We’re back with the sixth edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! This edition is dedicated to all of the questions that have arisen in the weeks leading up to World Championships.

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!

Desch on the Worlds team? I know it’s just a nominative list and will obviously change, but I just feel like we haven’t seen her hit well in quite awhile…does she have a shot at all? Is there any logic to how the nominative lists are picked?

Nominative lists are usually like…if Martha HAD to pick right that second, that’s who she’d send. Based on Pan Ams, Desch looked stronger than Amelia Hundley. She didn’t have the best meet, and hasn’t had great meets at all, but if you looked at the vault, beam, and floor between the two, Desch had a better day and even ended up making a final when Nichols withdrew. So based on that, Desch got the vote. I think she could be named alternate if she outperforms everyone at camp. I’m pretty sure five spots on the team are locks at this point, and the sixth spot and alternate spot will go to Desch, Hundley, Madison Kocian, or Brenna Dowell. I could see Dowell getting the team spot and Kocian getting the alternate if Dowell’s healthy, and if Dowell’s not in good shape, I can see Kocian getting the team spot and Desch/Hundley getting alternate. It’s not as though Martha EVER uses her alternates…it’s more a consolation prize than anything.

USA, Russia, China, Romania, and Great Britain are locked. Who do you think will place sixth? I think Canada and Brazil aren’t good enough this year so I would bet on Italy or maybe Japan…

Actually, I think Italy is more of a shot for top four than either Romania or Great Britain. I don’t think anyone will break into the USA/Russia/China bubble but Italy is looking FANTASTIC at the moment. I thought Great Britain would have a shot at beating Romania, but then in seeing Italy at the Novara Cup and now the Golden League, I have to say they have a lot more going for them than the Brits. I’d say at this point, if I had to pick the top eight, I’d say USA, China, Russia, Italy, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan. Canada will be lucky to make top 16 at the rate they’re going…

So if, say, Brenna Dowell shows up to camp looking 100% up to Worlds standard, how much of an impact will that have on Martha’s decision? Will she re-evaluate and change her team, or is it already set barring injury?

Martha does tend to pick teams early on but she also makes changes as she sees fit. The picture in her head of this year’s team was probably vastly different in the week before Classics than it is right now, and though she does take the entire summer into consideration, the selection camp can always change her mind. I think if Brenna shows that she can hit vault, bars, and floor with no problems, Martha will trust the fact that despite looking off this summer, she’s had a largely consistent competitive history.

Will Larisa Iordache compete the Amanar at World Championships?

As far as I know, she’s doing her DTY. It’s what she’s done all summer and I’d think if she was planning on doing the Amanar in China, she’d want to compete it at least once beforehand.

Do you think Aliya Mustafina will keep her upgrade on beam?

I’m not sure. I think it’s funny that she competed three beam routines at the Russian Cup and all three were different. She’s very versatile…so I’d say she’ll wait until it gets closer and if she’s hitting it in training, she’ll keep it, but if she notices it’s giving her problems, she’s quick enough on her feet to figure out how to make changes in the days leading up to the meet.

What is Maggie Nichols’ eligibility for Worlds? Is she not eligible because she is not attending the training camp, or is she still able to petition onto the team?

Petitioning is a possibility, especially because from what I heard, her recovery would take three weeks…too soon for selection camp but just enough time for Worlds. I can see them just wanting to leave her home so she doesn’t further injure herself, however.

Could Giulia Steingruber be a contender for a medal in the all-around at Worlds? She posted interesting scores at her last meet, without her full vault or floor difficulty. I understand these meets usually have some score inflation…your thoughts?

I think she could be top ten but doubt she’ll be a medalist. She’s usually a bit overscored in Switzerland, like when she got a 59+ last year I believe. She’s definitely someone who can get 57-58 on her best day, so top six wouldn’t be out of the question…but I think those at the very top outscore her in a way that they’d be able to fall and still outscore her. Anything’s possible, but she’d need her best day ever and she’d need Kyla Ross, Aliya Mustafina, and Larisa Iordache to have really bad days.

If you could form your best Worlds team, disregarding their nationality, who are they and what would the lineup be like?

I’d probably go with Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Aliya Mustafina, Yao Jinnan, Larisa Iordache, and the last one’s tricky but…I’m gonna go with Vanessa Ferrari. I think Shang Chunsong or Alla Sosnitskaya are stronger but Ferrari would be a great utility player and you always need someone like that. Plus…I love her! For lineups, I’d have Mustafina, Ross, and Biles on vault, Ross, Mustafina, and Yao on bars, EVERYONE on beam because this is the best beam team in the WORLD but maybe Mustafina, Biles, and Iordache…and then on floor I’d have Ferrari, Iordache, and Biles.

