Olympic season is upon us, and it’s been a crazy, weird, busy, dramatic, climactic, over-the-top several weeks… and I’m not even talking about Gymnastics! But I’m back now to tell tales of Olympic pursuits, semi-scandals, predictions and other juicy tidbits…
So, the Visa Nationals were very interesting indeed for both the women and the men.
After day 2 of U.S. Nationals, reigning National Champion Jordyn Wieber BARELY squeaked out a win to beat The Flying Squirrel, Gabrielle Douglas to regain her title as the 2012 National Champion.
As for the Men, U.S. “heartthrob” and 2011 National Champion Danell Leyva was dethroned by John Orozco, who is now the newly crowned 2012 U.S. National Champion. After Orozco’s surprise upset, where he was as shocked as anyone to have pulled it off, Leyva stormed away from the cameras in disbelief mumbling to himself “F****** unbelievable!” And the rumor is, the majority of Team U.S.A. (including USAG) was none too pleased with the outcome of the meet. Yikes! What a bunch of divas!
Then, there was Olympic Trials. Oy vey! Where do I even begin? I’ll give my opinion of the most talked about topics of these trials…
Nastia Liukin:
The reigning Olympic all-around champion in all her messy hair bun glory did her nor her “supergirl” legacy any favors here. Day 1, Liukin has a pretty sloppy bars set, but somehow managed to FINALLY eek out a dismount without killing herself! Too bad she landed on her ass! Bummer!
Day 2, she came closer to killing herself. On her release move, she missed the bar and landed on her throat pretty much. Visibly shaken, she eventually mounted the bars again, and barely did a low dismount. Liukin, girl. I haven’t the words, nice try, though!
Rebecca Bross:
Day 1 on beam she was her lately typical shaky self. And there are 3 things you can pretty much be certain of; death, taxes and Bross screwing up the dreaded Patterson dismount. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I almost see a twinkle in Coach Liukin’s eyes whenever Rebecca leaves the podium after a disastrous Bross beam set. “Hmmm… Do that a few more times, and it increases Nastia’s chances” (as he strokes his invisible handlebar mustache…)
Day 2. Once heralded as a condender for the all around gold medal for the 2012 Olympics, Bross mounted the bars and fell not once, not twice, but THRICE!! She was so defeated, she didn’t even finish the exercise. Bummer!
Alicia Sacramone:
Nothing snarky to say here. She did a descent job both days, but when you are entering trials as a specialist (beam and vault) they should be head and shoulder above the all arounders competing, and that just simply wasn’t the case. But good job Alicia, despite that.
So needless to say, these three athletes didn’t make the Olympic team. Not even as alternates. They all got a big ole goose-egg! Sucks, huh?
Now on to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team!
Gabrielle “Flying Squirrel” Douglas:
Aside from a few shaky wobbles on beam day 1 and 2, Gabby was pretty much very solid all around. I’ve noticed a lot of people either love Gabby, or love to hate Gabby (more on that in another post), but I like her and think when she is on, she is a spectacle, particularly on uneven bars. Nobody on this U.S. team swings bars quite like Miss Douglas. She is world class! She was the top all around scorer of these trials and was guaranteed a spot on the Olympic Team while she then does a dance called “The Dougie” with Andrea Joyce.
Jordyn Wieber:
Reining world and U.S. around champion Wieber was her usual dependable, reliable self. A few missed and/or slow connections but overall Jordyn is synonymous with HIT, HIT, HIT!! She was also named to the team. No shock there!
Aly Raisman:
Raisman aka Rock of Gibraltar was also her usual hitting self. Aside from her arms having the grace of campfire sticks and the feet of UGG boots, she is solid and consistent. She may not have the prettiest lines in the world, but she will kill you with consistency for sure! She is on the team, and will quite possibly medal with her insanely difficult (albeit slightly graceless) floor exercise. Aly’s going to London!
McKayla “The Diva” Maroney:
If Maroney doesn’t win vault gold in London, it’s because someone either greased the mat and/or dragged her in the back room and did a Tonya Harding on both of her kneecaps! This girls is so textbook flawless performing her high scoring Amanar, it’s almost embarassing! Oh and did I mention her second vault is even harder? Details. details!
I also love her on floor with a 3.5 twisting opening pass! Whoa! She is so high, I’m sure she could land a QUAD! Although a fluke accident at Nationals podium training a few weeks prior had her lost in the air, where she landed on her back, suffering a mild concussion and a nasal fracture, she shook it off by trials as if nothing had happened (aside from a few steps out of bounds on a different pass). But you can not take away her exquisite lines and beautiful dance! DIVA!!!
Kyla Ross:
Kyla is a first year senior, but has proved her worthiness to be on this team meet after meet with her consistency. Another athelete that isn’t necessarily a ballerina, but has high enough execution to pull off some very respectable scores. This is likely the spot that was up for debate, but since both Nastia and Rebecca pretty much self destructed, Kyla rounds off the team nicely!
The Alternates:
Elizabeth “Ebee” Price
Ebee is a strong, solid, powerful all around gymnast, and if any of the girls happens to suffer the misfortune of injury, she can slip into pretty much any apparatus she needs to. And it also doesn’t hurt that she has an amazing Amanar!
Sarah Finnegan:
I LOVE this little girl! She is so gorgeous and elegant and powerful and skilled and poised and polite and.. and.. and… I’m so glad she gets a trip to London, and like Ebee, is an awesome all-around gymnast.
I would love for the international judged to get a load of Miss Finnegan! The would then know that, like Maroney, we are not all trick ponies. We have some very lovely gymnasts with lovely lines as well. She’s young, though. I’m sure we will be seeing her perform at an Olympics before it’s all said and done!
Anna Li:
A specialist on bars, with her high level of difficulty, she could certainly be used if one of our bar workers were fated with an unforeseen injury. She was alternate at 2011 Worlds where the U.S.A. girls ran away with the gold by an almost unfair margin.
Well, The time is near and it’s time to put all this training, gamesmanship and calculations into a gold medal winning women’s team! Not before or since the 1996 magnificent 7 has the U.S. women been able to clinch team gold, and the world knows that it is theirs for the taking. So.. um.. yea.. no pressure! 🙂
GymnastHole 