The Paradox of Choice

Wow. What a phenomenal job they've all done.
Hell, it's our 2018 Worlds team right here.

Now that event finals have concluded I think I can safely say I'm more confused than ever. I had hoped a couple of falls in the finals would settle the matter for us, but the women are working overtime to impress everyone. I'm impressed alright. We continue to see very few flaws from the top girls and, dare I say, they've passed the point of aiming for "not bad" and are actually performing amazing feats of gymnastics...at a domestic meet!?!? Is it the consequence of an enthusiastic crowd? Do-or-die pressure from the head coaches? The only year Simone Biles is not competing at Worlds? I have no idea what to make of this miracle but I've lost all ability to make decisions thanks to no one letting up.

The vault final was the least exciting affair but at least I got to see Eleonora Afanasyeva's powerful DTY (14.750) and tidy podkopayeva take her to her first ever major title. Melka's dty was a dud (nearly saluted on top of a judge) and Victoria Trykina's dty was really nice despite the off center landing. How strange to see the country with so many doubles, even if some girls will never see international competition. Remember when we raised Nabs from the dead because we needed this vault for Worlds? Good times. In addition to others who didn't compete at the Cup we actually have enough dty's to never unretire Tatiana again. Not that she minds.

The bars final was the instrumental one. This was where Iliankova was supposed to score only marginally better than others which would in turn make me feel better about leaving her off my hypothetical Worlds team.

Nope. 

The three podium finishers were the three bar workers I've been raving about since last quad, the holy trinity sent to deliver us from the 'Mustafina Twin Syndrome' routine that took over amongst many seniors and prevailed worldwide. As seen above, Iliankova is physically incapable of making her 6.2 bar routine look as difficult as it is. When I hear a girl's got a shang, hindorff, maloney, and an ezhova in her routine I'm expecting to see disruptive flow and bumpy swing. But Anastasia has laid this routine out the right way and, although I usually disdain consecutive tkatchev releases, the transitions appear seamless. You'll recall she had a back injury on the mend so I applaud her use of gutsy connections to make up for missing inbars so typical in the Russian ub set. Elena Eremina grabbed silver after a technical issue allowed her to redo her first routine where she fell on the inbar 1/2. Her second attempt proved sufficient despite not hitting her major connection. But here, as everywhere with this one, she doesn't panic about her mistake and the way she continued the routine makes me think she had already judged, midair, that she couldn't get a connection out of it. The nabieva+ pak+ chow 1/2 looks competition ready but the combination is so risky that she could mess up without any credible reason. Theoretically she has a 6.4, but Lena's spent all her time working on the nabieva and forgot the jaeger needs a worthy level of dedication to get it laid out as well. Uliana Perebinosova rounded things out with one of the cleanest sets I've seen from her, the messiest moment coming from the tweddle+ezhova combo but it wasn't even terribly untidy either. She's a terrific all arounder, strong on three events, but she stepped wrong a few times over the weekend and in a field of standouts her errors were like glaring arrow signs. Uly counted an 11.650 on floor and a 12.475 on beam so her name is definitely out of contention for Worlds; if it's any consolation to her fans she would've needed to win more than one event to turn our heads. She's a girl to keep in mind for every major comp next year, to be sure. But this bars final was about the defiance of Iliankova.

Valentina prolly telling the girls how disappointed she is in them. She was rooting for them in Taipei.
They were all rooting for them. They betrayed her. 

In my previous article I locked in a team of Paseka, Eremina, Melnikova, and Kharenkova. I believe the Rodionenko's think of Paseka's vaults as a safety blanket and they're too spoiled by her d-score for them to be cured of that habit. But...at the same time, the Rod's would send Kharenkova to Worlds after one successful meet and then complain about it later if she doesn't hold up her end of the medal winning bargain. So I still believe that my chosen team encompasses their:
a) love for Lena
b) belief in Gelya as heir to the AA throne since 2015
c) "instalove" for breakout gymnasts
d) tendency to use vets as a crutch

But who knows what they'll decided when Iliankova has demonstrated they're just as likely to lose a gold medal by keeping her home. We now know that Hong un Jong isn't attending Worlds which gives Paseka the equivalent of Nastia's golden bars but in a very less challenging field than the one Anastasia would be stepping into. No matter how excellent Nastia's bars are, others like Darwael or whatever Chnese team comes together might produce a similar d-score, if not her execution. We could take Nastia's 15.267 to Worlds (a deserved score btw) all the while knowing that Lena and Melka have upgraded and could make the final too. I'm confused because on the one hand the head coaches are expecting to seriously challenge for gold on bars and their best bet is Nastia but on the other hand it's never been easier for a vault gold if Paseka can get her head out of her ass and do what she normally does when we really need her to come through. Oy. My gut feeling is cold hard strategy: I'd rather drop our best bar worker because we have depth in that area than leave our best vaulter when we have none to fill her podium place.

