More good commentary on the excellent competition in San Jose, California from the Perfect 10 blog. Here are a couple of samples from that post:
… Ivana Hong: Her floor routine is outstanding. Absolutely incredible presentation. A given for GAGE gymnasts, it seems. And I can’t believe her beautiful double yurchenko. Such clean form and great height for such a tiny gymnast. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.
Having had a chance to watch podium training, I was impressed to see the emphasis coach Al Fong put on basics getting Ivana ready to compete her double twisting Yurchenko. Almost all her time was spent on position on the round-off and take-off from the beat board. She did very few twisting vaults in training. And obviously it worked.
Fong catching Ivana on a “set” drill out of round-off on Floor:
original photo – flickr
… Bridget Sloan: I can’t say. I didn’t get to see her. You would think that the winner of the US Classic might at least get some TV time. … From what I’ve seen so far, she looks like a good all arounder and a great asset for the US team. I particularly like her double turn on Beam and her toe-on tkatchev on Bars.
Bridget was the biggest, best surprise of the competition for me. Not only is she great now. But she has terrific potential for the future.
original photo – flickr
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