I didn't really like this leotard all that much, but there weren't too many good ones to choose from at this meet. I actually really like the color. It looks bluer in the picture, but in person it was a nice dark purple color. I'm not a huge fan of the lines bursting out from the side, but the color combo pretty much makes up for it. I'm kind of upset that she's just wearing a team USA leotard though, it's not new at all. However, it looked nice on her and was much better than many other leotards at the meet, so it makes my list.
2. McKayla Maroney
Photo Credit-Heather Maynez
I know, I know, she wore this before. Many gymnasts have worn this leotard recently. If you haven't seen it, check out Spanny's post on the many repeats. Honestly, I can't believe she wore it again. We all loved her for it the first time and agreed that her version was the best. This one is a slightly different color combination, and I actually like it better than the first one. The dark part is purple and the colors on the pinwheel are softer and more sophisticated than in her original one. The only thing I dislike about this leotard is the mesh on the sleeves, but I can look past it since it's so great otherwise. If she hadn't worn it before, it would be first on the list.
1. Mackenzie Brannan (Capital)
Photo Credit-USA Gymnastics
I'm sorry about the picture; I couldn't find many pictures of Mackenzie or her junior teammate, Nicole Lehrmann, so this is the best I could do. It's not so easy to tell, but this leotard was absolutely fabulous in person. Although I generally don't like having mesh on top, it wasn't bad at all and the color is gorgeous. It has just the right amount of sparkle and shine. The cut is interesting on top but there is by no means too much going on. This leotard immediately stood out to me and I still love it. The only problem is that it's a little bit boring in a picture, but it really did look great in the arena. It's super classy and very well done. Great choice, Mackenzie.
Top 3 Worst Leotards
Note: The top three worst were very hard to choose, since there were many bad leotards at this meet. I'd like to acknowledge that Elizabeth Price (Parkettes), among others, was very close to making this list.
3. Aly Raisman
Photo Credit-Heather Maynez
I love Aly, but this leotard was just a little too much for me. I'll admit it--pink is my favorite color, and I've actually liked some of the #hotpink leotards this year. However, this one was just way too much. For me, I don't think it was so much of the two shades of pink that sent it over the edge, rather it was the combination of the mesh and the shiny material. Beyond that (you can't tell very well in this picture), the leotard was symmetrical. Like, the neckline on the mesh side is shiny and the neckline on the shiny side is mesh. Same with the weird stripes coming out from the seam on the front. It's just a little overwhelming. If she had just used the shiny pink part, it actually could have been a decent leotard--the shade of pink isn't actually that bad. This, though, is just WAY too much.
2. Sarah Finnegan (GAGE)
Photo Credit-USA Gymnastics
There are so many reasons to hate this leotard. The most obvious is the color combination of hot pink, lime green, and black. There really isn't a way to make those three look good together. That was the first reason I picked this. But then I realized the more subtle reasons it just isn't working. The pattern, even if it were in cute colors, is just too angular for me. The sharp cut down towards the hip and the random pink triangles just don't form a flattering shape. Even beyond this, there's some weird continuation of the triangle on the wrists that really just doesn't need to be there. For some reason, this weird leotard seems to perfectly match my feelings about Al Fong, especially when he wears those awful gloves that escalate his creepiness tremendously.
1. Nastia Liukin, Rebecca Bross, and Grace McLaughlin (WOGA)
Photo Credit-Heather Maynez
It was a tough call between the GAGE leotard and this one, but I just had to give this to the #hotpink horror. Remember when I said before that I liked some of the #hotpink leotards? This one does not fall into that category. First of all, it's an awful shade of pink--more pastel than hot pink. The design at the neck isn't doing it any favors either, and believe it or not it looked even worse in person. This is so far from the crazy, over the top, overused leotards that WOGA usually has, which just makes it seem to me that Queen Nastia picked it out herself. My apologies go out to the other WOGA girls who had to wear this as well. I'm not thinking Rebecca Bross is so keen on this #hotpink trend.
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts! Tell me your opinions on which leos were the best and worst at the Secret Classic!
I am so excited that the season has begun! From here, we have only two weeks until Nationals, and from there only two-ish weeks until Trials!
The Secret Classic is the first competition on the way to Nationals, with many gymnasts using it as sort of a rehearsal. While I understand and expected that Wieber wouldn't compete the all around, I was upset that Douglas didn't--I wanted to see what a real all around battle would look like without Wieber in the mix. However, we did still see some interesting and exciting things at the competition.
