In response to those speculating that Russia may be the team to beat for the London Olympics, medstudent24 on the IG forum posted :
All this talk about Komova and Mustafina got me thinking how good they REALLY are compared to the rising American talent. I took the highest scores each gymnast received on each apparatus and combined them to come up with a total. The results are…
1. Jordyn Wieber. VT-15.75 UB-14.8 BB-15 FX-14.65 AA: 60.2
2. Viktoria Komova. VT-15.1 UB-15.45 BB-14.955 FX-14.3 AA: 59.805
3. Kyla Ross. VT-15.2 UB-14.15 BB-15 FX-14.2 AA: 58.55
4. Aliya Mustafina. VT-14.850 UB-14.825 BB-14.175 FX-14.650 AA: 58.5
LilyPod then linked to videos of all routines for the top 2 taken from their best AA competition. It’s an interesting comparison. Almost a Nastia – Shawn comparison.
See what you think.
Weiber had the better vault.
Komova had the better bars. (Superb dismount for Weiber, however.)
Hmm. I’d say Weiber won beam. But Komova is close.
Clearly Wieber won Floor.
Two completely different styles. Weiber powerful, routines jammed with difficulty. Komova more elegant. Better artistry and form.
It’s going to be a wonderful Olympics in 2012 with all this young talent (hopefully) peaking at that time.
UPDATE:
Almost everyone on the IG forum that commented likes Komova better. I think I’ll bet on Weiber. If she can stay healthy training all that difficulty, she’ll be tough to beat.
I still think you need an Amanar vault to win the Olympics 2012. (Nastia won 2008 with only a perfect Yurcheno 1 1/2.)
I’d like to see her defend her Scam American Cup title March 6, 2010. If the USA put up Rebecca Bross (confirmed) and Jordyn Weiber … that would be a potent duo.
27 comments ↓
Komova wins on everything but vault, in my opinion. Weiber will be forgotten before the Olympics.
Wieber will be lucky if she is walking by 2012.
Let’s not forget that Wieber’s highest scores were recorded in a match heavily skewed towards the Americans.
Yup. You are right, Eunice.
In my assessment I tried to ignore the scores, and simply compare the routines.
Wieber is weak on Bars, for sure. Weak like Shawn. But I believe she’ll improve steadily on that apparatus.
Wieber has better potential on Floor and Vault. And should be very competitive on Beam, as well.
I have a lot of faith in Jordy’s coach, too.
Komova by far. She has better form and a more classical look that the judges will like along with her difficulty.
Clearly anyone who has posted things about negitive things about Weiber, underestimates the genius of her coach. Geddert will someday be known as the godfather of creative gymanstics.
I think it might be a draw. Weiber’s throwing really difficult skills and is already dealing with overuse injuries. There is no reason for a girl her age to be throwing amanars now. She will probably have to relearn that skill as she gets taller.
As for Kormova, Russia has show time and again they are great at giving their juniors good basics and nice presentation but so many Russian juniors burn out before they can become seniors. I hope Kormova will be an exception because she is very talented and pleasing to watch but I’m not holding my breath.
Geddert has a great reputation, but has yet to prove his pudding on the international elite scene. I have respect for him but I still think we need to see how he handles this opportunity. Even the greats make mistakes.
“Geddert has a great reputation, but has yet to prove his pudding on the international elite scene.”
I know, right. He may be a godfather on the JO scene but as far as elite gymnastics goes, there’s a lot of other coaches I’d consider as godfathers before him.
As great as both of these gymnasts are, I honestly the best current junior gymnast is Aliyah Mustafina.
She has the difficulty, the artistry, and a really balanced program. She’s especially great on bars and beam, but she’s already winning titles on floor nd doing well on vault. She’s also starting to demonstrate the consistency that many Russian juniors have lacked, including Komova (she’s had troubled with a Patterson dismount and an arabian in her flight series on beam, both of which she took out of the above routine).
Either way, its going to be an incredibly exciting next few years.
