Monday, July 28, 2014

Glasgow 2014: Gie It Laldy!

It's such a nifty phrase!

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge bouquets of luck to our men's and women's artistic teams who take to the floor in qualifying at stupid o'clock Australian time tonight in Glasgow. Subdivision 1 kicks off at 10:30pm AEST. And keep your eyes out for ex-Victorian elite Stella Savvidou who will be flying the flag for Cyprus!

The qualification doubles as the team final, and will be split over today and tomorrow. I am told gymnastics will be on the Glasgow3 channel.


Podium training image via Gymnastics Australia on Facebook


MAG - Subdivision 2, Australia starts on rings
WAG - Subdivision 8, Australia starts on bars (approx 5:15am AEST)

72 comments:

Erin said...

Goo Aussies!

still can't get my head around the 2 day qual / team final format!

Anonymous said...

Good job girls!
Currently in 2nd behind England for the team and GRB is currently leading the AA quals!
Everyone had nice clean routines (we competed 2 laid out yurchenkos. .. ) got lucky with Canada's two falls I think
All the best for day 2!

Anonymous said...

Well done to the girls, I would think beam and floor will be fairly strong for us as well. So pleased for Georgia Rose Brown, finally after being robbed of an Olympic spot she has been able to shine.
I do think putting Olivia in the team was a mistake,placing Georgia Godwin would have given us another AA chance.Dont think Olivia has really added that much value considering she was in for her bars being her best.
The National coach and her favourites! This will never change. Good luck with day 2 .

Anonymous said...

Is there anywhere to watch a replay? I'm scouring the internet but coming up short.

Have you also heard the rumour that this might be the last CGW with gymnastics? Something stupid about basketball replacing it for 2018.

Anonymous said...

If you download the ten play app you can re watch it!

As for Olivia I agree, she qualified in third for bars finals!
I hope Georgia gets her chance to shine at worlds!
Go Australia!

Anonymous said...

I agree. The girls are doing a wonderful job so far but another AA would have been much more practical considering GG can outscore GS. We could have been boasting a first and second overall.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anon10:38am! App downloaded! :)

I'm relieved the girls are doing well. I think Liv Viv could have been substituted with GG but what's done is done I guess. Hope they continue to do well!

Mez said...

Went like a dream on my laptop this morning - I registered on TenPlay with my email address. Not so much during rhythmic for some reason!

Anonymous said...

Yep - Vivian only beat Monckton by .5 on bars. Godwin has a higher DV than Vivian on bars, plus showed a DTY at pre-comm games camp, and also has 6.0+ on beam.

I think Vivian should be reserve for worlds. Replace her with Godwin and then add in Kiara (also DTY) and we could have a great lineup in quals of:

VT
Mitchell
Monckton
Brown
Godwin
Munteanu

UB
Monckton
Godwin
Munteanu
Brown
Miller

BB
Brown
Munteanu
Godwin (6.0+)
Monckton (6.0+)
Mitchell (6.0+)

FX
Munteanu
Godwin
Brown
Mitchell
Miller

Anonymous said...

Mitchell didn't compete a FTY today so I wouldn't say she could compete vault at worlds. Get Godwin, Munteanu and GRB (has a 1.5 yes? ) to spend lots of time working vault before then

Mez said...

Mmmm... after what I saw at Nationals EF I'd not count out Isis Lowery, all she lacks is major meet experience. Her VT and FX were outstanding that day and hot damn do we need a good Y1.5 right now.

Anonymous said...

5.09pm you have six people on your team and there's only 5 on a team. I think Isis would need a DTY to get on a team, her D on other apparatus is not quite strong enough

Anonymous said...

I'm fairly sure that Worlds has 6 team members. They compete 6 - 5 - 4 (6 on the team, 5 routines each apparatus, with 4 scores to count) in quals and then 6 - 3 - 3 in team finals. This is why consistency is such a factor at world championships.

This is from the last team worlds in 2011 showing 6 team members:
Team final results

http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/worlds/2011/wag/teamfinal.pdf

Anonymous said...

