Marta loves to change the rules when it suits her biased opinion but she might have bitten her nose to spite her face this time.
Mckayla Maroney is hurt and USA-Gymnastics is being very slow with the updates. I think she is hurt worse then they will admit. The rule is you cannot petition directly into the Olympic team so my question for you is, what now?
What if Mckayla isn’t ready in time for next weeks Olympic Trials but she could be ready for the Olympics which is a month and a half away? She has to compete at Trials, Marta can’t change this rule can she?
Mckayla is a one event gymnast. Lets be honest here she is horrible on beam and even worse at the uneven bars and her floor is average at best so the only thing she has going for her is one, nearly perfect Amanar vault. It really is “that” much better then anyone else. She is very capable of scoring a 16 if she sticks the vault and she will be the only gymnast to actually deserve that score for the Amanar. If it is attained.
I guess we have several options concerning Mckayla,
1- Do we give Mckayla time to get over her concussion and name her to the Olympics team with out competing or 2, do we make her compete at least one event at Trials even if it is a watered down Yurchenko full.
The third question is if Mckayla can’t go who takes her place? There is no replacing her 16 on vault and there is no way in hell I would ever trust a 6.9 start value from Anna Li to hit at the Olympics. Even if she hits both routines at Trials. In fact I would be more nervous to name her to the team if she hits both nights at Trials.
If no Mckayla then we have 3 Amanars but they don’t compare. Aly, Kyla and Gabby when they hit are at best 15.400 if the form is noticed by the judges so do we need a Elizabeth Price? These scores are not going to negate the UB routines of Russia. Gabby has a great routine but don’t expect the US version of scoring at the Olympics. Kyla has very good form, great handstands but expecting an execution score above 9 at the Olympics will be hard to come by.
Or would an UB specialist be a better fit?
Rebecca Bross is not a bars specialist. Anna Li is but would be trust her to hit? She is going to be attempting a 7.1 routine at Trials. The problem is what she has shown in the past has been a lot up and down.
I still think we need a floor worker.
What do you think?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A article on Aly and Alicia I’ll see if I can get a copy of the Globe from today.
And thanks to Jas for this laughing beauty, “I took Nastia Liukin to prom” Anyone else find it insanely icky that he is advertising this to the world while he is engaged to a different gymnast? I still want to know how much Valeri paid him to ask her.lol The rumor is that daddy pays for BFF Nina Kim to fly around the world with his precious little Nastia so it would not surprise me.
Video,
He is a big Cheater Jeter fan (gag me. What grown man wants to hag out with Derek Jeter? eeeew)
He has no taste in movies. Likes to ride dirt bikes (girly, then saves himself by saying motorcycles.lol) and it ends with his date to prom and a giddy laugh. Yep I knew I could not stand this idiot for a reason. Besides no taste in women, hobbies and music he comes across as pretty creepy.
Gymtruthteller's Blog 
June 23, 2012 at 2:03 AM |
Alicia Sacramone. Mark my words. She will take Maroney’s place. She can score a 15.8 on that Rudi, and perhaps even a 16, if she upgrades to the double.
June 23, 2012 at 2:14 AM |
When I was writing the blog I never thought of Alicia even though she has been my back up choice for awhile. I don’t know, I don’t see Marta taking her even if she hits. She still blames her for 2008
June 23, 2012 at 2:43 AM
She’s seen her consistency. I think she’s finally began to trust her again. ASac has been hitting routine after routine since 2008.
June 23, 2012 at 2:44 AM
You are talking logic. Marta doesn’t speak the language.
June 23, 2012 at 2:49 AM
While this is true, I have a strange feeling ASac will be on that team.
June 23, 2012 at 5:57 AM |
I predict ASac will be named but Maroney will be traveling alternate (if she can’t perform/is not healthy enough to perform at Trials). Then Marta will decide to bait and switch last minute. Or something like that.
Marta makes the rules. And even then, those rules are broken time and time again…
June 23, 2012 at 6:22 AM
I don’t think I will be surprised with any of the combinations for the team that could be named nothing with Marta surprises me lol
June 24, 2012 at 6:15 AM |
What about Jordyn? Is her Amanar not good? GTT why did you only mention Gabby Kyla and Aly for vault?
June 23, 2012 at 2:05 AM |
ASac or Sloan if Marta needs bar backup… ASac brings as much brown vault and beam as mannoying does on vault. I think mannoying hurt her back again….
June 23, 2012 at 2:08 AM |
If mannoying wants to even be named an alternate she has to compete at least a timer at trials….
June 23, 2012 at 2:16 AM |
So let’s assume that McKayla’s out. You didn’t mention Alicia as a vault replacement. She has also looked really solid on beam – maybe not better than Aly, Jordyn, and Kyla, but she could be there just in case (remember poor Mohini B in 2004?!). Do you know if she’s going to go for FX at Trials? For some reason, I just find myself really rooting for Alicia, even though it’s probably a long shot.
Also, a big fat NO on trusting Anna Li. She seems nice enough and when she’s good, she’s good – but she is terribly inconsistant. And Rebecca Bross has all but fallen apart. I don’t see how she can possibly dig herself out at this point.
And I don’t even want to entertain the thought of Nastia, as I see you didn’t. 😛
June 23, 2012 at 2:35 AM |
Nastia who???
I still think we need a floor worker.
June 23, 2012 at 9:59 AM
It would be so great to have a floor and bar worker “all-in-one” right? Also with a nice beam back-up. There is someone who would fit into this plan, but unfortunately… she is out of contention already. good job, USA gymnastics.
June 23, 2012 at 8:06 PM
That would be my greatest dream. Marta loses team gold medal, heck any medal at all for scewing over Chellsie Memmel. The ultimate karma
June 23, 2012 at 8:24 PM
If Marta sneaks Nastia on to the team and she falls and cost the team the gold I think Marta would “retire” but then again I could see her staying in complete control with how completely backwards USAG is!
June 24, 2012 at 6:19 AM |
What happened to Mohini in 2004?
June 23, 2012 at 2:39 AM |
If Maroney goes down, I think it’s between Price and Finnegan and if I’m pressed, I’d day Finnegan. The form on Price’s Amanar is great, but her landings are a little wild. Finnegan can make up tenths on floor that we’d lose putting Gabby up in TF.
