Lieke Wevers, Sanna Veerman, Tisha Volleman, Naomi Visser, and Sanne Wevers

The start lists for the women’s qualifications at the 2024 Olympic Games have been released, and we’re going to talk through each team and notable individuals based on what we’re expecting to see in each subdivision, including any surprises and who will have the best opportunities for finals.

TEAM NOTES

A week ago I would’ve considered Japan an absolute for the team final, but with Miyata Shoko dismissed due to allegations of underaged smoking and drinking and all four remaining athletes now each competing on all four events, I’m not sure what to expect.

The team is still a strong one, headlined by junior world champion Nakamura Haruka along with Kishi Rina, while the stunning beam worker Okamura Mana and top vaulter Ushioku Kohane round them out. With Miyata likely to have put up top three scores on all four events in qualifications, not having her here is a big miss, but I do think that while the new situation is not ideal, throwing out the lowest score on each apparatus should still keep this team relatively high in the rankings if they can otherwise count all hits. They could be right on the bubble for the final instead of more solidly seeking to qualify, but I don’t think Miyata will keep them out entirely.

Also in this subdivision are the Dutch women, who I believe could also struggle to make the final due to recent injuries, with Eythora Thorsdottir bowing out earlier in the season while two-time Olympian Vera van Pol was forced to withdraw after already arriving in Paris, with the team then calling on alternate Tisha Volleman to step in for her Olympic debut after several cycles of attempting to make the team. Bittersweet!

As with the Japanese team, I think the Netherlands really did need some of the scores they’ll now be missing, but also wouldn’t count them out entirely. They still have three solid all-arounders in Volleman, Naomi Visser, and Lieke Wevers, while 2016 Olympic beam champion Sanne Wevers will compete as a specialist to lead the team on that event, and Sanna Veerman will round them out on vault, bars, and floor, with her scores on the first two likely to top the team’s totals.

ALL-AROUND NOTES

With all four Japanese women competing in the all-around, I think they have great odds at qualifying two in to the final, with Nakamura and Kishi the most likely based on what they’re capable of and how they’ve looked this season, though I think Okamura could be solidly in the mix as well should either of the top two falter.

Visser has long been a superstar all-arounder for the Netherlands at major international competitions, and I think she has top eight potential here, while either Wevers or Volleman could be on the bubble of making it into the final depending on how their prelim rounds go.

Outside of the teams, there are tons of talented individual standouts competing all four events, including Luisa Blanco of Colombia, Hillary Heron of Panama, Filipa Martins of Portugal, and the three ladies representing the Philippines, with Emma Malabuyo, Aleah Finnegan, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar all capable of reaching the 51-52 benchmark we’ll expect to see mark the cut-off point.

VAULT NOTES

The top vaulter in this session will be An Chang Ok of North Korea, who earned her spot in Paris through this apparatus during the world cup series. She has two of the higher-difficulty vaults in the field, and barring issues in qualifications, we should see her pretty easily make the final and potentially also challenge for a medal here.

Also on my shortlist of potential finalists from this subdivision is Heron, who has a pretty solid level of difficulty that could place her close to the cutoff point for making the final, but she also tends to struggle a bit with her consistency in hitting, so that could be what keeps her from making it here.

UNEVEN BARS NOTES

One of the most exciting bars competitors in this subdivision is Nakamura, who has her own eponymous skill – a piked Deltchev – and is also known for competing a Def along with super difficult connections that make for an incredible routine. I think she tends to get dinged a bit on her execution, and unlike some other competitors in the field, her D score isn’t quite high enough to make up for what she’s lacking, but I can see her potentially slipping into the final if all goes well.

We’ll also see a high-flying set from Veerman, who made her first world championships final last year and has shown some excellent routines so far this year, while teammate Visser is a bit more cookie-cutter in her skills but is clean enough to generally place quite high at this level of competition. I’m also excited to see how Martins looks, as she’s capable of high difficulty and big connections, though she has tended to tone it down a bit more recently to focus on her execution.

BALANCE BEAM NOTES

If anyone knows how to surprise on beam, it’s Japan, which picked up three beam medals at worlds this quad, including the titles in 2021 and 2022, with the latter being a total shocker. Okamura is stunning on this apparatus and would be my pick for the final this time around, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see either Kishi or Nakamura make it with hit routines.

The other beam beauty in this subdivision’s field is Sanne Wevers, who doesn’t have the 6.0+ difficulty scores that some of the other athletes in this competition will bring to the table, but her execution score should be among the top of the field if she hits what she’s capable of, so I see her making it assuming she has a good set.

FLOOR EXERCISE NOTES

Though she doesn’t really have a routine that screams “floor final” to me, Visser somehow always seems to make it at major competitions, so she’s my top pick from the athletes in this subdivision, and though I don’t think any of the Japanese floor workers are as strong as their missing teammate Miyata, I think Kishi is generally quite good and could also sneak in here.

Otherwise, Heron isn’t likely for the final but is still one to keep an eye on in prelims with her strong tumbling – including a Biles! – and I think the same can be said for the gals from the Philippines, none of whom will bring in super high difficulty, but with two of them already NCAA standouts – Malabuyo at UCLA and Finnegan coming off of a national title with LSU – they’re going to bring some of the most entertaining and crowd-pleasing sets to the floor in Paris, with Blanco – who just finished her career at Alabama – likely to do the same.

Article by Lauren Hopkins