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Artistic Gymnastics: Stick the Landing!

HartofDixie

By HartofDixie
in 2016 Olympics

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GreyBunny
GreyBunny

Gabby has worked her ass off for years, has been a proud member of the US team, and is a great role model for young kids who are up and coming. To say that her not putting her hand over her heart nega

KBrownie
KBrownie

It's not about being "PC" as you put it.  He literally tried to erase her parents from her life to fit whatever narrative he has in his head about what family means.  It's not some trite quibble over

walnutqueen
walnutqueen

Protocol is not law, and has nothing to do with being an American.  Fortunately, Americans live in a free country where they have the right to disagree with your sentiments and still be Americans (and

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KenyaJ

KenyaJ

(edited)
5 minutes ago, kittykat said:

9 point lead on China!  DayUm considering on the men's side the top 5 are barely 2 points apart.

It crazy to realize how much room for error they have.

ETA: USA Gymnastics just tweeted that Simone, Aly, and Gabby were 1-2-3 in all-around standings. Stupid 2 per country rule!

Edited by KenyaJ
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fireice13

fireice13

I think one of the reasons Simone is so great is that she's very strong/muscular and it allows her to save herself when others might not be able to. You can see it on bars and sometimes beam - just the pure strength pulling her back from falling. I'm glad Aly is in the AA and hope she can medal. I do hope Laurie comes back in 4 years for her shot at the AA.

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emma675

emma675

Quote

I think one of the reasons Simone is so great is that she's very strong/muscular and it allows her to save herself when others might not be able to. You can see it on bars and sometimes beam - just the pure strength pulling her back from falling.

I think her height (or lack of) helps her, too. Her center of gravity is so much lower than the others and I feel like that plays in her favor.

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Enero

Enero

(edited)
4 minutes ago, kittykat said:

Wow Gabby is 3rd overall in AA qualifications...behind her teammates.

I know it was discussed ad nauseum 4 years ago and I'm not just saying it because of its the Americans but it really should be something like Top 5-6 qualify no matter how many from that country there are. 

There's still one more qualifying round to go. So her overall standing could change.

That said, Gabby has gotten a lot of flack for the drama with the coaching changes, the reality show and her decision to come back etc. Though she didn't make the AA. I think it's pretty impressive how well she's done so far. It is extremely difficult to do a repeat with the Olympics and still be at the top of your game AND the top of your the field. Props to her for giving it a shot and so far doing quite well.

Edited by Enero
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AuntieDiane6

AuntieDiane6

Quote

 I know it was discussed ad nauseum 4 years ago and I'm not just saying it because of its the Americans but it really should be something like Top 5-6 qualify no matter how many from that country there are. 

Back in the day, the Soviet Union could have captured ALL the medals and that doesn't help a sport gain popularity worldwide if one country--with great coaches and support--wins ALL THE TIME.  I DO think 3 is OK, though, for all-around or maybe if the 3rd person is in the top 5.  

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KFC

KFC

3 minutes ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

Back in the day, the Soviet Union could have captured ALL the medals and that doesn't help a sport gain popularity worldwide if one country--with great coaches and support--wins ALL THE TIME.  I DO think 3 is OK, though, for all-around or maybe if the 3rd person is in the top 5.  

The ironic thing is, I think the scoring changes have done more to damage the sport than the arbitrary per-country caps have done to level things out among the non-dominant nations.

Preventing Gabby Douglas (or whomever the 3rd-ranked American is) from competing in the AA isn't going to help someone like the athlete from India get on the podium. It's just punishing Douglas for being from a dominant country.

If the FIG really wanted to even out the playing field, they'd revert back to the 10.0 system. It was easier for viewers to follow and it capped the level of difficulty and put more emphasis on form and technique. You'd see much fewer injuries because the athletes wouldn't be chucking skills they can't really perform properly just for the sake of a high D score. And you'd also have people like Aly Raisman (whom I really respect) winning medals with such atrocious form.

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Minneapple

Minneapple

1 minute ago, MissT said:

I'm confused.   Is NBC going to show a previously recorded gymnastics show tonight?   It's 6:45p here. My local news is on. Olympics start again at 7:00. 

