The U.S. World Team Selection Live Blog

/ October 11, 2018

Welcome to the live blog for the U.S. world championships selection camp!

Please refresh your browser every few minutes to see the most recent updates, which will appear at the top of the page.

6:27 pm. AA Standings

1. Simone Biles 59.700
2. Riley McCusker 57.250
3. Grace McCallum 55.400
4. Morgan Hurd 55.250
5. Ragan Smith 55.050
6. Kara Eaker 55.000
7. Jordan Chiles 54.700
8. Shilese Jones 54.000
9. Alyona Shchennikova 53.350

6:20 pm. McCallum VT: Super clean and solid DTY, basically stuck with a bounce in place, but I don’t think her feet even left the mat.

Grace gets a 14.5 on vault to finish things up!

6:19 pm. Eaker VT: Yurchenko 1.5, some loose knees throughout, looked better and tighter in warmups…but solid landing.

14.7 for Jordan’s vault. 54.7 AA.

6:18 pm. Chiles VT: DTY, lunged it back and was still rotating a bit, her body’s like, I WANNA DO AN AMANAR. Don’t hold me back.

14.6 for Ragan’s vault, brings her to a 55.05 AA!!! Get it girl.

6:16 pm. Smith VT: DTY, DAMN, girl stuck it!!!!!!!!!!! Pre-flight had some separation but oh my goodness that was fantastic. I hope she at least gets the alternate spot just to make my heart happy. Her improvements from nationals to camp have been incredible.

6:13 pm. Still vault warmups. Ragan a wee bit tentative on the DTY we just saw but looks okay, wasn’t an ankle cruncher or anything. Kara’s 1.5s look muuuuch better.

6:11 pm. Oh what’s that? I’m just crying a lil. No big deal.

Second group is warming up.

6:08 pm. Simone’s new vault will have a casual 6.4 D, FYI.

16.0 LMAOOOOOO OH SHIT. OH SHIT.

Shilese got a 14.75 BTW. Her AA is a 54.

Simone’s AA is a 59.7 with a fall hahahahahahahahahah asdlfkja;sdf

6:06 pm. Biles VT: She is standing there before her vault with the smirkiest grin like 🙂 I’m about to blow your effing minds. 🙂 HERE WE GOOOOO. OAISJFASKDJF;ALKSDJF;LAKSDJF lasdfl;kajsdflkajsdf I’m FRRRRRRRREAKING OUT. SHE STUCK A DAMN YURCHENKO HALF-ON FRONT DOUBLE FULL. I’m CHOKING.

6:05 pm. 14.35 for Riley gets her to a 57.250 AA!!!

6:04 pm. Jones VT: Huge DTY, lunged back but lovely in the air.

6:02 pm. McCusker VT: DTY, actually REALLY nice!! Step on the landing but I think that was partially due to the mat they’re on, it’s not really a hard surface and looks a bit shaky on all of the landings.

14.5 for Hurd’s vault. 55.250 AA is great considering this hasn’t been her absolute best day.

6:01 pm. Hurd VT: DTY, good! One of her better ones, just some ankles in the air but nothing severe. Solid landing.

13.9 for Shchennikova, finishes with a 53.350 AA.

6:00 pm. Shchennikova VT: DTY, short and low, big lunge forward.

5:59 pm. I got up for ONE SECOND during vault warmups and Simone APPARENTLY STUCK A YURCHENKO HALF-ON FRONT DOUBLE FULLLLLLLLLLLLLL KILL ME

5:54 pm. I think Jordan got a 13.2 on floor FYI.

5:51 pm. Eaker FX: Oh, it was the right music…what was the problem then? 2.5 to front full right into the corner. Front layout to lovely front double full to stag. VERY NICE. Triple full, slightly underrotated. Good leaps after that. Switch full before her last pass is especially clean and controlled. Double pike is super buckled but overall this was really nice.

5:49 pm. They have played the wrong music for Kara twice so far. Is Armine having a rage stroke? Make that three times lmao. FOUR. GOD this is good. Armine is about to pull off her weird GAGE tunic and strangle someone with it.

5:48 pm. Ragan goes 13.65 on floor! Fourth-best so far.

5:45 pm. Chiles FX: 1.5 through to lovely double arabian! Very clean, just a step at the end. Dos Santos, again a little forward with a step forward on the landing. Switch ring to tour jeté full. OOF her double layout gets NO set and basically goes FULLY HORIZONTAL but she somehow lands it?! That was a yikes for sure but she’s like I don’t need to get my DLO more than four feet off the ground. #SHRUG Good double pike to finish. She looks happy!

