2012 Visa Championships - Women - Day 1 - Full Broadcast

the arch on the Majestic Mississippi is the Gateway to the West but tonight St Louis serves as a partial gateway to the Olympics next month in London shapit Arena on the campus of St Louis University will NASA Lucan be there in London not since Nadia kich as an all-around gold medalist returned to the Olympics she's fighting over 30 years of History Jordan Weber's path is filled with a world championship and she's taken all the proper steps that could give her chance at Olympic greatness of her own and if she's the it girl then 1A is Gabby Douglas who has been on a rocket ship to the top her timing could be perfect tonight we begin to find out and the person making the final decisions as to who represents the United States for a third Olympics in a row is Marta coroli her eyes don't miss a [Music] move [Music] Universal Sports presents the 2012 Visa championships and we welcome you inside chaitz Arena tonight and Sunday afternoon we will Crown a US national champion and narrow the field of hopeful women who want to be one of the five who will represent the United States in London it would be a major upset if it wasn't a list that included Jordan Weber Gabby Douglas has jumped into the scene and certainly complicated the decisions that will have to be made by Marta coroli and her staff and there's Nas ukan in just a few minutes she'll climb the uneven bars and show whether she's got the form on that apparatus to take her dreams back to the Olympics hi everybody Al trout we along once again with Elfie Schlegel and Olympic gold medalist Tim dagget along the way we've learned one thing it is hard to go back to the Olympic Games Tim daget knows that and now Chelsea meml and Shawn Johnson know that as father time and injury have taken them out of the London Olympics mix so Tim this is a major step in figuring out who goes to London what's going to happen here tonight and Sunday well it really is a three-prong test to who makes this Olympic team it started a couple of weeks ago at the US classic that was the first prong of this test and tonight and as you said on Sunday will be the second test in a few weeks after that it'll be San Jose and each one of these competitions is crucial some athletes have to show that they're at Peak form physically but a lot of athletes have to show Marta coroli that they can deal with the pressure Alie I mentioned naso Lucan why is it so hard to do what she's doing well she's not dealing with a lot of time just a couple of weeks ago NASA was on the balance beam at Classic so she already survived step one so to speak but tonight she's adding an even bar she's a specialist those two vents have to be awesome her dad even said without uneven bars balance being means absolutely nothing some more familiar names Alicia sacon Rebecca Bross and Bridget Sloan they're part of this also yes they are and uh you know their stories are all a bit different but it all involves time and each one of those athletes has had some serious injuries along the way Jordan Weber has suddenly got a little tick in her game it it happens on the uneven bars and she's got to get rid of it as quickly as possible how does it happen well she has really stumbled a little bit at both the most recent American Cup and during the team finals at the World Championships she wasn't good on bars as well so if there is an area where she needs to improve it is there not really here though on the ball two weeks ago Chicago what did you learn about the all-around battle well that's where she showed it once again she wasn't she wasn't at her top game at all on the uneven bars she came back though and was just a monster strong on the balance beam but really you know if she wants to challenge for that gold medal uh she's going to have to uh she's going to have to become more consistent on bars we take our first break in just a few minutes the Journey of Gabby Douglas continues and nasia lucan's attempt to return to represent the United States begins these are the Visa championships on Universal Sports what Marta crley is looking for is that she is a comp competitor she would like to see this young lady hit in these series of meets leading to the Olympic trials she's [Music] beautiful [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] out of bounds that's a big step forward could be as much as 3/10 and then a tenth for stepping into the white [Music] carpet well she's got just about everything she's a wonderful dancer she's very powerful but that was not as great as we saw her do a couple weeks ago Lena Bell and Don Finnegan how proud they must be and consider that the time that their little girl is all grown up the national championships just happen to be in St Louis and not a whole lot of time leading up to these Olympic trials there's not a lot of International experience with with Miss finegan but one of the things that she could do for team Osa is contribute on Flor exercise we are going to remember what happens in the next few minutes for a long time this is one of the great Olympic Champions gymnastics has ever seen five medals in Beijing a gold three bronzes and a silver and she said she just couldn't stand the thought of having the Olympics take place and not being part of it and saying what if and so back she comes and you know it was very telling what she said she was totally honest she said you know I've been NAA Olympic champion for three years now but when I put my arm up I am not NASA Olympic champion I'm just NASA I'm the same as all the other girls I've got to impress here and she needs to do it on the uneven bars this is the place if she's going to make that team that it can all happen first time since the comeback oh and a little bit off right off the bat there and this one is even more difficult right into a release release really for her the only doubt is whether or not physically the conditioning is there to hang on and this is a huge problem she came too close on that skill that's called a pack Salto from the high bar to the low bar and Tim this is where it's going to come down to we haven't actually seen her go right to this Dismount the endurance and she is not and that that was a big disappointment for NASA and she probably made the right decision there I'm sure she was exhausted she only did a single flip that's going to be a huge demerit in her in her Peak possible score and she just had a lot of Errors there that is not the way she wanted to start out the Visa championships remember Valerie Lucan her dad he didn't say much if anything and now we go to Jordan Weber from dit Michigan at 16 she's done everything asked of her yeah and this is a big Vault this is what sets her apart from the rest of the field and one of the reasons why she was so successful at last year's World Championships this Vault has two and 1 half twists oh gosh wow that was a little bit scary there a little under rotated it's a bland L blind landing and she going for a stick locks her legs and you know she's getting some words from coach John Gard there and they're mostly panicked words in my opinion because a landing like that can devastate an athlete can take him right out of the competition and actually blow an ACL ACL out or other really scary things let's watch when she lands she's a little under rotated and she locks that Ro right leg that hyperextended and that's going to be a little bit painful for Jordan all night long and I think she's walking away because of her incredible physical uh appearance and she's she's a strong athlete oh her brain's got to be exploding a little bit so we'll get the scores as we move along here but now chalking up is Gabby Douglas how would you describe what has happened for this gymnast a rocket chip it's been like a rocket chip and you know she was just barely old enough to make the world [Music] championships we have the time so let's do it let's go back and show you the malfunctions on the uneven bars well she had a little bit of a a form break and this just makes it really hard physically it's exhausting when you're not exactly on she deals with