It’s time for the 14th 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!

Asian games question/concern. Perhaps I was over sensitive watching the UB finals today at recent Asian games, was it just me, or the bars were shaking more than usual? Even tiny girls were doing massive shakes on the supporting of the bars. Or am I just over sensitive?

I didn’t notice anything too out of the ordinary…nothing that looked dangerous, anyway. Some sets of bars have more give than others so it’s possible they were just bouncy bars.

Why are there judges in place during world championships podium training sessions, since the gymnasts receive no scores and sometimes aren’t even performing their entire routines?

Judges travel with their federations and some will judge routines in order to help out their federations so the coaches know what they need to work on for competition. The U.S. judges were judging the Americans on beam, for example, because I think they knew they were going to get docked a bit on some leaps in particular so the judges were there to advise the coaches…like, “hey, make sure what’s-her-face brings her back leg up on her switch ring because it’s not going to get credited.” Something along those lines. I know the U.S. judges were also looking at the Chinese bar routines to get an idea as to how the American bar routines stacked up. Other countries do the same…it’s more as a benefit to the team than anything else. In addition, judges like to get in some practice of judging routines, especially before a competition like Worlds.

So I really wanted to hear your thoughts about 2 issues concerning how Americans think about gymnastics and how certain aspects of it need changing in the past few years, but only because these issues began effecting US gymnasts. One issue is the notion of bringing back the 3 per country rule. This topic never seemed to be that big of an issue until 2012, when Jordyn Wieber was shut out of the AA final. However, I didn’t hear anyone make a peep about this rule years earlier, and I don’t believe I heard anyone protest the 2 per country rule setting in when the 3 Romanians won in 2000.

I am in favor of not only bringing back the three-per-country rule, but also bringing the number of qualifiers into the all-around from 24 back to 36. I think this creates much more diversity than the current system while also allowing a more difficult field at the top. Best of both worlds. I saw it as an issue before Jordyn Wieber’s shut-out, but understand that not everyone saw it that way until Wieber because Wieber was the first truly shocking instance of it happening. Had Wieber made it in over Raisman in 2012, there probably would be very little discussion, but I think people EXPECTED Wieber to make it, and then there was the fact that she was the reigning all-around champion…so while others definitely bemoaned the two-per-country rule in the years prior, Wieber’s case basically became the most outrageous.

The other issue is how brutal scoring should be after a fall. In 2008, Cheng Fei fell on her second vault during EF but still managed to win a bronze. This led to many Americans pressing about having more deductions imposed for a fall, and even Bela Karolyi complained heavily about it on NBC4 (Definitely give me your opinion about that). However, when Mckayla Maroney won a silver with a fall with an easier vault, Americans (especially the Karyolis) were suddenly so supportive. What do you think? Are they justified opinions, or do you think some American fans seem blindly biased?

I don’t think scoring needs to be ‘brutal’ for a fall but I’m among those who don’t like when someone with a fall can medal, no matter what country they represent. I think with open-ended scoring, it’s difficult to say what fall deduction is fair because a 1 point fall deduction for a routine with a 5.0 SV is way more brutal than a 1 point deduction for a 7.0 SV routine. Difficulty should be rewarded, but should it also come with a higher price? That’s the real question that needs to be discussed. Super high difficulty is a loophole, essentially, especially on vault. Girls can basically plan to land a Produnova on their butts because they know in most cases, they’ll still make it into the vault final (and possibly even medal) at smaller competitions. The FIG set it up this way, so while I think someone legitimately competing a solid Produnova should be rewarded a lot of difficulty, I think those who kind of cheat the system should maybe receive more of a penalty to make it fair. It would be incredibly difficult to implement, but it’s the only way to combat it.

Also, as a side note, I don’t think it’s just American fans are ‘blindly biased’ because you could say the same for fans of any country where someone won with a fall. It happens and naturally you’re going to be happy for your favorite or upset about a team you don’t like whether a fall was involved or not. Back in 2010, the Russians won the team gold with about 600 falls and I didn’t see any Russian fans saying it was unfair, though I did see Russian fans angry about Wieber winning the all-around with a large mistake a year later. In the same vein, had Mustafina or Komova not made the 2012 AA final, the outrage would have been the same. No one cares if it’s a Russian or an American up there – most fans want an exciting AA final, so if one of the best in the world isn’t included, it sucks, no matter who you root for.

