Nikita Nagornyy 3/1 Tuck || Memorial Blume 2016

It's been a while since we've seen the 3/1 tuck being performed on floor. Cool.

Rio 2016 Olympic MAG/WAG Event Finals & Final Thoughts PART 1

Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic games has come to an end. It felt like it went by quickly. There were lots of happiness and disappointments. But for the most part I am satisfy with how everything went.

Team China came out with no individual medals but two team bronze medals for MAG/WAG is something to be proud of. Their program is still one of the top level powerhouses. China would have liked to win individual medals but most of them did not performed to their best abilities, especially the men. I do believe the Chinese WAG scores have been low balled through out the competition but I also believe that everyone deserved their placings. Also disappointed with Team Japan individually but they got the coveted MAG Team Gold and AA. 

I am liking that team Great Britain and Russia won many individual medals. I was not having much expectations for MAG Russia but they really proved themselves. I think this was one of the interesting and exciting things to see at the Olympics.

At the Olympic level it is the best competition to win but also as gymnastics fans we know more beyond what we see at the Olympics. We know the true beauty and work of these gymnasts. Olympic games does not necessarily define a gymnast. The Olympic games doesn't always showcase all the best gymnasts in the world. All these gymnasts are winners for competing in such a tough sport. Sometimes we don't agree about placings because we are so passionate and knowledgeable. But when the results are sealed and done there is not much we can do.

Somewhere there is a new gymnastics fan because they watched the Olympic games. In time, hopefully they realize it's not always about winning and placings. In my opinion it's also about marveling about the beautiful strong powerful skills and performances that they do. Watching your favourite win is an added bonus. Everyone is bias for whatever reasons. But we also need to find a way to feel stress free. We should try to see the beauty in everything.

MAG FX Results 
1. Max Whitlock 15.633
2. Diego Hypolito 15.533
3. Arthur Nory 15.433

The only surprise about this podium was Arthur Nory. I'm a bit confused about his name as I've always been calling him Nory. In this sport you just got to do the best and things can work out. I am happy for Nory. I am more happy for Hypolito. He had so many disappointments in past Olympics that this silver probably feels like a gold to him. His routine is full of multiple saltos which makes his routine exciting to watch. Then there's Max Whitlock. He is also a twisting machine like Kenzo. There is no surprise he won. He has scored very good on this event in the past. I am disappointed that Kenzo did not do the best he could but that's how this sport is. You just never know what is going to happen.

PH Results
1. Max Whitlock 15.966
2. Louis Smith 15.833
3. Alex Naddour 15.700

It was going to be a battle with teammates Whitlock and Smith. I thought Smith was actually going to win but Whitlock's difficulty outdid Smith's routine. I really like French man Tommasone but he had a few small errors and America's Alex Naddour was able to do his best routine to go over him. Gah I just like Tommasone elegance.

WAG VT Results     
1.Simone Biles AVG 15.966
2. Maria Paseka AVG 15.253
3. Giulia Steingruber 15.216

Well this final was intense because these women attempted some very difficult vaults. Chusovitina and Dipa Karmakar both did Produnova vaults. It's nice to see Karmakar place 4th for India. And lets talk about HONG UN JONG! She attempted the triple twisting yurchenko vault! She has guts and is badass. She fell and was not awarded TTY but it was still exciting to watch. I know safety is important but all these women were walking off being bosses. Maria Paseka does not have beautiful vaults but I am happy that she successfully medal because that was her only event she competed in Rio. When it came to Simone Biles I was rooting for her so hard because her vaults are so beautiful to watch. I'm happy she won. And Steingruber medal in 3rd is great for her and Switzerland. Her vaults are always powerful. This was a nice medal for her since later on she had a disappointing floor finals.

Still Rings Results  
1. Eleftherios Petrounias 16.000
2. Arthur Zanetti 15.766
3. Denis Abliazin 15.700

The strengths of these men are incredible. It really makes me motivated to work out. I was disappointed with the Chinese men. It really makes me miss great Chen Yibing who I still believe was robbed in 2012. Denis did a commendable job on rings he always has been a good rings worker. Zanetti was last up so he knew what he had to do for the win but his routine was not as crisp and precise as Petrounias. The lord of the Rings was rightfully Petrounias.

Ksenia Afanasyeva Retirement

I haven't been blogging here for awhile so I'm a bit rusty. According to Russian media the Rodionenko's has said Afanasyeva retired due to health issues. To my knowledge Afanasyeva has not said anything about her retirement yet. I wish she would say something or the media would at least have a quote from her. But for sure she will not be in Rio 2016.

