Women's Gymnastics Olympic Team Finals

The competition will start tomorrow at 11:30 AM EDT. I might not watch this finals. The men's finals really shook me up. It was really emotional. I'm not really sure how I feel right now. Sometimes I wish I just didn't care about favourites. The final outcome got some nasty responses from some angry/racist/immature people. But at the same time there were a lot of positive support, so I guess I'll try to forget what happened in the men's final.

OK time to focus on the ladies. I recently did a poll on, "Which team do you think will win the women's gymnastics team finals at the Olympics" and there were 132 votes. As you can see USA is in first with 71 votes. I am rooting for Russia but at the end of the day if Russia can't hit and have clean execution I would be very happy if USA won. I love artistry and I hope Russia can have a clean competition. I don't want to see another weird upset/controversy. I wish it was like 2008 when I barely knew anything or had no favourites/expectations. I would love for a nice surprise though. Something inspirational, like what if Romania ended up winning? That would be pretty awesome.
Edit 1: I have decided I will watch this competition live. If anyone is interested they can watch it on CTV, Canadian online stream (it might work for international users): CTV Link I'll be watching BBC The competition will start in about 10mins.

Edit 2: Bummer. Russia finished second after two crazy floor routines from Grishina and Afanasyeva. Mustafina really fought for her floor routine and did really well. After Grishina's disastrous routine the whole team was already in tears. Afan goes up last and hits everything but in her last tumble she couldn't hold it together. IMO she rushed it, second guessed herself and then ran out of steam. She landed the double pike but fell badly. Lots of tears and disappointments for Russia at that point.

USA did an AMAZING job. They were super consistent. Congratulations to them. They won in a comfortable lead. Good stuff.

 
Full Results Here: CLICK HERE

Men's Gymnastics Olympic Team Finals

I am pumped and ready for the men's team finals today. Starts at 11:30 AM EDT in about 40 min. I'm going to be watching BBC online live coverage. You need to have a hidden IP address.

The team I am most looking forward to is Japan. Come on Japan. Show the world how beautiful and clean your gymnastic is.

EDIT 1: OMFG! Finals were nerve wreaking as F*ck! Controversy. Did Kohei finish in handstand? I'm no expert but this whole outcome is insane. It looked like Japan was 4th but then they protested Kohei's score and it was enough to get Japan in 2nd. I love Japan but I'm gonna wait and see what all the real MAG gym experts think. My specialty only lay in WAG, lol.

On the flip side CHINA deserved their GOLD and there is no controversy there. I am happy with China's gold. If Japan couldn't win gold China was my second choice. Congratulation China.

Full Results:  CLICK HERE

Afanasyeva's New Floor Routine

I love her new floor routine. She is a rebel badass. The siren parts is really well known from a very popular Quentin Tarantino movie called Kill Bill. I'm not going to go into detail of what the movie is about but the main character, "the bride" (actress is Uma Thurman) is seeking revenge on all her enemies. When the bride has flashbacks of her past, the "siren sound" goes on. This movie is very gory and I only recommend it to 18+. Kill Bill is one of my favourite movie. I'm not saying that this was the inspiration for her new floor exercise but it really reminds me of it. If you don't like gory stuff I recommend that you don't watch these clips.

 

Women's Olympic Gymnastic Prelims

I'm going to skip the first two subdivisions. There is no way I am going to wake up at around 4:30 AM. Subdivisions 3, 4 & 5 is where it's all at IMO. Subdivision 3 starts at 9:45AM EDT. I am going to watch it live on the BBC stream. CTV is not reliable.

EDIT 1: I'm going to be watching BBC coverage. They have the better commentary and no annoying commercial ads/breaks: BBC Stream

EDIT 2: Ok so I'm not gonna lie. I have no idea what is really going on right now. So many things to discuss. But what I want to talk about right now is AFANASYEVA! She rocked out there today. I didn't see her floor but I think I heard her music and it sounded awful. Her beam was spot on though. I think she will qualify to FX and maybe beam. It's kind of crazy that she might get beam finals again. Beth Tweddle had a huge 16.133 and also HE kexin got 15.966.

