World's Wish List

I woke up this morning and it was World's!  World's started at 4 AM this morning and it's been an eventful morning!  King Kohei seems poised to carry his winning streak into this quad and the men's field is very deep considering the injuries on the women's side.  Much like I did last year, I am writing my World's Wishlist!  Let me know what you agree with!

Getty Images

1. Success for Maroney

Sometimes I feel like the only one that's happy that McKayla is doing AA.  Let me restate that, I'm happy McKayla is getting this opportunity but I hate the way it was executed by Marta.  She shouldn't have strung Brenna along like that and I feel so bad for her, but I'm excited for McKayla.  Marta is looking ahead to Rio, and this year really is the perfect for Maroney to get international experience in the AA.  I want Maroney to hit her sets, and just prove to everyone that she's not a 1 trick pony.

USA Gym and The Examiner

2. An Intense Fight for the AA Title

In sports, blowout wins are fun for about 2 minutes, then it gets boring.  The close competitions are the ones you can watch over and over easier than the blowouts.  I really loved watching the 2011 World All Around Final and I've watched that one more times than the 2010 World All Around Final, just because of how intense it was!  The clear favorites are obviously Simone Biles of the US and Aliya Mustafina of Russia, and here's hoping it's a close race for the top of the podium!

Gym Wiki

3. For Hong Un Jong to NOT to Throw the TTY

I have nothing against Hong Un Jong and I don't really care who gets the TTY named after them, but I hope for Jong's safety that she doesn't throw it!  Her Amanars have really scared me recently because she is not rotating enough and I can not see her getting a extra half twist in that vault.  I see a scary knee injury in her future, and I don't want her to get hurt.

International Gymnast Magazine

4. Larisa Iordache To Rock It

I have a soft spot for Larisa because she reminds me of old-school Romanians that I miss so much!  I feel so bad that she was so hyped up and then had a bad Olympics due to injury.  I really hope she can prove herself this year.  So many people have written her out for the AA podium, and I hope she can prove those of people wrong.

Sam Mikulak

5. Success for the US Men

USA has been known as a women's powerhouse for quite some time, and the men haven't had the same success that the women have.  I hope that they can have a breakthrough year and come home with some hardware.  Also, I hope they start something they can build on for the quad to come!

Getty Images

6. Diversity
The sport has obviously been controlled by the "Big 4" superpowers for some time now and one of the best things about the year after the Olympics is some of the other countries get a share of the medals also!  It's pretty common knowledge that I'm a HUGE Victoria Moors fan, and would love it for her to make the AA final (she was placed in the vault lineup earlier today) and a floor medal!  Her upgraded set included a DDLO and I hope she can find her way onto the floor podium!  Also, Yamilet Pena's vaulting is improved and if she lands it, I hope she can make the posium there!  All in all, it's a great year for some adversity among the medalists, so I hope we see some of that thi year!

International Gymnast Magazine

7. A Safe Healthy Competition For All

The lead up to World's this year has been filled with injuries.  Some of the bests in the world are sitting on the sidelines with injuries, especially on the Russian front.  Here's hoping all of the injuries are out of the way and the gymnasts who have survived to make it to Antwerp all leave in the same number of pieces they came in!

My Opinion on the 2013 US World's Team

They US World's team was announced last night, as everyone knows... (Just a few examples)

The gymnasts selected ( as everyone also knows) was...

Simone Biles

Brenna Dowell

McKayla Maroney 

Kyla Ross

Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross were all givens going into the selection camp barring injury, and there were several contenders for the last spot, a UB/BB position, as Simone and Kyla are doing AA and McKayla is competing VT/FX.  I really love Brenna, but her best events are not bars and beam.  She excels on floor, and her amanar isn't as bad as we've seen before.  This year's world team, like every team, is a puzzle, and in my opinion, Brenna doesn't fit into this puzzle.  Maybe this is my bias for Peyton Ernst coming through, but I believe she, Abby Millet or Elizabeth Price would've made a better fit on the team this year, especially Peyton or Abby for experience for a team final setting next year, as both of them have very little international experience.  I believe they fit into this puzzle better than Brenna Dowell.  

