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He was very good at lip syncing. I thought the performance was a perfect parody/homage to Bjork's original video but I think he suffered from it not being a well-known song - Jim has the better idea by picking a well-known pop song that the audience would recognise. But they both fully committed and my husband and I were laughing hysterically through most of it, including the behind the scenes stuff!

I agree. While Aly is so good in her other 3 events that she can still bring in an excellent AA score even with her bars, it doesn't make sense from a team point of view to have her do bars in qualifying and make either Gabby or Laurie go up cold in finals. On the upside, Aly has a really good shot at floor and beam event finals and if she makes no big mistakes should walk away with a silver medal in floor and potentially a medal on beam. I think relieving her of the pressure of AA qualifying may also be a good thing based on Worlds last year - although having said that, her confidence now seems a lot higher.

Hehe... I love the blunt assertion at the end that they plan to avoid social media! Very smart. I really sense that Laurie could be the breakout star of the Olympics - although it will be hard to top Simone! And the Brazil team have some stand-outs as well who no doubt will be well supported by the home crowd.

She's already been warned in the past for her social media behaviours, what does she really think she's accomplishing with this? Her coaches are busy re-tweeting tweets that criticise Gabby's inclusion and Skinner's exclusion as well. So she obviously doesn't have strong role models to help moderate her behaviour! I feel sorry for Gabby and hope that she is unaware of all of this. She has to train and live with these girls for the next couple of weeks. She already has incredible pressure on her and is well aware that she almost blew her chance entirely. Trying to deal with this on top can't help. If Skinner and her coaches have issues with the selection process then it would be more productive to talk with, you know, the actual selectors rather than pile on a team-mate who has no say or power in this situation. Having said that, all the gymnasts and coaching staff are well aware that Olympic Trials will not be the sole criteria used by the committee. Skinner has done extremely well to get an alternate position by peaking now. But she does not have some outstanding track record behind her. I doubt she was ever in serious consideration for the team beyond alternate status. She needs to get some perspective (and some cultural awareness).

I think Laurie will be the 2nd AA but in reality the potential scores for all 3 candidates when they hit is pretty close, within a few tenths - which can be a missed skill or an OOB or other minor deduction on the day. My money is Laurie just because of the confidence she has right now. We saw how well that worked out for Gabby in 2012, coming in without the pressure and expectations that Jordyn had and the confidence she had gained from Trials. I think that will be Laurie this year. But I think the 3rd US AA (whether Raisman or Douglas) will probably be ranked somewhere from 3rd-5th.

It will be an interesting decision for Marta to make regarding the line-ups for prelims and finals. Basically Simone competes all events. If the idea is that Kocian only competes UB, and given she had a fractured tibia only 6 weeks ago, I don't see Marta putting her up for anything else other than maybe beam (and even then she is not incredibly consistent so it wouldn't make a lot of sense unless Douglas continues to falter on that apparatus in training). That leaves 3 spots for floor, balance beam and vault. But only 2 spots for UB. Of the three contenders Douglas has the best UB, followed by Hernandez and Raisman. So if you go on UB prowess alone then Raisman misses out. Of course at Worlds last year, Marta benched Nichols in prelims to give Raisman a shot at the AA but then brought Nichols in for team finals after Raisman fell in qualifying. She could potentially do that again this year, benching either Hernandez or Douglas to give Raisman a shot at AA qualifying. But Douglas has a legitimate chance to qualify for UB finals (but probably unlikely to medal). And Hernandez has a legitimate chance to medal in the AA. Douglas too, although I see Hernandez beating both Douglas and Raisman at this point in time. Traditionally Marta makes her decisions last minute based on training. Hernandez has momentum in her corner, Douglas has a history of hitting when it counts for the team, and Raisman has the sentimental edge. Tough decision! Raisman and Douglas both came back and were clear about their goals - Raisman had unfinished business in the AA and Douglas wanted to make history and defend her title. They've both been incredibly successful in making it this far and on to the team but I think they will both be denied their ultimate goal sadly.

