Women’s gymnastics team final

[PurpleDaisies]

I am so excited about this. I’ve got coffee in. I’ve got snacks in.

Anyone else?

I was wondering about the reserve list too. I don't know if Simone Biles will do apparatus finals but, if not, Jennifer Gadirova is first reserve for GB. But there were probably other US gymnasts who qualified higher so surely it would be unfair to leave them out.

I just looked at the apparatus results, and the British gymnast is first reserve for the floor exercise only - and in that event, she is actually 9th on the list, so would qualify if Biles doesn't enter, regardless of the two-country rule. The next US gymnast on the list is down at 13th.

Thanks, Mocha Yes, sorry, I knew it was only one apparatus, not all of them.

@SCMocha there is a “two per country rule” which states only two athletes from any one nation can by represented in an individual final. In the case of the all around final the top 24 competitors proceed to the final. Jade Carey was rank 9 in qualification but despite being well within the top 24 there were already two Americans who qualified higher (Sunisa Lee and Simone Biles) so she was ineligible to continue to the final. As Simone has withdrawn that means Jade would now be eligible since there is now only one other American. It wouldn’t default to an American just because an American pulled out if the two per country rule hadn’t impacted athletes. I hope that makes sense!

@SCMocha

Does anyone know how the qualification/reserve system works?

Apparently Jade Carey will be Simone's replacement, which makes sense as there are two athletes allowed from each country, and she is the next US athlete in the qualification list, and higher than the reserves, so would have qualified if Simone hadn't been in the competition to start with. So it seems right that she would be the next to qualify.

But it seems a bit odd to have official reserves then, when actually they have to run through any other gymnasts from a particular country first, who might have come higher than the reserves, before they get to them.

So the reserves I guess are really only reserves for those countries that didn't get more than 2 athletes in the top 24?

Yes that's right. The only reason that she couldn't qualify is the two per country rule. And now she is the second highest qualifying American, and scored higher than the reserve gymnasts she can take that spot. If Simone withdraws from vault as well, then it will be MyKayla Skinner from America who replaces her, rather than the first reserve Giulia Steingruber as Skinner qualified in fourth and Steingruber tenth.

@SCMocha

I just looked at the apparatus results, and the British gymnast is first reserve for the floor exercise only - and in that event, she is actually 9th on the list, so would qualify if Biles doesn't enter, regardless of the two-country rule. The next US gymnast on the list is down at 13th.

And yes, Jennifer Gadirova would be up on floor. It was only in all around and vault where more than two US gymnasts were in qualifying positions.

live.gymnastics.sport/live/Tokyo2020/womensqual.php?app=aa the results site in case anyone is interested

yes I understand why Carey is in that spot, and it seems fair to me that she should be. It just seems a little odd to also have an official 'reserve' system, when those athletes really aren't reserves until all the 'third' qualifiers from the country of the person that has dropped out have been entered!

I'm not sure I am keen on the two-per-country rule, though I can understand the reasons why it's there.

I think Simone Biles has made a very important statement.

It's ok not to be ok and it's ok not to do things you can't because others have that expectation of you.

When you saw the Gadirova twins at the end after winning bronze you could see shear enjoyment and happiness. No pressure and they looked like the 16yo they are.

That's how it should be. Simone Biles is without a doubt the best female gymnast that's ever existed. But she doesn't have any need to prove that and SM trolls have no right to demand she prove that.

I hope she finds a way to enjoy her gymnastics again - even if not competing she'd make a brilliant coach bringing the new elite gymnasts through the system - as she's experienced it all.

Angelo I saw that spoof commentary on Twitter too - really funny. And the great thing was that Max Whitlock saw it, commented, and retweeted it - it had a million views within a day! Hope he does some more now.

I'm absolutely gutted for simone biles if this is her last one 😔. However her strength to say no and admit she wasn't it the right frame of mind to go on is so brave. I can totally understand why she finds it difficult to represent a club that let her down. Another thing in that doc that stood out was the kerri strug vault, under the strict coaching of the koroyli s when she injured her ankle. Not sure if it was Jamie D or someone else who said she probably had no choice but to do that vault despite being injured and how everyone praised her for doing it with no thought for her welfare! The pressure to beat the Russians and bring home gold!

I am definitely going to watch Athlete A - I have listened to the podcast 'Believed' about Larry Nassar and his victims, which was outstanding and so shocking.

