When pressed to predict who would finish 2nd to Kohei in Nanning I named Sam Mikulak.
Why Sam?
I felt his NCAA success would give him consistency under pressure. And that his relaxed psychology would help in that loud arena in Nanning. If Sam hit 6 for 6, he would score high.
My confidence in Sam’s consistency is not holding up, however. In the training hall we heard Sam was having problems, especially on P Bars.
He fell on P Bars in the AA Final and shouldn’t have been allowed to continue as he took longer than 30sec to resume his routine.
(Later Zhang was allowed to resume his H Bar routine after breaking a grip, even though it took longer than 30sec to get a new one. A new rule on that has been discussed by FIG MTC, but it had now been implemented by Nanning.)
Sam’s still a podium contender for Rio. But don’t bet the mortgage.
And he’s trying to upgrade.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 