This seems to be the only move Nastia can do on bars because it is the same one she showed earlier this year. She was slow and labored and messy but she was pretty close to handstand but still had the shitty leg separations.
If the judges are doing their jobs and this is what she has got she should be nailed.
Quick hits from the Examiner
Now I don’t like Nastia so maybe I am being too critical. What do you think?
Thanks to K for the video
Here is her beam and again I don’t find it impressive.
More videos at Gymnastike
So I am watching these videos with my niece and she see’s Nastia and asks me if she gets dizzy when doing bars. Then I showed her someone else on bars and she says, wow she is much better then the other girl she can switch between those bars.
I love my smart niece:)
Tags: Nastia Liukin, secret classic
Gymtruthteller's Blog 
May 25, 2012 at 7:06 PM |
I have felt the same way as you do about Nastia so maybe when I say I think you’re being a tad critical it won’t seem so crazy, lol. Considering when she started her comeback, and how slender she is looking today, the videos of her skills, fitness and comfort level on the events all things in perspective surprised me more than confirmed my usual negative sentiments.
My reactions…
1) Girl is skinny.
2) Girl’s hands, wrists and fingers are as cobwebby as Memmel’s now.
3) Her amplitude and certainty on the BIG skills was impressive.
4) The bobbles are on the small things, plus this is one of her first sets out.
5) I”M MAD AT SHAWN JOHNSON. If she can get out here and do this, plus seeing Chellsie trying for AA, she should be here and she should be able to do a ton! I paid for your book goddamit, I don’t expect you to compete if you don’t want to or make the Olympics (always knew it was a longshot) but I do expect you can make a statement about your crazy behaviour and about-face online when it’s your fans allowing you to have this endorsement potential and public appeal.
Those were my reactions.
May 26, 2012 at 3:12 AM |
Yeah I am not thrilled with Shawn at this point there is no reason she shouldn’t be able to at least show up and do one or two events even if their watered down so I say GO Chellsie!
May 26, 2012 at 8:12 AM |
Agree about Shawn. Looking at her twitter feed in the last 2 weeks, you wouldn’t even know she was a gymnast. It’s all ‘Bounty’ and ‘Bring it Moms’ and she posted a pic of herself with 2 tall blonde girls at some party.
I’m almost a bit mad I paid for her book now.
May 26, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Yes. The other thing I noticed is, she’s almost anti-gymnastics. Since her comeback, she has always tweeted good luck to her friends and teammates for their competitions and even special shout-outs to Gabby for the meets this spring. She’s this big publicity figure for USAG now but has stopped promoting or mentioning the sport in any way, yet may still be coming back… and seems to purposely post all the social and travel things she’s doing when everyone else (including Nastia and Memmel) is supporting each other, are putting themselves out there, and have shown up to Classics?I can’t even properly explain what I’m thinking.
May 26, 2012 at 11:50 PM
Exactly…she needs to pull it together. I want to see her in the Olympics gosh darn it.
May 25, 2012 at 7:10 PM |
That beam routine was embarrassing. It was so bad that I don’t even think they could justify giving her a spot on the team if that’s the kind of shit she’s giving them – even with the blatant favoritism.
May 25, 2012 at 7:16 PM |
Nastia looks bland at best. For being so “artistic” she isn’t even hitting her leaps… I can’t wait to see what they score her. After seeing this I don’t think she has a chance in hell of making the team.
May 25, 2012 at 7:31 PM |
Anna Li looks a lot better on bars than Nastia. Just sayin.
May 25, 2012 at 7:25 PM |
Chellsie Fing Memmel watching Nastia on beam…. And her floor that looked full difficulty 🙂 MORE Chellsie less lame no score Nastia
May 25, 2012 at 7:35 PM |
Agreed! I’m already sitting in my chair going “Chell-SIE, Chell-SIE!” That girl is baller.
May 25, 2012 at 7:50 PM
Memmel and dad watching Nastia on beam is the best part of Nastias beam routine…..I wonder if you put her beam routine against Geralyn Stack Eatons from Alabama which would score better….. No wait I know ;-). As for Chellsie….Bomb ditty bomb di bang di bang ditty! I just hope she eats a power bar again on the competition floor! I think she’s training Russian style where they don’t fight on beam elements in training and nail it for real in competition! The reasoning behind that is not to overwork your core…..She’s not peaked yet which I think is a good thing… I want to see where she’s at on bars.
