When Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) decided to celebrate World Championships every year but the Olympic year, the post-Olympics Worlds have evolved to the most unexpected Championships of each quad. The implementation of a new Code of Points and the generational change cause a decrease in the overall level of the competition, making some results unpredictable.
In London, the biggest absence of the competition will be Olympic All Around gold medallist Nastia Liukin, who despite trying to come back to competitive form for the U.S. Visa Championships, wisely decided to skip this competition and focus on more important competitions in the next years. In her absence, Russian stand-outs Ksenia Semyonova and Ksenia Afanaseyva, Chinese all arounders Deng Linlin and Yang Yilin, and Americans Bridget Sloan and newcomer Rebecca Bross will have a beautiful fight for the top positions. Slightly behind this group of gymnasts, Koko Tsurumi from Japan will be waiting to sneak into the top eight, as will British home favourite Rebecca Downie and Ukranian new golden girl Yana Demyanchuk. Romania will fight for the top positions with Anamaria Tamirjan and Ana Porgras, but their D scores, slightly inferior of the top favourites, will make their task more difficult. Others with an outside chance to the top eight are Spain's new sensation and unexpected 4th all arounder of Europe in Milan, Ana María Izurieta, and French trickster Youna Dufournet.
On paper, Sloan is the main favourite for the AA crown, with a consistent and balanced programme, but her mental toughness and her lack of bigger D scores might play against her during the competition. Rebecca Bross, on the other hand, has higher difficulty in her routines and since her Visa Championships appearance, she has had time to heal her injuries to present stronger routines in London. Only the Russians and the Chinese can fight the Americans. Afanasyeva has a more complex programme than Semyonova, who might suffer for a lack of a higher tariff vault at Worlds. But the grace and beautiful executed gymnastics of the reigning European AA Champion cannot be undermined. The Chinese showed weakness at their National Games, but in a month they might have enough to clean the routines and add those extra tenths to fight for the podium.
The AA top scorers this year, of those who appear doing all four apparatus in the London Worlds nominative roster:
1.Bridget Sloan USA 59.850 (USA Championships Day 2)
2.Ksenia Afanasyeva RUS 59.600 (Russian Championships qualifications)
3.Ksenia Semyonova RUS 59.000 (Russian Championships qualifications)
4.Koko Tsurumi JPN 58.650 (Japanese Championships Day 1)
5.Rebecca Bross USA 58.550 (USA Championships Day 1)
6.Yana Demyanchuk UKR 55.800 (Ukrainian Championships AA)
7.Deng Linlin 58.375 (CHN National Games AA)
8.Yang Yilin 58.100 (CHN National Games AA)
9.Elsa Garcia (MEX) 58.100 (Worlds Trials Day 1)
10.Youna Dufournet FRA 58.000 (Mediterranean Games qualifications)
11.Anastasiya Koval UKR 57.700 (Ukrainian Championships AA)
12.Ana Porgras ROM 57.525 (Romanian Nationals AA)
13.Ariella Kaeslin SUI 57.275 (Europeans AA)
13.Anamaria Tamirjan ROM 57.275 (Euros qualifications)
15.Miki Uemura JPN 57.000 (Japanese Championships Day 1)
15.Ana Maria Izurieta ESP 57.000 (Spanish Cup)
17.Lauren Mitchell AUS 56.300 (Japan Cup AA)
17.Rebecca Downie GBR 56.300 (British Championships EF)
19.Paola Galante ITA 56.000 (Mediterraneo Gym Cup)
19.Kim Bui GER 56.000 (American Cup)
21.Pauline Morel FRA 55.950 (Mediterranean Games AA)
22.Un Hyang Kim PRK 55.800 (University Games AA)
23.Dorina Böczögő HUN 55.700 (Hungarian Championships AA)
24.Rebecca Wing GBR 55.650 (British Teams)
R1.Vasiliki Millousi GRE 55.550 (Mediterranean Games qualifications)
R2.Mayra Kroonen NED 55.200 (Dutch Worlds 2nd Control)
R2.Emily Armi ITA 55.200 (Mediterraneo Gym Cup)
R4.Valeria Maksyuta ISR 55.150 (Europeans qualifications)
R5.Marta Pihan-Kuleza POL 55.150 (Europeans qualifications)
Vault is probably the easiest final to make since the number of gymnasts doing two vaults these days is rather small. But even smaller is the number of athletes attempting two high value vaults; hence it is feasible to make an accurate prediction of the top five gymnasts advancing to the final, but more difficult is the name of the medallists. The withdrawn from the competition of the last year dominants of vault gives the door open to other gymnasts to shine at the Worlds stage. Cheng Fei (CHN) and Okasna Chusovitina (GER) are not competing in London due to injuries, giving Olympic champion Un Jong Hong (PRK) another chance to win. Hong has only competed at University Games this year, where she didn’t show her best form and fitness despite vaulting a 2 ½ Twisting Yurchenko. Ariella Kaeslin (SUI), on the other hand, peaked in spring for Europeans where she won her first gold medal at a continental Championships. Kaeslin vaulted a Rudi and a Yurchenko 1 ½. Another favourite is the Ameican newcomer into the eite scene, Kayla Willaims, who vaulted a good 2/1 Twisting Yurchenko and front half layout to claim the U.S. national title in this event. Williams has been seen landing Rudis and debuted a 2 1/2 Twisting Yurchenko in the last US training camp, making her chances to the podium practically secure without a fall. The last possible candidate to the podium is Russian gymnast Ekaterina Kurbatova, but her D scores are not up to the three gymnasts mentioned above, so she would need some mistakes from the others to get a medal.
