Never easy. Some of the most bizarre judging stories I’ve ever heard have come out of Central and South America.
Here’s one from the Women’s Team Competition:
From judge Grace Chiu who’s there as photographer:
The straddled Weiler was supposed to be devalued from a D to a C, according to the FIG WTC since Tokyo. It did not get applied yesterday to Shawn Johnson because Steve Butcher, MTC acting on behalf of absent Nellie Kim, clarified that the change can only be applied after six months‘ notice. Johnson benefits with a 0.4 and one placement ahead of Peng Peng Lee because of the timing of these Pan Am Games. I will be curious to see what Shawn does in 6 months.
That’s significant because vaunted Team USA nearly lost this meet. From Amanda Turner’s wrap-up post:
… The U.S. outscored the field on vault and uneven bars, but performed disastrously on balance beam and floor exercise. Olympic champion Shawn Johnson, who won four golds at the 2007 Pan American Games, dropped off on her standing full and slipped off again on a simple switch leap. Newcomer Jessie Deziel posted the top scores for the U.S. team on balance beam (13.275) and floor exercise (13.150).
Peng-Peng Lee led Canada, which could have won with a stronger performance on uneven bars. The team had the top totals on both balance beam and floor exercise, with Mikaela Gerber posting the best floor score (13.950). …
Full WAG results from that link, too.
New WTC for PAGU (Pan American Gymnastics Union) …
President:
Naomi Valenzo – MEX
Members:
Helen Laliberte – CAN
Irene De Diaz – ESA
Yazaira Cabrera-Davila – PUR
Thays Colina – VEN
Yumi Sawasato – BRA
7 comments ↓
Amanda is an idiot. If Canada having better bars could have won them this meet then the US having a better beam would have negated that. You don’t get to make shit up. She calls this journalism?
@Jamie
Agree. That statement could be made for any competition regarding any team or any athlete. It’s like watching a baseball game and saying if they only would have hit two more runs, they would have won. I’m sure Canada may have won if they also had a stronger vault or maybe even a stronger beam or floor. What a ridiculous statement.
That was an example, Jamie. Her point is that there is NO WAY the USA B-team should have been this close to losing to any other team. Marta will not be amused.
The better example would have been to point out that if Canadian Dominique Pegg had not been injured, Canada would have most likely won.
It was a really bad result for the World Champion nation.
I’m not a gymnast so I only have a limited understanding of some of the more technical aspects of this sport- but I know that Jorydn Wieber does Weiler kips in her UB routine- are these the same straddled Weilers you’re talking about in Shawn’s routine? And if so I’m assuming Jordyn’s difficulty will take a hit if they are devauled and she may have to change her routine to get more difficulty? Could someone explain?
Jordyn Wieber does her Weilers with her legs together all the way (though the cast to handstand into them may be straddled). See, the thing is, about the WTC and elements, that it’s fine for new skills to be submitted a day before an event to get assigned a value and symbol, but if an element is already in the Code but is not specific on technique, they can’t just make a clarification the same way — it has to have six months’ notice. The Weiler, being a men’s move, assumes the legs are together throughout the move. i.e. men never do the move in straddle. Since it became a D in the WAG Code this cycle, it’s been attempted every which way to increase D-scores. It’s not that hard, actually — I learned it by accident back in my day (when it wasn’t even in the WAG Code). It’s even easier if you straddle, like in a cast to handstand. A few women did the Weiler without legs together in Tokyo and it appears the WTC realized their lack of specificity in the description of the element. Nobody was stupid enough to submit a straddled Weiler as a new skill, and certainly not Shawn Johnson here. Nevertheless, there has been talk of putting it back to a C in the next Code, and the straddled Weiler would be a B. This should not be a surprise. I’m hoping maybe Shawn can work it with legs together rather than abandon it.
Regarding CAN vs USA… Admittedly, I was hoping for a 1999-like Pan Am outcome, but USA won it substantially on vault difficulty (22.7 vs 21. 1) and dynamics, as well as bars dismount difficulty (1E, 3D =3.7 DV+CR vs 2D, 2C=3.0 DV+CR). USA could afford to count as many falls as CAN (2) to come out ahead. Still, I think we should be happy that CAN increased their team score by 2 points since Tokyo and the momentum is happening.
When did this 6 month rule come into effect? I remember at the 2004 olympics, a stalder hop full on men’s high bar was downgraded at podium training and the lower value applied in the competition.
The 6 months’ notice was implemented during this cycle. I don’t remember exactly when, like London 2009. I think it is an Executive Committee policy to keep the Technical Committees from constantly changing the Code. It forces the TCs to “get it right” the first time. This is why we have less frequent WTC Newsletters and the Help Desk document. In a way, it prevents sudden changes in routine content (especially at Worlds) that could jeopardize a gymnast’s safety.
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