It was an exciting first day of podium training at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Half of the countries had their podium training session today, and the other half with be in the spotlight tomorrow. During podium training, the gymnasts perform full routines in their expected line-up, and there are also judges fine tuning their skills before competition begins.

Team USA came out on fire today, as expected. They were not in the group of countries who had podium training, but they had two different sessions in the training halls, and were very strong and confident throughout. Dressed in their matching purple pullovers, they looked just as united as they proved to be. From the warm-up and stretch all the way to walking out of the arena, the U.S. team just seemed to jive.



During USA’s first training session, all the gymnasts performed full sets on all four events. Two particularly stellar routines came from bars specialists, Madison Kocian and Brenna Dowell. The difficulty of Dowell’s routine, and the way she attacks every skill, makes it hard to take your eyes off her while she’s swinging. Kocian’s long, clean lines and precise shapes could give her a chance to fight for a medal

Aly Raisman was particularly rock solid on beam today, showing why she is an Olympic medalist on the event, and that she is surely back to continue making us question if the beam is really only four inches wide. Additionally, Gabby Douglas brought back her Amanar, and while it wasn't executed quite as well as she was once capable, it is a step in the right direction.

During podium training, Russia was remarkable on bars. Of course, Victoria Komova’s routine was a standout, but the other Russian gymnast’s also showed tremendous low-to-high connections, and big release elements. 

Lots more podium training videos coming tomorrow, as China and the USA will have their chance to shine.


Watch a quick video recap of day one HERE

Routine Of The Day

Aly Raisman solid as a rock on beam:

Lineups & Predictions

Below are USA's lineups from today's training session. While this is not their official order, it gives a good indication of what the coaches are thinking. In the qualification round, there are six on a team, five compete each event, and four scores count.

Vault: Dowell, Douglas, Raisman, Nichols, Biles, Kocian, Skinner
Bars: Raisman, Nichols, Douglas, Biles, Kocian, Dowell, Skinner
Beam 1: Kocian,  Nichols, Biles, Skinner
Beam 2: Douglas, Raisman, Dowell
Floor: Douglas, Dowell, Nichols, Raisman, Biles, Kocian, Skinner

Skinner was last up on every event, and while it has not been confirmed, this could indicate that she will be named the alternate. USA will name their line-ups 24 hours before the competition. 

They Said It

"I just got a GoPro and I think they’re awesome and basically I’m just taking little clips of our team’s journey and putting a video together because I think its the best way to document it. These competitions are so fun and they’re meant to be experienced so I’m just taking all those little team moments and going to put them together." -Ellie Black of Canada. See the full interview here.

Related:
2015 World Championships Central
All Videos From 2015 World Championships