As for Bross why wasn’t she working core and bars through her injuries?Ive said all along her core is weak and she looks worse than she did at jesolo… More muscled like she’s regressing and it doesn’t make sense
May 25, 2012 at 10:23 PM |
Someone post a link to geralyn stack Eatons Alabama beam routine for me, I don’t have time to look for it,mthe one she won’t NCAA beam finals with that has more difficulty…. You’ll see what I mean…
May 26, 2012 at 12:13 AM
Stack-Eaton’s beam routine
May 26, 2012 at 2:06 AM
Thank you 🙂
May 25, 2012 at 7:27 PM |
They’ll overscore her for sure, but I still don’t see her making the team without Marta just making a showcase for favoritism.
I saw a bit of Bross – bars still looks so LABORED for her. It’s like she’s just forcing her body to do it – whereas you see Kyla and she just does it. I’m not sure Bross is a good fit for this Olympic team.
Gabby reportedly sat all three amanars but Raisman landed hers.
May 25, 2012 at 7:32 PM |
I agree about Nastia. She looks a bit bland, nothing WOW.
And I agree about Bross! It looks SO laboured, she actually makes bars look hard! I know it is hard, but good bar workers make it look easy.
May 25, 2012 at 7:53 PM |
I thought Nastia looked alright, until I saw Chellsie. I think out of everyone Chellsie is now the one in my mind of the ’08 girls to surprise us all…I was stunned to see her do a full floor routine (I’m assuming she will change the tumbling by tomorrow night – video I saw via USAG on FB she did two double pike passes).
I am legit bursting at the seams to watch this tomorrow. Trying to figure out what takeout to order and sit my lazy butt on the couch with my laptop. Universal, dont F this live stream up.
May 25, 2012 at 8:09 PM |
That sounds like a perfect saturday night 🙂 I doubt I’ll be able to access Universal from Europe, but I shall try!
May 25, 2012 at 8:14 PM |
I was not particularly impressed with her bars and it doesn’t matter what she does on beam she will probably win the BB lol
May 25, 2012 at 8:31 PM |
Tough crowd, I didn’t think Nastia looked labored on bars at all, had good handstands and IF she does the 2.5 dismount on beam I heard it’s out of 6.3? If so that’s pretty good
They have another podium training later, I wonder if it’s open and we’ll get more videos?
Chellsie is BAMF as always, I LOVE Anna Li’s floor routine….go for worlds 2013 Anna!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow is going to be VERY exciting, I’m looking forward to it
May 25, 2012 at 9:07 PM |
Doubt she’ll throw the 2.5 nothing looked connected for that much bonus….at least not to me…. More like 5.8 difficulty which scores mid 13s
May 25, 2012 at 10:41 PM |
I didn’t think Nastia looked labored on bars – Bross was the one who looked labored. Nastia’s swings look good, and so do her handstands…but that’s all I saw. I will be very surprised if she pulls a 7.0 start value by nationals. Given Bross has had more time to train bars and look what she’s bringing…sigh. Even the Couch blogger mentioned that Bross’ movements appeared very heavy and labored – on both bars and beam. Not good.
I wasn’t that impressed by Nastia’s beam – I mean, it wasn’t her ’08 beam at all. It’s impressive for how long she’s been on the “comeback” trail but like I say…I’ll be surprised if she gets in the 15’s for scoring (unless a judge gets paid off or something).
P.S. the US seems pretty set for beam with Ross, Weiber, and Raisman.
May 25, 2012 at 9:08 PM |
If its done well with that huge bobble it’s questionable at least she’s here unlike Shawn 😦
May 25, 2012 at 10:08 PM |
Aly’s Amanar is so much less scary on the podium.
Re NAstia: you really wonder when all they are willing to show you is 11 seconds on her “signature” event.
