These world championships were definitely crazy, so here are just a couple of my favorite moments!
1. Great Britain winning bronze in team finals
There were so many amazing moments, but I think this has to be my favorite! I've been a fan of Great Britain since the beginning, and I've always wanted only the best for them. The british has improved immensely over the years, and all their hard work has paid off. They competed incredibly in team finals, and ultimately edged out Russia by less than 5 tenths of a point. While I love Russia, GB deserved this win, after hitting every event. It was refreshing to see another country break into the "big 4", and their reaction to this definitely made me shed a few tears. It was truly an amazing moment for british gymnastics. This performance was historical, as they have never won a team title. Plus they achieved this in front of a home crowd!
Final score: 172.380
Team Members: Claudia Fragapane, Kelly Simm, Rebecca Downie, Ellie Downie, Ruby Harrold, Amy Tinkler, Charlie Fellows
Team GB with their bronze medals (PC- Christy Ann Linder)
2. Larisa Iordache- AA Finals
After Romania had a heartbreaking performance in team qualifications (Not going to lie, I cried..), and failed to make team finals, it was awesome to see Larisa Iordache have some success. She didn't qualify to any event finals, but qualified to All Around finals in 16th with a score of 55.698. Iordache was clearly angry and upset about Romania's performance in prelims, and came into the AA finals with fire. She started on beam, and managed to stay on. It wasn't up to her full potential, but still scored a 14.766. On floor, she performed beautifully for a 14.475. On vault, she competed a solid double twisting yurchenko for a 15.066. On her final and weakest event, bars, I was holding my breath through her whole routine. After a fall in prelims, she came back and nailed her bar routine to the best of her ability for a 14.8. She went from 16th to a bronze medal finish with a total score of 59.107. I love Larisa, and seeing her smile after tears in prelims, was amazing. I bawled tears of joy at this all around podium.
Larisa Iordache on beam during AA finals
Iordache and her coach after a fantastic bar routine
Larisa on the AA podium
(All PC- Christy Ann Linder)
3. Simone Biles
There's no words to describe Simone, she is simply incredible. At this championships, she became the first woman to ever win 3 consecutive World All Around titles. After picking up the team, AA, beam, and floor gold medals this year, she has a total of 10 gold medals. This tops the previous record held by Svetlana Khorkina, Gina Gogean, and Larisa Latynina. In total, she has 14 world medals, which puts at a tie with Larisa Latynina for the third most world medals collected. Svetlana Khorkina still holds that record with 20 medals. But, it took Khorkina 10+ years to collect 20 medals, while Simone Biles has collected 14 in only 3 years. With her strong chance of winning AA in 2016 Rio, she will most likely have dominated the whole quad. She is so far ahead of the competition, that she still won AA by her largest margin yet after having a big wobble on beam, an out of bounds on floor, and a hop on vault.
Simone Biles with her 3rd consecutive AA gold medal
Biles on floor during AA finals
(All PC- Christy Ann Linder)
4. The Netherlands Qualifying to Rio
The dutch team had a historical performance in qualifications, and qualified to team finals, while also securing a spot for Rio in the process. They also qualified a gymnast, Lieke Wevers, to AA final. Sanne Wevers and Eythora Thorsdottir qualified to beam finals. While the Netherlands doesn't have huge difficulty, their artistry and execution makes up for it. I'm so happy that their gorgeous lines, execution, and artistry were finally rewarded.
TQ Score: 222.354
TF Score: 162.730
While they placed last (8th) in both prelims and finals, they accomplished a lot at this championships, and I'm so proud of them. Also, Sanne Wevers brought them home a silver medal on beam!
Team Members: Eythora Thorsdottir, Sanne Wevers, Lieke Wevers, Lisa Top, Tisha Volleman, Mara Titarsolej
The Netherlands after finding out they qualified in the top 8 to finals and Rio
(PC- Sports Visuals)
Sanne Wevers (left) with her silver medal on beam
(PC- Christy Ann Linder)
5. Maggie Nichols
While Maggie hasn't always been a favorite gymnast of mine, I've fallen in love with her this past year. Since her injury at the 2014 Pan American championships, she has improved A LOT! After finishing in second place at this year's P&G Championships, she was almost a lock for the worlds team. Going into worlds this year, a lot of people had her as the alternate, as she wasn't top 3 on any event. But she has definitely proved herself as a true contender for Rio. It was between Olympian, Aly Raisman, and Maggie for AA in qualifications. The spot went to Aly, preventing Maggie from competing in AA finals. But she did qualify to floor finals! After a tough competition for Aly in prelims, Maggie competed all around in team finals. She scored 59.232. In floor finals she had an excellent routine. She secured her first individual medal, bronze, after scoring a 15.
Maggie Nichols on floor
Nichols with her bronze medal on floor
(PC- Christy Ann Linder)
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