Let's just start off with the obvious: Nastia Liukin. When I walked into the arena, I was shocked to see her competing. I mean, we've all heard about her training and we saw that short video of her training beam, but I never thought I would see the day when she actually stepped out onto the competition floor again. Her beam looked pretty fantastic. She tied for third, only a tenth of a point behind Jordyn and Aly. Her connections were slow and she lost some points on that, but her lines were absolutely beautiful. I'm so used to seeing Jordyn's routine that's all power, and although I love it too, it's just completely different. Her leaps weren't quite there, but otherwise it was just beautiful. I actually enjoyed her comeback a lot more than I expected to. In terms of what this does for her Olympic chances, I'm not sure. She did exactly what she needed to do by hitting and getting a solid score. At the same time, we've only seen one event and don't know what else she has in store for nationals. Her beam is great, but if her bars aren't up to par we wouldn't take her just for beam. Although I did really enjoy seeing her compete, it's going to be hard for a specialist to make a team of only five people.
Photo Credit-Gym Examiner
I hadn't really seen Sarah Finnegan compete before The Classic, so I'm trying to figure out how she fits into the equation. Some people are putting her on their Olympic team, but I'm not sure I would make this jump yet. Her bars were weak at the classic, but her floor is fantastic, so that's the trade off we'd have to make. Her beam is really nice; she tied with Nastia for third. She looks really graceful and calm, which I like, but at the same time I'm a little worried about how young she is, and since she wouldn't really help on bars it might be better to have Alicia (if she's ready) who would bring experience to the team.
Another person people were interested in seeing is Rebecca Bross. Her bars were actually pretty nice, but she fell, once again, on beam. The Patterson dismount is just not working for her, yet she continues to do it. Apparently she was hitting it during training, but I wouldn't feel comfortable putting her on a team with all the inconsistencies she's had. Since her and Nastia are now doing the same two events, you'd have to choose between the two, and as long as Nastia can pull out a bar routine by Nationals, I'd pick her. I get that Bross wants to put in the difficulty, but she just can't hit and that won't work for us in London.
One person who I was kind of disappointed by was Sabrina Vega. After Worlds last year, many people picked her to be on the Olympic Team as a dependable team player. Although she did her job at Worlds, at Classics, she messed up her bar routine and only scored a 14.1 on vault and 13.45 on beam because of a bunch of wobbles. Although I love her lines, the scores she brings in just aren't really high enough. Even though she's solid, we have Kyla who can do a much better bar routine, which is where we really need the help.
Gabby Douglas looked really good. Her bars were (as they always are) absolutely breathtaking. I'm liking her more and more, and I'm pretty sure she'll be on the team. While her bars are phenomenal, she's also bringing in other scores in the high 14s and is a really great all arounder. The one thing I'm concerned about is her vault. She scratched vault at Classics, apparently because she sat down every single Amanar she tried in training. Although her Amanar looked nice at the American Cup, I've heard that she hasn't hit it since then. We do need three Amanars for team finals at the Olympics, and it would be nice to have four for qualifications. While she needs her vault to compete with Aly and Jordyn in the all around, even without it we can use her on the team.
There's not much to say about McKayla Maroney. Her vaults, of course, were absolutely beautiful, but her beam wasn't looking too good--she balked on her BHS-LOSO and then had to do it over again. While she covered it up nicely, her score was only a 13.8. We didn't see her bars or floor, so that will also impact how ready I feel like she is. At the same time, I'll be heartbroken if she doesn't compete at the Olympics. We have the best vaulter (by FAR) in the world, and there's a very good possibility she won't be going to the Olympics. While I want the best for the team, it's just not fair to her to keep her home.
Photo Credit-Gym Examiner
Last but definitely not least, there's the most obvious story of Chellsie Memmel. If you've been living under a rock for the past few days, here's the abridged version: She only competed beam at Classics, and wanted to petition to qualify for the all around at Nationals. She fell twice on beam and her petition was denied. Many, many people are very angry about this. Nastia only competed beam and petitioned for bars, which was accepted. There's a wonderful post from Bekah at Get A Grip Gym Blog about all of these discrepancies, so check it out if you're interested. Personally, I feel bad for Chellsie, but at the same time I don't think she would have made the team anyways, so there wasn't much of a point to her competing at Nationals. I do feel bad that it happened this way, though, and that she didn't really get a dignified ending to her career.
Those were most of the big players/stories from the Classic. I might try and post some reactions to the Junior meet, and I'd like to do some best/worst leos from the meet as well. Let me know if you have any ideas!