the next one and her release is fine but watch on the transition from the high bar to the low bar she's way too close to the bar and she has to do a circle around this bar she meant to just push away and not do this that was unplanned and all of this extra stuff what that does is it exhausts her and she's not in good enough shape to finish the routine so she does a very simple Dismount but not good Tim you had a return to the Olympics ripped away from you what is it like what's she thinking uh it's not it's not a fun thought you know and and you know she talks about you know it's this being a road and you know that's the most important thing but she is a competitor and uh she is not she's not happy with anything less than perfect the introduction of Gabrielle Douglas from Virginia Beach Virginia and this is an area where Gabby would contribute hugely to Team USA seeing that this is is by far their weakest event she is unbelievable on this apparatus High start value but look at these release [Applause] skills an Exquisite form and this is really tricky right here this release and she's supposed to connect it right there [Applause] does this routine alone if she lands on her feet right here she does that three more times once here at the Visa championship and two more times at the trials she's going to London she's been doing that all week long in practice haven't seen her Miss and it's even more emphatic considering what just happened to nsia that's her coach Ling Chow he's got a great smile and Marta Koli wanteded to see bigger stage performances by her this is the national championship yeah she couldn't have been better there Sarah finnean minutes ago 14.8 good luck and what Marta has said about this young lady is the gymnastics is there no question we know how talented Gabby Douglas is it's all about the mental part of this sport but on I bar she hasn't she hasn't wavered she has not missed on this apparatus in this very tricky combination and she'll do two releases in a row and this is the skill that we just saw NASA falter on it's called a Packa so when you do that flip from the high bar down to the low bar this is going to get a very large number for Gabby Douglas gymnastics 101 you got to flip big fly high land on your feet try to stick and then don't move the last impression for the judges that was sweet remember we also have a national championship to award this weekend and it means a lot to walk into the room at the Olympics and be the national champion of the United States and just a few feet apart and they couldn't be thinking more differently at this point in time polar opposite yes you know I think that NASA would have much preferred to get started on balance beam but you know it's the luck of the draw and she was not just up um early but in the first rotation and a very dis pointing 13.05 for NASA Lucan you see that 735 execution score that's really low and the 57 that number is supposed to be a 6.5 on the uneven bars so she had 8/10 Less in difficulty and lots of deductions yeah I think what Marta was hoping for is that that competitive Spirit she saw at Classic hadn't gone away I think she was hoping a little of that here today Gabby Douglas rocked at 15.45 great start for her here's Rebecca Bross and she's another one uh just like NASA Lucan uh she is going to earn her ticket if it's possible because of this event right here she's a former World medalist on the uneven bars she has the potential and you see that slight bit of form and not to mention an all-around competitor and now she's just down to uneven bars and balance beam did well on this event just a couple of weeks ago at the classic coming back from a major knee injury that happened here at the Visa championships last year landed a vault and dislocated her kneecap and she so far is really dealing with a pressure it's not the best routine there are a couple of nitpicky little deductions that she's had legs are coming apart just a little bit the Dismount that's as well as she could have done it somewhere there's a very proud surgeon and remember Rebecca she try trains alongside NASA Lucan and both of them are doing bars and beam and there's absolutely no scenario possible that both of them earn a ticket to London what complicates things Tim and maybe you can explain this a little bit more in a perfect world Marty glei wants to have five gymnasts and that's all there will be who can compete on all four events exactly and this is one that can do that she's a little bit weak on the uneven bars and that's why it opens the door for someone like Rebecca Bross or NASA Lucan but she can go out and deliver three super strong routines and she's usually very tough on the uneven bars as well we remember one Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago in Worcester Massachusetts not far from where she grew up and she just literally I hate to reuse it it's such a cliche she came out of nowhere yeah and you take a look at her when she's competing and you you just you nothing phases her she is by far the sturdiest gymnast this country has seen in a long time and she has delivered time and time again she's had a great year so [Music] [Applause] far [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] she looks ready exactly what she always does under huge pressure and that doesn't happen that often Marta Koli giving the Applause there she wants her on the team oh there there's no doubt about that but it's always a correction you can always be better Ally coach Mii Brean there and her famous teammate Alicia sacon who is also trying to come back from injury Alicia looks like she's standing there going yeah I've heard that one and I've heard that one too and now we take you to Sabrina Vega who was on that us team that won the gold medal in Tokyo at the world championships this is her fifth Visa championships but you know she has not looked great at these championships and she's looked a little bit sluggish I have to say this is probably one of her better events she's known as a beam and Floor specialist but I've been watching her all week in practice and there's just no fire there there isn't this desire like I saw just you know before the World Championships actually you know when it's important to note that this Olympic team it'll be just five athletes historically it's always been sixth at the World Championships a year ago less than a year ago she made that team and my estimation is she was the six gymnast Chosen and so just a rule change could be enough to keep her off the Olympic team and not have that dream come true but so far this has been really [Applause] good and made mention to that first set of the trials process the US classic that happened a couple of weeks ago balance beam was was not good at all and and it's really about the numbers it's putting in sets of beam routines where they're hitting Marta is looking for athletes who aren't afraid to deliver a routine and stay on [Music] basically just a Dismount this has been hard for her all week long wa boy she's had assistance there all week long so that was a little little undercut it that's that's what you call pulling till you hit big numbers for Rebecca Bross 15.2 and Alli Risman 15.45 what is nasio Lucan thinking a 13.05 damage control in progress we're live on Universal [Music] Sports we're back live in St Louis on Universal Sports Gabby Douglas right after nasia Lucan over her shoulder there had a rough Adventure on the uneven bars she pretty much rocked it but Jordan Weber still leads she has so much difficulty packed into her Vault that she can have a major misstep on the landing and still get a [Music] 15.65% one and again this will wrap up on Sunday afternoon on NBC Sports so Nast is only competing in two events Tim and Elfie what's the Thought there when everybody knows Marta wants to see four event gymnasts well NASA and Rebecca Bross and some of the other gymnast they that's all they're capable of and so what they would do is they would potentially only if it's beneficial to Team USA be a person that would fill spots and USA has been weak on the bars as we have said and so