The most recent FIG World Challenge Cup meet wrapped up today after four days of competition in Osijek, Croatia. Ruby Harrold proved she’s still got it on bars, winning gold there with a 14.125, and veteran Jade Barbosa nailed her beam set to earn that title with a 14.225.

But it was Puerto Rico’s Paula Mejias who stole the show this time around with her two surprise gold medals on vault and floor. Not considered a favorite on either, Mejias qualified fourth into the vault final and third on floor, but she walked away a two-time champion after proving to be the most consistent.

The 21-year-old has had terrible luck on vault, her best event, in the past year. At the Central American & Caribbean Games last winter, a costly step out of bounds put her in fourth place, off the podium by half a tenth. She then had a shot at medaling at the Anadia World Cup in May, but was unable to compete a second vault after injuring herself on her first attempt. Her rough patch continued at the Pan Am Games this July, where again she seemed a sure shot for the podium but then balked her tsuk double to earn a zero, finishing last.

Finally, this time around, everything went her way. Mejias averaged a 14.125 to take the title on vault and then hit a fantastic floor routine for a 13.55, giving her a solid two-tenth lead to walk away with her second gold of the meet.

On vault, Mejias competed her tsuk double very nicely, just landing with her chest down and a hop forward to earn a 14.375. She then went for a handspring front tuck 1.5, which she hopped over to the side and out of bounds to incur a three-tenth penalty, though she still managed a 13.875 to sneak in for the gold by less than a tenth.

In second place was another happy surprise, with new senior Boglarka Devai of Hungary averaging a 14.088. Devai began with a big DTY, taking a large step back on the landing for a 14.275, and then performed a tsuk full with a big bounce back for a 13.9.

Bronze medalist Franchesca Santi of Chile is no stranger to the Challenge Cups, having earned her first bronze on vault in Sao Paulo in May. This time around, she averaged a 13.988 competing the same vaults as Devai – a DTY with a low (and painful-looking) landing and a step out-of-bounds for a 14.1, and then a tsuk full, a bit low but clean for a 13.875.

Marcia Vidiaux, the Cuban first-year senior who has wowed fans since her explosive debut at Anadia, qualified first into the final and was expected to take the title by a huge margin, but she landed her tsuk double half a twist shy, getting it downgraded and losing a big chunk of execution for a 13.925 when she’s capable of a full point higher. For her second vault, she went for the handspring Rudi, but landed that one about a quarter shy and was still twisting into the ground as she landed before dropping to her knee, earning a 13.125 to average just a 13.525.

Also coming up short was Teja Belak of Slovenia, another Challenge Cup veteran with a nice collection of medals this year, including silvers from Varna and Ljubljana as well as bronze from Doha and Cottbus. This time around, she had a very deep landing on her handspring tuck full for a 13.775 and then sat her Yurchenko 1.5, bringing in a 12.9 to average a 13.338 for last place.

Others in the final included Nancy Mohamed Taman of Egypt who performed two very clean efforts to average a 13.763 for fourth place, Valerija Grisane of Latvia with another set of super tidy but low difficulty vaults to tie Videaux for fifth with a 13.525 average, and local girl Ana Derek of Croatia who averaged a 13.475 after hitting a great handspring tuck full but crashing her tsuk full to her hands and knees, though she walked away from the apparatus in good spirits.

The bars champion in Osijek was none other than Great Britain’s Ruby Harrold, a Worlds finalist on the event who has spent much of the past year out due to injury. She returned to competition at the British Team Championships last weekend, but on every event but her specialty, so this was our first look at her in action since Nanning.

Harrold competed a busy and exciting routine, including a Maloney to Bhardwaj (the catch on the latter was a little shaky but she had no problems keeping in rhythm), a van Leeuwen to Zuchold to toe full, and a double front dismount with a step forward. The routine is out of a 6.3, though it did have many noticeable form issues and earned only a 7.825 in execution to total a 14.125, but at Osijek that was nearly a point ahead of second place so she had nothing to fear. Now it’s just a matter of tidying it up if she’s hoping for a spot in Glasgow.

Annika Urvikko of Finland placed second with a 13.275. She hit her shaposh to bail to clear hip full with several form issues, caught her clear hip to piked Jaeger, and then hit her double front well and looked happy, though her somewhat low difficulty and form breaks added up to a 13.275, lower than what she’s capable of there.

The bronze medal went to Thauany Araujo of Brazil, who jumped up quite a bit after qualifying last thanks to looking a little cleaner, aside from a slight arch over on her bail. Araujo also finished up with a double front dismount to earn a 13.175, slightly edging out Peru’s Ariana Orrego, who hit her routine well for a 13.025, including a big Tkachev and a double layout dismount.

The other four finalists all counted falls in their routines, including Barbara Mokosova of Slovakia on her toe full (a pretty nasty fall to her back) to earn a 12.15 and Simona Castro of Chile on her arabian double front dismount to earn a 12.025.

Rounding out the final were Vidiaux and Belak with two more mishaps to follow up their vault dramas. Videaux finished seventh after muscling a stalder half and losing her swing before hopping off to earn an 11.775, though she hit a ginormous Tkatchev and was otherwise pretty confident. Belak was sadly last again with an 11.375 after missing her Jaeger, though she had a good finish with a stuck double front.

Jade Barbosa of Brazil was the beam champion, showing off beautiful lines from beginning to end. Starting with an excellent roundoff loso mount, she continued to hit a super solid roundoff layout, and had extreme precision on her leaps, jumps, and turns, an effortless side aerial, punch front, and switch to back tuck, and then a double pike with a step back for a 14.225…and I think they sold her a bit short there, honestly.

The silver medal went to Dorina Boczogo of Hungary, who earned a 13.575 after performing her famous mount, a front aerial slowly connected to a front toss to back tuck, a switch ring with a slight check, a side somi with a break at the hips, and a double tuck dismount with a step back.

Isabella Amado of Panama started out a little rough with a big leg up on her bhs bhs layout series, but continued well enough to win the bronze with a score of 13.45. She kept going with a front aerial to her jump series, a sheep jump, switch to back tuck, switch side, punch front, and double pike dismount with a step back.

Just outside of medal contention was Rebecca Tunney of Great Britain, looking very mature in her international return (and her signature bun is still there). This was only her second meet back after British Team Championships, and she was a bit shaky, wobbling on the first three skills in her routine and competing just a bhs back tuck for her flight series, preparing for several seconds and still landing awkwardly. The best feature of her routine was her big double pike dismount, and she finished with a 13.2.

There surprisingly weren’t many big errors in this final. Tjasa Kysselef of Slovenia (fifth place with a 13.125), Ariana Orrego of Peru (sixth with a 12.6), and first-year senior Kitti Honti of Hungary (seventh with a 12.5) all hit. The only finalist with a fall was bars medalist Araujo on her bhs loso loso, though she redeemed that with her huge and gorgeous switch half and a big near-stuck double pike, both of which she seemed happy about, though she was only able to reach a 12.375.

Mejias was back with a floor win, earning a 13.55 after attacking her 2.5 to front layout full to big applause, a double arabian to stag, and a whip to double tuck. It was a great effort, and a wonderful performance, very deserving of the top prize.