They'll show the packaged highlights, with our old friends Al&Tim narrating. So be ready to roll your eyes! 

Since gymnastics is enormously popular, NBC wants to show it all in primetime. They'll stream it all live in the afternoon but they won't put it on TV for a mass audience. 

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Daisy

Daisy

17 minutes ago, KFC said:

The ironic thing is, I think the scoring changes have done more to damage the sport than the arbitrary per-country caps have done to level things out among the non-dominant nations.

Preventing Gabby Douglas (or whomever the 3rd-ranked American is) from competing in the AA isn't going to help someone like the athlete from India get on the podium. It's just punishing Douglas for being from a dominant country.

If the FIG really wanted to even out the playing field, they'd revert back to the 10.0 system. It was easier for viewers to follow and it capped the level of difficulty and put more emphasis on form and technique. You'd see much fewer injuries because the athletes wouldn't be chucking skills they can't really perform properly just for the sake of a high D score. And you'd also have people like Aly Raisman (whom I really respect) winning medals with such atrocious form.

I remember they were saying that the quadrennial past they were going to change some of the Code of Points to really focus on the artistry and devalue some of the really hard moves (aka Amanar). It really doesn't look like it really made an impact. I would truly advocate going back to 10.0 (and then you can have the excitement of having the perfect score), it's easier to follow. (I mean I still can't figure out what the E score, D score, etc even after all this time. now I just watch because i like the gymnastics)

as  I have no horse in the race. (Canada doesn't really make an impact, and I generally cheer for the big four countries etc anyway) - I don't think it makes a difference if it's 3 or 2. because that argument could easily be this. 
Simone
Gabby
Aly
Laurie (for example. Then people could argue, well it's not fair that the Americans had the best 4 scores, we should be able to send 4) to a certain point. 

There are a lot of sports that have dominant counties and they are only allowed to qualify 2 people (or 3). depending on the field. Again I think it does go beyond popularity of the sport (or even "growth" to how we see it. for some athletes it could mean the difference between being funded period, or not. It may suck for the 3rd girl on the team at times, but the other part of the Olympics do have to focus on the "fairness" factor even though it's unfair for the really good countries. 

Minneapple

Minneapple

3 minutes ago, Rick Kitchen said:

All of the evening events are pretty much taped.

Last night's swimming in primetime was actually all live, and they showed one of the beach volleyball matches live as well. There's more live swimming tonight; diving too. NBC will take advantage of those live primetime events whenever they can. 

KFC

KFC

(edited)

Truly "fair" would be having the top 3 AAers in the world compete in the actual AA competition. I like what someone said upthread about having the top 5-6 (or even top 10) automatically qualify regardless of nation, and then the next top 20.

The rules make little sense if we're talking fairness, since FIG actually *reduced* the number of competitors for the All-Around from 36 to 24 after 2000.

Edited by KFC
DawnDavenport

DawnDavenport

33 minutes ago, KFC said:

The ironic thing is, I think the scoring changes have done more to damage the sport than the arbitrary per-country caps have done to level things out among the non-dominant nations.

Preventing Gabby Douglas (or whomever the 3rd-ranked American is) from competing in the AA isn't going to help someone like the athlete from India get on the podium. It's just punishing Douglas for being from a dominant country.

If the FIG really wanted to even out the playing field, they'd revert back to the 10.0 system. It was easier for viewers to follow and it capped the level of difficulty and put more emphasis on form and technique. You'd see much fewer injuries because the athletes wouldn't be chucking skills they can't really perform properly just for the sake of a high D score. And you'd also have people like Aly Raisman (whom I really respect) winning medals with such atrocious form.

Really sucks for Gabby. Didn't Jordyn Wieber qualify 4th in 2012 and didn't make it as well, despite the fact she was the reigning World Champion? I just think the 2 per country rule is dumb for AA. UGH. As least Douglas already has her rightfully deserved Gold from London. I don't think a female gymnast has repeated as AA champ since Vera Cavlaska won in '64 and '68. Nadia could have won in '80 without UB fall in the Team final but that's as close as anyone has come since (although the judges would probably have figured out a way to make sure a Soviet gymnast won in Moscow). 