that is a spot where someone like NASA someone like Rebecca Bross could fill that spot but obviously from what we saw today from NASA that's going to be tough Chelsea memo not part of the mix here and it's interesting that she's chosen to stay around Elfie and time the balance beam yeah I would have liked to have seen her compete in this competition I have to say she has quite a following and uh always enjoyed her gymnastics but this is who Chelsea meml is she supports us a gymnastics and this is what she's about she's back at the Visa championships trying to support the athletes so from the uneven bars now Gabrielle Douglas just continues to impress she does and and this is where Marta has said now the uneven bar is not a surprise she knows she's capable of the big scores there but in the remaining three events is where she has had some problems Gabby says herself it's about Focus I just have to breathe I have to stay calm and that's EX what Marta stressed to us in practice this morning she has to stay focused not get her energy up too high just do what she's capable of doing like she doesn't practice and she can she she did at at the classic a couple of weeks ago she did struggle on balance beam but that's not indicative of what she's capable of she can be not just a good balance beam worker she's world class on this event if she just does what Gabby can do and you see Lang Chow there the coach I often ask you know how how's it going to go today for Gabby and he he says if Gabby's Gabby everything will be fine as The Story Goes her sister Ariel saw something in her and convinced mom to put her in gymnastics Ariel was dead on and NASA Lucan is looking toward clearing her head on the nerve-wracking balance beam she'll do it in front of that big American flag where she was dominant four years ago but going back to the Olympics is just plain hard [Music] yes we're back live in St Louis Missouri Nas Lucan will do only two events here tonight the uneven bars which did not go well by her own standard and now she's getting set to go on the balance beam we've had a chance in the last couple of years to spend some time with her she's really ticked right now oh God yeah you know I mean she is a perfectionist to the utmost level and you know I used to say that only one color works in the Lucan family and that's gold her dad an Olympic medalist gold medalist and it's uh she is reeling right now but she's also a seasoned competitor there you see father and Coach valer Lucan one of the all-time greats in men's gymnastics and he's had a plan for her this whole time and nasia was saying that I trust in him he's done it before he can do it again and she's been like you said very serious about this comeback she did a great job at Classic just a couple of weeks ago the only area on the balance beam that she needed to improve on was just some of the connections couple of her leaps that she chose to do that Wen quite at their maximum very difficult combination has to keep it moving and does a pretty good [Music] job one thing you cannot take away from this young lady are those gorgeous lines beautiful flexibility she has all of that and wow she is really really showing what she's capable of here another difficult aerial element coming up is a skill that she performed just a couple weeks ago wouldn't get it wouldn't have gotten its credit two weeks ago let's see what she does here a little bit better but still needs to lay that head back a little bit further it's a very risky skill then the Dismount we talked about the endurance and here's where it comes into play two and a half twist need some power wow no problem that's the NASA we're accustomed to looking at and you know she did have that really rough bars but in no way shape or form in my opinion does that knock her out of Olympic contention Marty even told us she said that you know nasia started a lot later she may need a little bit more time and that's okay with me now the way this is going to work is eight based on the standings go to the Olympic trials on Sunday afternoon and then Marta will nominate others to go to the Olympic trials exactly probably somewhere four maybe five she says that the number that they think they're going to go for is is 12 but she says don't hold me to that it'll be could be 11 or 13 Tim what a gymnasts call what is happening with Jordan Weber on the uneven bars yeah you know it's it's like bad mojo you know because uh at the World Championships where she won she was way over on that and then she strength pulls it back and once again at the American Cup fight really the same element it's always going for that perfect handstand position which is what the uneven bars is all about trying to hit the perfect handstand and she's doing the exact same routine that she did at both of those championships she'll do a couple of very intricate moves on the low bar she'll transition up to the high bar and right away she'll go into that free hip with a full turn that has really caused her some problems those skills I believe she's the first female gymnast to ever do them they're called Wier Kips right here this is the skill and that was great she has struggled on it not just in competitions but really quite a few times here in St Louis and in Chicago at the classic just the Dismount but that's why she's world champion best we've seen in a long time so she punches the demon in the nose about freaking town about freaking town you hear that goly yeah you know it's uh she's capable of all the elements but it's really bars has given her the biggest the biggest problems Elfie NASA lukan 15.1 on the on the beam yeah that's a better score than she received two weeks ago back to Gabby Douglas second after the first rotation two10 down to Jordan Weber is there any scenario where you you don't see Gabby Douglas in London I personally don't you know um her bars are so great and you know to be honest if she does everything she's capable of I I think that she can win this competition here but really just about 90% of that is going to happen within about the next minute and a half here on balance beam and that's what Marta is looking at right now she is paying extra attention to this balance beam routine this is the skill she struggled on a couple weeks ago right here very good giant skill right here back flip full twist she's usually a little more solid on that one what gets your attention more the slip up or her fighting through it well both actually but then immediately afterwards she she she second guessed herself on that leap and I think Gabby has done more routines in the workouts we've watched all week long I mean she has endless energy sometimes Marta says she has to go over to her coach Le chow and say you know slow down just a little bit not not too many more she can't stop her but she says those are the that's the endurance you need to get through an Olympic Games well this is a good routine and she's showing a lot fight but I've seen her do maybe 15 beam routines this week that are far superior to this she is showing that she's a fighter though and she's not going to let a mistake get to her head and and cause a catastrophe just the [Music] Dismount well it was good certainly going to keep her in the game but there's room for improvement yeah lots of room you guys always say that no let's let's you want to win the Olympic Games there's room for improvement thank you Jordan Weber by the way 15.05 on the uneven bars here's Ali raisan second after the first rotation tied with Gabby Douglas on the Vault and she really is one of those people that uh she's going to have to implode to not be on that team to London this super difficult Vault same as we saw from Weber she pulls it around that is what she does just finds her feet and puts them on the ground because that was not a great Vault that was not a great Vault for Ally she yes y yep he's he's saying don't go for The Landings you need to go full power it was the landing was a little bit low um but certainly still going to help her a lot well in a short while we'll be talking with Elfie about who might be in and who might be out