The women will kick things off on Wednesday with their qualifying round. The top 24 will advance to All Around finals, and the top 8 on each event advance, with no more than 2 girls per country. One year after Beijing, this will be a great chance to see the newcomers from each country as we progress into the new quad. Here are some things we should look for from the women in London:

All-Around
2008 Olympic Champ: Nastia Liukin (USA)
2007 World Champ: Shawn Johnson (USA)

Reigning Olympic Champion Nastia Liukin will be in the house, but not as a competitor. Remember she withdrew from the US Selection in order to take some time off of training. Just yesterday, Nastia was selected as the athlete's representative on the FIG Council. Congrats to her!

With her absence from the All-Around, it gives others a chance to shine, namely her American teammates Bridget Sloan and Rebecca Bross. Sloan, the US Champion, seems like the front runner for the US, but even Bross has a legitimate chance of winning. She's had more time to get back to consistent training after the US Classic ankle injury, and Bross is just plain tough. Ksenia Semenova, 2009 European Champion, is also a potential winner. She was 4th in the Beijing All-Around. Also of Russia, Ksenia Afanasyeva was considered one of the frontrunners for the all-around, but withdrew upon arrival in London with a back injury. The Chinese have 2 girls listed for all around in Yang Yiliin, 3rd in the Beijing All-Around, and Deng Linlin, recent Chinese National Champion. Yilin has grown quite a bit since Beijing, but both girls still have potential to end the meet on the podium. The local favorite will be 2-time British Champion Beckie Downie. She finished 12th in the Beijing All-Around, but a year later and with a home crowd behind her, Beckie could be a surprise in the medals. Others to look for: Yana Demyanchuck (Ukraine), Ariella Kaslin (Switzerland), Ana Maria Izurieta (Spain), Koko Tsumuri (Japan), and Ana Porgras (Romania).

Vault
2008 Olympic Champ: Hong Un Jong (North Korea)
2007 World Champ: Cheng Fei (China)

With so few gymnasts competing 2 high level vaults nowadays, this event is the most wide open of the four. Sadly, the Chinese vault queen Cheng Fei will not be competing at these Worlds. So look for reigning Olympic Champion Hong Un Jong to run the show. She has a pair of 6.5 vaults to boast, an Amanar and a Cheng (roundoff, half on, rudi laid out). Here's a look back at her Beijing vault final:

Hong's toughest competition will come from Ariella Kaslin (Switzerland), the 2009 European vault champion. She vaults a clean handspring layout rudi (6.3 SV), but her second vault is just a yurchenko 1.5 (5.3 SV). Kayla Williams could be the surprise vault medal here despite the fact that 6 months ago she was unknown on the elite scene. Kayla confirmed in this interview that she plans to throw a handspring layout rudi (6.3), and an amanar (6.5). However, it's been reported that she has not thrown any amanars in podium training, and seems to be sticking with a DTY (5.8 SV). Guess we'll just have to wait and see! Other girls with 2 decent vaults are Shona Morgan (Australia) and Ekaterina Kurbatova (Russia).

Bars
2008 Olympic Champ: He Kexin (China)
2007 World Champ: Ksenia Semyonova (Russia)

The uneven bars final is going to be a straight up battle between Beth Tweddle and He Kexin. Beth is the 2006 World UB Champion, 2009 European UB Champion, and has the craziest, release-packed bar routine we've ever seen. Here is her winning routine from Europeans earlier this year:

Then there's He Kexin. If you haven't seen this video of her recent win at Chinese Nationals it is definitely worth watching! She looks even better than she did in Beijing, in my opinion, and has even upgraded to a stretch jaeger straight into a pak salto:

Breathtaking, isn't it? Then 2007 UB Champion Ksenia Semyononva has been looking good lately, but her Russian teammate Ekaterina Kurbatova recently revealed a new 6.4 SV routine featuring a tkatchev, pak, khorkina II directly connected! From the German team, Anja Brinker is always nice to watch on bars. Others to look for in the final: Yang Yilin (China), and Youna Dufournet who throws a very nice def. I predict Bridget Sloan is the most likely American to make the UB final this year. She looked good on bars at Nationals and was throwing full twisting DLO dismounts during podium training.

Beam
2008 Olympic Champ: Shawn Johnson (USA)
2007 World Champ: Nastia Liukin (USA)

With both of the defending Champions watching from the stands, there is no distinct favorite in the beam final. Instead, there are quite a few with exciting routines with medal potential. One that comes to mind is 2009 European BB Champ Yana Demyanchuck (Ukraine). She impressed us at the WOGA Classic back in February and has improved a lot even since then. Here is her winning routine from Europeans:

Aussie Lauren Mitchell will be tough competition as I hear she is upgrading to a 7.0 D score. And the Chinese duo of Sui Lu and Deng Linlin both have high quality beam sets. Here is Deng's routine from last month's Chinese Nationals. Check out the huge back handspring layout!

2009 US Beam Champion Ivana Hong will be a medal contender as well. I found it odd that Beijing Beam Finalist Gabriela Dragoi (Romania) is not listed as competing beam at all, however teammate Anamaria Tamarjan has medal potential, as does Ana Porgras who recently showed a lovely routine at Romanian Nationals. Also watch out for Koko Tsumuri of Japan.

Floor
2008 Olympic Champ: Sandra Izbasa (Romania)
2007 World Champ: Shawn Johnson (USA)

Britain's own Beth Tweddle is the favorite for the FX title, especially with the recent and oh so unfortunate injury to Sandra Izbasa. Tweddle was the 2009 European Champion. Check out her winning routine of 15.150 (6.0 D score). Her first pass is quite impressive.

Bridget Sloan could make the podium here, or even win if Tweddle falters. Others to watch: Anamaria Tamarijan (Romania), Ksenia Semynova (Russia), Anna Myzdrigova (Russia), Lauren Mitchell (Australia), and even Rebecca Bross. It should also be interesting to see Kayla Williams' floor routine since the National staff has revamped it. I hear her triple full is now on the diagonal (instead of a side pass which was so awesome!), but it does make sense. I also hear the choreography has been changed.

The countdown to London 2009 is almost complete! What do YOU think about the upcoming competition?