5:41 pm. Smith FX: She keeps getting blinky and wiping stuff out of her eyes. Okay, now GET IT RAGAN. Double layout, good! Hop back, not sure if she went out. The sound went out for this so guessing she has top secret new music? 1.5 through to triple full, her tumbling line looked super crooked and the triple was a bit underrotated. Switch ring to tour jeté full. The sound is back on now and it’s not top secret anymore. Double arabian, big step forward. Double pike is stuck. Two passes were great, two passes need a little work, but again, overall she’s better than I could’ve hoped.

Grace gets a 14.3!

5:39 pm. 12.8 on floor for Shilese.

5:37 pm. McCallum FX: Double double, good! Little hop to the side. Front layout to front double full to punch front tuck. Clean double wolf turn. EXCELLENT rotation on the triple full!!! Just has a little hop out of it. Stuck double tuck. THIS was fantastic.

5:33 pm. Jones FX: Double double with a hop, strong. Super clean arabian double front. Double L turn. L hop full to switch full. Tucked full-in, takes a couple of steps back OOB. Good double tuck, a little buckled but totally stuck. One of the better floor sets today! Happy for her.

5:32 pm. 13.85 for Riley’s floor and 12.9 for Morgan’s.

5:29 pm. McCusker FX: Piked full-in is good! Switch full. Front double full to punch front to stag, some little leg things in the first piece of that. Triple wolf turn is great. Big open double pike. Switch ring to tour jeté half. Double tuck, low with a little stumble forward. Not bad, just some things in there that could use fixin’.

5:28 pm. Okay, Riley’s going on floor lol. What is this situation.

5:25 pm. 11.95 for Alyona on floor.

The next group is warming up which means no Riley on floor!!!!! She’s specialisting it up. No Shilese on floor either. They’re both there, though. Have we given up on this whole ‘groups’ thing?

5:22 pm. Hurd FX: Double double, a little short, big step forward to control it. Not too bad but not where she can usually get it. Double layout with a bounce back, I think OOB. Switch ring into a dancey full turn into a tour jeté half I think. Front layout just into a front full, not the double and no stag! Ferrari. Split jump full. Double pike, buckles a tiny bit but not too bad.

5:17 pm. Shchennikova FX: Sat her double front at the start. 😦 😦 😦 Front double full to front tuck, a little low but gets it around. Switch ring to switch half. Bounce forward after the 1.5 to front full. Double pike with a step back OOB.

15.1 for Simone! Best score of the quad by 9 billion points. Jk, by like three tenths, which is basically 9 billion points.

5:14 pm. Biles FX: Opens with a Moors, FABULOUS. Biles to stag, switch leap to tour jeté full, I love that leap pass. Front full through to tucked full-in, large-ish step back. Casual double double with a hop back. Overall her landings looked MUCH better than they did this summer!!!

5:13 pm. Rotation 2 Standings

1. Riley McCusker 29.050
2. Simone Biles 28.600
3. Morgan Hurd 27.850
4. Kara Eaker 27.500
— Alyona Shchennikova 27.500
6. Ragan Smith 26.800
— Jordan Chiles 26.800
8. Grace McCallum 26.600
9. Shilese Jones 26.450

5:12 pm. Jordan gets a 13.2 on beam.

5:10 pm. Floor warmups now, and waiting for Jordan’s score to come in!

I love the judges having to drag their table from event to event.

5:05 pm. Chiles BB: Full L turn to full turn. Bhs loso loso, some slightly soft knees but I think that’s just how her legs are. I always think my legs are straight and then I look down and my knees are soft. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump is good. Side aerial to split leap to switch half, short on the latter. Side somi is solid. Hop forward on the punch front. Double pike with a step. Really great for her on this event!!

5:06 pm. YAAAAS, a 13.95 for Ragan! Now she’s fourth-best. I’m telling you, it can still happen.

5:04 pm. Grace gets a 13.65 on beam! Fourth-best there, behind Riley, Simone, and Kara but ahead of Morgan by a tenth.

5:01 pm. Smith BB: God I’m going to die. Triple wolf turn, a lil wild, but she controls the ‘landing’ to to speak. A little low on her layout series and takes a step to hold it, but no fall. Standing full is good. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump is solid. Punch front is strong, but then she wobbles and has her chest down on her side straddle half. Full L hop from the side position. Double pike with a step.

Better than I thought it’d go! She truly looks so much better and healthier than she did at nationals, but there are some nerves there right now…if she can eliminate them, she’d be in such a good place.

4:59 pm. Kara’s beam is a 15.15! She and Alyona are tied with a 27.5 each at the halfway point, one with a high bars and low beam and the other exactly the opposite. Can we combine them into one person and take them both as the bars/beam specialist? This is Madison Kocian and Alyssa Baumann all over again.