May 25, 2012 at 10:50 PM |
here you see her doing a tkachev and pak salto. I know everyone here hates Nastia so it’s probably best to mute the video and skip to 2:10…..just looking out for everyone’s sanity!!
http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/249352-2012-Secret-US-Classic/video/636815-Nastia-Liukin-on-her-first-podium-training-and-her-expectations-for-her-comeback
May 25, 2012 at 11:29 PM
I watched it with the sound off and then had to keep clicking to parts to see the skills you were talking about because it did not sink in when you said 210.lol
I feel better watching these videos. I see no way in hell she will have a 7.0 start value on bars. She could barely make it through that routine when she was in shape and she is not in gym shape now.
1 month before Trials.
May 25, 2012 at 11:30 PM
Thanks for that. I don’t particularly like her, but fair play: At least she’s competing. And Shawn isn’t 😦
May 25, 2012 at 11:33 PM
The competition has not started yet. She could still pull out.
May 26, 2012 at 12:22 AM
I think she will save that for Nationals or trails to play up the comeback as long as possible I could see her going to compete bars at Nationals and a few seconds in the routine mimicking Memmel’s injury on bars from last year at nationals or competing only beam at Nationals and say she is saving bars at trials then doing the whole injury a few seconds into the bar routine there and then she can play it up more saying how she would have been on the team if it weren’t for her injury then next thing you know she will be commentating for NBC with her arm in a sling at the Olympics and that is all we will hear about lol
May 25, 2012 at 11:35 PM
Hehe I was actually thinking that right as I hit “post comment” 🙂
May 25, 2012 at 10:08 PM |
“I don’t like Nastia” – Understatement of the year.
May 25, 2012 at 10:42 PM |
I just don’t like her attitude.
May 25, 2012 at 10:44 PM |
Gymtruthteller, did my opinion offend?
May 25, 2012 at 11:30 PM |
Which opinion? I don;t get offended so I think you are good. What did you say that you think I would take offense too?
May 25, 2012 at 11:35 PM |
I went to the spam folder and I now I see why you think I am mad. Your post went directly to spam because certain key words are sent there.lol
No you didn’t offend me and I took the comments out of spam.
I know I am critical of her which is why I asked the question.
May 25, 2012 at 11:55 PM |
Haha, now I’ll reread to guess which words!
I was the first person to respond early this afternoon and sent it twice – got a confirmation the second time – so figured you must have seen it and deleted.
You are very laidback in my experience so I just thought I’d double-check. Plus, I wasn’t FULLY complimentary… lol 🙂
May 26, 2012 at 12:23 AM
I know I am critical of her. I am the first to admit it but I have this deep love for Chellsie Memmel due to all her injuries and I even thought she looked blah.
My opinio0n on Nastia is mostly based on what she showed vs what she needs to have to make his team and while I know I am critical of her I cannot see her adding to what she showed and hitting that routine. She looked slow and sloppy and winded with whjat she did throw. I cannot see her having a 7 start value bars routine. Her connections on beam weren’t even close but when was the last time judges didn’t give her extra credit?
If you ever post something that doesn’t show up let me know and I will look in spam. I don’t usually check spam but for some reason I did today.
May 26, 2012 at 12:10 AM |
Can we give Anna Li’s choreo and music to Raisman please, with her tumbling passes that routine would be epic
I keep reading from people who think Kyla is robotic on beam which I don’t see at all, if she had that patterson she would get my full endorsement for Olympic beam champ
I like to catch up on my celebrity gossip every now and then and was on just jared the other day and stumbled upon one miss Shawn Johnson shopping in LA
And too bad about Bridget, she was one I was really looking forward to seeing, can’t wait to see her at nationals
May 26, 2012 at 12:16 AM |
Yeah I saw that they said it was a personal emergency for her coach or something
May 26, 2012 at 12:16 AM |
I was wondering GTT could you post a blog on elizabeth price apparently she’s the dark horse and alot of people are talking about her on other blogs.
May 26, 2012 at 1:16 AM |
I don;t know much about her. She has a huge Amanar and I like her floor but I don;t have enough info to write a blog on her.
May 26, 2012 at 6:25 AM
Her bars are pretty decent too! Apparently she’s aiming for a 6.7 set
May 26, 2012 at 4:04 AM |
She’s a parkette. She has the strauss’s up her ass all the time telling her what a little POS she is when she doesn’t do well. Some people will emerge while others faulter. Inevitably someone messes up. I think price makes a 2016 team.