Honestly, I think Maroney is fine and she’ll compete at Trials, but if she just competes on one event, does a kip onto the bars and the Drs say she’ll be good to go in a week, Martha is going to take her. If she ends up being not okay, well that’s what the alternate is for, especially in the weeks leading up to the Games.
June 23, 2012 at 2:41 AM |
Any clue when the last day to substitute an alternate onto the team is? For the Olympics it is different then worlds.
I say Price over Finnegean is who inconsistent herself. We just don’t know if Price could handle the pressure.
Marta paid no attention to Price at Nationals. She could be on our lists and Marta wouldn’t even know her name
June 23, 2012 at 3:16 AM
No idea. Honestly, I’m not even sure when they have to submit who the actual alternate is (of the three they’re going to name at trials) or if they even have to.
Finnegan is inconsistent, but in TF she’d pretty much only be doing floor and that is her most consistent event. She’d be a very good lead-off worker, probably bring in a 14.7-15 internationally for a hit routine and really set up Jo and Aly.
Price had a decent Nationals, but if she’s going, she’s going for vault and she flubbed her landings both days if I remember correctly. With vaults like that, she’d probably score around what Gabby would for a hit vault and I think taking Sarah would add tenths on the only other apparatus we can possibly upgrade (if there was no Maroney vault), on floor.
And even though it’s not her fault, Price has almost zero international experience. Finnegan doesn’t have a wealth of it either, but she has more than Price does.
June 23, 2012 at 2:43 AM |
If Maroney is indeed out then if Alicia can have a floor together by the Olympics and possibly the Front Handspring Double then I say put her on the team or if Bridget can get her floor together better then she could be good as well for bars and floor but I could see Marta making Maroney at least compete a timer so she can keep her options open or I could see them naming four people to the team and name like four Alternates that will compete for the fifth spot a camp before the Olympics to give Maroney time to heal or give Marta a chance to make a closed doors decision to put Nastia on the team I could totally see it happening!
June 23, 2012 at 2:48 AM |
Alicia and Aly on this team puts us won gymnast away from using Aly in team finals on bars. Even with Maroney it is that way but something about it scares me to death.
June 23, 2012 at 2:58 AM
If Alicia has the Vault upgrade though I wouldn’t be as worried about it though because if she does it with her usual form she could probably score high 16s and if Aly did have to be used on bars then if Aly can just hang on and get through her bars routine she would probably score high 13s low 14s then Alicia’s Vault would make up for it say Aly scored a 13.9 on Bars and Alicia scored a 16.8 on Vault then Alicia would have an extra 1.8 points to” put towards “weaker scores and still have a 15 left over
June 23, 2012 at 2:59 AM
Also if that were the case I would bring Price or Sloan as the traveling Alternate
June 23, 2012 at 3:13 AM |
If ASac competed beam in prelims then gabby or whomever is taken off beam in qualification doesn’t qual AA. You have to use Ali jordyn and Kyla on beam with ASac. You have to use jordyn Ali ASac and gabby on vault….bars is Ali jordyn Kyla and gabby. Floor is ASac ( if ready) jordyn Ali and gabby. Meaning only Ali and jordyn can qualify for AA. Creates weirdness… Even Sloan or price creates a weird situation where one of gabby Ali and Wieber get left out of AA qual
June 23, 2012 at 3:16 AM |
There is no way she leaves her precious Gabby off beam to not make the AA. In this scenario I can totally see her bringing a bars specialist and leaving Kyla at home. If she has Alicia for beam then she doesn’t need Kyla and there is no way in hell she can justify leaving Kyla off beam in favor of Gabby. It will make her look like an idiot.
June 23, 2012 at 3:36 AM
Marta doesn’t seem to mind looking ridiculous though lol so who knows lol
June 23, 2012 at 1:59 PM
I almost agree with you but then who is the bars specialist? Anna Li doesn’t have. Insistence or a routine that will score well internationally. Bross and Kyla have about even bar scores and after that it’s the Ali raismans of the world. let’s face it Nastia doesn’t have a pak, and I’m sorry that’s not endurance its core…they should have let Chellsie advance. With bars and a cleaner floor routine than we saw at podium training she would have been the perfect compliment. If we finish in third as a team ( which is my prediction). It’s all on that decision. Steve, Marta, and Terin got in bed with the wrong gymnast… Sloan has good bars but not like Chellsie if she was ready now well never know
June 23, 2012 at 2:14 PM
I wish they would have let Chellsie compete I agree I think she could have been a great bar/floor worker for the team which is what the team could really use I think there could be some surprises when the team is named it seems like there always is
June 23, 2012 at 3:20 AM |
Only two gymnasts per country can qualify for the AA anyway, so someone will get left out no matter what.
June 23, 2012 at 3:24 AM
We know this but Marta is going to make sure it isn’t her pet Gabby. She is not above fixing Nationals for her (that only a fall kept her out of first place BY 8 TENTHS) she will not take her off beam even though there is no way in hell she deserves to do it.
June 23, 2012 at 3:45 AM
Gabby will be fighting for one of the AA spots if Marta has her way even if she has to screw someone out of possibly qualifying for EF like I could see if Alicia was the fifth person she wouldn’t use her for floor or beam in prelims and use Gabby instead and only let Alicia be used for Vault in team finals and then use her for floor and beam in TF which wouldn’t allow for Alicia to attempt to qualify on beam or floor EF even though she’d probably be beaten by Kyla and Jordyn on beam and Aly and Jordyn on floor but Marta wouldn’t give her the chance to try just to make sure Gabby did AA
June 23, 2012 at 3:44 AM |
If Mckayla hasn’t recovered enough to actually perform at trials, I think Marta can still put her on the team. The rules say the team is to be selected from the “competitors” at the trials. I think they will just say this means you have to be one of the ones invited to the trials. Or I could see them have Mckayla touch one of the apparatus or something silly to say she “competed” at the trials. She could also do a little half-ass bar routine like Nastia did at Nationals where she does a very soft dismount to not aggravate the concussion. The committee can put her on the team regardless of her actual scores at trials.
June 23, 2012 at 3:45 AM |
I know this won’t be a popular comment on this site, but if McKayla really IS out for trials, this bodes well for Nastia’s sake, as it’s a hole to fill instead of having to justify completely replacing Kyla or McKayla completely even if she’s healthy. Make no mistake – Marta wants Nastia on this team. If McKayla’s out for good…here comes Nastia!
