The 2019 Top 12 Series 2 was held on December 7 in France.

Match 1 — Schiltigheim (A) vs Haguenau (B)

Match 2 — Beaucaire (A) vs Saint-Étienne (B)

Match 3 — Colomiers (A) vs Avoine (B)

Match 4 — Meaux (A) vs Hyeres (B)

Nikita Nagornyy

The FIG announced the full roster of competitors for the 2020 American Cup, the first of four all-around world cups in a series that will act as a qualifier for three non-nominative spots at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Though Russia has often turned down invitations to compete at the American Cup – the last man to compete was Maxim Devyatovskiy, who won the title in 2010, and the last woman to compete was Aliya Mustafina, who finished second to Jordyn Wieber a year later – now that the competition is necessary for countries hoping to secure additional individual spots at the Olympics, Russia will return this year to contend for one of these spots in both MAG and WAG, with world champion Nikita Nagornyy and two-time world team silver medalist Lilia Akhaimova planning on attending.

The two join the previously announced Sam Mikulak and Morgan Hurd of the United States, both of whom are experienced American Cup competitors on top of tremendous international-level success, and today’s announcement also confirmed the United States’ two wild card competitors, with Yul Moldauer in for the men and first-year senior Kayla DiCello representing the women’s program.

A total of 13 spots are available in both the men’s and women’s fields, with priority for invitations going to the 12 teams that qualified for the Olympic Games, while the final spots are the additional wild card spots for the host country. Should a top team turn down an invitation, the team that placed next-best at the 2019 world championships is next in line to receive an invite, and so on until all 12 spots are filled.

In the women’s field, the Netherlands and Belgium turned down their invitations, opening up availability for Australia, which placed 13th in Stuttgart, and Ukraine, which placed 15th (Brazil, ranked 14th in Stuttgart, also turned down an invitation). For the men, only South Korea opted not to attend, and the final entry for the men’s field is still to be confirmed.

In addition to Russia and the United States, the women’s field will include Georgia Godwin of Australia, Brooklyn Moors of Canada, Zhang Jin of China, Claire Pontlevoy of France, Sarah Voss of Germany, Amelie Morgan of Great Britain, Giorgia Villa of Italy, Hitomi Hatakeda of Japan, Roxana Popa of Spain, and Diana Varinska of Ukraine, while the men’s field includes Diogo Soares of Brazil, Deng Shudi of China, Lee Chih-Kai of Chinese Taipei, Andreas Toba of Germany, James Hall of Great Britain, Daiki Hashimoto of Japan, Nestor Abad of Spain, Pablo Brägger of Switzerland, and Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine.

The rankings determined by each of the world cups in the four-part series will be assigned point values, and the three federations with the highest number of combined points at the conclusion of the series will determine the overall series winners, thus earning individual berths for Tokyo. Last year, the United States, Canada, and Japan topped the women’s rankings, while the United States, Russia, and China took the lead for the men.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

Sunisa Lee

After announcing the American Cup roster last week, the FIG has shared the names of the gymnasts expected to compete at the Stuttgart World Cup, the second of four all-around world cups that will determine three non-nominative Olympic berths.

The rankings determined in Stuttgart, and by each of the world cups in the four-part series, will be assigned point values, and the three federations with the highest number of combined points at the conclusion of the series will determine the overall series winners, thus earning individual berths for Tokyo. Last year, the United States, Canada, and Japan topped the women’s rankings, while the United States, Russia, and China took the lead for the men.

Angelina Melnikova of Russia and Sunisa Lee of the United States, two of the most-decorated women at last year’s world championships, headline a women’s field that includes Olympians Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui of Germany, Asuka Teramoto of Japan, and Senna Deriks of Belgium.

The field also features tons of rising talent, including world silver medalist Ana Padurariu of Canada, world bronze medalist Asia D’Amato of Italy, world bronze medalist Kelly Simm of Great Britain, Aline Friess of France, Alba Petisco of Spain,  Tisha Volleman of the Netherlands, and Wei Xiaoyuan of China, who will make her senior debut here.

Unlike the American Cup, which saw Belgium and the Netherlands turn down invitations, none of the top 12 teams from last year’s world championships opted to withdraw spots here, and while it won’t be likely for teams to qualify if they don’t attend all four world cups, I think the competitions are still an incredible opportunity for all-arounders to get experience going into the Olympic Games.

On the men’s side, Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine, David Belyavskiy of Russia, and Lin Chaopan of China are the big names to keep an eye on. All are Olympic medalists with multiple world championships appearances and medals under their belts, including all-around bronze for Verniaiev, team gold for Belyavskiy, and team silver for Lin last year.

As with the women’s field, the men’s will also feature some of the world’s most respected international talents, including Nestor Abad of Spain, Pablo Brägger of Switzerland, Lukas Dauser of Germany, James Hall of Great Britain, Kazuma Kaya of Japan, Yul Moldauer of the United States, Caio Souza of Brazil, Tang Chia-Hung of Chinese Taipei, and Andreas Toba of Germany.

South Korea turned down an invitation on the men’s side, as the country also did for the American Cup, and also as with the American Cup, the final entry for the men’s field is still to be confirmed.

The Stuttgart World Cup will be held in mid March, with the men’s all-around held on the 21st while the women will compete on the 22nd.

Held alongside the world cup is the fan-favorite ENBW DTB-Pokal Team Challenge, hosted March 20-22, where several of the world’s strongest programs will send teams which compete in a preliminary qualification performance that decides the top four teams to reach the final where they’ll vie for team medals. This year, the women’s field will include Germany, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, and the men’s field will include Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

Joe Fraser

The last world championships was a pretty sweet one for Great Britain, with a total of four individual medals, including two world titles on the men’s side.

Two of those medalists – parallel bars champion Joe Fraser and vault bronze medalist Ellie Downie – will headline the field on home turf at this year’s Birmingham World Cup, which will also see two of this quad’s biggest up-and-comers Giarnni Regini-Moran and Alice Kinsella, both of whom were key members of their 2019 world championships teams.

The men’s competition is looking to be incredibly strong overall, with most countries sending their top guys in the hopes of securing those Olympic berths. The United States giving the assignment to Yul Moldauer shows that they’re incredibly serious about making sure they have the absolute top guys on hand, with Moldauer also the entrant for Stuttgart, while Sam Mikulak will be the country’s competitor at the American Cup and also likely in Tokyo (Moldauer is also competing at the American Cup, but as the wild card athlete). Oleg Verniaiev, the 2019 world bronze medalist and clearly Ukraine’s top all-arounder, is apparently competing at all four world cups, as is Pablo Brägger of Switzerland, and Germany seems to be splitting the spots between Andreas Toba and Lukas Dauser, with Dauser getting the nod here.

