We’re back with the fourth edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! We apologize if we haven’t gotten to your question yet, but we are trying to answer them in order. Something you want to know? Ask us anonymously by going through this contact form below!

In your opinion, if a girl isn’t a level 10 by 13 years old should she give up any dreams of Division I college gymnastics? Not taking scholarships even, but walk-on? I trust your opinion.

Not at all! Only the super popular elites and L10s get recruited when they’re really young. Most don’t start with the recruitment process until they’re 16, and I actually know someone at that age right now who is a L9 but is sending videos to colleges showing that she has certain skills needed for collegiate routines and a bunch of D1 schools are interested! To be realistic, if you’re just starting gymnastics at 13, it’s probably not going to happen unless you’re super incredible, but if you’ve been training and know you have L10 in your future but not by age 13, then I’d say you definitely have a chance. Just work on getting your skills, and if there are certain colleges you’re interested in, maybe by age 14 or 15 begin emailing recruiters to let them know how you’re progressing. It can definitely happen!

What’s up with Simone becoming a citizen of Belize?

The only thing I know about this is from her ask.fm account. Her mom’s family is from Belize so it’s possible her family wanted them to have dual citizenship, but I doubt she’s going to run off and start competing for them! Someone actually said she should compete in the Olympics for Team USA in 2016, go to UCLA, and then come back and compete for Belize for the rest of her life. I AGREE.

Why has the Yurchenko loop/Teza gone out of style for beam routines lately? It seems to still be in the code, and it’s a really neat move.

I’m not sure! Could just be similar to the reason people don’t do super interesting mounts anymore…they take up too much time so in a timed routine where you have to cram in a ton of difficulty, you just don’t have the ability to do the more interesting skills? Especially because the Teza takes a bit more prep time and it’s really easy to fall…and also easy to incur deductions because many of the back hip circles you see end up looking jerky. I’m thinking of Randy Stageberg’s when she made this kind of her signature at Florida…she didn’t even do the back handspring into the hip circle and you could see the effort in hers as it went around. I love the Teza but can see why people would be hesitant to compete it, the same way they are to compete most sideways-facing skills and other skills that show a great deal of prep.

Why is Rebecca Tunney out of Worlds?

I know she’s injured but can’t seem to find out where I read this…I think I heard it was a knee injury a couple of months ago. If anyone else wants to jump in here, that’d be great!

What is Maggie Nichols’ status? I know she got hurt at Pan Ams…how serious was the injury and do you think she’ll be healthy by Worlds?

She dislocated her kneecap, but it popped right back into place. Doctors looked at it and said it shouldn’t be problematic because it was the first time it happened and nothing tore. They kept her off of it for a few days but she should be back to compete at the selection camp with no major problems!

Why doesn’t Cuba send gymnasts to Worlds?

I believe I heard it’s because a bunch of gymnasts defected to the United States during World Championships in Anaheim in 2003. Three gymnasts disappeared from their hotels and sought refuge in the Los Angeles home of a relative of one of the gymnasts. They then sought asylum. I believe that was the last time we saw Cuba at Worlds, though I’m not sure why they think Pan Ams would be less risky than, say, Worlds in China, especially since Pan Ams were right over the border from the U.S. this year. Yet two more Cubans defected this year. It’s a shame they don’t compete at worlds. Yesenia Ferrera could be a major threat.

I was wondering if you think McKayla Maroney will still be strong in 2016 and go to the Olympics to win vault gold? If not, who do you think has a chance at vault gold, Biles or Skinner?

I think it’s too early to say that these would be our only three realistic chances for vault gold, but I think Maroney really seems to want it. She was making a nice amount of money doing appearances last year and yet chose to train at the elite level to make it back for 2013 Worlds. She has a tremendous amount of drive and I think she could definitely keep it up for Rio, especially if she can upgrade her second vault to the Cheng. Biles also has a great shot at vault gold, though for some reason I just don’t see Skinner making it that far unless she really works on cleaning up.

Hi! I saw on Gymnastike recently that Nastia is supposed to have two big announcements coming soon, one Olympics-related and one that doesn’t have to do with gymnastics at all. Do you know anything about that? Maybe she’s already announced and I’m just out of the loop?

She definitely hasn’t announced anything yet! I’m not sure what either announcement would be. I would imagine at least one is job-related or maybe even having to do with a clothing line or something like that. I’m sure we’ll find out soon!

What are your Worlds AA, team, and EF podium predictions?

I don’t like making predictions but using basic reasoning based on how teams have looked this year, I’d say the U.S. will win with China and Russia taking second and third place, though I’m not sure of the order for those two. I would have said China in silver but Russia really impressed me at the Russian Cup and we all know China has a tendency to be a bit inconsistent…but eh, I’ll still go with China in silver and Russia in bronze. For the all-around, I’m going to say no one will beat Simone. Same with vault and floor, unless she makes a ton of mistakes. I’d like to see the bars title go to Yao Jinnan (especially since the Russians are all a bit lackluster there this year) and I think beam should be Larisa Iordache or Maria Kharenkova. Following Biles in the all-around, I think it will be some combination of Kyla Ross, Aliya Mustafina, Larisa Iordache, and Yao Jinnan.