Regardless, I think this is a really strong team that'll be really successful in Antwerp.  Congrats to all the girls!

Predicting The 2013 Podiums

If you've been reading my blog a while, you know that I love to use scores to analyze and speculate.  So, I thought it would be fun to use the nominative lists and average the top 3 scores from the this season of the top All Arounders and top 5 for each event, this way placings are not messed up due to an outstanding meet.  *Note: I understand the nominative lists are NOT official, and I will not be using anyone who has been confirmed that they will not compete.*

All Around
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

This is an interesting podium.  It is interesting to note, however, that scores were used from domestic meets, which skews with the averages as some domestic scores are inflated and others are reduced.  Personally, I wouldn't mind this podium, although I would love to Iordache on the podium.

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

I really like this podium honestly.  Also note other medal contenders have not competed 3 times this year, so I could not find 3 scores to average, so this may not be close to how it plays out in Antwerp.  Also, on average, I didn't realize Simone Biles and McKayla Maroney were .1 apart.  The vault final this year should be really interesting.

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

Looking at this podium, it's weird.  Aliya Mustafina, the Olympic Champion in bronze, getting beaten by Kyla Ross?  Not many people would've predicted that.  In fact, many said if Kyla was to place, the favorites would have to make mistakes due to her difficulty, however here she is in silver.  Again, home scoring comes into play, but we'll see come Antwerp.

Beam
Gold: Larisa Iordache 15.480
Silver: Kyla Ross 14.867
Bronze:  Aliya Mustafina 14.633

There is no surprise here that Larisa Iordache is on top of the podium here.  As the two Chinese Olympic medallists here have both sadly moved on, she currently holds the second highest beam score of the year, behind only Katelyn Ohashi, who has been out most of this year with a shoulder injury.  Again, we see Kyla Ross on top of Aliya Mustafina, a recurring theme here based off of yearly averages.  Again, home scoring is involved, and may be a little skewed, but it all depends on who hits their set that day.

Floor
Gold: McKayla Maroney 15.12
Silver: Simone Biles 14.97
Bronze: Larisa Iordache 14.9

Wow podium is SO close!  Of course, the obvious question is "Where's Sandra?"  We haven't seen her much this season, and I couldn't find scores for her.  It is SO close between Simone Biles and Larisa Iordache, while Maroney holds a .2 lead over them, which is equivalent to 2 minor landing deductions.  This is going to be a REALLY close and interesting final!

So there are season averages for the top rated athletes in the world.  Of course, this is only top 3 scores and anything can happen, so take these averages with a grain of salt.  It will all depend on who hits her sets on the day it all matters.  I would like to give a HUGE thank you to Uncle Tim who has a great list of top scores, where I got a lot of my information from, so thank you Uncle Tim!

Using the Rejected Vault Code

The 2013-2016 Code was supposed to include big changes to the Vault Final scoring.  As opposed to Vault 1 Difficulty and Execution + Vault 2 Difficulty and Execution, scores were supposed to be determined using the formula, Difficulty of Vault 1/2 + Difficulty of Vault 2/2+ [10- (Deductions of Vault 1 + Deductions of Vault 2)].  This equation puts a greater emphasis on execution, so I decided to use this equation to alter the 2012 Olympic Vault Final and 2011 Worlds Vault Final.

2012 Olympic Vault Final
 Sandra Izbasa: Original Average 15.191
6.1/2+5.8/2+[10-(.717+.8)]
3.05+2.9+(10-1.517)
5.95+8.483
New Score- 14.433
Place
Old: 1
New:1

McKayla Maroney: Original Average 15.083
6.5/2+6.1/2+[10-(.334+1.8)]
3.25=3.05+(10-2.134)
6.3+7.866
14.166-.3
New Score- 13.866
Place
Old: 2
New: 4