of the Olympic mix and kylo Ross is interestingly part of that conversation well she is also one of those first year seniors so the first time she's eligible to compete in a senior competition because she turned 16 this year when she entered that competition said she felt totally ready it didn't feel any different lead to her this is excellent so far she had one of the highest scores at the first qualifying competition the classic on the uneven bars where USA is weak this yeah that'll raise a few eyebrows yes it will well just like Jordan Weber Ali Raisman surved The Vault step with a 15.45 Gabby Douglas will slide behind her in the standings with a 14.8 on the beam Rea Bross impressive first [Music] rotation and there are just a bunch of place in this exercise where she has struggled all week long um it's been hard to watch her Tim on balance beam it's been very very difficult she's been frustrated valer Luc and her coach has been frustrated mostly on her Mount which is extremely dis difficult but she's had a number of problems throughout the routine and maybe she can take that energy from bars make it work for her right now now it's pretty good landed a little bit low you're not supposed to land in a total squat whenever you're doing these flipping skills and that right there is a pretty big mistake and also she will lose what's called connection points they're supposed to be together and if you don't don't do them together then you lose that bonus another balance check there remember what Marta had kept reiterating to us especially if you're an event specialist is you have to be awesome you have to be spectacular for her to consider you for the Olympic team [Applause] and you know ironically Rebecca used to be one of the toughest competitors one that Marta coroli absolutely trusted in all these pressure-filled situations she said she's got to rearn that title and here comes that Dismount and she has not been getting this around to her feet without a huge squat she's going to take a deduction and again she has missed 99% of those there have been very few that we have watched your land so so frustrating and so that Landing right there will be in excess of one full point in deductions but you know I mean what it comes down to is they they know that she needs to be competing a routine at this level to even be considered kylo Ross 155 a little bit higher than Douglas and here is Alicia sacon just 8 months after having her Achilles tendon explode yesterday she injured herself on a landing and the landing is the only thing that's going to be hard about this oh and you see how she landed One Foot In Front of the other she is one tough lady that was definitely to try to protect her legs be a slight deduction for that good power not quite as explosive as we have seen her before she got a little bit Bend in her hips and she Pikes down but you see that staggered Landing that is that is a defense mechanism to take weight off of the leg that is feeling pain she stays up there for a second Vault this is what it looked like in October in Tokyo and that's what it looked like shortly after that and then one of those magical surgeries to somehow make the Achilles tendon hole again yeah it's amazing that she come back so quickly it's amazing that she's here what's the scenario by which she thinks she makes the Olympics well she thinks that you know she is a world champion and she's got that tattoo right there that says she's got Olympic experience but unfortunately for Alicia her Olympic experience wasn't all that great she fell on the last two events balance beam and floor at the Olympic Games she needs to be Far and Away exceptional on this [Music] event she's saving the leg and quite frankly I don't I don't understand why she would even do two vaults here today I the rest to the table you go the head so I think she went against his wishes yeah it just it really doesn't make any sense because for the team competition they only need her to do one event one one Vault and she really with the injury that she sustained yesterday in training I don't know if that was the best choice sacony gets a 1545 on the first Hall which is a very good number but you won't see anywhere near that number for the second Vault Bridget Sloan an Olympian a world champion a US national champion incredible resume trying to get [Applause] back and she is so far doing an excellent job on bars we haven't seen any of this in [Applause] practice I'm telling you she was one of the athletes of that I just couldn't read all week long in the training haven't seen a full set from Bridget at all this is this is shocking well there you go don't forget about me look at that smile she's a gamer that's for sure mhm very interesting that just shook things up a little little bit Rebecca Bross got hit pretty hard on the balance beam 13.55 and those two know how much went into that moment yeah a lot of people had said Bridget slan there's you know dog coming back it's the old dog yeah that was pretty good I I'll give her that she's signed to the University of Florida she'll be attending school in late August early September and now Michaela seventh place after the first rotation is she she's in the conversation for the Olympics no doubt absolutely and not because of this event right here um Marta would like to see her be a little bit more consistent because she can be great on floor she just hasn't been a lot of times in the major competition she is the reigning world champion on vault though and she is so far away and above everybody else in the world right now on that one event that that alone even on a five person team could be enough to put her on her team but this is an event that would seal the deal watch this first tumbling pass right here three and 1 half twist [Music] wow [Music] oh who almost a built-in deduction that pass for her just doesn't have enough room [Music] well it started remarkably well she does that three and a half twist just a handful of people in the world men and women can pull that off it's fantastic she just shoots her body straight into the air but that third pass that she does she struggled on it at the world championships as she's getting some pointers from great Soviet gymnast Arthur copen so the first pass was unbelievable watch she takes off and she almost travels forward to be able to kill her rotation enough to get three and a half twists around does it extremely well but then this pass it's just she doesn't have enough room and she's afraid she's going to go out of bounds right here I think and so she kind of puts her feet a little bit back and doesn't it's just a it's it's a very tricky thing to do because she feels so cramped by that corner and if she lands with two feet out of bounds that is a huge deduction but Tim I think Marta coroli said herself earlier today that she thinks she's improving especially on this event I think she's willing to give her a little bit more time she'd like to see her out there we can tell you that Bridget Sloan score on the uneven bars 15 18.1 stories all over the room at chaitz Arena in St Louis the 2012 Visa championships and you're watching it live on Universal Sports back live in chaitz arena St Louis Missouri and you are looking at the new leader of these Visa championships Ali Raisman slides in front by 2/10 over Jordan Weber we'll get to the scores in just a moment and we wonder what Lucan might be thinking we'll talk about her part and her role potentially in the Olympic picture remember 96 it was a magnificent 7 by the time the Olympics changed it became six and now it is only five members of an Olympic team decisions decisions decisions over on the London board we find Elfie Schlegel and Tim daget so Tim if you were going to begin building a team where would you start you absolutely have to start with Jordan Weber because she's the reigning world champion in the all-around and she's stable and we're starting on vault so she's going to be our first athlete if there's a lock on the team it's Jordan Weber the second Athlete on the vault is Michaela she's the world champion on vault and she is far away