Results so far: click here

Edit 3: What an exciting prelims. No one has won anything yet. I felt kind of sad for Romania but they might be able to comeback, never count out the Romanians! Like the men's prelims the women's prelims was exciting and full of surprises. 

Full Results: CLICK HERE 

Aliya Mustafina QF Uneven Bars: D- 7.0 + E - 8.7 = 15.700 qualified 5th

 

Men's Olympic Gymnastic Prelims

I'm watching it LIVE here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w2rrs It's BBC coverge. It will only work if you have a hidden IP address. I am using a really good program called "stealthy" It works really well but the catch is that you have to pay for it. It's worth paying for.

Edit: CTV (Canada) works for me, I feel so stupid now. I'm still going to keep BBC as a back up.

Edit: Final Results CLICK HERE

1) USA  275.342
2) RUS 272.595
3) GBR  272.420
4) GER  270.888
5) JPN 270.503
6) CHN  269.985
7) UKR  269.810
8) FRA  265.759



I'm disappointed in Japan but hopefully this will motivate them even more. Kohei is currently 9th AA.

This was an exciting prelims! So many surprises. Most team shouldn't celebrate yet though, no one has won anything.

 I know you can do it Kohei. Go get the gold.

Olympic Gymnastic Thoughts #1

I'm pretty much blogging for the sake of blogging right now. I'm excited for today's opening ceremony. I haven't found a personal link yet but the wonderful people on various gymnastic forum/blogs are hooking up with potential links that might work. I hope one of them work. I can't afford cable and Canada's online CTV sucks. I can't seem to get any videos to work, even when I downloaded the required program.

EDIT: I'M WATCHING OPENING CEREMONY HERE http://tvpc.com/Channel.php?ChannelID=3

Disappointing Thoughts
-The gymnastic podium is PINK. WTF? I like all the people who are complaining about the pink podium. I want the London designers to know how much of a failure they are. They even have some equipment in pink. The men's rings is pink, I kind of can't take it seriously. Seeing a fit and strong guy on a pink ring is kind of laughable. I feel this is the joke Olympics. The pink is not even pretty. It's really distracting. Seeing all the gymnasts blend in with the pink is hilarious. I think the only good colour that matches the pink podium is a black or dark coloured leo. It was also distracting to watch the American girls in podium training because they were in bright pink. I don't mind pink leo's and in fact I get very annoyed at people who complain about pink leotards. I seriously almost vomited watching the American girls, not because they weren't good but because I was getting motion sickness from all the movements and bright colours. Also red leotards will be a bad idea to wear on the pink podium. It's like they're just fading away and clashing with the pink. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

I will eventually get over the trashy pink and solely concentrate on the actual gymnastics, but I will not ease up to the horrid pink and dark depressing purple venue. Yes it looks kind of depressing when you see the dark purple walls. No one is going to change my mind about the epic failure of the colours. There are people who actually love it and are orgasmicly gushing over it, "OMG it's pink, I totally love it."

- I'm really disappointed about all the injuries.

Positive Thoughts 
- Viktoria Komova landed two very good Amanars in podium training, and she rarely had any mistakes on the other apparatuses
- All of the Russian gymnasts did good beam routines

- I'm glad Larisa Iordache can compete AA after all
- Team Japan supposedly looked good in podium training. They are looking good for team gold. Kohei Uchimura had some mistakes in podium training but still looks very strong for the AA gold
- And finally, please allow me to be BIAS. Afanasyeva's floor routine is getting a lot of praise from bloggers, and tweeters who were at podium training. She does have some landing problems but her choreography is apparently great. I'm only scared about her music choice. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Just because...

