Here is Part 4 of my five-part series on reflecting on past National Championships - below I discuss the 2012 Nationals.


2012 was an Olympic year, and so the US National Championships were crucial for all the gymnasts involved. After two days of competition, the top eight athletes would automatically move on to the Olympic Trials. Anyone outside of the top eight (such as several event specialists) would need to rely on an invite from Martha Karolyi to move on to Trials as well.

Several gymnasts from the 2008 Olympic team were back competing at the 2012 Nationals, in hopes of repeating their Olympic dreams: Nastia Liukin, Alicia Sacramone and Bridget Sloan. Interestingly, Bridget Sloan was the only one of the three to be competing the All-Around. Liukin was presenting herself as an event specialist on bars and beam, while Alicia specialized on vault and beam. One girl who was notably absent was Chellsie Memmel, who, somewhat controversially, had not been invited to compete following issues on beam at Classics. She was at Nationals helping with judging instead of competing. Both Chellsie and Shawn Johnson had announced their retirements just a week prior to Nationals.

Rebecca Bross, the 2010 National Champion who was badly injured at Nationals in 2011, was back competing, but also chose to go the event specialist route with the same events as Nastia - bars and beam.

The bars specialists were particularly important to watch from Martha Karolyi’s standpoint, mainly because it was the one event that the US was slightly weak on. Liukin unfortunately faltered on both days, clearly lacking the endurance to be able to complete the long bar routine she had been known for. Bross did fairly well, having no major mistakes, scoring a 15.2 on both days. She did have trouble on beam, however, particularly on the Patterson dismount which had always caused her problems. Bridget Sloan also impressed on bars, scoring highly on both days, and her ability to compete All-Around gave her an advantage over the others as well.

Along with the veterans, there were also a few new faces in 2012, most notably Kyla Ross, Sarah Finnegan and Elizabeth Price. Kyla did very well over the two days, finishing fourth overall with very high scores on bars. Elizabeth Price also impressed, finishing fifth and showing another strong bars routine.

The only major scary moment from 2012 Nationals was when McKayla Maroney fell in warmups on Floor on Day 2, suffering from a concussion. She had to go to the hospital to be checked out, but was able to successfully petition the selection committee to be invited on to Trials.

Over the two days, the competition was a close one between Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas. Douglas had had a rough Nationals the year prior, however her gymnastics had much improved over the year and she was proving to be tough competition for Wieber. At the end of Day 1, the girls were tied, and if Douglas hadn’t struggled on beam on Day 2 (including a fall), she may have had a chance at winning the National title. Instead, the National Championship was taken home by Jordyn Wieber once again.


Stay tuned for Part 5 featuring highlights from the 2013 National Championships!


Related:
Read Part 1 featuring highlights from 2009 Nationals here
Read Part 2 featuring highlights from 2010 Nationals here
Read Part 3 featuring highlights from 2011 Nationals here