For Japan, we’ll see 2019 world parallel bars bronze medalist Kazuma Kaya, who also finished sixth all-around in Stuttgart, while Sun Wei – fifth all-around at worlds last year – is China’s competitor, and Tang Chia-Hung – 11th all-around at worlds – will represent Chinese Taipei.

Also on the roster are Brazil’s Diogo Soares, a standout at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and 2019 junior world championships who will make his senior debut at the American Cup, Russia’s Nikita Ignatyev, who was third all-around at nationals last year, Spain’s Joel Plata, and Turkey’s Ahmet Önder, who is already qualified to the Olympic Games as an individual but nabbed a spot here thanks to South Korea not accepting its invitation.

On the women’s side, the big name to watch is Grace McCallum of the United States, a member of the gold medal-winning world championships teams in 2018 and 2019 who should be the heavy favorite for the title. Other top all-arounders to watch include 2018 world medalists Ana Padurariu of Canada and Elisabeth Seitz of Germany, as well as Aleksandra Shchekoldina of Russia and Alice D’Amato of Italy, both of whom earned team medals at world championships in 2019.

Also competing are Zhang Jin of China, Hitomi Hatakeda of Japan, Cintia Rodriguez of Spain, Maellyse Brassart of Belgium, Marine Boyer of France, and Vera van Pol of the Netherlands.

The rankings determined in Birmingham, and by each of the world cups in the four-part series, will be assigned point values, and the three federations with the highest number of combined points at the conclusion of the series will determine the overall series winners, thus earning individual berths for Tokyo. Last year, the United States, Canada, and Japan topped the women’s rankings, while the United States, Russia, and China took the lead for the men.

The Birmingham World Cup will take place on March 28, with the men’s session held in the afternoon and the women’s held in the evening.

Below, please find the full list of competitors, along with any changes that happen in the lead-up to the competition.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The 2020 Top 12 Series 6 was held on February 8 in France.

Match 1 — Vallauris (A) vs Franconville (B)

Match 2 — La Madeleine (A) vs Antibes (B)

Match 3 — Noisy le Grand (A) vs Velizy (B)

Match 4 — Monaco (A) vs Orleans (B)

Welcome to the live blog for the men’s competition at the 2020 American Cup, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

Please refresh your browser every few minutes to see the most recent updates, which will appear at the top of the page.

6:33 pm. FINAL STANDINGS

1. Sam Mikulak, United States, 85.332
2. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 83.064
3. James Hall, Great Britain, 82.999
4. Shane Wiskus, United States, 82.797
5. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 82.757
6. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 82.439
7. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 81.298
8. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, 80.606
9. Nestor Abad, Spain, 80.581
10. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 78.298
11. Hu Xuwei, China, 77.699
12. Andreas Toba, Germany, 77.130

6:27 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, HB: Capable of getting on the podium with a hit routine here! Cassina, solid. Kolman, also great. Kovacs, beautiful. Blind change, one-arm front pirouette, Endo, stoop half, stalder, gorgeous hop full, double double layout comes off a little low and close but no problems getting it around, just a hop forward! He’s VERY happy with that!!! 13.733 (5.7, 8.033)

6:26 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, FX: I think he did a piked double front and Randi to start, and then a 2.5 to front full? I just caught up with typing lol. Flairs into a split. Front double full is a bit low, big lunge out of it. 13.366 (5.3, 8.066)

6:25 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, HB: HUGE Yamawaki half, one-arm pirouette with a little muscle out, off on his layout Tkachev sadly. Huge straddle Tkachev to straddle Tkachev to mixed grip. Front full pirouette, stalder, clean double double layout with a hop back. 12.233 (5.4, 6.833)

6:22 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, FX: Punches into a double front half-out, solid. 2.5 to double front is pretty freaking sweet. Front double full to front tuck full. Flairs, fabulous. 1.5 to front full, god he looks amazing right now! Triple full with two big steps back to hold onto the landing. 14.333 (5.9, 8.433)

6:20 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, HB: Kinda desperately need him to come in here for silver. I missed his first release but he got it, something Kovacsy I’m sure. Then a HARD fall onto his back on his Kovacs. MY GOD CAN WE HAVE NOTHING IN THIS LIFE???? Gets it this time, blind change to Yamawaki, stoop full is quite late, stoop half, hop full, double double layout with a step. Well, an ALMOST perfect day from him here. 12.400 (5.6, 6.800)

6:17 pm. Oleg with an 83.064 with two falls and an Oleg high bar is pretty good I guess. He’s ahead of Daiki Hashimoto by a couple of tenths.

6:16 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, HB: Cassina, great. Kolman, also very good! Layout Tkachev, straddle Tkachev to mixed grip, stoop full, a little crooked, stoop half, a little short, straddle Tkachev, Rybalko, he’s killing the game! Floaty full-twisting double layout with a step. 14.141

6:14 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, FX: Double double, front double full to barani, both pretty good. 2.5 to front full, low out of the punch and puts his hand down. OOF. Flairs then circles then a wide-arm press handstand. Huge triple full with a hop back. 12.766 (5.2, 7.566)

6:12 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, HB: Endo, lost his leg form completely on his stoop half but gets it under control. Kolman, messy legs, layout Tkachev, straddle Tkachev, straddle Tkachev to mixed grip catches super close and I’m surprised he can cast out of it, but alas, he does! Double double layout, tucks his legs halfway through but still can’t get it around, falls forward onto his hands unfortunately. 11.133 (5.8, 5.333)

6:11 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, FX: I missed the first few passes but believe he hit all of them. Was pretty low on his double full side pass. Rough landing on his triple full at the end. 13.700 (5.8, 7.900)

6:09 pm Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, HB: Some leg separation on early pirouettes, layout Tkachev to straddle Tkachev is great, stalder to blind change to Endo full, almost over the bar on that one, stuck the double double layout. 13.333 (5.0, 8.333)

6:07 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, FX: Little hop back on the double double. 2.5 to barani, clean and solid. Front full to Rudi. Forward roll to straddle press handstand, rolls out into a split then presses from there into a handstand, a little short. Clean double full with a slight hop. Lovely triple full. WHAT A DAY. 13.633 (5.2, 8.433)

6:06 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, HB: Cassina, nice. Kolman, late twist but still gets it. Layout Tkachev, then straddle Tkachev, he’s almost doing Sam’s routine until that point! Yamawaki to Endo, that’s what I love to see. Hop full. Double double layout low with a hop. 14.225 (6.2, 8.025)

6:04 pm. ROTATION 5 STANDINGS

1. Sam Mikulak, United States, 70.999
2. James Hall, Great Britain, 70.599
3. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 70.298
4. Shane Wiskus, United States, 69.064
5. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 68.532
6. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 68.298
7. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 67.665
8. Lee Chih-Kai, Chinese Taipei, 67.273
9. Nestor Abad, Spain, 67.215
10. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 66.065
11. Andreas Toba, Germany, 65.997
12. Hu Xuwei, China, 63.999

6:02 pm. Long wait for Sam’s score. James Hall was able to take Oleg Verniaiev, though!

