“Remember you can do a cartwheel whenever and wherever you want.” – Charlene is overestimating my capabilities, but I’m all for this in theory.
Wut happened
The final comp of the season happened. Angelina Melnikova did very well at the Toyota International this weekend, winning vault, beam, and bars, and Lilya Akhaimova won the floor title. On the men’s side, Japan nearly swept the golds and silvers.
Morgan and Sam are going to Scam. Morgan Hurd and Sam Mikulak will represent the U.S. at the American Cup in Milwaukee this March. Reminder that Scam will be an Olympic qualifier this year.
Bankruptcy lawyers are making bank. Some of the lawyers in the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy litigation are charging much more than they usually would for a similar case, The Washington Post found. The fees are so high that some wonder how much will be left for survivors when the case is finally settled.
Amy White is gone. Amy White, the USAG acro national teams manager who moved medical records from the Karolyi ranch at former CEO Steve Penny’s direction, no longer works at USAG, though the org won’t give details. Meanwhile, MG Elite coach Maggie Haney’s hearing has been moved to January; it was supposed to happen last week.
Russia news. USOPC chair Susanne Lyons said it will be really difficult for Russian athletes to prove they’re clean in order to participate in the 2020 Olympics; this begs the question, is it really more of a blanket ban? Meanwhile, Svetlana Khorkina naturally has feelings about the whole thing.
Required reading
- DU Gymnastics’ Alexis Vasquez—Opening Up (Denver University Athletics)
- Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal rocked world beyond gymnastics in decade’s darkest moment (USA Today)
- Olympians deserve a say in the USOPC structure (The Gazette)
- Simone Biles is a legend in her prime (Sports Illustrated)
- Dvora Meyers’ interview with Tracee Talavera (Unorthodox Gymnastics)
- New All-Around episode, complete with some fun (read: questionable) moments (Olympic Channel)
- Bonus footage of Morgan being told “One more” forever (Olympic Channel)
Star status
Upgrades. Sunisa Lee literally won’t stop connecting, Jennifer Gadirova is working on a Moors, Asia D’Amato is training a Cheng, and Olivia Greaves is training a double double.
Comebacks. Ellie Black is still working her way back to the top.
Retirements. Aly Raisman is retired, to the surprise of that friend who texts you every October to say “omg did you hear about Simona?” and literally no one else. Tarik Soto of Costa Rica also announced his retirement.
Simone corner. Sasha Farber is choreographing Simone’s new floor routine. And Simone, if I can make one request, just break all the rules. Seriously. Put words in your music, go over time, and what even are these lines on the floor for? DO IT.
Staying social
NCAA corner. The preseason coaches poll came out, putting Oklahoma in first without them having to do anything. Also, UCLA had their intrasquad and showed off some new leos. One of the leos is inspired by Coco Chanel, which, seriously guys, read a book.
Speaking of UCLA…Former UCLA gymnast Sadiqua Bynum is now doing stunt work on Watchmen!
Bower news. Allan Bower got engaged. Congrats, Allan!
It’s top 3 at least. What’s the most iconic Olympic image of the decade? Lynn Raisman agrees that it doesn’t have to actually be an athlete…
Jackass Russia. Why are the Russians always doing stupid shit? It’s an Olympic year! Bubble wrappppp
Because you asked…
Lauren answered. Keep on asking her about the Italians; she doesn’t seem to mind.
Last words
Bubble wrapppp
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The Gymternet 
Is Chen Yile okay? That All Around video makes it look like she’s injured
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I´m sad for the Russian athletes who are being punished because of their stupid government. The state should definitely be punished, otherwise it will just continue, but it is heartbreaking for the athletes who have worked their whole lives for this.
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They’re punished by not getting to put their country name/flag on their leos and listen to their anthem if they win. That’s all. Not exactly a hardcore punishment. Considering Russia continued to alter screening results after they were warned, they’re lucky to be able to participate at all.
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They will probably not be able to participate at all from what I´ve read but I can be wrong? Since it is so hard to prove to be clean… If it is like you say, I agree that it is not a real punishment. Russian people are so proud of their country and many, I believe, are brainwashed by the state which is why they are putting their anger on WADA instead of the ones responsible (the government).