June 23, 2012 at 3:46 AM |
I am going to pretend I never read your comments.lol We know Marta wants Nastia
June 23, 2012 at 3:47 AM |
Wouldn’t surprise me with Marta
June 23, 2012 at 3:52 AM
Picking this team is not hard. Predicting which gymnast Marta wants on this team regardless of how they perform is the tricky part
June 23, 2012 at 4:05 AM
I still have a feeling the team named at trials will change before London for example I could see her naming Nastia as an Alternate to buy her more time to get her bar routine then one of the girls on the team being “injured” at camp before London and Marta replaces them with Nastia behind closed doors so she can justify it
June 23, 2012 at 4:06 AM |
If McKayla isn’t at the Olympics and Alicia is, who would be the biggest challenge to Alicia for the vault title?
Chusovitina would be the first thought but Alicia should have higher D and E scores. I guess if Pena lands the cannon ball its possible. My guess is Mustafina isn’t doing 2 vaults anymore. It doesn’t seem like there is anyone who can challenge either Alicia or McKayla’s D scores, that with either of them, minus a meltdown there would be a very good chance of US vault gold.
I find it hard not to root for Alicia, four years ago it was obvious she let her emotions get the most of her and had the bratty streak. Now she seems so determined, the very fact that she came back from the Achilles injury, let alone in 8 months.
June 23, 2012 at 4:16 AM |
I think Alicia seems to have grown up a lot since 08 both personally and gymnastics wise which I hope is the case
June 23, 2012 at 4:26 AM |
June 23, 2012 at 4:34 AM |
Apparently McKayla is going to trials
June 23, 2012 at 4:29 AM |
I am curious as to why so many people are seriously doubting Maroney’s ability to return to form by trials. I am not trying to downplay concussion, or pretend that it’s not a serious injury, but from all accounts I’ve heard it was a mild (grade I) concussion, owing to the fact that there was no loss of consciousness (if anyone wants to correct this info, please do so).
According to this paper (http://www.nzbri.org/research/publications/papers/0344.pdf), symptoms typically resolve in about 2-3 weeks. However, I’m not sure if being free of symptoms is the necessary or sufficient criteria for being able to return to physical activity.
I live in Australia, where we have a crazy contact sport called AFL (Australian Rules Football), where concussions occur somewhat frequently. In the past, it was possible that a player who was concussed early in the game could return to the field in the later part of the game, after being cleared of concussion symptoms by a doctor. In recent times, however, stricter rules concerning concussion/head injury have been enforced. Although allowing probable-concussed players back into play is risky, there had not been any notable complications arising from this practice. The main catalyst for enforcing the new concussion rule (from my understanding, at least) stems from the possibility of long-delayed after-effects, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Check out this page, also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussion_grading_systems
About halfway through the article, there’s a table:
“The Colorado Medical Society guidelines were published in 1991 in response to the death of a high school athlete due to what was thought to be second-impact syndrome.[9] According to the guidelines, a grade I concussion consists of confusion only, grade II includes confusion and post-traumatic amnesia, and grade III and IV involve a loss of consciousness.[2]
By these guidelines, an athlete who has suffered a concussion may return to sports after having been free of symptoms, both at rest and during exercise, as shown in the following table:
For a grade I concussion, if it was the first concussion experienced, according to the table, the person can return to play in FIFTEEN MINUTES!
This sounds very short, and perhaps McKayla suffered something worse than Grade I by these guidelines…
But with these considerations in mind, I think McKayla’s chance of returning to reasonable form by trials is good. I imagine a lot of people are going to dispute this, and offer personal anecdotes indicating otherwise, and without knowing the full details its difficult to comment on McKayla’s case with any real certainty.
It is also worth keeping in mind that perhaps with all the recent negative press involving concussion in sport, USAG have been careful in their press releases to emphasise their cautious approach to this injury.
June 23, 2012 at 4:46 AM |
Fir me it is because I don’t trust Marta. Mckayla could be dead in the water but she doesn’t want Russia to know since that Amanar is the vault “scaring” or it could be the opposite and she is saying nothing to make them think she is done.
The simple answer is, I do not trust Marta
June 23, 2012 at 5:11 AM
I agree never trust Marta she could also want to play up McKayla’s injury to make way for Nastia
June 23, 2012 at 4:59 AM |
I could see her being over the concussion and able to compete at trials but what I am wondering about is her back with the way she landed on it because hasn’t she had back problems in the past?
June 23, 2012 at 7:20 PM |
How fast do you need to travel before a face-plant into a wall breaks your nose and gives you a black eye? (Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!) Now imagine attaining this speed from the rebound of another collision…
Two head traumas – a torsional impact into the floor followed by a more linear one with her coach’s hand – within seconds.
That Dr. Nassar would, after field testing, withdraw McKalya from competition (and possibly derail her Olympic dream) should give everyone pause. You can’t just dust off lightheaded athletes and send them back into sports that demand cognizance and vestibular ability.
Concussions and Female Athletes
http://www.mnvideovault.org/index.php?id=22775&select_index=0&popup=yes
(NOTE: This video is nearly an hour long!)
June 23, 2012 at 7:49 PM
No offense but if that video is an hour long I’m not even gonna open it!
June 23, 2012 at 6:14 AM |
1) I love all the talk about Asac upgrade…never going to happen…her last upgrade was when she dropped bars
2) it would suck if mckalya doesn’t make the team, but she is not the end-all-be-all to the team gold
June 24, 2012 at 6:30 AM |
OMG I agree about Alicia! In what world would she be able to score a 16 on vault? I think without an Amanar she is pretty useless. Jordyn who is not even considered a “vault specialist” outscored her at nationals
June 23, 2012 at 10:49 AM |
Can see Asac on the team totally redeeming herself and laying her ghost of 08 to rest and taking the vault gold. Fairytales do happen occassionally and this is the Olympics. NBC would be all over the story if this was the case i imagine.
June 23, 2012 at 2:35 PM |
Agree- ASac would be good for ratings/P.R. If they don’t have any ’08 stars like Nastia or Shawn, ASac would definitely be a good pick, at least from where USAG and NBC are sitting. The rest of the girls are very young, not terribly commercial, and the public doesn’t know who they are yet. A version of a rags-to-riches story starring ASac would be very attractive to advertisers, I would think. I would imagine that apples-to-apples….the more commercially appealing athlete would win out.