the best vter in the world right now this event alone I think is enough to punch your ticket to London yeah and over on to bar is really the only sure BET right now and no surprise after what she did this evening is Gabby Douglas I mean by far one of the most difficult bar teams in the world and what she does best is she keeps hitting exactly going on to the balance beam once again we're going to use our lock right there and we are also going to move to Ali raceman if there's another gymnast that is very close to being a lock it's Ali racan Marta Koli calls her absolutely sturdy that's a good comp compliment from Marta and over to floor exercise Ali Raisman once again especially after what we just saw on floor exercise like you said Tim she is consistent she deserves that spot and I think we have to give the other spot to of course 2011 all world world allaround champion Jordan Weber and you know so what you got right here is you've got a board with one or two athletes on each event and for Team USA to win the gold medal what it's going to take is three strong athletes on three events and so that's very critical to start filling these things in on vating the USA is so deep there are so many athletes that could potentially go ahead Gabby Douglas yeah you could put Gabby Douglas up and Elizabeth price whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa you've already gone to five yes we have and Le let's look at who we got here on the board what I don't see is NASA Luca yeah yeah you don't see her and you know potentially she could be here this is the only way that Nastia earns her ticket to London if she is able to be great but she wasn't today right she has to do that in order to do this but let's go back to bars because we did see somebody who did a great job job Rebecca Bross is possible but there's another gymnast an all-around gymnast and that is Kyla Ross she was actually even better than Rebecca Bross and the reason she has a little bit of an edge is she's an all-around gymnast Bross can only do two events the uneven bars and the balance beam and we just saw her struggle on beam too I'm going to add one more to floor exercise Michaela I like this floor exercise I think it has potential a lot of difficulty I think she can go places in the coming month and this is a gymnast that could sneak in because she's good on the uneven bars and price so the team I'm going to put it up here really quickly I'm going to take her off and there is your team decisions decisions decisions and it's a fluid conversation Impressions made tonight Impressions made on Sunday get an invitation to the Olympic trials back live in St Louis Missouri Al trout Elfie Schlagel Tim daget and Andrea Joyce Ali raisan moves in front of Jordan Weber by 2/10 we have eight names up there because eight names are what guarantee a trip to the Olympic trials in three weeks and then Marty Koli can invite out how she sees fit and now to Jordan Weber best in the world and you know this is an event where at the World Championships where she struggled on bars and then at the American Cup this year where she struggled on bars both times she came back and was just unbelievably confident and Rock Solid so far starts out exactly that way she made changes after the world championships as well upgraded this exercise this combination right here and she was supposed to connect that she'll lose a little bit but no big deal a little bit off balance you know if the judges can detect that the gymnast is off balance like that then there is a deduction think she rattled herself a little bit on that very tricky combination she actually won't get the the connection for that combo Jordan said she would like to leave these national championships with all these routines set in her mind these she feels will be her Olympic routines Dismount two back handsprings did the same Dismount we saw NASA do earlier two and a half twist beautifully done legs paced it together just a small on10th hop forward on the landing so Jordan Weber looking good on night one and that that was that was very good she can be excellent on beam I would have to call that very good Gabby Douglas floor exercise what does she do in this event that excites you heie well she can fly her tumbling is unbelievable powerful and I think for Gabby what she needs to do going into this exercise is make make sure that she's steady on all her Landings she wants to be crisp she can do the skills it's about perfecting them at this point you know what I find fascinating is there are five women in this building right now that are about to go on the Journey of their lives to the Olympic Games and they're just not sure who their teammates are going to [Music] be [Music] [Music] o [Music] [Music] o [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] J a lot going on there there sure was as Alie said though it's going to come down to Landings and she was a little bit jumpy on a few of them a couple of them were very nice as well a very strong routine for Gabby so far three times up three times hits and that's big for this young lady right here to the new leader Ali Raisman someone you would not want to play poker with it doesn't change yeah it's it's true though every workout every competition you really can't read her and I would be very surprised if she was able to maintain that first place ranking because this is the only event where Ali isn't spectacular on and right off the top she was very short on that handstand everything has to land in a handstand and watch her feet just slight form deductions on bars and even saying that Tim she's still out there doing four apparatus she is still competing in the allaround should Ally be on that Olympic team this wouldn't likely be an event that Mar will put her on but she's a fighter that was a struggle and very close on that release right there and she's got to connect it right away here she's tough and sticks to The Landing she is tough she can do better yeah no she can actually do much better than [Applause] that he doesn't know what to say anymore he has no words kylo Ross on the beam Gabby Douglas 15.05 floor exercise Jordan Weber balance beam 14.7 this is typically a place where Kyla is very good but a couple weeks ago at the classic she was a little bit rattled a lot of her Landings and Marta coroli she wasn't happy with that chatted with her about it after the competition suggested that she take this heel pad that she typically trains with and not train with it on the morning practice she's hoping this is what will make the difference for her and it's a good suggestion but I personally don't think it had anything to do with the heel pad I think that it had to do with she was in the biggest meat of her entire life and she was on the most scary event in women's gymnastics where anything and everything can go wrong in a micr second [Music] a Kyla has always been known as a phenomenal competitor she's doing a nice job and she is really showing that here on [Music] bean she's been growing like crazy too and you know I think she's okay you know it's some they grow just a little bit too much at at the long time her timing is perfect yes it is this has been an a great exercise just this Dismount and she has been sicking them all week oh oh boy and that first hop that was a 310th hop and then she hopped again another tenth of a point but the routine itself phenomenal the judges did not love what Alli Raisman did on the uneven bars 14.1 I think she came out of that pretty good to be honest that's uh that that that was a good number for [Music] her Mela chalking up and getting ready to run down the The Vault right in front of us just two weeks ago she scored a 16.1 now she loves her chalk too legs covered with chalk hands and she is like I said earlier she is unequivocally the best in the world on this event right here and that's why and these judges okay that was a 310th step okay if they have anything more than 310 off I don't know what they're thinking because there is nothing wrong with that that is infinitely more powerful watch check out the form in the air beautiful form she