Blythe Lawrence is at the French Invitational in Bercy. Watch for detailed coverage on Gymnastics Examiner. And @GymExaminer.
Podium training:
… Aliya Mustafina looks…well, better than she did during American Cup training (though she still missed her piked Jaeger on bars the one time she did one). It looks like her new floor combo, the one she biffed at the American Cup, is going to be a 2.5 twist to Rudi. Yes, a 2.5 to Rudi third pass. Ooh. A natural upgrade for her, and very exciting to see.
She also tossed the new combination on bars she didn’t throw in Florida: Tkatchev to Pak to immediate stalder Khorkina II. Nabieva looks exactly the same on bars as she did five months ago. …
… On beam, Deng Linlin flirted with but never quite made her two bhs to layout full to Korbut. It was very obvious that the combination was weighing heavily on her mind. Too heavily, perhaps — she did several timers, and also two or three with the layout full, but never actually threw the entire series. To my eyes she doesn’t have enough room at the end of the beam. But I guess we’ll find out…
Click PLAY or watch Deng Linlin on YouTube.
There’s much much more: Epke Zonderland, Lauren Mitchell, Jessica Lopez, Elisabeth Seitz, Ana Porgras, Sandra Izabasa (new Floor), Chen Yibing.
read about it on Gymnastics Examiner
It’s a HUGE meet.
… bit of a shame the Americans are over at a smaller Invitational.
Couch Gymnast has more videos from the French Invitational as well as Jesolo and links to the GBR, NED, GER competition.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 