I’d give the edge to Komova on beam and bars and floor and Wieber wins vault. Komova just has a nicer look to her gymnastics, although I think Wieber is very good. I don’t like the composition of Wieber’s beam routine. Her skills just seem like someone through 8 skills in a hat and they picked them in order and said first do random back bike then do random side somi then do random xyz. I was impressed with the amplitude in her straddle jump. She floated back to the beam.
she has a”nicer look”, so she is a better gymnast? sometimes i believe i am watching dance competitions, not gymnastics. there are rules. if your movement follows the rules and your movement is more difficult you win. if you don’t this is more like a dance or beauty competition or a creative writing contest or whatever, but nothing like a sport.
i love both gymnasts. i think komova has great power for her skinny legs and her routines are creative and interessting. and weiber just throws stuff that’s beyond me with a really nice (read: correct) form which is extremly impressive given the her extreme difficulty. it’s just like comparing apples and oranges.
Keep in mind Komova did nowhere near her full difficulty at Junior international, she lost .4 on beam for not doing her double arabian dismount and .1 on FX not doing her full-in. Wieber injured her hamstring and was still out at nationals, so her leaps will only get worse, IMO.
At their best, they’ve got
VT: Wieber 6.5, Komova 5.8
UB: Wieber 5.8, Komova 6.3
BB: Wieber 6.0, Komova 6.4
FX: Wieber 5.5, Komova 6.0
Wieber 23.8, Komova 24.5 (24.0 at Japan Cup)
Komova’s better form (and handstands) would give her the clear victory, so long as she hits.
Komova just won the Voronin Cup Jr Division
she seems to have had a bit of trouble on BB and FX, but she still managed a 59.850
http://www.sportgymrus.ru/Admin/GetFile.ashx?get=1&id=1517
Thanks Marcus.
What an amazing girl. So thin and yet capable of impossibly high start values.
… I’ll stick with my bet on Wieber, though.
[...] Komova keeps trying to prove she’s the best young gymnast in the World. What’s it going to take to win the 2012 Olympics … 61.0 [...]
Out of Komova and Weiber, Komova wins by a landslide. However, I wouldn’t count out Mai Murakami either. She’s shown more tricks than Weiber and Komova combined, and just needs to work on her polish.
Weiber could follow in the foot steps of Shannon Miller and get all her difficulty down early and then perfect it.
I think all the Jordyn bashing is from bitter Nastia fans who are afraid someone is better then her.
Josh, there will always be an element of subjective judging on the beauty of the gymnastics vs. the technical requirements. Whether you like it or not though, gymnastics is judged very similar to a dance competition. There are objective (technical elements) and subjective measures (artistic beauty) in dance competitions, gymnastics, figure skating. Its not a competition to see who can run the fastest or score the most points.
I believe that they have different styles. The power from Weiber and the elegance from Komova. It would be most exciting if they both were at the next Olympics and have grown from were they are today. In the article from IG the article, “Komova Takes Two More Titles in Yokohama” makes me feel like Komova might be the better of the two gymnasts.
How “Clearly Wieber won Floor” with lower difficulty, worse execution and choreography, I’ll never now.
To me, Komova is by far the best junior in the world. Wieber has the edge on vault and vault alone. This said, Komova has to deal with the exceptional-Russian-junior-curse that has afflicted her compatriots for years. If she can live up to her potential, she’ll be the one to beat come London.
Weibers coaches are obisly pushing her to a breaking point she will burn out by the end of next year
Komova competed an Amanar at the 2009 Voronin Cup. It wasn’t great, Wieber still has the edge on vault but that brings her combined D score to 25.2! That’s impressive.
Thanks Ian. I had forgotten that. … hmmm
[...] of weeks ago I posted a comparison between Jordyn Wieber (USA) and Viktoria Komova (Russia): best Jr gymnast – Komova v Weiber Almost everyone on the IG forum that commented likes Komova better. I think I’ll bet on Weiber. [...]
Yes, I agree that Weiber will not be walking by 2012 – did you see the take off angle on her full-in opener on floor?!?How can her coach let her get away with that – it is a one way ticket to retirement with injury!!!
in fact on every twisting take off she has her feet already pointing the wrong direction. Someone please correct her before she ruptures something…
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