4:57 pm. It literally took five minutes to get a score for Kara. Judges are like WHAT IS THE D.

McCallum BB: Candle mount. Suuuuuper solid and beautiful triple wolf turn, followed by an equally good double. YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO DO THESE EVER, K??? Side split jump half, good, side aerial to loso is solid. Punch front tuck, little bobble forward, switch leap to front aerial to split jump, fab. Sissone to full turn, double tuck starts off with a great set and looks pretty high and clean but she’s forward on the landing and stumbles forward, no hands down though.

4:50 pm. Eaker BB: Switch leap to ring leap, back leg is way low. Full Y turn is lovely. Front aerial to split ring jump to back handspring through to choreography, gorgeous and fluid. side aerial loso loso is SUPER solid. Daaaammn. Split leap to side somi, great extension on both. Switch ring, back leg again is weird, into a back handspring to scale, then basically into a switch half to Korbut from there. GOD she is lovely af. Switch leap to switch half. 2.5 with a hop. Aside from a couple of her ring positions this is a dream come true. I think I can forgive those rings for everything else this routine is tbh.

4:49 pm. LONGEST WARMUP EVERRRRRRR.

4:45 pm. Some great work from Ragan on beam in warmups…she looks like a different athlete compared to nationals. #DontGetExcited #DontGetExcited

4:41 pm. 14.1 for Riley’s beam, gives her almost a half-point lead ahead of Simone but Simone’s like have you ever heard of vault and floor?

4:39 pm. Warmups for the second group as we wait for Riley’s score. Overall beam doesn’t look super hot so this is where someone like Ragan could really make herself useful. Simone looked incredible until the fall but everyone else was either nervous or messier than we usually see.

4:35 pm. McCusker BB: Triple wolf turn, not bad, double is even better, just a little forward at the end. Front aerial to split jump, landed it kinda on one foot but covered well. Big prep for her flight series, bhs loso with SUUUUPER bent knees wtf??? Big wobble at the end. Switch leap to switch half is nice, just a check at the end, side aerial is clean, double tuck with a step back.

Hmm. I feel like her form on her acro looked better at nationals, please tell me she’s not dealing with more injury nonsense?

13.55 for Morgan’s beam.

4:33 pm. 12.9 for Alyona’s beam.

4:30 pm. Hurd BB: Leg up slightly on her standing full. Break at the hips on her side aerial. CALM DOWN MORGIIIII. Deep breaths. Solid bhs loso. Front aerial, little check into the split jump to straddle jump, but her jumps look fab. Switch leap. Side split jump half, chest a little forward but no other problems, good full turn, switch ring is solid, excellent double pike! Once she calmed down a bit this got good.

4:28 pm. 13.85 for Simone on beam. She’s basically the Tang Xijing of this meet.

4:25 pm. Shchennikova BB: Double wolf turn, triple wolf turn, the first is wilder than the second, and her foot is flexed basically the whole time in both. Bhs loso loso is solid though. Front aerial, little check, misses connection to jump series, and then has a tiny wobble at the end. Onodi, nice, side aerial, switch leap, pauses, missed connection to side somi, break at the hips. Double tuck, second flip a bit cowboyed, and the landing looks like it comes as a bit of a surprise, lunges it back and pulls her chest up.

4:21 pm. Biles BB: Triple wolf turn, a tad wild, sissone to wolf jump is great, barani looks better than usual, bhs loso loso is great, switch leap to switch half to back pike, fab, just the tiniest check and her split extension on the half is A+. Punch front pike. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, another tiny baby check at the end but she’s so fluid on the connections, omg hands down on the tucked full-in UGHHHHHHHHH. Again tho like…she’s going to worlds.

12.65 for Shilese on beam.

4:16 pm. Jones BB: Split jump to straddle jump, full L turn, very calm and smooth on all so far. Big wobble on the arabian, saves it but it’s a bit wonky. gets it back for the bhs loso and side aerial, side split jump half is a tad short, super solid on the punch front, side straddle half is good, switch half is a bit short, double tuck, loses leg form a little in the second flip, but not bad…I’d say 75% of this routine was great and 25% was a little rough.

4:15 pm. PS the group one and group two situation totally makes sense now. I like that group one can be warming up on beam while group two is finishing up bars. It makes the wait times and standing around less severe, which is great in a meet that goes one at a time.

