After the royal shit-show that was the national championships, a lot of people probably reconsidered the idea that a USA team victory was a sure thing this year. From what I've been seeing, lots of gymnastics fans still think the USA will win, but not as easily or as powerfully as before.
A large part of this decrease in confidence has to be the absence of Rebecca Bross. She will be most missed on bars, where the USA was already weak, and for her experience and toughness on the competition floor. I'm never going to be a huge fan of Bross's style of gymnastics, but only the coldest of hearts would have been unmoved by her writhing and crying in pain after her injury.
Wieber is still the favorite for the AA title. I've always thought of her as a gymnastics wind-up doll: zero personality, just loads of tricks and a bland smile, and VISAs did little to change that impression. You had to hand it to her for just remaining on the apparatus on night 1, and she was miles above the other AAers on night 2 in terms of executions, but I still can't get excited about her on any level.
So, with Bross out, and the disasters that many new seniors experienced at VISAs, most people are predicting a largely veteran squad for the USA Worlds team. Personally, here's what I'm thinking, along with what they'd compete in team finals:
Wieber: V, UB, B, F
Sacramone: V, B (unless she can demonstrate some glue-on-her-feet style landings at camp, I wouldn't trust her on floor)
Maroney: V (I like her style on floor more than any other USA gymnast, but that last pass needs to be changed like whoa, and she's still pretty nervy outside of vaulting)
Raisman: F (she'll probaby be, in the absence of Bross, the second USA AAer, even with that hot mess of a bar routine)
Memmel: UB, B, F (this is predicated on the idea that she can clean up her leaps and dance in her floor routines, if not, give her floor spot to ASac)
M. Caquatto: UB
I was quite impressed with Shawn Johnson at VISAs, especially day 2, but I'd like to see her boost her UB difficulty- unfortunately, with her current routine, she's not a real asset on UB, despite her dynamite execution. If she could upgrade that, keep improving on beam and get back to all 4 events, she's going to be a serious London contender. I think it would be smartest to send her to Pan Am's, mentor some of those skittish new seniors, and give her more opportunities to keep her competition mindset sharp.
Vault is easily this team's strongest event, and much like China's superiority on UB in Beijing, they will be hoping to ride those scores to a gold medal. However, with their bars weakness, slight beam weakness, and relatively even standing on floor, they will need to hit all their routines for the top spot to be a sure thing, and a few Russian, Chinese, and Romanian errors wouldn't hurt either.
A large part of this decrease in confidence has to be the absence of Rebecca Bross. She will be most missed on bars, where the USA was already weak, and for her experience and toughness on the competition floor. I'm never going to be a huge fan of Bross's style of gymnastics, but only the coldest of hearts would have been unmoved by her writhing and crying in pain after her injury.
Wieber is still the favorite for the AA title. I've always thought of her as a gymnastics wind-up doll: zero personality, just loads of tricks and a bland smile, and VISAs did little to change that impression. You had to hand it to her for just remaining on the apparatus on night 1, and she was miles above the other AAers on night 2 in terms of executions, but I still can't get excited about her on any level.
So, with Bross out, and the disasters that many new seniors experienced at VISAs, most people are predicting a largely veteran squad for the USA Worlds team. Personally, here's what I'm thinking, along with what they'd compete in team finals:
Wieber: V, UB, B, F
Sacramone: V, B (unless she can demonstrate some glue-on-her-feet style landings at camp, I wouldn't trust her on floor)
Maroney: V (I like her style on floor more than any other USA gymnast, but that last pass needs to be changed like whoa, and she's still pretty nervy outside of vaulting)
Raisman: F (she'll probaby be, in the absence of Bross, the second USA AAer, even with that hot mess of a bar routine)
Memmel: UB, B, F (this is predicated on the idea that she can clean up her leaps and dance in her floor routines, if not, give her floor spot to ASac)
M. Caquatto: UB
I was quite impressed with Shawn Johnson at VISAs, especially day 2, but I'd like to see her boost her UB difficulty- unfortunately, with her current routine, she's not a real asset on UB, despite her dynamite execution. If she could upgrade that, keep improving on beam and get back to all 4 events, she's going to be a serious London contender. I think it would be smartest to send her to Pan Am's, mentor some of those skittish new seniors, and give her more opportunities to keep her competition mindset sharp.
Vault is easily this team's strongest event, and much like China's superiority on UB in Beijing, they will be hoping to ride those scores to a gold medal. However, with their bars weakness, slight beam weakness, and relatively even standing on floor, they will need to hit all their routines for the top spot to be a sure thing, and a few Russian, Chinese, and Romanian errors wouldn't hurt either.
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