gymnast. Besides the obviously outrageous scores that have already been mentioned on several sites, I keep thinking of Nastia Liukin vs. Ivana Hong on vault. Nastia performed a yurchenko 1.5 and scored a 14.9 on day 1 (and 2). Ivana threw a double twisting yurchenko (which I assume was clean and gorgeous as per usual) and only garnered a 14.5? What is that all about?
- I was impressed with Samantha Peszek. She keeps surprising me. I thought that the Beam set she rocked at the American Cup earlier this year was a fluke. Actually I thought the entire competition was just an incredible day for her. I didn’t expect her to be able to maintain that level and that consistency at Championships. Besides the error on her Day 2 Floor routine, she had a great competition and deserves her 4th place finish. I’m excited to see how she does at Trials.
- I only got to see that one routine by Bridget Sloan on Beam. She seems to be holding her own on Bars and Beam. Like many of you out there, I hope she can regain her form on Floor and Vault and challenge for a spot on the team.
- Why is Darlene Hill referred to as Darling Hill now? Did she change her name? I must have missed something…
- Like everyone else out there, I was incredibly disappointed to hear of Ashley Priess’ sudden retirment. Regular readers of this blog know that I have long been a fan of hers. Whatever the reasons behind her sudden departure, I hope that she feels at peace with her decision and I wish her well.
- Nastia looked great as usual. Her Beam set was beautiful. So was Bars, sans the dismount. Maybe she should go back to her double layout dismount there? It was flung out but it sure seems like a far cry better than the double front half and would likely incur fewer form deductions. Any word on whether she’ll be adding the double twisting yurchenko on Vault? With the double, she will most certainly contend for the All Around title in China. Not that she wouldn’t without it but…
- No complaints about Shawn. She looked impressive on all 4 events. My only issue with her performance is this: I have harped on it before but she needs to lift her head up on Beam during her choreography. Does this bother anyone else?
- To wrap things up, my favorite competitor by far was Chellsie Memmel. She has been such a question mark of late but she sure rocked the competition in Boston. Wow! I was so pleased to see her come back so strong. I agree with Rick over at Gymnastics Coaching. She’s on the team, barring major injury. Well done!
Looking forward to Trials. What were your thoughts on the competition last weekend? What stood out to you? Especially those of you who were there in Boston… give us some details that we might have missed.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
“Darlene’s” real name is Darling and she just recently started going by it
someone said she didn’t even know it was her name until she was 16…
Shawn Johnson’s beam irks me because everything she does lacks amplitude and extension, like her back full and dismount, both that she lands with her chest very very low.
her hips are WAY turned out on split leaps as well, it’s enough to drive me nuts.
I have no complaints about vault, however on floor I wish her tumbles traveled more upward than backward, her full-in dismount on floor on day 2 scared the crap out of me!
If Nastia does day 1 bars, day 1 beam with day 2 dismount, day 2 vault with day 1 landing, and day 2 FX she’ll be on par with Shawn, it’s just about getting it together
June 9th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I love alicia’s floor routine so it doesn’t bother me that she hasn’t changed it.. I’d rather her keep it than risk something worse like what chellsie used for a little while (thankfully she switched music!)
June 9th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
it bothers the shit out of me that sam peszek cannot end her dance with the music!! i mean the musci stops and shes still posing
June 9th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I absolutely hate Alicia’s floor routine. How can we even call it a “routine”? It’s more like 5 tumbling passes connected by a few leap passes. She has almost NO choreography…and the few beats of music that she decides to hit…are done with the same arm motions over and over again. That being said, I am VERY impressed with her tumbling and leaping ability. No question she’s one of the very best. However, I do not think that she is a shoe-in for a medal in the event finals of the Oympics like everyone else seems to think. Alicia deserves to get beat by someone who has the same amazing tumbling skills, but also spends time incorporating choreography and pays attention to the more artistic movements…and doesn’t just repeat the same arm movement OVER and OVER again. Gymnastics isn’t just about the big tricks.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
“Ivana threw a double twisting yurchenko (which I assume was clean and gorgeous as per usual) and only garnered a 14.5? ”
Ivana’s DTY has deteriorated significantly from 2007 Nats, sadly.
