after seeing the improvements of many of the national team members, i've been thinking how much depth the team has going into the 2012 games. in 08 the usa had two hugely talented gymnasts, 2 other locks, and the last 2 spots only had a few contenders. however for 2012 there are a ton of contenders. i guess we'll have to see how this year and the next play out, but here are my thoughts on what the team should look like:
so we begin with the list of girls who have a legitimate shot at the team and their pros and cons:
pros: obviously a huge talent, consistent and can contend with the best in the world
cons: not many, doesn't have a lot of artistry but at this point in the sport it's not valued high enough to hurt her too much
rebecca bross-
pros: rebecca has very difficult skills and has already proven she can fight with the best in the world. she also has superstar coach valeri liukin behind her and a nice list of accomplishments
cons: again, she lacks artistry and if she's gonna rely only on her difficult skills she's gonna need to make some upgrades. she has been rather inconsistent in the past, but i think shes growing past that
pros:after all she's been through, she is incredibly tough and a relentless competitor. her experience makes her a great leader to what will otherwise be a rather young team. she is also she's the usa's only major contender for vault finals, a place where she's world champion. as she plans to add floor back into her routines she will likely be posting big scores for the team
cons:she's definitely getting up there in age and the risk for injury increases as well as her explosive power can sometimes be hard to control
pros: mattie is a gorgeous gymnast, one of the few very elegant athletes the americans have at the moment. she also has the difficulty to back it up
cons: after her mini-meltdown at worlds on her best event, her consistency is being questioned
aly raisman-
pros: very powerful athlete with great difficulty, if she makes a few improvements she could have herself a world or olympic medal on floor
cons: lacks a little flexibility, weak on bars, and doesn't have a second vault
pros:combines difficulty and artistry, clean gymnastics. can help the team on any event especially on their weakness, bars
cons: not the most difficulty, and with her focus on college gymnastics at the moment she may not be keeping up with her elite level skills, in fact i'm not even sure she's planning to return
pros: can be a great addition to the team on bars (which is very needed) and can also deliver on the other events if needed
cons: not always the most consistent and very injury prone
ivana hong-
pros:beautiful gymnast, great lines, great coach, and a proven contender on the world stage. also has been around long enough to provide some leadership
cons: has been out with injury for quite some time and her status at the moment is unknown. she also struggles a little on bars
shawn johnson-pros: one of the best gymnasts the world has ever seen, incredible difficulty with near perfect form
cons: since retiring after the beijing olympics and announcing a comeback, it is unknown whether she will be able to get back all the skills she lost in time for the olympics. also lacks some artistry and has been dealing with a nasty knee injury.
sam shapiro-
pros: gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous lines, toe point, extension, etc. possibly some of the best the world has ever seen. also has great dance flexibility, and some pretty difficult routines
cons: a little inconsistent, lacks some difficulty, and very injury prone.
pros:a proven veteran who's always there to step up when the team needs her. also does difficult skills and excels on bars
cons: everyone says she has great lines, but i dont see it at all. i hhhhhhhhaaaaateeeeeeee her lines. also needs to upgrade to hang with the best in the world
pros: beautiful lines and great form along with decent difficulty
cons: not overly exceptional and may be out shined by competitors
pros: good form and great difficulty, especially on vault where she has an amanar, and 3 amanars could boost the us team onto a whole new level
cons: again, nothing overly exceptional (besides the amanar) but we'll have to see what upgrades she makes
pros: very very clean and precise gymnast, gives very few deductions to the judges. ive recently heard she has verified an amanar at camp, which could double her chances of making the team
cons: not a ton of difficulty and missing the showmanship. i'd like to believe she lacks it because of her age, which worries me because 2012 is her 1st year senior.
pros: an incredible talent on all events, especially vault where she may have the best amanar in the country (or even the world). she is also working on a second vault which would be huge
cons: has not been tested on a big stage, so we don't know how she'll handle the pressure
so that makes 15 girls who have a great shot at making it, but we're gonna have to narrow it down to 5. until this weekend i always had it in my mind that the usa would send rebecca bross and jordyn wieber as the top two all arounders to the olympics. however after mckayla maroney beat jordyn this weekend at jeslo (even though jordyn did have a fall) ive begun to see that there could be threats to rebecca and jordyn's reign. however until these threats do take over im keeping my bets on jordyn and rebecca. so lets look at this; if we have 3 up, 3 count on each event in the team finals (the priority for the us team) then we can begin to add up who goes in the lineup. based on this, here is my olympic team lineup.
vault:
1. alicia sacramone (duh)
2. jordyn wieber
3. mckayla maroney
1. rebecca bross
2. mattie larson
3. still debating on jordyn or mckayla, but ill go for jordyn wieber
beam:
1. rebecca bross
2. jordyn wieber
3. alicia sacramone
1. alicia sacramone
2. mattie larson
3. jordyn wieber
so that's my predictions for now. they will probably change as we near the olympics but at the moment im satisfied with this team. thanks for reading (:
Lexie Priessman isn't age eligible for the 2012 games. I 100% agree with your team. I would send these girls too. The debate between putting Jordyn or Mckayla up on bars would depend on the higher SV, they are both in the process of tweaking/upgrading. My concern for Mattie Larson is that Martha gave an interview basically saying she was so dissapointed in Mattie's performance she never wanted her on a world/olympic team again. Mattie is going to prove herself worthy of that team otherwise I think Martha would rather have Kyla the consistent rock who isn't dazed by anything.
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