Continuing our series on predictions for event finals in women's gymnastics in Rio, today we're taking a look at balance beam. At recent Olympics, the podium at the beam event final has been dominated by China and the USA. In 2012, Chinese gymnasts took the gold and silver, while an American gymnast took the bronze. In 2008, it was the opposite, with two American gymnasts taking gold and silver and a Chinese gymnast taking bronze. From the late 1970s up until the early 2000s, the Romanians were the stars on beam, counting 10 medals in this time period. In addition to Romania, the former Soviet Union and then Russia were used to having multiple people on the podium.

This year, the top beam workers in the world are made up of gymnasts from the usual suspects of the USA, China and Russia, but there are other countries who could find their gymnasts up on the podium, such as the Netherlands, Brazil or Germany. Check out our analysis below of which top 8 gymnasts we think will make it into the beam final, and let us know your own predictions!

Simone Biles, USA

Simone Biles, considered by many to be the best gymnast in the world at the moment, counts balance beam as one of her best events. Biles is able to throw huge difficulty on beam with relative ease, and her execution can be excellent on the event. It's no surprise that she has two World gold medals on beam - one from 2014 in Nanning and one from 2015 in Glasgow. In 2013, her first year as a senior, she won the bronze medal on the event in Antwerp. In 2015, she performed one of her best routines during event finals, scoring a 15.358 to clinch the gold medal by a whopping 1.025 points over the silver medalist. It would not surprise anyone if she were to clinch one of the three medals in Rio during event finals.

Sanne Wevers, The Netherlands

Sanne Wevers is one of the top Dutch gymnasts this year. In addition to her strong execution on beam, she performs unique moves and combinations that make her routine fun to watch - an example is her tumbling series, which is two aerial cartwheels connected together, and then again connected into a front aerial. She also relies heavily on dance elements to add to her difficulty level. In her routine, she performs a double-L spin, a triple spin, and a single-L spin connected directly into another single spin, connected to a double spin (have we made you dizzy yet?) Wevers is very experienced internationally, having made her international debut back in 2007, but she has done especially well in the past year, helping to qualify her team to finals at Worlds in Glasgow (and thus also qualifying to the Olympics) and winning the silver medal on beam. Check out one of her more recent performances below from the Olympic Test Event:

Video via FIG Channel

Shang Chunsong, China

Shang Chunsong is a veteran on the Chinese team, and she is one of their best on beam. She helped the Chinese team to silver medal finishes at both the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. She suffered an unfortunate fall during qualifications at Worlds last year and did not qualify to finals, but she's capable of putting up a 6.7 D-score. She hit this D-score at the recent Chinese National Championships, scoring a 15.467 (with a 0.3 bonus). She was consistent across the other competitions at Nationals as well, hitting a 15.4 during team finals, and a 15.5 during the all-around final, which she also won.

Laurie Hernandez, USA

Laurie Hernandez is great to watch on all four events, and beam is probably her best event. She demonstrates high difficulty, but her defining characteristic is her execution. It is rare to see her wobble on any skill. At the recent US Olympic Trials, Hernandez was the last to perform out of the entire competition on day two, and she scored a 15.7 on her beam routine. She has scored well on the international stage as well, putting up a 15.3 in Jesolo during team finals and a 15.25 during event finals (which won her the gold medal) and she also scored a 15.25 at Pac Rims during team final. Check out her routine from P&G Championships earlier this year:

Video via USA Gymnastics

Angelina Melnikova, Russia

Angelina Melnikova is a new senior this year and has proved to be a great asset for the Russian team, especially on beam. At the Russian National Championships this year, she won the balance beam title, scoring a 15.333. She performed just as well at the recent Russian Cup, once again placing 1st on beam and scoring a 15.4. Melnikova is capable of performing with a 6.5 D-score if she makes all of her connections. Compared with her teammates, she is one of the more likely candidates to make the event final.

Flavia Saraiva, Brazil

Flavia Saraiva made her senior debut for Brazil in 2015, and she has gained a lot of experience at international competitions since then. This year, she has proven that she is one of the best in the world on balance beam. At the Baku World Cup in February, Saraiva scored a 15.15 in qualification and won the gold medal in event finals with a 14.8. She won the gold once again at the Anadia World Cup in June, scoring a 15.125. At Jesolo in March, she helped her team to a silver medal finish, scoring a 14.95 on beam during team finals. Check out Saraiva's routine from the recent Olympic Test Event below:

Video via FIG Channel

Seda Tutkhalyan, Russia

Seda Tutkhalyan has one of the most difficult beam routines on the Russian team, and when she hits, she can deliver big numbers. Her biggest challenge, however, is staying on the beam. In 2015, Tutkhalyan competed with the Russian team at the 2015 World Championships, but she faltered on beam and only scored a 13.3 in the team final. Although she made it into beam finals, she struggled once again during competition and scored a 13.5. She had the same issue at European Championships this year. One of Tutkhalyan's toughest elements in her routine is a round-off, full twisting layout. When she hits the skill, it's absolutely breathtaking, and it's worth a G in the Code. She did well at the recent Russian Cup, where she scored a 15.1 in the all-around final.

Tabea Alt, Germany

Tabea Alt is one of the best beam workers on the German Olympic team. She typically competes with a 6.3 D-score, but her execution can be excellent which boosts her score up into potential event final territory. Alt's most recent high score came at the German Olympic Trials, where she put up a 15.2. One of the most impressive parts of her routine is her tumbling series, where she connects an aerial cartwheel to two back layout step outs in a row. Alt has proved herself to be very consistent on beam - her other scoring achievements this year include a 14.8 at the Chemnitz Friendly to win gold, and a 14.65 at the German National Championships in the all-around final.

Honorable Mentions:

Aly Raisman, USA
Fan Yilin, China
Pauline Schafer, Germany
Isabela Onyshko, Canada
Aliya Mustafina, Russia
Catalina Ponor, Romania
Eythora Thorsdottir, Netherlands


Related:
Rio Event Final Predictions: Vaulters to Watch for
Rio Event Final Predictions: Bars