The Russian Tatar Queen Aliya Mustafina/D-Scores

Ok she's not a Tatar Queen but I bet many Tatars around the world will know who Aliya Mustafina is by the end of the Olympics. She was basically the leader of Russia's 2010 world's team. She was dominant in 2010. According to the Russian coaches she will do the Amanar in London. In 2011 she got injured doing the Amanar. Her new upgraded bar routine is looking fantastic. She could win a gold medal on bars. I can't wait to see Mustafina compete at the Olympics. I want to see the confident 2010 Mustafina in London. She is almost like a warrior. According to her coach she is ready to "tear everyone up". Yes Aliya, go and tear everyone up like it's 2010. In fact be more tenacious then 2010.

Mustafina's D-Scores are deceptive. The only event that is pretty much set in stone is her bar routine. Her beam is always changing. She is doing the hard switch ring leap on beam again ( I won't count this yet though). She has done some harder spins on floor to increase her difficulty. Her Total AA D-score can be much higher but I will use her most recent routines only.

VT: 5.8/6.5 According to her coaches she will do the Amanar. In this clip she only does a DTY.

UB:
Stalder 1/1 + VLW (D+E) 0.2CV
Inbar 1/2 + P. Jaeger (D+D) 0.1CV
Inbar 1/1 + Pak + Stalder Shap 1/2 (E+D+E) 0.4CV
Sole 1/1 + Mustafina (D+E) 0.2CV

3.6 + 0.9 CV= 4.5 + 2.5CR = 7.0 D-Score

BB: (She will have surprise upgrades, I'm betting on it)

2/1 Spin + 1/1 Spin (D+A) 0.1CV
Arabian (F)
Front Aerial + FF + Back Tuck (D+B+C) 0.2
Switch 1/2 (D)
Leg Split Spin + Split Jump (C)
Aerial Cartwheel  (D)
Side-Somi (D)
Dbl Tuck (D)

3.3 + 0.3CV = 3.6 + 2.5CR = 6.1 D-Score if everything gets credit

 

FX: (She could upgrade her FX with more difficult spins, She can do a quad spin and 3/1 leg split spin)

DBL Arabian + Stag (E+A) 0.1CV

5/2 Twists + 1/1 Twist (D+C) 0.2

Split Leap + Switch Leap 1/2 (C)

Memmel (D)

DBL Tuck (D)

3/1 Spin (C)
Split Leap 1/1 (C)

3/1 Twists (E)

3.1 + 0.3CV = 3.4 + 2.5CR = 5.9 D-Score if everything gets credit.

AA Total D-Score: 5.8(6.5) + 7.0 + 6.1 + 5.9 = 24.8 and with an Amanar vault = 25.5

 

Yang Hak Seon's Documentary

Someone needs to make a gif of Yang Hak Seon's 3/1 FHS vault. Here is a mini documentary of the 2011 world champ on vault. His vault is worth 7.4!

God Kohei Uchimura

There is a new Kohei Uchimura article by The New York Times. He is my overwhelming favourite male athlete in London. I am almost certain he will win the men's all-around finals. There is also a video from the article and a picture gallery. He looks to be really hyped up by the media, and deservingly so. I hope all the media attention doesn't give him too much pressure. He looks to be handling all the attention well.

(Gif Source: liukin.tumblr.com)

Afanasyeva's Complete 2008 All-Around Routines (prelims)

In the spirit of the Olympics I am going to embed Ksenia Afanasyeva's 2008 AA prelim routines.

Afanasyeva placed 6th AA in prelims. Afanasyeva was a victim of the two per country rule. She would have been in the top group for AA finals. Afanasyeva is a pretty good all-arounder. Her gymnastics has deteriorate a bit because of age and tons of injuries. Despite all of these set backs she can still decently do AA. In 2008 she was Russia's National AA Champ. At this year's Russian Championships she should have won 1st AA over Mustafina. Even the coaches made bold statements that they made sure the judges gave Mustafina the win. I'm not the only one who questioned the placing, many other gym fans felt Mustafina was not ready yet and didn't deserve the win over Afanasyeva (note Komova did not compete). Regardless of this, Mustafina was coming back from injuries and the small victory was a good thing for her. The Russians wanted to give Mustafina back her self-confident (They were quoted saying they didn't want to crush her dreams/feelings). I'm pretty sure Afanasyeva didn't care too much, they are all friends and Afanasyeva has been quoted saying that she doesn't want any of her teammates feeling depress because she knows how it feels. Afanasyeva will not do AA in London, she will focus on beam and floor. She will still train vault and bars but not intensely.

