The Daily 9: Women's All-Around

1.Fight to the Finish. It appeared that Rebecca Bross was poised to capture her first World All-around title, with a large lead going into the final event. But it was the very last skill of the competition (her 2 ½ to Barani) that made the difference. You could sense in the arena how bad everyone felt for Bross missing that skill with the sighs and looks on the faces of people in the crowd. It was a dramatic competition and a fight to the very end.

2. Bridget Bounces Back. After a tough floor set in prelims that included a number of unsteady landings, Bridget Sloan delivered a stellar floor routine tonight that ultimately sealed her victory. She drilled virtually every pass and she needed it to ultimately take gold. – Her margin of victory was less than a tenth of a point!

3. Bross Flies – On uneven bars, Rebecca Bross was flying above the bar on her releases (Tkatchev, Jaeger), catapulting herself into the air at heights not often seen on the apparatus. Her full twisting double back dismount was also sky-high (and stuck!) and thrilling for the audience.

4. Crazy for Koko - Koko Tsurumi’s medal is Japan’s first for WAG. We love her determination, her style, her attention to detail and her smile. She told us after the meet that before the 2008 Olympics there was little interest in WAG in Japan - only MAG garnered a large public following. With the girls finishing well in Beijing, there’s been more interest, and she hopes her performance tonight will help further that. (She’s also been working a Yurchenko double in training which will help her even further going forward.)

5.Mixing It Up. There were fewer cookie-cuter type routines compared to many recent years and there was a really nice variety of skills performed tonight.

6. Packed House! The O2 was practically full tonight, all the way up to the rafters, save for a few corporate boxes. Once again, the fans came through with an appreciative showing of support and the in-arena announcer, who often provided color commentary, was once again a big hit! (Hint to USA Gymnastics: Let Macready try this at some events so that he’s involved not only during the breaks, but the competition itself. Wouldn’t hurt to try something to spice it up and make it entertaining for the crowd!)

On a few negative notes…

7. Still Missing Artistry. The new Code was meant to encourage artistry, but so far, it doesn’t seem to have been too successful. The judges aren’t allowing enough separation in the Execution score among gymnasts to really distinguish in a significant fashion. And so many gymnasts and coaches seem to be neglecting this side of the sport still, with unimaginative choreography and still not enough focus on the details. The judges have 10 full points to work with in the Execution score, but they’re not using enough range.

8.Going Through the Motions. Continuing from the above, on floor exercise, the sport is severely lacking one of things that, through the years, had made it popular with the general public (as well as with die-hard gymnastics fans): fantastic, expressive floor routines! So many gymnasts just throw in poses here and there and seem to be going through the motions during their routines versus performing. A lot of the choreography has become so similar that the individuality and expressiveness has become lost in the shuffle. Perhaps some coaches could sit down with their athletes and pull up YouTube videos from the 1980s to inspire their athletes with performances from an era that really showcased the artistic side of the sport.

But finishing positively….

9. The Longines Award for Elegance was presented to two gymnasts we find incredibly deserving and two of our favorites to watch: Elsa Garcia (pictured) and Daniel Keatings for MAG. Congratulations!

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