Favourite Things of 2014

I might have missed a lot of things but these are the things that quickly came to my mind. This was not a well thought out post.

WAG

VT: Hong Un Jong's EF Nanning

UB: This was kind of hard for me but I will go with Yao Jinnan's Nanning EF. I love how crisp her connected pirouettes are and the stuck DLO. Of course I still like the look of Russians on bars and the unique combos of team Great Britain.

BB: Bai Yawen's Nanning EF. This comes immediately to my mind. I love her lines and clean execution. This will definitely be something I will remember of 2014.

FX: Simone Biles USA Classic floor routine. It's just amazing. Overall this is my favourite routine of 2014 for WAG.

Cool skills: Mustafina's 3/1 Y-Turn, Schaefer's Side-somi 1/2

MAG

FX: Denis Ablyazin & Kenzo Shirai.

PH: Krisztian Berki Nanning EF

SR: Liu Yang Nanning EF

VT: Donnell Whittenburg, Yang Hak Seon & Ri Se Gwang (badass)

PB: Oleg Verniaiev Nanning EF

HB: Kohei Uchimura Nanning EF  

Cool Skills: Bretschneider's 2/1 Kovacs, Shirai's 3/1 DLO

What were your favourite routines, skills or combinations for this year. I would love to know so that I can remember what routines happened this year. Please comment :).

Kenzo Shirai's Triple Twisting Double Layout Gif

My friend frangymnasticsfan made this gif of Shirai doing a 3/1 twisting DLO. Shirai is amazing. It's impressive that its on a real competition floor. Here's to hoping we'll get to see it in the new year of 2015. This is an exciting acrobatic skill. Get it Kenzo.

  (Source: frangymnasticsfan)

Afanasyeva's 2014 Voronin Cup Prelim Floor Routine || Double Layout is Back

Bretschneider's Kovacs 2/1 @ 2014 DTB Pokal

Afanasyeva's 2014 Team QF DTB Pokal FX & More

All video credit link goes to whiptotriple from tumblr. Her youtube page illusionturns.

My thoughts. Well its nice to see Afan back but she still has a lot of work to do if she ever wants to be competitive in elite again. That being said I'm happy to see her in a international competition again. I hope the double layout will come back. It's good she can still do a DTY. Her floor routine music is a no no. I hope its just something random she decided to use for this year. I hope her next music choice will be better. In terms of artistry and style she is not putting her all into it. It's really lifeless but there is still something distinct and unique about the way she moves. Perhaps better floor music will help. I wonder how long she has been training for this competition? This was only qualification too. I feel we put so much pressure on gymnasts, oops. I hope everything works out for her and that her ankle gets stronger and fully recovered.

By the way Ekaterina Kramarenko's is still kicking ass on bars. It's nice to see.