France

The fifth subdivision for women’s qualifications includes the French and Romanian teams, and then individuals from Greece, Venezuela, Slovenia, and Poland.

THE TEAMS

France has truly been on the rise this quad, and they’ll be a top contender for sending a full team to Tokyo as well as making the final here in Stuttgart…and if they do really well, they could also potentially be in the mix to earn a medal. Get excited for France!

Romania, on the other hand…not only are they pretty weak in general, but they’ve had a last-minute injury, with the alternate subbing in about a week or so ago. Denisa Golgota, Ioana Crisan, and Maria Holbura have the potential to score relatively well, but despite finishing 13th last year, I think this year won’t be quite as smooth, though I hope they at least come out with a solid performance.

THE ALL-AROUND

Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos will be a major contender for the final and possibly even for a medal, which would be so incredible for her and the French team. Aline Friess is also competing all four events in qualifications, and with her excellent Rudi and solid work elsewhere, she’ll at the very least be in the mix for the final.

For Romania, Golgota is pretty likely to qualify, and Crisan will probably also get close, but as for individuals in this subdivision, no one will be contenders for the final, though I’d like to see Gabriela Janik get close, and she should also be a pretty strong option for the Olympics.

VAULT

Golgota is doing two vaults here, but her difficulty isn’t quite where it needs to be if she wants a shot at the final, though with some falls earlier today I can see her sneaking in. Janik is also a solid vaulter, as are the Slovenians, with Teja Belak and Tjasa Kysselef looking fab all year, and Belak has a real chance at the final today.

BARS

De Jesus Dos Santos is looking likely to make the final with a strong effort, but that’s pretty much it from this group.

BEAM

Again, De Jesus Dos Santos is definitely a threat, and both Friess and Marine Boyer are also generally quite strong here, so with great performances, I think they’ll all have potential to make it. Golgota has also put up some great beam performances in the past, though I think she might be a bit too far behind to get into a final at the world level.

FLOOR

Shockingly, again…DE JESUS DOS SANTOS! Yeah, she’s good on everything. This year, I really think she’ll be a legitimate medal contender and am excited to see if she can make it happen. Golgota should also be an option, and if she doesn’t make it, she’ll get close with a hit routine.