I do think Maroney will be back for Trials, but like all of you, it’s a complete guess.
I am very interested to see how things shake out….
June 23, 2012 at 4:00 PM
maybe Under Armour buys asacs way onto the team… Wouldn’t surprise me….
June 23, 2012 at 2:35 PM |
June 23, 2012 at 3:08 PM |
I can see Price or Finnegan on the team ahead of Sacramone. Price has a better amanar than Jordyn/Aly/Gabby, good bars and usable on beam and floor. Though quite mechanical skill-skill-no choreo but that hasn’t stopped others from success. Finnegan is a big boost on floor and beam, though in this instance no amanar and no bars hurts her. Sacramone’s beam isn’t as valuable, but of course her vault is. Without floor and obviously no bars I don’t think she can really displace those two IF McKayla’s place is up for grabs, which I don’t think it is.
June 23, 2012 at 3:21 PM |
Related: I vote Asac. Without a doubt.
Semi-Related: The USA Needs to stop thinking about bars. It’s pretty silly. It just doesnt matter that much. Romania has been horrible at bars for generations. They were the lowest scoring on bars in both 2000 and 2004 when they won Olympic team titles. The US needs to simply survive there and focus on their other three strong events. If they keep freaking out about bars, they’re going to leave someone at home who could make the difference on one of the other events, which could be a huge mistake and cost them gold. They need a really strong floor routine, they needs strong beam routines, and our already awesome vaults and they just need to stay on the Bars.
June 23, 2012 at 4:08 PM |
Yep but that was in the old code, when difficulty didn’t matter as much. Russia have two 7.0 bar routines, one 6.5 and could potentially unleash 2-3 amanars. USA’s advantage of definite amanars which will be cleaner isn’t enough when you throw in Russia’s awesomeness on bars. However they seem to have gotten shakier on beam and floor- I think USA can keep ahead. We need three decent bar routines, and we have that in Gabby, Kyla and Jordyn.
June 23, 2012 at 3:57 PM |
It’s also possible Marta is hiding mannoying. She would do this if she watched Russian nationals, because even subconsciously iffy the Russians think mannoying is out and they don’t need amanars with their crazy bars they’ll train differently. It wouldn’t surprise me to see mannoying compete a full at trials, so the other teams won’t know what we are doing. If Marta is really this strategically crazy Ana Li won’t make it because she thinks her mom told the Chinese what we were doing in 08.
Let’s assume Marta is that paranoid crazy. We all know the international judges score completely differently from the US judges so why show all of what we have on TV and on YouTube? Keep Kyla with the non upgrades on floor. Show the other teams just enough to scare them. Bring international judges to the ranch for private meets ( oh wait we do that…) so we don’t have to show the world what we are doing.
One more thought… If Marta was so interested in ignoring Price why watch Chellsie so closely at Classics on floor? the only Benefit to USA Gymnastics not letting Chellsie go to Visas was to make an example of her that if you want to be on the team you have to play the game and attend Marta’s death camps. Message received to the other gymnasts loud and clear.
I don’t see this team coming together. Gabby is too viscerally polarizing. People dislike her more than Nastia. She can’t fake being friends with jordyn or Kyla or Ali. I’m pretty sure Kyla and mckayla aren’t bffs . I don’t see them bonding and working together. I think they’d rather not achieve team gold in favor of individual gold so they can be the star.
The reason the puzzle doesn’t work is because this is a team of individuals with their own agents and agendas. Jordyn is already on a cornflakes box. Shawn Johnson has more big endorsements than Nastia does. Bross needs to leave WOGA and train elsewhere for 2016 and dump the Patterson.
brief outline of team USA at trials and their problems
1. ASac floor is not ready may not be recovered
2. Sloan poor work ethic unproven consistency with higher difficulty
3. Nastia can’t do a pak not ready
4. Finnegan inconsistent,
5. Kyla floor
6. mannoying everything but vault
7. price not enough difficulty on bars compared to others. Needs to improve execution
8. Jordyn looks tired and worn out, like she’s lost her drive
9. Raisman bars difficulty although she’s going to the Olympics with fewer problems than anyone
10 Bross loss of confidence in her ability, mental issue not physical.
11. Gabby over scored in the US, inconsistent in big meets like PAC rims
12. Vega growth spurt and difficulty is just not there see Amelia racea
13. baker difficulty is not there, she’ll be a great NCAA gymnast
14. Dowell is just broken like shayla Worley
15. Anna Li inconsistent and issues with trusting her mom / coach
So considering all that and basically 3 locks unless one or more breaks Wieber Douglas and Raisman who are the other 2 out of the remaining 12?
June 23, 2012 at 4:26 PM |
They don’t have to love each other to work well as a team. People do not like the overscoring of Gabby and think she comes across as arrogant. However she has a huge amount of fans, and much more current fans than every-4-years fans stuck in Nastia and Shawn land who will defend Nastia to the death and cannot see a team without her shoddy routines on it. Maroney-Raisman-Wieber certainly seem to be BFF’s, but they’ve been competing together for quite a while whereas Kyla is quite new to the scene. No reason to suppose Maroney won’t get on with her- of them all, she seems to have the nicest personality. Jordyn, Aly, Gabby and Kyla all want to compete in the AA. They also want to win team gold. They will work together fine when they have to. I am sure they want to qualify for EF’s but realise they are by no means a shoe-in for a medal. Maroney will take her EF gold and help the team. Sure they have agendas outside of just the TF but that doesn’t mean they won’t do their absolute best when it counts, why should it?
1. Alicia has made no commitments to doing floor and does not seem confident in piecing a routine together. Even with a floor she is not a lock.
2. Sloan was at best an outside chance at the team, and knows it. Could well be an alternate though.
3. Nastia isn’t ready at all. Again, never a lock.
4. Finnegan is on track for alternate, and could be a choice for the fifth spot if McKayla can’t take it. Especially if she hits at Trials. Her main problem is no bars, she would beat Kyla out of the park if she had great bars.
5.Certainly it would be great if Kyla had a 6.0 floor, it means having to use Gabby or McKayla instead.
