So I got back into blogging, fell back out.   Really it was just school.  Because let me tell you, Worlds put me so far back with my assignments.  Plus we all know there is a lull after such a big meet.   Of course I still keep up with everything.  And since I feel like writing a blog post yet have no particular concentration, I am writing all the random things I have been contemplating and discussing with my gymnastics buddy.  These are in no random order whatsoever.

• Who will destroy Alicia Sacramone’s comeback?  Will it be Kayla Williams, the girl who has the light speed ability to improve, and someone who looks to be a true force and a rock of a competitor?  Will it be Asac’s reincarnation from her own gym, Alexandra Raisman (who I believe may show us the real first quad twist on floor) or even Alica’s own body betrayal?

• Aliya Mustafina will be standing on the AA podium at the 2010 Worlds

• Viktoria Komova will be standing on the AA podium the year after that
• Shawn Johnson and even Nastia Liukin will not compete again.  Comebacks may come when endorsements run out, but that is it.

• Anna Myzdrikova I already hope to be the 2010 FX champion
• Cheng Fei will come back. She will.
• Nobody will ever do a front handspring better than Lilia Podkopayeva.  NO ONE comes close to that; her feet are even together.
• I think it is a huge mistake to hold off using the 5-3-3 team format until the London Games; it is a bad idea period to use the Olympics as a test for anything.

• On that note, the age rule is now even more frustrating.  For instance, our current junior national champion, Kyla Ross will not be senior eligible until 2012 (as opposed to the previous rule where she could have been competing in 2011).  Considering the year before is a qualifier to the next year’s Olympics, think about what that does to the non power countries.  Let’s say that Nastia came from oh…..Iceland (trying to pick a place where they don’t get a spot) and that she doesn’t turn 16 until the year of the Games.  She wouldn’t be able to compete because no one qualified for a spot the year before.  That would be wrong.  I oppose anything that prevents the best in the world from competing.  This is why I was sort of turning my back on the He Kexin debate last year.  Furthermore, one of the reasons the age rule is there is because those in charge think that it puts too much pressure on the youngins.  I will have to disagree with this because you can’t advance in this sport without being able to deal with pressure.   My proposed age rule is this:  When you are eligible to compete in the next Games, you are senior eligible for that quad.  Meaning that starting January 1st 2009, Kyla Ross would have the option to go senior.
• if I haven’t harped enough, I am sooooo hoping for Russian reemergence this quad, starting with the 2010 worlds.  In addition to Mustfina, Tatiana Nabieva is another going senior.  I think the Russians need a bit more for vault (hopefully Nabieva can clean up that Amanar) and then I just don’t see where they have a weakness.

• I wonder what will happen with Bridget Sloan; will she fade out?  Will she remain useful?  If she got an Amanar (and I am dying for her to do the front triple twist on FX) she would up her own usefulness.  Interesting stuff to think about.
• Will Chellsie Memmel return?  I want her to so bad!  She and Nastia have sort of an open invitation to comeback whenever due to their incredible usefulness on one event; bars.  I also find it odd that bars has become our weak event over the last couple of years considering  they were once our strong event.

That is all for now, folks.

Shocking news to the gymnastics community.  Five days after winning the World All Around Bronze Medal, 22-year-old Yuri Ryazanov died in a car accident early Tuesday.

Such a tragedy!  I have been disturbed since hearing this.  His recent victory would suggest that this Russian was on the track to a successful quad.  I can’t imagine what the people close to him are going through.  You will be missed Yuri, and my heart goes out to his friends and family.

Daniel Keatings, Kohei Uchimura, Yuri Ryazanov on the medal podium Wednesday.

Here is the only news I can find yet about the subject from International Gymnast Magazine:

Russian Olympian and world medalist Yuri Ryazanov was killed in a car accident Tuesday morning outside Moscow. He was 22.Ryazanov won the all-around bronze medal Thursday at the world gymnastics championships in London, finishing behind Japan’s Kohei Uchimura and Great Britain’s Daniel Keatings.

According to reports, the accident occurred at 12:50 a.m., when Ryazanov was returning to his hometown of Vladimir following the world championships. Police believe he was killed instantly when he lost control of his car and swerved into oncoming traffic. His Chevrolet collided with an Audi, injuring two of its passengers.

Ryazanov had been Russia’s most successful all-around gymnast the past few years, winning bronze medals at the European championships in 2007 and 2009. He won both of Russia’s top domestic meets in 2009 — the Russian national championships in March and the Russian Cup in August.