Russia will have three all-arounders. Komova, Mustafina and Grishina. The most likely two to qualify will be Komova and Mustafina. Grishina will most likely be the victim of the two per country rule.

Please check out a great interview article on Afanasyeva at the wonderful blog rewritingrussiangymnastics

Favourite Nabieva Moments

The first time I saw Tatiana Nabieva was at the 2010 Japan Cup. I believe this was the competition where she first did the toe-on straight Tkatchev. It is now named the "Nabieva". The whole competition used to be on youtube but the user closed its channel. Luckily another youtuber uploaded single clips from that competition. I remember seeing Nabieva doing the "Nabieva" and being in awe. She is full of personality. I personally only enjoyed watching her on bars.

The title on this youtube clip says BB EX, lol. Should be UB. Oh well. Edit (video got deleted, booo).

 

Another personal favourite. Nabieva doing an Amanar or was she trying to attempt a triple Yurchenko? She is one of the moodiest gymnast I have ever seen. She cries and laughs a lot.

 

She didn't make it to the Olympics. If she was able to do the Amanar (even with bad form, IMO) she would have made the team over Maria Paseka. Too bad she couldn't do it. She is currently injured in the knee/leg (?) and I bet it was because she attempted the Amanar. I hope she will still be around in the next quad to keep us all entertained.

This uneven bars routine was by far one of her best performances. It had an 6.8 D-score! She'll never be forgotten for her innovated bar routines.

Thoughts On Larisa Iordache/D-Scores

I'm not really into Iordache gymnastics. She is Romania's new gymnastic star. She can't do bars and she is so full of energy that she becomes too spastic, I don't like jerky/spastic gymnastics. There are a lot of gym fans who love Iordache. I can understand why she is so loved but I'm not really into the Romanian gymnastic style. The Romanians reminds me of the American gymnasts. Iordache can be consider an consistent and mentally tough gymnast. She is training the Amanar. I can't see her winning the AA title unless she has the Amanar. The downfall for Iordache is her bars and it's another reason why I can't get behind Iordache. It's composed weird, too many giant 1/2 (worst than Komova's). She's been changing it around a lot and been trying to upgrade it but no matter what she does it still remains a problem. Romania needs to do something about their bars, it's a shame. She'll no doubt be a big threat for the AA title though. The women's Olympic AA this year will be very unpredictable, just how I like it. 

Her biggest chances of winning gold medals will be on BB & FX finals. Her beam is one of the most difficult beam routine in the world and consistently gets full credit for all her elements/connections. I actually like her beam and her 3/1 twists dismount done in connection is superb. Her floor has massive difficulty. She tried upgrading it at the friendly meet in Romania. Even without the upgrades she still has a high D-score. I'm not into her dancing style but some people loves it.

All the videos will be from the Friendly Meet in Bucharest.

VT: Yurchenko 2/1 or Amanar 5.8/6.5. She is training an Amanar.

UB:  She changes her routine around a lot this year but it doesn't really matter where her d-score is at. She's weak on bars. She tried upping her bars to around 6.3 range before.