4:10 pm. Rotation 1 Standings

1. Riley McCusker 14.950
2. Simone Biles 14.750
3. Alyona Shchennikova 14.600
4. Morgan Hurd 14.300
5. Shilese Jones 13.800
6. Jordan Chiles 13.600
7. Grace McCallum 12.950
8. Ragan Smith 12.850
9. Kara Eaker 12.350

4:08 pm. Smith UB: Inbar to stalder full to toe half to straddle Jaeger, nice. WAY over on her Downie again. Misses by a mile. 😦 Opposite problem Kara had, too much distance and no height. Back on for Ricna to Pak, clean but slow on the catch, toe shoot, solid full-in. UGHHH about that fall…but again, like Grace, this really wouldn’t be her event anyway.

Grace gets a 12.95 on bars.

4:04 pm. McCallum UB: Weiler half, no problems, to Chow to Tkachev, Pak with leg separation, goes into a van Leeuwen which doesn’t get enough amplitude and she kinda goes flying off as she tries to catch the high bar. 😦 Toe on to toe full is late, into a full-in with a step. Shame about the fall but she’d go more for the other events anyway.

Kara gets a 12.35 on bars.

4:00 pm. Eaker UB: Maloney to clear hip to Tkachev, gets big height but no distance, didn’t really counter her hips at all, and she tries to catch but slips off. Back on for a Pak, van Leeuwen, great handstand before a full pirouette, toe half to piked Jaeger, and a double layout dismount, she’s not the most bars-worky but not bad either.

Did anyone catch Jordan’s score when it flashed for one half of a second? 13.6?

3:58 pm. Chiles UB: FOR REAL THIS TIME. Oh, I just noticed they’re putting names up when they go up, which will help me figure out warmups from actual routines in the future. Toe full to Maloney to bail, short, to toe shoot, bent hips on the catch, short handstand before blind change to piked Jaeger, good, arched handstand before her Tkachev to Gienger, goes lower and less aggressive on the Tkachev this time which helps her. Full-in deep but solid landing. Good girl!

3:57 pm. Ragan just off on something in warmups, her Downie I think. Otherwise she looks really good. Still pulling for her to surprise us.

3:55 pm. OH, Jordan’s fall before was in a warm-up, not her routine. Lulz. I was like that’s awkward that they let everyone warmup while she was down. Anyway ignore me.

3:54 pm. Grace struggling a little with her Weiler to start her warmup but nothing too bad. She fixed it on the next attempt. I love Ragan just climbing all over the apparatus to get on the high bar rather than jumping like a non-vertically challenged human.

3:53 pm. Chiles UB (cont): Gets back on for the Tkachev to Gienger, then hits her full-in with a little step.

I love that people just casually warmed up in the middle of her falling and getting back on.

3:51 pm. Morgan gets a 14.3, a little lower than she’d probably like but makes sense with the little errors.

3:50 pm. Chiles UB: Maloney to bail, a little short, to toe shoot, blind change to piked Jaeger, aggressive swing on the Tkachev, but maybe a little TOO aggressive…when she catches it takes her kinda out of her element on her swing and she has to jump off.

Is that it? When she came off Kara started warming up lol. They’re like sorry, you fall, you’re DONE. FOREVER.

3:47 pm. Hurd UB: Komova II to stalder full to Tkachev, good, solid handstand before the Ray to Pak, Ray to high, short handstand before the inbar half to front giant half, inbar full a little late to full-in stuck cold.

Did she do a Ray to Pak or Ricna to Pak? I thought she does a Ricna but her feet to me looked like a toe on but that could just be the angle and my brain. It was prob a Ricna. Some little things in there but again, overall solid.

14.6 for Alyona’s bars.

3:45 pm. Shchennikova UB: Inbar full to Komova II to Tkachev, good. Ricna to Pak to Chow half, and she hit her double layout, a tad low but not scary like it used to be. Toe point could (always) use work but I’ve been saying that since she was 13 so I don’t expect it really to change at this point. Overall a great routine.

14.75 for Simone’s bars.

3:43 pm. Biles UB: Weiler half to Maloney to Tkachev, good. Good handstand before the toe full (a tad late) to piked Tkachev to huge Pak, mostly clean van Leeuwen, way short handstand before giants into the Fabrichnova, basically stuck. A few little things in there but I mean, she looks fab and is going to worlds lol, Tom’s just like “yay you.”

13.8 for Shilese on bars.

3:42 pm. WE’RE GETTING SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14.95 for Riley on bars which is A+++

3:41 pm. Jones UB: Stalder full is a little late and arches over a bit, pauses before the Maloney to a nice Pak, clean handstand before the Chow half, a little bent on the catch in her elbows, toe half to piked Jaeger, good stretch to catch that. Full-in with a little step. Got through it!

