Women’s All-Around Coverage Quick Hits!

Finally got to watch the NBC coverage of the women’s all-around competition from the 2010 World Championships! Click READ MORE for all my observations!

Aly Raisman (USA) VT: Solid Yurchenko double, very small hop on landing! Needs to tidy up the legs a bit, but it’s very powerful. 14.90

Rebecca Bross (USA) VT: Nervous leg jiggling at the end of the runway. Good DTY. Very efficient twisting, but low landing and slightly piked down. Good landing though, nearly stuck. 14.70

Tatiana Nabieva (RUS) UB: Wearing a classy black leo. toe on laid out tkatchev connected to pak salto! Shaposh half to HB,  stoop blind change to straddle jaeger, full twisting double back stuck! 15.133

Aliya Mustafina (RUS) VT: Lovely purple leo. Huge Amanar! Nice line in the air, but I despise her legs getting all tangled in the twist. Just a medium step on landing. 15.666

Ana Porgras (ROU) VT: Only a Yurchenko full. Very nice form in the air though. Smallish hop. 13.966

Huang Qiushuang (CHN) VT: Very high off the horse on the DTY. A little bit of form issue on the legs. Small hop.

Jiang Yuyuan (CHN) VT: WOW nearly stuck DTY very pretty!! Smiles on the landing, teensy pike down.  14.833

STANDINGS AFTER ROTATION 1

1. Aliya Mustafina 15.666
2. Tatiana Nabieva -.533
3. Aly Raisman -.766
4. Jiang Yuyuan -.833
5. Huang Qiushuang -.90
6. Rebecca Bross -.966

Rebecca Bross (USA) UB: Stoop full, transition to HB, piked stalder full pirouette to tkatchev, piked stalder to blind change to straddle jaeger, stalder full, pak salto, back to HB, full twisting double back fights hard for the stick and gets it! Nice Becca! 14.933

Tatiana Nabieva (RUS) BB: Roundoff back layout mount. Switch leap split jump. Roundoff layout INCREDIBLY PAINFUL LOOKING FALL!!! full turn with iffy leg up. Aerial. Roundoff double tuck dismount, small step. Oh my gosh that looked like it hurt so bad! She scraped her entire side and leg on the way down. She should get credit for it though because she definitely landed it and then rebounded and fell. Owie. 13.265

Aliya Mustafina (RUS) UB: stalder full, Shaposhnikova half (Khorkina), pike jaeger, stalder full, tkatchev to pak salto, full in half out dismount, the Mustafina! Very clean routine, just a missed connection in between a pirouette and the tkatchev, I think. 15.30

Ana Porgras (ROU) UB: Stalder 1 1/2 into straddle jaeger. Elfi robotically says “looked like he touched her” (the coach stepped in) Hitting handstands left and right. Stuck double layout! 14.466

Huang Qiushuang (CHN) UB: Red leo. Not blue eye shadow! Very pretty pirouettes, oops big form break saving a pirouette, straddle jaeger, pak salto, that was a very long series of pirouettes! Double layout with small hop. Some would say that is TOO MANY pirouettes….I’d like to see more variety. 15.20

Jiang Yuyuan (CHN) UB: Stalder tkatchev, nice aggressive swing, pretty pirouettes, big tkatchev, wow full twisting double layout, big! Just a small step. 15.533

Aly Raisman (USA) UB: Big straddle jaeger, point the toes please. A little off on pirouettes, tkatchev, Oh no, stalder half and didn’t get over for the second half, swings, blind change and goes too far! Falls off and looks like a deer in headlights momentarily. Poor Aly. Double front dismount with small hop. Aw :( 11.70

I see Grace Chiu in the background! (She’s an awesome photographer)

Standings after Rotation 2

1. Aliya Mustafina 30.966
2. Jiang Yuyuan -.6
3. Huang Qiushuang -1.0
4. Rebecca Bross -1.333
5. Lauren Mitchell -2.166
6. Tatiana Nabieva -2.567

Aliya Mustafina (RUS) BB: Double turn, flawless! Standing arabian, very solid. Missed connection on switch leap-split jump, so added a wolf jump to get a connection. Smart thinking on the fly from the composed youngster. Back handspring layout stepout. Switch ring leap. front aerial, wobble, missed connection to Onodi. Missed connection to aerial. Yikes. At least she’s staying on. Roundoff triple twist dismount, around very well. Nice routine! In the replay you can see her eyes glance over to the coach occasionally…hmm. 15.033

Lauren Mitchell (AUS) FX: Since I’m watching this late, I know she’s the floor champ, yay! Go Lozza! Double arabian to stag jump, a little uncontrolled but the jump helps her. Piked full in. Interesting music choice, sort of Bollywood? Double wolf turn on the floor, so cool, but a bit wobbly. It was much better in floor final. 2 1/2 to punch front layout. Big double pike to finish, small hop. Oh my gosh, amazing save on the arabian/stag leap, she very nearly stepped out so just did a little pirouette thing to stay in! 14.60

Ana Porgras (ROU) BB: Forward roll mount, I love it. Scale. Front aerial sheep jump combination. BHS BHS Layout two feet. A little off on aerial but saves it. Nice side somi. Switch leap back tuck combination. full turn, pretty. split jump split jump. BHS BHS double pike dismount, step to the side. A beautiful routine! 

