Year: 2011

The best routine at the American Cup. Wow.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Wieber Fever … as Spanny says.

Actually, I like Elfi Schlegel and have found her personally to be interesting, knowledgeable and dedicated.

But every NBC gymnastics broadcast I feel the same way … she’s dead weight, adding almost nothing to the commentary.

Of the three regulars, only Tim Daggett tries to earn his pay cheque.

One day Alicia Sacramone should replace Elfi.

(via Defying Gravity)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Judges gave her 6.0 difficulty, 9.0 execution, and 0.1 out of bounds … just enough to have her win the AA.

Most agree that 9.0 was too high, then point to other routines over scored for Mustafina.

Many will continue to call this meet the SCAmerican Cup, an event with a bias towards the USA. Lauren Hopkins was there … and disagrees, saying “Wieber won fair and square“.

… What we really need is for Execution judges to actually judge execution, not box the scores.

See more routines from the meet on Couch Gymnast.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Incredibly difficult, complex and original. Wow.

See more routines from the meet on Couch Gymnast.

Marcus, with the benefit of video review, scored it thus, later correcting his math:

Wieber (58.6)
VT – 6.5, 9.2 – 15.7
UB – 6.3, 7.3 – 13.6
BB – 6.0, 9.1 – 15.1
FX – 5.8, 8.5, -0.1 ND – 14.2

Mustafina (58.457.4)
VT – 6.5, 8.7 – 15.2
UB – 6.9, 8.7 – 15.6
BB – 6.3, 8.1, -0.1 ND – 14.3
FX – 5.0, 7.3 – 13.3 12.3

I decided to be nice and give Mustafina the 3-1/2, because if I took that off, she would’ve been 1.3 behind Wieber.

For reference, Mustafina putting her hand down before her feet on the front 1/2

Her short 3-1/2

As you can see, she cheats it around and the judges fell for it.

So, taking that into account, I think Wieber more than deserved to win.

Certainly Aliya should have got credit for the 3 1/2 twist on Floor. No question in my mind.

Leave a comment if you have your own assessment.

I switched my prediction on who would win the American Cup from Jon Horton to … Jake Dalton, who ended up finishing 3rd.

I apologize, Jon.

You da man. I’ll keep the faith, next time.

Blythe Lawrence:

Horton, meanwhile, has embraced his role as unofficial spokesperson for gymnastics, men’s gymnastics in particular. In video promos, he incites the crowd to clap, cheer, go nuts when he performs. When everybody performs.

Today’s American Cup victory was 80 percent preparation, 20 percent…what? I asked.

“Crowd,” Horton said. He was exhausted at the end of all of his routines, especially on parallel bars and high bar, he confessed.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: 2011 American Cup aftermath: Tidbits and reactions from the mixed zone

I love these ‘open’ auditions.

Anyone can attend. In any acrobatic discipline.

ARTISTIC, ACROBATIC & RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS – DIVING
TRAMPOLINE – TUMBLING – OTHER SPORTS

Circus performers can audition, too, but only by invitation.

LOCATION: Orlando Metro Gymnastics

On site registration 12:30 P.M. Must be age-18 or older on day of audition. Bring photo, resume and demo video.

For more information check the link atop every page on this site.

That’s the debate.

Both had one fall at American Cup. Who should have won? (results)

It’s close, but a majority of experts will agree with Aunt Joyce, the World Champion should have won, narrowly.

On the other hand, the routine of the meet for me was Jordyn’s Beam.

I blame coach Alexander Alexandrov, actually. He and the Russian program don’t have the discipline any longer to decide what their gymnasts will compete.

When he told Aliya to do her easier Floor routine for the easy win, she insisted she’d do the new, more difficult set.

… Actually she fell on the relatively easy pass, not the new 3 1/2 twist. But Mustafina still gave away the win on the last routine.

Wieber on Floor had 6.0 difficulty, 9.0 execution, and 0.1 out of bounds. Mustafina had 5.8 difficulty and 7.866 execution including 1.0 for the fall.

Mustafina is the better gymnast right now, mainly because of Bars. This embarrassing loss may be good motivation for Aliya. … And result in some improved discipline in the Russian team.

USA is organized and disciplined. Russia not.

No doubt Team Russia will try to make this all about whether or not a gymnast from the host country should be able to replace a last minute injury, as happened with Wieber and Dalton.

That’s a separate issue.

Or is it still the SCAmerican Cup?

Let’s ask Russian WAG Coach Alexander Alexandrov.

Jordyn Wieber (59.899) won over Aliya Mustafina (59.831) and Alexandra Raisman (58.565).

Jonathan Horton (90.198) won over Mykola Kuksenkov (90.032) and Jake Dalton (88.497).

more results and links on GymNiceTic.

Follow LIVE action @intlgymnast and @USA_GymEvents. Or International Gymnast Magazine on Facebook. Or LIVE on Gymnastics Examiner.

Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev., who won the 2011 Winter Cup Challenge, has been added to the field for the 2011 AT&T American Cup, an International Gymnastics Federation World Cup event, which begins at 11:15 a.m. today at the Jacksonville (Fla.) Veterans Memorial Arena. He replaces Russia’s Sergey Khorokhordin, who withdrew due to injury.

Dalton joins an already impressive field that includes 2010 World all-around champion Aliya Mustafina of Russia, 2010 World all-around silver-medalist Philipp Boy of Germany, 2010 World all-around bronze-medalist Jonathan Horton of Houston and 2010 World all-around finalist Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass.

USAG

On Gymnastics Examiner’s The Discussion: Who’s going to win the American Cup? (men) … I picked Jon Horton … IF he hits Pommels for 13.50, or more.

Most others chose Philipp Boy.

But with this change … I’m throwing in for the NEW kid, Jake Dalton.

The 16 gymnasts who are confirmed to compete in Jacksonville are listed below.

Men

* USA: Jake Dalton, Reno, Nev.
* USA: Jonathan Horton, Houston
* France: Cyril Tommasone
* Germany: Philipp Boy
* Great Britain: Samuel Hunter
* Great Britain: Daniel Purvis
* Japan: Koji Uematsu
* Ukraine: Mykola Kuksenkov

Women

* USA: Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass.
* USA: Jordyn Wieber, DeWitt, Mich.
* Australia: Lauren Mitchell
* China: Huang Quishuang
* Great Britain: Hannah Whelan
* Russia: Aliya Mustafina
* Switzerland: Ariella Kaeslin
* Venezuela: Jessica Lopez

Show me the money!

1st AA–$16,175.13 (15,000 Swiss francs), 2nd–$12,940.10, 3rd–$8,626.73, 4th–$5,391.71, 5th–$4,313.37, 6th–$3,235.02, 7th–$2,156.68, 8th–$1,078.34 for a total purse of $107,834.16