6. McKayla’s floor is great. Music suits her, artistry, great tumbling. She is absolutely usable on it with a fixed third pass, and could easily outscore Gabby. Her beam is usable in an emergency situation- extremely steady. Pity about the low S.V. Bars obviously are not but even if she just does vault she’s more valuable than any other fifth member.
7. Price has better bars than most. She is usable on pretty much every event, makes for a great alternate.
8. Jordyn looks like she’s struggling with growth. She certainly has not peaked yet- but judging by how she is being paced she could well be at her peak at Trials and Olympics.
9. Raisman’s bars don’t matter. It will hamper her in AA of course but she’s not going near them in TF so they don’t count as a miss for the team.
10. Bross is struggling physically too. She’s not really a factor in this team, sadly.
11. Certainly, I don;t trust her vault or beam. I do trust her floor but would still use McKayla’s over it. She can just be used on bars in TF and it would still work.
12-15. None of these are really being considered. Anna would be if she had really consistent bars and if her beam was better. It’s fine but no conenctions means it’s too low to be usable.
Kyla is the fourth lock. Not as much as the first three but certainly heading in that direction. She is extremely steady and clean on beam and bars, she will be the beam and bars specialist. Complementing the fifth spot- McKayla- perfectly. This is McKayla’s spot to lose, nobody adds more to the team scoring-wise than she does.
June 26, 2012 at 4:53 AM
What has Gabby really done that makes you guys thinks she’s arrogant? I mean I noticed some self-centered comments made by her but nothing super significant. Or am I missing something?
June 23, 2012 at 5:12 PM |
All true Catherine….. 🙂
June 23, 2012 at 5:14 PM |
And I had to go look at the list to figure out who 12-15 even were…. So yeah the team and alternates come from1-11
June 23, 2012 at 7:07 PM |
The only people who could possibly have a point advantages on a event would be Finnegan and Alicia I think I posted something from twitter on here earlier it’s about how if Finnegan can get all of her connections her SV on beam would be a 7.1 and if she can do it well consistantly she could score over a 16 or the big if is Alicia getting the Front Handspring Double with a 7.2 SV the same as a TTY
June 23, 2012 at 7:29 PM |
If anything, Marta bit her nose off to spite her face by telling Kyla not to upgrade her floor. Now she’s potentially left with a vacancy on floor that can cost Team USA a gold, because no doubt she wants Maroney on that team for her vault. She’s taken the “high vault scorers” before over others – I don’t think this time will be any different. McKayla “can” be a backup on other events but I’m sure Marta will pull in a traveling alternate before that can happen (if someone who was bars/beam goes down). That being said, the traveling alternate in this scenario would be a bars/beam person.
However, there’s still that underlying floor issue.Whereas in that previous scenario (assuming McKayla can do floor), Marta was hoping to pull in Nastia to cover bars/beam if someone goes down, it’s now looking like she might have to have the traveling alternate be a floor worker over anything else. This is where it gets interesting for someone like Finnegan, and potentially Sloan if she upgrades and hits (only because Sloan can be used for bars too and Finnegan can’t). I don’t think Marta will take the chance with Price. I just don’t see it. But I’ve been surprised before.
With no upgrades from Kyla, Marta will have to use Gabby on floor in Team Finals (if McKayla can’t do it or isn’t training as well). Not sure how this will stand in front of international judges.
The whole situation will be severely shaken up if ASac does her full handspring double at Trials. If McKayla isn’t well enough and ASac upgrades, Marta might take ASac and use McKayla as the alternate; but again there’s the floor issue. Someone has to be left off the team entirely (if there’s only one traveling alternate) and it will have to be either McKayla or ASac given that floor issue (and the fact both McKayla and ASac can’t do or just plainly suck at bars).
June 23, 2012 at 7:51 PM |
I think if Maroney or Alicia is on the team the best options for a traveling alternate would be Sloan or Price even though Price has better SVs than Sloan on everything but Bars I am still leaning more towards Sloan because of experience and I think Sloan is planning to have her DTY back which if done well could score high 14s at least and if she cleans up her floor some I think she could score at least mid 14s and the same with beam and I think over a 15 on bars but I still say there will be surprises when the team is named or the team named won’t be the team going to London
June 25, 2012 at 1:25 AM |
I remember seeing a mention that Kyla will upgrade her 1 1/2 – 2x twist pass to 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 twist. Hopefully she’ll raise the double tuck dismount to double pike.
June 25, 2012 at 1:29 AM
That rumor has been around for months. Kyla can also double front really well.
June 25, 2012 at 1:31 AM
I hope so what would that bring her sv up to?
June 25, 2012 at 1:38 AM
GGMB was talking about something she used to do raising it two tenths to 6.7 but since she never got credit for the 6.5 she attempted at Nationals this upgrade seems unlikely.
June 25, 2012 at 1:46 AM
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nastia’s routine watered down at trials lol if Kyla upgrades floor like the rumors have been saying would that bring her sv up to something useable in TF
June 25, 2012 at 1:56 AM
It would need to be at least a 6.3 to beat Wieber. Anything else makes her irrelevant.
June 25, 2012 at 2:19 AM
Marta will probably use Gabby regardless lol
June 23, 2012 at 7:39 PM |
As a high school coach in a state that takes concussions very serious, here is what I know of the new protocols given to high school athletic departments since all of the controversy with the NFL and long term concussion risks….You are supposed to be headache free for 48 hours before even being considered to resume activity. After being headache free for 48 hours, you need to pass a mental cognition test…for example, saying the alphabet backwards and stuff like that. You also need to be able to do light activity without any dizziness, for example riding a bike for 10 minutes or doing some sprints. Once you have passed the tests and are completely free of symptoms after doing light activity, you are supposed to ease back into workouts slowly. Once you have a concussion, the risk for getting another concussion is much higher if you are not fully healed. This is of course a conservative approach and might be different for USAG at the elite level. Head injuries are no joke, though. Everyone responds differently. Sometimes symptoms go away after a few days. Other times it can take weeks and even months.
June 23, 2012 at 7:53 PM |
Another thing to think about with McKayla is that so many of her skills are twisting skills. If she is still experiencing dizziness from her concussion, it can’t be easy for her to complete twisting skills safely, like her Amanar and tumbling passes on floor. This is all assuming she is not totally recovered. They could have diagnosed her concussion as a precaution, since most doctors don’t want to mis-diagnose and get sued.
