|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 20, 2019 17:55:20 GMT
On Saturday, July 20, many of the country’s top elite female gymnasts will take over the KFC Yum! Center when they compete at the 2019 GK U.S. Classic in Louisville, Ky. With athletes competing on the junior and senior levels, the GK U.S. Classic is the last opportunity for female gymnasts to qualify for the 2019 U.S. Championships, the national championships for men’s and women’s gymnastics. Gymnasts who have already qualified to nationals use the GK U.S. Classic as a final tune-up for the U.S. Championships. Also, eight women are pursuing berths on the five-woman U.S. Team for the 2019 Pan American Games, which begin on July 24. The 2019 U.S. Hopes Championships, held today in conjunction with the GK U.S. Classic, features rising stars in the culmination event of Hopes program. 2018 World and 2016 Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas, and her team gold-medal World Championships’ teammates Kara Eaker of Grain Valley, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express, Morgan Hurd of Middletown, Del./First State Gymnastics, Grace McCallum of Isanti, Minn./Twin City Twisters, and Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J./MG Elite, headline the senior field. Also competing in the senior division are 2019 World Cup gold-medalist Jade Carey of Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona Sunrays, 2019 American Cup champion Leanne Wong of Overland Park, Kansas/Great American Gymnastics Express, and 2016 Olympic alternate MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights Gymnastics. The eight women vying for the Pan Am Games Team are: Sloane Blakely of Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics; Eaker; Aleah Finnegan of Lee’s Summit, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express; Hurd; Shilese Jones of Westerville, Ohio/Future Gymnastics Academy; Sunisa Lee of St. Paul, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center; McCusker; and Wong. The process for selecting the team is detailed in the selection procedures.  The competition schedule is: GK U.S. Classic – July 20 at 1 p.m. ET for juniors and 6:30 p.m. ET for seniors; and GK Hopes Championships, July 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 21, 2019 18:06:54 GMT
Fans inside Louisville's KFC Yum! Center might have been forgiven if they thought they had seen a superhero as the gymnasts were introduced on Saturday night at the GK U.S. Classic.
That's when the four-time Olympic champion - already a dead ringer for superwoman when she catapults herself into the air in any gymnastics venue - marched out having donned a cape. Well, kind of.
Biles and her World Champions Centre teammates couldn't fit their windbreakers over their uneven bar grips. So coach Cecile Landi came up with an innovative solution: tie them like capes.
"It kinda did [make me feel like a superhero]," Biles said, adding with a laugh, "I think the kids enjoyed it more than we did."
With the cape off, it was off to the races as Biles flew past the competition to win her second-straight U.S. Classic title. She totaled 60.000 ahead of 2018 World championships teammates Riley McCusker (57.900) and Grace McCallum (57.700).
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2019 18:45:55 GMT
Superstar gymnast Simone Biles easily won the All-Around at the GK U.S. Classic and confirmed her position as the top American gymnast with an impressive 60.00 score at the Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
In a very large field of 21, she won the Vault (15.650), was just fifth on the Uneven Bars (14.450), then third on the Beam (14.900) and won the Floor Exercise at 15.000.
Riley McCusker finished second with 57.900 points and was second on Beam (15.300) and third on the Uneven Bars at 14.550. Grace McCallum’s encouraging third-place finish included a tie for second on Floor (14.250) and a tie for third on the Uneven Bars (14.550).
The 2017 World All-Around Champion, Morgan Hurd, did not fare as well, finishing sixth. Jade Carey, a specialist on Vault and Floor, competed in the All-Around and placed 10 (54.950), but was second to Biles on both Vault (14.900) and Floor (tied-14.250).
Biles won her fourth All-Around title – previously in 2014-15-18 – and became the winningest gymnast ever in the U.S. Classic, breaking a tie with Aly Raisman (2011-12-16).
The U.S. Pan American Games team will be selected from this meet; eight gymnasts were in contention to go; the five who finished highest were McCusker, Eaker, Wong, Hurd and Aleah Finnegan. Summaries:
Women/All-Around: 1. Simone Biles, 60.000; Riley McCusker, 57.900; 3. Grace McCallum, 57.700; 4. Kara Eaker, 56.800; 5. Leanne Wong, 56.650; 6. Morgan Hurd, 56.500; 7. Aleah Finnegan. 55.500; 8. Faith Torrez, 55.250. Event winners: Vault: Biles, 15.650; Uneven Bars: Hurd, 14.700; Beam: Eaker, 15.400; Floor: Biles, 15.000.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 23, 2019 18:40:28 GMT
Even if sparkly leotards and four-inch beams aren't your thing, you've probably heard of Simone Biles. During the 2016 Rio Games, she was the fifth female gymnast ever and the first in the US to win four gold medals at a single Olympics. At the GK US Classic this past weekend in Louisville, KY, Simone won the all-around title by more than two whole points. It marks her fourth US Classic win and her 19th straight all-around title over the past six years.
While warming up for her gravity-defying floor routine, the 22-year-old did a tumbling pass that no woman has ever done in a gymnastics competition: a triple double. That's two flips and three twists in a tucked position. In other words, it's a triple-twisting double back.
That's a lot of flipping and twisting. Check out the incredible tumbling pass above. Simone didn't end up doing this new move in her actual routine, but when she eventually does, the Olympic Channel reports that she'll be the first woman to compete the skill.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 26, 2019 17:46:44 GMT
An impressive video that shows Simone Biles performing an incredible flip that no other woman has ever executed during a competition has left fans impressed. The 22-year-old four-time Olympic gold medalist gymnast, from Columbus, Ohio, performed the jaw-dropping flip during a training session ahead of the GK U.S. Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.  In the clip, which has racked up an impressive 300,000 views since it was shared on Twitter, the gymnast is seen perfecting a triple-twisting double tuck - a move that no woman has done in a competition to date, according to the Olympic Channel.  |
|
