Katelyn Jong headlines the WAG competition at the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games
Hi everyone! A month later, I’m still trying to get out of my post-worlds exhaustion and back into covering meets. Work outside of gymnastics has been super busy and I have a lot going on in the evenings so my mental space for gymnastics has just been posting results (which is oddly relaxing for me and it’s why I’ll post a million results a week but nothing else).
But this weekend is kind of a busy one, with the Junior Pan American Games, British Championships, and the Top Gym Tournament all taking place, so I thought I’d get back into the groove by sharing how you can follow along with all of these.
JUNIOR PAN AMERICAN GAMES
Not to be confused with the Junior Pan American Championships held in June, this will be the first edition of a Junior Pan Am Games, with opportunities for young athletes to gain experience competing at an international, multi-sport event.
Held in Cali, Colombia, the Games include a combined all-around/team final, which also serves as the qualifier for event finals, identical to the format used at Junior World Championships in 2019. The men competed in the first stage of the event today, while the women begin their all-around competition tomorrow at 1 pm ET, and then apparatus finals will be held on Sunday and Monday.
Unfortunately, the live scoring and results options on the official website don’t seem to be working, and I haven’t been able to find any other sources for live scores, but I’ll try to update on Twitter when I find more information.
There is some good news, though! You can watch a free live stream of all of the sessions (and all of the sports, if you’re interested in those outside of gymnastics) thanks to the Panam Sports Channel. The commentary is mostly in Spanish but it’s been pretty strong coverage overall (and there are occasional English updates which is super helpful if you don’t speak Spanish!).
You can find the complete roster for MAG and WAG on the Cali 2021 website. For the women, the U.S. should be the frontrunners for the all-around and team golds, but there are many talented gymnasts on the roster from the Pan Am region. Brazil has a particularly strong team, and Josiany da Silva’s beam should be a standout, while Canada is sending 2021 junior national champion Aurélie Tran.
Friday, November 26
- 1 pm – MAG all-around/team final and event qualifications (subdivision 1)
- 5:30 pm – MAG all-around/team final and event qualifications (subdivision 2)
Saturday, November 27
- 1 pm – WAG all-around/team final and event qualifications (subdivision 1)
- 5 pm – WAG all-around/team final and event qualifications (subdivision 2)
- 6:30 pm – WAG all-around/team final and event qualifications (subdivision 3)
Sunday, November 28
- 1 pm – Event finals (WAG vault and bars, MAG floor, pommels, and rings)
Monday, November 29
- 1 pm – Event finals (WAG beam and floor, MAG vault, p-bars, and high bar)
Times are local to Cali, Colombia.
BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
This weekend’s national championships in Great Britain will be held for just the women, as the men already had their nationals in early September.
Most of the top competitors – like the bronze medal-winning 2020 Olympians – are sitting this meet out, likely due to the odd timing (British Championships are typically held in the spring prior to European Championships, but they were postponed this year due to the COVID-19 situation). 2018 national champion Kelly Simm will headline the meet, which will also feature first-year senior Ruby Stacey, who made her world championships debut this year, finishing 15th in the all-around final. Other seniors to watch include Ondine Achampong, Halle Hilton, and Alia Leat.
You’ll be able to watch every bit of the action on the BG Score App (available on the app store on both Apple and Android devices), which is where you’ll also be able to see the live scores.
Saturday, November 27
- 10:25 am – Espoir all-around and apparatus finals
- 4:45 pm – Senior all-around and apparatus finals
Sunday, November 28
- 10:25 am – Junior all-around and apparatus finals
Times are local to Guildford, England.
TOP GYM TOURNAMENT
This is one of the key junior competitions in Europe each year, and should be an exciting one to follow this year, especially as Romania’s Ana Maria Barbosu, who swept junior Euros in 2020, is on the list to compete, as is her teammate Amalia Puflea, who swept Romania’s junior championships this year, and then won the all-around, vault, and floor titles at the combined senior and junior national meet as well.
I haven’t seen an official roster anywhere, but in addition to Romania, we’ll also see gymnasts from Russia, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, among others.
There should be a live stream available on the Gymnos Charleroi website when the event begins tomorrow, and French gym nerd liviefromparis Is on the scene with tons of updates on her Instagram Stories – she’s definitely worth a follow!
Saturday, November 27
- 6 pm – All-around competition
Sunday, November 28
- 3 pm – Team and apparatus finals
Times are local to Charleroi, Belgium.
Article by Lauren Hopkins