We’re back with the seventh edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! You asked a lot of U.S.-related questions, but we also got a few technical questions as well, and we hope our answers help you understand the sport a little better! 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 regards to defecting…there is a law that is commonly referred to as “wet foot/dry foot.” This is specifically for Cubans looking to defect to the USA. As long as they have one foot on American soil, they can not be deported. This is why Cuban immigrants who are discovered in the water can be sent back, but if they are on land they can stay. This policy is not extended to other nationalities. This is why the gymnasts that just defected can be on social media without fear of repercussion. They are here legally and the Cuban government can’t do anything about it.

For those who wanted to know about the Cuban defections during Pan Am Championships, here’s a great explanation! It’s my understanding that this law came about during the 1960s/Cold War/Bay of Pigs to show that the U.S. had open arms for those fleeing communism…more a political statement than anything.

Why didn’t Peyton Ernst compete at the U.S. Classic and P&G Championships?

Peyton sat out with a shoulder injury. She said on her ask.fm that she dislocated it on vault and needed surgery.

Any updates on Katelyn Ohashi? Is she still doing gymnastics and planning on doing college gymnastics?

Her exact status is unknown. Over the summer, she tweeted a couple of times about being at the gym and posted an Instagram video of her working on aerials on beam, but other than that there aren’t any updates. She no longer trains with Valeri Liukin and seems to have her focus on level 10 rather than on elite. She wanted to go to UCLA, last I heard.

Do you know how MAG athletes are selected for Team Hilton Honors? Are there equivalent financial assistance programs for WAG athletes?

The vast majority of the senior U.S. national team are part of Team Hilton HHonors, which works like a sponsorship. Usually top-performing athletes are selected, i.e. those who make it to Worlds or who have other international success. Hilton provides financial support to the gymnasts who compete under their name, but they train at their own gyms. So for example, a lot of the MAG athletes train at the Olympic Training Center, while Danell Leyva trains at Universal Gymnastics in Miami. Also, because Team Hilton HHonors is a sponsorship, only non-collegiate athletes are on the Team. So Sam Mikulak was just recently added to the Team, now that he’s finished his NCAA eligibility. There isn’t really a WAG equivalent for financial assistance other than the stipend that USAG provides to members of the National Team. Anything similar would require girls to give up their NCAA eligibility.

Do you think E+ mount skills on beam and bars should be given extra bonus? Perhaps this way we would start seeing awesome moutings again…same for floor dismounts. Double pikes are so 2000 and late.

I don’t think mounts or dismounts should be given additional bonus regardless of value they are. A mount/dismount is a skill just like any other skill, and I would absolutely not encourage a bonus for E+ floor dismounts because I think that is a disaster waiting to happen and would cause a lot of injuries. Even though difficult or interesting mounts are awesome to see, giving bonuses to encourage them doesn’t really work.

There were a lot of strong gymnasts in the 2012 quad that have seemed to disappear. Do you know what Rebecca Bross, Sabrina Vega, and Sarah Finnegan are up to?

Bross is currently coaching at a gym in Dallas. Vega is still training at GAGE with the hopes of competing elite within the next year. Finnegan moved back to St Louis with her family and is no longer training elite. 

Sarah Finnegan said she is moving back to St. Louis on her twitter. Do you know of any updates on her gymnastics career? Is she committed to any colleges? Is she still training?

She’s not committed to any colleges, as far as I’m aware. I have no idea what her move to St. Louis means for her training, but have heard that she was interested in attending Missouri because her older sister Hannah attends and is on the gymnastics team.

Any updates on Jana Bieger and other olympic hopefuls who just missed making an olympic team?

I believe Bieger is still coaching, and she still occasionally makes camp appearances. She also typically performs in the professional gymnastics meets, for which she earns a little bit of money.

As always, gymnastics is evolving. I have a question regarding tumbling on floor for WAG. The girls seem to only be doing back tumbling nowadays.  I haven’t seen many front HS entry passes. Is it because front entry is hard on their backs? Although I do see RO BHS into like a 2 1/2 twist then another front flip, which I would think that front punch is hard on their backs. Is there a reason for them to start taking front entry passes out of the composition of the floor routines? Just curious on your expertise knowledge of this fantastic sport. I do think you are awesome! Thanks for your time.

I think there are a few reasons why this happens. First, more gymnasts find back tumbling to be easier than front tumbling. Second, back tumbling allows more variety of skill than front tumbling. Finally, front tumbling is historically undervalued. A double back is easier than a double front, and because of that, the gymnast can have more variety (double pikes, full-ins, double doubles, etc) in the back tumbling. Many gymnasts see front tumbling as more trouble than it’s worth; that the difficulty of learning and perfecting the skill is not worth the difficulty they would earn by performing it. There are of course gymnasts who are strong front tumblers (such as Dowell or Podkopayeva).