“This is a human tragedy,” Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko said. “He was very good, kind, honest. The whole team respected him.”

Ryazanov’s shocked coaches and teammates spoke with the media, and said they were trying to piece together details of what could have caused the tragedy. The team returned to Moscow from London on Monday, and drove to the Round Lake national training center. Ryazanov had picked up his car at Round Lake and was driving home to Vladimir, 200 km (124 miles) east of the capital.

“I’m still stunned. I don’t understand how this could happen. Yura was a great guy, kind, friendly, hard-working,” teammate Maxim Devyatovsky said. “I do not understand why this happened to him, why God allowed this. He has driven for years, and everyone knew that he drove very quietly, calmly, without any foolishness. Yura was such a positive guy, that it is simply impossible [that he could have been drinking]. We talked with some guys from the junior team, and they claim they saw his Chevrolet recently and it was too low in the front. Maybe that was the cause? Although it is no longer important…”

Russian men’s head coach Yevgeny Nikolko also spoke out against speculation that any alcohol was involved in the crash.

“Yura was a very good driver,” Nikolko said. “I exclude the possibility that he would ever drink before getting behind the wheel. He was overall a very responsible and calm young man. This wonderful man had the whole world ahead of him.

Continued Nikolko, “I’m still in shock. When he told me he was going to drive home, I just told him, ‘Please, be careful.’ And now this terrible thing happened. I have no words to describe it.”

Ryazanov was born March 21, 1987 in Vladimir, a city with a strong gymnastics tradition. He trained at the N. G. Tolkachov Olympic Reserve School, where he was coached by Igor Kalabushkin.

He joined Russia’s senior national team in 2006, and later that year helped the team win silver at the 2006 World Championships, where he placed 16th all-around. He improved that rank at the 2007 Worlds, finishing 13th. He was a member of Russia’s gold medal-winning team at the 2008 European Championships. His team placed sixth at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Ryazanov’s bronze medal at the world championships Thursday, won in a close-fought men’s all-around final, was the biggest achievement of his career. He qualified only eighth to the final, landing him in the second-seeded group that began on pommel horse. While several favorites faltered, Ryazanov’s consistent performances moved him into medal contention. His fall on his high bar dismount in the fifth rotation was his only break of the day, but he followed it with a strong routine on floor exercise. His final score edged him past Japan’s Kazuhito Tanaka by .1.

“Yesterday he returned to Moscow after the world championships, where he won the country’s most distinguished medal — a medal in the all-around,” the Russian Gymnastics Federation stated on its Web site in a brief announcement on his death. “Yet another day he tightly fought for his place on the podium, and we admired his skill, perseverance and tenacity.”

Rodionenko said federation representatives will go to Vladimir to help Ryazanov’s family prepare for the funeral.

Wow.  So I must say that I have heard a lot of comments about this Worlds being boring.  Um….no.  This was WAY better than 2005 (comparable because there is typically a bit of a lull the year following the Olympics) and I think the quality of gymnastics that we saw we typically much higher than what we usually see after the Olympics.

So let me just say that Worlds interrupted my life a little bit (and happily so).  I was very behind in school work, forcing me to come home directly after the nail biting Gator Football game and write a paper.  I watched the first night of EF until about 4am, and woke up at 7:45am to watch Day 2.  I nodded off during parallel bars a little bit.

But here were the things that made me yell out loud.

1.  Kayla Williams.  Well, her life just changed.  She will definitely be on the next world team.  The first American woman to win a world vault title.  But it’s not just that…..the quickness in which she has improved over the last few months is of Chellsie Memmel quality.  I am also willing to nominate her in the gruop of “Best DTY Vaulters” because I have seen what….5 or 6 DTYs from her and she has stuck….well, like all of them!  Hello the new Vanessa Atler (minus the nerves).  Can we also talk about how awesome her attitude is?  She is all business, and look at the way she runs off the podium when she is done, adorable.  Then she fights back tears.  Hello to one of my new favorites.

2.  Beth Tweddle if this is your last competition I am glad it ends with a gold medal for you.  Nice last pass.  Sad she didn’t make bar finals.

3.  Anna Myzdrikova would have beat Tweddle if not for that last pass.  The whip double arabian was one of the best pieces of gymnastics I have seen in quite some time.  (Or since Kayla’s DTY haha)  The Triple back tuck combo is also something of great originality.  I love this girl’s floor.  I am sad she didn’t come away with a medal.  But her awesome performances put hope into my, ‘Will the Russians reemerge as a gold medal threat?”  i can wait and hope.  bet you she will be on the World Team next year.