Maria Paseka: Original Average 15.050
6.5/2+5.6/2+[10-(1.1+.9)]
3.25+2.8+(10-2)
6.05+8
New Score- 14.05
Place
Old: 3
New: 2

Janine Berger: Original Average 15.016
6.3/2+6/2+[10-(1.167+1.1)]
3.15+3+(10-2.267)
6.15+7.733
New Score- 13.883
Place
Old: 4
New 3

Oksana Chusovitina: Original Average 14.783
6.3/2+5.5/2+[10-(1.2+1.034)]
3.15+2.75+(10-2.234)
5.9+7.66
New Score- 13.666
Place
Old: 5
New 5

Yamilet Pena: Original Average 14.516
7.1/2+5.8+[10-(2.434+1.334)]
3.55+2.9+(10-3.768)
6.45+6.232
12.686-.1
New Score- 12.586
Place
Old: 6
New: 7

Brittany Rodgers: Original Average 14.483
5.8/2+5.6/2+[10-(1.034+1.4)]
2.9+2.8+(10-2.434)
5.7+7.566
New Score- 13.266
Place
Old: 7
New: 6

I did not do Ellie Black's average, for obvious, sad reasons.
New Placings
Izbasa
Paseka
Berger
Maroney
Chusovitina
Rodgers
Pena
Black

As you can see here, the biggest change is Maroney dropping from a silver medal to fourth.  Also, Pena dropped only one spot, the result of sitting down her Produnova.  This system, as you can clearly see here, shows that if you go for the difficulty, you better be able to do it well.

2011 Worlds Vault Final
McKayla Maroney: Original Average 15.3
6.5/2+5.6/2+[10-(.7+.8)]
3.25+2.8+(10-1.5)
6.05+8.5
New Score- 14.55
Place
Old: 1
New:

Oksana Chusovitina: Original Average 14.733
6.3/2+5.5/2+[10-(1.234+1.1)]
3.15+2.75+(10-2.334)
5.9+7.666
New Score- 13.566
Place
Old: 2
New:

Phan Thi Ha Thanh: Original Average 14.666
5.9/2+5.8/2+[10-(1.3+1.067)]
2.95+2.9+(10-2.367)
5.85+7.633
New Score- 13.483
Place
Old: 3
New:

Jade Barbosa: Original Average 14.566
5.8/2+5.6/2+[10-(.934+1.334)]
2.9+2.8+(10-2.268)
5.7+7.731
New Score- 13.432
Place
Old: 4
New:

Gulia Steingruber: Original Average 14.450
6.3/2+5.2/2+[10-(1.4+1.2)]
3.15+2.6+(10-2.6)
5.75+7.4
New Score- 13.15
Place
Old: 5
New:

Tatiana Nabieva: Original Average: 14.349
5.8/2+5.2/2+[10-(1.234+1.067)]
2.9+2.6+(10-2.301)
5.5+7.699
New Score- 13.199
Place
Old: 6
New:

Alexa Moreno: Original Average 14.216
6.3/2+5.2/2+[10-(1.567+1.5)]
3.15+2.6+(10-3.067)
5.75+6.933
New Score- 12.683
Place
Old: 8
New:

I also did not include Pena because she scored a 0 on her second vault.
Placings
Maroney
Chusovitina
Phan
Barbosa
Nabieva
Steingruber
Moreno
Pena

There is only one change here, which surprised me.  Tatiana Nabieva scored higher here than Gulia Steingruber.  Once again, this goes to show that in this system, execution is weighted higher than difficulty.

 Personally, I think while it looks confusing, this system is better than simple averages.  I like the way it weighs safe, clean gymnastics higher than terrifying high difficulty vaults.  If this system was implemented, we would see less chucked vaults, make the vault final MUCH more aesthetically pleasing.

