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The P&G Championships will be held this weekend and the competition holds tremendous weight for all of the gymnasts competing. For the juniors, it is the final elite meet of the year and they are looking to finish strong and earn a spot on the national team, which will put them in a great position for next year. For the seniors, there is a different kind of pressure and while they want to do their best and earn a spot on the national team as well, they also are looking ahead to the most important
competition of the year - World Championships. Seniors want to prove that they deserve a spot on that Worlds team or at least that they have the potential to earn a spot.
While every senior will feel pressure this weekend, some of the top
gymnasts have already proven that they would be a great asset to team
USA. Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, Bailie Key, Kyla Ross, and Alyssa Baumann are
front runners for the Worlds team. Below are some of the gymnasts who
may have a little added pressure and will be looking to break into the
elite group and prove deserve a spot on the team.
MyKayla Skinner
Skinner was on the 2014 World Championship team and won a gold with the
team as well as a bronze on vault. However, there is a lot more
competition this year with many juniors becoming seniors as well as
Olympians Douglas and Raisman returning. Skinner’s strongest attributes
are vault and floor and she is one of only two gymnasts who compete two
vaults and therefore one of only two gymnasts who could earn a Worlds
medal on vault for USA. Skinner had a minor foot injury
before Classics and at Championships she will need to prove that she is
back in top shape. She will hopefully compete her Amanar again and it
will be crucial for her to nail her floor routine.
Nia Dennis
Dennis is a first year senior and made her debut at Secret U.S.
Classic. She competed on vault, bars, and beam but her routines were
still not at full difficulty after having an ankle injury earlier in the
year then moving gyms
right before Classics. She will definitely be looking to compete
all-around and will hopefully add back her top skills. It will also be
important for Dennis to hit her routines as she struggled with
consistency last year.
Brenna Dowell
Dowell made a surprise return to elite after competing in NCAA for the
University of Oklahoma this past year. She competed at the Secret U.S.
Classic and while she looked strong in training, she had major errors on
the two events she competed. On bars, she peeled off on one of her
Shaposh moves but she hit the rest of her routine beautifully and still
scored a 14.35. She wasn’t on the original list to compete beam but
ended up performing her routine. She hit everything up until the
dismount when her foot slipped off the beam and she landed her double
back on her head. Fortunately, she stood up, saluted, and walked off on
her own, but she did scratch the rest of the meet. At Championships she
will be looking to prove that she can hit her routines, especially on
bars where she could greatly help the team. She will also be debuting a
new floor routine with incredible tumbling.
Madison Desch
Desch competed most recently at the Pan American Games where she won
gold with the team and silver all-around. That competition was great
experience for her and she was able to throw some upgraded routines.
However, she did have mistakes particularly with out of bounds on floor
and her back layout full series on beam. She will definitely be looking
to show improvements with those events as well as cleaning up overall.
Amelia Hundley
Hundley also competed at Pan American Games and had a great showing
besides a fall on bars that took her out of the all-around race. She
went into the all-around finals as the favorite and her fall was a
surprising mistake. Nevertheless, she showed a lot of strength and power
and looked to be in great shape. She will be looking to continue that
momentum and have a great showing at Championships.
Rachel Gowey
Gowey competed at Pan American Games but a minor ankle injury before
the competition held her out of potentially competing all-around. She
displayed gorgeous bars and ended up earning gold but had mistakes on
beam finals and didn’t medal. Gowey has beautiful gymnastics and
difficult skills but for Championships she will need to show consistency
on the events she does compete and hopefully she will be healthy enough
for the all-around competition.
Madison Kocian
Kocian was on the 2014 World Championship team but as mentioned
earlier, the competition this year is stiff. Kocian has one of the most
difficult bar routines and executes it beautifully. She won bars at
Classics with a 15.6. However, with all of the great all-around gymnasts
this year, it will be important for Kocian to prove she is strong on
more than just bars. She trained floor at Classics on the training day
and can be seen performing a Yurchenko double full in this news video so hopefully she is healthy enough to compete all-around at Championships.
Ashton Locklear
Similar to Kocian, Locklear was on the Worlds team and is incredibly
strong on bars. However, she too has suffered many injuries and it will
be important for her to prove she is not only world-class on bars but
that she can also contribute on other events. Whether or not she
competes all-around at Championships will depend on her health.
Which one of these gymnasts do you think has the best shot at making the Worlds team? Tell us in the comments below.
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