World Championships Glasgow 2015

Day 2: USA Dominates Podium, China Shows Exciting Routines

Day 2: USA Dominates Podium, China Shows Exciting Routines

UPDATE DAY 3 - Wednesday, Oct 21, 9:30am in Glasgow, Scotland: NEW USA BAR LINEUP in practice: Raisman, Douglas, Biles, Kocian, Dowell, Nichols, Skinner — G

Oct 20, 2015 by Becca Reed
Day 2: USA Dominates Podium, China Shows Exciting Routines
UPDATE DAY 3 - Wednesday, Oct 21, 9:30am in Glasgow, Scotland:


More info and analysis in tonight's day 3 recap!

Original post below:




Team USA stole the show on day two of podium training at the 2015 World Championships. The team of seven hit all 28 routines to a crowd of enthusiastic coaches, gymnasts, and staff who came to watch in between their training sessions. 

USA started off with a bang on floor hitting routine after routine. After the training session, Aly Raisman said the floor was really bouncy and hard for them to control their power. However, you wouldn’t have been able to tell from the way they performed as almost all landings looked extremely controlled. On vault they continued their momentum with four big Amanars from Raisman, Maggie Nichols, Simone Biles, and MyKayla Skinner. While Gabby Douglas showed an Amanar in the training hall, she only did a double full today. They had a stellar bar rotation topped off with two huge sets from Madison Kocian and Brenna Dowell. The team as a whole wasn’t as sharp on beam and Biles was pretty shaky but they were able to stay on the beam, hitting all of their routines. 



The team was in good spirits in the mixed zone and seemed relieved and happy to have a successful podium day under their belts. For USA, and many other teams, podium training is almost as important as the meet. Kocian’s coach Laurent Landi has said before, “you win World Championships at the podium training.” If USA competes like they did today, they will be hard to beat. 

Other highlights from the day include China’s podium training. Always known for the intricate and beautiful bars, they didn’t disappoint. They displayed difficult routines with pirouetting, releases, and even a double twisting double layout dismount. Watch China’s routine videos here

We also got some great videos of Australia who looked particularly strong on floor and bars. There were some exciting individuals as well including reigning vault world champ Hong Un-Jong. Jamaica has three exciting individuals who are looking to make history for their country. And finally, we got a look at USA turned Belarussian gymnasts Alaina Kwan and Kylie Dickson. We also got to speak with them and hear their thoughts on competing for Belarus. 


Routine of the Day



Today’s routine of the day goes to Fan Yilin on bars. Watch her gorgeous opening combination of releases from low to high and high to low:




Lineups and Predictions



USA’s podium training only confirmed yesterday’s suspicions that Skinner is the alternate. However, Skinner looked great out there today in training. While she downgraded her first pass from a layout double double to a tuck double double, she added a unique full in to back tuck. USA’s lineups are still to be announced and USAG stated they will do so 24 hours before the competition.

Another event up for discussion is bars. Yesterday’s and today’s training lineup was Raisman, Nichols, Douglas, Biles, Kocian, Dowell, Skinner. If they use this order, that would mean Dowell would not compete in qualifications. It also means that Raisman, Nichols, Douglas, and Biles will all be fighting for a spot in the all-around finals. This could make for an exciting competition. However, it will be disappointing not to give Dowell’s exciting bar routine a shot at the finals. 


They Said It


"For us it’s almost like if we fall once on the beam or we wobble, it’s a horrible day, so we’re such perfectionists that we just try to take a deep breath and relax…But Mihai and Martha have been really great and they just tell me to be calm.” -Aly Raisman. Watch the full video here.


Watch all of team USA’s videos: 


Simone Biles: VAULT 1 - VAULT 2 - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW Gabby Douglas: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
Brenna Dowell: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
Aly Raisman: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
Madison Kocian: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
Maggie Nichols: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
Aly Raisman: VAULT - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW
MyKayla Skinner: VAULT 1 - VAULT 2 - BARS - BEAM - FLOOR - INTERVIEW 


Related:
Day 1 Recap
World Championships Central