My Current US World Championships Team

With the National Championships come and gone (I missed day 2 and just watched it yesterday) and World Championship selection camps coming up soon, I wanted to share who I believe will be competing in Antwerp.  I am basing this off of performance at Classics, Nationals, as well as what the selection committee is looking at, "results from the P&G; Championships; hit consistency and results from past international and national; competitions; D-scores for difficulty, and E-scores for execution; consistency; medal; potential; composition of individual strengths among the team members; readiness to; compete; etc." (via. USA Gymnastics) 

Simone Biles (AA):  I feel as though this is kinda obvious.  2013 US National Champion.  She has shown that she can come back from a bad meet and posted above the magical 60 in all around competition this year and has improved with every competition.  A lot of people have high expectations for her first major international competition, myself included, and will be one to watch come Worlds.

Peyton Ernst (UB/BB):  Peyton is the only member of my team that other people disagree with.  Although she struggled at nationals, I believed she has proved herself during her previous international assignments earlier this year (she was a part of the European tour team and competed at the Tokyo World Cup, making her relatively experienced compared to the rest of those invited to the Selection Camp.  when she hits, she has a stellar beam routine, and a above average bar routine, with beautiful lines that stand out in domestic competitions.  I believe she fills a hole in this team better than anyone else in the selection process.               

McKayla Maroney (VT/FX):  Another who is potentially a lock.  Her vaulting is superior to everyone in the world, and while I always thought she was a great floor worker, I really LOVE her routine this year and all of her upgrades.  She is the big favorite in the vault EF, and I think she really can factor in on floor.

Kyla Ross (AA):  Another lock, Kyla is in the running for the AA title.  Although she doesn't have huge difficulty, her picture perfect execution makes up for it 100%.  I personally can't wait to see her in her first World Championships! 

My Experience at International Gymnastics Camp

Last week I spent the week at International Gymnastics Camp (IGC), because I won the Professional Gymnastics Competition Prediction Contest held my gymnastike.org .  I've wanted to go to IGC for 4 years (since I was 12) and I finally got the chance!  While I was there, I wrote everything down, and these are my "diary" entries.  I took out the super personal stuff (like random inside jokes and things I specifically wrote just for my family), but kept enough to capture my experience properly.
*Disclaimer*: These are straight from my notebook, and are not affiliated with IGC.  All thoughts are my own.

Sunday- Day 1
I am REALLY excited to be here, but dad was wrong, I'm already homesick.  It was fine during screening, that was the best part of the day, but afterwards I wished my twin is here with me (Name with held for her privacy).  It's weird being here with out here (this was the longest I have been away from my sister since we've been alive).  For screening, they separated us by height, I was a C-.  On my way into the gym, I ran into my friend from the gym, which made me happy.  They tested us on my best event, floor, and my worst by far, bars.  I did a standing back handspring and round off back handspring for floor (I don't spend a lot of time in the gym so please don't judge my very low skill level, thank you) and a pull over- back hip circle on bars.  Then was pit fluff.  Any gymnast who has ever done this feels my pain.  Basically, you take all of the foam out of the pit and put it back in and was the worst experience of the week.  I probably still have foam in my eyes and lungs.  Afterwards we had dinner.  Being a picky eater, I had pasta, garlic bread, and a brownie.  Then was cabin cheers, and there were some really creative ones.  They also introduced us to three of the celebrities, Oksana Chusovitina, Svetlana Boginskaya, and Blaine Wilson.  They also told us that Sean Golden and Jamie Dantzcher was coming as well.  I wasn't expecting Jamie, so I'm super excited!  Then we went to the dance gym to meet other kids our age, but my cabin left me there!  I checked back like 3 times to make sure, and once I left to go to the dance gym, I saw Chuso leave the gym!  If I wasn't panicking to get to the gym, I would've stopped and said hello.  After that was social hour, which I found kinda boring because I didn't know anyone.  It started pouring during social hour, so it ended early and we couldn't shower, so I feel DISGUSTING.  I can't wait for tomorrow I think it'll feel more like camp!