4.  Ana Porgras is another person I am excited about.  3 EF’s and some really great style!  Her Memmel turn  on floor is amazing!  Really excited about this girl’s future.  How I wish she wouldn’t have fallen off the beam!

5.  Yay for Marian Dragulescu winning two gold medals!  How I wish this would have been the Olympics!

Side notes-

-He Kexin is looking even better.  WOW.

-I wish Ivana Hong hadn’t wobbled all over the place, I think she could have gotten gold.

- Rebecca Bross didn’t do the Gogean, she only did a half.  In the AA I thought this was a mistake….was this planned?  Also, I like her double L.  These elements could have made her bronze on floor.

-After Chinese Nationals, I said that if Deng Linlin didn’t fall, she would be world champion on beam.  This happened.

-Ksenia Semenova I am hoping just didn’t have enough time to perpare (I also heard she has a back injury, dunno if that is true) which I hope is the reason for her poor showing.  I really like her style.  Also I have that Russian hope for 2012.

-Lauren Mitchell is now a force to be reckoned with.  Watch out world.  i am still hoping that Dasha Joura will come back better than ever next year.

-I hope Anna Pavlova is continuing and coming back.

- I am not a big fan of Sui Lu’s FX.  Sorry.

-My biggest complain is the stupid bonus gymnasts get by doing jumps after passes (like Mitchell’s stag after her double arabian, though she does it nicely).  This completely negates the “stick your tumbles” rule.  Hate it.

-Beam and floor routines are a lot smoother and look better with the code cutting it down to 8 skills.  Much better.

-These execution scores are ridiculous.  Let’s take William’s DTYT score….a 9.175?  I think that was actually the HIGHEST execution score of WAG Worlds.  That should have been like at least a 9.5.  I would take a tenth for the split legs on the preflight, one for the slight crossing of the ankles toward the end.  MAYBE a tenth for distance.  You know what?  Let’s take a tenth for height too.  She lands ON THE LINE so no deduction there.  Okay, well that E-score is a 9.600.  What the heck is with all that anyway?

Here is a list of what I wish would have happened at Worlds….

AA

1.  Bross

2.  Sloan

3.  Porgras

VT

1.  Hong Un Jong (wish she hand’t fell even if I love Kayla)

2.  Ariella Kaeslin (this really happened!!!!)

3.  Mzydrikova

UB

1.  Kexin

2.  Tweddle

3. Semenova

BB

1.  Deng (yay!)

2.  Porgras

3.  Bross

FX

1.  Tweddle (another ‘yes’!)

2.  Myzdrikova

3.  Mitchell (this is actually my favorite routine, but Myz’s tumbles I like better)

Congrats to the 2009 World All Around Champion, Bridget Sloan!

Sloan captured the title with 57.825 ahead of Silver Medal Winner Rebecca Bross (57.775) by a tiny margin of .050 after Bross fell on her final tumbling pass.   it was the last routine of the meet.

A surpise bronze medalist, Japan’s Koko Tsurumi showcased some of the cleanest gymnastics of the meet.  She lead the first two rotations, huge scores on beam and bars.  (14.850 and 15.050).

Unfortunately, Romanian Ana Porgras fell off the beam into a 7th place finish.  She was up on the podium a long time before the green light, so I think she just got a little unfocused perhaps.  She will be a force to be reckoned with once she upgrades vault.

The highest score of the night was rebecca Bross’s 15.300 on balance beam.

Sloan improved her beam (though with wobbles tonight) to a 14.000 from her Prelims score of 13.825.  her bars also went up two tenths to a 14.800 and vault also improved from a 14.550 to a 14.825.  Her final routine of the night, floor, Bridget had an amazing performance….nice landings and a stuck double pike end.  Her score of a 14.200 I actually thought was low.

hates off to 4th place Lauren Mitchell of Australia.  .050 also separated 3rd and 4th places, and Mitchell’s OOB on her last event, FX cost her the bronze.  Mitchell received a 15.100 for her amazing beam set.  Look for this girl in both event finals Sunday.

Way to go everyone!

I thoroughly enjoyed this competition, I thought Bross had it in the bag.  I love both these gymnasts, and I thought Sloan demonstrated some amazing sportsmanship today, running off to comfort her teammate before celebrating her own victory.  Nice.

