2021 U.S. Worlds Trials Live Blog

Welcome to the live blog for the U.S. Worlds Trials, held in Indianapolis, Indiana!

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7:50 pm. SCORES!

7:28 pm. Okay, that’s it. I’ll post the scores if USAG shares them!

They flashed a computer screen near the camera when Tom was talking to the athletes and it looked like it said 13.6 for DiCello’s floor but I could be making that up.

So like…DiCello is going to worlds anyway. Really stuck on the decision to take Frazier, who did everything she could to hit today, or one of those who would outscore her but who had multiple falls like McClain or Greaves. I think Wong has moved onto my “definite” list even with what happened on bars. I know what I’d do based just on today, but I don’t know how the selection committee will handle any of it, hahaha.

7:26 pm. Athletes are lining up in front of Tom Forster now. We’ll see if they share scores or rankings or anything. He’s just talking at them for the time being but it’s hard to hear.

7:23 pm. Kayla DiCello FX: Double double, baby hop. 1.5 to front full. Triple wolf turn. Then a double. Switch ring to tour jeté half. Double pike with a lunge back. Well, she looks great.

7:20 pm. Olivia Greaves FX: Full-twisting double layout, pikes it down in the second flip to get the landing, but the landing is solid. Stumbled back and sat the full-in out of bounds. Front tuck through to double tuck with a stumble. Leaps are lovely. Clean, nearly stuck double pike.

7:19 pm. I still want McClain to go to worlds though???

7:16 pm. Konnor McClain FX: Full-twisting double layout comes up short and lands deep, but I don’t think she puts her hands down or knee down…front knee comes close, though. Double layout is much better on the landing. Switch ring to switch half. 1.5 to front full, hop forward. Crashes the double pike at the end and goes into the saddest ending pose ever from her falling position. Kill me!

7:11 pm. Leanne Wong FX: Double double, chest down but good feet on the landing. Whip to triple, knee/ankle form is everywhere, but she sneaks it around. Hop L turn through to switch ring, back leg not there. 2.5 to front full, stuck! Just some leg form. Hop back on the double pike.

7:10 pm. Still no scores aside from vault, in case you were wondering.

7:07 pm. Ciena Alipio FX: Double tuck, slides back into a baby lunge. Double L turn. Switch ring to switch half, back leg on the ring didn’t look fully there. Memmel turn. 1.5 to front full, small hop. She’s so lovely but the difficulty level just isn’t there, sadly. Double wolf turn. Double pike, chest low, small hop.

7:04 pm. eMjae Frazier FX: Double double! Steps back out of it. Double layout, legs apart but strong on the landing. Hit her leap series after, I think both were rings. Front through to double tuck. Double pike with a step back. Really strong work! A good, hit day for her, which should count in her favor.

7:03 pm. Some thoughts while we wait based on what we’ve seen so far…

DEFINITELY GOING – DiCello

MAYBES – McClain, Greaves, Wong

PROBABLY NOT – Frazier, Alipio

Love the last two but don’t think they will score well with hit routines compared to the other four. Wong with hit bars is stronger than either option, and same with Greaves if she can hit vault. Still not sure if they should do three all-arounders or find an AA + EF split.

We’ll see how floor changes things.

6:58 pm. Okay, sorry about the lull, we’re in the floor touch now!

6:52 pm. Olivia Greaves BB: Candle mount, triple wolf turn, a little shaky but nothing bad, double is a bit shakier but she holds on throughout, front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, mostly strong work, bhs loso is solid, switch leap to split leap to back handspring, excellent. Split ring jump, side aerial, really strong double pike!

6:51 pm. GOD that would have been such a good score for McClain’s beam without the falls…the rest was so good. She looks really good and strong compared to earlier in the season…hopefully this won’t count fully against her. She deserves to be at worlds based on this meet so far.