Afanasyeva has been a huge part of the reason why I am a gymnastics fan. Without Afanasyeva not competing I will still find joy in watching gymnastics. I have so many reasons why I adore Afanasyeva but I don't know where to begin and explain. Sometimes you don't have to explain so much. I just know that I had a lot of fun watching Afanasyeva compete. She is definitely my favourite gymnast. And I am glad that I have gotten to know this gymnast existence. I wouldn't know what I would have been doing all these years if I have never known about Afanasyeva. But I have no regrets that I have became a huge fan of hers. I wish her all the best.

One of my favourite moment was when she debuted her Amanar at age 21! I never thought it would be possible. It was definitely one of my favourite highlight of this quad too. In a lot of ways she kept gymnastics pretty entertaining and exciting when she did this.

She's mostly known for floor and beam but she was truly an All-Around gymnast. She doesn't get much credit for her bar routines but she was pretty good on this event. I still always remember her as the first Russian gymnast to do the Van Leeuwen or toe shap 1/2 on bars. In many ways her bar routine composition started all the craze for the standard Russian bar routines we see today.

And now for the floor routine that is widely known and respected for being the best floor routine of the 2012 quad. It's not so much about the tumbling. It's about the artistry and style. There's not much to explain but many fans from this quad will understand why this floor routine was named the best floor routine of 2012. She had lots of history and so did that quad. When I saw her perform this routine for the first time I knew I would love it forever. So badass with the Kill Bill sirens. So badass.

Thank you Ksenia Afanasyeva.

Simone Biles 2016 USA National FX Day 1

Hot damn this floor routine is amazing. Biles is amazing. Even though we see her being amazing all the time it's still always feel new and refreshing. She makes gymnastics exciting to watch.

Mao Yi's 2016 Chinese National AA FX

Mao is one of my current favourite Chinese gymnast. She can twist good. Depending on how well she performs this in Rio and on the Olympic judges style preferences. She could be able to make event finals in Rio. Well I hope she does.

6.4D + 8.6E + 0.2internal bonus = 15.2

Simone Biles Pacific Rim 2016 || New Floor Routine

She is amazing. After watching this routine several times I can say I really like this routine. There does seem to be some parts where she does not follow the music rhythm but she still sells the routine with excitement and energy. She should no doubt be the gold medalist in Rio. 16.050 was well deserved!

Ksenia Afanasyeva Russian Championships 2016 New Floor Routine

This was from event finals where she tied with Angelina Melnikova for 14.567.

What can I say? Well for starters my judgement will be clouded since I'm an Afanasyeva fan. I can say I really like the music even if the folky parts are not my favourite. I especially like the beginning parts with the beat boxing sounds. I do feel a bit tired of her routines having the same dance through passages. It's become predictable where she will dance. In pictures she looks gorgeous with her movements but here she does seem to be doing less dancing. But still, there seems to be something professional about how Afan moves when she is fully committed to her routines. Here she was not fully well prepared for this competition. It makes me wonder why she even competed.

From what I hear she will compete at Europeans. This routine can improve more as she prepares better. For now it just seems sluggish but has time for refinements. It reminded me of her 2015 routine where I was not so sure but when she performed in Glasgow FX EF I actually liked her routine. We'll see how this new routine unfolds.

  

Maggie Nichols 2016 American Cup Floor Exercise

She moves stiff and kind of awkward but this was absolutely my favourite routine from American Cup. Very stylish and artistic.

Kenzo Shirai 2016 Baku World Cup FX

Today he only did the triple double tuck salto. Though it's still really hard to do. I'm guessing his namesake skill the triple double layout will be a rare skill for him in competition now. I feel he will play it safe for the Olympics. His difficulty is still high without it.

His score 7.5 + 8.65 = 16.15

Kenzo Shirai's 3/1 Twisting DLO

I haven't been updating here for awhile so here's a new MAG element. It was rated H! Kenzo really deserved this skill. He's amazing.

Quick Thoughts on Glasgow 2015

Oh man I don't know where to start. I'm a lazy blogger :P.

Overall I liked this world's championships. I liked how they introduced the gymnasts into the competition arena. I was able to watch almost all the competition live. There were many intense moments in MAG team finals and AA. I was thrilled for Japan finally winning team gold and it was nice to see team Great Britain celebrate history winnings for both MAG and WAG.

I loved Kohei Uchumura and Simone Biles showing that they are the bosses. Sometimes I wish the winners didn't make visible errors because sometimes it's anti climatic but it doesn't really matter because it also shows how dominant a team or individual is.

