It’s time for the 56th edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! We apologize if we haven’t gotten to your question yet, but we try to answer in the order in which they were received (unless they are super relevant and need to be answered in a timely manner). Something you want to know? Ask us anonymously by going through the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Did the Caquatto sisters ever train in Texas?

Bridgey Caquatto trained at Texas Dreams during the spring of 2012 before she went to Florida. Mackenzie Caquatto technically changed her club gym affiliation from Legacy Elite to Texas Dreams, but I don’t believe ever actually trained there because she was both injured and already at Florida when they made the move.

Thoughts on Maggie Musselman?

We love Maggie! Her lines are absolutely gorgeous, and at Classics I would squeal even watching her train basics like giants because she is just SO beautiful to watch. I don’t know how much potential she has to become a national team gymnast or anything – she’d definitely need some upgrades – but I think she’s definitely one of my favorites to keep an eye on because she’s just so pretty with everything she does.

What is the criteria for qualifying for the national team? Is there a specific score that has to be achieved at nationals? Can gymnasts be added mid-year if someone makes a huge improvement? What if someone like Norah Flatley or Victoria Nguyen misses nationals this year due to injury…will they have to wait until nationals next year to be added or can they be added once recovered?

The top six all-around gymnasts at U.S. Championships automatically receive a spot on the national team. From there, the women’s program funds up to eight additional spots, and these are chosen at Martha Karolyi’s discretion. There is no score requirement.

Lately for the juniors she’s just been going with the top six and then adding additional gymnasts throughout the year based on what they show in terms of progress at the ranch…like last year, Ragan Smith placed 7th in the all-around and wasn’t named to the team, but earned her spot back at the ranch a few months later. Since the juniors don’t go on many international assignments, it’s not really as vital to name them right away when anything can happen over the next year, so when choosing who to fund she tends to just add those who she thinks can make an impact, especially with Jesolo on the horizon…typically a few juniors get added around March.

For the seniors, she tends to add as many as she can because Worlds selection camp happens within about a month of nationals. I’d say something around the top 7 to 10 all-arounders is accurate, and then specialists are added as needed. Typically if you show at nationals that you could contend for a spot at Worlds, you’re named to the team.

Gymnasts who are injured and have to miss nationals are typically added once they return to camp and show that they’re ready to compete again. Sometimes gymnasts who miss nationals but have proven themselves time and again internationally are named to the team anyway, like Bailie Key last year and Jordyn Wieber back in 2009 and 2010. Like, if Simone Biles suddenly pulled out of nationals this year, because of what she’s accomplished in the sport she’d 100% be named to the team anyway.

What’s up with Nica Hults? Is she still training elite?

I believe Nica’s intention is to return to elite for the 2016 season. She was injured last year and for part of this year as well, but is still training and hasn’t dropped down to level 10. She just got a new floor routine from Dominic Zito, so we’re excited to see what she can do when she returns!

Do you think Giulia Steingruber can medal in the all-around at Worlds this year?

I don’t think so…she’d need both the best meet of her life as well as other gymnasts to make big mistakes. Internationally she typically earns around a 57 in the all-around, maybe a 58 on a really good day, and I think there should be about three or four gymnasts in the all-around final who have the potential to be at about 60 or better this year so she’d really need to hope for multiple falls from several top contenders to finish in the top three. I’d say she should definitely make the top 8,, and possibly even top 6 if she has a really strong and clean meet.

I’ve heard a lot of rumors about McKayla Maroney switching gyms from Gym-Max to AOGC because Kyla Ross got all the attention and the coaches never had as much time for McKayla. How true is that rumor? Where did the info come from?

I’ve never heard that rumor so I’m not sure where that info came from. I’ve heard things more along the lines of McKayla wanting to upgrade – especially on vault – but feeling limited at Gym-Max, so she opted for a gym that would allow her to take more risks. If she was looking for more individual attention, AOGC wasn’t really the best choice because at the time they had two seniors – Sami Shapiro and Mattie Larson – contending for big international meets at the time, so it wouldn’t really make sense to move from a team with one other competitive junior to one with two highly competitive seniors.

What do you think about Martha Karolyi retiring after Rio? Do you think she could change her mind again like she did in 2012? Who do you think can replace her, and how would it affect the future looking ahead to 2020, especially with the new team finals format?

I kind of look at it as a “I’ll believe it when I see it” kind of thing but I feel like this time around could actually be it, because she is getting older and probably wants to just take a step back and chill for five minutes. She can definitely change her mind, but I think the fact that she brought Rhonda Faehn into her current position shortly before announcing her retirement is very telling. She created an incredibly well-oiled machine where multiple people are responsible for success, not just her in the coordinator role, so while whoever steps in has pretty big shoes to fill, they’re not doing it alone and have plenty of support from others involved in the organization.

I think Rhonda Faehn definitely looks like the most apt to take the role…Valeri Liukin and Steve Rybacki are options, but I think they’d have to relinquish ownership of their gyms so they could be impartial…I don’t think a current gym owner with elite athletes is someone who should take over, and seeing as how Rhonda doesn’t have any connections to elite programs, she makes the most sense. That, and she’s been a high-level coach in addition to running a program…an NCAA coach is kind of the perfect person for the role, since there’s SO much administrative work and strategizing involved with an NCAA program. I think she could be an excellent choice and I really hope that’s what their plans are…plus, judging by the amount of elites she managed to recruit for Florida, the girls seem to LOVE her, which is important.

I don’t think the future of USA Gymnastics would be super impacted by a change in this position, and honestly…I feel like Martha will still find a way to remain peripherally involved. Like, the ranch is now an official Olympic training center, so I think they’d still use it for national team camps with or without Martha’s participation, and I can totally see Martha sitting outside watching Bela shoot birds but keeping one eye on the open wall of the gym and yelling criticism or praise on occasion.

How can you tell if a gymnast has peaked? For instance, how do we know Simone Biles hasn’t peaked yet? What if she burns out before Rio? A gymnast like Bailie Key seemed better when she was younger…does that mean she has already peaked?

You can’t really tell if someone has peaked until after the fact…like Jordyn Wieber was probably at her best at some point in 2011 but in 2011, you kind of just expected her to get even better for 2012. She maintained her peak through 2012, but didn’t really progress much, though back in 2011 no one was like “well, this is it! This is her peak!” So you kind of don’t notice a peak until you’re like, a year or so removed from when the gymnast first got to that peak. With gymnasts currently competing, it’s easy to say things like “Simone Biles adds new skills at every meet! She is nowhere near her peak!” and then things like “Bailie Key downgraded beam a bit…she must have peaked.” But we don’t know how they’re being paced. Like, based on Simone’s recent history, she probably hasn’t peaked, but with Bailie, it’s possible they’re just holding off to bring back some beam difficulty or other upgrades for next year. But if it’s next summer and she’s competing the same routines she has now with only minor upgrades, then yes, her peak has happened. I hope this makes sense…basically, it’s impossible to say for sure right now whether someone has peaked or not, but in a year from now we can probably be like “yeah, she peaked last year.”

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Article by Sarah Chrane and Lauren Hopkins