3:40 pm. Not sure if we’ll get scores now or ever but at least we can see how everyone looks in comparison to everyone else.

3:37 pm. McCusker UB: Stalder full to Maloney to Tkachev, lovely and the floatiest Maloney EVER, and super clean. Great handstand before the Ricna to Pak, also gorgeous, right into a Chow, another solid handstand before her toe on to blind change to front giant to half-in double back, stuck on her toes with a little bobble.

Looks happy about it! Her form is drool-worthy. Just chatting to Tom Foster real quick now, too bad we couldn’t get this mic’ed up.

3:36 pm. Looks like warm-ups are done and they’re about to start, finally. Maybe. We’ll see. Give us a few minutes. Everyone looks good in this group, though, and Alyona has her double layout back!

3:33 pm. Simone just looked fab on bars in what I assume was still warm-ups and not her actual routine, unless that WAS her routine and they’re just being real casual about the process and not letting us know.

3:31 pm. PEOPLE, TURN OFF YA PHONEEEEES

3:29 pm. Warmups should wrap up any second. EXCITED NOW. Glad this last half hour of nonsense has really built up the drama of this meet.

3:26 pm. Now it’s the bars…warmup I guess? Riley’s up there doing stalders so I’m assuming this is a warmup and that someone will actually tell us when the competing begins.

3:25 pm. Oh good, now the NEXT group is warming up. Because they couldn’t have had everyone run around in a circle together?

3:23 pm. I’m screaming, the national anthem singer is basically singing it AS THE COWARDLY LION FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ. Also someone’s phone alarm is going off. Truly fantastic.

3:21 pm. The gymnasts are walking in. They have an audience, probably EVO kids and the girls’ parents or guardians who traveled to the meet. They’re doing the national anthem and everything lmao. Oh boy.

3:19 pm. Looks like everyone’s getting ready to warm up on bars…I think that’ll be the first event. Hopefully momentarily.

3:17 pm. Anyway Aimee Boorman just tripped over Kim Zmeskal.

3:15 pm. Apparently they were told they were doing it “in two groups” so I’m guessing the group warming up now is group one and the group just kinda chillin is group two? Either way we still have quite some time before they’re actually going to compete.

3:13 pm. National team warmup is over but general stretch/warm-up continues…

3:08 pm. Okay,  unless y’all have any questions (which you can ask in the comments) I’m just gonna hang out and wait for them to finish stretching and getting warm before I come back with competition action.

3:05 pm. It’s kinda weird that five are doing the national team warmup and the rest are sitting on the floor in leos like hurry up plz, we did this already.

3:03 pm. Oh, they’re starting this stream right from the first warmup which means we’ll still have QUITE A BIT OF TIME before the competition begins. They’re still running and stretching and hanging out…usually this point at nationals means we have like a half hour before it actually starts but I’m sure with less than half the number of girls it’ll be a bit faster.

3:00 pm. I’m still hella bummed about Emma Malabuyo having to withdraw. She was my big hope for a surprise onto the team because of what she can do on beam and floor…my dream team would’ve been Simone, Morgan, and Emma in the all-around, Riley on bars and beam, and Jade Carey on vault and floor in qualifications, but this is NOT TO BE. I’m glad Grace is looking fantastic, though, and while I don’t love the Jade situation, I like that her not going opens up a spot for someone we may not have expected to be there.

2:58 pm. Hi everyone! So excited to get to follow along with a worlds selection meet! You can watch the action on the USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel, and I’ll be chatting about everything we see as well as discussing my opinions about the team and what will work best for the U.S. in Doha.

For a reminder, the women attending the selection camp are Simone Biles of World Champions Center, Jordan Chiles of Naydenov, Kara Eaker of GAGE, Morgan Hurd of First State, Shilese Jones of Future, Grace McCallum of Twin City Twisters, Riley McCusker of MG Elite, Alyona Shchennikova of 5280, and Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams.

The stream is about to start!

Article by Lauren Hopkins

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92 thoughts on “The U.S. World Team Selection Live Blog”

    • Buckle up folks, all you’re gonna hear from me for the rest of the meet is how amazing Riley is. FIVE HUNDREDTHS off a 15.0???? MOVE OVER RUSSIANS AND NINA!!!!