6:48 pm. Konnor McClain BB: Standing full is great. UGH, hands down and a fall at the end of her bhs bhs layout series. I am SAD. Switch leap to switch half to back tuck, good connections, slightly angled on the switch half, front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, strong side aerial, switch ring with a big stumble and she’s off again. Double pike, step to the side.

6:47 pm. Really impressed with beam so far!

6:44 pm. Leanne Wong BB: Switch leap to straddle jump, side aerial loso goes well for her, full L turn, wobbles slightly, switch ring, not bad, side somi, lots of air on that, looked really pretty! Connects two cross jumps with half turns, good. Front aerial, dances out of it. 2.5 dismount with a hop to the side.

6:40 pm. Ciena Alipio BB: Double wolf turn, she does the same low beam dance choreo that Kayla does, side aerial loso loso, good, front aerial, pause into split to straddle jumps, switch to switch half, maybe a little low on the latter, split leap to side somi, cross split jump half, then another cross jump, a straddle I assume, tucked gainer full off the end of the beam for her dismount.

6:36 pm. eMjae Frazier BB: Full turn, front aerial, a little adjustment before the split jump to straddle jump series, really strong amplitude on the jumps. Punch front is solid. Split ring jump, small things but not bad! Side aerial, cross split jump half, really going for those split positions, bhs layout is solid, she’s killing it! Switch ring, back leg wasn’t there…finishes with a double pike with a hop forward.

6:35 pm. Olivia Greaves is just flat back on a mat in the background, love that for her. What else can we talk about between routines?!

6:31 pm. Kayla DiCello BB: Candle mount, triple wolf turn, then a double, strong on both. Side aerial, switch leap to sissone, bhs loso loso is really solid, front aerial slow into the straddle jump to split jump but she makes the connection look fluid regardless of the speed. Cross split jump half, takes a long time into the dismount, but does a strong double tuck.

6:30 pm. WE’RE BACK! I expect about 12 mishaps in any given Flo stream and am truly disappointed with anything less.

6:28 pm. Loving this “THE ACTION IS OVER” graphic on right now. Flo streams! Will they ever impress me?

6:26 pm. Beam touch happening waaaay in the background so I won’t go skill for skill during the touch. Hopefully the camera guy moves or something for the competition routines idk.

6:25 pm. Just refreshing my stream to fix some of the audio issues I’m having…

6:21 pm. Konnor McClain UB: Weiler half to toe-on to Chow to blind full, Church, a bit close, Pak also a bit close and high, van Leeuwen, some leg form, good handstand before giants into the double pike, a few little steps back.

6:20 pm. We didn’t get any UB scores, by the way. Hopefully USAG will post scores later on.

6:19 pm. I’m wondering if the U.S. will just take three all-arounders instead of figuring out an AA + EF combo that will work? Because no combos really work in this situation.

6:17 pm. Leanne Wong UB: Nice handstand before toe full, legs apart, to Maloney (legs apart) to Pak to van Leeuwen, legs apart and she misses the catch. Back on for the van Leeuwen again, clean this time. Stalder half to straddle Jaeger, arched handstand before stalder, giants into her double layout, clean and stuck.

6:13 pm. Ciena Alipio UB: Good handstand before stalder half to piked Jaeger, a little low but catches, Pak, some leg separation, short handstand before toe full (a little late) to Maloney to Bhardwaj, legs kind of scissor kick in the air and she has to stop on the low bar. Van Leeuwen, legs scissor kick again, oof, double tuck with a hop.

6:10 pm. eMjae Frazier UB: Big Church, just some leg form, Pak is a bit messy in every way possible unfortunately, arches over the toe full but corrects her position before the Maloney to Tkachev, which is strong, front toe half, some form issues there, double layout nearly stuck.

6:09 pm. Long waits between routines and I didn’t see a score for Greaves but they only flash for a second.