I think this might be the first time that I agree and is happy about all the medal rankings. There were many great gymnastics. I don't even know where to begin with. Check out my tumblr to see the things I liked agymnasticsfan.

One thing that did bother me about this championships was the 4 way tie. I know, I know it's nice to see people tie and it's positive but I honestly think the judges could have tweaked this final a lot better. I mean it's nice and all and it was Halloween but 4 way tie, argh. I know there are possibilities for ties but I suspect tweaking going on. That's just my opinion. I would have place Viktoria Komova the true winner above them all. I know she has her flaws but I prefer hers out of all the other three girls. If anything Fan Yilin was my other favourite except for the dead hang. I really like her elegant bar work.

And of course I was nervous for all my favourites but they all pulled through :). I'm happy Afanasyeva was able to keep her nerves calm and perform her routine to clinch 2nd after the amazing Biles. I just really like Afan. She has this presence like no other that night. She gets away with movements and style. She just has it. Her routine has really grown on me. I like how she moves.

Kenzo Shirai FX QF || Glasgow 2015

My favourite routine to win at worlds.

Afanasyeva's FX QF || Glasgow 2015

I see no gogean leap. I'm happy she will make event finals.

Afanasyeva's BB & FX || Glasgow 2015 Podium Training

Oh Afan. She is my favourite to watch on the Russian team. Her beam is lacking in difficulty but it's nice to see her helping the team on this event. I had to giggle a bit at her mount sequence. I blame it on her kidney situation :P. I wish she could keep a consistent stable routine. Her composition is always changing and I can see she is doing a 180 leg split turn now. We'll see what she does in qualification.

On floor nothing unusual to report except for the weird music that I only like because I'm bias :P. I still like the way she moves and I can see she was trying to be creative and playful in this routine but somehow it didn't work. I like the short low floor choreo though and she has one of the best double L-turns in the world. Sadly I think she'll get lots of corner deductions and she'll have to hit the hell out of this routine to accomplish something amazing at this championships. I'm not expecting much from her this competition. It's just nice to see her competing at worlds again. I'm wishing her good luck.

Simone Biles || Glasgow 2015 FX Podium Training

Still dislike the music but she is an amazing floor worker. My favourite to win floor and AA titles.

Catalina Ponor's New 2015 Floor Routine

Finally got to see it. Even though it's bad video quality I like her routine. Nothing has really changed (like the 3/1 twists:P) but it's nice to see her again.

Aly Raisman 2015 USA National FX Day 1

The main talk about this routine is the split 1/2 after the double pike. It's not well executed and I don't think she even hits 180. Or what kind of leap was that?

One thing I like to note about the code is that this corner rule is kind of a disaster. Basically you get gymnasts just dancing in the corner and nowhere else. Aly basically dances only in the corners. And those additional dance jumps after leaps are one of the most annoying things about floor routines today.

Either than that Aly is very good on floor. I Like how she does DLO as middle pass :).

  

2015 Asian Gymnastic Championships || News Link & Videos

Here are some links to great resources of news and videos from 2015 Asian Gymnastics Championships. It's not easy to find English news of Japanese gymnastics. I like these sites ryohei-kato and peggyswonderland. I know its tumblr but these sites helped me be up to date and once you get the hang of tumblr it's fun and easy.  

Here's Wang Yan's winning floor routine. I like the 3/2 indirect to 3/1 + front punch and of course the tuck dbl dbl at the beginning.

Here's Shirai's  winning floor routine. The triple double tuck always gets me. It's amazing to be honest and for whatever reasons I like the endo roll to handstand. He may only have one double salto but his routine is still exciting. Those twisting combinations are no walk in the park. I'm still dreaming the day he puts in the triple dbl layout that he's been seen doing. Now that would be on whole new level of amazing.

     

Simone Biles 2015 U.S Classics Floor Routine

New choreography and music. Hopefully it will grow on me. I did like the low floor choreography starting at 0:51 mark. Everything else was typical American cheerleader type artistry. Music was not good in my opinion but maybe it will grow on me but I doubt it. Aside from those things her tumbling is amazing but gotta get that gogean leap around.

It's going to be hard to beat Biles in AA and floor finals at worlds.

Ellie Black BB & FX Gold @ Pan Ams 2015

Good routines from Black. She looked so confident on beam. I really like her beam routine. She made beam finals at last year's world championships. I'm looking forward to her making the beam finals this year in Glasgow. She should be able to make it, she is that good. And you never know what can happen in this crazy sport, she could medal or win :P.

I like her floor routine too. She is capable of more difficulty. She can do DLO and her signature combo of 5/2 twists indirect to 3/1!