The tie for second was between Tunde Csillag of Hungary and Vidiaux, who finally got her medal. Csillag opened with a big double layout (with a step out-of-bounds) and a piked full-in, while Videaux’s energetic routine included a whip to triple full with a bounce, a nicely-controlled 2.5 to front tuck, a tucked full-in with a bounce, and a double tuck to finish. Both of these gymnasts earned scores of 13.3 to finish together on the podium.

Castro finished a couple of tenths away from the podium for her strong routine that earned a 13.125, Kysselef placed fifth for her clean but relatively easy routine that brought in a 12.775, and then Derek tied her with her biggest mistake just a step out-of-bounds.

Boczogo was a podium favorite, and opened with an excellent double layout, but a big stumble out-of-bounds on her piked full-in and a knee down on her double front left her unable to challenge, and she finished seventh with a 12.7.

In last place was Turkey’s Tutya Yilmaz, an exciting new senior who is good at making finals but tends to lose it under pressure. With a great personality and a cut of Carly Patterson’s flashy big band music, she is a crowd pleaser for sure, but she was short on all of her passes, putting her hands down on her piked full-in, taking a step on her tucked full-in, brushing her hands down on her double tuck, landing her double pike low, and then stumbling out-of-bounds on her pirouette of all things…I don’t think the line judges caught this, but she might want to move that skill away from the edge! It’s the kind of routine you want to love, and all the power to her, as she really tries to make it a huge routine, but unfortunately she scored a 10.95 after her multiple issues.

Full results are available here.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The FIG released the nominative team lists for Worlds this morning, and while there are no surprises for the most part, the U.S. women’s team is a shocking one.

Keep in mind, nominative lists are just that – nominative. The actual U.S. women’s team won’t be named until the selection camp held October 6-9, and in the meantime anything can change. It looks as if the current nominative list is a reflection of this summer’s competitions as well as how gymnasts did at the most recent national team camp, but they still have one more verification to prove themselves so again, anything can change.

As it stands right now, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, and Maggie Nichols are all featured, to no one’s surprise. Madison Kocian is also someone who’s been on everyone’s minds, but the list also includes MyKayla Skinner and – drum roll please – Brenna Dowell, who reportedly placed fifth in the all-around at camp once she added her Amanar back into her program. She was also second on bars.

It looks as though Karolyi is going for maximum potential on each event rather than the top all-arounders. In this scenario, Nichols looks like the alternate, as she isn’t in the top three on any event, especially now that everyone has Amanars again. But Dowell, who would fill a similar role as Nichols with vault and bars as their strong suits, could also be in that position. But again, this list isn’t official, and there’s still plenty of time for change. But I love the team, despite being sad about the lack of inclusion of Bailie Key and Kyla Ross.

Since it’s not all about the USA, what are some of the other big surprises? No Emily Little for Australia, which is shocking as she’s one of their strongest, so she must be dealing with injury. Anna Pavlova is back for Azerbaijan after dealing with injury this past year. Canada is including new seniors Audrey Rousseau and Sydney Townsend over Maegan Chant, who has spent the past three years as one of Canada’s top choices.

Cuba will send two WAG gymnasts, including vault phenom Marcia Vidiaux, though it looks as though Yesenia Ferrera is out of commission. For Spain, Roxana Popa and Maria Paula Vargas are finally back, though they’re missing Cintia Rodriguez and Ainhoa Carmona from their roster.

There’s nothing too surprising from the Brits, with Ruby Harrold making it back into the lineup after her strong showing in Osijek, though Rebecca Tunney didn’t look quite ready so it’s no shock she’s not included. The Germans and Italians also have no surprises, so as long as everyone stays healthy things should stay as they are.

Both fierce Californian NCAA gymnasts Danusia Francis and Toni-Ann Williams are on the list for Jamaica. For Poland, it was a surprise to see Marta Pihan-Kulesza not on the list, though she has slowly been coming back from injury and made her return this weekend, so it’s likely this list was made before her recovery and she could still be added.

North Korea has a team listed despite there being some controversy about them potentially boycotting. Romania has left out Andreea Munteanu from their equation, though this could change after nationals this weekend. Russia has Aliya Mustafina on the list despite her not being in the gym over the past couple of months, so this could also change depending on how well she’s able to come back.

The full nominative list for MAG and WAG is below.

Last night you met some of our favorite gymnasts from the smaller programs competing on day one. These gymnasts don’t get quite as much recognition as they probably should, so if you’re looking to enjoy gymnastics beyond the major programs in today’s subdivisions, here’s who we love and why.

Yamilet Peña (Dominican Republic)

One of our favorite Caribbean gymnasts, Yamilet Peña is most known for her death-defying Produnova vault. She’s one of four gymnasts in the world to compete the vault over this past quad, and while it’s often borderline scary with her “fall feet first” strategy, we do love the daredevil in her that isn’t afraid to go for broke. The reason she risks it is so she can get more notoriety and therefore more funding for her struggling program, so until smaller nations like the DR are able to somehow find recognition another way, she’s making the system work for her.

Vasiliki Millousi (Greece)

The 31-year-old Vasiliki Millousi is absolutely breathtaking on beam. She has the kind of routine that makes you drool. When she struggles it’s the saddest thing ever because you know she deserves to be in literally every final, because her presentation and confidence are magical, but even though she has a good heap of difficulty, it’s still not quite enough for large-stage podiums (though she did make it to finals at the European Championships this year!). She has represented Greece at the Olympics twice so far – Sydney 2000 and London 2012 – and is well on her way to finding a spot in Rio as well.

Morgan Lloyd (Cayman Islands)

The country where Morgan Lloyd lives has the same population as my small suburban hometown. The Cayman Islands has exactly one gym, their national program wasn’t founded until 2006, and there are 28 gymnasts total in the entire thing. But that hasn’t stopped Morgan from paving her way at the elite level, representing at the Youth Olympic Games last summer and the Pan American Games this July. She doesn’t have nearly the difficulty to make her able to challenge anywhere, but she is good at what she does and is a fighter, not afraid to go after huge dreams. She is also eligible for the tripartite spot at the Olympics, which is awarded to a gymnast from a country with fewer than six athletes at the previous Olympic Games.

Dorina Boczogo (Hungary)

Like Millousi, Dorina Boczogo is another “oldie but goodie” who has two quads’ worth of Olympic experience, having competed in 2008 and 2012. She’s still hungry for more, however, and at the age of 23 still looks like the most likely Hungarian to take the spot. She’s famous for her beam mount, which showcases incredible strength and elegance, and then her routine as a whole is great as well, as is her floor. She reportedly has some awesome floor upgrades for this year’s Worlds, and scored a 14.1 and 14.2 on her sets at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, so keep your eyes peeled for some magic there.

Hong Un Jong (North Korea)

I still remember hearing that Hong Un Jong wasn’t going to be allowed to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games due to her federation’s decision to cheat in 2004, forging her sister’s birthdate to make her age-eligible. It wasn’t her fault, and yet she missed out on a Games where she could have likely defended her 2008 title. She went on to get vault bronze in 2013 and then gold last year, defeating Simone Biles with an Amanar and a Cheng, the highest combination of difficulty in the world. She has some competition this year from Maria Paseka of Russia, who has the same vaults, though Hong has looked great in training and I can see her pushing to defend her gold.

