This is the third in a series of posts looking at the complex and complicated process of Olympic team selection. China and Russia, two of the main medal contenders, have been covered, but now let's turn to one of the biggest up-and-coming gymnastics nations in both MAG and WAG, Great Britain.
Great Britain, if you ask me, is really the new Australia in the gymnastics world- a country with one big star, some strong juniors and first year seniors, and a nation that's starting to make a mark as a team. GB just missed out on a team medal at this year's Euros, and surely one of the biggest surprises this quad came at the 2010 Euros, where they beat Romania for second place.
After their national championships this year, the team prospects for Great Britain became somewhat clearer, but only somewhat. The two acknowledged locks are of course Beth Tweddle and Hannah Whelan. Whelan had a shaky championships, losing her national title and not winning any individual golds, but is coming off a two bronze medal performance at Euros, including one on beam, which is definitely the weak spot for this team.
To this list of locks I would add Rebecca Tunney, the first year senior who beat Whelan for the national title. I could see Tunney performing on all events in TF, she has a DTY, strong floor and solid (if a bit sloppy) bars. Beam, like so many of the British gymnasts, is her weakness, but she might be their best option depending on how the rest of the selection process goes.
There are so many other possible combinations for these last two slots that it's hard to guess which way the committee will go. Danusia Francis is an experienced gymnast who, unlike most of the Brits, stays on the beam, her specialty, most of the time. Becky Downie, Niamh Rippeh, and Imogen Cairns are all very solid on vault and floor, and there's definitely a hole that needs to be filled for vault in the TF. Ruby Harrold is another promising first year senior who made the European bars final and vaults a DTY.
I think, however, that one of those spots could go to Jennifer Pinches, who came 2nd in the AA this championships. Pinches also won the beam title with a couple of wobbles for a 14.3 score. An all-arounder who's reliable on beam makes a lot of sense for this team, and Francis, despite her elegance and contributions to Team GB, is really only usable on 1 event in a TF. If Pinches is selected, then Harrold's or Downie's chances could increase, as Pinches is not a renowned bar worker. Harrold is of course not as experienced, but Downie has been struggling with injuries for these past couple of years
However, this is just one possible permutation out of many the committee must be considering. Another thing to consider is Tweddle's knee- if she wants to set her sights on bars gold, she may want to be a bit more cautious about her floor numbers, and may not even get back to her full difficulty prior to London.
Just like with any team, there are a lot of elements to consider here, but it's going to be really exciting to see how things pan out for Team GB in London, no matter who's there. My feeling is that the team should go for broke- they'll be in front of a home crowd and fielding a strong squad, they might as well take a few risks and bring Harrold, despite her inexperience.
My predictions for TF:
VT: Harrold/Pinches, Whelan, Tunney
UB: Harrold, Tunney, Tweddle
BB: Pinches, Tunney, Whelan
FX: Whelan, Tunney, Tweddle
Great Britain, if you ask me, is really the new Australia in the gymnastics world- a country with one big star, some strong juniors and first year seniors, and a nation that's starting to make a mark as a team. GB just missed out on a team medal at this year's Euros, and surely one of the biggest surprises this quad came at the 2010 Euros, where they beat Romania for second place.
After their national championships this year, the team prospects for Great Britain became somewhat clearer, but only somewhat. The two acknowledged locks are of course Beth Tweddle and Hannah Whelan. Whelan had a shaky championships, losing her national title and not winning any individual golds, but is coming off a two bronze medal performance at Euros, including one on beam, which is definitely the weak spot for this team.
To this list of locks I would add Rebecca Tunney, the first year senior who beat Whelan for the national title. I could see Tunney performing on all events in TF, she has a DTY, strong floor and solid (if a bit sloppy) bars. Beam, like so many of the British gymnasts, is her weakness, but she might be their best option depending on how the rest of the selection process goes.
There are so many other possible combinations for these last two slots that it's hard to guess which way the committee will go. Danusia Francis is an experienced gymnast who, unlike most of the Brits, stays on the beam, her specialty, most of the time. Becky Downie, Niamh Rippeh, and Imogen Cairns are all very solid on vault and floor, and there's definitely a hole that needs to be filled for vault in the TF. Ruby Harrold is another promising first year senior who made the European bars final and vaults a DTY.
I think, however, that one of those spots could go to Jennifer Pinches, who came 2nd in the AA this championships. Pinches also won the beam title with a couple of wobbles for a 14.3 score. An all-arounder who's reliable on beam makes a lot of sense for this team, and Francis, despite her elegance and contributions to Team GB, is really only usable on 1 event in a TF. If Pinches is selected, then Harrold's or Downie's chances could increase, as Pinches is not a renowned bar worker. Harrold is of course not as experienced, but Downie has been struggling with injuries for these past couple of years
However, this is just one possible permutation out of many the committee must be considering. Another thing to consider is Tweddle's knee- if she wants to set her sights on bars gold, she may want to be a bit more cautious about her floor numbers, and may not even get back to her full difficulty prior to London.
Just like with any team, there are a lot of elements to consider here, but it's going to be really exciting to see how things pan out for Team GB in London, no matter who's there. My feeling is that the team should go for broke- they'll be in front of a home crowd and fielding a strong squad, they might as well take a few risks and bring Harrold, despite her inexperience.
My predictions for TF:
VT: Harrold/Pinches, Whelan, Tunney
UB: Harrold, Tunney, Tweddle
BB: Pinches, Tunney, Whelan
FX: Whelan, Tunney, Tweddle
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