You can all bag Olivia Vivian as much as you like, but put it this way - she is the glue that holds that team together. She creates the harmony, the laughs and fun time with the girls and that alone is worth way more than an extra 0.5 on bars. If she wasn't in the team the group harmony would probably be pretty much non existent. Let's face it - the girls hit 8 from 8. Without that positive vibe, that vibrant personality amongst he team, cheering them on and just overall being a top chick who knows what the chemistry in the team would be like, and who knows how many of those 'hit' routines would have counted falls?

Anonymous said...

What are you her agent?

Anonymous said...

it's not australia's next top best friend!

Anonymous said...

also - nobody is 'bagging' olivia - it's just when you are only internationally competitive on one event and the event you are best on you only ranks 3rd best among your teammates - it makes no sense to take you over someone who can contribute a decent vault or on all 4 events.

Anonymous said...

You obviously have no clue about how a TEAM works do you Anonymous at 10:20?

I think what Anonymous at 9:44pm is trying to say is that if a team is cohesive and comfortable with each other they spur each other on to do good things. It's obvious from an outsider looking in that this team have a fabulous bond with each other and therefore this carries through in their performances. If you add a 16 year old who has no real international experience and doesn't quite 'bond' with the team it completely changes the dynamics of the team and can hugely affect overall performance.

I agree with Anon 9:44 that Peggy got it right this time, regardless of what happens from here.

Anonymous said...

Peggy got it right? This is the poor mans Olympics we are talking about here, not as if it's packed with top gymnastics countries now is it. Out with the old and let the you guns start building their own dynasty and tam bond, I say!

Anonymous said...

I agree anonymous @10:52 but for what she had to work with at this current point in time she got it right.

Anonymous said...

Rhythmic didn't win any medals, MAG didn't in the team event. No matter how hard WAG work the funding is gone :(

Anonymous said...

Yep - the ASC set a target of 10 medals for gymnastics. At this stage it seems MAG is unlikely to win any, so it will be whatever the girls can get. I'm guessing it will end up around 3-5.

Anonymous said...

I think Peggy got this wrong, Lauren will more than likely retire after this or worlds, she is hanging out to retire.This was just another notch in her belt. Olivia, the same except I don't believe she adds much value. Olivia is in this very much for herself, she played second fiddle to Dasha and now wants to out do Lauren, very evident in her media coverage. It should be about promoting the next and upcoming generation.Georgia Rose Brown is the next generation to take over the Lauren's and the Olivia's .Georgia Godwin is in the next cycle.GA need to take charge rather than let Peggy dictate her favourites .

Anonymous said...

SILVER!
with 6 falls and just under 6 points behind England

Mez said...

Ah yes, Olivia's media coverage was always TOTALLY all about her and her chances and how great she thinks she is, never about promoting breast cancer charities or promoting the team and her sport in the lead-up to the games in the hope of getting sponsorship because she doesn't have a steady income to support her training. Neeeeeever. Not once. It's all about the ego forever and always.

Mez said...

The simple fact is these girls are AMBASSADORS for this sport and they're currently being televised. Think of athletes (especially Australian) who are crucified when they react poorly to a bad performance -- think of that decathlete the other day after two false starts. Look at Russia or Romania when they get a silver. They're touted as whiny, spoilt, melodramatic, childish and unsportsmanlike if they start to pout or cry. Gymnasts in particular are often portrayed as ice queens on the sidelines.

Heaven forfend the team laugh off a mistake rather than dwell on it and frown about it (which they are bound to do later), rather than storm out, rather than start crying. One big hurdle of competition is over now, it's a relief and happiness comes that with relief. They can now acknowledge the crowd and enjoy the atmosphere they just spent an hour trying to block out from their minds. Any other athletes who didn't make this team would react exactly the same if they did.

Anonymous said...

6 falls??? sheesh, what happened?

Mez said...

Floor falls/oob and beam falls. Could have been nerves (Liv off beam twice) could have been GRB's toe flaring up again given she flubbed on each apparatus (I missed her fx on the stream). At this point we don't know.

Mez said...

Liddick: "I'm not disappointed with a medal, we had a few issues prior to our arrival that I won't get into."

From here http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8882662

Mez said...

However THIS article http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/australias-team-commonwealth-games-gymnastic-reign-over/story-fno2580r-1227006711020

says it wasn't nerves that Liddick cited.

