It’s official. Lauren Mitchell is in the Floor final later today, defending her title from 2010. Diana Bulimar from Romania has withdrawn.
She (and all the Australians) take maximum advantage of the oddity that evolved when FIG decided to disallow women to step back out of tumbling passes — a leap, jump or random flutter kick out after landing.
Click PLAY or watch her routine on YouTube.
Lauren does those jumps as correctly as anyone else.
Jumps to disguise lack of control on landings have been used by male gymnasts for decades, but the trend is quite new for girls. It’s smart to use the rules to maximize your score. Especially if you gain bonus for connection.
Personally I don’t mind the jumps. But the old “lunge backwards” was better. Requiring a two foot “stick” would look good — but result in more landing injuries. And we have too many of those now.
Many disagree. Leave a comment if you are one of them.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 