Toe-1/1 + Maloney + Clear Hip 1/2 (D+D+C) 0.3CV
Stalder 1/1 + Tkatchev + Pak Salto (D+D+D) 0.2CV
Ray Shoot to HB
Jaeger (D)
Tsuk (D)

3.1 + 0.5 = 3.6 + 2.5 = 6.1 D-Score

BB:
FF + Tuck 1/1 (B+F) 0.2
2/1 Spin (D)
Switch Leap 1/2 (D)
Front Aerial + FF + LOSO (D+B+C) 0.2
Pike front on one foot take off (D)
Switch Leap + Back Tuck (C+C) 0.1
Split Jump + Wolf Jump
Side-somi (D)
RO + BHS + 3/1 Twists (B+B+F) 0.2

3.5 + 0.7 = 4.2 + 2.5 = 6.7 D-Score if everything gets credit

FX:
DBL DBL Tuck + Split Jump (G+A) 0.1CV
Full in Tuck (E)
Gogean (D)
Switch Leap + Switch Leap 1/1 (B/D)
Whip + 3/1 Twists + Stag (A+E+A) 0.3
Side-Somi
Quad Turn (E)
Johnson Leap (C)
DBL Tuck (D)

3.7 + 0.4 = 4.1 + 2.5 = 6.6 D-Score if everything gets credit

AA D-Scores, 5.8/6.5 + 6.1 + 6.7 + 6.6 =  25.2 & 25.9 with Amanar.

Yao Jinnan D-Scores 2012

Here I go again with the d-score calculations. These d-scores are for my own references when the Olympics begins. I just want to familiarize myself with these gymnasts routine and know where their d-scores will roughly be at. 13 more days until the Olympic Games!

Yao Jinnan is currently China's best all-arounder. She could medal in AA finals or even be the first ever Chinese female gymnast to win the Olympic AA title, this is not a delusional statement. If she had not fallen off beam at the 2011 world championships she would have been the first ever Chinese female gymnast to win an world champion AA title.

She doesn't have an Amanar but IMHO the Amanar from the other AA competitors are over-rated. Anything can happen when the actual competition begins and having an Amanar is very helpful to have but it's only going to help a gymnast if they can nail it with exceptional execution. If a gymnast fall or doesn't fully rotate that 1/2 twist, this will mean DISASTER. Most of the AA contenders with Amanars have shady ones. 

Yao is still competitive enough on the other apparatuses. She has been rumoured to have a vault that was over 6.0, not sure what kind of vault. She recently had a minor injury at the Chinese Nationals and didn't compete. I believe her only major 2012 competition was the Zibo World Cup in China. I will use the most recent videos I can find. Her vault and floor routine will be from Tokyo world's. I'm pretty sure she will compete the double layout on floor again.

Vault: Yurchenko 2/1 = 5.8

UB:
Stalder Shap + Pak (D+D) 0.1CV
Stalder + Stalder Shap 1/2  (E)
Healy + Ling + Ling 1/2 + Tkatchev (E+E+E+D) 0.6
DLO (D)

3.6 + 0.7CV = 4.3 + 2.5 = 6.8 D-Score

BB: 
Standing Tuck 1/1 + Korbut (F+B) 0.2
FF + BHS + Layout (B+B+E) 0.2
Wolf Jump + Split Jump
Front Aerial + Sheep jump (D+D) 0.1
Front Tuck (D)
Leg Split Turn (C)
Switch Ring (E)
RO + DBL Pike (E)

3.6 + 0.5CV = 4.1 + 2.5 = 6.6 D-Score if everything gets credit

FX:
DLO (F)
3/1 Twists + Stag (E+A) 0.1CV
Memmel Spin (D)
Switch 1/2 Leap (C)
3/2 Twists + 5/2 Twists + Split Jump (C+D+A) 0.2
Front Aerial
Switch Ring + Split 1/1 (C/C)
Double Pike (D)

3.2 + 0.3CV = 3.5 + 2.5 = 6.0 D-Score if everything gets credit

AA D-Scores = 5.8 + 6.8 + 6.6 + 6.0 = 25.2

I will be rooting for Yao in London. I'm predicting her best chance will be bronze (Even though gold possibly can happen). If she doesn't medal and manages to hit all her routines then that will still be impressive and a winner in my book. I just want her to have the best experience in London.

Huang Qiushuang's AMANAR!

