This morning I saw a tweet by the always reliable @CordeliaGymFan stating how few gymnasts who competed as a senior at last year's National Championships will be competing this year. This got me thinking, was every year like this? So thanks to help from Cordelia, I'm comparing this years number (8) to years prior.
As Cordelia pointed out, as of right now, only 8 2012 national competitors will be competing in 2013. Remember, gymnastics is a VERY unpredictable sport and anything can happen, so it doesn't mean anything that some of the bigger names won't be present. We still have 2 months until Championships, and anything can happen.
2013 Returning Competitors
At the moment, it appears only 8 gymnasts will be returning. They are...
Kennedy Baker
Brenna Dowell
McKayla Maroney
Abigail Millet
Elizabeth Price
Kyla Ross
Mykayla Skinner
Sabrina Vega
In this group, we have 2 Olympians, 1 Olympic Alternate, and 6 national team members. Not too bad considering it's the year after the Olympics!
2012 Returning Competitors
Of the 20 gymnasts who competed at the National Championships in 2011, 10 gymnasts came back in 2012. These gymnasts are,
Becca Bross
Gabby Douglas
Brandie Jay
Amanda Jetter
Anna Li
McKayla Maroney
Aly Raisman
Alicia Sacramone
Sabrina Vega
Jordyn Wieber
2011 Returning Competitors
While the 2011 National Championships had 20 senior competitors, only 7 gymnasts had competed at the 2010 championships! They were..
Becca Bross
Bridgette Caquatto
Mackenzie Caquatto
Sophia Lee
Brandie Jay
Aly Raisman
Alicia Sacramone
2010 Returning Competitors
While the 2010 Championships were stacked with talent, only 7 gymnasts from 2009 returned to compete in 2010. They were
Becca Bross
Mackenzie Caquatto
Kaitlyn Clark
Georgia Dabritz
Kytra Hunter
Annette Miele
Cassie Whitcomb
2009 Returning Competitors
The year after the Olympics are normally a bum year in terms of returning competitors. Ironically, in 2009, there was the same amount of returning competitors as there are predicted to be in 2013. They were
Jana Bieger
Mackenzie Caquatto
Ivana Hong
Kim Jacob
Alaina Johnson
Nastia Liukin
Chellsie Memmel
Bridget Sloan
Looking at this information, although only 8 gymnasts returning to competition this year from 2012 doesn't sound like many gymnasts, in comparison to the numbers from last quad, it is right on par. However, their still is time before nationals, which means their still b=may be surprises from gymnasts from last year.
Thank you so much for all your help with this article @CordeliaGymFan !
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