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AuntieDiane6

AuntieDiane6

Quote

If the FIG really wanted to even out the playing field, they'd revert back to the 10.0 system. It was easier for viewers to follow and it capped the level of difficulty and put more emphasis on form and technique. You'd see much fewer injuries because the athletes wouldn't be chucking skills they can't really perform properly just for the sake of a high D score. And you'd also have people like Aly Raisman (whom I really respect) winning medals with such atrocious form.

The problem is that when everyone "hits" (like on the US team!!!), it's hard to distinguish an incredibly great routine from a really good routine. Simone gets a 10.0 and then Aly gets 9.95, next one 9.90.  And what if you give Simone a 10.0 and then somebody else does an even better routine?  

Figure skating complained about the same thing with no more perfect 6s, but now judging is fairer and competitors know WHY they were downgraded or upgraded. 

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Dots And Stripes

Dots And Stripes

10 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

Last night's swimming in primetime was actually all live, and they showed one of the beach volleyball matches live as well. There's more live swimming tonight; diving too. NBC will take advantage of those live primetime events whenever they can. 

NBC lobbies to get their stars scheduled for prime time. I believe it happened a lot with Phelps over the years and I would bet they had something to do with Kerri Jennings Walsh having the last match for volleyball yesterday. I assume gymnastics wouldn't budge for them. I have no doubt they would have tried to get gymnastics live in prime time. 

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Daisy

Daisy

2 minutes ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

The problem is that when everyone "hits" (like on the US team!!!), it's hard to distinguish an incredibly great routine from a really good routine. Simone gets a 10.0 and then Aly gets 9.95, next one 9.90.  And what if you give Simone a 10.0 and then somebody else does an even better routine?  

Figure skating complained about the same thing with no more perfect 6s, but now judging is fairer and competitors know WHY they were downgraded or upgraded. 

an eleven! :D 
 

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scarynikki12

scarynikki12

Mind you, I can't remember the book title since I read it in high school but, I remember reading that the judge(s) on Nadia's final AA apparatus delayed the score long enough to see what Davidova scored on her final event and then gave Nadia one that let her tie for silver but not get a repeat gold.  Now, Nadia still got a 10 on bars that same day so I'm not sure what I read is accurate, but I have no problem believing that the Soviets would have gone so far as to pull Tonya Harding's with the other countries to make sure one of their gymnasts won the All Around.  A little scoring corruption would have been nothing for them.

KFC

KFC

3 minutes ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

The problem is that when everyone "hits" (like on the US team!!!), it's hard to distinguish an incredibly great routine from a really good routine. Simone gets a 10.0 and then Aly gets 9.95, next one 9.90.  And what if you give Simone a 10.0 and then somebody else does an even better routine?  

Figure skating complained about the same thing with no more perfect 6s, but now judging is fairer and competitors know WHY they were downgraded or upgraded. 

I don't really think that's true, though. 

The 10.000 system (when they carried out the placements to three decimals) worked well around '92-'96 to distinguish between good and great. It was a flawed system, too, but I think it did a better job of reducing the number of athletes just chucking super difficult skills that are clearly too difficult for them to perform properly.

In 2012, there was that vaulter from the Dominican Republic who kept throwing a double front that she clearly was not able to fully rotate to her feet. But because the start value was so high, she kept throwing a crappy version of the vault and used the high D score to cushion the deductions on the E score.

The perfect 10 system prevents an athlete from doing that because you can't keep padding your score with an inflated start value. 

choclatechip45

choclatechip45

(edited)

I think Gabby was also third in qualifying for the all-around in 2012. It was Komova, Raisman and Douglas.

Quote

Can anyone explain why Ali has had a (new) feature on People.com every single day for more than a week?  Does she just have a really great agent?

Her and Simone both have different agents both agents work for Octagon. They could have said we will give an exclusive on Simone if you do a couple features on Aly.

Edited by choclatechip45
Dots And Stripes

Dots And Stripes

2 minutes ago, Quof said:

Can anyone explain why Ali has had a (new) feature on People.com every single day for more than a week?  Does she just have a really great agent?

It's how People operates. When something is in the magazine they do several related online features. All about getting clicks online.

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