It’s time for the 19th 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 the contact form at the bottom of the page!

I notice that the Russians and the Chinese gymnasts have similar body types, but why is it so much more difficult for the Chinese to bump their difficulties on vault and floor? In 2012, Komova, who is also very lean had a Amanar and a 6.1 floor routine. Why couldn’t the Chinese girls perform similar difficulty?

I don’t think they have similar body types…maybe a couple of the girls do, but I don’t think there’s one set body type for each country. I think the majority of Russians who competed this year are much taller and more muscular than the majority of this year’s Chinese team. I also don’t think being good on vault and floor comes down to body type alone. It’s more to do with conditioning and the Chinese tend to condition for events like bars. There seems to be something missing in the Chinese program that creates strong vault and floor workers whereas Russia has a more well-rounded program. Plenty of vaulters and floor workers don’t necessarily have that more solid muscular body type, but may be strong at twisting or have strong shoulders and are therefore able to get a good block. And I honestly don’t think Komova is the best example of someone who is lean having a good vault…her Amanar had a lot of problems. Basically, you can’t chalk certain skills or events in gymnastics up to a body type because so much more goes into it.

Who’s your favorite gymnastics commentator of all time? I like Kathy Johnson the best. I also found that British lady who called Shushunova fat to be very entertaining. Maybe I let her slide because of her accent. Unlike Elfi, because it’s just so off-putting to see a Canadian be mean.

I really enjoy Liz Chetkovich, the Australian commentator who ran the show at Youth Olympic Games this summer, among other things. Her cohost at YOGs wasn’t well-versed in gymnastics, to put it nicely, but she did a fantastic job of patiently educating everyone in a smart way. Even when her cohost made fun of girls for crying (seriously!), she managed to kind of scold him without being rude while also explaining that these girls were 14 or 15 with almost no international experience. Even when she was wrong about something, she always corrected herself later on (i.e. when she said the gymnasts had to perform two different entry vaults but later realized that they were using modified rules for juniors and could do two vaults from the same family), and she seemed to really respect the gymnasts and how hard it was to compete at that level. Just very fair and interesting and really knew her stuff.

Any idea on when they will announce where Olympic Trials will be in 2016?

I do know where USAG is hoping to hold Trials, but I think they had concerns with timing because one of the cities has a good NHL team and there could be a conflict if they make it to postseason. All cities I’ve heard of were ones they’d used before, so my guess is that they’re still trying to figure out how to get their first choice. I know we heard about 2012 pretty early because I pre-booked a ticket package in, like, the summer of 2010…so they must still be trying to figure out how to make it all work. I’d imagine we’ll hear sometime in the next six months, though! They’d probably need a year for ticket purchases and publicity and everything, so that makes sense to me.

What’s the whole “all star” teams about? Region 7 went to the UK and Region 5 went to like an island or something? How do you qualify and what are they doing?

I think I remember Region 5 went to the Dominican Republic because I remember seeing pictures Anna Li shared on Instagram, but basically each region has an ‘all star team’ consisting of those who made the J.O. national team, I believe. The J.O. national team is made up of the top four all-around finishers in each division at J.O. nationals. I believe each region calls their national team members ‘all stars’ and then may also include some of those who didn’t make the J.O. national team but who also placed in high all-around spots at nationals. The international trip is like a bonus experience for the girls who reached that very top level of the J.O. competition experience, though I don’t think all regions do something as big as an international trip. Region 5 is a HUGELY popular region and they seem to have a lot of funding, so they always go all out with gear and trips, but other regions aren’t at that level and likely didn’t do anything that extravagant.

Do you think this beam routine done by Eythora Thorsdottir can make it to World Championship finals? And what do you think about the front arial-split position combination?