June 23, 2012 at 8:27 PM |
OMG OMG OMG Did you guys see the British gymnastics trials?? The podium was dark blue but the floor was light blue and the vault runway was light blue. There was still that God awful Gymnova red and white for beam and bars but I DON’T CARE
HOPE IS KINDLED!!!! I might not have to look at that ugly setup they had at the test event.
KEEP IT THIS WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 24, 2012 at 7:11 PM |
For the sake of all the megapixel-starved cameras in the audience and uncalibrated displays in homes (both of which are hard pressed to distinguish shades of gray), I think the color scheme should consist of warm colors for apparatus and podium – that would be Gymnova’s standard palate – and cooler ones for the floor and walls.
The stage should ‘pop’. 😉
“Warm colors are made up of the red hues, such as red, orange, and yellow. They lend a sense of warmth, comfort, and energy to the color selection. They also produce a visual result that causes these colors to appear to move toward the viewer, and to stand out from the page.
Cool colors come from the blue hues, such as blue, cyan, and green. These colors will stabilize and cool the color scheme. They will also appear to recede from the viewer, so they are good to use for page backgrounds.” – Microsoft
June 23, 2012 at 8:51 PM |
June 23, 2012 at 11:05 PM |
http://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=10350&prog=
More $$ for Chellsie Memmel promoting the tour and signing autographs. Great write up by SAMs mom…
June 23, 2012 at 11:26 PM |
I saw this and thought about a blog but I am done wasting my time on Chellsie. If this is what she wants then good luck to her but I am done.
June 24, 2012 at 12:06 AM
I have decided after watching some of the trials for diving that former gymnast should take up diving Shawn and Memmel could totally be a synchronized diving team lol jk on another note
This looks like real friends…..
This does not lol
June 24, 2012 at 12:10 AM
They both look awkward to me.lol but the Nastia one is a total fraud. If Shawn had won it would look even worse.
June 24, 2012 at 12:30 AM
Bross would have good form for a diver 🙂
June 24, 2012 at 1:14 AM
Bross/Memmel Johnson/Patterson the new faces of diving 🙂 lol
June 24, 2012 at 6:05 PM
Intoxicated by success Wieber begins hallucinating on the podium…
“Justinnnnn I’m so happy to see–”
“Jordyn, don’t touch me! I am NOT Justin Bieber!”
June 24, 2012 at 6:15 PM |
Ya I was disappointed too how the Chellsie thing went down. Was hoping she’d take more of a stance on the issue. I guess when it comes down to money and protecting her dad she had to do what she had to do…
June 25, 2012 at 12:32 PM |
Yea, the whole tour/money thing is gross and I am done with the situation, as well. She really had a chance with this to speak out and bring some things to light, but oh well.
June 24, 2012 at 12:20 AM |
Anyone know why Marissa King wasn’t competing I know she had a rough time at a competition a few weeks ago did they give her the boot like USAG did Chellsie? I think she would have had a better chance if she would have taken a semester off from Florida to train
June 24, 2012 at 12:31 AM |
I looked and saw king didn’t compete as well, her twitter I think is thebritriss I think, maybe it will tell us
June 24, 2012 at 1:18 AM
The only thing I saw on her twitter was when someone asked her about it she replied I’ll tell you all about I’d when I see you which kind of gave me the impression that something shady/Marta like went down
June 25, 2012 at 4:34 AM
I was glad to see Rebecca Tunney do so well. She had such a rough time of it on beam at the American Cup and Tim Daggett, Elfie, and All were ridiculously mean and cruel in their comments. I hope she does well in the Olympics if for no other reason than to shove it in their faces.
June 25, 2012 at 12:34 PM
I know! The comments about Rebecca at Scamp Cup were ridic. I thought it was so unprofessional and so rude for them to say all the things they said about her. “She’s going to need therapy after this” was the one that surprised me the most. I hope she kicks ass at the Olympics and does not fall once.
June 25, 2012 at 4:07 PM
I don’t mind fair criticism but these announcers need to keep in mind these are usually very young girls. That’s especially true in the case of Rebecca who is only 15 and will be one of the youngest competitors at the Olympics. I can’t imagine a more difficult situation than struggling in front of a huge crowd and having nowhere to hide. In team sports the coach can sit a player who is struggling for awhile and let her teammates cover her. Even in individual sports like swimming or running, which are the ones I am more familiar with, you just don’t seem to be so exposed and completely alone when you are having a bad day like you are in gymnastics. She did her best and finished her routine which is all she could do. For Tim, Elfie, and Al to act like her ego is so fragile that she might as well just quit gymnastics and go home and cry, it was just absurd and downright mean. Plus it had a tone of jingoism – that Americans are “tougher” than Brits – that I did not care for.
June 25, 2012 at 12:22 AM |
I love Maroney’s vaulting.
I wonder which team’s gonna win gold at the Olympics…everyone’s having problems
June 25, 2012 at 2:53 AM |
Jordyn’s fundraiser
June 25, 2012 at 11:17 AM |
[…] Gym Truth Teller talks about it here: https://gymtruthteller.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/the-curious-case-of-mckayla-maroney/ […]
June 25, 2012 at 12:38 PM |
Soooo I just finished Dom’s book and at the very end it gets into the Marta stuff. Before I read it, I thought there was a good chance that if Maroney was not healthy in time for London, ASac would take her place. However, now that I read the end of the book it became apparent to me how great Marta is at holding a grudge. I think she will lead ASac on up until the last minute, and then change the rules or make an excuse not to take her. Seems as though that really is her perogative. I want to believe that ASac will go if Maroney is officially out, but I think Marta will use this as a way to royally screw anyone she can.
I think USAG is being so quiet about Marony because they just do not know how bad it is. I really worry that she is out for good. I hope not, but I’m just not sure if it is going to happen…I just have a feeling. I guess we will know in a few days when podium starts and she’s either going to seriously train or not.
June 25, 2012 at 4:18 PM |
So you think Marta holds a grudge against ASac? I go back and forth on that…I really don’t know, is why I ask. I do wonder though.
I thought if she “did” hold a grudge she wouldn’t have just “gifted” her that tenth world medal (and also, she made those two world teams pretty easily). Whereas Shawn Johnson was hitting at camp and still didn’t make it. I thought that might’ve been because Liukin was on the selection committee.