Danusia Francis (Jamaica)

I almost wrote ‘Great Britain’ next to Danusia Francis’ name, and that’s because it’s where she used to be affiliated, having served as alternate for the country at the Olympic Games in 2012. This time around, she wants a legitimate spot of her own, thus the change of nationality to the country that makes up half of her natural citizenship, where she’ll have a much greater shot. She’s known for her jaw-dropping skills, like the sideways side aerial to a gainer layout dismount she competed on beam for UCLA and now the aerial to Y scale, which she can’t get named for herself (it’s technically two skills) but will probably do anyway, because it’s awesome and so is she.

Janessa Dai (Singapore)

Janessa Dai flies under the radar quite a bit, but she’s actually a super spunky and fun gymnast you should always keep an eye on. She has so much fun with her gymnastics, especially last year at the Commonwealth Games, where at 15 she was one of the youngest competitors and seemed to be having the time of her life. Now back at the Hydro, she’s a little more seasoned, and her scores are getting more consistent as well. Floor is her clear standout routine, and while the difficulty is a bit low, she’ll definitely impress you with her technique and performance.

Kirsten Beckett (South Africa)

Yesterday I mentioned Farah Boufadene of Algeria likely earning an Olympic spot next year, rendering one of the ‘universality’ spots useless. You can count on Kirsten Beckett to get the other spot, as she’s probably the strongest all-arounder in the continent and should have no problem earning the scores to make it happen. At the Commonwealth Games last summer, she qualified into nearly every final, and then despite being injured for most of the past year, causing her to miss the 2014 World Championships, she returned at this September’s All-Africa Games to win gold in the all-around and on beam.

Franchesca Santi (Chile)

My love for the World Cup gymnasts is no secret, and Franchesca Santi fits this bill. The 23-year-old competed at three of the Challenge Cups this year, and won bronze in both Sao Paulo and Osijek in addition to picking up silver at the South American Championships and qualifying into finals at the Pan American Games. She’s been limited to just vault and floor for most of the year, and though she did all four in qualifications at Osijek, she just doesn’t have the ability to be a contender on anything but vault…but her vaults are clean and incredible and she deserves a look!

Toni-Ann Williams (Jamaica)

Like Danusia Francis, Toni-Ann Williams is coming straight from her collegiate program – she just finished her freshman year at Cal – to contend for an Olympic spot for the country she has represented internationally for several years. Williams continued her elite training at Cal with her NCAA coach Justin Howell, who is with Williams in Glasgow and is part of the plan to get Jamaica a spot in the 2016 Olympic Games. Williams will compete alongside her sister Maya, who is just doing beam, and is hoping to unveil some pretty powerful tumbling, from what I’ve heard. Even more powerful than what she already does in NCAA!

Sofi Gomez (Guatemala)

I will always remember watching the Pan American Games in 2011 and being just fully amazed at this then 15-year-old Sofi Gomez from a country with literally no real program coming out and pocketing medals over much more likely gymnasts. Her score of 14.175 on beam was enough for gold there over gymnasts like Kristina Vaculik of Canada and Daniele Hypolito of Brazil, and she also earned the silver medal in the all-around less than half a point behind the American Bridgey Caquatto, and over Vaculik, Peng Peng Lee, Elsa Garcia, and Brandie Jay. She competed at the 2012 Games, and this year could’ve repeated both all-around and beam medals at Pan Am Games in Toronto, but unfortunate falls kept her off of both podiums. Her biggest goal in Glasgow will be the all-around final, which will be totally achievable if she hits.

Houry Gebeshian (Armenia)

Wow, this post is full of that awesome hybrid of NCAA elites! Houry Gebeshian was a star gymnast at the University of Iowa, and has represented Armenia in the past at World Championships, though did not continue on to the Olympic Games. She is blogging about her experience on her official fan Facebook, which is awesome to follow, and she should be able to earn a spot at the test event as an all-arounder. It’s been a while since we’ve seen her at this level, but the 26-year-old seems ready to take on the challenges of elite once again.

Tutya Yilmaz (Turkey)

At last year’s Youth Olympic Games, Tutya Yilmaz made a lot of mistakes, and then she cried about them. A lot. She is definitely one of those gymnasts who is just all over the place with her routines, but since growing up a bit between last summer and this fall, she now takes her mistakes and falls with a smile on her face and the knowledge that there’s always another day. She actually has a phenomenal beam set, though we’ve never really seen it competed well, unfortunately…and then she has some huge tumbling on floor, though usually succumbs to poor landings in competition. But we love her anyway.

Marina Nekrasova (Azerbaijan)

20-year-old Marina Nekrasova was one of seven Russian gymnasts who didn’t get enough love from her original program, and so packed up and took the show to Azerbaijan, where she is now helping forge an elite program that’s just beginning to thrive despite its young presence in the country. With the European Games held in Baku, tons of fans came out to support their local girls, and Nekrasova really stepped up to the plate, competing some of her best routines in both qualifications and all-around finals. She’s limited in difficulty – especially on bars – though can knock a beam routine out of the park and is getting more consistent on her weaker events as she continues to grow with the program.

Giulia Steingruber (Switzerland)

This lady really needs no introduction, but we’ll give her one anyway. Giulia Steingruber, 21, is a beast. The 2012 Olympian gets better each year, adding difficulty to her already awesome routines, and looking consistent everywhere she goes, which helped her earn the all-around title at this year’s European Championships ahead of gymnasts from much stronger programs. With the way qualifications went yesterday, she can definitely challenge for a top six spot to fit into that first group in all-around finals, and if other top gymnasts have mistakes, she could likely find herself on the podium as well. Her floor and vault are the most impressive and there’s a vault finals spot waiting with her name on it, though she can hit a pretty solid beam routine at times as well.

Phan Thi Ha Thanh (Vietnam)

In the last quad, Phan Thi Ha Thanh came pretty much out of nowhere to snag the bronze medal on vault at the 2011 World Championships, thus becoming the only gymnast to secure a nominative spot at the 2012 Olympic Games through the apparatus medal qualification. While she’d be lucky to make the final this year let alone medal (thanks, depth!) she could still put up some great sets, and then also has a gorgeous beam routine, for which she’s won gold medals at two 2015 World Challenge Cups in addition to the Southeast Asian Games, where she also won all-around and vault gold. She’s been injured as of late, but is expected to compete on all four events in Glasgow.

Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (Malaysia)

21-year-old Farah Ann Abdul Hadi was unfortunately the subject of controversy this summer. During her competition at the Southeast Asian Games, she became noticed by fans not for getting on every single podium (gold floor, silver all-around, bronze everywhere else) but for wearing a leotard. People from her predominantly Muslim country vilified her for dressing so skimpily, tormenting her on Instagram about how she needed to be covered. She got through it like the pro she is, returning for a stellar competition at Universiade, where she earned a 53.199 in the all-around, one of her best scores ever. She’s phenomenal on floor with gorgeous lines and a super engaging routine, so try to watch her there if you can.

Rifda Irfanaluthfi (Indonesia)

Speaking of gorgeous lines and engaging routines…that’s literally why Rifda Irfanaluthfi exists. Rifda’s difficulty is a little weak across the board, but this is the first time we’ve seen Indonesia represented on the international stage in forever, and yet she fits right up there with her elite peers. Actually, she stands out, because her floor is magical and you will love it. In addition to her expressive set, her tumbling’s actually quite strong and clean, and she also does some excellent work on beam, though she struggles in the all-around because her bars are nowhere up to snuff. But who doesn’t struggle on bars, and who cares when you’re otherwise fabulous?!