FORGIVE ME NASTIA

But we could just leave Kharenkova at home. Honestly, that might be the responsible thing to do. Seems her lengthy time away from the public has incapacitated most, myself included, into forgetting that Masha typically looks steady at home- and even in podium training- but for one reason or another never hits under pressure at Worlds. She seems so much more sure of herself and her difficulty on fx and bb doesn't overshadow a very refined style of execution. Kharenkova's top d-score on beam is a 6.4 but she won't be awarded that difficulty since the switch ring and split ring are never connected in a timely manner. Still, she deserved to win the beam final on Sunday, and I can't fathom how Melka occupies that spot! There are two types of accuracy: the first pertains to landings, the second addresses the requirements of the skill, and in the latter area I think Maria's leaps are not fulfilling their necessary extension to define them as being done accurately. But the same could be said- and worse- about the leaps Melnikova attempted. Additionally, Melka's layout was inferior to Masha's so I think there should've been a wider gap between them and with the positions reversed. Beam is where Eremina will always shine for me, difficulty be damned. Every movement is studied to its specific measurement of flourish and, like Aliya, she uses decorative choreography advantageously, covering any unsightly wobbles. I hope that the new mount took all her anxiety away and she performs identically in Montreal.



On floor, the golden girl was Kharenkova whose stunning floor routine gave Russia a second crowning moment by having the highest ranked floor score in the world (in addition to AA). Her dlo, whips thru to 2.5 punch front and double tuck were all stuck, and the gomez and double L to double turn combo were completed without looking rushed. The music isn't my favorite but it's suitably dramatic for a comeback (she KNEW she was gonna slay) and her movements and demeanor compliment the tension of the musical piece. The most awesome routine she's ever done. I feel blessed.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Eremina continued to grace us with her consistency and snagged another silver medal, this time on floor. Despite a lack of gold medals, I don't consider her as someone who can only pick up the leftovers. I think scores are going to come down for everyone but hers shouldn't drop as drastically and consistency tends to win the race so I'm hoping to see her defy expectations in Montreal. She is the only gymnasts to win a medal on every qualified event and she did it with scores in the 14's. Molodets Lena. Angelina had a hard time on floor with some low landings finally leading to a collapsed double pike. It's no surprise to see this happen because I know fatigue sinks its claws into her around this time and it's why I was surprised she became our European floor champion. She won't be getting a World title with this routine and it's not for the obvious fall but because she keeps rushing things and it's making her performance look unpolished, and leaving some dance elements incomplete. Her skittish landings always draw attention to her lack of control. Like it somehow looks worse when she doesn't stick a pass than when Maria or Lena don't do it. The next four weeks will restore her but something I've begun to realize is she's not a composed competitor and will never relax. Gelya's emotions are on her face when things don't go exactly to plan and it usually doesn't lead to her recollecting herself, it leads to her rushing, which is the surest way to make more mistakes. I think experience, the right kind of positive experiences, will slowly destroy this negative trait of hers to urgently seek the finish line.



If we go based off the medal winners at the Cup, Paseka can't make this team. With the exception of vault, we have our champions on every event and Lena who is a solid second finalist to any of them (don't be surprised if she outscores them either!). If Paseka gets on this team she'll be under more pressure and scrutiny than in Rio, I believe. But that's the price you pay when you are given something you've earned least of everyone else. From a practical standpoint it would annoy me if they left Paseka at home but in every other way imaginable I am okay with her being substituted for either Masha K or Ilya. After all, the motto of this federation is "we will win with beauty." So there's a special hell for any fan who chooses Paseka's difficulty over beautiful creative gymnastics from other girls. And in that hell a compilation of soft kneed loso's is playing on a loop. It's what I deserve.



The lack of any noise from Valentina is a pretty good indication that staff have no definite course of action. They're about to take five girls to Worlds and eleven minutes before the deadline make a final decision about who should compete. And honestly, I can sit here and talk about the merits of this person over another but that's not typically how they pick their teams whether there's depth or not. Bringing five girls to Worlds encompasses their:

a) well known history of waiting until the last minute to make a decision about everything.

What's more plausible than that?