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      • I’m not always the biggest fan of Riley’s gymnastics (minus her bars, I’m ALWAYS a fan of her bars!), but damn she was on fire 🔥! I was very impressed by what I saw yesterday. Now I just want to light all the candles for her to stay healthy, physically & mentally! 🕯🤸‍♀️🕯🤸‍♀️🕯

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      • I actually think that the Russians are pretty unextraordinary on bars this year. Mustafina, Melnikova, and Alexeeva are all good on bars and can contend for finals, but the Russians definitely aren’t medal favorites on the event without Ilyankova, Komova, or Spiridonova on the team.
        I think that Derwael is gold medal favorite and that Becky Downie is also a medal favorite if she can hit her current routine (a big maybe), so without Fan around, I think that the bronze is up for grabs on bars.
        Mccusker, Scheder, DJDS, Bossu, Adlerteg, and Du Siyu can all fight it out for the bronze I think! Excited for the bars final!!!

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  6. Here’s my Predictions: The team will have Simone, Morgan, Riley, and Grace for sure. The fifth spot will probably go to Kara (by merit of her beam) or to Jordan (by merit of her vaults).
    I really don’t see Ragan being in good enough shape, but I’m kinda scared they’ll have her go anyway, which would be bad if they don’t let Morgan and/or Riley try for AA in quals.

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  8. ….K I love Simone but HOW did she only come 2 tenths shy of Riley’s score? Like…… their work is not even close to comparable. Simone was fine. Riley is a BARS WORKER.

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      • Which epitomizes literally everything that is wrong with post-2006 scoring. They need to go through and cut the difficulty values of literally every skill category in half if they want to keep combined scoring. This is ridiculous. Difficulty is great but it shouldn’t overwhelm execution to the point where shit like this can happen.

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        • I disagree. High D with good execution, should always beat amazing execution, but lower D. IMO. Riley said she was going to upgrade but didnt show it… so *shrugs*

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        • Then how to you fairly assess Simone, who, not only can do “less difficult” elements perfectly, but can also do a Cheng+1/2 perfectly? Do we de-value the D-score of the hardest vault being performed? It’s not in any way equal to a Yurchenko 1.5, no matter how ‘pretty’ the 1.5 was…

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  15. Based on last worlds and YOGs I feel like we should take .5-.8 off the scoring here for more realistic international scores on beam.

    Also I LOVE the Barani and don’t care if it’s technically a different skill or no it because (a) Simone is the only one who can do it, and (b) Barani is a fun word to say.

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    • I think so! I think she’s stronger overall on floor, plus has a better AA program if needed. But Kara looked fantastic here and I could see them just wanting her to challenge for a medal on beam…

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      • (I wrote below but anyway vault is starting) – is there any chance Morgan isn’t going to Worlds based on today? Why is she so far downgraded? Injury? Simone is an obvious lock and she didn’t downgrade at all.

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        • I think Morgan is going to World’s regardless of today’s performance, unless everything totally falls apart tomorrow or she gets injured. My reasoning is, when you look at the top 6 from today, you would want to use Morgan on vault and bars, even if all we had to go on was today’s competition. We expected more from her on floor, but Ragan, Kara, and Grace and not as strong and consistent as Morgan is on bars, and also you wouldn’t want to use Ragan, Kara, or Riley on vault over Morgan.

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  23. Do you know if they are doing another verification during like they have in the past? I know the team isn’t announced until tomorrow so I was just curious!

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  25. Hurd seems to be performing at a lower level than last year around Worlds … is she injured? what’s going on? what’s with all the downgrades? (BB: no aerial + switch leap combo, no full-in. FX: no moors, no front double)

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  26. I have never seen Ragan overate her double arabian, usually she is really low and wonky. Better. But looks much better then limping off the floor nationals. 🙂

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  27. Is seems ragen floor music and choreography are all over themselves, almost multiple personalities. Jones is a beautiful dancer

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  30. Ok, call me crazy, but, based on what we know through three rotations, is there a chance the defending World AA Champion is going to be left at home? If I’m not mistaken, Worlds is 5-4-3. Ragan beat Morgan on beam and floor, Simone’s Cheng puts the USA so far ahead that two additional passable DTYs would cover vault (which we admittedly haven’t seen yet) and there are more than enough bars workers here to pick one. It also has to be said, that Shilese was beautiful on floor and could be the 4th AA score during quals easily.

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      • Exactly! Maybe we don’t have all of the information and I will be the first to admit if I am wrong, BUT, IF Morgan assumed she was a lock and downgraded, while Simone FREAKING Biles is debuting a 6.4 vault at VERIFICATION, then maybe some tough decisions need to be made. There are a lot of competitive AA scores… AND RAGAN LITERALLY JUST STUCK HER DTY AS I TYPE THIS!