Monday- Day 2
I woke up a couple of times, but my counselors like the room cold like me, so that was good.  We didn't have time to shower this morning.  I wasn't that hungry so I just had cereal for breakfast.  After we stretched, we got our groups.  I was super scared of that, because I was scared that no one there was going to have the same level as me.  They have a great system, because I am with girls who are working on the same thing. First I had beam, which was good.  I wanted to work on my back walkover (Again, please don't judge my skill level, as I don't spend a lot of time in the gym, and gymnastics isn't my primary sport).  Then was bars.  I was one of the better ones in my group, which was encouraging because I hate bars and am bad at them.  I also got a rip.  Yum.  Then we went to floor, which is by far my favorite event.  I really like my instructor, and she thinks I have strong potential.  After lunch (grilled cheese) was conditioning.  Then was dance.  I could write forever about dance.  Warm-ups felt like I was at Zumba with my friends.  Then Bogi took over, and there is a reason why she is called the Belorussian Swan.  She first showed us all different body rolls, and simultaneously stuck her tongue out and made the weird noises *insert friend's name here* and I make at each other.  After a while, she complimented me on my wolf jump, and I died because IT'S BOGI!  Then she asked if anyone knew what a sissone was, and after all these years of following gymnastics, if I didn't know what a sissone was, it would be a problem.  So I raised my hand and SHE CALLED ON ME.  I DID A SISSONE FOR SVETLANA BOGINSAYA.  Then was vault, which was okay.  Then I got dad's email.  It made me so happy to have some communication with home, but made me miss my family more.  Then my cabin was called for Scary Aerie, the rock wall and zip line.  I think I got my dad's fear of heights, because halfway up the wall I freaked out and came down.  Oh well.  I spent the rest of my rec with 2 girls from my cabin.  Today has been much better than yesterday and feels more like camp.  I'm having so much fun.  After dinner (salad. bread, and roasted potatoes), I went to open gym.  While we stretched, my counselor called me over and had me tell my floor coach why I was there, but I don't remember who told my counselor (supposedly my mom did) and they both thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Then was Q&A with the Olympians.  The highlights were that Chuso once fell from beam 6 times and scored a 5, Bogi's favorite Disney character are all of the princesses and she has the princess wave down, and she was once locked in a bathroom during an awards ceremony in which she won silver, Sean Golden is an AMAZING singer, and Jamie Dantzcher's favorite experience was college.  The shower was the most awkward thing ever, it was so small.  I took the shortest shower of my life.  I'm having so much fun!

Tuesday- Day 3
I didn't sleep well last night, I really miss my bed!  I started on beam and got over my deathly fear of going backwards!  Then was bars.  I've never done bars this much in my life, and to put it nicely... I HATE BARS! We were on the tunnels, and I fell into them 3 times.  I'm not going to lie, falling into the tunnel was fun, getting out, not so much.  It's the little things that remind me of home, but I'm not homesick at all anymore.  We did boring stuff on floor, and then my coach had me tell the class why I was at camp which made me feel really awkward.  I've never been pushed this hard before, and I'm so sore, but I love being this sore.  The only thing I would change is that I wished I came with someone.  I had salad for lunch before conditioning.  Then was dance, which was fun when Bogi taught us.  She smiled at me and I died.  It was awesome.  My Bogi fangirling so far has been so real.  I was so tired by the time vault came and you could tell.  I'm starting to hate the pit and I'm glad we don't have one at the gym because it's SO hard to get out of. I got dad's letter after gym and it made me smile REALLY big.  We did spaceball during rec, which was cool, but I've found that a lot of the activities during rec are for the younger kids, which makes me wish I came with a friend even more.  We took pictures with the Olympians before dinner and I was so excited going in!  For my picture, I stood next to Jamie and Bogi, it went Sean, Jamie, me, Bogi, Chuso, Blaine.  Blaine and Sean are really funny, and Bogi is such a sweetheart.  I GOT TO AWKWARDLY SIDE HUG JAMIE DANTZCHER AND SVETLANA BOGINSKAYA!!!  I had penne, garlic bread (which had WAY too much garlic bread) and really good cake for dinner.  I chose not to go to open gym because I was exhausted and sore, so I walked around camp, and I think I got more exercise walking up those hills.  I sat at the lake for a while because it reminded me of my beach, which I miss so much.  Then we had handstand, strength, and flexibility which was really funny to watch.  I'm glad I didn't have to do it!  Social hour was kinda boring again.  I can't believe when I wake up, it'll be Wednesday!  I get to sleep in tomorrow and I'm so excited!