Huang Qiushuang (CHN) BB: Front pike, leg to the side but stays on. Front aerial, bhs, back pike. Missed connection though. Switch leap back tuck. Sheep jump. Nice aerial. Onodi with small wobble. Wolf jump split jump. Switch ring leap. Full turn. She looks a bit tentative. Double pike with small hop on landing.  Mustafina is standing staring down a judge, LOL. 14.70

Jiang Yuyuan (CHN) BB: She is adorable. Picking at something on her hand while waiting. front tuck/pike? low landing. bhs layout very nice! Jumps. Front tuck definitely. The pike was very tucked at the end though. Sheep jump.  Nice switch leap with head back. Switch leap rufolva combination. BHS BHS 2 1/2 dismount, very pretty, just a step to the side. 15.066

Rebecca Bross (USA) BB: Leotard discussion from the NBC trio, who are confused as to why Bross/Raisman aren’t wearing Red White and/or Blue. (I agree, they should wear USA colors!) Noooo off on the arabian! Very nearly saved it by going into a handstand. Goodness! Is now attacking the beam and doing everything without a wobble. Wow. I have no idea how she is finishing this routine, autopilot I guess! Nice side somi.  Front tuck big wobble but saves it. Big double arabian, step back. She was definitely going for the stick. 

Standings after Rotation 3

1. Aliya Mustafina 45.999
2. Jiang Yuyuan -.567
3. Huang Qiushuang -1.333
4. Ana Porgras -2.134
5. Rebecca Bross -2.264
6. Lauren Mitchell -2.599

Ana Porgras (ROU) FX: Ooh classic ice dance music! WOW big full in double back! 2 1/2 to punch front. She is so lovely and balletic in her movements. I had no idea she could tumble, she looks so slender and breakable! Lovely double turn with leg all the way up. Double back with small hop. Beautiful leaps. Double pike with small hop to finish a lovely routine! Sooo artistic! 14.30 which the crowd likes.

Huang Qiushuang (CHN) FX: 2 1/2 to punch front full layout, stepped out of bounds. Wow piked full in but very very low chest on landing. Double full? (spidercam makes it hard to tell how many rotations, boo) Nice expression and choreography. Double pike to finish, solid landing but low chest again. Oh wait, she actually landed totally out of bounds on the first pass, uh oh. 13.70

Jiang Yuyuan (CHN) FX: LOVE THIS ROUTINE!!!! Best floor music ever. 1 1/2 through to triple full, overrotates with a hop. Double back with small step. I always have to bob my head to this happy music. Clean 2 1/2 to front layout. Double pike to finish. Crowd loves her routine. I’m so happy for her to have such a great meet! She was wonderful all day and deserves a great result after her disappointment in the Beijing AA. Smiles while waiting for her score! She looks pretty relaxed. 14.566

Rebecca Bross (USA) FX: Needs a 14.633 to get a medal. Scored lower than that in qualifications so this should be interesting. Al seems to genuinely not understand the scoring “Oh but Elfi, they’ve been so stingy here!” Elfi says: “She is a tough competitor, don’t count her out.” TOTALLY AGREE. That’s twice now I’ve agreed with Elfi, what is the world coming to?! OK but seriously now, her routine: front handspring front layout double front into stag leap, very nice. 1 1/2 TO 2 1/2. Aggressive posing dance. So awkward. A part of me fears I will dance this poorly in my floor routine (please god no). A smile! Yeesh these poses make me sad. Nice double turn leg up.  2 1/2 to punch front full. Very clean routine, yeah Becca! So clean in her twisting, none of that annoying leg tangling like Mustafina has. 15.233, nice! In 2nd right now behind Jiang Yuyuan.

Aliya Mustafina (RUS) FX: Beautiful in her purple GK leo. Love this dreamy music. Big double arabian to stag leap. Pretty triple turn. 2 1/2 to punch front full. Double turn with leg at head, also very pretty. Doesn’t even look out of breath at all! 1 1/2 to rudi. Elegant poses. Very nice triple to finish with small hop. Kurbatova and Semenova look super excited on the sidelines. Bross looks anxious. Semenova, Kurbatova and Nabieva greet her with a group hug, all very excited. This has to beat Jiang, sadly, who is making as usual the best facial expressions. She knows she’s beat but seems happy enough with second! Big smile and a hug from Semenova. Bross and Raisman wait to congratulate her. Congrats Aliya! This is definitely not the last we’ll see of her and Nabieva, they are sure to be the new rocks on the Russian team.

Based on this competition, 2012 will be VERY interesting! Russia look to be the team to beat at the moment, but of course you can never count out China, the reigning Olympic champs and the USA, always capable of bringing a top team. Hopefully Martha will reevaluate her rigorous selection process as well as trust her gut on which athletes to put on the floor. Can Romania continue to build towards 2012? And of course the nations who aren’t usually in the top 3 but just on the bubble - Australia, Japan, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Greece, France. I’d love to see Ukraine improve, and Canada, who have a lot of young talent. This year was great for Canada to get a lot of experience.

All in all, I loved the gymnastics I saw from this meet! I hated the coverage, though. Aside from the commentators, I’d really love to see more gymnasts from outside the top group. Not that I don’t love seeing the top girls’ routines, it’d just be nice to see Vanessa Ferrari, Hannah Whelan, and others. More Nabieva too! Hope y’all liked it! Men’s team final thoughts will be up as soon as I get to watch it. I’m thinking of doing live chat during other future meets, would you guys like that?