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    • SCENARIO 1 (Without Morgan)
      VAULT: Riley, Grace, Shilese, Simone
      BARS: Shilese, Grace, Simone, Riley
      BEAM: Grace, Simone, Riley, Kara
      FLOOR: Riley, Kara, Grace, Simone

      SCENARIO 2
      VAULT: Shilese, Riley, Grace, Simone
      BARS: Shilese, Grace, Simone, Riley
      BEAM: Grace, Ragan, Simone, Riley
      FLOOR: Reily, Ragan, Grace, Simone

      At this point, nearly every single combination has great potential. That said, I would not count Morgan out quite yet. I am just worried that she does not look as good as she did before. But last year she was also not looking that hot before Worlds and knocked it out of the park at worlds.

      For me the issue is more who are going to be the all-arounders…. Simone is definitely doing All Around. At this point both Riley and Grace seem to be on the up and the number 2 and 3 gymnast. Ragan is improving…. And if we do not use Morgan as an All around gymnast, It might be better than to rely on two specialists (Kara and Shilese for example.)

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    • It’s not that surprising. She was national champ just a year ago. Ragan was over a point better than Morgan last year and Ragan beat Morgan at Worlds prelims with a fall. At this years nationals, Ragan was injured and inconsistent, but ability wise, she’s always been at the same level as Morgan, and had a higher D. When Ragan, Riley, and Morgan are all healthy, they’re all capable of beating each other. What’s more surprising is Eaker finishing only .25 behind Morgan. Great showing for her.

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  36. I dont think people realize… that all those great gymnastics moments when innovators came around from the past, and performed things that the world hasnt seen gymnasts doing before.. WE ARE LIVING THROUGH THOSE MOMENTS. SOO AMAZING!

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  37. If there’s one thing we’ve learned tonight it’s that Riley McCusker should be the 2nd American in the AA final. Girl legit could not deserve it more. So effing proud I could cry.

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    • yeah, i agree. I think hurd would still go. i don’t see them leaving the defending AA worlds champ at home. But she does have a lot to make up.

      Ragan has a good chance of being the alternate which is a huge improvement from nationals…i still hope that she will get some needed rest after the season ends and comes back full force next year/

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      • I have a hard time seeing them leaving Morgan at home. But that said, Morgan’s performance is going down and Grace is going up (as is Ragan btw)….

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        • I think this will give us the first indication of how similar Tom’s selection criteria is or isn’t compared to Martha. The Karolyis never cared about past meets, who was defending champ or anything like that – it was always who is best for the TEAM and who is the best NOW. Frankly, based off today (no idea about yesterday), Morgan is neither best for the team, nor is she top 3 on any event right now. It’s possible she downgraded, but if it wasn’t to protect a hush-hush injury, I personally don’t like the attitude of assuming you are a lock and not performing your best. You can’t rest on your laurels when Simone is debuting insane new vaults at verification.

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  39. Yeah definitely disagree. It balances out. Simone isn’t a natural swinger like Riley but aesthetics and execution are two different things. Riley’s aesthetic is way better but Simone’s execution isn’t so bad that Riley’s execution should overwhelm the difficulty gap.

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    • I agree with you. While Riley has better lines her execution is not miles ahead of Simone. Simone is actually very clean. Except one short handstand and one slightly late pirouette there is not much in terms of deductions. Her pirouettes (except that one) are on top of the bar, her body position on her skills is great

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  40. Pingback: The U.S. World Team Selection Live Blog | species specific

  41. Morgan is almost certainly going, if only for her bars. She had what was for her a B+ set and scored a 14.3; while Alyona’s fully hit set scored 14.6. Morgan is way ahead of Alyona everywhere else, and so could act as a sort of built-in alternate for the other events. Sort of like Gabby Douglas at Rio 2016.

    Anyway, that’s assuming that Morgan’s performance today was representative of how she has been performing at camp generally. It’s possible she was just a little off this afternoon. However, I did notice that her BB set is still downgraded, which is a bit worrisome. I can’t imagine Morgan doing that if she weren’t struggling on the skills or with some undisclosed injury.

    Anyway, based on what we saw today, I’d still take Morgan – BUT, if you didn’t take her, then who would you bring? You’d love to have Shchennikova’s bars score, but yikes is she inconsistent… Ragan did well on BB and FX but with Simone, Kara, Riley and Grace you don’t need a score on either of those events… Honestly, I’d go with Shilese Jones. She can put up a usable bars score and brings in big numbers on VT. Like, she could very plausibly be getting a higher score with her DTY at Worlds than Akhaimova or Simakova would be getting with their Rudis. I actually wouldn’t be shocked to see her retain her place as the alternate over Ragan.

    My first-choice team would be: Simone, Riley, Grace, Morgan, Kara (Shilese/Ragan alternate), and my second-choice team would be: Simone, Riley, Grace, Kara, Shilese (Morgan alternate).