Dipa Karmakar (India)

Dipa Karmakar is another of the Produnova gymnasts, and as I was talking about with Peña, it has really paid off in terms of helping her struggling program get attention and funding for greater training opportunities. After winning a vault medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Dipa was basically treated like she’d just won the Olympic all-around title. The government gave her many prizes, without which we likely wouldn’t see her in competition this year or next, as is the case with all of her national teammates. It’s a sad reality of the sport, but like Peña, I think Karmakar is smart to exploit the loophole. If only there was a safer way to get around this!

Gaelle Mys (Belgium)

It was hard for me to choose one of the Belgians, because they’re all so stupendous. But Mys is their two-time Olympian who is still kicking butt at 23, so she gets the nod. After competing in 2008, she actually didn’t get the 2012 spot, but when teammate Julie Croket backed out due to injury, Mys replaced her and got to go to her second consecutive Games. She had some struggles on bars earlier this year, but since then has been the picture of consistency, regularly scoring around the 54 mark, give or take a few tenths. I don’t think it’ll be enough to get her into the all-around final, but she’ll get pretty close and more importantly, will help her team finish in the top 16 so they can earn a spot at next year’s test event as a team.

Marcia Vidiaux (Cuba)

I don’t think anyone had heard of Marcia Vidiaux before she came vaulting into our hearts at the Challenge Cup in Anadia, Portugal this May. It was like, who’s this other Cuban girl with Yesenia Ferrera? AND HOW DID SHE JUST WIN VAULT AVERAGING A 15.112?! Mind. Blown. With a Rudi and a tsuk double full, she has incredible difficulty, and typically also shows great form. It probably won’t be enough to medal in Glasgow, but it would be hard to see a final without the new senior, who – it should definitely be noted – will be a member of the first Cuban squad to attend a World Championships since the 2003 competition in Anaheim. How exciting, especially because it means she could go on to nab an Olympic spot for her country for the first time in forever.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The Gymternet is excited to bring all of the action of World Championships to you live, thanks to our reporter on scene, Kensley Behel! Refresh the page every five minutes or so for the most up-to-date action. Most recent updates will appear on the top. Thanks for joining us, and enjoy!

1:00 pm. Mariia Smirnova (AZE – UB) jump to inside high bar kch, toe on, giant ½, jaeger, bail to handstand and back up, giant, dismounts with a layout with 1.5 twists. 11.466

12:56 pm. Tutya Yilmaz (TUR – FX) Piked full-in to open. Jazzy routine kind of Patterson 2004 esque, comes back with a tucked full-in, 3^rd pass is a double tuck, Huge double pike to finish! Great routine for her! 13.166

12:55 pm.  Switch to split, side aerial to a perfect back tuck! Cool! Front aerial, switch ½, Almost fell of on L turn, side somi Stuck double pike to finish.

12:53 pm. Rifda Irfanaluthfi UB – Kch, up to the high bar giant giant 1/1,  3 giants to wind up for a double pike dismount…. Not sure if that was her entire routine or if she fell of and it is just super short.

Lisa Verschueren BB – Switch to split leap, wolf turn, BHS Losco, switch ½, front aerial, side aerial with a bobble, double pike to finish.

The Korean team scream every time their teammate lands. It’s adorable.

12:47 pm. Rune Hermans BB – opens with a double wolf turn, switch to sissone, BHS Losco, side somi – solid, switch ½, front aerial, side aerial, 2.5 to finish! 13.8

12:43Julie Croket BB – switch to split, lovely BHS Losco combo, really low punch front (almost came off) front aerial, switch side ½, Memmel turn, Stuck Gainer layout off the end of the beam

Lee Hyebeen (KOR – V) – Stuck FTY

Yun Narae V – Almost stuck FTY right down the middle. Also a great block! 14.033

According to the announce, Belgium is still in 7^th after this rotation.

12:34 Yun Narae FX – 2.5 to punch front, 1.5 through to double (chest was low)…. Almost stuck double pike to finish.

Laura Waem UB – Kch, grip change, weiler (can’t make it) tries to do it again and she cant press up. Belgium will now have to count a fall. KCH, chow to pak, kch, Maloney, bail to handstand and back up, toe one 1/1, tkatchev, Stuck her full-in. Way to finish strong!

12:30 Marina Nekrasova V – Front handspring pike ½ out.

12:28 pm. Rune Hermans UB – Kch to on 1/1, Maloney bail and back up, toe one tiant ½, to jaeger, giant ½, almost stuck full-in.

Phan Thi Ha Thanh V – Vt. 1 Handspring pike ½ out. Vt. 2 yurchenko double.

Lisa Verschueren UB – KCH, giant ½ to jaer, toe on, to pak, Maloney, to bail and back up, giant 1/2, Big double front to finish!

12:28 pm. Caught the end of Gaelle Mys’ routine. It was beautiful until the dismount where she flew forward after her front double tuck.

Ekin Morova (TUR – BB) Punch front, Off on BHS Losco (bad knees,) Side aerial (big wobble) Almost off on switch to back tuck combo, full spin with a flexed foot…no, switch ½, double tuck to finish.

Belgium is in 7^th place respectively heading into the 3^rd rotation.

12:17 pm. Mariia Smirnova FX – Opens with a triple twist – legs come undone at the end. Double tuck with low chest, switch ring, Full L turn to full turn, side somi, back 2.5 to finish.

12:13 pm. Rifda Irfanaluthfi (INA- FX) – beautiful extension on her jumps, Double pike, Double Memmel turn, Her music is kind of an Irish jig, tightly tucked double tuck to finish! She seems to really enjoy performing this routine.

12:10 pm. Do Thi van Anh (VIE – FX) A little shy on her double pike and she stumbles forward a bit, Double twist, Straddle full, switch side ½, double tuck to finish.

12:06 pm. Heo Seonmi (KOR – BB) wolf jump to split jump. Front aerial, BHS Losco, I think that was supposed to be a front aerial to 2 ft but she stepped out again, side somi, great Memmel turn, switch, Double pike to finish!

12:03 pm. Lisa Verschueren V – Great block on her FTY.

Marina Nekrasova FX – Opens with a full-in and comes back with a double Arabian. Beautiful double tuck, ends with a messy back 2.5.

Gaelle Mys V – Great kick out of the DTY. Legs a little loose though. 14.133

12:00 pm. Rune Hermes  V – FTY some form issues but good direction.

Yuliya Inshina FX – Opens with double Arabian, 1.5 to front full, double Memmel turn, choreo is slow, lng pause in the corner before the double pike.

Laura Waem V – FTY it looked like she might kick out of  it but she waited to long to twist and had to pike it down.

Cindy Vandenhold V – Almost identical vault to Laura’s.

On to the 2nd rotation!

11:53 Rifda Irfanaluthfi (INA – BB) Punch front, BHS to pack pike – off on the pike, switch, switch side ¼, Almost off on Memmel turn, side aerial, front aerial, wolf jump to sissone, side somi, Stuck front full off the end of the beam!

11:50 am. Phan Thi Ha Thanh (VIE – BB) 11:50 free walkover to wolf jump, BHS back layout (low) switch, to switch ½, full spin tour jete ½ – good. Aerial, side somi, double pike to finish! Nice routine!

Belgium is currently sitting in 6^th  (respectively) after that rotation! They have huge following here!