I guess at the end of the day Marta will just do what she wants. I have a hard time figuring out what Marta wants though. In the past she’d totally screw over other gymnasts for good vaulters, so I figured Maroney had this in the bag. Yet Marta clearly makes statements like “I need someone who can do at least two great routines, not one” with Maroney in mind.
I “think” what Marta would like to do (and what USAG would really want for the benefit of the sport) is take Nastia, yet Nastia really didn’t do herself any favors at Nationals. If she takes Nastia instead of Maroney I can see her saying that they need the bars/beam backup over a solid vault, since Douglas, Wieber, Ross, and Raisman all have the amanar – she pointedly told Ross to get that amanar vault back and so my mind was thinking “she wants to screw over Maroney.” I keep going back and forth on this though.
June 25, 2012 at 4:26 PM
After reading Dom and Shawn’s books it is so evident that Marta truly does what she wants. Remember when Shawn and Nastia were 1 and 2 at ’08 Trials and they were “officially named to the team”? Well, when they arrived at camp, the roster had been wiped clean and that was actually not true. Marta said they would have to fight for a spot, just like everyone else. So those girls had a few days to say they were Olympians, and then they were back on the drawing board with everyone else. I found that amusing since so much hype was created about the first two spots at Trials being a sure thing. No rule is above Marta. She makes them and she breaks them.
I say I think Marta holds a grudge because I can see her using ASac on the World stage these past few years because she cannot deny her experience in the sport…but when it comes to the Olympics I can totally see her leaving ASac at home and telling her that she couldn’t perform perfectly in Beijing, so what makes her think she deserves London?
I would be overjoyed at seeing ASac in London. I would be happy for Maroney to be on the team, but even happier if things go ASac’s way. I just do think that Marta will use this time to pull a totally dick move on someone, and it might as well be ASac. If Marta totally ignored Moceanu for 10 years after she fell on both vaults in the ’96 Olympics, then I think she has probably been stewing over Beijing Team Finals.
Just my opinion! I actually sat up last night thinking about this. Crazypants, I know!
June 25, 2012 at 4:29 PM
I think she is trying to prepare excuses to screw someone over for Nastia and Marta is crazy if she thinks we need a bars/beam specialist we have enough of good beam workers what we need is a bars/floor specialist because if she thinks Gabby is going to score over 15s with that floor Choreo she is crazy! Chellsie would have been perfect for that spot but Marta screwed her over to make sure that didn’t happen and Bridget could be good for bars/floor but she has to get her floor together better but if Marta screws over anyone for Nastia it wouldn’t surprise me or she will name someone to the team then they will be “injured” and Nastia will go in their place to buy her more time to get bars ready but I think even if Nastia can’t hit a routine Marta will still name her a non traveling alternate lol
June 25, 2012 at 4:35 PM |
Dee, what did you think about Dom’s calling Marta to see if she had been accepted into the training session at the Karolyi Ranch, and Marta asking her, “Now which Olympics were you in again?” Wasn’t that hilarious?
Regarding Mckayla, I really think Marta is going to name her as a main member of the team unless she is absolutely convinced Mikayla will not be in competition shape by the time of the Olympics itself. I think she is going to do that even if Mckayla can’t compete at trials. Marta can always just move up one of the alternates to the main team if in fact McKayla is not ready by the time of the Olympics. I think there is plenty of wiggle room in the rules that will allow her to do this. She could have Mckayla do a very basic routine (not necessary vault) at trials that will not aggravate her concussion or maybe even have her just touch an apparatus to say she tecnically was a “competitor” at trials (which is what the rules say you have to be in order to be selected for the team).
I also agree that Marta might snub ASac no matter what she does at trials. The woman has a history of snubbing gymnasts for a lot of reasons, especially if she perceives they screwed up at a previous Olympics. For all the bad blood between the Karolyis and Dom prior to the 1996 Olympics, it seems they didn’t really turn on her until she had the two falls on vault during team competition. From that point forward they would hardly speak to her. I’m thinking Marta is going to hold the 2008 Olympics against ASac no matter what.
June 25, 2012 at 5:00 PM
I keep going back and forth on ASac. Yes, she screwed up at Beijing but she didn’t cost the team their medal. I seriously think that even if ASac had hit both routines, US still would be coming home with silver, only by a closer margin. China was in their home country and they were unstoppable that night.
As for Dom, she did them a favor as well. One of the biggest moments (if not “the” biggest moment) of that games was Kerri Strug’s vault. Karolyi got a HUGE piece of that limelight carrying her…it was a big moment for both the Karolyi’s (who chose to retire from coaching after that) and for their sport – and it was with one of THEIR gymnasts. Could you imagine if Dom had landed both of her vaults? Kerri’s vault wouldn’t really even matter, and that “moment” wouldn’t have happened. And in the end, both results would have been the same: team gold for USA.
I mean – in 2004 Marta didn’t hold a grudge for Kupets’ fail (got injured, right? and Mohini had to do beam?) or for Patterson’s fail (bars)…
Going back to ASac – she has been doing everything the “Karolyi” way. She’s attended all of the camps, even after injury, and she verified her routines the “right” way – at camp, in front of a selection committee. She’s been the “good student.” I can’t imagine Karolyi isn’t thinking that if she shows good will towards ASac, it will further indicate to the other gymnasts (and future gymnasts) that “you do it my way, you will be rewarded in a positive light. You do it any other way, I will send you to Memmeland.”
I would have thought too that if she does harbor a grudge against ASac, she would have given Anna Li the team gold medal and not ASac. Also, I want to say that SJ knew for whatever reason she would not be named to this team, so she bowed out early to go on her commercial escapades. ASac could have technically done the same thing, and she’s not stupid – if Marta didn’t want to take her I’m sure she’d have that gut instinct by now – but obviously she fought her way back after that injury with the inkling that she still had a chance, however small it was.
I just don’t know…I can see both ways on this one, but I have this feeling Marta doesn’t harbor a grudge on ASac the way she does with Dom and with Chellsie, among others.
And with Dom, it probably didn’t end well when the Karolyi’s left her as their coach after the Olympics. Who knows how that all went down.
And p.s. – any good tidbits from Shawn’s book?