There is now video proof of Huang Qiushuang's AMANAR vault. China will not back down. China will try to medal in the team competition. Huang is a beautiful gymnast. She will most likely be China's second AA'er. Deng Linlin could possibly out do her but Huang's Amanar will be hard for Deng to overtake her. Huang will be a strong AA contender with the Amanar and strong UB routine. Her beam is quite lovely. If she hits all her routines she could medal. Her downfall is consistency. She is notoriously known as a "headcase".

Chinese Team Announced

The WAG Chinese team will comprise of He Kexin (2008 bars gold medalist, now a two-time Olympian), Deng Linlin (2008 team gold medalist, now a two-time Olympian), Yao Jinnan (2011 world's AA bronze medalists, China's best hope for an Olympic AA medal), Sui Lu (2011 world's beam gold medalist) and Huang Qiushuang (rumoured to have landed an Amanar but no video evidence).

One of my favourite 2008 Olympian, Jiang Yuyuan made it as alternate. 2010 Youth Olympic silver AA medalist Tan Sixin will be the other alternate.

I think this was China's best possible team. I don't really understand what all the fuss is about He Kexin being named as the last member. So what if she's a specialist? Almost all the top team will have a specialist. For example, Russia's Maria Paseka will be taken for her Amanar vault. She is useless on the other events. McKayla Maroney is basically a one event specialist on vault. It can be argued that she can do floor but let's face it she won't make floor finals and USA might not use her floor in team finals because she is inconsistent. Maroney will not even be used on UB or BB as she's weak on those apparatuses.

He Kexin can bring in a high score for China on UB. She can score in the 15.000 -15.500 range. Any scores in the 15's is great for any team. He Kexin could also make it to bars event finals and possibly medal. It will be hard for China to contend for gold or possibly even silver. They have the potential to medal bronze.

China is one of my favourite sentimental team. I don't even give a shit about the Chinese underage scandal. I do think some of them were underage. If they are found to be underage, they should give their gold to the obnoxious Americans (not all Americans are obnoxious). China does give back their medals when found to be guilty but all other federations who were found to be underage kept their cheating medals. Gymnastic age is really controversial and I have my suspicions of other federation cheating ages (past & present). It happens and I can guarantee that the majority of some gymnasts are not the ages they really claim to be. IMO the only clean countries with no age questions are USA, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, you get the idea. China, Japan, Russia, Romania etc, are not clean of this IMO, I have my suspicions. Let's all face it, not everyone will play by the rules. Gymnastic is not the only sport that has cheating scandals.

This is my China team line-up. Parentheses is for prelims and the lowest score to be scratched for the team prelim total.

VT: (He or Sui) Deng, Huang, Yao
UB: (Deng) Huang, Yao, He
BB: (Huang or Deng) Huang or Deng, Yao, Sui
FX: (Deng or Huang) Deng or Huang, Yao, Sui

Some Favourite Cirque du Soleil Performances

Zhang Gongli - Chinese Chairs, from Kooza

 

 Elena Lev - Hoops, from Alegria

Group Act - From Quidam

 

Russian Team Announced

Google translated source: CLICK HERE

WAG: Aliya  Mustafina, Viktoria Komova, Anastasia Grishina, KSENIA AFANASYEVA & Maria Paseka. Alternates are Tatiana Nabieva and Yulia Inshina.

MAG: Garibov Emin, David Belyavsky, Denis Ablyazin, Alexander Balandin and Igor Pakhomenko. Alternates: Sergei Khorokhordin  & Nikita Ignatyev.

The Russian team will leave on July 21st. My birthday is on July 21st, what great news to hear that my favourite gymnast, Afanasyeva will be a two-time Olympian and traveling to London on my birthday.

Yulia Inshina, The Dark Horse? (My Final Russian Team Prediction)

Can Inshina make the team and be the dark horse? I’m predicting yes. If Inshina does make the team, Russia would be a bit weak but there is still hope for Russia.

The team will be announced around the 8th of July. My ideal team would be Mustafina, Komova, Grishina, Afanasyeva and Dementyeva. Realistically I can’t see them winning team gold but they can challenge USA if they have Amanars. Russia is full of secrets and surprises.