"Liddick said it wasn’t nerves that caused a few mistakes within the Australians. "It’s just being a little underdone; a little underprepared,” she said. “That will always catch up with you in the big lights (of a major competition). So we need to go back to where there are no lights and do a little more work."

Anonymous said...

I'm totally behind the team selection and the thinking behind it, however still did not support the Olivia selection over Georgia or Kira. It is a mute point as a Silver at the end if the day was a great outcome, interesting that Olivia did not make UB finals regardless. Team positions should not be based on who gells the team together, they are all mature professional gymnasts that in most cases would of done the work rightly expected for such selection. Publicity is fantastic, however the gynmastics should do the talking first. There is a fine line and I for one believe it has taken priority over why some are in the team. Lost opportunity to have at least one young gymnast with perhaps inconsistent performance to gain experience under the leadership of older team members which builds towards Rio. Good luck to the girls for rest of the comp, we will always stand tall and be shouting in support. I know I have covered a lot. But get behind them, show your support and be proud - silver was a fantastic outcome and Lauren, Larissa, Georgia and Mary-Anne are genuine medal chances.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the links. Liddick saying we were underdone and underprepared doesn't make sense when we hit 8 for 8 the first night (granted, with 2 vaults that10 year olds can do). Seems like there is a lot more to it. So happy they got silver, when I was wondering if we would medal at all,but confused as to the sudden implosion last night.

Anonymous said...

I think was silver was a great result, but besides the point. Full marks for day 1 but...

With strong BB/FX, two events we're actually pretty good on, we could have won the gold with 8 good routines given England's troubles. We failed dismally to seize the opportunity. You can't pull out difficulty you don't have due to injuries and team composition but you can do what you do have well - and we didn't.

Peggy told the media Mary-Anne and Georgia Rose were newbies - I wouldn't say so! Comes across as a total excuse! Also, it is HER JOB to make sure the team is prepared. If they weren't prepared, we need to ask why they weren't prepared!

We can't pull this in November of 2015 or we will fail to qualify a team to the Olympics. Just can't afford to be susceptible to such dramatic meltdowns.

It was worrying how after a major error, it was like nobody knew how to pick themselves up and regroup. My overall impression was that the team lacked confidence.

Some other reflections -

Lauren: such a superstar! She showed what it is to be a leader and salvaged things for us. I hope they use this opportunity to go back and assess her SV and leaps because by what Liz was saying, she was downgraded 6-7 tenths on beam. No point turning up to worlds and hoping for the best.

Olivia - Kudos to her for hitting floor when we needed it but I don't know how useful she will be come October.

Vault- SOMEBODY PLEASE DO SOMETHING! I mean, how can any self-respecting program put up two layout yurchenkos in 2014? We were doing harder vaults in Atlanta! All the hard work in upgrading everything else is being thrown down the toilet. Think about the fact that by virtue of our vaulting we started with an automatic 3.0 deficit to England! On nationals coverage Liz was all like *giggle* who knows why we're rubbish at vault *giggle* - it needs to be taken seriously and it needs to be fixed.

Anonymous said...

I would hope that by worlds we would be looking at doubles from Godwin, Monckton and Munteanu and a 1 and a half from Brown.

Mez said...

One of the unfortunate "what if" situations is wondering if Australia would have fared better without the extra day's wait to compete these events -- if all four events could have been knocked over in a day like normal and a good bars rotation could have rolled right into a good beam and good floor. Of course, we will never know.

While I was glad to see them all laughing off the mistakes at the end rather than in ashamed tears over them, I am not going to claim we were flawless because that clearly wasn't the case, nor that the vault issue isn't alarming.

I continue to be genuinely surprised Isis Lowry was left at home after a brilliant second day of nationals apparatus finals. Sure hope she's not going to be kept in the back pocket forever, we need performances like that sooner rather than later.

Godwin's absence from the team is a disappointment too but with the kinds of video her institute had been putting up of her training, it's not a case of "if" but "when". There is a worlds in this girl's future, I am sure of it. She'll be successfully bound for Glasgow for real down the track, if not for a worlds then at least the world cup.

