Interview With Maggie Nichols

Maggie Nichols, a first year senior elite, placed 5th at her first Senior National Championships this year in Hartford, Connecticut.  After making her second National Team (she was added to the 2012-2013 National Team this spring), she was invited to the World's Team Selection Camp.  I got the opportunity to interview Maggie once she got home from the Selection Camp about her breakout into the gymnastics world, what it was like traveling and competing with an Olympic Champion and her future plans!

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1. You first broke out into the gymnastics world at the 2011 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup.  What did you learn about competing at such a large scale competition on a podium, that was broadcasted on national television?
It was an amazing experience competing at such a large competition.  Also, competing on a podium was very fun because it was my first time!

2. Your first elite competition was the 2009 Covergirl Classic as a pre elite.  Did you get any advice before the competition and what did you think of your first elite competition?
My first elite competition was the 2009 Classics I competed as a pre elite and it was an amazing experience competing at the same competition as Olympians.
3. Did you watch the older girl's competing?  Did you see anything that you tried to put in your training and routines?
Yes, I always wanted to watch the older girls and learn from them.  I've always looked up to them.

4. You were added to the national team for the European Tour.  What  was it like competing with an Olympic Champion?  Did she give you any advice on competing internationally?  
It was a great experience competing internationally and with Kyla.  She told us to be confident and to have fun with the experience.

5. You improved to fifth this year at your first senior nationals?  What did you do differently this year as opposed to last year?
I don't think I did anything differently, I just kept working hard in the gym and trusted my coaches like I've always done, and they've had a great plan for me that worked!

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6. When were you first invited to camp and what was that like?
My first camp was intimidating because I didn't exactly know what to expect.  It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.

7. Can you describe a little bit about what camps are like?
We do strength testing and we verify on every event so they can see where we are!

8. Was the World's Selection Camp different than other National Team camps?
Yes because we didn't have as many practices and our practices were shorter and we also didn't have dance classes.

9. What was the announcement like?  I know as a fan, the wait was excruciating!  What was it like for you as the gymnast?
The wait wasn't very long but we kinda already knew who made the team.

10. Did Marta say anything to you after the announcement of the team?
She told me to just keep working hard in the gym.

11. Congratulations on your commitment to the University of Oklahoma!  Did you look anywhere else and what made you chose Oklahoma? 
I did look other places but Oklahoma was the fit for me.  I loved everything about it and the coaches were perfect for me!!!

12.  What are your plans and goals for the rest of the year?
More international assignments and to improve all around! :)

Thank you so much Maggie, good luck for the rest of the year!

May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

As Simone Biles rocked the world at the World Championships in Antwerp Belgium, everyone began thinking about the next 3 years before the Olympic Games.  Will she burn out like many before her?  Will she stand the test of time that the next 3 years will bring?  As I love to look at numbers and the past, I decided to look at previous years and see what 16 year old World Medalists in the year after the Olympics went on to the next Olympic Games.

2005 World Championships

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
All Around	Chellsie Memmel	Nastia Liukin	Monette Russo
Vault	Cheng Fei	Oksana Chusovitina	Alicia Sacramone
Bars	Nastia Liukin	Chellsie Memmel	Beth Tweddle
Beam	Nastia Liukin	Chellsie Memmel	Catalina Ponor
Floor	Alicia Sacramone	Nastia Liukin	Suzanne Harme

As you can see, the U.S. won big at the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.  The Championships were dominated by mostly veterans, with the older gymnasts winning 80% of the medals, Nastia Liukin being the only fresh senior to win medals, taking home 20% of the medals that year.  Liukin, as you know, went on to be the most successful member of the US team for the 2008 Olympics, winning The AA Gold, Team, Bars and Beam Silvers, and Floor Bronze, medaling in every event final she participated in winning 91% of the medals she tried to win in the following 2 World Championships and Olympic Games, which makes the baby success rate 100% for these Championships.

2009 World Championships

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
All Around	Bridget Sloan	Rebecca Bross	Koko Tsurumi
Vault	Kayla Williams	Ariella Kaeslin	Youna Dufronet
Bars	He Kexin	Koko Tsurumi	Ana Porgras Rebecca Bross
Beam	Deng Linlin	Lauren Mitchell	Ivana Hong
Floor	Beth Tweddle	Lauren Mitchell	Sui Lu

At the 2009 World Championships in London, England, you can see that the medalists were a little more spread out and more diverse than the 2005 World Championships, with the older gymnasts winning 69% of the medals.  

Of the 16 year olds,  only 1 gymnasts went on to become an Olympian in 2012, Youna Dufournet who did not qualify for finals.  Kayla Williams, the Vault World Champion dropped down to level 10 shortly after and is currently enjoying a successful collegiate career at the University of Alabama.  Rebecca Bross, the AA Silver and Bar Bronze medalists, was infamously injured in 2011, and was not named to the 2012 Olympic Team, andAna Porgras retired in February 2012.

So, the average success rate for the 16 year old World Medalists over the past 2 quads were, 23%, however, when the gymnast was as successful as Simone Biles was in 2013, the success rate goes down to 20%.  Simone Biles, may the odds be ever in your favor.

How The Numbers Compare

A few weeks ago, I posted a post, Predicting The 2013 Podiums , where I took the season averages of the favorites in each event to be able to get a picture of how things stacked up prior to the event.  Of course, this isn't a perfect science, as domestic scoring can be a little funny and, it's gymnastics: anything can happen.  Now that World's are over, I'm going to go back to the averages and standings, and compare that to what actually happened!