Sidorova is out of contention. Dementyeva has not been confirmed to be back on the team so my real objective team is Mustafina, Komova, Grishina, Afanasyeva and Paseka. I think Mustafina, Komova and Grishina are all official locks. The fourth member should be Afanasyeva but her injury is questionable. The only reason she’ll be off the team is because of not recovering in time. I would be disappointed if she’s left off the team but I must remain positive, I’m bracing myself for whatever happens. I hope she makes the team and will peak well enough for the games. Paseka could make the team because she did land an Amanar at the Russian Cup but she wasn’t consistent enough. She could be able to do it in London, who knows. Nabieva could also make the team. Basically what I’m saying is that there are three locks and two spots left. The last two spots are up for grabs between Afanasyeva, Paseka, Nabieva and Inshina. Any of them can make up the final two spots.

My biggest prediction is that YULIA INSHINA will make the team (even though I didn't include her in my objective team prediction).  I know it sounds crazy but I have a feeling she’s going to be in London as an actual member, not an alternate (she could be an alternate though). I realize I’m talking crazy (contradicting myself) but anything is possible. Awhile ago I did a post on Inshina CLICK HERE and for some reason she must be a popular gymnast because that post is my 4th most viewed post.

I wish all the Russian gymnasts the best of luck and I hope the Russian coaches makes the best choices. The suspense is killing me.

Douglas's Olympic Trial Routines / D-Scores

I just realized that Douglas won the Olympic trials. I only got to catch the team announcement yesterday. This is very exciting news. As much as I want Komova to win the Olympic AA title I would be thrilled if Douglas won. I guess I will be cheering for both Komova and Douglas. Douglas could be the first black gymnast to win an AA gymnastic title. It would be very inspirational and emotional if she won. Sometimes the world just needs a little bit of inspiration.

I've seen some really disrespectful comments around the internet that the reason why Gabby is so popular is because she's black. Even if that's the case it doesn't matter. She is a phenomenal gymnast. She's not a mediocre gymnast. She has the ability to win AA at the Olympics. My favourite event to watch Douglas on is bars. She has it all, the intricate mixed grip pirouettes, the sky high release skills, complex close bar work, and her ability to connect most of her skills together are astounding. I am a fan of Gabby Douglas.

I am going to do a D-Score calculation for Douglas's routine. According to The All Around WAG Rankings, Douglas has been given the highest AA D-score of 25.5. Obviously not everything in her routines were given credit and that was not her maximum potential score.

I will use the video below to calculate her d-scores. I will give her the most benefit for her routines. These were not her best routines and she was not given credit for everything she intended to connect/complete. The only thing I will not accept from her is the front pike on BB. She tries to do pike but it is clearly tucked.

VT: Amanar 6.5

UB: I omitted some skills that do not significantly contribute to her D-score. She usually connects her first two pirouette for one tenth, I'll count this in her d-score to maximize her total.

Healy + Endo elgrip 1/2 + P. Tkatchev (E+D+E) 0.3CV
Inbar 1/1 + Tkatchev + Pak (E+D+D) 0.3CV
Inbar (D)
DLO (D)

3.5 + 0.6CV = 4.1 + 2.5CR = 6.6 D-Score

BB: I omitted some skills that do not significantly contribute to her D-score. She fulfills all the compositional requirements (CR).

Front Aerial + FF + LOSO (D+B+C) 0.2CV
Standing Tuck 1/1 (F)
Split Leap + Back Pike (C+C) 0.1CV
Switch 1/2 + Back Tuck (D+C) 0.1CV
Front tuck (D)
Switch Ring Leap (E)
FF + BHS + DBL Pike (B+B+E) 0.2CV

3.4 + 0.6 = 4.0 + 2.5CR = 6.5 D-Score if everything gets credit

FX:
3/2 Twists + 3/1 Twists (C+E) 0.2CV
DBL Arabian + Stag (E+A) 0.1
Switch Ring + Gogean (C/D)
DBL L-Turn (D)
Full In Tuck (E)
DBL Tuck + Split Jump (D+A) 0.1

3.3 + 0.4CV = 3.7 + 2.5CR = 6.2 D-Score if everything gets credit
____________________________________________________________

6.5 + 6.6 + 6.5 + 6.2 = 25.8 Is her maximum potential AA total, according to her olympic trial video.