May 26, 2012 at 4:10 AM
The Parkette thing is amusing:)
May 26, 2012 at 4:11 AM
Are you saying she is Allyse Ishino? Possible gymnast that gets an alternate spot for consistency?
May 26, 2012 at 3:44 PM
“Is that a quitter’s try?”
May 26, 2012 at 12:25 AM |
For Bridget’s chances, it’s really unfortunate. She is definitely bigger and has been off the radar for a long time, yet her videos from last camp showed solid and very clean gymnastics. Plus her personality in those videos is really appealing – just real, honest, lots to say, great and humble attitude.
Her travel plans were already made so at first I was wondering why she didn’t still attend but another coach who has been on the floor with her before at other meets could stand in for her. Then I realized maybe she chose to be a part of whatever services are going on back home. She and Sharp are very close.
Still for her gameplan very unfortunate.
May 26, 2012 at 12:51 AM |
Yeah I was really hoping to see her and Memmel do well!
May 26, 2012 at 1:43 AM |
I loved Nastia’s comment on one of the NBC video’s. She said Valeri told her, “she had never fallen off the beam in the last 6 months” so she shouldn’t be nervous.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/gymnastics/nastia-liukin-working-through-nerves.html
(she says this a little after 1:42)
Another interesting issue I picked up from watching one of Rebecca Bross’s interviews is that it seems it really wasn’t her decision to only specialize on two events.
Is it just me, or do people feel like Marta must have played a role in this decision……..
May 26, 2012 at 1:44 AM |
… or Valeri!
May 26, 2012 at 2:16 AM |
She hasn’t fallen off beam because she code whores.
May 26, 2012 at 2:35 AM
But didn’t she fall today?
11:03 a.m.: Nastia Liukin on beam! Oh, my heavens, we’ve missed this! Switch half, and falls. Hmmm. Does it again — and falls. Um. Side aerial. Lovely switch leap. Roundoff, layout.
From the quick hits link you posted in this blog
May 26, 2012 at 2:54 AM
We’re talking practice Jas. They mean competition. What a stupid thing to say to her. She will fall now.
May 26, 2012 at 2:58 AM
Lol I guess that’s the best pep talk Valeri could come up with “gee Nastia you haven’t fallen in six months do you’ll be fine….even though you haven’t competed in like 3 years”
May 26, 2012 at 3:53 AM |
Memmel interview
May 26, 2012 at 12:11 PM |
I’m bummed…Memmel is only on beam tomorrow and is petitioning to visas…..like that gets denied lol…..Marta watched her floor and bar skills. She was told to save the shoulder and not vault. Chellsie has repeatedly stated she prefers competing AA…..Obviously team USA doesn’t need another vaulter. But why is Marta letting her continue floor beam and bars when she’s limited Bross and Nastia?
May 26, 2012 at 6:28 AM |
Looking at the pics from podium training on the usagymnastics facebook, 95% of them are of Nastia. It’s infuriating and makes me think that you’re right GTT, they will overscore her and may even hand her a spot on the team if she can do a kip, cast, handstand on bars….
on a side note, Bross looks a bit too skinny (skinnier than normal anyway) to me =/
May 26, 2012 at 6:58 AM |
It’s just the nature of the beast. Does anyone remember the fluff before day 2 of nationals last year?
Jordyn was kicking ass and taking names, the best hope for gold at worlds and NBC comes out with “She’s NOT who everyone is talking about” *Fade into dramatic fluff about Shawn, Alicia and Chellsie*
Then Shawn gets her own fluff “My knee…..my KNEE, MY KNEE”
I’m excited for the dramatic fluff come nationals but at least half of it damn well better be Jordyn, Aly, Mckayla etc.
May 26, 2012 at 3:58 PM |
she looks pretty good here!
May 26, 2012 at 10:06 PM |
Anna Li was looking pretty decent on bars then fell but finished decent
May 26, 2012 at 4:15 PM |
anyone no if I can see the US classic outside the US?
May 26, 2012 at 4:41 PM |
Check out this catty remark from NL!!!
Her publicist said Johnson won’t even make it as a spectator because of a chest cold and laryngitis. She still may compete at nationals in St. Louis in two weeks.