11:45 am. Rune Hermans (BEL – FX) Full-in to start. She looks like she’s having fun! Back 1.5 to front full. Switch ring to tour jete full to stag, back 2.5 to punch front. Her team is really really cheering her on! It’s nice to see! 13.966

11:40 am. Mariia Smirnova (AZE – BB) side aerial (big wobble,) switch to sissone, eeek really bad form on the BHS back tuck, full turn good, awkward side somi – thought it was going to be a front aerial to 2 ft, front aerial, Double twist to finish. 12.066

Lisa Verschueren (BEL – FX) Double L turn, super high double tuck, back 1.5 to front full – some shuffling of the feet, struggles a bit on the double wolf turn, STUCK double pike! Really powerful and fun routine from her! The  crowd really got into it! 13.933

11:38 am. Dayeon Eum (KOR – UB) Kch Maloney into pak, kch shaposh ½ , clear hip giant ½ to jaeger, kch /2, giant 1/1 into full twisting double back.

11:34 am. Cindy Vandenhold (BEL – F) Double Pike to open , 2.5, double tuck, free aerial. Interesting choreo to finish the routine 12.933

Hyebeen Lee (KOR – UB) Van Leeuwen, toe one 1/1, tkatvhev, blind change, giant ½, clear hip (but only like the first half) immediately into a double tuck.

Peppijna Dalli (MLT – V) Tsuk pike. Chest was low on the landing.

11:33 am. Tutya Yilmaz (TUR – V) FTY.  Slightly piked but good direction!

11:30 Laura Waem (Bel- FX) Straddle 1/1, Double twist, side aerial, Wolf turn,  finishes with a double tuck. I like her music!

Demet Mutlu (TUR – V) Handspring pike half out, low landing.

Ekin Morova (TUR – V) Handspring tuck half out.

11:28 am. TUR and MLT are starting on vault, KOR on Bars. AZE, VIE, and INA on Beam and Belgium is on Floor.

11:25 am. March in is beginning! Belgium is in a very pretty sparkly white and red leo.

Article by Kensley Behel

The 2015 World Championships were held from October 23 through November 1 in Glasgow, Scotland.

All-Around Final Results

Vault Final Results

Bars Final Results

Beam Final Results

Floor Final Results

Team Final Results

All-Around Qualification Results

Team Qualification Results

It took me a while to emotionally process everything in Saturday’s qualification day. Between China’s worst bar rotation in one hundred years, the most nervous the U.S. has ever been in competition, the Netherlands qualifying to their first Olympic Games as a team since 1976, and BRENNA…it’s been a hard couple of days. But I think I’m finally ready to speak about it all rationally. For the most part.

United States, 236.611

I can’t believe the U.S. team is leading by over five points and bested last year’s score by a point…and yet it was the worst I’ve seen them compete in recent years. I called the day ‘horrific’ on Twitter and while it wasn’t really literally horrific, and despite all of the nervous mistakes, they still only counted one fall. But really, if they finished that well looking the way they did, imagine what they could do if they were on?

It was a bizarre meet from almost the second they stepped out. When Brenna Dowell didn’t hear the beep on floor and then ran back out to start her routine before the 30 second timer ran down (with Marta Karolyi yelling “go, go, go!” at her which must inspire the fear of God) to compete without music (this literally would happen to Dowell) I said “this is going to be a fun day.” Fun meaning terrifying. But Dowell slayed, her only error a stumble out of bounds on her final pass, and she finally got the double front pike named for her two years after originally submitting it.

The next full moon drama happened with Aly Raisman not qualifying to floor finals. She made a mistake so rare for her in stepping out of bounds on her opening pass, and then lost her sense in the air on the split jump out of her double layout, in addition to having a few other nervous bloopers. With Maggie Nichols’ excellent set – talk about hitting when it counts – she was able to best Raisman by a few tenths to sneak into the floor final in one of the biggest upsets ever.

Simone Biles went on to get a 15.966 for her floor routine, but even she wasn’t immune to the nonsense, sitting her Amanar in warm-ups…though she nailed it in competition for a 16.0. The other vaults were great, but while Raisman looked fabulous in the air, she was unable to hold onto the landing, taking two sizable steps out and scoring less than Gabby Douglas did for her DTY, prompting Martha Karolyi to swap the two for team finals.

Then came bars. Sigh. Karolyi decided after Dowell’s fantastic training sets to use Dowell as the anchor, deciding between Raisman and Nichols as the lead-off, determining who would compete in the all-around. Raisman got the nod, whether for political reasons or because Karolyi thought she would outscore Nichols on all four events, and though she had been competing this routine actually pretty beautifully all year with virtually no mistakes, she ended up falling on her Tkachev.

Basically, the second she stepped out on her first floor pass, she decided what kind of day she was going to have, letting that vibe carry over from one routine to the next. There is a ton of pressure on her in this comeback, way more than she ever had as the underdog in 2012, and she’s stated numerous times how nervous she’s been coming back. If only she could just trust herself and find the confidence that made her the most decorated U.S. medalist three years ago…she has the skills but it’s the mental edge that scares me.

At any rate, a fall in the first routine in the lineup puts pressure on the rest of the team going forward. Everyone did a fantastic job, and then Dowell – already visibly shaken up after her floor routine – just completely lost it mentally. She seemed slow and tentative from her mount, but when she missed the Tweddle to Ezhova connection I thought, okay, just take an extra swing and don’t connect. But she took several extra swings and repeated the skill, connecting the two, expending even more energy in an already super long routine. A fall after her Church caused her to then repeat that skill into the pak, and by then she was so far gone it wasn’t surprising to see her peel off on the van Leeuwen. The routine was truly heartbreaking to watch knowing how well she’d been hitting in training, but the pressure seemed like it was too much for her.

Finishing on beam is no easy feat even on a good day, but thankfully there the team got it under control, hitting four of their five routines (Douglas fell on her standing full). There were definitely mistakes…Raisman missed several connections which took her start value from a 6.5 down to a 5.8, while Biles had a scary near-fall on her wolf 2.5, and overall I’m just shocked to see how weak this team is yet again on what was once their secret weapon…but they made it through and still came out on top.

In a way, a day like this was necessary. The U.S. women have been virtually untested since 2011, even when using their B team at competitions like the Pan Am Games. They’re still not really being challenged by anyone, but learned in qualifications that even without any real competition, they still have to keep the focus – otherwise their own minds are going to bring them down.

It’s similar to the meet everyone had on the first night of nationals, where the vibe was bizarre and everyone was a mess. Now we can only hope that they use Saturday’s competition to show up on fire tonight. A three-up three-count situation narrows the gap between them and Russia ever so slightly, and while it’s still not enough to really give the Russians an edge, if they count the mistakes they were lucky to scrap in qualifications, it’s going to be close (unless Russia has an equally bad day, of course).

China, 225.127

If the U.S. had a bad day, it was nothing compared to China’s breakdown of epic proportions. They actually have an incredible young team this year, and should have done well even without Yao Jinnan at the helm.

Like the U.S., the Chinese women began on floor, and while Chen Siyi, Wang Yan, and Shang Chunsong got them off to a good start, they went on to count a fall, as Mao Yi – who has a routine that could have been in finals – landed her 3.5 to punch front out of bounds and then crashed her 2.5 to punch front and Tan Jiaxin sat her 2.5 to punch front. There was a lot of talk about China really upping their tumbling this year, and while it’s incredible that they have two gymnasts doing the 3.5 to punch front pass when no one else in the world is even doing a 3.5, it seems like they’re just chucking things without paying much attention to the routines as a whole.