6:04 pm. Kayla DiCello UB: The sound is really off so we can hear her routine before we see it, hahahaha. It’s like 30 seconds off. Here we go. Stalder full to Maloney to Tkachev, muscles through her blind change into the piked Jaeger but catches, Church, misses connection to Pak, which goes over a bit but she fights through, van Leeuwen, some arch in her back, full-out with a good landing.

Apparently she wasn’t meant to connect the Church and Pak, for some reason I’m remembering her connecting in the touch but I’m probably wrong/misremembering?

6:02 pm. Olivia Greaves UB: Stalder full, Chow half, good handstand before the blind change to piked Jaeger, Downie to Pak to van Leeuwen, pretty clean throughout, toe-on into her giants, legs apart in the full-in, hop back. Not bad!

6:01 pm. McClain’s touch goes pretty well, had a few iffy spots but got through the whole routine, just a double pike dismount.

5:59 pm. Wong up now for her touch, toe full to Maloney to Pak to van Leeuwen, minor form things throughout, stalder half to straddle Jaeger, missed a handstand after and fell. Back on for giants into her double layout, low and deep on the landing.

5:58 pm. Frazier arches over a few times in her first touch, comes off after a few swings. Alipio now, lovely stalder half to piked Jaeger, hitting handstands well, a bit wonky on the Pak, toe full almost at 180 to Maloney to Bhardwaj, legs apart and she comes off after.

5:57 pm. It sounds like they have two sets of bars going for the touch but we’re seeing one. Olivia Greaves just did a few elements and looked okay…Kayla DiCello with a nice Church and Pak, pretty much a full routine I think? Looks calm and collected after hopping on the full-out.

5:54 pm. We’re back now. Hallelujah. Bars touch should be just about to start?

DiCello with a 14.550 on vault and McClain with a 14.500, not surprising. I would have reversed the order but I guess looking back they were about equal, I think McClain’s was just more…aesthetically pleasing while DiCello’s had the power.

5:52 pm. I just saw them flash Leanne Wong’s vault score so I guess I’ve missed the others…will try to keep my eyes on the screen during the coming rotations!

Looks like we aren’t getting the bars touch because the screen just went to black…oh, it’s back. Just kidding, it’s gone again. Love this series of events for me.

5:50 pm. Leanne Wong VT: DTY, her hands were really weird on the table and she doesn’t get any real block at all, form is then pretty weak in the air, but she gets it around and lands it no problem. 14.250

5:48 pm. Ciena Alipio VT: Yurchenko 1.5, big step forward, but looked pretty good otherwise. Good upgrade for her!

5:47 pm. eMjae Frazier VT: DTY, tons of power, a little lacking in control on the landing, big step back that she slides into. 14.150

5:45 pm. Kayla DiCello VT: DTY, slight hip/knee form but really solid on the landing. 14.550

5:43 pm. Olivia Greaves VT: DTY, looked weaker than it did in the touch, twists slowly, doesn’t really get it around, and looks like she puts her hands down…or came really close to doing so. Yeah, must have touched. 13.250

5:42 pm. Konnor McClain VT: DTY, looked really strong, small step back, but her form was pretty tight and the rotation was solid. 14.500

5:41 pm. Ciena Alipio warms up a 1.5 with a step to the side, looked like she was purposely not going for a stuck landing, and then Leanne Wong loses some hip and leg form in her DTY.

5:40 pm. Kayla DiCello with a DTY in the touch, tucked her legs a bit. eMjae Frazier now with a DTY as well, hers has looked the strongest so far.

Not sure what the scores situation will be. Hopefully they’ll show them on screen!

5:39 pm. Konnor McClain warms up a DTY, just some rough leg form in the second twist but it was onto a mat. Olivia Greaves with a DTY, a little short and off to the side as well for her warmup.

5:38 pm. So far just timers from everyone. Leanne Wong is rocking a rose gold bow.

5:36 pm. The national anthem is happening for some reason…

…and now we’re going to the vault touch.

Hopefully Flo stops their ads, which have been happening every two minutes during warmups.