To see this lineup falter under the lights and cameras also surprised me - Vivian has competed beam in stadiums bigger and at greater capacity than this in the USA. Brown is no stranger to the Pacific Rim Championship arenas, Monckton knows what a worlds feels like.

I would hate to think it's a case of keeping them home some more to get repetitions down, they all must be going stir crazy after already enduring a year of that.

If it's all anxiety/yips/mental prep issues then I dearly hope those needing it get the right support and tools for the journey to Rio as it's not going to get any easier from here.

If it's a coaching issue across the board then I hope a unified set of KPIs are set and met at a realistic rate.

Anonymous said...

I think that given Australia's relatively small elite talent pool, that in order to achieve competitively internationally on all apparatus, there should be only one high performance centre for those idp 8 - Senior (ie If you want to be considered for the national team then you need to be training in that centre - similar to WA's approach with WAIS but on a national scale). BTW it doesn't have to be AIS - just choose a centre with adequate work opportunities for gymnast families. This allows for specialist apparatus coaches to oversee the whole team all the time, reduces the duplication of resources and dilution of expertise across several training centres and clubs.
Maybe elites training in a number of facilities such as in USA works when you have a large talent pool.
However, given the possibility of no federal funding, maybe we should be taking heed of the latest gymnastics program promotion which is along the lines of " see where gymnastics skills can take you in other sports"! Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Such a shame the girls had a meltdown and had so many falls. This is the second time Peggy has done this. Using veterans didn't work at the Olympics and it hasn't worked again. Georgia Rose Brown and Mary Anne are not newbies, they have a lot of International experience behind them. How are our up and coming girls like Godwin ever going to get the valuable experience they need to head towards Rio left in the gym.Olivia and Lauren more than likely wont be heading for Rio, who knows about GRB and Mary Anne's body keeping it together for another couple of years. When will GA learn , they had the perfect opportunity to change Australia's tact after the Olympics but chose to keep on with Peggy. Big mistake.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all the gymnasts who have made it in the apparatus finals and AA finals (both MG and WAG) - including Stella Saavidou in AA I hear! Best wishes everyone

Anonymous said...

that wont work

Anonymous said...

Isis does not have the DV or consistency to really challenge. Plus her coach does not really have a HP philosophy, I think they're probably more geared towards a college-style system.

In my view the biggest dark horse for worlds is Grace Flood. She looked pretty good at nationals on the night I was there. If she had a solid vault she could be in with a shot.

Anonymous said...

What the h.e double hockey sticks!! Super peeved with Peggy right now. She didn't learn/change tact after London, so I doubt she's learned anything this time around either. I'd just like her to (wo)man up and admit she got it wrong for once. It's so disheartening watching our WAG performance go down the bogger. I love this sport sooo much and want to see our girls' potential fulfilled, and that's just not happening under Liddick. They deserve better than that.

Anonymous said...

btw, I'm all for re-instating a centralised program, but it's not going to happen anytime soon, if ever. Especially seeing as after the gymnastics results at these games, we'll likely lose even more funding.

Anonymous said...

Very proud of the girls, if the comp had have rolled on from 1st day may have been a smaller margin, they looked so good!! Feel for Georgia, hope she does well in her final. Go girls, not over yet!

Anonymous said...

My thoughts....

Great to see GRB getting to a comm games and competing internationally given her height. I am pleasantly surprised that she was kept on international squads despite her height. My experience with international squads is that girls sometimes get pulled out quite early (eg. when they are 12 because they aren't flexible enough or getting too tall etc)....personally I think Australian coached tend to close the door on different body types too early and perhaps this is why we haven't produced great vaulters - we often seem to go for 'skinny' body types rather than power. Perhaps selection and maintaining girls in international squads is something to look at - at the end of the day we need more girls coming through the junior ranks to boost numbers in senior competitions competing for spots internationally.

-I can understand the selection and including Olivia....but I can also understand Georgia would also be feeling pretty disappointed. t the end of the day I think it came down to Olivia having more experience. However, her vault was terrible and beam very average. Having said that - good on her for making the most of the opportunity to compete on all 4 events. If we had eg. a better vaulter I am sure they would have been in the line up before her (Does Larissa not vault?)....but the situation seemed to fall her way (ie. being the 4th member of the team on most apparatus) and she tried to make the most of it. Good on her.

