This will more than likely be my last Gymternet post for a while, because i’m leaving in 3 days to the Gealtacht. (For the non-Irish fans of the blog- a gealtacht is an area usually in the west coast of Ireland where Irish is the spoken language of the people, Irish students usually aged between 14 and 18 go and spend 3 weeks with their friends living in a house in this area to learn the language. It’s good fun and I cannot wait.) I will have limited internet access (Internet for about 2 hours a day) But, I won’t be writing any blog posts myself.
However, my lovely contributors Maegan and Courtney will still be writing here, so the blog won’t be empty while i’m gone!
Anyways, here’s the news from the Gymternet this week.
Mckayla Maroney has been a favorite to make the Olympic team for quite some time now, but her injury from warm ups on day 2 of Nationals seems to have set her back a lot more than USAG is letting on. She has to miss a full week of training due to a concussion. The Gymternet is starting to wonder, If Mckayla is not ready for trials, but proves she can be ready for the Olympics, can she petition straight onto the team?
for those of you who have been living on a rock (or idk, not on twitter today) shit went down.
yup, we had a battle greater than Svetlana versus Carly…
better than Russia Versus USA…
better than He and Nastia’s battle on bars….
this was the battle of the Memes. fought by @getagripgymblog and Unnamed GymBlog
(DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER!I Don’t want to offend anyone with this blog post, and i’m tote’s neutral in this epic battle)
So, everyone knows @GetAGripGymBlog’s epic tumblr meme account (if you don’t, you need to check it out. HILARIOUS fyeahgymnasticsmemes.tumblr.com)
well, Unnamed Gym Blog kinda copied her. And Bekah was not happy.
a few heated world were exchanged CALMLY until this:
And then this:
how to avoid having a gymblog-twitter battle.
1. if you use someone elses picture/meme/idea make sure to give them credit.
2. dont make things personal. keep to the point. (E.X. Slut, skanky, stupid ect,ect…)
3 If you are copying someone else’s idea, be subtle. (don’t use the same background)
4. Dont bring Afan into it.
This argument got alot of peoples interest, including mine.
@Fulltwist was at the mens european artistic gymnastics championships, but was refreshing her twitter to keep upto date with this fight and some of the (HILARIOUS) comebacks.
I recommend you get your ass on twitter and have a look for yourself, it has to be seen to believed.
With Europeans, National Qualifiers and Classics all coming up, the Gymternet was pretty busy this week.
By the way, is anyone else getting confused between the American/Covergirl/Secret classics? (yes, I know there is no Covergirl classic any more, but I am going to call the Secret classics ‘The Covergirl Classics for the sake of an easy life.)
Lets see whats going on on Twitter this week!
“@Kyla_Ross96: I changed my password and I still got hacked! #Seriously”
Yes Kyla, you and nearly every other USA gymnast. and I don’t know how you guys managed to get hacked, why did gymnasts, of all people , click in to a link saying ‘Easy steps to lose weight!’
Katlyn_Ohashi:My dates to prom! What can I say? I’m a player(;”
This is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
@Shawnjohnson “Finished copies of your book are in!! Some should be headed your way soon.” SO EXCITED!”
Whos getting it?
By the way, check out my twitter and/or blog for some quick hits on Europeans this week!
here is some of my favourite blog posts of this week:
For some crazy reason I love reading about Junior gymnasts, and Bekahs Get A Grip Gymblog covers some of the Juniors competing at The American Classics
Also, word on the street is Shawn and Nastia are out of camp. anyone recall Martha saying that if they weren’t showing half decent routines by April there wasn’t much hope?
This week were starting with the Olympic Veterans!
Alicia Sacramone
Aoibhe From Flippin’ Olympics: Ah Alicia, why did you have to tear you achilles? WHY?
Before she tore her achilles at worlds, Alicia was considered a lock for London. Shes a three event specialist (she doesn’t train bars) which holds her back a little bit. But, if Alicia gives a strong performance at Natonals and Trails, I wouldnt count her out.
Ashlee From Triple Twist Blog: If you would have asked me last year about Alicia’s chances I would have told you she was a lock for the team. But after tearing her achilles last year at Worlds, I don’t think its possible for her anymore. She would need to get in great shape AND upgrade her routines to be in the hunt for one of those 5 spots.