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    • I definitely think there are more permutations possible than we all thought before today’s event. And it was mentioned above that if Simone is vaulting the “Biles” in TF, then on D score alone, it’s as if your second vaulter did an Amanar. Based off of today, any two of the DTYs would be more than acceptable (if you factor in “the Biles” pulling up the lowest of the 3 scores).
      Bars seems to be where USA is freaking (so, business as usual), but I don’t really see it as a huge problem. It’s the 3rd slot everyone is worried about, and everyone listed below in the third spot would’ve scored within a point of Hurd if not for the falls.
      Not factoring in Simone’s oops on beam, there’s no question who goes up.
      I want Biles and McCallum on floor, and as far as the 3rd score, everyone but Jones and Shchennikova outscored Hurd on floor.

      Based off of who is performing NOW, I’d probably go with: Biles, McCusker, McCallum, Eaker and Smith, with either Jones or Hurd as the alternate (probably Hurd).

      Vault: Biles, Smith, McCallum (McCusker as the 4th b/c of the DTY vs 1.5) *Jones/Hurd
      Bars: Biles, McCusker, wildcard (Smith/McCallum/Eaker) *Jones/Hurd
      Beam: Biles, Smith, Eaker (McCallum or McCusker)
      Floor: Biles, McCusker, McCallum (Smith, but really positions 2, 3 and 4 are interchangeable)

      This isn’t personal hate for Morgan, I think her gymnastics are beautiful, but I am worried she is hiding an injury – there was no reason to downgrade her beam and floor unless it was to mitigate impacts (which screams ankles/knees). I also can’t help but wonder if this maximizes chances at a 1-2 AA finish and the number of competitive event finals:
      Biles: AA, vault, floor and maybe beam
      McCusker: bars
      Eaker: Beam
      Smith: a clean floor in quals could see her in the final

      Not to mention, this allows for flexibility with who the 2nd AA competitor is – it could easily be McCusker or McCallum at this point. Based off today, it’s McCusker – you can’t explain away that she is 2 full points ahead of 3rd and 4th place.

      So many possibilities!

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  42. Great event but unpopular opinion: we are overlooking Simone mistakes as she is just Simone. Simone can downgrade, hit consistently and be more successful. She’s Simone though.

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  43. OK is it normal that I got so stressed for Eagan

    Rolled over on my bed for Kara’s beam score, amazing

    Sadly Ragans not gonna make it, but IF she hadn’t gotten hurt last year she would be giving Simone a real run for her money now.

    But Biles vault omggggggg……😍 😮 I think vault is her main event again.

    USA has so much depth, they could pull 5 names out of a hat for worlds and be very successful. Imagine all gymnasts here couldn’t compete, they’d call Jade Carey and Trinity Thomas, probably Margzetta Frazier and MyKayla Skinner, or just dig into their nationals field and still win a few medals. It’s amazing.

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  44. I was so pumped for Kara Eaker today. AMAZING beam set, and especially after everyone else was kind of struggling. She had resting “I’m coming for all your medals” face on today and she KILLED it after that mishap on bars. She seems like a really steely competitor, which is not a given and SO important at this level.

    Also want to give a shoutout to Shilese Jones. You get the sense that she’s still a little surprised to be competing for a spot on the Worlds team, especially with her D scores where they are – but she’s just so good! And she clearly has a LOT of room for upgrades across the board and is a major one to watch for 2019 and 2020. Can she start doing an Amanar and get a second vault pls?

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    • Shilese should train an Amanar, no doubt. I also appreciate her beam work because she doesn’t work tight. Nice upright upper body, no big bent wrists and hunched shoulders, fluid arms, acrobatics look light and easy. Not flashy but the overall movement gives a great impression.

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  45. I so wish that Ragan woukd make the team..she just wants it so bad, but I really think Tom is not going to change the nominative list submitted to FIG.

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  46. There’s no way Morgan isn’t going to Worlds. Unless she was crashing and burning behind the scenes all camp and we didn’t see it. She’s the current World champ and silver medalist and nationals. She had a decent vault and bars today and stayed on the other 2 events. It’s not like she was falling all over the place and melting down. She’s going.

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  47. Kara and Riley were phenomenal the lines artistry was amazing. Riley can compete with anyone on ub its name recognition that will play apart . She def should have been in the 58 mark. I can see her getting underscored. They were truly artistry in motion

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  48. I want to see Morgan’s artistry on floor at worlds again. I just hope she gets more consistent with her tumbling. Let’s also hope she gets more consistent on beam

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  49. Pingback: Around the Gymternet: I am no one to be trifled with | The Gymternet

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