Liukin said the two former Olympic roommates haven’t talked about their comeback attempts and status as elder stateswomen of their sport. Johnson is 20.
“I haven’t talked to her since, I don’t know, the last time we were at training camp together, so probably October, Novemberish,” Liukin said. “I think we’re both at different places in our lives and careers.”
Plus to relate to earlier blog post…
“You really have to be doing it for the right reasons. And the wrong reasons would be for sponsors or money or attention or fame. And that’s definitely not something that I’ve ever done gymnastics for. So I think that just knowing that I still have something to give, and my body could still give a little bit. I was just really wanting to see what I could do, see how far I could take myself.”
May 26, 2012 at 4:57 PM |
Meow!
“I think we’re both at different places in our lives and careers.” – is she ‘subtly’ hinting that Shawns comeback attempt is screwed?
May 26, 2012 at 6:05 PM |
Well isn’t that ironic. Nastia was at first the one who was getting the fingers pointed at her for not doing her comeback “for the right reasons” and now she’s using her showing up at Classics as a means to turn it around on Shawn. Can’t say I blame her, but shows what a jealous bitch she really is.
Although I have to agree with everyone – I am mad at Shawn too. I don’t get this bullshit she’s doing that she can’t even pretend to be training or involved in gymnastics because she’s too busy doing book signings – which is what her Twitter says she’s doing this weekend so I can’t say I fully believe her PR person. So lame. I’m really not buying her book now (not like I was since I’m awaiting your guys’ reviews – which might be even more interesting with these happenings). I think Shawn Johnson is going to have to learn the hard way what happens when you’re not honest and open with your fan base: they turn away from you. Fans are fickle, Ms. SJ. You play any stupid BS stunts (like tweeting for months about your comeback, talking about your training is “going great” and your upgrades, and then basically trading all that in for the media hype before the Olympic games because you’ve been bitten by that fame bug again).
Remember right after the Olympics she was doing everything BUT gymnastics because of said fame bug. After about two years, it pretty much fades to nothing. So – surprise – that’s when she got injured and decided to make a go of a comeback. Guess Hollywood/the media wasn’t contacting her as much (which isn’t surprising for a four-year sport like gymnastics) and she decided to make her attempt. Now that the four-year cycle is repeating itself she’s getting the phone calls and my guess is she was too tempted by all of the offers to continue training 100 percent. Book deals, endorsements – can’t blame her though since those are “definites” whereas making the Olympic team is not. So she’ll be richer for now but it won’t look good in the end. If she doesn’t make it to nationals to compete at all – even watered-down routines – she better be honest or at least have reasonable excuses. I’m not buying the knee thing; she’s had two years and was talking about all of her upgrades and saying the knee was fine. So if she does the knee excuse it still comes down to one thing: Shawn isn’t being honest with your fans. And when you’re not honest with your fans (like I said before) you’ll be lucky to have any left at the end of all this.
May 26, 2012 at 6:33 PM |
I feel bad for Shawn fans, she is really stringing people along. And that cold excuse is BS, because jet setting off to LA is the best way to rest and get healthy so you can compete
And the ‘might’ compete at nationals pissed me off. There is no ‘might’ anymore, ‘might’ is out of the question. You either are or you aren’t. If you’re not then just buck up and say so
May 26, 2012 at 7:06 PM |
Actually, her book signing starts June 16th. Here’s the tweet.
Shawn Johnson Book @shawnjohnsonbk
The first @ShawnJohnson signing for her new memoir, Winning Balance, will be at 4 p.m. on Sat., June 16 at @FCstores in West Des Moines, IA
May 26, 2012 at 7:48 PM
Sorry dates are my weakness. I hardly know what day it is anymore…
May 26, 2012 at 7:10 PM |
I don’t even know why I get so annoyed…. it’s like she’s “stealing” all the media attention, what with that appearance on GMA (the one in Rockefeller Center?) mothers day with olympic hopefuls and their mothers, interviewing about how amazing training is going etc, when it’s Wieber, Raisman and Ross who should be getting all the media attention, for truthfully being Olympic hopefuls.