I hope so, if she can hit it cleanly. I think she is such a gorgeous and fluid beam worker. I love the front aerial to split, even though it kind of looks like she’s falling out of the aerial and grabbing the beam to steady herself at first, until you see her go into the split position. I think this is the kind of beam routine the FIG wants to see in terms of nicely connected movement…it totally is the definition of artistic gymnastics, and is something very few gymnasts are able to accomplish on beam when their focus is more on hitting more difficult elements.

What about Anastasia Grishina? Much has been said about the absence of Paseka, Afanasyeva, and Komova from the Russian team at Worlds, but everyone seems to have forgotten about Grishina since her injury early this year.

I don’t think people have forgotten about her, but I think she just hasn’t competed since Championships in April and so hasn’t been part of the picture…whereas Paseka and Komova competed at the Russian Cup two months before Worlds, and all three were part of Rodionenko’s World Championships team decision…Komova was brought up as a potential competitor but was left behind because she was only really back on one event, and Paseka and Afanasyeva were both initially on the Worlds team until they were considered not strong enough to compete. Grishina wasn’t at the Russian Cup and didn’t factor into the team decision, so no one really talked about her absence from Worlds because she was never part of the picture to begin with.

Is there any update on how Jordyn Wieber’s chances are to compete NCAA? I really hope it happens for her, since she seems to love the team at UCLA and college in general.

Nothing that I’ve heard of…I wish it could happen and that Miss Val and the UCLA athletic department could fight the NCAA against her being excluded because I think out of any athlete, she has a very good case. She peaked as a professional athlete before she was even age eligible for college, and now that she’s not in a position to really have a career as a professional gymnast since she is no longer competing or in the spotlight, she can’t really earn the amount of money that NCAA basketball players or football players would earn if they had that option. And honestly, she’d never have the earning power of those in bigger team sports like that, so why punish her? I could see the NCAA not wanting to reward her a scholarship when she’s accepted money, but not letting her compete as a walk-on is ridiculous, in my opinion.

How big of a splash do you think Laura Jurca and Andreea Iridon will make in 2015 as their first year as seniors?

I think they’ll both be super welcomed as seniors because the team overall this year was very weak. I think Jurca, while not as talented or consistent as Larisa Iordache, can add to the team as another “jack of all trades” kind of girl who can go up on any event and put up a decent score. I’d like to see her get a bit more consistent and then obviously add some more difficult skills, but I think she’s a pretty underrated gymnast and hope she thrives as a senior. Then Iridon…obviously she’ll be huge for the team on bars. Iordache isn’t a bar worker and kind of had to handle that event all by herself this year in team competition (and did a phenomenal job with it!) so having Iridon there to help her out takes a lot of the pressure off and can totally change their outlook.

Is there a requirement for two saltos in one pass anymore? Like having to do two “flips” in one pass (like a 2.5 twist to punch layout or 1.5 through to triple twist). Neither Simone Biles nor Larisa Iordache had that in their routines at Worlds this year.

No. The only tumbling requirements are that gymnasts must include saltos in both directions (at least one backward and at least one forward or side), a salto with a longitudinal axis (i.e. twisting rotation), and a salto with double breadth axis (i.e. two flipping rotations either forward or backward).

Could you tell me who Jordan Chiles is?

Jordan Chiles is an American junior elite gymnast from Naydenov Gymnastics in Washington. She placed fourth in the all-around, third on vault, and third on floor at the P&G Championships this summer, and first in the AA, fourth on bars, fourth on beam, and sixth on floor at the 2014 Secret Classic. Internationally, she competed at Jesolo where she placed second on vault and sixth in the AA. She’s kind of a new elite talent in the U.S., and as she’s only 13, she wouldn’t factor into the 2016 picture for Team USA, but she actually had quite a big following before she even qualified to elite status thanks to training videos her parents put up on YouTube. Between her elite debut a year ago and her performance this summer, she’s grown tremendously as a gymnast and has so much natural talent, I’m sure she’ll be an international superstar in the future!

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Article by Sarah Chrane and Lauren Hopkins