does explode that is so hard to body is completely stretched on the landing they're looking for that doesn't squat down she does take a big step forward that's 3/10 of a point so what Tim's saying is in the execution score that's out of 10 It should read a 9.7 it's not going to though it's not going to my guess is it's going to be a 95 or a 96 and you know well they can they can have their opinion and I can have mine ball number two and she's one of just a handful of athletes that will do two vaults the reason she's doing that is it wouldn't factor into the team score in London for the USA But to make an event final you have to do two different vaults and you can't just do two different vaults they have to be completely different vaults how about a 16.15 are you happy with that well it's a good score the maximum better than two weeks ago the maximum score is a 16.5 he was looking for something along the lines of 16.2 that's that's and and half of the judges gave her a 16.2 so Applause to them and much better than we saw a couple weeks ago she is so catlike these are blind Landings and she knows exactly where to put her feet and you know she won the World Championships she decimated the field with a much easier Vault than that one right there so she is just she is pushing the envelope I can tell you that kylo Ross's got a 15.1 on the balance beam and the only reason I mention it is that it's NASA Lucan who scores she ties that could be part of conversation on Sunday now Alicia sacony on the uneven bars and why is she going to do what she's about to we thought it went away this is an archaic rule uh in the past a long time ago the gymnast had to compete on all four events and they if they didn't they would have the only way they could keep themselves in the competition would be to present and touch but nowadays in gymnastics you have the athletes not doing all the events I don't know why they're having them touch like that so silly isn't it pretty silly 15.7 on the second Vault and now the young lady from St Louis Missouri Sarah finegan and here she's good uh on floor exercise where we saw her she's fantastic she's tremendous on beam has one of the highest start values on beam potentially in the world today but she's just okay on bars right but one of the reasons why there's been so much hype on this young lady is because of her classic look you can't help but look at her gymnastics and appreciate everything that she does she does spend so much time in the gym during practices to make sure those legs are squeezed together tightly toes are pointed I mean she does everything she possibly can to maximize her execution score yes not the strongest event for her but it sure will look pretty she is right in front of the 50 family and friends right in front of them very nice so far good handstand positions there's another release right here oh boy and that was a big mistake we'll see how she deals with it again adding extra elements that make this routine that much longer and harder endurance is a problem right here wow little under rotated on the Dismount that's challenging yeah she that's Ching for her even without the extra skill but she covered it's called a cover up when you make a mistake in gymnastics she covered just about as well as you can and it really had very little impact on the routine and it won't have that big of an impact on the score just to cover something that people might wonder if you make a mistake can you throw a complication into your routine later to try and get points you can but what she ends up doing is she goes over the top here she wasn't planning on doing that she does a pette she's going to lose 3/10 because she was a little low on that pette that one I don't think will be a deduction at all and she's able to just go right back to the routine that she was supposed to do right there so she just added in spliced in a little bit of an error but really didn't have that big of a problem just made it a little longer and it could have presented a problem at the end because during the workouts we've watched her come so close on this Dismount sometimes struggled to get that chest upright boy she had a little extra energy tonight well that and that Landing right there 310 for the step and up to 510 off for landing with her chest on her knees I don't think they'll take that but they're certainly going to take at least one maybe three so the endurance aspect could have been very damaging for that routine right there working so as we move along in the third rotation we'll check the scores still to come can Alli Risman hold the lead and what is Jordan Weber's response it's the Visa championships in St [Music] Le one of the most unique monuments in the world it defines St Louis the Gateway Arch as we hit Twilight in the Midwest and what a surprise we have in the standings first it was Jordan Weber then it was Ali Risman and now it is kylo Ross but you see Gabby Douglas way down there in third place she's actually going to vating and if she can pull it off I would say that she and Kyler Ross are the two that are could come out on top in this overall competition day one meanwhile there are a couple of gymnastics veterans who just have the Vince Lombardi touch they are Bill and Donna Strauss the coaches at a gym in Pennsylvania called the parquettes and they are very interested in what's going on because one of their pupils Elizabeth price figures prominently in the top eight standings and remember top eight go to the Olympic trials and three weeks here's what she did earlier on the Vault and I said is the world's greatest vter I saw this young lady a couple weeks ago do the second best Vault I've ever seen a woman do and look at the power almost as much as we see from the only problem with that is she steps over the line she's not as Square as typically but she is a Powerhouse and I said earlier in our London board that she also is pretty darn good on bars can contribute there so she is in the hunt again the top eight as of Sunday go to the Olympic trials in three weeks in California and then special invitations from Marta Crowley what do you think that would be five or six or yeah I don't think it's going to be any absolutely any more than six I think that they're going to want it to be somewhere in the range of 12 athletes so Sarah finnean is right on the hairy Edge she's coming off a 14.0 and for the first time tonight we go to Andrea Joyce all right Al you know that Sarah finegan isn't exactly a household name at least not yet you mentioned the crowd we saw the crowd she has the home crowd here in her favor um about 50 family members and friends here supporting her she grew up in the St Louis area but when I talked to her dad Don earlier today he said I don't know I don't think it's really a home court advantage he said I'm afraid it might be a distraction for her meantime her coach Al Fong said that he really feels like it's a lucky situation that she came into this competition under the radar she's just 15 years old he really didn't want the spotlight of this situation to be glaring on her so early in the process we did see what happened to her on bars Marta even said that she was very excited to see how Sarah would do under this pressure probably not completely happy with what she saw just a couple of minutes ago back to you guys so there is Sarah finnean and I think it's easy to understand about having all the family up there I mean just messing with your head a little bit and if if you talk to Sarah I mean she is so delicate and so quiet so respectful you know she said something that was so telling I said do you think it would have helped Sarah to have a little bit more time to prepare for this and she said well you know I think I have prepared very well but I think a little more time would have helped incredibly sweet very softspoken but boy she has some beautiful gymnastics the Artistry if she should make this Olympic team that look translates so well on the international stage especially in Europe and here's the one thing that almost goes without saying they all want it the Olympics so bad we'll take