Now that Larisa Iordache has a 6.5 on floor, can she compete with Simone Biles for floor gold?

Hmm. No. She has a very solid routine but it’s not quite as polished as Biles’. I think she’ll be very difficult to beat for the silver medal, but she won’t really threaten Biles unless Biles makes a mistake.

Will we see the difficulty that Aliya Mustfina had on bars at the last World Championships?

I don’t think so…unless she upgrades heavily between the Russian Cup and October…aka just about a month. I believe she had shoulder surgery? Or shoulder pain? She had two things going on, one with her shoulders and one with her ankles, so she’s definitely not going to be working at full capacity. Though this is probably for the best if she wants to stay healthy through 2016.

Is the Chinese team peaking too early? Will we ever be able to see them at the same strength they were at in 2008?

I don’t think they’re peaking too early…I don’t know as much about them as other top teams because the majority of their training isn’t as public but as far as I know, I don’t think they’re peaking too early for 2016. We definitely have a few Chinese expert readers out there who could weigh in…

Will Shang Chunsong win balance beam gold?

I mean, I can’t predict the future, but she definitely has a shot if she hits. But so do Simone Biles, Larisa Iordache, Maria Kharenkova, Aliya Mustafina, Andreea Munteanu, Lauren Mitchell, and a couple others. Beam is stacked like CRAZY this year.

What are Simone Biles’ chances of repeating an AA victory at Worlds?

Like 100% unless she falls at least twice. No one else is at her level. I won’t go as far as saying it’s impossible because everyone said that about McKayla Maroney and the vault gold in 2012 and of course, the one ‘predictable’ outcome is the one that was proven wrong…but a lot would have to go wrong for Biles to not get gold.

Do you think China will be able to perform their best at Worlds after the Asian Games? Do you think they can still challenge for a medal?

Yes and yes. They’ve already said they’re not going all out at the Asian Games…they’re withholding a lot of difficulty because they don’t want to burn out. I think they’re the best shot for silver at the moment, as Russia and Romania are both pretty depleted and China has a very strong team when they go full-force.

Do you think Kyla Ross will make bar finals considering how Ashton Locklear and Madison Kocian/Brenna Dowell are capable of outscoring her?

It’s possible. I think what Ross has that none of these other girls has is experience. She’s been competing internationally since 2009, and is an Olympic champion and a three-time World silver medalist. This is Locklear’s first year in elite, Kocian’s first major international meet, and though Dowell has the experience, she’s also had problems this year. Also, Locklear was heavily overscored within the U.S., as we saw when she competed in Canada. Her form at Classics when she got the 15.7 was not great, and my only guess is that the judges couldn’t see her massive leg separation from the side. I think she has a strong shot at making the final, but she also looked terrified at Pan Ams and she’d be the one I’d worry about, honestly. I think Ross could surprise everyone, even with her lower-than-usual difficulty.

Why isn’t Agnes Suto going to Worlds?

I’m not sure, but if I had to guess it’s because she simply wasn’t selected. She competed at the Hungarian Grand Prix and earned I believe a 43 AA score so it’s possible those going for Iceland all outscored her.

Does Simone’s floor music have lyrics in it? It sounds like it in the beginning and again towards the end right before her last pass. And given past debacles with the U.S. and floor composition (Sacramone and Maroney missing out on the floor finals in 2006 and 2013), I would hate for Simone to get a deduction for lyrics. For me it’s an open to interpretation, as she hasn’t yet performed to this music internationally. Thanks.

The “rule” of voices in routines as defined by FIG is: “The human voice may be used as a musical instrument without word/s (as long as the sounds made do not have specific meaning in any language and contribute to the overall quality of the music as well as to the physical performance of the gymnast). Examples of the ‘human voice’ as an acceptable instrument are: humming, vocalizing without words, whistling, chanting (without meaning).” I think in Simone’s case, her music is within the guidelines.

Who can challenge Yao Jinnan on even bars?

Rebecca Downie, Larrissa Miller, pretty much all of the American bar workers if they hit and she has mistakes, Aliya Mustafina, and a couple of her own teammates…Huang Huidan and Shang Chunsong.

Any idea as to what is going on with Carlotta Ferlito and why she’s not at Worlds?

She had roughly 8000 illnesses, including mono, toxoplasmosis, strep, tonsillitis, and anemia. She has been ill for several months…coincidentally/weirdly, I had all five of these this year as well and was sick from December until May when I finally got well again. I was still able to go to work – because I had to – but I had to sleep a lot and I can’t imagine training gymnastics with all of that going on. I had several periods where I had to spend a week in bed, and though I was functioning the rest of the time, I was not at full health. I’d think she’s probably been in the hospital quite a bit and rested a lot, severely limiting her training. She competed beam at the Golden League this weekend but wasn’t at full difficulty.