Congratulations to Kohei Uchimura for winnng the Men’s All-Around.  Exactly like I thought he would.  After the Beijing AA Finals I predicted this guy to be in the next Olympics, and wow he is amazing!  This is the first men’s event I have watched since the Olympics and Uchimura is just so talented.

Congrats and how cool it must be to be Daniel Keatings, the 2009 All Around World Silver Medalist with a home crowd audience!

Yuri Ryazanov of Russia took the bronze, which I also liked because Maxim Devyatovsky is again left out of the medals.  I don’t like poor sports and his past displays have disgusted me.

Heartbreak of the night was Jonathan Horton!  5th place in qualifying he ended up 17th.  Universal Sports didn’t even show his routines after the first couple of events, as he was last place for the first two rotations!  Sadness.  I hope he fights back to win a medal on HB on Sunday!

And congratulations to Tim McNeill for his 7th place finish.  I think things will be going well for the future of USA MAG.  Way to go men!

PRELIMS VIDEOS ARE HERE AND HERE PLUS HERE

First off, here are the standings after Qualifications:

AA

1. Bross (USA) 57.400
2. Porgras (ROU) 57.300
3. Mitchell (AUS) 56.675
4. Deng (CHN) 56.350
5. Sloan (USA) 56.075
6. Kurbatova (RUS) 55.950
7. Tsurumi (JPN) 55.925
8. Yang (CHN) 55.500
9. Kaeslin (SUI) 55.450
10. Semenova (RUS) 54.900

VT

1. Williams (USA) 14.812
2. Hong Un Jong (PRK) 14.787
3. Myzdrikova (RUS) 14.450
4. Kaeslin (SUI) 14.325
5. Kurbatova (RUS) 14.225
6. Dufournet (FRA) 14.212
7. Rogers (CAN) 13.975
8. Garcia (MEX) 13.862

UB

1. He Kexin (CHN) 15.975
2. Rebecca Bross (USA) 15.050
3. Cha Hyong Wa (PRK) 15.025
4. Tsurumi (JPN) 14.775
5. Miller (AUS) 14.650
6. Sloan (USA) 14.600
7. Porgras (ROU) 14.575
8. Licchetta (ITA) 14.200

BB

1. Porgras (ROU) 14.850
2. Kim Un Hyang (PRK) 14.775
3. Deng Linlin 14.450
4. Hong (USA) 14.400
5. Mitchell (AUS) 14.400
6. Tsurumi (JPN) 14.375
7. Yang Yilin (CHN) 14.375
8. Preziosa (ITA) 14.275

FX

1. Myzdrikova (RUS) 14.500
2. Sui Lu (CHN) 14.275
3. Porgras (ROU) 14.175
4. Tweddle (GBR) 14.075
5. Mitchell (AUS) 14.050
6. Gil Ortitz (COL) 14.050
7. Deng Linlin (CHN) 14.00
8. Bross (USA) 13.950

WOW!  So many unexpected happenings!  I can barely organize a single thought, so I will go through each individual gymnast….

Rebecca Bross-  1st after qualifications WITH A FALL!  Considering that 2nd place Romanian Ana Porgras did not fall….this is definitely Bross’s title to lose Friday.  No major mistakes should give her the win.  An unfortunate over rotation on her Patterson beam dismount made Bross just miss beam finals (14.150).  Too bad because the translation of that score would be enough to get the gold.  I thought Bross could make UB finals (which she did, qualified 2nd) but I thought there would be no way she would medal.  I was wrong.  Bross also qualified 8th into FX finals (13.950).   Should someone scratch from the beam final, Bross is the 1st reserve.  I am excited, because gymnastically, Bross is my favorite right now.  I love her style, the way she hooks her hand as she goes into round off.  I am conflicted though, because I believe that if Bross is the 2012 champ, WOGA will rule the world in gymnastics, and I would absolutely loathe that.

Bridget Sloan- Had a bit of an off day, qualifying 5th into finals.  I feel like Bridget is a 2nd day gymnast…should do better Friday.  She did not made FX finals (rough landings) which I expected, and made bar finals, which I actually did not expect.  I love her bars though, that piked toe on Tkatchev is awesome!  She also fell on beam.  But this is kind of like Nationals….hopefully Sloan will pull it all out for Friday….

Ana Porgras-  Hats off to the Romanian of the future!  She qualified 2nd into the AA, 1st on beam, 3rd on floor, and 7th on bars!  I completely expected her to be top 3 on beam, and MAYBE qualify for FX, but wow!  Porgras also shows a form and style not typically seen from the Romanians.  I now predict that Porgras is to be the new Romanian star of the quad….I will go as far as predicting that she will be back in London for 2012.  After watching some videos on youtube, I must say the potential for Porgras is immense.  Furthermore, this is her first major meet and looks how she comes out on the first day!  This will be a force to be reckoned with, mark my words.

