And I’m back…
Now with everything said and done (I went hiking with friends, went home and had lunch and washed the dishes), here are the final results for the top eight finishers at the ITA-USA-Whoever Meet’s Individual all-around, with their point totals.
All-Around
1. Shawn Johnson 61.700
2. Vanessa Ferrari 60.100
3. Samantha Peszek 59.050
4. Lia Parolari 58.300
5. Carlotta Giovannini 58.250
6. Chelsea Davis 57.700
7. Lenika De Simone 57.150
8. Francesca Benolli 56.450
Team Total
1. USA
2. ITA
3. ESP
4. POL
Why am I not surprised that Shawn won. Let’s compare her and Ferrari’s efforts. After all, Ferrari’s one of her main rivals.
Shawn’s Scores
Vault (5.8 A-value, so she did do the Yurchenko 2.0 twist) –15.200
Bars (6.3 A-value) –15.300
Beam (6.8 A-value) –16.200
Floor (6.1 A-value, with a 0.1 penalty…out of bounds, maybe?) –15.000
Vanessa’s Scores
Vault (5.0 A-value?! What happened to her Yurchenko 2.0 twist?!) –14.250
Bars (6.9 A-value) –15.450
Beam (6.5 A-value) –15.800
Floor (5.7 A-value) –14.600
Oh God. Vanessa better get her act together by Beijing, so that we may have an EXCITING all-around final. Or else Beijing is just going to be the Shawn Johnson Show, and that’s not really to my liking.
Hopefully Vanessa is pacing herself; Shawn apparently is doing the same, what with choosing not to compete her Amânar.
And as for Other People…
- Sam Peszek is really coming into her own and making a case for herself, even if all her scores here–except for uneven bars–were below 15.000. (Sam got a 15.050 on bars, with a 6.1 A-score.) I can see Sam P. as a viable candidate for the Olympic team. Martha K. seems to like her, which is a huge plus in her favor. However, if Sam’s on the team, that could be an Olympic roadblock to people like Bridget and Ivana. Which makes me very unhappy. (And nothing against Sam, but her mom annoys the hell out of me!)
- I hate to say this…but Jana probably won’t be on the Olympic team at the rate she’s going. (Oh Jana please prove me wrong! Please!) She hadn’t had the best meet…didn’t compete floor (which was one of her best events in 2006)…and didn’t do well on beam…the lone bright spot was a 15.050 on uneven bars with a 6.5 A-value, and even that is not that great because Shawn can get a higher score than that with a 6.3 A-value!
- Bridget was sidelined because of “something that happened during training”. Uh-oh…crap, crap, crap…
- Chelsea Davis (who is apparently coached by 1991 World Champion Kim Zmeskal) made it into the top eight, although her scores were all below 15 (she had to absorb a 13.9 on floor).
- Carlotta Giovannini (ITA) lived up to her status as a vaulter in the Italian team and got a 15.050 for a 5.8 A-value vault (the Yurchenko 2.0 twist, likely). The rest…good strong work, but not OMG!
- Lenika de Simone was the highest ranked Spaniard. Props to her.
- Sadly, Patricia Moreno scored a 12.850 on the floor exercise, the same event that she won the Olympic bronze medal for in 2004. I feel bad for her, she must be disappointed. I mean, it’s a disappointment anyway, but to have been Spain’s first female gymnast to win an Olympic medal, and now having to swallow something like this…
- Jordyn Wieber and Rebecca Bross went 1-2 in the Juniors division. Both of them were solid across the board. Rebecca Clark was 4th (screwed up bars), and Sam Shapiro, the 2008 Gymnix all-around champion, was 5th (messed up floor).
- But Paola Galante (ITA) was 3rd–good job to her!
- The Polish girls have their work cut out for them , and a good chunk of work it is. Poland did qualify Marta Pihan to Beijing, but she wasn’t the top Polish girl here…
Apparently, Ferrari was diagnosed with a stress fracture after worlds and was off for three months (!) I have a gut feeling that Ferrari will be largely under the radar prior to the olympics, but will end up being a major force in the AA when they arive. Shawn Johnson won, again, but come Beijing I don’t think she will totally dominate the competition. Very dissapointed for Bieger and Sloan. By the way, your blogs are some of the most interesting, candid, and hysterical writings of gymnastics that I’ve ever read! Keep up the good work.
haha your blogs are great, can’t wait to read them over the next few months with NCAA and Olympics. I checked USAG and saw they posted the results so I had to come check out your page to see what you thought!!
What’s the deal with Sam’s mom? Is she the one that works for USAG, or some gym magazine..?
Yes, Sam P.’s mom works for the USAG. She wrote an article about Nastia, back when Nastia was entering the elite scene as “The Chosen One”…it was very boring.