There's been a lot of talk recently among the gym bloggers about possible Olympic teams, especially considering how incredibly deep Team USA is right now. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts. Rather than pick a team of just five people, though, I want to name a few people/ideas I've been considering. Because there are so many contenders for the team, I'm going to break it up into a few posts so it's not ridiculously long.
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| Photo Credit-The Detroit News |
First and most obviously, we have Jordyn Wieber. I've said it before and I'll say it again--I absolutely love this girl. I love her gymnastics, I love her power, and I love her determination to be perfect. I don't want to jinx her, but I think she's basically a lock for the team. She would compete all four events in qualifications, and would definitely compete three in team finals, maybe bars too depending on the rest of the team.
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| Photo Credit-USA Gymnastics |
I've been thinking a lot about Alicia Sacramone. We don't know what Alicia's comeback is looking like right now, so I guess I can't make too much of a judgement, but I'm assuming she'll be strong and dependable come Nationals and Olympic Trials. Most people haven't been putting her in their predicted teams, but I would. I think she brings a huge maturity to the team that most of the girls don't have, and since we'll probably be relying on a fairly young squad, I think this would be valuable. If she's in the shape, as I'm assuming, she could easily compete her three events (VT, BB, FX) in qualifications and at least vault and beam in finals (possibly floor too, depending on the team). I really loved her floor routine from 2011 and I think if she keeps it she would have a strong performance.
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| Photo Credit-USA Today |
For me, Alicia's spot on the team is kind of dependent on McKayla Maroney's. I'm very torn about this, because I do strongly feel that McKayla should get a chance to defend her World Championship title. A huge part of me is going: "We have a current world champion! Send her!". It seems unfair to keep McKayla off the team when she's proven she's currently the best vaulter in the world and she could almost certainly guarantee us a gold medal. At the same time, Alicia has a very good shot at the vault gold as well (vault champion in 2010) and has other strengths that McKayla doesn't. We used McKayla on floor at Worlds, which was fine, but Alicia would be better, and would certainly be much better on beam. McKayla came in 4th in Jesolo this past week, behind even new senior Sarah Finnegan, which puts doubts in my mind they would choose her over Alicia--she's just not strong enough all around to make up for Alicia's experience and talents on beam. No matter what, I think it's important to send at least one person who can compete in the vault final--it would be ridiculous if neither girl was on the team and we gave up the medal while two perfectly able girls sit at home.
This seems like enough for one post. Let me know your thoughts and predictions for the team! There will definitely be more posts to follow!
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