Guadalajara: thank God for some more gymnastics

After a controversial, and at times delightfully surprising World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan the gymnastics' communities eyes turn to Guadalajara, Mexico.
Like the Asian Games, the Commonwealth, European and the Pacific Rim Championships, the Pan American Games brings some of the world's best gymnasts together for some fierce competition.
The Pan Ams have brought to the fore some great names of the sport and anticipated some big wins: Shawn Johnson is one of them. And she will be back for more.
As a warm up for that, let's have a look at who to expect at these Pan Ams.

1. The USA powerhouse:

The Americans have dominated this competition for a while and this time around will not be different. Martha Karolyi's team is coming with some heavy hitters:

Two World All-Around Champions (and 2008 Olympians). It is really a luxury of the US, and the US only, that their B team has this kind of gymnastics.

Shawn Johnson needs to prove herself here and I think this is the perfect stage. Her lack of difficulty will not affect her ability to win in this competition yet it is the opportunity to show Martha (and everyone that has doubted her) that she has the gymnastics and above all, the mental toughness. In my opinion Shawn needs to go full out. Being a strong all-arounder is really important for her and her chances of being in the Olympics depend on that.

She needs to hit her handstands on bar, have no wobbles on beam, and a big and beautiful vault. Doing floor would really make a strong case. She needs to make those judges believe it. At Visas her vault looked like it could take another 0.5 twist if she pushed it and rumors are she has a full twisting double layout on floor. I think she needs to put it all out there... and a big smile. This competition could be her ticket to Pacific Rims and from there to the Olympics. One thing however is paramount, she can not take any risks... upgrading could be really great, but slow and steady wins the race, she do well to remember that. If Shawn is going to do the all around is up in the air, but it will be great for the fans if she does.


Bridget Sloan: I have never been a huge fan of Bridget's gymnastics, I honestly don't like her vibe, she looks like she cannot be bothered, and that bothers me. Nevertheless she is a great gymnasts and I believe she can come back from these series of injuries, but she is going to need something all know she is not a fan of: big time training.

The last time that we saw her: Visa and Worlds 2010 things got tricky. She looked injured and not in top form and kind of frustrated at herself. Bars could be great for her and she needs to use it. She also needs to do the all around and deliver because these girls are running out of chances to prove themselves.

Bridgette Caquatto: Ohhhh Brigie...
Caquatto really concerns me, yes the Visas was very much of a splat fest, but Bridget did not give us anything to work with and her position in this B team proves Martha does not trust her... she needs to change that! She has some great gymnastics, and if this bar routine pays out for once she can show Martha the team needs her and put herself in a great position for next year. I believe she will one day make a hell of a Gator, but I hope she can get some international experience and fulfill some elite dreams first so she does not do like her sister and keep coming back for more (and overworking herself to injuries!)

I love Bridget, but...
Dear Wu Juani, what is up with this choreography? I don't know if you choreographed it per se or if Bridget is incapable of performing it, but someone needs to be held responsible, and I blame you... If Brestyan can get Raisman to perform something that resembles choreo, Bridget has to do better than this.
I am hoping Caquatto is going to go in and hit big because this is a huge opportunity for her to prove herself. Go Bridgette!!!

It is a shame we will not get to see Chellsie Memmel at the Pan Ams, she is fabulous and her come backs are legendary. I wish her a speedy recovery...

Grace McLaughlin will replace Memmel, she, like most of her team mates at WOGA, is great at bars. Liukin knows how to teach them to swing. I have seen Grace perform live a couple of times and I like her style. If she goes in and hits big routines for the US, we might even see Liukin a little happier. He is a great coach, but he tends to get pissed off and pout a lot when things don't go his way, and we all know this season things have not gone his way. The frustration he shows toward his girls when they do not hit is palpable and upsets me at times, I like coaches of the more encouraging type, however, he is one of the best and sometimes we just have to take the good with the bad.

She has some great skills, her beam is packed, and check out her first tumbling pass on floor... But she needs that consistency and cleanliness to medal. She could sneak in there as many people would be looking at some more famous team mates, she has the skills and the style, that is for sure.

Jessie De Ziel is another great gymnasts that can bring in some good scores for team USA. She does not have very high D scores, but she is consistent in what she does. She needs to clean up: stretch those feet and knees, but she is a solid contributor, and that is what counts. For some of the gymnasts here the opportunity of an international assignment can count a lot towards more experience for their future in elite or NCAA, Jessie is one of those.

One thing that caught my attention when looking into DeZiel's routines is that she had been training the Amanar. In this competition I am not expecting any woman to compete this skill, if Jessie can land it then things get a whole lot more exciting and she can surprise. In this training video she seem to be doing a good job, she has a strong run, is hot of the top of the vault and wraps her twist in very fast, but e don't know about the landings... Who knows what 5 months of training can have done to this vault... I am hoping for a big, delightful performance by DeZiel, whatever she plans to put out there.

Brandie Jay: I like her vaulting, not the most difficult, but she is clean, and in this video she sticks the 1.5 Y, which I am all for...

I like her bars too. The 6.0 D score is good and the combinations, especially the 1.5 to Markelov is quite interesting. She needs to be cleaner, particularly on floor, but with some great routines she will be good asset.

This promises to be a great opportunity for some of the less known Americans to get their day in the sun, as well as some starts to mark their comebacks.
I really believe Martha should send these B team Americans to World Cup events and give them a chance to shine... It is really a shame that some of them train all their lives and because of the depth of the team never get to compete internationally, this could be a solution to allowing more people a piece of the pie.