It also annoys me just searching “Shawn Johnson” on twitter and you get all these idiotic fans saying “can’t wait to see Shawn at the olympics”. It’s like she’s only catering to the fans who know nothing about gymnastics, and seems she only cares about the $$$.
Seems she’s never too busy with laryngitis, Bounty, book signings and shopping in LA when theres a golden Olympic-related media opportunity around like the summit in Dallas.
May 26, 2012 at 7:55 PM
The sickness thing this weekend is obviously a lie. She’s avoiding the media questioning her about nationals – probably her PR person told her to do this, and it’s probably wise. I still have an “inkling” she’s hiding something – I mean, this IS the girl Nike chose to endorse, and this IS Shawn Johnson – but then again I never trust PR people or “agents” because all they care about is how much money their “person” can bring in at any given time. And I’m sure they are coaching her to say (or not say) whatever will give her the most amount of cash at THIS time, right before the Olympics. If she has indeed given up her comeback, then there wouldn’t be nearly as much hype about her at this point, which in turn would lead to less promotion for her book and fewer people buying it.
I have to agree, it was pretty ballsy to show up at the GMA thing with Jordyn and other “real” Olympic hopefuls if she has indeed given up. That’s why I’m not totally completely sure she has given up. I mean, that would just look really bad – she’d look like an imposter because basically that’s what she’s being by doing that. I wondered too why Ross wasn’t there, or even Raisman (since Raisman lives on the East coast, it wouldn’t have put that much of a dent in her training schedule) but who knows. They’ll invite who they believe will bring in the most viewership. Shawn Johnson still has a heavy fan base and high media appeal so I’m sure that’s why she was invited, but if she had indeed given up I would think she would have at least declined the invitation to avoid embarrassment later on.
I guess we’ll see in a few weeks what’s really going down. Should be interesting either way. If she hasn’t given up, I’d be really excited and it would be great to see her compete again. If she has given up, I’d be curious to see how she’ll respond to this and how her fans will react.
May 26, 2012 at 8:13 PM |
Shawn’s knee is screwed. It is as simple as that, people. She would be slamming some FX tricks otherwise.
she had a very serious injury (2 ligamanets and the miniscus…the “terrible triad”….usually takes NFL players a full year to recover from and many never do…)
May 26, 2012 at 8:27 PM |
Someone explain this to me, there’s no doubt she f*cked up her knee but she said she waited a month before going to the doctor. Mustafina didn’t look like she could just walk around for a month, Derrick Rose didn’t look like he could wait a month.
Is it just that every knee injury is different? That something really serious might not actually hurt that much?
I tipped my hat to her at last nationals and for upgrading for pan ams, but if she really can’t do gymnastics anymore then just come out and say it.
May 26, 2012 at 10:18 PM |
Kyla was decent on beam minus the one big wobble but not as good as usual I was hoping for Memmel to do great but she fell twice on beam! Still waiting to see Nastia’s beam! Finnegan had decent bars!
May 26, 2012 at 10:38 PM |
Nastia scored a 14.900 on beam
May 27, 2012 at 12:01 AM |
Tim has a hard on for Nastia. It’s gross.
May 27, 2012 at 12:05 AM |
I love how they called her missed connections a tiny bit slow but everyone else was “disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get used to it. It is going to be like this for the next month
May 27, 2012 at 12:31 AM
Yeah he kept saying how awful Jordyn’s bar routine was which it wasn’t great but it wasn’t great but he acted like she fell or something that being said if Jordyn wants to beat the Russian girls in the AA she is going to have to make sure she can score high 14s low 15s on UB especially if the Russian girls have their Amanars she will have lost that advantage
May 27, 2012 at 12:43 AM
Ugh I know! It’s going to be a rough month. It’s gonna get worse when she does her bars.
What was with her hair? Seriously, she’s not a 16 year old girl. Grow some class and style your hair! Put a little effort in to it!
May 27, 2012 at 12:45 AM |
I just read that Memmel is officially out. Her petition to US Championships was denied.
May 27, 2012 at 12:58 AM |
I was hoping Memmel would do well but since she didn’t nail it and she is on Marta’s list for not going to camps I’m not surprised she would’ve had to nail beam to go to nationals but didn’t Marta tell her to only do one event? Guess she figured she teach her to ignore her Nazi camps