6:00 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, PB: HUGE straddle salto, brushed his feet on the mat, kinda missed a hand on the Bhavsar and loses his leg form a little, press handstand out of a pike sit, nice Tippelt, falls over on a handstand but pulls it back. Double front is stuck cold, excellent landing there! HUGE mega-watt smile. GOD I LOVE HIM. 13.466 (5.7, 7.766)

5:58 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, HB: Cassina, Kolman, layout Tkachev, straddle Tkachev to straddle Tkachev to mixed grip, REALLY has to muscle out of it and almost pauses on the bar but doesn’t have to because #STRONG, GREAT fight, one-arm pirouette, just a small hop back on the double double layout dismount. He’s happy with that! 14.033 (6.1, 7.933)

5:57 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, PB: Little salto up to handstand, salto half also nice. Came kind of quickly out of one of the transitions between the bars but better than falling. Big straddle salto with a super solid catch. Press handstand out of it, arched a handstand directly following that, good double front, maybe a little overrotated. Brinn Bevan cheering on the side, his hair is pink and he has a mustache so things are going great over there. 14.200 (6.1, 8.100)

5:55 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, HB: Yamawaki half, Yamawaki, straddle Tkachev, arched the handstand out of it a bit, straddle Tkachev to mixed grip, stoop full is a little crooked, Endo is muscled, Endo half back to regular grip, hop full, tucked double double with a slight hop. Well, he stayed on! 12.866 (5.2, 7.666)

5:53 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, PB: Tippelt at the start, sounded like he hit his feet before. Good transition between the bars. Great handstand before swinging through a little basket type of thing, more good pirouette transitions, just little hand adjustments. Good landing on the dismount. 13.900 (5.9, 8.000)

5:49 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, PB: Really fancy, quick pirouette work at the beginning. Too bad I don’t know what I’m talking about in terms of skills but I know fancy work when I see it. I also know that this will be a lower D routine than one with lots of saltos. #LEARNING Nice pirouette onto the single rail, that he kips out of. Lost his leg form a bit on a transition, then a double pike with a tiny hop. 13.566 (5.3, 8.266)

5:47 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, HB: This poor soul needs our prayers for high bar more than anyone after the day he’s had. Liukin, nice! Layout Tkachev, straddle Tkachev to mixed grip, layout Tkachev to mixed grip to stoop full to Endo, good. Hop full, stalder, stuck double double. HUUUUUU XUWEIIIIIIII! That was great. Good job getting your life together. 14.000 (6.0, 8.000)

5:46 pm. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, PB: Solid on his pirouette elements, straddle salto to his arms, Tippelt, slow and stady, into an Ono I believe. Double front half-out, almost looked like he was gonna clip his feet on the bar as he kicked out of that twist but no issues other than just being a little low. 13.900 (5.4, 8.500)

5:44 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, HB: Mixed grip before his one-arm pirouette, nice. Stoop full, stoop half, nice. Layout Tkachev to mixed grip, layout Tkachev, straddle Tkachev, one-arm giant, stalder, full-twisting double layout stuck. He’s having a DAY! Difficulty still too “junior” to keep him in the mix against seniors but he looks fantastic. 13.600 (5.2, 8.400)

5:43 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, PB: Salto to handstand, lovely, One-arm swing down back up  to handstand, another good pirouette, lost a handstand slightly after that but nothing severe. Tippelt, clean and solid. Big straddle salto to his arms, and a double pike with a slide back. 14.066

5:41 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, HB: Layout Tkachev, layout Tkachev to mixed grip, stoop half, straddle Tkachev right to a straddle Tkachev to mixed grip, nice. Rybalko to Endo to stoop, full-twisting double layout, maybe a tad low but really absorbed that stuck landing so I wouldn’t deduct for that tbh. 13.833 (5.6, 8.233)

5:38 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, PB: “One skill at a time, just like at home!” Wise words from Sam yelling over at high bar. Lovely first handstand. Second is gorgeous too. Salto with a half twist catches his arm a bit but good recovery. Good straddle salto. Bhavsar I think had a kind of rough catch but again he recovers well. Tippelt is great. Nice high landing on the double front, small hop. 13.366 (5.6, 7.766)

5:35 pm. ROTATION 4 STANDINGS

1. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 57.432
2. Sam Mikulak, United States, 56.966
3. James Hall, Great Britain, 56.399
4. Shane Wiskus, United States, 56.399
5. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 54.466
6. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 54.398
7. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 54.065
8. Nestor Abad, Spain, 53.382
9. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, 53.373
10. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 52.599
11. Andreas Toba, Germany, 52.431
12. Hu Xuwei, China, 49.999

5:33 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, VT: Kaz 1.5, fantastic! Step to the side OOB, but overall that was pretty solid and great in the air. 14.300 (5.2, 9.200, -0.1)

5:30 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, PB: Apparently I’m all over the TV for p-bars. As it should be. Great handstand at the start, transitions seamlessly from one to two bars. Single rail hold tilts a bit but brings it back. Second transition between the bars is fantastic. Tippelt, gorgeous, then he goes between the bars again and flies off sideways ALMOST into the judges, which would have been preferable to just falling. GOD he’s pissed. Gets the transition this time. I can hear his exasperated breathing. Double front half-out was great. UGHHHHH. Way to murder my heart. 13.966 (6.4, 7.566)

5:28 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, VT: A nice, manageable kaz full from him. Solid with a lunge back. 13.933 (4.8, 9.133)

5:26 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, PB: I keep calling this pommels. WHERE AM I. Wasn’t typing at the beginning but all was going relatively well until a transition between bars that caused him to tilt all the way over and off. Huge straddle salto. Fell on the bars on his tippelt LORD. Double pike dismount. 11.900 (5.7, 6.200)

5:25 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, VT: Low kaz 1.5 but at least he doesn’t DIE. 13.766 (5.2, 8.666, -0.1)

5:22 pm. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, VT: Kaz 1.5, sits it. WELP. Vault is going GREAT. 13.200 (5.2, 8.000)

5:21 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, PB: The beginning goes well, SUPER nice handstand positions. Everything is super fluid and seamless until a transition between the rails just tilts a bit. Double pike stuck!!! Big smile on his face right before he lands, like he KNOWS it’s gonna be good. 13.766 (5.2, 8.566)

5:19 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, VT: Kaz double, underrotated it, and comes down REALLY hard on his right ankle. Crashed. Looks okay after breathing for a second. 13.500 (5.6, 7.900)

5:17 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, PB: One-arm pirouette is nice. God my view is unbelievable???? Muscled a handstand before another one-arm swing. Tippelt goes up nicely. The rest was nice, double front comes off a little low, though, and he sits it. He’s like I hate my life 13.033 (5.6, 7.433)

