Reportedly the Russians were furious that Jordyn had been added to the roster, last minute.
We had no idea why she was invited. Here’s why …
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, March 7, 2011: The FIG Executive Committee has decided to make the following changes and amendments in the 2011 Rules for the FIG World Cup Competitions and Series:
… At World Cup competitions (A Category, C-II and C-III), once the draw has been conducted*, in case of gymnasts’ withdrawal or in case places remain “empty”, the Organising Member Federation is entitled to nominate gymnast(s) from their country or a country of their choice to fill those ’empty’ places.
That was the first I’d heard of the decision.
… To be honest, they seem to be making this up as they go along.
The rule change has effectively been made after the fact to enable Jordyn Wieber to compete at the American Cup and, it seems, to accumulate points towards a World Cup title. …
Commentary from Rewriting Russian Gymnastics – FIG changes World Cup points rules retrospectively
An update from USAG helps explain the confusion:
The decision concerning alternates for competition was made prior to the AT&T American Cup by the FIG at the Executive Committee Meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. USA Gymnastics was notified about the decision on Feb. 25.
We are unclear why the FIG release was only delivered today, but the decision was not made retroactively.
… What’s the alternative for FIG?
Fly in an alternate in case of injury to one of the 8 gymnasts? (They’ve done this in the past.)
To be fair, this was the most exciting and interesting American Cup for years. So far I’m quite keen on the new World Cup format, … though the top gymnasts may burn out if they attend every meet they are invited.
Andy Thornton is quite positive, as well:
… Controversy. From last minute American entries, to last minute rearrangements of the standings, to continued judging debates and criticisms of the current code of points, I don’t think I had a single conversation in Jacksonville during which talk of some controversy didn’t surface. For once, I can’t say I had a strong opinion on most of these issues.
In a gymnastics world that’s starving for great all-arounders, I felt that Wieber and Jake Dalton added so much to the strength and drama of the competition that I couldn’t view their late additions as anything but a huge positive. And although I have some serious issues with execution scores in the event’s judging, I actually found the judging to be about as fair as I’ve seen in the last few years. …
… but make no mistake about it – Aliya Mustafina doesn’t plan on losing to Jordyn Wieber ever again. …
Marcus and others have convinced me that Jordyn is the legitimate winner of this competition, no matter how poorly you judge execution. She was also better prepared than Aliya. And better coached.
No SCAm.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 