Wednesday- Day 4
It was so nice sleeping until 9:30 today.  I had cereal for breakfast (I know, I'm getting boring) and then was beam.  I started doing back walkovers on the medium sized beam and got over my fear of going backwards! I was so happy!  I still hate bars, and my coach thinks the first part of my kip is good. I ripped my rip from Monday again, because the only thing sexier than rips, is when your rips get rips.  It's super sexy.  Floor always goes the quickest.  We did legs and cardio during conditioning, and whoever thought doing legs before walking up that awful hill to dance was fun, is insane.  To sum up dance, Bogi is amazing.  Vault was okay.  I'm starting to get kinda frustrated with my beam coach, because she doesn't give me corrections.  I played volleyball with my friend from home and her friends during rec.  I love getting all of dad's letters and hearing about what's going on at home.  I had salad, corn and watermelon for dinner, but the watermelon didn't taste the same when it didn't come from my dad's plate.  I watched open gym with three of my friends because we were all too tired to actually do it.  Then was a Dutch Auction, which was hysterical!  Social hour became more fun when I had people to hangout with.  I can't believe the week is half over, I'm having the time of my life.

Thursday- Day 5
I woke up and it was Thursday, when did that happen?  Only 3 more nights until I fall asleep in a real bed!  I had cereal and a banana again for breakfast.  It's pouring here.  I continued to get over my fear of going backwards.  I feel bad that I thought that my coach didn't correct me, because she spend all day with me.  I'm not really scared to go backwards anymore.  I ripped my rip AGAIN and am so sick of bars it isn't funny.  Today on floor was crazy.  The girl who went after me did a round off backhandspring (a skill she was no where near ready for) and kneed my coach in the face, and they tested her for a concussion.  She left, so our bar coach came, but she has a bad arm and couldn't spot us, so they got another coach to come. I feel bad for my floor coach, I've had two concussions and they aren't fun.  I saw her later and she said she was fine, but she wasn't coaching.  I had mac & cheese and bread for lunch, and then went to conditioning.  Dance wasn't as good as usual because we were learning a dance, and I, as I have the worst coordination ever, did not do too well in dance.  I was falling asleep during vault, and doing it last STINKS.  I made bracelets with my friends from home to give to the Australian Jr. National Team (who are training with us) and watched them work out.  While I was in there I saw one of the Australian girls (I later learned her name is Alex Eade, watch for her in the future!) do a YDB, and I SAW CHUSO THROW A FRONT HANDSPRING DOUBLE TWIST!  I actually went to open gym and worked on making my roundoff back handspring better on tumble track.  My knee felt really stiff today.  I had more pasta and bread for dinner, which I'm finding is really the only thing they serve besides some really gross looking chicken.  Tonight was the "party" which was just an extra hour of social hour, and you got autographs during it.  I was so excited, and each of the Olympians were so sweet!  The time went by really quickly, and now that I have people to hangout with, social hour isn't that bad.  I'm having so much fun but I'm almost ready to leave.