5:16 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, VT: Kaz 1.5, just a slight hop to the side. Knees were softer in the air than usual, maybe compensating for lower height off the table or something? He’s normally really tight in his knee form I think. 14.366 (5.2, 9.166)

5:15 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, PB: I wasn’t typing during this because I have an INSANE pommels view and wanted to film. He had a few handstands that went a bit off but overall a solid set, and he stuck his dismount. 14.666 (6.4, 8.266)

5:13 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, VT: Handspring double front, big hop forward, but solid set. 14.033 (5.2, 9.133, -0.3)

5:09 pm. ROTATION 3 STANDINGS

1. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 43.466
2. Sam Mikulak, United States, 42.300
3. James Hall, Great Britain, 42.099
4. Shane Wiskus, United States, 41.332
5. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 40.966
6. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 40.465
7. Nestor Abad, Spain, 40.349
8. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 40.299
9. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, 40.173
10. Andreas Toba, Germany, 38.665
11. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 38.566
12. Hu Xuwei, China, 38.099

5:07 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, SR: I missed the beginning. Swinging a bit in his pike sit, pressed to handstand, BEAUTIFUL handstand there. GOD he should teach a clinic here. Double pike to double tuck to handstand, PERFECTION. Double double with a step. 13.566 (4.6, 8.966)

5:06 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, VT: Completely crashed his kaz full. Literally didn’t see the beginning of that at all, just saw him come super low off the table and was like YIKES GOODBYE. 12.300 (4.8, 7.800, -0.3)

5:04 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, SR: Maltese, to inverted hang to maltese, pretty good. To iron cross. Double tuck to double pike to straddle planche, a little tentative there. Inverted hang to handstand, really nice work on these handstands. Full-twisting double layout with a small hop for some DISMOUNT VARIETY! 13.633 (5.8, 7.833)

5:03 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, VT: Yurchenko double, chest slightly forward, small hop. 13.966 (4.8, 9.166)

5:02 pm. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, SR: Inverted hang to maltese to iron cross. Kind of weird muscly  move into the next iron cross. Double tuck to straddle planche, bends his elbows and adjusts. SUPER arched on the handstand after. Double pike to handstand is better, shoulder angle is off though, and he starts to sway again. Double double low with a step forward. 13.066 (5.3, 7.766)

4:58 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, SR: Iron cross, chin nod. Inverted hang, swings to iron cross. Straddle planche, hips are REALLY high and the extension isn’t super cute. Handstand, second handstand with slightly bent elbows that he has to muscle out of, double pike to double tuck to pike sit, good. Muscled handstand, super arched and he’s swaying a bit. Double double, feet are stuck, adjustment in the chest. 13.900 (5.3, 8.600)

4:57 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, VT: Kaz full with a hop, clapped for himself, as you should. Form in the air was tight, just a little low on the landing with a step to the side. 13.833 (4.8, 9.083)

4:55 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, SR: Inverted hang to maltese, through to iron cross, nice. Inverted hang down to pike, swings up to his double tuck to double pike to straddle planche, beautiful straddle, hips maybe a little high? Arched his handstand a tiny bit after that. The second was fab. Step back on the dismount, I couldn’t see but I assume a double double. 13.866 (5.4, 8.466)

4:54 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, VT: Kaz 1.5, looked really great in the air, a little back in the landing and he has to take a hop, but that was really solid. I saw him sit a couple earlier today. Someone in the crowd just yelled YOU LOOK GREAT SAM!!! lmaoooooo 14.400 (5.2, 9.200)

4:52 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, SR: Maltese, swings to inverted hang to maltese. Planche, straight from head to toe, but then falls over in his handstand out of it and has to press back up. Next handstand is better. Double pike to double tuck to pike sit. Press to handstand, swinging a bit. Double double, a hair under rotated with a step back. 13.200 (5.2, 8.000)

4:51 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, VT: Dragulescu, SO high on the landing!!! That was fabulous. Small step to the side. 14.800 (5.6, 9.200)

4:50 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, SR: Maltese, his arms look hyperextended! Iron cross, saltos through to straddle planche, pike sit up to handstand, pretty steady there. Second handstand, bum arches over a tiny bit but he’s fighting it. Third handstand is way more arched but again fights it. Sticks the double double with his chest slightly down. That’s three good ones for James! 14.133 (5.6, 8.533)

4:46 pm. ROTATION 2 STANDINGS

1. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 28.666
2. James Hall, Great Britain, 27.966
3. Sam Mikulak, United States, 27.900
4. Shane Wiskus, United States, 27.466
5. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, 27.107
6. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 27.066
7. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 26.899
8. Nestor Abad, Spain, 26.466
9. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 26.333
10. Hu Xuwei, China, 25.799
11. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 25.366
12. Andreas Toba, Germany, 25.032

4:44 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, PH: Scissors to handstand, slightly short. Hip angle is pretty closed on almost everything. But a hit routine! 13.266 (5.7, 7.566)

4:42 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, SR: Straddle planche, to pike sit, pressed to handstand, just slight sway in his back. Double pike to double tuck up to handstand, arched way over, all of his handstands are a bit archy, but none of them go completely over at least. Double double with a hop. 13.233 (4.6, 8.633)

4:41 pm. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, PH: Love how he jumps right up into his handstand for his mount. Flairs start out GREAT but then he whacks his leg on the horse while coming through LORD HAVE MERCY. Back on, flairs for literally everything, his bum is like a solid two feet above the horse, as a short-armed person I’m like damn. The rest was gorgeous, god that fall killed me. 13.941 (6.3, 7.641)

4:38 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, SR: Straddle planche, angle looks a little wonky, brings it right to a planche then down to a maltese, GOD that’s great, BEYOND insane control needed to do that. Maltese to inverted pike, swings up to handstand, double pike to handstand, shaky and a bit arched, then a double double with a step. 13.766 (5.4, 8.366)

4:36 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, PH: Flairs to start are superb, SO FAST, and he transitions so well out of them. Super floaty on his single pommel work. Was SO low on his travels, the kind where you’re like, really low to the horse and have your arms spread like, across the entire thing? But he couldn’t get out of that position, basically, and flew off the end. Back on, more flairs, this time whilst traveling, and they’re very nice. Legs a little wonky in his dismount but almost no hesitation getting to handstand. Bummer about the fall. 13.400 (6.3, 7.100)

4:33 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, PH: I wasn’t typing during his…a hit routine, he got kinda low early on and looked like his legs were basically touching the horse but no major problems throughout. 13.433 (5.0, 8.433)

4:30 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, SR: Inverted hang to maltese, nice straight body line there. Down to inverted pike up to a planche pressed through to iron cross, very nice. Double tuck to iron cross, a little swing there. Rolls through pike to handstand, then double pike to handstand, pretty solid. Swinging a lot on the next handstand. SAILED down in that double double, MY GOODNESS!!! That was a beautiful dismount. 14.100 (5.4, 8.700)

