Thoughts on the U.S. women’s world team that was announced today…
Bridget Sloan (AA)
Rebecca Bross (AA)
Ivana Hong (UB, BB)
Kayla Williams (V, FX)
Alternates: Kytra Hunter and Mackenzie Caquatto
This team makes a lot of sense. After Liukin, Peszek, and Memmel all dropped out of contention, Ivana Hong became almost a default choice. Some might say she would have deserved it anyway, but I’m not so sure. After all, if Marta really had a lot of faith in her, she would have put her in as an all-arounder instead of Bross. But I think they made the right decision here; even though Hong beat Bross at the U.S. Championships, Bross is the better all-arounder and the one with the most potential. This will still give Ivana a great opportunity to prove herself in front of the world championship judges while giving our two best all-arounders a chance to go for a medal – possibly even gold! I don't think Ivana really has much of a shot for a medal, and I would expect her to really only have a chance for the event finals on beam - and that's if she nails her routine in prelims. Let's face it - even Bross and Sloan are better on bars, and even without them in her way I don't see that bar routine being anywhere near the top 8 in the world.
I’m so proud of the committee for choosing Kayla Williams for this team. I’ve been pulling for her since the day I first saw her floor routine several months ago, but I have to admit, I was a little worried they were going to back out and choose Kytra Hunter instead. After all, Williams got hit hard on floor at USA’s (I think she was severely underscored), and Marta has said herself that she is lacking in flexibility. Although I think this deficit is a bit exaggerated because I hardly see a difference in her leaps at all, Kayla is clearly lacking a bit in artistry and elegance. She looks a bit more like a linebacker than an artistic gymnast, and let’s face it…Marta has a history of bypassing this type of gymnast in favor of the leaner ones (and Kytra Hunter is more of the latter type). But Kayla has absolutely world class tumbling and vaulting and has demonstrated competitive poise already in her first year as a senior. I think she could potentially medal on both floor and vault, although the latter may depend on her throwing the handspring rudi. That’s why I say I’m proud of the committee – way to go!
It looks like Cassie Whitcomb’s status as the most “fit athlete” at the camp didn’t carry her too far, as she wasn’t even named an alternate. I do think we’ll see a lot from her over the next couple of years – just isn’t quite her time yet. I expected Kytra Hunter to be an alternate, but how about Mackenzie Caquatto being selected as an alternate over Jana Bieger!? Mackenzie does have a strong bar routine, but with Jana capable of competing on at least three events, that says a lot about how Marta views her right now. I’m not saying she looked the part of a world team member at USA’s or anything, but I guess I just figured we were running out of options for backup gymnasts, and that hey, maybe someone actually filled her in that her flexed feet were keeping her out of world and Olympic competition. But apparently not…
The all-around should be interesting. The preliminary roster shows that China has indeed left off Jiang Yuyuan, who was well off her game at their recent National Games. Rumors were circulating that she may be left off the team, but I don’t believe it has been officially confirmed yet. As for now, the listed all-arounders for China are Deng Linlin and Yang Yilin, who were the top two all-arounders at the National Games. At that competition, Deng clearly appeared to be peaking at the right time of the year, Yang seemed to have come back strongly from her injuries, and Jiang looked either sick or just plain over-competed. It’s kind of crazy to think that Jiang may not even be competing in London. I was disappointed to see that Huang Quishuang was not on their preliminary roster, because I really feel she is the new star for China. I think she could easily medal or even win the all-around at these world championships. It just made me even more bitter that the current rules only allow for two all-arounders from each country in world and Olympic competition – how ridiculous! Do you remember how awesome it was when we had three powerful all-arounders from all of the top countries in the world? The all-around final was like a decathlon in which one runner emerged victorious in front of a deep field of 36 participants and was crowned champion of the world in a dramatic and climactic finish. All-around competitions these days are more like a 25-yard dash in which half of the runners who would actually make the race exciting are left watching from the sidelines and politely applauding athletes who aren’t even in the same league as they are, but who, because of the uniform they wear, somehow ended up in the sport’s most premier event out of some sort of “consolation” gesture.
And now back to my point! So can Sloan and Bross contend for an all-around medal? I think they absolutely can. In fact, I see six gymnasts in serious contention for the all-around medals, given they remain on their respective teams’ rosters:
Ksenia Semenova (RUS)
Ksenia Afanasyeva (RUS)
Yang Yilin (CHN)
Deng Linlin (CHN)
Bridget Sloan (USA)
Rebecca Bross (USA)
I honestly don’t see anyone else challenging for a medal, although some other contenders to keep an eye on would be Rebecca Downie of Great Britain, Anamaria Tamirjan of Romania, Koko Tsurumi of Japan, Elsa Garcia of Mexico, and Youna Dufournet of France. But these are certainly outside shots.
I’ll give a more in-depth analysis of all-around and event predictions once all the rosters become officially finalized. In the meantime, congrats to the committee for selecting a strong team, and GO USA!!!