And while Nastia’s 14.9 with a big step on Day Two was silly, her 14.9 on Day One with a stuck landing and a generally higher quality vault than she was doing in Stuttgart (where she was scoring 14.7) is markedly less so.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:36 am
I think that Nastia’s vault score on day 1 was very low. Considering that she got 15.0’s on VT earlier this year I thought that it would get at least a 15.1 but I guess I was wrong.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:08 am
One note:
I cannot beleive that Martha exepted the petition on BRITNEY RANZY!!!!!
All she she brings to this team is vault where she’s 15.0 range.
Do we really need another vaulter?
And I was extremely dissapointed that Ashley Stott winner of this years classic didn’t make the Trials.
And I do feel sorry for Christa Tanella.She missed trials by .2 behind alainia johnson. It’s a shame because she was a BEAUTIFUL DANCER which is what the USA is lacking and she is strong on the uneven bars.
Oh well, next time around for both of them I hope though I think that they are going to do collegiate gymnastics. We’ll see!!!!!!!!
June 10th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Christa could never contribute to bars because she only does a double pike dismount and is also VERY inconsistent
still, it would have been nice to see her one more time
June 13th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I thought Shawn Johnson was outstanding, and deserved to win. Nastia has beautiful gymnastics, and is fun to watch, but I still see her as more of an event specialist than a true olympic caliber AA gymnast. I’m glad she does compete all four events though, and for that matter, I enjoy watching everyone do All Around — even Alicia Sacramone when she used to swing bars.
I’d love to see Nastia clean up those cross-legged twists, as well as Chellsie Memmel. Seems like we should be able to send athletes to the olympics that don’t cross their legs when they twist. Can we bring Courtney McCool out of retirement to give a few lessons?
And finally, go Jana Bieger! You may not have the best of the best in terms of form, but you show up and hit very difficult, fun-to-watch routines, and any other time in US history, you would have had a definite spot on the US olympic gymnastics team. Best of luck Jana. Hope to see you in Beijing.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:36 am
to the person above,
everyone (including nastia and ivana)has their own form problems.
you could say the same thing about shawn johnson. i.e. we should be able to send gymnasts to the olympics that can reah 180 splits and not have to turn their hips out; or gymnasts that can actually complete their twists
just because nastia is OD on beam and bars does not NOT make her a true AA. just because her fx and vt look weaker IN COMPARISON does not make those events weak. she has the same amount of difficulty on floor as alicia sacramone - and alicia is a floor SPECIALIST.
nastia also does the same vault as jana and chellsie (with A hell lot better form) but that doesnot leep you from calling chellsie and jana AAders
June 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I think whether you like a thin flexible gymnast like Nastia or a powerful acrobat like Shawn is really just a matter of preference. Trying to debate which one is better is like trying to argue whether chocolate or vanilla is the better flavor of ice cream. The good news is that they will both be on the same team in Beijing, and we can cheer for both of them during the team competition.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:04 am
this is my hope for trials:
Shayla gets 16+ ON beam and espeacially bars. On vault a low 15 or high 14(beacause she does 5.8 now. On floor a respectable 15+.
Nastia is perfect.
Shawn (since her gym got flooded and has train at Iowa State and can’t adjust to the equipment there)has a rough time and finishes out of the top 2(So Shayla can make the team.) It’s perfect because then we already have are team. NASTIA,shawn,SHAYLA,chellsie,ALICIA,SAM
June 16th, 2008 at 10:52 am
i definitly agree with everythign but what disappoints me is shawn new FX routien…….. ew. not “EW” but her dance has always been so cookie cutter adn the music choice is just…. not her. its abvious to every body that she connected with the crowd much better with her old routine.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am
yeah i kind of wish shawn would go back to her old routine…
anyway i hope shayla worley rocks at trials and gets placed on the olympic team, at least to do bars, that would be great
June 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
one thing i hought about… scoring has been kinda crazy vaulting wise i mean nastias american cup vault score was *higher* yup higher with the step out of bounds than her absolute STUCK* vault at pacific rim….. ?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?1? cOME ON JUDGES!!!!
June 16th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
i also agree with coach M on the fact that we should bring courtney McCool out of that gym dog gym and get her to teach our girls some twisting techniques orrrrrrrr how ever you spell it.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Just to comment on what someone said about Ivana Hong’s vault, shes scoring lower becuase shes piking down and landing a bit low. Its still a great vault in the air, and she rarely has large steps, but judges are being more and more strict about body position. I love the quality of her work, though.