4:29 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, PH: Scissor up to handstand for a little pirouette which is a little iffy but no major issues. Legs barely clear the pommels at one moment and that seems to throw him off, tries to bring them together but he can’t keep the momentum going and has to hop off the end. Finishes strong. 11.733 (5.0, 6.733)

4:28 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, SR: Maltese to inverted pike to maltese to iron cross, rolls through to his saltos up to a straddle planche. Super shaky at the start of a handstand and then a little arched in the next. Great double double dismount, though. I’d call that a win for Oleg on rings. 14.133 (5.7, 8.433)

4:26 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, PH: Got the opening business out of the way pretty well. Legs come pretty far apart on some of his swings and overall he’s just not the tightest here but he’s getting through. Solid routine. 14.000 (6.0, 8.000)

4:24 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, SR: Maltese swings into inverted hang, flexing his traps, you love to see it. Up to a planche, swings through to iron cross. I looked away for a second but I think he did saltos into an iron cross, double double dismount with a step back. 13.733 (5.7, 8.033)

4:23 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, PH: Wasn’t typing at the beginning but everything looked fine to me. Slow and steady in his pirouettes, that was nice. Just slight leg separation into the dismount. Overall fine! 12.933 (5.0, 7.933)

4:21 pm. ROTATION 1 STANDINGS

1. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 14.533
2. Shane Wiskus, United States, 14.033
3. James Hall, Great Britain, 13.966
4. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, 13.966
5. Sam Mikulak, United States, 13.800
6. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, 13.666
7. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, 13.633
8. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, 13.166
9. Diogo Soares, Brazil, 13.100
10. Nestor Abad, Spain, 12.700
11. Hu Xuwei, China, 12.066
12. Andreas Toba, Germany, 11.766

4:17 pm. Lee Chih-Kai, Taiwan, FX: He stepped so gingerly onto the  floor. Double double, solid landing. Front full to front double full with a hop. 2.5, comes out of it super low, into a front tuck, which is pretty seated…I don’t think his bum touched but it’s close. Flairs get applause because obviously. Wide-arm press handstand is good in my book. Clean double full. Triple full, a little short, some ankle form. 13.166 (5.5, 7.666)

4:15 pm. Nestor Abad, Spain, FX: Scissors, press up to handstand is a little slow and he looks like he gets a wee bit stuck coming back down to the horse. Gets super stuck in his pirouettes but again brings it back under control. Handstand up to the dismount, fine. Good fight and he’s laughing, hahaha. 12.700 (4.9, 7.800)

4:13 pm. Daiki Hashimoto, Japan, FX: Double double, opens up SO early but comes in too far forward and still winds up short, hop forward. Front full to Randi, also a little short, lunge out of it. Okay I didn’t count the twists in the next pass. 2.5 to front full or front double full? Then a 1.5 to Rudi, and a double full. Triple full with a big hop forward. 13.666 (6.0, 7.666)

4:12 pm. Sam Mikulak, United States, PH: Good scissor work into his swing. Nice control on his pirouettes. Hips get a little low at times but nothing to throw him off. Legs are BARELY clearing the two pommels, LORD lmao. Then he completely flops down from handstand into the dismount, hahaha. A solid B. 13.800 (5.9, 7.900)

4:09 pm. Shane Wiskus, United States, FX: Double front half-out with a hop back. Double double, small hop forward. 2.5 to front full, a little low with the knees but fine for MAG I think. Front double full to barani, great. Double full, clean and floaty. Finishes with a triple full, a little low with a hop forward. 14.033 (5.8, 8.233)

4:05 pm. Rene Cournoyer, Canada, FX: Double double, stuck cold. Okay boys! Front layout to piked double front with a hop forward. Front full to front double full, steps to control the landing. 1.5 to Rudi. Love the wide-arm press out of a split for his strength business. Double full. Full-in with a step back to finish, heel just slides out-of-bounds. 13.733 (5.7, 8.133, -0.1)

4:03 pm. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, PH: Scissors to handstand back to scissors almost right into a one-hand swing. Fluid so far. Gets a little stuck in a pirouette but recovers well. Single pommel work is solid and SO quick-twitch with his hands. Legs come apart on a traveling element, but he seamlessly brings it all back together and finishes with a solid dismount. 14.533 (6.5, 8.033)

4:01 pm. James Hall, Great Britain, FX: DAMN, stuck the crap out of that double double. Arabian double front half-out, also CRUSHED the landing!!! Front double full to barani, pretty clean and solid. Rudi side pass, a little chest down. 2.5 to front layout, another perfect landing. Layout was maybe a little weirdly arched. Came up really high in his triple full but didn’t get a ton of distance, ended up a little low but that was a hell of a statement routine. 13.966 (5.8, 8.166)

4:00 pm. Hu Xuwei, China, PB: Lost his rhythm on a handstand pirouette and came off. The rest was pretty nice, had strong extension throughout. Just leg separation going up into the dismount, which looked a little rushed. 12.066 (5.5, 6.566)

3:58 pm. Pablo Brägger, Switzerland, FX: Randi to start, not bad. Double double with a little hop back. 1.5 to front double full, the 1.5 was so slow and floaty and then he spun the crap out of that double, damn. Arabian double front half-out, solid. 2.5 to front full. Finishes with a really nice triple full. OKAY BRO. 13.966 (6.0, 8.066, -0.1 ND)

3:55 pm. Diogo Soares, Brazil, PH: Big senior international debut for this kid! Scissor element right to his single pommel work, pretty. smooth. He’s overall petty solid and efficient here, honestly no real mistakes until he just muscles the dismount a little bit, a very good start! He’s my secret hope for a podium spot. Would love to see that happen for him. 13.100 (5.2, 7.900)

3:53 pm. Andreas Toba, Germany, FX: Double front is pretty low but he keeps it up. Hop back. 1.5 to Rudi I think after that. 2.5 to front tuck, some form issues throughout. Good double full. I’m pretending whatever nonsense DJ MATTY MATT is blasting in the arena is his chosen floor music. Ugh, triple full, underrotated and to his knees. 11.766 (4.9, 8.866)

3:51 pm. The men are beginning their touch warm-up! Let’s see if I’ll be able to count these floor twists.

The 2020 American Cup was held on March 7 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

All-Around Results

Vanessa Ferrari’s passing your quarantine tests and winning your floor medals

The coronavirus is ruining Olympic qualifications (and gymnastics in general!) for everyone right now, with the cancellation of the Stuttgart World Cup and postponement of the Doha World Cup, but the little bit of good news we can still hang onto is that Baku is still happening this weekend.

Despite the current threat of the virus, many gymnasts who are looking to qualify to the Olympic Games as specialists, or who just want a little extra preparation going into the rest of the season, have flown to Azerbaijan to compete this weekend.