These girls have been put through so much shit over the years.

I agree that the pure excitement and joy from the GB team yesterday was just so wonderful to see!

@SCMocha

yes I understand why Carey is in that spot, and it seems fair to me that she should be. It just seems a little odd to also have an official 'reserve' system, when those athletes really aren't reserves until all the 'third' qualifiers from the country of the person that has dropped out have been entered!

I'm not sure I am keen on the two-per-country rule, though I can understand the reasons why it's there.

Most sports try to prevent podium lockout by countries in some way. For swimming, each country can only submit two athletes per race, which is essentially a two per country rule, but before anyone arrives.

Gymnastics is unusual in that it allows everyone to attempt qualification and imposes the limit after that point. They could require each country to have to submit two athletes for each event in advance of competition which would have the same effect, and probably look more fair on a qualification list. But I actually like that each gymnast can attempt to qualify and making a final or not is in their hands, and not their organisation's. But it is very contentious and sad sometimes. I would like to see Viktoria Listunova in all round today, but sadly on the day it mattered she didn't out qualify her team mates.

It must make for strange relationships within the team, both trying to compete together for team medals, but yet also in competition with each other.

I thought that it was a relatively recent rule, but I'm not sure. I sort of remember seeing podium sweeps in earlier Olympics, but can't be certain.

I don't know if it would be better to limit the entries in each event either, as for swimming - as you say, that just puts the problem earlier, and you get the same issue in all sports, where the ones who don't make national teams in some countries being better than those who do elsewhere. But this method just makes it more visible to those of us who aren't following the sports all along.

However her strength to say no and admit she wasn't it the right frame of mind to go on is so brave. I can totally understand why she finds it difficult to represent a club that let her down

The timing is suspect. She had an uncharacteristically bad vault and couldn’t cope. Really it’s quite strange to see that at an elite level. Says something awful about Team USA for sure

Why is that suspect timing usedup? Surely she had a bad vault because she wasn't coping. We'd seen her looking a bit shaky in the qualifiers too. Seemed like progression of a problem to me, not one that appeared to come from nowhere to cover a mistake.

@UsedUpUsername

However her strength to say no and admit she wasn't it the right frame of mind to go on is so brave. I can totally understand why she finds it difficult to represent a club that let her down

The timing is suspect. She had an uncharacteristically bad vault and couldn’t cope. Really it’s quite strange to see that at an elite level. Says something awful about Team USA for sure

It wasn’t just a bad vault though. She lost all sense of her positioning in the air. In gymnastics if you can’t trust yourself then you’re putting yourself in a dangerous situation.

@UsedUpUsername

However her strength to say no and admit she wasn't it the right frame of mind to go on is so brave. I can totally understand why she finds it difficult to represent a club that let her down

The timing is suspect. She had an uncharacteristically bad vault and couldn’t cope. Really it’s quite strange to see that at an elite level. Says something awful about Team USA for sure

What!

She didn't have a "bad" vault - she got completely lost in the air and ended up doing a different vault to the one she posted - I sincerely doubt if she has performed the easier 1½ in the last decade, since she was a junior, as she has successfully performed the 2½ since 2013.

It is very dangerous and it was a miracle that, despite that mid-air pause when you can see she has got lost, that she got it to her feet and didn't land on her head. She has been having similar problems with her floor passes and almost fell off the podium in qualifying.

She's normally pretty philosophical about her mistakes but you could see that she had scared herself badly

Why is that suspect timing usedup? Surely she had a bad vault because she wasn't coping. We'd seen her looking a bit shaky in the qualifiers too. Seemed like progression of a problem to me, not one that appeared to come from nowhere to cover a mistake

We’ll see, but it looked like a switch flipped and I thought that maybe this was the last time we’d ever see her compete after I’d heard she withdrew.

@Jackgrealishscurtains

Saw this on Twitter.

Simone Biles has absolutely nothing to prove, and certainly not to Twitter trolls who have achieved the square root of fuck all in their own sad little lives.

She is the GOAT!!!!

I'm actually fuming with the abuse she is getting online about her letting her team and country down. Bloody piers Morgan has jumped in on it too and written an article basically saying she is arrogant and she is a bad loser because she was2on too form. No mention or understanding of what she's been through in the last few years. Disgusting.

Piers Morgan is a hideous individual. I really don’t understand why anyone gives him any airtime.