Bekah From Get A Grip Gymblog: To be honest, I was dubious about Alicia’s chances of making the Olympic team even prior to her injury. With McKayla Maroney possibly vying for vault gold, Alicia’s role from 2008 is occupied. She’s also without an Amanar, which seems almost necessary to compete on Vault in team finals for the USA. While Alicia would bring strong leadership skills to the team, I doubt that she’ll be able to reach Olympic shape AND upgrade before the Olympics.
Chellsie Memmel
Aoibhe: Shes not my favourite gymnast, but shes a like a rock! In the words of Tim And Elifie “This kid has mental toughness like no other” Who makes a comeback after 3 years and does what she did at nationals? Like it or not, shes a front runner for this team if she stays injury free.
Ashlee: As much as I wan’t to see Chellsie make the team, I don’t think she will. Her shoulder is has been giving her problems and she is only training lightly in the gym while she heals up. Chellsie is just too injured to give this a go!
Bekah: I adore Chellie Memmel but I worry if the girl who was too injured to go to the Olympics at 16 and was injured in Beijing at 20 will be able to stay healthy under Marta at 24. If she can somehow peak, the USA could use her bar set. I do have to give Chellsie credit though. She quietly arose last year and showed up at the US Classics in top form. She could surprise us all, and I hope she does, but this girl seems to have the worst timing of any gymnast on the planet.
Bridget Sloan
Aoibhe: The 2009 world champion never really left the gymnastics scene like much of her teammates in Beijing (she was on the 2009,2010 worlds team and 2011 Pan Am Captain.) but whats kinda sad is that even though she never left the scene for a while like the rest of her teammates and spent the last 4 years training yet she isint a ‘lock’ for this team. But even if she doesnt make this Olympic team, I hope she continues with gymnastics for as many years as she can!
Ashlee: Bridget is good, but not good enough unfortunately. She has been dealing with some injury’s which have prevented her from competing at her full potential for almost 2 years. Her start values are not that high and she wouldn’t help the team out massively on any event.
Bekah: Bridget Sloan has historically been consistent under pressure and solid on all four events. But that’s just it: she’s “just” solid. Frankly, I’m not sure if I’d place Bridget in the Top 5 girls in the US on any event. Barring injury, I think that Bridget has a solid shot as being an alternate. But without 4 or 5 major players going down, I’m unsure if I can realistically see Bridget on this team.
Shawn Johnson
Aoibhe: dont get me wrong here, I love Shawn and i think she is a wonderful gymnast. but i think she had her day. I don’t really see a place for her in this team, when theres only 5 places and loads of girls fighting for it. I think she’ll be an alternate. but she should be happy with that, considering the the depth of talent in the USA right now.
Ashlee: Oh I want Shawn to make this team so bad! She’s in the right position, she just needs to keep training and get consistent at her routines. She only has a few meets coming up to prove herself, but it sounds like she has some upgrades that could help her chances. It will be tough, but it is possible.
Bekah: I have to commend Shawn for coming back, but I worry that her shaky performances in 2011 will work against her. Perhaps her great reputation and strong performance at the US Championships will make up for her performances at Classics and Pan Ams. Shawn could realistically compete for the US on beam and floor, where they more than likely will not need a specialist. All in all, I think that if Shawn can stay healthy, she will more than likely be an alternate.
Nastia Liukin
Aoibhe: Nastia can swing bars. And lets face it, USA cant swing bars as good as we’d like.And being the olympic All-Around Champion cant hurt either.We still haven’t seen any of Nastia’s comeback yet, but you can nearly be garanteed her bars will bring in big scores.
Ashlee: For some reason, I only see Nastia being useful on bars. (Which we need!) I’m pretty positive she will make the team though. After all she has done for USA Gymnastics, I can’t imagine her not making it. I mean come on, she’s an Olympic Champion! She has a huge bar set that will be very helpful to the team score and overall I think she’d make a great leader to a much younger team.
Bekah: I’d like to remind you of a deep dark year in American Gymnastics: 2000. Veterans Kim Zmeskal, Dominique Moceanu, Jaycie Phelps and Shannon Miller all attempted comebacks and didn’t make the team. Why? They jumped in the ring at the last minute, much like Nastia. Honestly, I HOPE Nastia can make a comeback and can peak at the right time. We NEED her bars. However, I’m not sure I’ll believe it until I see it.
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!
Coming next week in Part 2 of ‘Whats Their Chances?’ We’ll be looking at the chances of the 2011 Gold Winning World Championship Team!
Flippin' Olympics 