Viktoria Komova's D-Scores (Updated)

As I promised from my last post Viktoria Komova D-Scores I will now update Komova's d-scores. I will use her most recent videos from the Russian Cup. It's quite hard to figure out what exactly she will compete in London. Everything is a mystery for now. She might not compete all the new upgrades we've seen from her. Russia is full of surprises. I still think she has a shot at AA gold even if her new floor music stinks. She plans on having the Amanar in London. I find it hard to envision an Amanar from her but anything is possible. She was capable of the Amanar as a junior and I never thought she would be able to get back her Patterson dismount, so we'll see.

VT: Amanar 6.5/ DTY 5.8 (Here she does the DTY)

UB:
Komova II + Pak (E+D) 0.2CV
Komova (E)
Inbar 1/2 + Stretched Jaeger (D+E) 0.2
Inbar 1/1 + P. Tkatchev (E+E) 0.2
DBL DBL Tuck (F)

3.9 + 0.6CV = 4.5 + 2.5CR = 7.0 D-Score

BB:
L-Turn + Front Aerial + Back Tuck + Sheep Jump (C+D+C+D) 0.3CV [she obviously didn't connect everything here, but this is what she is intending to connect]
FF + LOSO + LOSO (B+C+C) 0.1CV [she didn't compete the second loso but it will be back in her routine]
Standing Arabian (F)
Sissone + Split Jump (A/A)
Front Tuck (D)
Side - Somi (D)
Switch Leap (C)
FF + BHS + Patterson (B+B+G) 0.2CV

3.5 + 0.6CV = 4.1 + 2.5CR = 6.6 D-Score if everything gets credit

FX:
3/2 Twists + DBL Arabian + Stag (C+E+A) 0.3CV
DBL Tuck (D)
DBL L-Spin (D)
Memmel Spin (D)
Split Leap 1/1 (C)
3/1 Twists (E)
Switch Leap + Split Leap (B/A)
DBL Pike (D)

3.2 + 0.3CV = 3.5 + 2.5CR = 6.0 D-Score if everything gets credit
_____________________________________________________

6.5/5.8 + 7.0 + 6.6 + 6.0 = AA total D-score  26.1 with Amanar & 25.4 with only DTY

These were her maximum potential scores I can find. She might not need the Amanar IMO. This makes me excited. Of course execution will play a big factor in who will be the big leader in London as well.

SO PREDICTABLE, THE USA TEAM

I just got back home from the amazing Canada Day fireworks and was able to watch the last few minutes of the USA trials. The team was predictable; Wieber, Douglas, Raisman, Maroney & Ross. Congratulations to all the girls.

Full results: click here

OH CANADA!

First, happy Canada Day to all the Canadians around the world. I'm proud to be an Canadian. I have been enjoying this long weekend. The sun is shining and the weather is amazing.

By now most gym fans have already know who is on the Canadian Olympic gymnastics team. The five ladies that will represent Canada are: Kristina Vaculik, Victoria Moors, Dominique Pegg, Brittany Rogers & Ellie Black. And only one male qualified on the men's side to London. Nathan Gafuik will be the one to go to London. Good luck to the team and train safely and please be in good health.

In other news, USA's Olympic Trials are going on. I haven't seen night 1 and I will miss night 2 today. I'm going to go see fireworks :) ! From what I have been reading so far the team that everyone is predicting is basically still the same = Wieber, Raisman, Douglas, Maroney and Ross. Some are saying Elizabeth Price could replace Maroney, I can see it. I've also heard that Leyva and Orozco are confirmed to rep the men's Olympic team, not really a surprise.