In the Olympic year, performing big difficulty combined with precise execution is critical to making oneself a must-have on the team to Rio. The City of Jesolo Trophy will be the first competition of 2016 for seven of the nine seniors on the roster. See the final roster here. This means we will get a chance to see some of the big upgrades these top athletes have been working hard on during the off-season.

Vault is arguably one of the hardest events to upgrade, as it is more 'all or nothing' rather than switching around connections or making small adjustments.



In terms of 'big difficulty' on vault, the Amanar is currently the standard to which all else is compared. Of course, there are other types of big difficulty vaults, but the Amanar is one of the most popular top vaults in the U.S., and it will, of course, be an important factor in selecting the Olympic team.

Simone Biles' Amanar is arguably the best in the world. Although she took bronze at World Championships, she performed a Lopez for her second vault, which didn't compare to the difficulty of Maria Paseka and Hong Un Jong who both paired their Amanars with a Cheng (Yurchenko 1/2 on, 1 1/2 twist off). Biles is capable of a Cheng, but wasn't ready to debut it at Worlds. She won't be competing in Jesolo, but is expected to be competing at Pacific Rim Championships, so we will surely get to see her gorgeous vaults soon!

Now THAT is how it's done...



Aly Raisman also showed an Amanar at 2015 World Championships. She brings much experience to the Jesolo 2016 team and will definitely be a main leader to the big group of U.S. gymnasts:



Although Maggie Nichols downgraded her vault to a Yurchenko double full at the recent AT&T American Cup, she is fully capable of an Amanar and we expect it to be back in competition soon:



Gabby Douglas has not competed an Amanar since her return to gymnastics after London 2012, but she did show the vault in training at Worlds in Glasgow, proving she is still capable of the big skill:



MyKayla Skinner is another one to watch for on vault. She has been working hard on her Amanar and also has a Cheng. She competed this past weekend in the Glasgow World Cup and won the all-around as well as the vault with a big 15.566 for this strong Amanar:




Will anyone else will bust out the Amanar in 2016?

We think Laurie Hernandez has the potential to perform an Amanar. However, even if it is ready to go, she will need some good experience competing it before it would make her a big asset on vault. She is an overall very powerful gymnast and her huge Yurchenko double full shows great promise for the added half twist.



Who do you think will be the three U.S. vaulters in Rio?

Jesolo is the first step to seeing what these seniors have in the bag for 2016. Watch LIVE on FloGymnastics starting March 19th at 4:00 am CST.


Related:
Five Former Juniors Turned Senior For Jesolo
FloGymnastics To LIVE Stream 2016 City Of Jesolo Trophy
Final Team USA Jesolo Roster