-Peggy's attitude towards the girls seemed quite nice (from what we saw on TV). Seemed to be less 'ignoring' showing she was annoyed if someone fell. I would imagine this is partly because the girls are older and hopefully wouldn't put up with that crap too much.

-MAM - Pretty good comp. Hopefully she improved her beam for finals.

-Even if Larissa and GRB hadn't of fallen in floor I would we would have actually caught them - we were about 8 points behind!! Long way...but at the end of the day I was thinking we might have ended up with a bronze. So silver is good.

-Atleast when Australia falls it is done with grace and good form...those girls on bars after falling or before - looked pretty bad and a bit dangerous, actually. Dismounts were very long and looked scary. None of the australain girls' falls looked scary which I think tend to indicate their technique is good.

Bring on the AA and finals!

Anonymous said...

Actually, traditionally (perhaps not since Peggy ahs taken over) the selection of girls into elite squads is often based on small body types. Perhaps because we had quite a few Chinese coaches who perhaps go for this body type?? China si normally not as strong on vault althought this has changed somewhat in recent years, but I'd still say their strength is beam and bars. If u look at the American girls they are strong, powerful girls which makes it easier to vault but I am no expert.

Anonymous said...

There are plenty of girls with so-called slight body types in the top countries who are at least vaulting DTYs. It's more about technique and obviously we don't have the coaches capable of teaching such technique.

Anonymous said...

Yeah perhaps I'm clutching at straws...I don't know enough bout coaching at that level. Weird though that that Australian is known for clean lines and good technique but we don't manage it on vault..except occasionally we come up with a good vaulter - is that just luck on the odd occasion eg. Trudy McIntosh....I think its also a depth problem - we're just not that competitive within Australia to push one another on vault...unconsciously (not sure of the right word) that probably shows in vault performances - girls know they only have to do a yurchenko full and they'll make the team.

Anonymous said...

Underprepared? Why did we sit out worlds then? That really just doesn't sit well with me.

I'm thrilled for the girls. I'm surprised that Canada performed so poorly that they were able to sneak a Silver (well, and Wales too obviously!). I love Liv Viv but her routines didn't inspire much confidence. She's obviously there for team morale as her experience didn't amount to much score wise... Her personality and joy that she brings is fantastic, but I think if that's at the detriment of up and coming gymnasts, that's a bit of a shame. I feel for Georgia if she's got the weight or pressure of being Australia's future gym star if she isn't even getting proper opportunities.. CWG could have been the perfect place to get her competing at a higher level and have that experience for when she needs it, i.e. Worlds.

Floor is abysmal except for Lauren and maybe Larrissa. I swear juniors from other nations have more exciting choreography! It's not the lack of skill but the lack of someone who can pick good music and work to these girls' strengths. Floor is an awkward mess across the board in Australia, but again, not the gymnasts fault whatsoever.

Don't even get me started on vault.

I think Peggy got lucky with Shannon Miller, which sums up my thoughts on her. But like I said.. the gymnasts are doing their best, and it's heartwarming to see them bond well as a team. Silver is fantastic and best of luck to them in EFs.

Anonymous said...

How can they say we were unprepared. Isn't that why after the Olympics Peggy kept all girls home! To build on difficulty for such competitions as this! Just excuses for bad decisions. As much as I love Olivia's " bright" personality, keep it for home or behind the scenes. I feel that pulling faces in front of the camera on the floor at such an important comp for Australia is extremely unprofessional and highlights her attitude that she is there for " fun" perhaps her last comp, not there to be serious as a competitor for a country defending thier title or as a serious contender for Worlds team selection . I hope GA look to our next young hopefuls to give them the well deserved experience they need. Hope Peggy is happy with her selection, she obviously is not concerned with the fact that the team was unprepared.Im sure GA will be if funding is cut even further.

Anonymous said...