Do you think Aly Raisman will have her Amanar back for camp this year?

Do you mean for her first camp back? Probably not. She won’t be in full competition shape for that camp. She doesn’t really need to be. She’ll probably have individual skills prepared and some connections, but she won’t really need to have her Amanar just yet. And if she has been working on it, it’s probably only onto soft surfaces.

Do you know where/when the 2015 Classic will be?

It will be held July 24-25, most likely in Chicago or Hoffman Estates again.

How does Xcel fit within JO, NCAA, and Elite?

The Xcel program (formerly called the Prep-Optional program) was created by USAG as an alternative to the Junior Olympic (JO) program. USAG describes it on their website as “a broad-based, affordable competitive experience outside the traditional Jr. Olympic Program to attract and retain a diverse group of athletes.” Xcel has 5 levels: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond. Each level has a set of requirements, and these requirements are far less rigid than the requirements for JO levels and allow more variety for the gymnast’s skill level. I often describe the difference between JO and Xcel like this: with the JO program, a gymnast has to fit into a certain box, and for gymnasts who, for whatever reason (age, financial or time commitment, body type, etc) don’t fit into the box, USAG created the Xcel program in an effort to give those kids an opportunity to compete who otherwise would not. Xcel was also designed to keep kids in the sport (those who might “burn out” of the JO program now have a different competitive venue and might be less inclined to quit completely). Different gyms use Xcel for different reasons. Some gyms only compete through the Xcel program, some offer both a JO and an Xcel program and steer their upcoming kids in either direction. So, in a nutshell, it is another, more relaxed form of USAG competitive gymnastics. While there is a link from JO to NCAA or JO to elite, Xcel doesn’t quite follow that track.

Why did Jordyn decide to give up elite? She seemed into the comeback back in the beginning of 2013 when she was graduating high school.

I think she’s enjoying being a college student and enjoying being a part of gymnastics in a completely different way than she ever had. Wieber seems very happy at UCLA and seems to love being involved with their team as a student assistant. Elite is not the be-all, end-all of gymnastics. She spent her entire life training and competing pretty much by herself because there was no one else truly at her level. Even though Twistars had lots of J.O. kids and elite hopefuls, it was always Wieber and Geddert, and that’s a pretty tense situation when you’re a teenager. So a team atmosphere must have been heaven for her, and I can see why she embraced the change. Even though she didn’t have her dream Olympics, she’s still an Olympic gold medalist. She has nothing to “redeem” herself for.

Do you think that the height factor really plays into Kyla Ross’ gymnastics? Has it really hindered her alongside her hip and body growth so she has to work a lot around it or is everyone making it to be a way bigger deal than it is saying that it’s SO difficult to maintain clean execution while being so tall? Because Simone is 4′ 8″ and Kyla is 5′ 5”…

Kyla has been enormously successful despite her growth. If her height had really hindered her gymnastics, she wouldn’t be the silver princess we all know and love! I don’t feel that her execution has suffered much at all, as her execution scores are usually rather good. It can help to be short but it’s not all about height. Her height actually works for her because it makes her lines long and pretty, and typically when your lines are nice, judges overlook minor form errors because your aesthetic covers them up a bit. She’s been a much stronger gymnast since her growth spurt!

For a triple series on beam, why do girls do handspring handspring layout instead of handspring handspring tuck? A tuck and a layout are worth the same, right? Most of the “layouts” end up being piked anyway. Wouldn’t a tuck be so much easier to land?

I’m guessing you are referring to a two-foot layout as opposed to a layout stepout? A layout stepout and a back tuck are both given C value, but a layout with a two-foot landing is an E, provided that there is sufficient stretch and open hip angle. I believe if the layout is attempted but not totally stretched, it is then devalued to a D and credited as an open pike.

What is Aly Raisman’s current status? What is the reason reason she didn’t come back this year? She could have really filled a hole in our lineup. Do you think she’ll be back next year and for Rio?

Raisman is currently training and has been spending the past year or so pacing herself and slowly easing her way back in to competitive form. Supposedly, Marta had told Mihai to wait out this year and have her return to competition next year, though we are not totally sure how much truth there is to that. She could be back for Rio…it all depends on how much she’s able to get back and what her competition will be like in 2016. Given the immense gaping hole on vault, beam, and floor at the moment, Raisman could be super valuable in the next year or two. I’ve also heard she is training a second vault, which would make her an even bigger threat in the future.

Article by Sarah Chrane, Lauren Hopkins, and Jackie Klein