a break the fourth rotation is coming up can kylo Ross seal the deal on night [Music] one back live in St Louis Missouri at the chaitz arena Campus of St Louis University a smile right there from nas L you would think things went okay tonight but the fact of the matter is that they well they sort of did and they sort of didn't in her attempt to return to the Olympic Games after being the Olympic gold medalist in the allaround in Beijing Al trout with Elie schel and Olympic gold medalist Tim daget what do you think she is feeling about this Mission and what happened here on night one uh she's absolutely horrified to be perfectly honest and uh you know I think going to beam and hitting was a lot of redemption for naasa but she does not like going out on the floor and not looking not just great but world class great and she knows that she fell short on uneven bars by a lot and Elfie as we take you back to her routines earlier tonight you wonder where she thinks she can fix this on Sunday well I think that she's going to take uh a lot of time tonight and tomorrow and head back into the gym and think about some of those areas that she can improve on but I think nasie also knows that she has some time leading to the Olympic trials and I think Marta wants to give her that time but as Tim had mentioned before it was going all wrong in those petting movements that kind of took her off balance but it was right here this connection coming down to the low bar way too close and adds that skill which was not supposed to be in there and the added skill and the big struggles on the on the top bar and she also smacked her feet on the low bar it just made the endurance a huge factor and the smart decision there I have to say actually hits the bar again again and Tim that to me and I'm not a gymnast but the one thing that would concern me is the endurance part without a without a doubt and you know he knew that a couple of weeks ago in Chicago at the classic she did not do bars in my opinion because the endurance wasn't there yet but what a turnaround she made coming back first up on balance beam and I watched her standing there just staring at the beam waiting for her time to come and you know she just she looked frustrated she looked defeated did but you know this is the naasa that we know this is the type of movement that we have been accustomed to seeing way in the past but she came out with a little bit of fire in this routine to prove to everyone because of Pride she's too good of an athlete and I think she spent too much time in the gym so many hours leading to this Quest that she just didn't want it to fail but you know you said that she spent so much time in the gym and you know I know from being in a situation similar Ana trying to go back to an Olympic Games the second time uh that you doubt yourself along the road and you know you have a rough go on the uneven bars like that and instantly it creeps back into your into your Consciousness God what am I doing why am I putting myself through all of this but the moment she lands this balance beam Dismount in my opinion it all goes away and also in my opinion Marta Cori says okay it's all right she just needs more more time and that's what I think is [Music] well and there's the night of nukan only two events 1305 15.1 and live we go over to the beam in front of the huge American flag Alexandra rais and she dropped you know she was one of the leaders and she dropped with uneven bars which you know really wasn't a surprise R allly said one of her goals leaving these national championships is to just win a National Title whether it's in the allaround OR on an event she has never won a national [Applause] title and Team USA has a chance to walk into the arena in London with multiple national champions that would intimidate some people yeah it's going to be it's going to be rocking and rolling USA competes along with Great Britain in the qualifying rounds and that is going to be exciting it will be very loud looking forward to [Music] it doing what she has done the entire week going through the motions of her routines she has put in so many hours and so many years she said she cannot wait for for the games to begin of course she's put herself on the team right and Tim is it safe to say that British gymnastics has never been better absolutely on both the men and the women's side that was a little bit of a balance check there we don't typically see that from Aly this is a big Dismount the same one we saw Rebecca Bross struggle with and sit down it's called a Patterson named after Olympic great Carly Patterson and that was excellent she always does that well she has had a few times and one of them occurred in the warm-ups today where she sat it down but you don't see Alli raceman sitting down in competitions but mihi always gets I think he was praising her did it didn't it look like praise well here's the story of the night so far really if you're talking about who's going to be the national champion here's Kyler Ross be a great to put her head on the pillow tonight knowing she was leading going into Sunday right just a couple of weeks ago at the classic she was second behind Ali raisan in the all-around competition and this is a beautiful routine and what she does so well as she works to The Phantom of the Opera is her Landings have the potential to be I think the best in the competition [Music] oh boy actually both feet were out of bounds on that that's 310 of a point hope I didn't Jinx her talking about those [Music] Landings [Music] [Music] oh and another step and her heel was out of bounds and you know I think the judge was looking down yeah and uh she did not raise the flag but her heel was definitely out of bounds we know how important those little little tents are especially out of Bounds at Team competitions so so what happens there uh if that flag doesn't go up and the head judge doesn't intervene then there will be no deduction but I'm I'm pretty sure that her heels are out of bounds this is a beautiful what I said at the top was she's so great at Landings and that one was gorgeous but then she just has a little bit too much power here on this full twisting double and heel out of bounds and then the second one so take a look at the heel if it touches white it is out of bounds oh oh I think we got to roll that tape a little further right there the left heel out of bounds makes you wonder is the pressure of thinking that you're the leader in the national championship something that messes with your mind certainly a Poss posibility absolutely Gabby Douglas at the head of the runway so she's capable of this big Vault that the Americans have so many of these 6.5 aminar vaults two and a half twists the last time we saw Gabby Stan this up in competition was at the American Cup it was pretty darn great there and it's all about the roundoff for her if she's Square on the board she'll be fine and an excellent job for Gabby Douglas she does step over that line which will be a significant deduction but that's a big deal for her especially since two weeks ago at the classic her coach leang cha took her off fault for big success in London these steps have to go away yeah but this is going this is going to get a very good score here she does land and then step over the line big step but m maximum score 16.5 that's going to be in it should be in the mid to Upper 15s would be my guess that's going that's going to be enough to move her ahead of of Ross Bridget Sloan getting set for floor exercise we can tell you that Alli riseman gets a 15.2 on the balance beam best score so far on balance beam she's back in the podium mix Bridget Sloan as you saw in that dreaded Ninth Place position only the all-arounder are capable of locking themselves into the Olympic trials you have to be in the top eight but she could very well receive an invitation from Marta Corley to join them she was the best in the world the queen of gymnastics in [Music] 2009 [Music] [Music] [Music] a little bit off on that turn had kind of fall out of [Music] [Music] it [Music] [Music] well I have to say I didn't expect the performance