In Today's Code: Alicia Sacramone's 2007 Floor Routine

In Today's Code: Alicia Sacramone's 2007 Floor Routine

Ten years ago, Alicia Sacramone was one of the top gymnasts on floor exercise.

Jun 24, 2017 by Justine Kelly
In Today's Code: Alicia Sacramone's 2007 Floor Routine
Ten years ago, Alicia Sacramone was one of the top gymnasts on floor exercise. Sacramone competed with both power and grace, and her abilities on floor were a large part of the reason she made the 2008 Olympic team.

In 2007, Sacramone competed the following floor routine on day two of the 2007 Visa Championships, receiving a 6.2 D-score, the highest of the day.

Video via USA Gymnastics

In this quad, floor routines were constructed quite differently from how they are today. Most striking is the fact that the elite gymnasts often used to compete five tumbling passes. Now, it's actually a rule in the code that gymnasts are limited to four passes -- any subsequent passes performed are not counted in the D-score.

Check out our analysis below of what Sacramone's D-score would be using the 2017-2021 Code of Points:


COMPOSITION REQUIREMENTS


The 2017-2021 Code of Points lists the following composition requirements as part of the floor routine:

1. A dance passage composed of two different leaps or hops connected directly or indirectly, one of them with 180-degree cross/side split or straddle position. No jumps or turns permitted because they are stationary, except for Chaine turns. Leaps or hops must land on one leg if performed as the first element in a dance passage. (0.50)
2. Salto with LA turn (min. 360 degrees) (0.50)
3. Salto with double BA (0.50)
4. Salto backward and salto forward (no aerials) in the same or different acro line (0.50)

Sacramone's 2007 routine meets all of the requirements. She fulfills No. 1 with her switch ring connected to Johnson 1/2. She competes two saltos with LA turn with a minimum 360 degrees -- her front full and her 2 1/2 twist, fulfilling requirement No. 2. She competes a full-twisting double back to fulfill requirement No. 3, and she competes both backward saltos (full twisting double back) and forward saltos (double arabian) in her routine.   

This gives Sacramone a total of 2.00 toward her D-score for fulfilling the requirements.


CONTENT OF EXERCISE


Similar to bars and beam, the Code of Points dictates that the top eight most difficult skills are counted toward the D-score. On floor, gymnasts must count a minimum of three dance skills and three acrobatic skills, with two optional skills to make a total of eight. 

As mentioned before, the gymnast may only count a maximum of four acro lines, and any subsequent acro lines performed will not be counted. An acro line is defined as two directly connected flight elements, one of which is a salto. Because of this, the double pike that Sacramone performs as her last pass is not counted toward the D-score using the 2017-21 code.

Her top eight skills are:

1. Full-twisting double back (E)
2. Double Arabian (E)
3. 2 1/2 twist (D)
4. Double L turn (D)
5. Split leap 1 1/2 (D)
6. Split leap 1/1 (C)
7. Switch ring (C)
8. Front full (C)

Adding these values together, Sacramone gets 3.10 for her top eight skills toward her D-score.


CONNECTION BONUS


The last part of the D-score is connection bonus. Sacramone performs two connections in her 2007 routine:

1. Switch ring (C) + Johnson 1/2 (C) = none
2. 2.5 twist (D) + Front layout (B) = +0.10

The switch ring to Johnson 1/2 does not receive any bonus -- it is there to meet the composition requirement of connected leaps. Her fourth pass -- 2 1/2 twist to front layout -- receives a +0.10 connection bonus. Sacramone's total connection bonus is +0.10.


THE FINAL D-SCORE


Adding up the composition requirements (2.00), content of exercise (3.10), and connection bonus (0.10), Sacramone gets a final D-score of 5.2 using the 2017-2021 code. 


WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS CODE?


Similar to Shawn Johnson's 2007 beam routine, Sacramone's 2007 floor routine receives a D-score that is about a point lower than what she received in 2007. There are two main reasons for this. The first, as with the other events, is that the composition requirements are lower. The requirements used to give an additional 0.50 (for competing a D or higher dismount). The other explanation for the lower D-score today is the rule about a maximum of four tumbling passes. In 2007, Sacramone would have counted her final double pike pass as part of her D-score.

How are gymnasts today constructing their routines using the 2017-2021 code? Sae Miyakawa from Japan competed with a big 6.2 D-score at the NHK Trophy this year. Her high D-score is largely due to the difficulty of her individual tumbling skills -- for instance, she competes both a full-twisting double layout and double-twisting double back. China's Shang Chunsong, meanwhile, takes advantage of connection bonus much more in her 2017 routine. At Chinese Nationals, she performed a 1 1/2 twist connected to a triple twist connected to a front tuck, which gets her +0.40 in connection bonus. She also connected high-difficulty dance elements, such as a quadruple turn (an E skill) connected to an illusion turn for +0.10 bonus. This demonstrates how gymnasts can use the 2017-2021 code in different ways depending on their strengths.


Related:
In Today's Code: Shawn Johnson's 2007 Beam Routine
In Today's Code: Nastia Liukin's 2007 Bars Routine