Friday- Day 6
Wow, it's already my last day here, and I can't believe it!  I had cereal and a banana for breakfast again (what can I say, I'm not a breakfast person).  Bogi lead warm ups on beam and they were dance warm ups and they were perfect.  She had us shimmying down the beam and yelled "SHAKE WHAT YOUR MOMMA GAVE YA!"  Everyone started laughing to which one girl in my group yelled "It's Svetlana she can say what she wants!" which I thought was so true!  I got my back walkover consistently on the medium beam and when I told my coach how scared I was to go backwards, she didn't believe me and said how proud of me she was.  I ripped the same. rip. on bars for the 4th time this week.  When I went to wash it off, I stubbed my toe and part of my nail came off.  I got my double back handspring on floor with the replacement coach (my first coach does have a concussion).  It was "Finger Food Friday" meaning chicken fingers and fries, but since I had conditioning after, I just had salad, fries, and amazing chocolate chip cookies.  My toe hurt a lot during vault so I didn't run, I just did handstand flat backs.  I played volleyball and sat at the fire pit with my friends from home and watched while they did Scary Aerie.  Once I started packing, it hit me that I was almost ready to go home.  I'm excited to go home but I don't want to leave.  I had salad and an Italian Ice for dinner.  I'm so excited to see my sister, I've missed her so much!  Then was staff exhibition, which was really cool.  Then Sean Golden did like a play type thing with a dance teacher and a male coach, and it was hysterical.  Then Bruno, the owner of the camp, did a list of all the hearts that went "pitter patter", which is basically a huge joke, but was very funny.  I spent social hour with my friends and it was so sad.  I'm so not ready to leave, I'm going to miss it so much!

Overall I had a lot of fun!  I was definitely homesick the first two days, but I got over it once the week progressed.  My biggest recommendation is to go with a friend, because you do spend a lot of time out of the gym and (especially if you are older) a lot of people have friends already, making it kind of hard to make friends.  I had such an amazing week, I can't wait to go back next summer! I highly recommend IGC, no matter what your skill level (because as you saw, mine isn't very high), if you love doing gymnastics, you're going to have a great time!

I'd also like to thank Gymnasike for the amazing opportunity!

Interview with Alexis Beucler

Last year, at just 14 years old, Alexis "Poof" Beucler started making waves as Mary Lee Tracy's newest junior elite.  Not competing elite this year after moving to Brandy Johnson's, I was able to ask Lex a couple of questions about CGA< Mary Lee Tracy, Brandy Johnson's and her plans for the future!

Photo Property: gym-style.com

1. What was your experience at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy from when you arrived in 2008 until the end of the 2012 elite season?

I came in and worked with a lot of the coaches as I moved up levels and I made friends with the girls. I worked really hard to make the goals I had set for myself. The coaches always told me what a hard worker I was.

2. At what point did you know it was time to move gyms?

When I noticed a change in my desire and passion for my gymnastics and I knew I still loved it and needed to be at a place where it would be more positive for me.

3. I think a lot of people are confused about the petition Mary Lee created and how it effects you this season now that you are no longer training there.  Can you explain what the petition said and how it still effects you now. 

Mary lee sent in a petition to USA gymnastics then they confirmed the petition and since it was approved they would not reverse it. So now I have to wait and re-qualify.  

4. What was your experience competing elite like? What did you learn from it?

It was very exciting and having the audience start clapping to the beat of your floor routine was amazing. 

Credit: gym-style.com

I learned that you can set goals for yourself and just stay focused throughout the competition and you can make them. 

5. How hard is it to live away from home? What helps you when you get homesick?

It helps having FaceTime, texting and calling...I can always talk with my family. 

6. How did you chose Brandy Johnson's? What factors influenced your decision?

The coaching style and the girls were super nice and everyone made me feel like part of the team right away.

7. How are Brandy's coaching style different from Mary Lee's? Is Brandy's style work better for you?

More positive coaching style and it definitely is a great thing for me.

8.  Is it hard going into the gym everyday knowing you won't be competing this year? Is your training as intense since you won't be competing?

No because I still have the same goal so I want to be there.  My training isn't as intense but I'm still working hard to get upgrades so I'm ready.

gym-style.com

9. Are there any upgrades or planned upgrades you can tell me about?

Coming to a new gym has been great cause it has given me a chance to develop skills that I never thought I would even try. I'm working upgrades on all events.

10. Have you started looking into colleges? Do you have any places in mind?

Yes I have made visits and have offers and I will be making a decision soon. 

(She is now verbally committed to University of Georgia!)

Video Property of AshleyakaFlipper

I wish Alexis a lot of luck next season!  I can't wait to watch her on the competition floor again, and hope she has a lot of luck at Brandy Johnson's and at the University of Georgia! All the best Poof!