The biggest sigh of relief comes in seeing China back in action after they were forced to sit out Melbourne last month. The team has been training in Doha for weeks now to avoid corona-related travel misery, so they’re safe to compete in Baku, and will continue aiming for individual spots in both MAG and WAG.

For the men, Weng Hao currently leads pommels and Liu Yang leads rings, while Fan Yilin tops the bars rankings, all having earned 90 points, the highest available to a gymnast in this qualification series. All three are looking likely to hold onto their positions through the end of the series, but with only one per country eligible to qualify through the world cups, it’ll could come down to a tiebreaker assuming both Weng and Liu win their respective events.

With only two qualifiers left – Baku and Doha, which has been rescheduled for June – it means mathematically, it’s now impossible for most of the contenders to, well, contend. Here’s how the scenarios are looking to play out for each event.

WOMEN’S VAULT

Jade Carey of the United States, who isn’t in Baku, leads with a perfect 90 right now, and the only one who can realistically take her down at this point is Yu Linmin of China. She’s currently ranked third with 60 points, but while a win this weekend can bump her to 90, matching Carey’s total, Carey would win the tie-break and is more or less guaranteed to qualify to the Olympic Games on vault…unless, of course, the world cups go kaput and everything changes, but that’s a worry for another day.

UNEVEN BARS

Fan Yilin has a pretty decisive lead here, with a total of 90 points putting her two wins ahead of next-in-line Daria Spiridonova of Russia, currently ranked sixth with 50 points, with just one win. Fan can miss the final completely this weekend and still hold onto her lead, but obviously she’ll want the insurance of a fourth win to absolutely come out of the entire series with the berth.

But Spiridonova has a shot to get close if she can win in Baku, and then keep that up in Doha, and then another one we have to consider is Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who won the first competition in Cottbus back in 2018, and is currently ranked eighth with 30 points. If either Spiridonova or Andrade wins both here and in Doha, they’re going to match Fan and it’ll come down to the tie-breaker, so there’s obviously a lot at stake for both and we’ll hopefully see them at their very best.

BALANCE BEAM

This is the tricky event, with a total of three gymnasts still in pretty equal contention (the six wins went to five different gymnasts, but two of them – Li Qi and Zhao Shiting – aren’t competing in Baku, taking them out of the running).

Emma Nedov of Australia has the lead right now with 75 points, but with only one win under her belt compared to two wins for Urara Ashikawa of Japan, Ashikawa can essentially seal the deal in Sunday’s final if she knocks out her third win in a row. She’s currently at 60 points after taking gold in both Cottbus and Melbourne, so adding another 30 will get her to 90 (math!) and will mean it’s over for everyone else.

As with bars, Andrade is back here, and with 30 points from Cottbus in 2018, she’d just need a win here and in Doha to reach 90 points, putting her also solidly in contention, but beam isn’t generally Andrade’s best event, and both Nedov and Ashikawa have been looking incredible in recent months, while Andrade’s been out with an injury for nearly a year. She’ll spice things up, for certain, but if she does end up sneaking into the rankings, I think that’ll happen for her on bars.

WOMEN’S FLOOR EXERCISE

Once again, it’s Carey with the lead here with 90 points, but assuming she qualifies through vault, it leaves things open for a few other competitors – most notably, the Italians, with Vanessa Ferrari and Lara Mori both officially tied for second at the moment (though unofficially, Ferrari wins the tie-break).

Ferrari and Mori have gone back and forth in their work on floor, but Ferrari had a decisively stronger routine in Melbourne last month and looks to be in the shape she needs to be in if she wants to upset her young teammate. However, while the spot seems likely to go to either of these two, I also wouldn’t count out Anastasiia Bachynska of Ukraine, who picked up 30 points at Cottbus last year and isn’t that far behind. A win for her here could skyrocket her ahead of both Italians, taking her from 50 points to 80 points, though I do think Ferrari is more likely to score higher here and take the title.

MEN’S FLOOR EXERCISE

Rayderley Zapata of Spain has held his lead for quite some time now, and he’s currently first with 85 points, but he floundered a bit in Melbourne and this could make room for someone like Kazuki Minami of Japan or Ryu Sung-hyun of South Korea – each of whom currently has one win apiece – to take over, while Casimir Schmidt of the Netherlands is still mathematically not out as well.

POMMEL HORSE

Not only does China’s Weng Hao have the lead here with 90 points, but second-ranked Kohei Kameyama – who had two wins and 80 points – has been taken out of the circuit by the Japanese team for not being up-to-standard, so that means it’s literally Weng’s to lose. Stephen Nedoroscik of the United States put up a statement routine at Melbourne last month, and if he does that twice more, he’ll tie Weng, which is especially important to note because of the multiple event winner tie-breaker situation China will be in. Should China qualify on rings, the pommels alternate gets the spot and that could very well be Nedoroscik if he plays his cards right (but it could also realistically be Saeedreza Keikha of Iran, who doesn’t have any wins and can’t challenge Weng outright, but he still has a shot to stay ranked second, becoming the alternate and the Olympic qualifier if he holds onto second).

STILL RINGS

We talked about how Liu Yang of China is currently leading rings with 90 points, but I think almost everyone on the gymternet collectively wants him to botch a few handstands in solidarity with Eleftherios Petrounias. Petrounias, currently fourth with 55 points after a win in Melbourne, is mathematically still in the mix to tie Liu’s 90 points if he wins the next two, but Liu is just so good, it could happen that Liu keeps winning, but as with pommels, Petrounias will still want to kick major butt so he can rank second and just pray that China qualifies on pommels.

Courtney Tulloch of Great Britain is also still fighting heartily to qualify on rings, and he’s currently third with 66 points, but with struggles at recent meets, I don’t see him upsetting either Liu or Petrounias.

MEN’S VAULT

This world cup series has turned men’s vault into the beam of MAG, for the most part, and so qualifying here has been an “anyone’s game” kind of situation. Right now, Hidenobu Yonekura of Japan has the lead with 75 points, but he missed the final completely in Melbourne, opening the door to Jorge Vega Lopez of Guatemala (technically tied in first with 75 points, though Yonekura wins the tie-break) and Shin Jea-hwan of South Korea (currently third with 71 points). It could be a fight to the death for these three guys this weekend, none of whom has more than one win. In that sense, though he’s ranked lower in eighth with 42 points, Audrys Nin Reyes of the Dominican Republic is also technically in the mix, though again, realistically, I don’t see him breaking into that top three group.

PARALLEL BARS

With most of the top p-bars guys in the world already qualified to the Olympics, or part of teams that used them to qualify, the p-bars field has pretty much been the weakest in the world cup series in terms of those hoping to get to Tokyo on this event, but Vladislav Poliashov of Russia has been straight killing the game, getting to 90 points with his win in Melbourne to currently sit at the top.