Though vault warmups featured crash after crash, the team managed to stand up four DTYs in the competition, though Chen’s was terrifying and she probably would’ve scored similarly with an FTY.

Then came the worst bars rotation ever. If you told me a week ago that the forward skills that define the Chinese on bars would be their downfall, I would’ve laughed in your face. But Wang lost herself on her Weiler half which, combined with her inherent form mistakes, got her an 11.8; Tan – who has a 6.8 when fully hitting – peeled off wildly after her Ono to front giant full, though still earned a 13.666; and Chen peeled off on her Ono to Healy for a 12.8.

Even with their hit routines, the Chinese didn’t manage to reach 15, as Shang managed a 14.666 and the young Fan Yilin pulled in just a 14.966 for her lovely routine. There’s actually been some controversy about Fan’s score, as she posted just an 8.1 in execution despite relatively clean work. There is reportedly some drama with the head bars judge – which you can read about on Tumblr – purposely underscoring the Chinese gymnasts, and there’s also a great post that compares the execution of the top three bars finishers with Fan’s that’s actually pretty damning. Hopefully the judges will be more consistent with their deductions – or lack thereof – in finals, but either way, the team did count two falls, so it just wasn’t something they could really get over at that point.

Finishing on beam, Chen made some nervous mistakes, Fan fell on her layout, Shang fell on her bhs loso after a six minute wait for Fan’s score, and then Wang saved the day with a routine that had only one big wobble. Mao was supposed to finish things off, but she’s not known for her consistency there so rather than put her up, they opted to count their two falls.

Netherlands, 222.354

The bad juju in the arena that caused so much drama for the Americans and the Chinese had odd effects on the Dutch women. They did have some mistakes of their own, and had to count a low score after a fall on beam, but they were otherwise so consistent and so technically perfect, they ended up edging out Brazil for the last spot into the team final…and their first Olympic team bid since 1976. Oh, and their qualifications score was eight points higher than it was in 2014. No big deal.

Beginning on bars, the Wevers twins Sanne and Lieke had exceptional routines, with Sanne earning a 14.1 even after some tiny mistakes at the beginning and Lieke posting a 14.4 for her Church to pak and a great double front. The rest of the team also looked clean, with even their weakest set a hit one.

Beam is where this team is epic, and while the first two in their rotation were a bit messy with Mara Titarsolej falling twice, the Wevers again killed it alongside Eythora Thorsdottir. It was Sanne who really stood out here with her gorgeous work and near-perfect execution, finishing with a 14.766 to qualify second into the beam final. They also have some of the most beautiful floor routines in the world, with tons of perfect pirouette work and lovely dance elements…and they really need to teach an official FIG class on artistry and expression. Lieke’s routine is quite possibly my favorite and has been since the trials for the European Games. Just…*sobs*.

Finishing up on vault, the team had all low difficulty sets but they were on fire and determined to pull out a team final finish. The ladies mostly showed FTYs, with Lisa Top – a specialist here – finishing up with a tucked tsuk full, earning a 14.3. Their finish led to lots of screaming, crying, jumping, and celebrating as they watched their nation pop up over Brazil on the scoreboard. Well-deserved. It’s amazing what they can do when they’re not all ridiculously injured…and if they can get gymnasts like Celine van Gerner and Noel van Klaveren back next year? They’ll be unstoppable. Nothing but a happy heart here watching them. It was like watching the U.S. women win the team final in 2012.

Oh, and can we talk about how Lieke qualified sixth into the all-around?! Bananas.

France, 219.919

The French women didn’t have the best possible meet, but they still had a solid tenth place finish, showing that with a little consistency they could also be on the level at which we saw the Dutch. Though compared to a year ago, they looked incredible, their qualifications score this year coming in five points higher than in 2014.

Beginning on beam, they counted a low 12.966 from Louise Vanhille after a fall from Valentine Pikul, and then were forced to count another fall as Marine Brevet – typically stellar here – missed her Y turn, a mistake that also kept her out of the all-around final. Claire Martin, a Euros medalist this year, also had some issues that limited her full potential, so in all it was just a rough way to start out.

The ladies did some great work on floor, though, with Martin looking gorgeous and Brevet getting revenge for her beam error, opening with a huge stuck double layout to post a 14.133. Vault was also super clean, though like the Dutch, they are lacking in difficulty which limits what they can do overall, and then they finished on bars with a decent but not stellar rotation. Vanhille, a potential bars final candidate, had a fall here, though first-year senior Loan His stepped it up to post a 14.466 for her excellent set, missing the final by a single spot.

Belgium 219.780

I was very happy to see the Belgian women finish 11th with the excellent team they’ve put together this year. Imagine what they can do with 2000 babies Axelle Klinckaert and Nina Derwael at the test event?! They posted a score five points higher than their team managed a year ago, bumping them up considerably to make them contenders for an Olympic team spot next year.

Even with injuries limiting Julie Croket and Laura Waem, both of whom were out nearly all year, the team looked impressive, especially on beam and floor. Like France and the Netherlands, they too have easy vaults but show beautiful work across the board, and they also have excellent artistry and presentation on floor, where new senior Rune Hermans had an especially spectacular set for a 13.966. Lisa Verschueren was also great there, posting a 13.933 for her brilliant routine that got the crowd clapping along.

On beam, Croket had a couple of near-misses that limited her score, but the rest of the team looked solid enough, especially Waem coming in clutch with a 14.0. They did count a fall on bars, however, as both Waem and two-time Olympic veteran Gaelle Mys had falls, though Cindy Vandenhole put up some nice work for a 14.033.

With Mys’ error, she was unable to challenge for an all-around spot, though both Verschueren and Hermans managed to make it in, a great testament to the depth of talent in this program right now. As I said, it’s only going to get deeper in 2016, so watch out for this team. After they came so close to making it in 2012 only to be bumped by Brazil at the last second, I think next year will absolutely be their time to shine.

Australia, 214.812

As great as it was to watch the above three teams make such incredible strides compared to last year, Australia had an unfortunately rough day, finishing four points lower than they did a year ago when they defeated Germany as underdogs to sneak into the team final. This year, they’re in 14th, so they’ll still get to the test event where they’ll hopefully have a better showing, but for now they’re definitely a bit disappointed and heartbroken.

Beginning on floor, the team saw some great work from everyone, especially Georgia Godwin. There were no major errors, though big routines – like those from 2012 Olympians Emily Little and Larrissa Miller – had just enough minor mistakes to limit their overall potential, with Little showing some form issues and Miller nearly sitting her double Arabian. The team came together for some good vaults, including a gorgeous FTY from Godwin and a big DTY from Little, posting a pretty solid 56.6 to end there.

But bars was where things began to go wrong, sadly, with both Mary-Anne Monckton and Kiara Munteanu having falls early in the rotation. Miller posted the team best of 14.166, though even she had uncharacteristic form issues and wasn’t able to capitalize on her lovely difficulty to make the final. Finishing on beam – the curse of the day, it seems – the women saw falls from Monckton and Godwin, with the remainder of the routines mostly scoring low; Munteanu’s 13.233 was the highest, unfortunately, and she had a relatively solid one minus being a bit shy on a few leaps. The highlight was a real fight for the stick on her double tuck dismount.

