It’s time for the 20th 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!

Do you think after 2013 Alex McMurtry should’ve gone elite? If so, do you think she could’ve done well? In my opinion she possibly could’ve done well as a vault/floor specialist. Probably wouldn’t have made the Worlds team in 2013 but maybe 2014?

I actually asked her what her plans for elite were after the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2012 I believe. She said it was something that interested her and she was training vaults at the elite level but wasn’t sure if it was something she wanted to try. I think there was some sort of plan set in motion for the elite path but she was also a bit older when she got to be really strong and at that point maybe didn’t want to make the transition? Since she never really competed elite level vaults or floor routines, it’s hard to say if she would have made the Worlds team either year, especially with Mykayla Skinner around. Like, her execution was fantastic but I doubt she could have reached Skinner’s levels of difficulty without having trained elite for a long period of time.

Do you think we will ever see a piked double double on floor?

No, because you cannot twist in a true piked position (which has a hip angle of 90-135 degrees). This is why it’s only performed in the tucked and laid out positions. Often when you see a piked full-in, the body isn’t in a true pike, but is slightly more open, and it would be close to impossible to get two full twists around while rotating two back pikes.

What do you think about the Belgian and Dutch team. They finished 10th and 11th at Worlds this year and they looked stronger than ever. Do you think either of them has a shot at sending a full team to the Olympics in 2016?

I love both teams and was really impressed with what I saw from the Belgian juniors at Massilia this year…I think once they join the senior ranks, they’ll help that team immensely and push them to an even higher place in a team situation. And the Netherlands has Noël van Klaveren, Eythora Thorsdottir, and Wyomi Masela back,  I think both teams definitely have shots at going to the Olympics as full teams, especially if they continue adding difficulty and gaining consistency. With twelve teams qualifying, if the Dutch and Belgian women can stay in the top twelve, they’ll be good to go but I think we can expect Brazil climbing the ranks when their juniors join the senior ranks next year. But really, I’m excited about both of these teams and think we could possibly see some awesome performances from them in the future.

What are your thoughts of Noemi Makra? Such beautiful execution but will she ever add the difficulty she needs to be a real contender?

I think Noemi is a gorgeous athlete and I’m still bummed she didn’t land in the all-around finals this year…she was one I definitely thought would end up in the top 24 but really, her difficulty just isn’t where it needs to be. I think she can upgrade…she’s still young and perhaps just needs a bit more experience? But I think after years of enjoying Dorina Boczogo, I’m really happy that someone else has come along from Hungary at Boczogo’s level.

Leading up to 2012 I felt that one or both of the Caquatti were definitely in the mix for the Olympics and then they retired to focus on college. When the team was picked I definitely thought they could have been team alternates. Do you feel the same? Why do you think they walked away?

I definitely think Mackenzie could have been at least an alternate…Bridgey’s elite skills kind of declined as she got older and injured, though in 2009 I think I preferred Bridgey’s gymnastics to her sister’s (but I loved both). I think she just had to deal with too many injuries and then felt cast aside at Legacy Elite once Anna Li started training, so by the time she came back in 2011, I didn’t see anything working out for her. But Mackenzie…she completely rocked it in Rotterdam, and I was SO impressed with her ability to return to nearly full potential as an elite after her freshman year of college. Just so much respect for someone who can do that…I think if she took the 2011-2012 season off from college to train for 2012, she definitely could have factored in and probably ended up an alternate if she wasn’t a first choice for a team spot. I think the injury for her at the selection camp in 2011 is the reason for her retiring from elite because not only would she have to train to be one of the best in the country, she’d also have to do it while coming back from injury, which is never easy. I think had she not been injured in 2011, things could have ended up so much differently in the long run…she likely would have competed in Tokyo, possibly over Gabby Douglas, and she maybe would have taken the spring off from NCAA to train for London. But the injury kept her out of the sport for a very long time and she just had no fighting chance to come back and become a legitimate threat, unfortunately.

NCAA…I’ve tried but never fully understand. There are so many awards categories (like All American). I know it’s too much to ask, but can you put on your words how it works?

All-American titles are given to the gymnasts who place in the top 12 on each event at Nationals. The best NCAA gymnasts can earn more than one per season and by the end of their career, will have several under their belt. This is why you see them often referred to as “8-Time All American” or something along those lines. There also Academic All-American awards, though I’m unsure of the criteria for those. In addition to the All-American awards and national awards like Gymnast of the Year, Rookie of the Year (given to the best freshman), etc, NCAA gymnasts can also earn similar awards within their conference. NCAA sports are all broken up into conferences, like the SEC, Pac-12, ECAC, etc. These conferences also give out their own awards to gymnasts from teams within that conference. It sounds much more confusing than it is, but basically these awards are kind of “bonuses” that happen on top of awards the girls get at competitions (i.e. first place all-around, bronze on beam, and so on).They’re more for overall achievement over the season than they are for rewarding an event win at a specific competition.

Do you know why rockstar Olivia Vivian’s original skill is only valued a C? Is the low score somehow related to the fact that she broke her back while trianing to master this skill and perhaps that might concern FIG?

People have broken their backs doing Tkatchevs so I don’t think that had anything to do with it. Likely, it was because the skill was not caught in handstand. If she can catch the skill in handstand, it would probably have a higher values. This actually happens a lot in bar skills. Releases that are not caught in handstand are given lower value, like the overshoot compared to the bail high-to-low transitions. An overshoot and a bail are essentially the same skill, but the overshoot isn’t caught in handstand and the bail is.

I would like to know if Larisa Iordache has learning a standing arabian on beam in mind?

Not sure! We don’t really have any information on skills most gymnasts are training or hoping to train unless they tell us. She has plenty of difficulty in her beam routine already, but she has proven to be a capable and dynamic beam worker so I’m sure it would be possible if she decided to go for it.

If Maggie Nichols was healthy for Worlds, how do you think the outcome would have been affected? Also, was she reinjured very recently?

Maggie suffered a subluxed kneecap at PanAms, but had no other injuries following that one. She did have surgery, however, and had to focus on recovery rather than on trying to make the Worlds team. Team USA won by such a large margin, that I don’t think it would have mattered if anyone who missed out this year was able to go. They maybe could have won by eight points instead of seven? :-p With Maggie, it’s interesting because I think she’s the perfect utility athlete, meaning she could go up on literally any event if needed, but at the same time she wasn’t in the top three on any of the four events, so while I’d probably use her in the all-around in qualifications, I wouldn’t have used her on any events in the team final. So I’m not sure if she actually would have ended up factoring into the team picture unless she showed at the ranch that she could have a top three score on one of her events. You never know and it’s hard to say what would have happened if she was on the team, but based on what we saw during the summer, I’d say it’d be somewhat difficult to justify a spot for her when they needed Madison’s and Ashton’s bars, Alyssa’s beam, and Mykayla’s vault and floor.

Do you think Mustafina has any chance at Rio?

I think it’s early to make any definitive Rio predictions but Mustafina has a lot of things going for her: experience, drive, and tenacity. She’s the kind of person that when she sets her mind to something, she does it. If Rio is something that she wants for herself, providing she stays healthy, I think she’ll stop at nothing to get there. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s been the hero of the Russian team since she joined the senior ranks in 2010, and her leadership and guidance this year is likely to count for a lot even if somehow five other Russians are able to outshine her in 2016 (which honestly I don’t think is possible, but hey, you never know!).

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Article by Sarah Chrane and Lauren Hopkins