Do you know what the origin of standing in height order while being addressed by coaches is? I’m just wondering, especially since it seems like all the teams do it and yet I don’t think there’s a gymnastics related reason for it…

Gymnasts march out in meets in height order, so that is probably the origin. As for doing it in practice, coaches probably have gymnasts do it because it looks clean and tidy, and gymnasts are more apt to focus on what a coach is saying when they know they have to stand a certain way.

Out of the Fierce Five, who do you think has the best shot of making it to Rio other than Kyla Ross?

Personally, I think Aly Raisman has the best shot. The biggest gaps for Team USA right now are on beam and floor…which just so happen to be Raisman’s specialties. I think if she comes back fully on both events, she could pose a huge threat because right now Simone Biles is the only one with truly difficult and solid performances on both combined. Mykayla Skinner has floor going for her, but if I had to choose, I’d pick someone who excelled at both, which Raisman has always done. Honestly, I think if Raisman’s comeback is super legit, she probably has a better shot than Kyla Ross at making it to Rio. Not that I’m counting Ross out and I don’t think one would go over the other because they present very different talents and skill sets, but I think a lot more U.S. girls are going to be in competition with Ross on the same events whereas aside from Biles, no one has the unique combination of both beam and floor.

Why can’t some gymnasts keep their legs together and straight while twisting? I’m seeing flailing helicopter legs more and more, and I’m wondering why it’s so difficult for gymnasts and coaches to fix a bad twisting technique?

There could be a variety of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is a lack of emphasis on basics. Gymnastics is all about foundations, and a poor foundation can lead to bigger problems down the road, such as helicopter legs during twists. There’s also the fact that while a girl may have really good twisting basics, she’s pushing for higher difficulty with more twists, and compensates for not twisting fast enough by twisting in the incorrect position. For example, a gymnast might have a gorgeous Yurchenko full on vault, but then her legs on her DTY are completely apart or crossed or bent.

Why isn’t Larry Nassar allowed to post pictures of Team USA at Worlds on his facebook?

I believe it’s because USA Gymnastics has control over the content released related to Team USA. The podium training where media is present, interviews, and competitions are all fair game because all press has access, but when the girls are traveling, at the hotel, and in the training gyms, USA Gymnastics decides what content can be released. I believe they just want to control what’s getting out there, and just like the athletes themselves have rules about what can and can’t be posted – i.e. no taking photos of the leos before they’re worn in competition – those related to the team have to follow similar rules.

If Priessman and Gowey were healthy and had competed this year, do you think they would have been in contention for a spot on the Worlds team?

They definitely both would have been in contention. I think Rachel Gowey would have been a huge help on beam and could have also shown a decent floor, where they were definitely a bit lacking in terms of difficulty. I think if she didn’t get injured and showed that she could stay consistent and clean at Pan Ams and at the selection camp, she probably would have been chosen over Alyssa Baumann, as her beam was a little tighter and more difficult and she was a bit stronger on the remainder of her events. But it’s hard to say for sure, because they were pretty neck-in-neck. Priessman could have been a help on vault and floor, though I think Skinner would have still nabbed that spot due to having two vaults.

Why didn’t Valeri Luikin travel to worlds with Madison and Alyssa?

Because he’s not their coach. Laurent Landi coaches both Madison and Alyssa, while Valeri doesn’t really coach much anymore. He is still active on the administrative side of WOGA but his focus is mainly on U.S. athlete development. He runs all developmental training camps at the national team training center and doesn’t spend as much time at WOGA, so it didn’t make sense for him to coach any longer. But either way, Madison and Alyssa were never part of his training group even when he was coaching full time.

Questions answered by Sarah Chrane, Lauren Hopkins, and Jackie Klein