Andy Thornton:
Newly crowned world champion Aliya Mustafina was absolutely invincible less than five months ago at her first Worlds outing in Rotterdam, and was expected to dominate this weekend’s American Cup, particularly after fellow world medalists Jiang Yuyuan and Rebecca Bross declined invitations to compete.
Great Britain’s Nicole Hibbert, a solid all-arounder who placed 22nd overall at the 2010 world championships, was recently injured at the British nationals and forced to withdraw from this weekend’s competition. She’ll be replaced by a gymnast whom many consider to be one of only three women in the world capable of challenging the reigning queen from Russia – American sensation Jordyn Wieber. …
read more – Special to Universal Sports – Mustafina might need ‘A-game’ after all
In such a small field normally you compete conservative routines. But with Wieber looking good and getting stronger …, Aliya may need her full difficulty after all.
First up, however, is the the SuperNastia Cup.
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P.S. For your amusement, a history of the SCAmerican Cup on Big Fake Smile. It’s not always been a SCAm. That nickname picked up popularity starting 2002.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 