June 25, 2012 at 6:21 PM
Sandy, I don’t think Marta is going to analyze the 2008 Olympics logically and say to herself, “Well, come to think of it ASac didn’t really cost us the gold medal so I really shouldn’t hold a grudge against her.” With Marta and Bela, they form a quick judgment and don’t bother with the facts. However, I think you make a great point that Marta probably does like the fact that ASac has worked hard for four years to get back into Marta’s good graces. That strokes Marta’s ego, and as you point out, I can see Marta wanting to send a message that even a “prodical child” can redeem hersefl if she plays by Martha’s rules for a long time. Dom, Chellsie, and some other gymnasts I can think of who got on Marta or Bela’s bad side over the years either did not do that or were not allowed to do that, so Marta and Bela continued to hold the grudge.
I still think that the only chance ASac has of actually competitng at the Olympics is by being named as an alternate and then someone on the main team getting hurt, or perhaps staying hurt in the case of Mckaya. and ASac getting moved up. I just cannot see her being named to the main team at the end of trials. I guess we’ll know Sunday night though. I wonder if they are going to name the Olympic team at the end of the broadcast,like they did they did the Olympic trial qualifiers at the end of the Visa Nationals broadcast, or if we are going to have to wait until the next day.
June 25, 2012 at 7:04 PM
I wonder that myself! If they do it right after the broadcast it will make me think that Marta knew her team all along and it didn’t matter how the factors came in to play on Day 2…which is most likely the case anyways.
However, if they want to make it “appear” that the selection committee is thinking long and hard about this decision, I can see them wait until the next day to announce. Who knows. At least if they wait until the next day it will save face for some of the girls who will no doubt have their hearts broken (I easily see Bross as part of this crowd, but I have no clue how she thinks she has any chance at this point considering she has yet to perform two clean routines at the same meet…and she can’t even provide back-up on floor…if she had chosen to focus on bars and floor this could be a totally different ending for her…anyways).
I can also see five girls being announced as “preliminary” choices, with three to five other girls in the “preliminary” alternate position. Then those ten girls will succumb to a training camp, where someone will no doubt be injured and replaced.
Marta will end up having her way no matter what when it comes to those camps.
June 25, 2012 at 8:14 PM
Marta might name the team the the public expects at trials then name Nastia as one of the alternates and then she will use camp to fix the team how she wants it even if it means breaking someone or trying to say Maroney still isn’t fully healed enough for the Olympics so that Nastia can replace her lol
June 25, 2012 at 8:00 PM
It was funny at the end of the Visa Nationals. I certainly did not see how they had some sort of “committee” discussion. It was barely a minute after the last performer had gone when Steve Penny announced who was going to trials. It did look like they had made up their mind ahead of time without worry about the results of Visa Nationals.
The rules state that USA Gymnastics must nominate 5 primary team members and up to 3 alternates to the US Olympic Committee by Monday, July 2. So they could announce it Sunday night or wait until the next day. In theory, the team is not set until the USOC “accepts the nominations.” Until that time, Marta has discretion to remove a gymnasts for, among other things, “inability to follow the training plan as directed by the National Team Coordinator.”
I understand that last time around there was more time between the end of trials and the time Marta had to officially submit the liste of nominees to USOC, so after trials she announced what was in effect a tentative list of primary team members and alternates. Marta told them she might take them off the team, or make primary team members alternates, if they slacked off at the team training camp at the Ranch. She even told the two gymnasts who automatically qualified as primary team members (the top two aa’s at trials) that they really hadn’t made the team and had better not slack off at camp. This time I don’t think she has time to do that. I suspect USOC is going to “accept” USA Gymnastics recommendation right away, so the list that comes out Sunday night or Monday will be it.
It’s kind of important because Marta is not going to be able to monkey around with who are the primary team members and who are the alternates late into July like she could have done last time. That means she cannot make Mckayla an alternate now and then move her up to primary if things look better injury-wise for Mckayla in the middle of July. That’s why I think she is going to make Mckayla a primary after Sunday and only move someone else into her slot if it becomes apparent she cannot compete in London.
BTW, the selection committee is Marta, Steve Rybacki, and the athlete rep, which was Nastia. The were supposed to have replaced her since she is trying to get on the team. Does anybody know who the athlete replacement for Nastias is? Of course we know it doesn’t matter and Marta is going to get her way no matter what, but I am just wondering.
June 25, 2012 at 8:22 PM
I think Terin Humphrey replaced her as athlete rep
June 25, 2012 at 8:16 PM
The athlete rep is Terin Humphrey…I wonder if they will replace her back with Nastia next year if Nastia retires. I really don’t think they should have had Nastia on that committee in the first place. They should only allow athlete reps who have not participated in the last 2 Olympic games – that would be more fair. Even Terin Humphrey I question because if it came down to between Sarah Finnegan and someone else, I can’t help but think she would sway a vote to a Gage gymnast…unless she has some inner resentment towards Al Fong (which I don’t think she does…would be different story if this were Ivana Hong).
June 25, 2012 at 9:01 PM
Forget next year. I read somewhere that if Nastia does not make the team this year she will replace Terin.
June 25, 2012 at 9:10 PM
Why am I not surprised lol
June 25, 2012 at 9:42 PM
I agree with Sandy that it is certainly inappropriate to have an athlete rep who is active on that committee and even one who has recently retired. She should be far enough removed from competing that she is not judging gymnasts she competed against.
June 25, 2012 at 6:09 PM |
I hate jeter
June 25, 2012 at 7:58 PM |
It seems the first of two Rita Wieber books is coming. 😯
“[Gym Mom: The Twists and Turns of Your Daughter’s Gymnastics Career by Rita Wieber] will be distributed the first week of July. The book will also be available at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team trials later this week in San Jose, Calif., and during the post-Olympic Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions.” – Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/article/20120624/SPORTS17/206240507/Mom-talks-about-raising-top-U-S-Olympic-hopeful-Jordyn-Wieber
June 25, 2012 at 8:27 PM |
Gabby’s mom will probably pick up on this and decide to write a book, too.
Personally I’d rather read a book by Andy Memmel – especially after this year.
Maybe Rebecca Bross’ dad will write one – that would be interesting, too! I can only imagine…
June 25, 2012 at 9:48 PM
I am not that interested in reading books by moms and gymnasts put out at the time they are competing. You know they are going to be primarily fluff. They’re fine for young girls (who probably don’t really need to be really truthful books about gymnastics anyway, LOL) but not something I want to read.