It was definitely a rough day for the Aussies, but they’ve surprised before and if anyone can come back from this, it’s them!

Everything Else

Elsa Garcia was injured during training this week. With her unable to compete at all and only five available for Mexico, the team nosedived in the rankings compared to 2014, finishing six points lower and placing only 21st, meaning they will not have a full team at the test event.

Hong Un Jong of North Korea qualified into the vault final five hundredths behind Maria Paseka with the same exact vaults. Simone Biles, with eight tenths lower difficulty, finished above Hong by a tenth. So basically, this vault podium is going to be an epic battle, especially as Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber also has the potential to make it in. And actually, all qualifiers are within about a half point from one another. Insane.

Speaking of Steingruber, the European champion qualified SECOND into the all-around final. SECOND! WITH A FALL. That’s ahead of Gabby Douglas by about a tenth. The two both had falls, so they could definitely go head to head for a podium spot on Thursday. Steingruber’s fall came on beam, though she killed it on vault with a 15.5 and nailed her floor for a 14.533…and while bars isn’t her best event, she actually had a pretty stellar routine there, considering.

Yamilet Pena of the Dominican Republic failed to make the vault final after sitting her Produnova. She also didn’t qualify to the test event as an all-arounder, meaning her Olympic journey ended in Glasgow.

Dipa Karmakar of India did make it to the vault final, showing the strongest Produnova of the three we saw in Glasgow in addition to bringing a 6.0 vault to the table. She did NOT get an all-around spot at the test event, however, so if she doesn’t medal in Glasgow, her Olympic dream will also end here.

Sofi Gomez of Guatemala had some major mistakes in her competition, placing a shocking 65th after falls on both bars and beam. She did still manage to earn an all-around spot at the test event, however, so she should be able to hopefully clean up enough there to make it to her second Olympic Games.

Tutya Yilmaz of Turkey also hit well enough to make it to the test event, finally hitting every single pass on floor after falling so much throughout the season. She struggled with bars, but otherwise had a pretty great day, including looking mostly solid with her 5.9 beam routine.

Phan Thi Ha Thanh of Vietnam didn’t compete two vaults and didn’t impress well enough to make the final on beam, though she too is another with a test event spot. The same can be said for Marcia Vidiaux of Cuba, who got a zero for one of her vaults and placed last there when she should’ve been a shoo-in for the final. But she’ll get another chance to qualify in April, as she secured an all-around spot for her country.

Vasiliki Millousi of Greece had an upsetting day, falling on beam – her best event – as well as floor. Her country finished last as a team, about seven points lower than last year, though they still received two individual spots for the test event.

Farah Ann Abdul Hadi of Malaysia didn’t have the best day, though still managed a 51.965 which was enough to make it to the test event alongside Danusia Francis of Jamaica, who hit four-for-four to score a 51.999 and make it in as well. Her teammate Toni-Ann Williams was slightly behind with a 50.531 after mistakes on a low-difficulty bars and on floor kept her from being able to challenge better. Fellow collegiate gymnast Houry Gebeshian of Armenia also made it through with a 51.965, her best elite score to date even with a fall on beam.

Sadly, the South African women were unable to earn a spot after mistakes from top gymnast Kirsten Beckett, though with Africa a beneficiary of the universality rule, they will place an athlete in this way, as only one gymnast from Africa made it to the test event and the universality rule says two must attend the Games.

The Hungarian women finished 18th with a 209.552, a bit better than last year though beam was a veritable disaster and it kept them from getting near a team spot at the test event. Even Dorina Boczogo struggled there, though they did see a great DTY from new senior Boglarka Devai and some excellent work all day from Noemi Makra, who posted a huge 55.732 to qualify 15th into the all-around final.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

With the love for gymnastics growing in Azerbaijan following the Russian invasion putting them on the map and with the sport’s successful showing at the European Games last summer, Baku is now one of the host cities for the popular FIG World Challenge Cup series, which kicks off February 19.

The challenge cups feature both MAG and WAG competitors from around the world competing on individual events only, with qualifications held followed by the top eight on each event qualifying into finals. In Baku, 21 women and 46 men will contend for titles and prize money while getting valuable experience as they continue to prepare for the Olympic Games. Following Baku, additional challenge cups will be held in Qatar and Germany in March, Slovenia and Croatia in April, Bulgaria and Brazil in May, and Portugal in June.

The host country will feature all four of its elite women, including Yuliya Inshina, Marina Nekrasova, Kristina Pravdina, and Mariia Smirnova, all of whom are hoping to get the one individual spot available to them at the Rio Test Event in April. On the men’s side, the super popular Oleg Stepko is bound to be a big draw for fans, especially after taking home a worlds bronze medal in Glasgow last year.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade will make her return to the sport on bars at Baku, joined by fellow Olympic hopeful and test event teammate Flavia Saraiva. Six-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina will represent Uzbekistan, joined by other veteran favorites including Dorina Boczogo of Hungary and Tjasa Kysselef of Slovenia.

The young Israeli Tzuf Feldon, known for her impressive work on beam last season, will also attend, as will fellow 2015 worlds competitors Lisa Ecker and Elisa Hämmerle of Austria, Emma Larsson of Sweden, Dilnoza Abdusalimova of Uzbekistan, and Ekin Morova, Demet Mutlu, and the powerful Tutya Yilmaz of Turkey.

Finally, we’ll also be treated to the senior debuts of Florine Harder and Lina Philipp of Germany as well as Lara Omahen and Lana Voler of Slovenia.

A full list of MAG and WAG participants is below. For more information, visit our coverage guide.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The 2016 Baku Challenge Cup was held from February 19 through February 21 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Vault Final Results

Uneven Bars Final Results

Balance Beam Final Results

Floor Exercise Final Results

Vault Qualification Results

Uneven Bars Qualification Results

Balance Beam Qualification Results

Floor Exercise Qualification Results

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The FIG World Challenge Cup series kicked off over the weekend in Baku, Azerbaijan and while it’s still early in the season and competitor attendance was a bit low, fans were nevertheless treated to world class routines from some fan favorite veterans as well as a couple of newbies on the scene.

With Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan on the roster, it’s not surprising that no one could challenge her for the vault title. Though she’s still working her way up in terms of difficulty, her form looks better than ever. Her handspring layout full is half a twist up from what she competed at HNI and the WOGA Classic earlier this month, and the form on her tsuk 1.5 is killer. We’ve yet to see if she’ll bring the Produnova back to her arsenal at the Olympic Test Event, but her form is so good right now I hope she leaves well enough alone.

The silver medalist was Slovenia’s Tjasa Kysselef with her handspring front tuck full – which was a bit of a mess from start to finish – and a decent FTY, averaging a 14.075 in finals, while Lisa Ecker of Austria earned bronze with a 13.775 and Dorina Boczogo of Hungary was close behind, coming fourth with a 13.75, performing a clean handspring front pike and an FTY.

Daniele Hypolito of Brazil was in a medal position here, though unfortunately had an error on her Yurchenko 1.5, which came in just a bit too short, causing her to squat and take two big steps back on the landing. I believe she also had her Lopez vault downgraded from a layout to a pike, as she got only a 5.2 as her start value there.

The first-year seniors from Germany, Lina Philipp and Florine Harder, had a fantastic showing in prelims, with Philipp qualifying first on bars and Harder making every final but vault. Harder pulled out of finals, after unfortunately breaking her thumb during warm-ups, but Philipp improved on her bars performance in event finals to win the gold.