Behind him, You Hao of China has 85 points and two wins, so he’s more than capable of taking the lead and even winning the series outright, but again, with China already having guys on top of the rankings on pommels and rings, a p-bars win for You doesn’t necessarily guarantee him an Olympic berth. It’ll just make an already insane process even more annoying as we wait for the FIG to figure out who’s winning what and why.

HIGH BAR

So, congratulations Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands, I guess? After “underperforming” (??!!) in Melbourne last month, Japan withdrew Hidetaka Miyachi from the qualification process, leaving Zonderland the only person left in the field who can qualify to Tokyo via high bar. He can literally show up tomorrow and scratch, and then do the same in Doha, and bam, he’s our Olympian. It’s a real shame, because that down-to-the-second battle between Zonderland and Miyachi was what I was most looking forward to in the final moments of this series, but we can’t have nice things and this is just another example of that.

THE DETAILS

The competition begins Thursday, March 12, with qualifications on vault and bars for the women, and for floor, p-bars, and rings for the men, and then qualifications continue on Friday, March 13, with the women doing beam and floor while the men tackle vault, pommels, and high bar (yeah, I don’t know why they swap pommels and p-bars at this meet, and yes, I’m consistently enraged by it).

Finals will be held over the weekend, with the first day on Saturday, March 14, and the conclusion on Sunday, March 15. The event will be streamed on the Olympic Channel, and we’ll be live blogging all of the action for you.

A full list of competitors is below. Be warned, some have withdrawn due to travel restrictions or personal decisions related to the coronavirus, so I’ve tried to make this as up-to-date as possible, but it’s also likely that there are some gymnasts listed who will not end up competing.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The 2020 Baku World Cup was held from March 12 through March 15 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Note: this competition was canceled following qualifications and did not include apparatus finals.

Floor Qualification Results

Pommels Qualification Results

Rings Qualification Results

Vault Qualification Results

P-Bars Qualification Results

High Bar Qualification Results

The 2019 Christmas Cup was held from December 14 through December 15 in Bettembourg, Luxembourg.

Senior All-Around Results

Junior All-Around Results

Next up in our 2021 series probably needs no introduction. Giulia Steingruber, 26, has been making history as Switzerland’s best gymnasts of all time, setting countless records and winning Olympic and world medals in her decade of senior competition.

As a junior, Steingruber wasn’t very well-known, at least not internationally. She finished 36th in the all-around at Euros in 2008, and over the next couple of years as she finished up her junior career and began competing as a senior, it wasn’t yet clear that she would have such an immense impact on the sport in her country.

Steingruber made her European and world championships debuts in 2010, though her difficulty was still far behind what many of the top seniors were competing, so she wasn’t a real standout at either meet. At Euros, she helped her team finish sixth, but missed out on any individual accolades, and at worlds, she finished 68th all-around in prelims.

At the time, the Swiss star was Ariella Käslin, the 2008 Olympic vault and all-around finalist who put her country on the map for gymnastics. Käslin became the European vault champion and all-around bronze medalist in 2009, and then grabbed silver on vault at worlds a few months later. Though she didn’t win any major medals in 2010, she was still clearly the leader for the Swiss team, finishing eighth all-around and fifth on vault at worlds and looking likely to qualify for her second Olympic Games the following year.

But 2011 marked the turning point in Steingruber’s career. With major upgrades – especially on vault, where she added a Rudi seemingly out of nowhere to follow in Käslin’s footsteps as a future vault queen – she began matching her older teammate as an all-arounder and a vaulter. The two finished back-to-back in the all-around standings just 0.35 apart at Euros that year, and both qualified into the vault final, where Steingruber finished sixth while Käslin picked up the bronze.

This medal would end up being Käslin’s last, as she shockingly retired from the sport just three months later, with only a year to go before the 2012 Games. She told the press that she simply found it difficult to find the motivation to keep training, and decided to go out on a high note, with her body and mind both healthy and happy with her accomplishments.

Just a year earlier, the news would have been fully devastating for the Swiss program, but with Steingruber now in a prime position to take the reins, she stepped up to the challenge. Steingruber went on to finish 16th in the all-around and fifth on vault at worlds that year, and over the next few months she would continue to rise as a major threat in the sport, winning vault bronze at Euros in 2012 before competing at her first Olympic Games, where she finished 14th in the all-around final and was a reserve for the vault final.

Steingruber continued building on her success going into the next quad, medaling on vault at Euros all four years (including three golds!) while also becoming the first Swiss gymnast to win the European all-around title in 2015. This was a big year for her in the all-around, as she’d also go on to win silver at the first-ever European Games that summer before placing fifth in the final at worlds that fall, which was the country’s top world all-around finish in history.

She also made the vault finals at worlds in 2013 (fourth place), 2014 (fifth place), and 2015 (seventh place), and though she injured her knee in the 2015 final, she still managed to return in time to compete at the test event in 2016, finishing first in the all-around and securing an individual spot for Switzerland at the Rio Games. She also won multiple world cup medals going into Rio before winning her third European vault title as well as the floor title at home in Bern, and she swept Switzerland’s national championships for the first time just a month prior to the Olympics.

In Rio, Steingruber was selected to be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, becoming the first female gymnast to earn this honor for her country, and she had an exemplary performance at these games, placing 10th all-around and winning the bronze medal on vault, the first Olympic medal for a female Swiss gymnast in history.

Thankfully, Steingruber was able to take some time off after such a busy quad, and while people began to question whether she’d be ready in time for worlds in 2017 having not competed in over a year, she showed up to Swiss Championships to easily win the vault and all-around titles despite all of her time away, and by the time she got to Montreal, she was back to normal on vault, winning her first world medal by snagging the bronze.

In 2018, Steingruber competed a few times, winning world challenge cup titles on vault and floor in Koper, but at a friendly meet prior to Euros that summer, she tore her ACL and meniscus while also fracturing her tibia on floor, sadly ending her season.

With more than a year off between competitions for the second time this quad, Steingruber once again returned to nationals, nearly sweeping the competition with golds in the all-around and on every event but bars to show that she would absolutely be in contention to earn a spot at her third Olympic Games. She improved on her performance there at a friendly meet in the Netherlands a week later, and by the time she got to Stuttgart, she was more than ready to go.

At worlds, Steingruber finished 19th in qualifications, and second among the Olympic hopefuls not part of qualified teams, which easily secured a berth to the 2020 Olympic Games, the third of her career.

The news of the Tokyo Olympics getting postponed a year was announced on Steingruber’s 26th birthday, and while she recognized the necessity of this decision, she said on Instagram that she’s not sure if her body will be able to last another 16 months.

In addition to the Olympics next year, Switzerland will once again host European Championships, and the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd one last time is also a tempting one. But with training shut down at the moment, with her history of injuries, and with a desire to move on to life after gymnastics (she’d love to work in the medical field or in psychology), it’s not going to be easy.