Kayla Williams-  QUALIFIED 1ST INTO VAULT FINALS OVER THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION!!!!!  Enough said right there.  This girl will medal on Saturday.  Unfortunately, teammate Bross took over her FX spot for finals.

Anna Myzdrikova-  An amazing floor routine qualifies her first.  I predicted she would be on the medal stand.  She also qualified 3rd into VT finals!  Whoo-hoo!  Anyone following this blog knows that I am hoping upon hope that the Russians are about to emerge again as a gold medal force to be reckoned with this quad.

Ksenia Semenova-  The disappointment of the day for me.  She didn’t qualify to any event finals, and is 10th in the AA standings right now

My heart goes out to Beth Tweddle.  A large mistake left her from UB EF.   She does have a really great floor set, and a stumble on her first pass tells us that she may well take the gold on this event…it is definitely possible.

My official predictions for Finals:

AA

Bross, Porgras, Sloan.  I am hesitant between bumping one of those names out and putting in Lauren Mitchell.

VT

Hong Un Jong will pull it out and score gold.  Williams will be second, and I think Ariella Kaeslin will end up 3rd over Anna Myzdrikova.

UB

He Kexin is a sure bet for first if she doesn’t fall, it is impossible to catch her if she hits.  I think Bross will be second, followed by Koko Tsurumi.  Who knows though.  Cha Hyong Wa will medal if she goes as clean as she did today. If something happens, and Bridget does not get an AA medal, for some reason i think she will throw the routine of her life and get a bronze.

BB

I think Ana Porgras will be first, Deng Linlin second, and either Ivana Hong or Lauren Mitchell for bronze.  We shall see.  Keep in mind that 2nd through 8th place are separated by 5 tenths of a point.  Deng got penalized for overtime, Hong and Mitchell did not perform their best routines (Mitchell had a bigger mistake I believe–so more potential to score big)

FX

I think Tweddle will rally and pull off the gold for a wonderful close to the competition/her career.  I hope she does.  I am hoping for Myzdrikova to place second.  I think Sui Lu or Ana Porgras will take bronze.

What I have learned this day:

China has the power to rule the world in gymnastics.  I am also hoping against hope that as the quad progresses (and juniors become seniors) that Russia will emerge as the greats they once were.  Scoring is bizzaro low to me, I can only hope that gets better with the quad.  And obviously the scoring tweaks have done nothing to eliminate those who can win with a fall, as Bross is in first with a fall.

As with the Nationals this year, it is such a different experience to watch without super favorites and root for so many people!  It is so much fun.

I cannot wait for Friday!

Nice Link to EF qualifiers here

Click here for live updates.

I will update this post all day long.  Turmoil for Bridget Sloan so far, fall on beam and messy floor has her behind Kayla Williams for FX!  Rebecca Bross can probably take away the FX Final spot.  Ivana Hong is currently 3rd on beam with a good routine (think she had a fall on bars)  Deng Linlin also had a good beam set but Romanian’s Ana Porgras leads beam so far!

UPDATES

Beth Tweddle fell and will not be in bar finals   Awwww, and neither will Ksenia Semenova

Even with a bad beam set, not her best floor, Sloan is 3rd in the AA with 2 subdivisions left.  Deng is in second, Porgras 1st.

Sloan may be making bar finals (yay!)  And He Kexin received the only score in the 15’s with a 15.975 on her bar set.  (As a poster on wwgym said; Kexin could stop in the middle of her routine, go have a smoke break, and still qualify, hahahaha).

Yang Yilin will not be in bar finals

Standings after 4 subdivisions (1 more left)

AA

1. Porgras (ROU) 57.300
2. Deng (CHN) 56.350
3. Sloan (USA) 56.075
4. Kurbatova (RUS) 55.950
5. Tsurumi (JPN) 55.925
6. Yang (CHN) 55.500
7. Semyonova (RUS) 54.900
8. Dufournet (FRA) 54.375
9. Morel (FRA) 54.200
10. Bui (GER) 54.175

Vault
1. Kayla Williams (USA) 14.812
2. Hong Un Jong (PRK) – 14.787
3. Ekaterina Kurbatova (RUS) 14.225
4. Youna Dufournet (FRA) – 14.212
5. Brittany Rogers (CAN) – 13.975
6. Marissa King (GBR) – 13.850
7. Jana Komrskova (CZE) – 13.812
8. Valeri Maksiuta (ISR) 13.675