Philipp’s routine included superb handstands, a lovely Maloney to bail to toe full to toe shoot combination, and a stuck toe-front layout half dismount for a 14.4. She was six tenths ahead of silver medalist Hypolito, who had a 13.8 for her hit set capped off with a stuck double layout.

Her teammate Flavia Saraiva finished with the bronze medal, hitting all of her big skills – including a piked Jaeger, piked Tkachev, Tkachev to pak, and stuck full-in – but all of her handstands were short aside from one she arched over and had to repeat. Still, she managed a 13.25, and showed mostly nice improvements despite the mistake and form errors.

Dilnoza Abdusalimova of Uzbekistan tied Ecker in fourth place, each with a 12.85, while Tzuf Feldon of Israel placed sixth with a 12.2, one of her strongest bars performances in her recent competitive history. Rounding out the results were Yana Horokhova of Ukraine with an 11.35 and Yuliya Inshina with a 10.45, a very unfortunate performance after looking good in qualifications.

Saraiva came back from her bars mistake to strike gold on beam, earning a 14.8 for a majorly steady effort, the second of the weekend. While her finals routine wasn’t quite as good as her qualifications performance, she showed incredible control on expert-level combinations, including a bhs + loso + loso, bhs + layout + sissone, switch ring + sheep jump, and front aerial + front aerial + side somi in addition to her double pike dismount. It was a stellar routine and she looks more and more confident every time I see her do it. Now if only she can do it just as well in Rio!

Emma Larsson of Sweden and Elisa Hämmerle of Austria were the silver and bronze medalists with scores of 13.65 and 13.35, respectively. Hämmerle actually got very lucky here; as the first reserve for this final, she got the go-ahead to compete when Harder had to drop out, and because this was your typical international beam final, nearly everyone else imploded while Hämmerle just so happened to hit the best set of her career.

It was an incredibly exciting upset for the Austrian, who is fighting Ecker for the test event spot this April. Back-to-back 2014 and 2015 Austrian national champion Ecker was the clear standout in qualifications, earning a spot in each of the four finals and getting vault bronze in Baku while Hämmerle had multiple falls on bars and floor, though for Hämmerle to gather herself and walk out a medalist should certainly give her a big boost in the eyes of her national program.

Several of the top contenders for the bronze medal had falls, including Abdusalimova, Tutya Yilmaz of Turkey, Chusovitina (on her bhs + layout which actually looked more like a pike, and then she dismounted with only a layout) and Boczogo (who put her hands down on her front toss to back tuck and then fell on her side aerial). This not only allowed Hämmerle to sneak in for the gold, but also helped hometown girl Marina Nekrasova finish fourth with lower difficulty but a much cleaner set, going 13.05 in front of an appreciative crowd.

Saraiva again was golden on floor, and while her routine is actually downgraded a bit compared to last year, it was still both the most difficult and the cleanest routine in the bunch, earning a 13.85 for her calm and steady tumbling, including a tucked full-in, whip to 2.5, double pike, and double tuck.

Another silver medal also went to Larsson, who posted a 13.4 for her interesting routine, which had tons of cool choreography bits throughout in addition to her big tucked-full-in opening pass. But it was Nekrasova who scored points with the crowd for her routine, earning a 13.2 after showing great control to finish in the bronze medal position on the podium.

Close behind her in fourth was Boczogo, who had big skills with her piked full-in and double front, but hopped or stepped out of most of her tumbling, aside from a double pike which she stuck cold. Ecker tied her with that score, while Abdusalimova was sixth with a 13.0 for a solid routine of her own and Yilmaz was last after an ambitious but nervous set, stumbling out of her piked full-in (where she also put her hands down), hopping out of her tucked full-in, and stepping back on her double tuck in addition to missing some dance elements. But the crowd loved her energy, and she had a strong finish with her nearly-stuck double tuck.

The floor final actually only had seven gymnasts competing, as Chusovitina pulled out at the last second in addition to Harder’s last-minute withdrawal, and only the second reserve – Abdusalimova, who qualified in 10th – was prepared to compete. Given that Chusovitina only dismounted with a layout instead of her usual double tuck off beam, it’s possible she just wanted to save her body from the wear-and-tear of a full day doing event finals. She didn’t look injured during her beam routine, but remember, this was her third meet in as many weeks so it was probably best that she take it a bit easier on herself. She is forty, after all! She looks more than ready for the test event even two months out, so hopefully she can schedule some rest in with her busy travel and competition schedule this year.

Full results from the Challenge Cup are available here.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

Two-time Olympian Catalina Ponor is a standout in a super-starry field of contestants set for the upcoming FIG World Challenge Cup in Doha, Qatar later this month.

The Romanian will join her 2012 Olympic teammates Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar as they continue their preparation for the Rio Test Event, where they’ll hope to lead their country in qualifying to this year’s Games. Ponor will compete only on beam, slowly easing her way back into her three events after an injury took her out last fall, while Iordache will do all but vault and Bulimar will compete on bars and floor.

The Romanians aren’t the only ones getting in as much practice as possible leading up to April’s qualifier. While Brazil has already named five members of their test event squad, there is still one spot up for grabs, which first-year senior Carolyne Pedro and 2015 worlds team member Thauany Araujo are both hoping to take, so a strong outcome here will be crucial in whether or not they’re considered. We should also see Rebeca Andrade compete here; Andrade, already named as one of the five, has nothing to prove in that respect, though she does need to show that she’s healthy enough to handle the pressure of major international competition. She’s expected to compete at Jesolo the week before this, and should be on bars and beam at both.

Getting ready for the test event is a theme at this meet. In addition to Romania and Brazil, we’ll also see some of Switzerland’s top contenders in Giulia Steingruber, Ilaria Käslin, and Stefanie Siegenthaler, while Germany is sending two young gymnasts with potential to fill some of the available spots.

Countries with individual test event spots are also represented, both by those who are already set to compete and are looking for more competitive experience – like Marcia Vidiaux of Cuba, Vasiliki Millousi of Greece, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi of Malaysia, and Ana Filipa Martins of Portugal – as well as those who are still fighting for the opportunity to compete in Rio.

With Hungary almost certainly giving one spot to Dorina Boczogo, their second spot will most likely go to world all-around finalist Noemi Makra or the hot young first-year talent Zsofia Kovacs. Sweden also has two spots, with Jonna Adlerteg and Emma Larsson considered the top hopefuls, though Marcela Torres – last year’s national champion at 26 – is a threat and this competition should help narrow it down for these three. Fierce vaulters Tjasa Kysselef and Teja Belak of Slovenia will continue to go head to head for their country’s one spot, and this meet could also be a big decider for the women from Turkey, Argentina, and Azerbaijan as well.

China is also getting in on the fun, sending three of their young gymnasts including 2014 world beam silver medalist Bai Yawen, who missed out on the worlds team last year due to a lack of consistency throughout the majority of her season. We’ll also see Xu Chujun as well as first-year senior Luo Huan. None of these are necessarily top contenders for the Olympic team this summer, but considering the little international experience most Chinese gymnasts get, this could be valuable as they attempt to make their dreams come true this summer.

The World Challenge Cup in Doha will be held from March 24 through March 26. A full list of MAG and WAG contenders is below.