What We’re Talking About
You get a 10, you get a 10, you get a 10! That’s not Oprah, that was just the start of the vault rotation for defending champions University of Michigan this week. It was also the rest of the NCAA as the meets wore on. If you were in Tokyo this summer, you probably got a 10 too. In total, there were 11 perfect 10s this week and Michigan pulled in nearly half of them with all of their Olympians ninja level 10s. This is also the perfect time to talk about the crazy-good overall quality of gymnastics being performed each week. Seriously, all the teams are sooo good. We just hope the judges start to use all the numbers available to them so that when the truly exceptional routines are performed they are able to create the appropriate separation. Yes we’re seeing a lot of 10s, but the gymnastics is so damn good across the board!
Auburn posted a program record 197.750 and lost to LSU (197.975), who apparently don’t know how to work their iPod player when Auburn is on floor. Sunisa Lee also posted the first perfect 10 in 20 years for the program. Our guess is they won’t have to wait another 20 years to see the next one.
There are great floor routines throughout the NCAA and then there’s UCLA. From top to the bottom of the lineup, each gymnast performs! They aren’t moving from pose to pose, they are transporting. Did we mention Jordan Chiles’ perfect 10 routine now has over 1 million views and so does Sekai Wright? Lest we forget just last week we mused Sekai would be the first to go viral. Just sayin’.
Feelings
- Peggy Liddick has been suspended, but after reading the report it doesn’t feel adequate.
- Not all 10s are created equal.
- Just because you posted a perfect 10 or a clean routine doesn’t mean it should go viral.
- Teams without a full-time choreographer are potentially cutting into the market value of their gymnasts because a routine of clean poses and tumbling won’t garner viral attention.
- Something to ponder : will a routine other than floor ever go viral?
- Leanne Wong didn’t score a perfect 10 this week, but it was her best floor routine of the year.
- Oklahoma posted the quietest 198+ of the season.
- It feels right that halfway through the season Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey are tied for the lead in the all-around, both with a 39.763 average.
Facts
- 198.525: The highest road score ever in NCAA history posted by Michigan this week.
- Reyna Guggino scored the second leadoff 10 ever.
- Michigan’s first
fourfive scores to start the season are the highest in NCAA… ever! - Arkansas’ Twitter profile doesn’t link to their team page, it links to linktree of equality and inclusion resources.
- All four starting U.S. Olympians posted a perfect 10: Grace McCallum, Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles.
- Ragan Smith posted the first 10 of her college career.
- Pole dance competitors get judges receipts and gymnasts still don’t!
- In total 11 gymnasts scored a perfect 10 this week: Gabby Wilson, Reyna Guggino, Natalie Wojcik, Abby Heiskell, Grace McCallum, Jordan Chiles, Haleigh Bryant, Sunisa Lee, Kiya Johnson, Jade Carey, and Ragan Smith.
Awards
- The Ten-iest Perfect 10 of all the 10s this week: Haleigh Bryant.
What’s On the Socials?
https://twitter.com/lizzo/status/1489844303484502017?s=20&t=E8tdnbYxWW_uBMDIRLnmQQ
Gym talk:
There is masterful
There is exceptional
There is perfectionScoring all 3 the same 10.0 is a huge disservice to perfection and an insult to the masterful. Gymnasts know this.
— Melissa Anne Marlowe OLY (@MissyAMarlowe) February 6, 2022
Ask and you shall receive!
All ✋ scorers from our historic vault rotation.#GoBlue 〽️ pic.twitter.com/c4dHg2KnMU
— Michigan Women’s Gymnastics (@UMichWGym) February 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/LSUgym/status/1490074376330350594?s=20&t=alFIPYOToVvbcAmNptXRUA
https://twitter.com/EBONYMag/status/1490792611917045763?s=20&t=DDcqWRFP6fjFYS3SEh2Nlg
https://twitter.com/IlliniMGym/status/1490048403790782475?s=20&t=S7oLE6YYIagbr1jOBGF-Uw
Quotes
“I think something gymnastics has been missing for a long time is the ability for your opponent to have an influence on your meet since you really can’t play defense.” ~ Justin Spring, Illinois Coach
Justin Spring discussing the new head-to-head dual meet format of teams alternating athletes on the same apparatus in a five-up, five-count scoring system he proposed, which is now being implemented.
♦
“We thought if we’ve drilled deep on one case study of one perpetrator, we would uncover examples that then turn out to be true for many other sports. And that’s exactly what happened.” ~ Marci Hamilton, founder and CEO of CHILD USA
Marci Hamilton’s group led the independent investigation into the abuses of the former doctor who shall not be named. This past week they released their case study of “Systemic Abuse in Sports Perpetrated by [you know who].”
♦
“Finally.”
~ Mary-Anne Monckton, Former Australian Elite Gymnast
Mary-Anne Monckton reacting to the National Sports Tribunal’s determination to suspend her former coach, Peggy Liddick.
♦♦♦
What? You want even more? Be sure to check out our new College & Cocktails episodes for Club Gym Nerd members on Friday nights right after the competition. Then we give the sober analysis on Monday after we’ve allowed the data to penetrate our feelings.
This column was composed and compiled by Steve Cooper, Editor, GymCastic; as performed by hosts Jessica O’Beirne and Spencer Barnes.