All Around
Prediction
Gold: Simone Biles 60.32
Silver: Kyla Ross 59.63
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina 58.927 
Fourth: Larisa Iordache 58.06
Fifth:  Giulia Steingruber 57.344 

Actual
Gold: Simone Biles 60.216
Silver: Kyla Ross 59.332
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina 58.856
Fourth: Larisa Iordache 57.766
Fifth: Yao Jinnan 57.632

Wow, these predictions were actually pretty accurate!  Besides Giulia Steingruber, who placed 7, the results here were spot on, and the scores weren't too far off.  No one really thought that with her difficulty level, Kyla Ross would factor into the medal picture, but the numbers (and the competition itself!) proved those people wrong!

Vault
Prediction
Gold: McKayla Maroney 15.42
Silver: Simone Biles 15.41
Bronze: Giulia Steingruber 14.804 

Actual
Gold: McKayla Maroney 15.725
Silver: Simone Biles 15.595
Bronze: Hong Un Jong 15.483

While the numbers were well off, 2/3 of the podium were correct.  While the Maroney/Biles competition wasn't as close as it was built up to be, but it was just as intense!  With Biles and Maroney the last two to go up, and then for Biles to nail both her vaults as amazing as we've seen from her, to Maroney going up and just hitting her vaults right after Biles, it was intense!  When I ran the numbers, I believe Hong Un Jong had the 4th highest score, so it wasn't too far off, but Giulia was incredible as well, hitting both of her vaults at the beginning of the final, then being knocked out of contention by the last 3 vaulters.

Bars
Prediction 
Gold: Yao Jinnan 15.433
Silver: Kyla Ross 15.389
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina 15.211

Actual
Gold: Huang Huidan 15.4
Silver: Kyla Ross 15.266
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina 15.033

So many people doubted that Kyla Ross could possibly beat Mustafina on bars when I originally posted it!  However, when the green light went up, Kyla Ross performed better than Aliya Mustafina when it counted.  No one really expected that Huang Huidan would even make make bars finals, as Yao Jinnan and Shang Chunsong were expected to qualify over her.  No one expected Yao Jinnan to fall either, but that's gymnastics.

Beam
Prediction
Gold: Larisa Iordache 15.48
Silver: Kyla Ross 14.836
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina 14.633

Actual
Gold: Aliya Mustafina 14.9
Silver: Kyla Ross 14.833
Bronze: Simone Biles 14.333

This podium isn't as exact as the others, which just goes to show how unpredictable gymnastics really is.  No one expected Larisa to fall and no one expected Mustafina to win.  This final will forever been known as the Beam Finals of Inquiries.  I feel bad for Mustafina, because I fell like that's what people are going to remember about this final, not that fact that Mustafina won gold on her weakest, most inconsistent event, beating the favorite by a hefty margin.

Floor
Prediction
Gold: McKayla Maroney
Silver: Simone Biles
Bronze: Larisa Iordache

Actual
Gold: Simone Biles 15.0
Silver: Vanessa Ferrari 14.633
Bronze: Larisa Iordache 14.6

Wow, who would've thought going in that Kyla Ross would beat McKayla Maroney on floor and Maroney wouldn't qualify?  I'm so happy for Vanessa Ferrari, she's been waiting for this medal for SO long!  I totally disagree with Iordache's score, she performed so well and I believe it should've been higher.  Simone has been so amazing during this week, definitely proved herself as the one to beat for the next year with 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze!

There we go!  I'm not going to lie, some of the predictions were closer than I thought they would be!  It's been an amazing week, and I can't wait for next time!

If "So and So" Made the USA World's Team

Qualifications took place today and The USA has 2 women in every final!  The USA Women had an outstanding day, with Simone Biles qualifying to all the finals, Kyla Ross qualifying into the AA, UB,BB, and FX finals, and McKayla Maroney qualifying into the VT finals (and the AA and the FX....I HATE THE TWO PER COUNTRY RULE!..but I digress,)!  In the weeks prior to the championships, there has been many speculation about who should take the fourth spot, which was ultimately unused, after Marta scratched Brenna Dowell to allow McKayla Maroney to compete in the AA.  So now that we know who qualified into each final, I wanted to take the bars and beam scores of the rest of the National Team to see if they would have skewed the qualifications for the US team, to see if Marta made the right choice.

Brenna Dowell
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 14.7 (City Of Jesolo)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: 13.85 (P&G Championships Day 2)

Kennedy Baker
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 13.55 (Secret Classic)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: 14.65 (P&G Championships Day 2)

Peyton Ernst
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 14.8 (USA-GER-ROM Tri Meet)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: 14.9 (P&G Championships Day 2)

Maggie Nichols
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 14.15 (P&G Championships Day 2)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: 14.5 (P&G Championships Day 2)

Elizabeth Price
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 14.8 (P&G Championships Day 2)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: N/A (I'm not sure how Elizabeth was scoring at camp)

MyKayla Skinner
Highest Score on UB in 2013: 13.55 ( P&G Championships Day 2)
Highest Score on BB in 2013: 14.25 (P&G Championships Day 2)

If Peyton Ernst made the US World's Team, she would've tied Simone Biles for the 2nd American UB finals, but would've won the tiebreaker due to a higher execution.

If Peyton Ernst made the US World's Team, she would've beaten Shang Chunsong for the second qualifying spot.

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