“It’s still too early to make a decision,” Steingruber said, and has not yet made up her mind about her future in the sport, but I think I speak for every gym fan when saying that I hope she can stay physically and mentally healthy enough get that one final year.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

Enzo Fazari

Four matches were contested on the final regular season competition day for the Top 12 series in France, with the men from Monaco getting a huge win over the team from Orleans, while Antibes also continues to shine with a win of its own over La Madeleine.

Competing at home, Monaco managed 30 points to just 18 from Orleans, a massive gap that came thanks to topping three of the four vault, pommels, and high bar contests, while Orleans won just won of each.

Julien Gobaux led the team with excellent scores across the board, including a 14.050 on vault, a 13.550 on pommels, and a 14.050 on high bar, while Kevin Crovetto, an Olympian for Monaco, won his duels on vault and pommels, and Lilian Piotte put up absolutely lovely routines on pommels and high bar, getting two of the highest execution scores in the competition.

Standout British all-arounder James Hall competed as a guest for Orleans, and he did the team a great service, winning his duel on vault with a 14.400 and his duel on pommels with a 14.100, the two highest scores of the day for either team on any event.

The team also got a win on high bar from Edgar Boulet, who defeated Crovetto in the first duel of the high bar match. Both competed well in their battle, but while Crovetto had a slightly stronger routine, Boulet’s difficulty was a point higher, and his score of 13.100 was enough to get a third win for Orleans.

Antibes started out strong, winning three out of four vault matches, and then went on to win two of four pommel horse matches and three of four high bar matches to amass 28 points.

Loris Frasca, the leader for the winning squad, was excellent on vault and high bar, posting a 14.150 and a 13.300, respectively, though he unfortunately had a rough pommels routine, getting just an 11.800 to hand the win over to Tom Aghina of La Madeleine. Hugo Carmona also got two wins, on vault and high bar, with the high bar contest getting super close between himself and Aghina, though he ended up edging out his opponent by a tenth.

The hero of the Antibes team this time around was 18-year-old Enzo Fazari, a first-year senior who got wins on all three events, getting a 13.850 on vault, a 12.900 on pommels with a simple but super clean routine, and a 12.800 on high bar. He separated himself significantly from all three guys he went up against, and he proved to be a lovely gymnast to watch, so hopefully we’ll see him branch out and get some international assignments in the next quad.

For La Madeleine, Abderrazak Nasser – a Moroccan elite who trains in France – was a standout on vault, getting a 14.050 to win the first match of the day for his team, while guest athlete Andrey Likhovitskiy of Belarus was excellent on both pommels and high bar, posting a 13.700 and a 12.700 to easily get the wins on both. Aghina was also noted for surprising to get his pommels win over Frasca, but while he competed well on both vault and high bar, his scores there just weren’t enough to overtake the Antibes men.

The match between Franconville and Vallauris came down to the very final duel for a super dramatic finish, as the teams went back and forth all meet long to come in tied at 22 points apiece going into the very end.

On vault, Ukraine’s Petro Pakhniuk kicked things off for a Franconville win thanks to his 14.650, but Vallauris bounced back in the next round with a 13.750 from Pierre Stephan to win that one. His teammate Florent Maree got a second win for the squad, but then Franconville’s Anthony Pueron had a near-perfect hit to get a 14.200 with just a 4.8 start value, surprising to take the duel win over the typically stronger Léo Saladino, who wasn’t at his best here.

Quentin Begue kept things going for Franconville with the first routine on pommels, getting a 13.650, and Saladino and Aurelien Bouquet both had iffy routines in the next round to get matching scores of 11.650. Pakhniuk was at his best here, going 14.050 to bring in his second win for Franconville, but then the Belgian Maxime Gentges came in as a guest for Vallauris, and got the win there with a 13.100.

The teams came into the final rotation with Franconville at 17 points while Vallauris was at 15, and a beautiful high bar routine from Christopher Pinville brought Franconville to 20 points. However, Taha Serhani of Switzerland came in with a high level of difficulty that was able to outscore Bouquet’s excellent but simple routine, and then Saladino counted a big hit for Vallauris to bring the two teams to a tie going into the final round.

Pakhniuk wasn’t at his best on his high bar routine, and the mistakes had him at just a 12.300, far below what he’s capable of. His opponent, however, came in with a much easier routine and would’ve needed at least an 8.5 E score to match Pakhniuk, though he unfortunately ended up falling, getting a 10.100 to give Pakhniuk – and Franconville – the win, with Franconville coming in at 25 points while Vallauris ended up with 23.

There was also a lot of back-and-forth drama with the match between Noisy Le Grand and Velizy. Velizy had a solid lead coming out of the vault rotation, but Noisy caught up during pommels, winning three of the four duels to tie Velizy going into the final rotation.

The high bar rotation was like a tennis match, with Noisy getting the first win, and Velizy getting the second, and then Noisy getting the third win to lead going into the final round, though Zachari Hrimeche came in clutch to get the final win for Velizy, and the two teams ended up tying at 24 points apiece.

Hrimeche hasn’t done anything on the international level since worlds in 2017, where he finished seventh in the vault final, because he’s been suspended from the national team and didn’t return to INSEP until last year. He’s not quite at the same level right now, and didn’t vault here, but in addition to his high bar win, he also put up a 13.000 on pommels to get the one win for his team there.

On vault, Killian Mermet, Anthony Pivost, and Belgium’s Noah Kuavita all performed very well for Velizy, with Kuavita getting a 14.400 to post the highest score of the rotation, and though the men struggled on pommels, their comeback on high bar was excellent. In addition to Hrimeche’s last-second win, Mermet also got an upset over Leo Valentin, hitting a clean set while Valentin missed.

For Noisy, vault wasn’t a great rotation at all, with lots of mistakes, including a fall from Valentin, though Benjamin Thiriot anchored with a 13.900 to get one vault win for the team. The team made up ground on pommels, with Valentin, Hamza Hossaini (another Moroccan gymnast who trains in France), and Lorenzo Pambianchi all putting up incredibly tidy sets, and then Pambianchi and Alexis Blin had the strongest high bar routines of the competition, though falls from Valentin and Florentin Borello held the team back from getting a win outright.

Full results from the meet are available here.

The men will be back for the first of two semi-final meets on February 29, where parallel bars, rings, and floor will be contested.

Antibes will face Velizy in Semifinal A, and Sotteville les Rouen will face Monaco in Semifinal B, the top two seeded matches of the competition. Also competing will be Franconville against Bourges in Classification Match A, and Oyonnax against Montceau les Mines in Classification Match B.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

The 2020 1st Bundesliga was held on October 3 in Germany.

Match 1 Results

Match 2 Results

Match 3 Results

Match 4 Results

The 2020 2nd Bundesliga was held on October 10 in Germany.

Match 1 Results