Lol. Do the alternates go to the Ranch too? I guess that makes sense.... yeah, that could be awkward! I still think Skinner is lucky to have got an alternate position. She was 10th AA at Nationals, held up by a strong vault but ranked 17th in UB and 18th in BB. She had a great meet here but on balance I think alternate is a fair result for her. I just read about those, that's pretty ordinary. I also made the mistake of reading some of the twitter response about the team announcement and the Gabby hate/backlash is pretty strong. People wishing she'd get injured, all sorts of crazies coming out of the woodwork. If she has seen only a small percentage of that vitriol I worry about her mental health. Hopefully the girls will be shielded from that kind of negativity at the Ranch. LOVE that Ashton got an alternate position - I read that she intends to continue elite next year, hopefully a gold medal at world championships is in her future.

Congrats to Murray, it's always nice to see the players do well on their home courts - although not sure if 'home' is how Murray thinks of England! But regardless, he always has a lot of pressure on his shoulders from the press at Wimbledon, and he handled being the frontrunner today very well.

So strange to think back to 4 years ago! I agree, I thought Kyla would make it again and perhaps if she had been luckier with her growth spurts then she might have made it. And Maroney was so fired up to return until injuries/health issues intervened. It is a fabulous achievement for Gabby and Aly to make another team, particularly in such a stacked program. My heart broke tonight for Maggie Nichols, I was really pulling for her to grab an alternate spot, but she just wasn't quite ready. You need healthy alternates! Skinner had the meet of her life. I don't think she has shown enough consistency over the past 12 months to get a team position, and Nationals two weeks ago was disasterous but she pulled it out when it mattered to grab that alternate position. Really happy for Gabby, she seemed so stressed - even her eye was twitching all night! Poor girl. She had a rough go on beam but with a line-up of Biles, Hernandez and Raisman, she won't be needed there anyway. I still think she'll be used for bars and vault in team finals. Love Laurie although the scoring was a bit out of control for her all weekend. She won't get those scores on vault and bars in Rio. But she is a legitimate contender for beam gold and will probably battle it out for an AA medal. I think she'll be a star, charisma oozes out of her!

Marion Bartoli is apparently battling a debilitating virus - sounds serious, I hope she recovers soon. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/07/former-tennis-champion-marion-bartoli-hits-back-over-weight-loss-abuse

If she finishes fourth AA at trials I still think she would be picked although I wouldn't say it was a lock as Martha could choose to take the top 3 all-rounders and 2 specialists instead. But I think Martha likes having all-rounders in her team for safety in a 5-3-3 format and Gabby also had the added bonus of having proven herself in high-pressure environments like the Olympics and World Championships before. At nationals, she had a series of smallish mistakes as opposed to one big mistake like falling off the beam, which accumulated and pushed her down the rankings. Her biggest actual mistake probably came on bars but it is unlikely that would happen again, she is normally very consistent on that apparatus. If she comes top 3 on UB and edges out Hernandez on vault (which she didn't do at nationals but if they both hit, she is a naturally better vaulter than Laurie. At nationals she seemed to have landing issues due to too much power which suggests an Amanar upgrade is a possibility although she appears to have developed a mental block with this vault), then I think she will be picked as these are the two events she would contribute on in Team Finals. It will be interesting to see Maggie Nichols at Trials, such unfortunate timing for her with the injury, hopefully she is able to snag an alternate position. But then I also want Hundley, Smith, Locklear for alternates as well - so many hard-working talented gymnasts, it will be disappointing for whoever misses out.