that I'm seeing tonight from Bridget especially cuz we had been to so many workouts this this past week and you know The Landings there were some problems on some of her Landings but the fact that she did a routine is what surprised me I hadn't seen that yet and what a trooper she comes off the floor like nothing's bothering her but she she stung those ankles I'll tell you some of those Landings were a little bit short and now Michaela needs a 15.35 on the uneven bars to take the lead I can tell you that Gabby Douglas is in the lead right now after a 15-point 35 on the [Applause] Vault and that was with that big step yeah and Michaela is much improved on bars she's a high flyer beautiful flight from the high bar to the low bar sometimes the angles aren't great but this is what I love about this gymnast is she's not afraid to go for it oh little musling there but watch this release skill woo huge air fingertip grab and another struggle ouch ouch and she smashes her heels on the bar that's going to hurt a lot and very over on that handstand well she shows a lot of fight in that exercise but is that lower bar too close no no it's you know they have to they have to model their bodies in order to get past it and she is taller for gymnast and so it's harder but they have methods to do that and she just didn't make herself small enough is what it comes down to Alicia sacony 10 world championship medals most of any American and actually she got that 10th medal for being part of the team in 2011 in Tokyo they never took her off the te team and so she earned that team medal even though she was home in Massachusetts at that time this is where she had some problems in the workout the other day where she suffered a little bit of that sting or slight injury you can see the left cap is fully bandaged she had problems it happened on the Dismount and I personally only only saw her do one dismount on beam and it was the one where she stung her ankles [Music] badly you know this whole comeback for Alicia because she had retired after the Olympic Games she said it's all about Redemption the Olympic Games was not the experience that she wanted the team many people thought were favored to win the gold medal China of course was dominant and Alicia's last two routines she had errors on and she said you know it's it's about me ending my career in a lot better of a way than that the only piece of gymnastics left is coming up right here it's that Dismount where just the other day here we go double Pike wow and that was great wow now Tim the switch from six gymnasts to five really impact someone like this absolutely but that was a fabulous routine from Alicia sacrimony aggressive [Applause] they went through Beijing together on my feet I landed on my feet okay that two very [Applause] [Music] close dude back to Sarah [Applause] [Music] finigan and this is where the the injury happened yesterday morning in training but this one was much higher great rotation chest is up fire and when you land like that the amazing thing is when you when you land well it doesn't hurt if you're under rotated well she had so much energy in that Dismount it certainly didn't look like that the other day in practice but good for her that's a relief so hard in my life come on jet go jet come on come on girl take it up come on come on come on yeah they're living through Jed's floor exercise routine sacon gets a 15 two that's the that's the tire right there with Alli Raisman for the highest score on balance beam back to finnean and this is one of the most difficult beam routines potentially in the world and I love this Mount Tim D I know you do love it it shows R risk guts very very intricate it's different to me it's unusual you don't see that every day I know that's what I love about it and actually a a past champion from her jimm Gage did that exact same move Taran Humphries an Olympic silver medalist and actually part of that selection committee with Marta coroli beautiful this is where you can really see those gorgeous lines in the execution she shows them off so beautifully this routine it's so well [Applause] choreographed and that was that was remarkable because she was off and still in my opinion maintained enough Rhythm for that to be called a connection and get those points but you saw the balance check at the end of that leap but everyone says she's a competitor those have who have watched her over the years say this is what she does best she performs forms she fights Dismount same as Alicia right to the end interesting she's as far away as she can get and still be in the building from that section finally awesome Al Fong coach and Arman bartin another former great great Soviet gymnast go ahead Elfie yeah well listen this she's not just jumping up on the beam she's showing a skill that requires a great deal of patience balance look at this spinning three times around and it it super hard look at that it perfect she did what she did better there I would say is the setup time for it wasn't as long that's what what bothers me sometimes cincin tumbling skill takes the entire length of the balance beam so well done same Dismount that we saw just a couple minutes ago from Alicia sacrimony not quite the power she doesn't have the level of power that Alicia does but very well done nice way to end the night Mom in the Middle dad on the right she's probably sleeping in her own bed tonight that's a pretty good deal as we near the end of night one remember top eight go to the Olympic trials finegan strong best score on the balance beam 15.35 can Jordan Weber retake the lead that was once hers on night one in St Louis she needs a 15.25 on the floor exercise to do that sounds doable for a world champion Gabby Douglas meanwhile has the lead tentatively for now so a nice finish to her night I can tell you that kylo Ross who was in front after three and Michaela had some bad things happen to them Ross floor exercise problems out of bounds 14.05 couldn't press out the handstands on top of the bar 13.4 ouch and yes it's possible for Jordan her start score is somewhere in the 60 61 range on floor exercise but floor is the most critically deducted event of all the four very hard to get a big number [Applause] [Music] here [Music] he [Applause] [Music] he [Music] [Applause] I think she looked at the scoreboard and knew exactly what she needed to get with that performance I think there's your leader after night [Applause] one and gentlemen this concludes the first night of that is the final performance of the night and wouldn't it be fitting if Jordan Weber ends the night like she started it as the leader in the Visa national championships when she won her world title in the allaround she scored a 14.8 on floor but this routine was far superior really the only major not even major the only the first tuming very visible error was the first tumbling pass and it was only a oneth step the rest were perfect yeah The Landings were phenomenal she is one tough cookie I'll tell you the number is 15.25 we should have it shortly and again these are only half the scores Sunday afternoon on NBC Sports the second half of the scores and then we'll have a national champion maybe a repeat national champion and then we'll know the eight names that go to the Olympic trials and so this is the first pass and this is really the only one that had a landing deduction my opinion but it's super hard double twisting double somersault that slide back and she is going to get a deduction for her chest being a little bit down as well Alli raceman scored a 15.45 earlier tonight she has a higher start value somewhere between three to 410 and we have a [Applause] tie how about that we came on the air saying if Jordan Weber is the it girl then Gabby Douglas is 1A and after four events they are tied to the hundredth of a point wow wow he right oh we have plenty to discuss Kyler Ross Gabby Douglas Jordan Weber NASA lcan Alicia sacony Bridget Sloan wow

Channel: USA Gymnastics

Views: 445,508

Keywords: gymnastics

Id: 8hdc_j3Et4Y

Length: 91min 40sec (5500 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 20 2013