The U.S. Secret Classic marked the beginning of the Olympic team selection process for the American women.

It was the first major U.S. elite competition where Martha Karolyi and the selection committee evaluate the gymnasts who are in the running for one of the five spots on the Olympic team. Following this meet, gymnasts have two more chances to prove themselves in competition: the P&G Championships later this month, and Olympic Trials in July—a total of four days of meets.

One of the most talked about spots on the team is the potential for a bars specialist. Historically, bars have not been one of the U.S.’s stronger events. Karolyi has talked openly about the possibility of using a specialist to bolster the team.

At the moment, there are three gymnasts who are chasing that spot based on their capability on bars: Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear, and Brenna Dowell.

How do the three compare? We’ve broken it down below.

Difficulty Level & Consistency on Bars: Kocian wins

One of the top areas to consider is each gymnast’s difficulty level on bars. Madison Kocian is the top contender here. She has the highest D-score with a 6.7, and she competed this routine successfully at Classics. Brenna Dowell and Ashton Locklear are tied behind her, both with a 6.5 D-score.

Check out Kocian's most recent routine from Classics below:


It’s important to note that Kocian has also been the most consistent with her D-score, meaning she has hit all of her skills and connections in competition to keep her D-score at 6.7. Locklear and Dowell have not had the same success. At Classics, Locklear missed a connection (her Pak Salto to Maloney), bringing her D-score down to 6.4. Dowell had an issue during event finals at Pac Rims when she fell on her Church. This caused her to lose an entire 0.20 in connection value since she normally connects the Church to a Pak Salto.

Execution on Bars - Locklear wins

We can’t talk about difficulty level without also talking about execution. Here, Locklear is by far the strongest. She posted her best execution score at Classics, where she scored a 9.45. She has done well on the international stage as well, scoring a 9.125 at Pac Rims during event finals and 9.025 during team finals, and she scored a 9.15 during team finals at Jesolo, and an 8.75 during event finals. Check out Locklear's most recent routine from Classics below:



Kocian comes in second in execution. She scored a 9.0 most recently at Classics. She has also done well internationally, scoring 8.766 in event finals at Worlds last year, and 8.7 in team finals.

Dowell has struggled a bit with execution compared to her teammates. But we haven’t seen as much of her new bar routine, so it will be interesting to see how she does at Nationals. Her highest score recently, with her new bar routine, is an 8.75 that she scored at Pac Rims during team finals.

Contribution on other events: Dowell wins

The other big factor to take into consideration is contribution on other events besides bars. Although Marta may be looking for a specialist, she’ll expect the gymnast to be capable of competing at least one other event, in case they need to use her.

In this case, we think Dowell beats out Kocian and Locklear. First of all, she is capable of competing on all four events, unlike Locklear who only competes bars and beam. Not only does she compete all four, but she can do at least two of them extremely well.

Vault is an important one. She has demonstrated top execution on this event with her Yurchenko double full. She actually competed the Amanar a few years ago as well, and we wonder if there’s a possibility she could be training it.

Even if she isn’t, her double still scores high enough to warrant attention. She scored a 14.95 during team finals at Pac Rims, and she scored a 15.1 in qualification at Worlds last year.

Floor exercise is another good event for Dowell, and she’s capable of performing some unique and difficult tumbling, such as her signature pike double front. She scored a 14.55 during team finals at Pac Rims, and a huge 14.825 during event finals, winning her the silver medal. Check out her silver medal-winning floor routine below:

All videos via USA Gymnastics

Kocian would be the next valuable multiple-event gymnast out of the three, because she is capable of performing all four events. But she hasn’t done so since Nationals last year, and her recent injury might prevent her from doing much on floor or vault. If it is down to who competes better on beam, then Locklear helped her stock a lot with her recent performance at Classics, where she scored a 14.75, compared to Kocian who suffered a fall.

Verdict? To be determined

After comparing difficulty level and execution on bars, as well as contribution on other events, it’s clear that there isn’t necessarily a front runner. All three gymnasts will be looking to put in top performances at Nationals and Trials in order to potentially win one of the five spots on the Olympic team, and if Karolyi does choose to use a specialist, she'll have a tough decision ahead.

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Related:
Latest Rio Rankings
The Best on Bars: Top U.S. D-Scores
In Top Form: The Best Execution on Bars
Golden Senior Routines from Secret Classic