I think every one gets caught up with the medals, yes we got Silver, but it's more about where the team was at, the falls, the difficulty in the routines ect. Australia is not where it needs to be, this is obvious. If they put this team up at worlds , I don't think we will do well. Time to introduce new blood, retire the veterans. Obviously experience doesn't count for much when they make so many mistakes. At least young blood will learn from the experience and be better prepared for Rio. Half this team were their for a bit of a " joy" ride.Or was it Peggy's guilty mind got the better of her, GRB and MAM being left off the Olympic team. That woman isn't good at hiding the fact that she has her favourites but she is good at turning her back on others who try extremely hard. Don't know what is going to happen when Lauren retires, they haven't exactly been working on replacing her. Gymnastics in Australia will fall into a bit of a hole.

Anonymous said...

Thoughts on the AA?

Seems Brown must have counted 4 or so falls going by her total. She is capable of so much more. I wish she could show everyone how beautiful she can be out there.

Vivian did well to hit, but even with hit routines we can see her scores are not internationally competitive. She would be a great travelling reserve for worlds.

I found this quote from Lauren interesting, as I didn't get a sense of this at all.

“Pretty much we are rebuilding, we have done a whole lot of psychology and team-building workshops and this is the first competition we have come out and said, ‘this is Australia, look at us’.

(I tend to agree about Vivian making faces. Not professional and joking about two falls on beam was not cool.)

Anonymous said...

I don't know about everyone else but at this point in time I would rather the world's team be almost completely young ones, even if they make a couple of mistakes.

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone is getting caught up with medals at all (though it is a performance criteria for funding). However the fact is that we were 4 time defending gold medallists in the team event. Our program has been in decline for many years and there doesn't really seem to be much in the way of a plan to get back to where we were. Lauren Mitchell has been the bright spark in Australian gymnastics throughout this bleak period - she is a legend.

Anonymous said...

yup - we need the medals if we want the cash.

Mez said...

Don't know how many others were up to watch but Vivian gave the AA performance of her life, unfortunately all I missed was her vault as I had to go out but it must have been adequate to get her into 5th. She stood up every tumble on floor and stayed on beam with very few wobbles. Bars was bonza. So commendable, 5th for someone who isn't traditionally an AAer is fantastic, and there seem to be far more positive than negative comments about her attitude in front of the cameras popping up in social media.

After floor she flashed her wrist strapping to the camera that had "RIP Dad" scrawled on it in marker and down the barrel she said "That was for you, dad!" it was such a sweet moment. I just wish this was the meet she'd had in the team final.

Her attitude would be perfect at a nationals as a roving reporter/crowd cheerleader, far far more than guys in animal suits.

I don't know if GRB is having a toe issue again or just has the yips something shocking but she fizzled somewhat again despite showing lovely lines throughout.

Anonymous said...

This is so strange. Sports psychology and team building is important..... But so are building up D scores.

I think they are just trying to coast through on high execution with veterans and trying to build D scores with juniors. That means nothing for 2014/2015 worlds.

Anonymous said...

Instead of building towards D scores and being actually competitive within the world of gymnastics, we are instead known for our popularity, fun loving, media scoring antics. That should cement the funding we require to build our national gymnastics program in future.

New selection policy, voting poll to the masses.

Stop hating on Peggy, individuals need to take responsibility. Surely someone is taking it seriously. Looking forward to seeing Lauren and Larissa in their events, save us - sorry about the pressure girls, I'm sure you have done the work in the gym.

Anonymous said...

Stop hating on Peggy..... If you have had anything to do with her, you wouldn't make that comment.

Anonymous said...

She made her bed

Anonymous said...

5th AA for Olivia - good for her!! Pity Georgia-Rose didn't score higher. Perhaps falls on floor?? Liz said something about the floor being quite hard = I guess when u're as tall as Georgia if u're timing is slightly off on ur tumbling it would be hard to pull it around.

In the team final I was quite disapoointed with Larissa's florr routine - if u're selected as a specialist u shouldn't be falling!!!

Anonymous said...

Well perhaps Peggy should select fairly. I disagree with some of the comments about her needing to pick younger girls. I don't think it is about age but who is the best gymnast for the job and on this occasion and the Olympics it just so happened that the better gymnasts were the younger girls. If Olivia was up to Georgia's or Kiara's standard then I don't think there would be any complaints from the public. But she isn't! At least she did her best but as many have said her best isn't good enough. Time to move aside.

