Sloan Vaults to U.S. Title - Updated

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After a beam error left her in third heading into today’s finals, Bridget Sloan showed she’d gotten the bugs out and in time to take her first National Championship.

Rock steady on beam, Sloan was near-perfect on floor, then vaulted her way to gold, sealing the deal with a solid Yurchenko double twist—all with a smile on her face.

“I was really happy, in a really good mood tonight, I don’t know why,” said Sloan, adding with a laugh. “And I’m an in even better mood now!”

Though this wasn’t exactly the way it was supposed to go—because of the beam fall, Sloan had to work her way back to the spot—her win was hardly unexpected.

“I guess I do now, as an Olympian and National Champ,” Sloan answered when asked if she felt like a team leader. “I’m going to have to ask Nastia and Shawn about it, they know. Maybe they can give me some tips.”

Liukin had plenty of tips for her WOGA teammates, Ivana Hong and Rebecca Bross, who went two-three in the medal standings, respectively.

“She just told me that floor and vault are my strong events,” Bross said, describing her personal pep talk from Liukin. “She said to just go out there and do it like I do in the gym. It helped calm me down.”

Bross, who led the meet after the first day, need some soothing after a disastrous opening routine on bars, coming to a dead hang after catching her Jaeger—“I just didn’t get a grip on the bar and my hand slipped off,” she explained—and then bouncing off on her Pak salto a few seconds later.

“My hand was on, and then it wasn’t,” said Bross, laughing off her fall. “I don’t know what that was about!”

It was easy for Bross to grin after the meet, having seriously redeemed herself with world class sets on floor and vault, earning the night’s highest tally (15.3) for her Yurchenko double twist to close out the meet.

“Vault,” Bross answered swiftly when asked what she was most proud of. “I’m happy with what I did for my senior Championships. I was happy to go out and show what I can do after all the injuries.”

Hong, the night’s silver medalist, was also happy with her effort. Though she wasn’t as smooth as normal on floor, and her execution on bars seemed low, Hong wasn’t complaining.

“I’m definitely still working on [my floor routine,]” she told Inside after the meet. “I’ve only had it two or three months now, and it’s one of those events I didn’t have as much time as I’d like to perfect.

“On bars,” Hong added, “I need to work on my angles. My routine is mostly pirouettes and that’s definitely something I’m working on cleaning up.”

What did go right for Hong was beam, where she was the top athlete at these Championships, outscoring the field both nights and claiming the event crown.

“I’ve been working on it a lot,” Hong said of her new set. “I’m really pleased with how beam turned out.

“I’m pleased with how I performed [overall,]” she concluded. “But there’s still a lot of work to do, as is there always is with this sport. But that’s what makes it fun.”

The Olympic Champ knows all about hard work and National Team Coordinator warned Liukin, who performed only on beam here, would have to do a lot of it to get in shape in time for Worlds, about eight weeks away.

But tonight Liukin’s focus was a team leader, and cheerleader.

“Bridget was wow, amazing,” Liukin said critiquing the competition. “For those who made the National Team, especially those making it for the first time, I tell them to live it up, because this is the best time of their lives. To look down at their chests and see that USA and know that they’re the best and they represent their country.

“I see a bright future for USA Gymnastics,” Liukin concluded happily.