First Impressions 2013 World Championships Training

Sep 26, 2013 by Anne Phillips

We've just concluded our first full day of coverage at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp. Being the very first day of scheduled training in the official training hall, we got our first look at contenders from around the World. As we attempt to wrap our head around the day and sort through all the videos of amazing gymnastics on display, here's a rundown of the memorable moments and incredible skills from the women's training sessions.

Let's begin with World and Olympic Champion Aliya Mustafina of Russia. She looked fantastic. She unveiled yet another new skill on bars, a maloney half to mix grip, and it was flawless! Oh, and it was even done in combination.

Watch Mustafina's new bar skill here:

Mustafina also debuted new floor choreography and opened her routine with two whips to a double arabian. She did look quite fatigued during and after the routine, however. She was reportedly battling illness before traveling to Antwerp. Endurance may be her only weakness at these Worlds. Watch her new floor routine here.

Overall, the Russian training was very relaxed. It really lacked a sense of urgency. Olympic vault bronze medalist Maria Paseka hardly trained. Tatiana Nabieva looked good on bars but didn't show much on the other events. World Championships newcomer Anna Rodionova is reportedly battling injuries and it shows. She really struggled today. Russia appears to still be going through a transitional period after firing head coach Alexander Alexandrov one year ago. Alexandrov was of course in attendance today. He is now the head coach of Brazil. And I must say, it was very odd seeing him in Brazil warmups.

The other big bar skill that stood out was Yao Jinnan's Mo Salto! This is a crazy difficult skill and she hit both of her attempts at it today. Jinnan was the 2011 World All Around Bronze medalist and comes to Antwerp with the highest start value on uneven bars. She will be a serious threat for the event title with a hit routine. Watch Jinnan's Mo Salto here.

Fellow Chinese gymnast Shang Chunsong also debuted a new skill, a piked hindorff. She impressively connected it to a pak salto and looks ready for the bar final. Watch here.

Speaking of bars, Brenna Dowell of the USA has become very consistent with her new uneven bars combo, Tweddle release to straddle back. She hit every single attempt I saw today. Watch her hit a full set here.

Overall, the U.S. looked incredible in training as expected. They were are all business, drilling routine after routine. McKayla Maroney looked amazing as usual on vault. It's funny to watch the whole training hall shift their eyes over to vault when she steps on the runway.

All four of the U.S. girls trained all four events today even though only two, likely Kyla Ross and Simone Biles, are expected to compete all around. However, that can always change. Maroney looked surprisingly solid on bars and beam. She has made huge strides on these events since we last saw her train them at P&G Championships. Watch Maroney's bar routine here, and her beam here.

Ross floated through her routines and looks ready to compete. She even included a new connection on beam, adding a wolf jump after her punch front.

Biles looked very confident and calm today. Her double wolf tun is back on beam. She also appears to be sticking with the easier back handspring layout step out beam series. Also, we are pleased to share that her double layout half out is back and looks incredible! She will be a threat for the World Floor Title as well as All Around. She did not train the Cheng vault as many had hoped, but looked very clean in her second vault, the laid out Podkopayeva.

Victoria Moors of Canada performed the best laid out double double we've ever seen her do today. She even stayed in bounds. Gymnasts and coaches from other countries stopped to watch and even applauded as she landed the incredibly difficult skill. That was cool to see. If Moors lands this in competition in Antwerp the skill will be named for her. Watch here.

Larisa Iordache of Romania looks ready to contend for the All Around title with big scores on beam and floor. She has a new floor routine with captivating choreography and powerful tumbling. On beam, she performed a great roundoff to back layout full. Watch Iordache's new floor routine here, or watch her train beam here.

Also from Romania, double Olympic gold medalist Sandra Izbasa looked amazing on floor as always. It's incredible that she can still manage to tumble at the same level that won her Olympic gold on floor back in 2008. Her 1.5 step out through to triple twist to stag jump was particularly impressive. Watch Sandra Izbasa's floor here.

Stay tuned for more from Antwerp and the 2013 World Championships! Also, episode two of Beyond the Routine with U.S. Star Kyla Ross premieres tonight, September 27! Don't miss it! Click here to catch up on episode one.