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for Peggy..only a certain amount is in her control, after all. The news media said she cried at the end of the comp.

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for Peggy..only a certain amount is in her control, after all. The news media said she cried at the end of the comp.

Anonymous said...

In a way our Delhi dominance has done us a disservice.

Team gold, AA sweep and three EF golds would not have happened then either if England had sent their A team that year (remember it was right before worlds?) That was also not a good performance in teams with several falls in the beam rotation.

Now we have this ridiculous 12 medal target - with only one won so far. I would not expect us to be able to win more than 4 from here.

Anonymous said...

You feel bad for Peggy? How do,you,think the gymnasts that have been left out from multiple competitions feel even though they were the better gymnasts. She picks the team and let no one tell you any different. She deserves what she gets!

Anonymous said...

She cried because she was upset?? But her comments are that she was pleased with the silver..

It is easy to criticise and think in hindsight. I remember in 2012 when the Olympics were on many people were critical GRB and maybe Maryanne were not included in the Olympic team....not they are on the team but people are still critical. There is absolutely no guarantee Godwin would have hit her routines and is she had of competed and fell peole would be saying Peggy should have gone for experience.

BTW - Liz gave an explanation as to why the sessions are split - its to do with the number of judges that were permitted to attend - not enough to run 4 apparatus as once or something similar to that.

Anonymous said...

I was shocked Olivia got 5th. Honestly, I feel like she felt that she had nothing to lose and perhaps the lack of mental pressure meant she actually competed REALLY well. Good on her though, I never would have picked that.

What I found interesting was the Aussie commentary in the AA though... saying bars isn't Claudia Fragapane's strength because of her "body type" rather than discussing her lines or natural swing or whatever. Are people still banging on about stuff like that? Beth T didn't have the lithe, lean build.. Bec Downie and Ruby Harrold don't either and have exciting bars.. Simone Biles has pretty great bars even though she's a powerful gymnast. I could go on and on.

Is this attitude still pervasive in Australia? Are they limiting girls based on perceived "body type"? Not everyone has to be Vika Komova or Nastia to be awesome on bars. Major eye rolls were happening, it bugged me. Christine Still and Mitch Fenner wouldn't dare go there when commentating.

Anonymous said...

Vivian is a disgrace. Georgia Godwin is the future, piss of the old and ridiculed. Bring on the next generation.

Mez said...

Georgia certainly didn't do herself favours on beam or bars at nationals EF, her last chance to impress the selectors. If I recall she was introduced by Ade as the national champion before every apparatus except floor, maybe because the expectation got too much given she fell on the previous two apparatus. Clearly she showed enough promise to be selected for US meets earlier in the year, and to be considered for Worlds last year, but not enough when it counted after several intense days to go to Glasgow irrespective of the AA title in the days prior. Like I said -- videos showed she got straight back in the gym to work on upgraded skills, that is friggin' awesomesauce, she'll really be giving Lauren a run for her money soon. Missing Glasgow doesn't mean she'll never EVER be selected EVER again EVER for anything EVER. Will you chill the heck out, this is getting tiresome.

Talk about your gross-ass trolling attitude if you want to talk about "disgrace".

Anonymous said...

Mez GG was getting injections in her ankle to allow her to compete. She only started proper training a couple of weeks b4 Nationals. And those new skill she showed were about a month after Narionals. So given that she was still injured at Nationals I think she did an outstanding job to come first AA. She should have been on that team. In saying that I think the above comment about Olivia is harsh and out of line.

Mez said...

Woah - I never said it wasn't an outstanding job to take out the AA title. I said she had taken it out but EFs wasn't a good outing for her for whatever reasons it was. Nerves due to expectations was a "maybe" I said.

If her mental and physical preparation were still needing work in order to be at unquestionably peak competitive condition in time for the games, then HECK YES keeping her at home was a wise decision! If missing Glasgow means she's fit and firing for Nanjing and blows everyone away with AA consistency at selection time, then as crushing as the decision was for her to not be named in this particular lineup, it will have been the most worthwhile staycation ever.

Anonymous said...

Well look at Dasha in 2006 - Peggy gave her the arse for Commonwealths and she was left home - in that same year she also won nationals and rocked worlds! I see some parallels here!