1.Un Jong Hong PRK 14.713 (University Games EF)
2.Ariella Kaeslin SUI 14.625 (Europeans EF)
2.Kayla Williams USA 14.625 (USA Championships Day 2)
4.Ekaterina Kurbatova RUS 14.588 (Moscow World Cup EF)
5.Jana Kormskova CZE 14.225 (Europeans qualifications)
6.Kim Bui GER 14.150 (Europeans EF)
7.Charlotte Mackie CAN 14.150 (Gymnix World Cup EF)
8.Youna Dufournet 14.100 (French Championships EF)
R1: Rebecca Downie 14.075 (British Championships AA)
R2: Brittany Rogers CAN 14.065 (Scherbo Cup EF)
R3: Annika Urvikko FIN 13.950 (Maribor World Cup qualifications)
The most exciting final, without a doubt, will be uneven bars, although Nastia Liukin’s beautiful execution and dynamism will be missed greatly. Home-crowd favourite Elizabeth Tweddle will try to win the gold in her favourite and most spectacular event with a routine close to a 7.0 D score. Tweddle has been able to adapt to all the changes of the Code of Points without major problems and continues adding original and difficult new combinations and/or skills. Her routine will be one of the highlights of the Championships. But Beth will have to beat her toughtest rival, Chinese He Kexin, who will compete an even more difficult routine. Russian Ksenia Semyonova will be certainly in the mix, but her performance at Europeans was not that bright. The final has the potential to have two Defs (Youna Dufournet and Yong Hwa Cha), and some difficult Shaposhnikova types combinations from Ekaterina Kurbatova.
1.He Kexin CHN 16.250 (Japan Cup)
2.Ksenia Semyonova RUS 15.800 (Russian Championships)
3.Beth Tweddle GBR 15.750 (University Games EF)
4.Youna Dufournet FRA 15.350 (French Championships qualifications)
5.Yong Hwa Cha PRK 15.575 (University Games EF)
6.Ekaterina Kurbatova RUS 15.233 (Russian Cup qualifications)
7.Bridget Sloan USA 15.150 (GER vs USA)
8.Ana Porgras ROM 15.050 (Romanian Nationals EF)
8.Koko Tsurumi JPN 15.050 (Japanese Championships Day 1)
8.Rebecca Bross USA 15.050 (USA Championships Day 1)
R1.Anja Brinker GER 15.025 (Europeans qualifications)
R2:Rebecca Downie GBR 15.000 (Europeans AA)
Beam is progressively losing its choreography to become a series of leaps and saltos without a real link between the different elements. The Chinese are clear examples of this trend despite being the best beam workers in the world right now. The tiny Sui Lu is the favourite at this event but she will have to fight with her fellow Chinese team mates and Lauren Mitchell from Australia, who is working towards a 7+ D score. The Romanians, especially Ana Porgras, and Russians will have options to show how a choreographed beam routine should be done; and American Ivana Hong could shine in this event where she demonstrates her flexibility and technique.
1.Sui Lu CHN 15.800 (National qualifications Day 1)
2.Deng Linin CHN 15.650 (Chinese Championships AA)
3.Lauren Mitchell AUS 15.200 (West Australian Championships)
3.Ivana Hong USA 15.200 (USA Championships Day 2)
5.Anamaria Tamirjan ROM 15.250 (Romanian Nationals EF)
5.Koko Tsurumi JPN 15.200 (Japanese Championships Day 1)
7.Ana Porgras ROM 15.100 (ESP vs ROM)
8.Ksenia Afanasyeva RUS 14.950 (Russian Championships EF)
R1.Elisabetta Preziosa ITA 14.950 (Mediterranean Games AA)
R2.Youna Dufournet FRA 14.950 (Mediterranean Games qualifications)
R3.Ana María Izurieta ESP 14.950 (Spanish Cup)
Floor could allocate the second gold medal for the British women since Beth Tweddle dominance in this event is practically unbeatable. The absense of Cheng Fei and Sandra Iszbasa makes Tweddle’s chances of gold even bigger. Behind Tweddle, Bridget Sloan with her clean and difficult tumbling and the Russians (Ksenia Semyonova, Anna Myzdrikova, and Ksenia Afanasyeva) with their refound choreography and musicality will make this final interesting.The Romanians with their code-efficient routines could try to obtain a medal on their strongest event.
1.Elizabeth Tweddle GBR 15.450 (British Teams)
2.Bridget Sloan USA 15.050 (USA Championships Day 2)
3.Ksenia Semyonova RUS 14.925 (Russian Championships EF)
4.Diana Chelaru ROM 14.850 (Romanian Nationals EF)
5.Anna Myzdrikova RUS 14.800 (Russian Championships Team)
6.Lauren Mitchell AUS 14.725 (Australian Championships EF)
7.Rebecca Bross USA 14.700 (USA Championships Day 2)
8.Anamaria Tamirjan ROM 14.675 (Romanian Nationals EF)
R1.Valentina Holenkova UKR 14.525 (Ukranian Cup)
R2.Sui Lui CHN 14.500 (China National Games AA)
R3.Kyoko Oshima JPN 14.500 (Japanese Championships Day 2)