If you could change any one rule in gymnastics, what would it be?

The two-per-country rule for sure. An obvious one, but one I think really screws with the sport because it doesn’t allow some of the best gymnasts in the world to compete. My second isn’t super realistic, but I don’t like bars or beam having a skill cap or a time limit. I think if you can do a million different bars releases, you should get to do them. It’s not like people have the endurance to go on for a full five minute routine…they’d have to stop relatively quickly after the limit anyway. I’d be all for having open-ended caps because imagine what you’d see from some gymnasts?!

What do you think of the Chinese Worlds team?

I love them! It could be a very strong team. I think Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong both have a ton of all-around potential, and though there are a couple who make me nervous, it will be interesting to see how they all come together.

Thoughts on Priessman’s gym switch/future with everything we know now? Do you think the continuing injuries were bound to happen? Is that part of the reason she switched gyms? Or was she just done with MLT? They seem to be on good terms, however. Do you think she’ll make another run at elite or just galavant off to LSU and (hopefully) dominate?

As far as I know, she switched because she just felt like she needed a change. She’s been known to be kind of headstrong, which is exactly the kind of coach MLT is. I think MLT had humorously voiced her opinion on Priessman’s attitude before, especially as Priessman became a teenager. In my experience, when two strong personalities like that clash, it doesn’t make for the best coach/athlete relationship, even though from what I’ve heard, they still have a good relationship outside of the gym. In terms of injuries, I think she went out so strong as a junior, it was just harder for her to keep up once she grew. I think at this point LSU will probably happen but I could see her fighting for her chance at elite again.

Do you know how serious Emily Gaskins’ elbow injury is?

I haven’t heard anything about it…I’m sorry! If anyone else wants to chime in, please comment below!

I’m confused about this defection business and I couldn’t find good answers on google. Are there efforts to track gymnasts down if they defect, especially since there are pictures of them on social media?

I’m not quite sure how it works, but I would imagine that even though they’re posting on social media, Cuba can’t just run in and bring them home. I think once they defect, as the members of the team did in 2003, they can make a case for asylum so it’s not like they snuck in and are hiding out. They’re likely actively seeking citizenship.

Do you know what the status of Victoria Moors is?

As far as I know, she is still training but Gymnastics Canada has replied “no comment” to several members of the press who have inquired as to her whereabouts, leaving it wide open to speculation. All I know is that she is not injured.

Do you know if Rachel Gowey is still planning on doing elite? This might not be anything, but her Instagram bio doesn’t say elite gymnast. It only says future Florida Gator!

She hasn’t released any statement saying she’s done with elite, so it could just be an oversight. It’s possible she’ll just want to go straight to Florida next year knowing how hard it will be to contend as a U.S. elite against the current seniors and upcoming juniors (especially coming back from a season-ending injury), but I can also see her giving it another shot. We’ll see in the spring!

What’s the rationale for Texas Dreams not doing AA at major meets? It was frustrating to watch Nica Hults and Grace Quinn just doing two events when they both had a good shot at the national team if they did all four. In Nica’s case, she probably would have been within the top six automatic all-aorund qualifiers, so it seemed silly to me!

I know Hults was dealing with injury…she had a hip tear and almost didn’t compete beam, as she only got back to training it in the week leading up to nationals. I believe Quinn also had an injury because I remember someone saying she wasn’t going to attend any of the meets this summer due to injury.

Why doesn’t anyone do hop fulls in bar routines anymore? They were so pretty and one of my favorite skills. Are they just not worth it or devalued?

I believe they’re a D skill, so they’re not necessarily “not worth it” based on their value, but my guess is that it’s easier to just stick to a regular giant full or toe full so girls just don’t risk it? I think it’s easier to miss your hands in a hop full as opposed to a pirouette where you’re grasping the bar. If anyone with coaching experience wants to chime in here, that’d be great!

Why do you think Gabby Douglas left Chow’s?

I do know the reason but unfortunately can’t go into detail in a public forum because there are legal aspects surrounding it. It was nothing really bad…just something that caused her business relationship to not work out with Chow.

Do coaches “specialize” in specific apparatus, or coach them better than others? I.E., is it a coincidence that Aly and Alicia were both strong and weak, respectively, on the same events? And that Chow produces so many strong beam workers?

Some do, some don’t. A good example is Texas Dreams, where Chris Burdette coaches vault and bars while Kim Zmeskal-Burdette coaches beam and floor. Both feel they are stronger on their specific events, which is why they split it up, but others choose to coach all four even if they’re not particularly great at coaching every event. Some coaches definitely have an event or two that are noticeably strong or weak, though they prefer to coach all events anyway. But there are always other coaches on staff aside from a gymnast’s main coach, so it’s not like it all comes down to one coach and his/her ways.

Do you think McKayla Maroney (provided her injuries won’t bother her) will go for the TTY at some point in this quad? And if not, what stops her? She gets such tremendous height and is a good twister.

I know she’s trained it in her gym before, but it’s such a difficult vault to land safely, I can see why her coaches – and Martha Karolyi – aren’t exactly pushing it on her. Karolyi would rather see her get a more difficult second vault before she starts throwing TTYs in competition, though I hope we do see it eventually…and hope that Maroney is the one we see it from.