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Unfortunately, this is the way politics works. Individuals often suffer because of the foolishness of their governments. The long-term solution here is for the Russian people to rise up and demand accountability from their own government. I feel sad for clean Russian athletes, but the answer is not to get mad at WADA. They are not the bad guys here. They should be mad at their own government who has screwed their chances for Olympic glory.
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Hmmm so USA WAG is so confident, they’re sending Morgan out, not being even top 4 AA on the team? Okay. Other countries that have a real shot to get top 3 in the end will be sending their #1 all-arounder so…I guess let’s hope she exceeds her highest score in 2019 and some of the other athletes don’t hit theirs…
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No matter how you slice it, highest scores, average scores, Morgan is sitting somewhere between 5th and 8th in AA if judging 2019 alone. Simone, Suni, Grace, Riley and Kara outperformed her in AA. Leanne was basically tied with Morgan; even Jade, MyKayla and Kayla are in the same outer bubble with Morgan on AA totals. I agree it is a very peculiar announcement especially at this time.
Despite 2019, I think Morgan will show up and deliver a strong enough performance to get on the podium for the American Cup. I am excited for her getting the opportunity. And Sam going is great news for MAG!
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Have you accounted for Kara’s ACTUAL beam score just out of curiosity. I agree with your assessment of Morgan based on difficulty score (we’ll have to see if she finally increases it). I am curious about how Kara’s true beam score affects her AA placement, though. She loses almost 1.5 points
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Not really, she’s been judged and credited for it internationally every time until this past worlds in qualifications. If you look at Morgan’s best performance this year, she got a 56.65 once, her best score by far; Kara has gotten 57+ several times. The only international meet they both attended this year, Morgan was 2per’d out at PanAms by Riley and Kara (57.05, 56.70, 54.95).
Morgan only has one top 4 routine on the US team, UB, which at PanAms she was 2 per’d out by Riley and Leanne; Suni and Simone weren’t there. When you add in Grace’s UB upgrades, there’s a strong chance Morgan will no longer have UB as a top 4 routine either. I am sure Kara will either improve her ring leaps on BB or her routine, between that and bringing her DTY back, I cannot imagine Morgan really surpassing her with upgrades for AA total, not to mention the multiple other people farther ahead in line.
I’m rooting for her, but honestly see no possibility of her making it Tokyo without others doing worse than they did in 2019 or her unveiling multiple, major upgrades that she can deliver fairly consistently. With that said, she had a good chance of getting on the podium at the American Cup, but I don’t really understand why they’d chance it.
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I agree and put her about #6 all around currently on the US team; however, it’s unclear if Morgan is officially the representative or the wildcard, when and if that can be changed prior to the competition. A lot can change in three months.
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Morgan isn’t going to be the only US athlete competing. I highly doubt they’ll give the second spot to someone who can’t win. It’s a chance for Morgan to redeem herself and for another athlete to win if Morgan isn’t quite there yet. We’ll be fine either way.
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If they send Morgan as the main athlete (and say Kayla or Suni as the “wildcard”), it doesn’t matter how the wildcard athlete does. If they get first and Morgan gets fourth, the US gets the points for third place (50) because the wildcard athlete can’t earn any points.
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in one of the interivews out there, i think i read somewhere that mention even skinner might be sent to an AA cup. There will be higher level AA cup this year compared to last year. Hopefully we will see RU and china also send someone good.
But i think the US will likely get their spot in this AA cup series. There’s really no other nations out there with as strong of a collection of AAers as US.
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Totally love the “Simone’s corner” section I laughed out loud and totally agree for one competition Simone should just do whatever she wants just to see what score they give her hahaha
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Having Morgan represent in an AA cup is on par with Jade going World Apparatus route despite being amazing on two events, being only second to Simone in contributing to the highest team score.
Let’s get real, vault is the most likely apparatus to get an injury and Morgan is a coin toss if she can get on the podium at all internationally. USAG might very well end up only sending 4 people to Tokyo with no sponsors. It’s outrageous.
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https://kejutanundianptlazada.wordpress.com/2019/12/16/pemenang-undian-resmi-lazada/
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