Bars
1. He Kexin (CHN) – 15.975
2. Cha Yong Hwa (PRK) – 15.025
3. Koko Tsurumi (JPN) – 14.775
4. Larrissa Miller (AUS) 14.650
5. Bridget Sloan (USA) – 14.600
6. Ana Porgras (ROU) – 14.475
7. Ekaterina Kurbatova (RUS) – 14.200
7. Serena Licchetta (ITA) – 14.200

Beam
1. Ana Porgras (ROU) – 14.850
2. Kim Un Hyang (PRK) – 14.775
3. Deng Linlin (CHN) – 14.450
4. Ivana Hong (USA) 14.400
5. Koko Tsurumi (JPN) – 14.375
5. Yang Yilin (CHN) 14.375
7. Elisabetta Preziosa (ITA) – 14.275
8. Ksenia Semenova (RUS) – 14.075

Floor
1. Sui Lu (CHN) – 14.275
2. Ana Porgras (ROU) – 14.175
3. Beth Tweddle (UK) – 14.075
4. Deng Linlin (CHN) 14.00
5. Kayla Williams (USA) 13.900
6. Youna Dufournet (FRA) – 13.625
7. Bridget Sloan (USA) – 13.600
8. Ekaterina Kurbatova (RUS) 13.475

If you click here you can get live updates from MAG Prelims.

ALL RESULTS ARE HERE

Kohei Uchimura leads so far.  Jonathan Horton is doing well, trouble on pommels, very good hugh bar routine, he ends with 5th place overall.  Maxim Devyatovsky was the leader in the first round, he is second as of right now, Daniel Keatings is in 4th, just in front of Horton.  Oh my!  I just learned that so far USA’s Tim McNeill is in 3rd place!!!!  Ahead of Horton???

EDIT/UPDATE-  Uchimura still leads.  Unfortunately Diego Hypolito ended up ninth on FX and out of the final, one of my faves Marian Dragulescu may be the leader on FX (will post official lists soon as I find them) and I believe will qualify to VT finals as well.  Danell Leyva beat Horton on HB (15,450 I believe).  Steven Legendre was 6th on FX last time I checked….should make finals.

One sub division left!!!

At the end of the day, I will make a post with my commentary.

I will do this EVERY day of Worlds, minus Saturday.  I will not watch any Event Finals until Sunday when everyone leaves my house.  (Hey now, it’s Gator Homecoming, what can I do?)  But on Sunday I will make a huge post.

I have so much work to do…I really want to do a WAG Predictions and Hopes post….we will see if I have time.

I can barely wait competition to begin!

Click here to receive live updates from Podium Training.  Finally some news on the Chinese Team!

Looks like Yang Yilin cannot be counted out!  Sui Lu looking pretty good.  Bridget Sloan looking good, no news on Rebecca Bross. He Kexin’s bars look great!  No surprise!  And Beth Tweddle may be doing  a double double bars dismount?

Who will be the big surprise this year?

PLEASE DO THE FRONT TRIPLE BRIDGET!

A big long sigh…..

Fabian Hambuchen rolled his ankle and was taken away during podium training.  Unknown at this time whether or not he will compete.  This is terrible, as I love this gymnast, he is partially responsible for my up and coming interest in MAG.

For those of you who read this blog a lot last year, I have always heavily favored the athletes who are respectful and nice.  Hambuchen is the epitome of those things, he only gets mad at himself.  One of my ‘Heatbreaks of the Games’ I was devastated for him at the Olympics.  And not to mention I completely believed he would walk away with a couple of medals (I honestly think an AA and HB medal would be a definite) this Worlds.

Let’s all hope for him……hey!  He should at least be able to compete high bar right???

Oh my gosh, I forgot….. Ksenia Afanasyeva is out.  I have no idea if this is correct, but it appears to be.

UPDATE:  Afanasyeva is definitely out, and thanks to MMR, we know that this is official and Russian is NOT replacing her.  This I don’t like, because I am in this phase of Russian love, and am looking for the Russians to emerge as a gold medal threat this quad.

Also, MMR is an amazing blog writer, you should check out his skating blog and his gymnastics blog.  Although his gymnastics blog hasn’t been updated in some time, if you like ice skating, MMR always provides EXCELLENT rundowns/commentary and would be a good place to read in this Olympic Skating Season.