I don't know if speaking gigs would be the best path for her, she seems relatively reserved and cautious around the media/gym journalists. Perhaps based on her experience after the 2012 games where they dug up all sorts of dirt on her family dynamic/absent dad/money troubles etc. She does not sound comfortable answering questions and always a bit defensive. I think she has a fair few endorsements though - Nike, GK leotards, P&G, I think Visa too? And she no doubt made money off her book, movie and now TV show. But I don't know how far that money goes when you consider training, accommodation, travel and paying for sports management/financial advisors plus supporting her family. Simone would have been crazy not to go pro. She already has some serious endorsements which is unusual in a sport where the Olympics is generally what makes an athlete appealing to the big companies. An interesting article on Ashton Locklear and the sacrifices her family have made to give her this opportunity https://yourdailyjournal.com/sports/39613/ashton-locklear-refuses-to-give-up-on-her-dream I think she gave up her college scholarship last year although I don't believe she has gone pro yet either. And unfortunately I don't think she'll make the team, unless as an alternate.

I think she just wanted to extend her gymnastics career and her legacy - she had a fairly meteoric rise, the Olympics were basically her debut and coronation all in one go (I know she competed at 2011 Worlds but she was originally the alternate there). If she retired after Rio it would have been a very short senior career. Plus there is the added motivation of trying to be the first gymnast since Comaneci to repeat on the all-around podium which she has a good shot at doing - and if it wasn't for the emergence of Simone Biles, who will probably become the greatest gymnast of all time, she would have been favourite for repeat gold. I'm sure there are probably commercial considerations at play too - she's found something that she likes and is good at, who wouldn't want to continue in that field for as long as they could? I think filming on the show ceased almost a year ago? But she definitely seemed tense. Could be the pressure, maybe she just had a bad practice leading in and it was playing on her mind. Aly did great, and Hernandez looks like she is peaking at just the right time. I would agree with the 5 members proposed from that article although I do love to watch Locklear on bars.

So true. Maybe because most of the other sports I follow are team-based, or maybe because tennis has such diversity in terms of international representation, but it seems particularly true in tennis. And to be honest, I have found something to appreciate in most tennis players at some point or another. I enjoy Djokovic's humour and engagement with the crowd (and don't find it put on or forced at all!), I admire Murray's social activism and giggle at his deadpan and sarcastic responses to journalists, I think Rafa is adorable, Federer probably leaves me most cold but to compensate I could watch his backhand for days. That wrist injury has really derailed his career. He was a really promising player but after the first wrist injury and the prolonged time out of the game, he never quite seemed to recapture his form. And then the second injury a couple of years ago (?) put him back again. Must be incredibly frustrating for him.

I'm a firm believer that you can only beat the level of competition that is in front of you and if you win the sheer number of Grand Slams that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic will, there is no way that you can consider those records tainted. That said, out of the Big 4, I would argue that Djokovic has perhaps had to overcome the most competitive stretch of opponents for his victories, not the least. Of Federer's 17 wins, the vast majority (11) are against players like Philippousssis, Safin, Roddick, Hewitt, Baghdatis, Gonzalez, Soderling. Only 6 of his Grand Slams are against other members of the Big 4. In contrast, Djokovic has achieved 11 of his 12 Grand Slam wins against other members of the Big 4. So I disagree with the assertion that he has been "lucky". I agree. The report is pretty damning and I'm surprised so many of her big sponsors are sticking by her. It seems a pretty clear case of using a banned substance for the purpose of obtaining an advantage. It's a shame, as she probably had the talent to succeed without resorting to these measures but there will always be a question mark over her achievements now.

What a wonderful game between two brilliant players. Thrilled for Djokovic, he showed such mental strength after a couple of GS final losses. Federer has won plenty so I was definitely rooting for the Joker! But it seems I may be alone in this forum, I didn't realise so many people disliked Djokovic! Its funny how different perceptions can be, I have always considered him a warm, funny, genuine player who is respectful and classy of his opponents. In Australia he is very popular with the crowds, I have watched him at a number of tournaments here and he has the crowd in the palm of his hands - always happy to stay afterwards and mess around with the ball boys/girls and do some exhibition hitting with the young Aussie players. I did notice that the crowd at Wimbledon was for Federer but assumed that was for sentiment, being one of his last opportunities rather than a dislike of Djokovic. The women's final was very one-sided but what a display from Kvitova! Bouchard didn't do a lot wrong but she didn't get the opportunity to do anything right either. Good future ahead of her though I would imagine.