As to my concern whether the too frequent phone calls to judges benefited Russia:
WTC beam supervisor Lyubov Andrianova was on the phone a lot to the D panel judges. But conspiracy theorists might be disappointed. None of the Russians’ beam scores were raised. In fact, two of them were lowered: Mustafina’s from 6.2 to 6.1 and Dementyeva’s from 5.9 to 5.7. Deng Linlin’s D score went down four tenths (6.5 to 6.1) whereas Jiang Yuyuan’s went from 6.2 to 6.0 and back up to 6.2 again before being made official. …
THE ALL AROUND – Notes from Rotterdam, WAG Team Final
From that same post:
… Leaving out the front layout after her 2 ½ twist proved to be … costly for (Mattie) Larson, and probably cost her team the gold. The missing salto resulted in her missing two requirements – the routine had no acro line with two different saltos pass and no front or side salto. She was initially awarded a 5.1 D score, which was lowered to 4.6 …
Finally, check Brigid’s commentary from on the floor of the photo pit last night. Some unique insights, including this one:
…
While Wu Jiani was practical and nervous, either pacing or doing what she could for the girls in terms off massages and finding what they needed, it was Mihai who took the helm with confidence and authority, telling each girl what she needed to hear when the time came. But it was with Alicia and Aly he was most tender, holding Aly by the shoulders with his big bear hands as he told her how great she had been, or giving Alicia what she needed, which was most often, keeping her emotions and power check.
After a nervous vault warm-up, he spoke as she waited like a raging bull at the end of the runway, “Don’t throw yourself at it- just hit it and it will come!” She nodded and did exactly what he said. And exactly what he said happened. And she walked away, nearly in tears from the emotional release, once again bearing the weight of seniority and the knowledge that it was to late. As she was enveloped by her team mates, he turned to her with a pointed fingers and a snarl, “And no tears, we won’t have any tears!”
“Okay,” She shot back with a glare, but did exactly what she was told and instead the team joined together in an embrace. Then he told them, …
“Okay, we pray now.” …
read more and check out her photos on Couch Gymnast.
It was strange not to see Valeri on the Floor with the girls. He’ll be there for the AA Final, I assume.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 