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Post by Admin on Feb 27, 2021 23:18:15 GMT
Laurie Hernandez – Floor Exercise – 2021 Winter Cup - Senior Women
Score: 12.050 (4.2, 7.850)
Feb, 27, 2021 - Indiana Convention Center - Indianapolis, Ind.
The 2021 Winter Cup takes place this Friday, February 26 through Sunday, February 28 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Previously, the event has only been for men’s artistic gymnastics but this year, the Winter Cup will expand to include both men’s and women’s junior and senior artistic gymnasts. However, fans will not be able to attend the event due to COVID-19 restrictions. See below for additional information on how to watch the Winter Cup on NBC/NBCSN.
The 2021 Winter Cup marks the first premier gymnastics competition in the U.S. in almost an entire year–the last one was the 2020 American Cup which took place last March before the pandemic.
On the men’s side Yul Moldauer, Donnell Whittenburg, and Brandon Wynn are some of the big names set to compete in this year’s event. For the women, we will see 2016 Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, three-time 2019 world medalist Suni Lee, and four-time world medalist Jade Carey.
Senior Men’s Competition:
Where: Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN
When: Friday, February 26
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV Channel: NBCSN
Stream live: Watch online or with the NBC Sports App
Senior Women’s Competition:
Where: Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN
When: Saturday, February 27
Start Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
TV Channel: NBC
Stream live: Watch online or with the NBC Sports App
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Post by Admin on Feb 28, 2021 19:24:34 GMT
Olympic star Laurie Hernandez is back, and while she did not win the 2021 Winter Cup, her Hamilton-inspired floor routine was a show stopper in her first gymnastics meet since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
That's right—Saturday's competition marked Hernandez's first meet in 1,657 days.
The theatre fan's routine, which landed her in 11th place for the exercise (12.05), featured "The Room Where It Happens" from Hamilton. Hernandez first teased the floor routine on TikTok in January, sharing, "I had so much fun making this routine."
She also tweeted on Saturday that she's been listening to Hamilton's soundtrack for her warmup music, making the switch from "The Greatest Showman."
The 20-year-old also tallied the fifth-highest score on the balance beam (13.95), preparing herself for the more difficult spring and summer competitions ahead.
“It was terrifying to initially go back out there,” she said to NBC Sports. “Super watered-down routines so we could dip my toe back in the water and get the feeling of what it feels like to compete again at such a high level... I’m really excited about how today went, and I think it foreshadows a really good meet season.”
While taking a hiatus from the sport isn't uncommon because of how grueling elite gymnastics is on the body, there may have been darker reasons for the break. Hernandez's former coach, Maggie Haney, was banned by USA Gymnastics for eight years because of physically and emotionally abusing gymnasts like Hernandez and others. It was reduced to five years after Haney's appeal.
Hernandez left Haney after the Rio Games and moved to Los Angeles. She's now training under Jenny Zhang and her husband Howie Liang. USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour reported that prior to Hernandez's routine, Zhang noticed the young gymnast was struggling with a tumbling move in the floor routine and told Hernandez not to do it.
“She was like, `No, I want you to have a good time. I want you to hit and I want you to have a good time,’” Hernandez said. “She was hellbent on making sure that I enjoyed myself in my first meet back.”
As Hernandez threw her hands up to signal the end of her floor routine, the smile on her face showed that she was happy to be back.
“There was nothing expression-wise to choreograph," Hernandez said to USA TODAY Sports, "(because) I know that if I'm having a really good time, it's going to just fly out of my face."
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Post by Admin on Mar 1, 2021 20:42:32 GMT
Jordan Chiles won the Winter Cup, while Laurie Hernandez competed for the first time since the Rio Olympics in the first significant elite gymnastics meet in the U.S. in nearly one year. Chiles, a 19-year-old who trains with Simone Biles, totaled 57.05 points at the Indianapolis Convention Center largely without spectators. She prevailed by 1.95 over Shilese Jones. Full results are here: myusagym.com/meets/live/77500/results/117753/“You can kind of tell that everybody had nerves here and there,” said Chiles, who considered ending her elite career during the pandemic but ultimately deferred enrollment at UCLA for a second year. “I did what I was supposed to do when I needed to.” Most of the U.S.’ top gymnasts either weren’t at the meet — which U.S. high-performance team coordinator Tom Forster equated to a preseason football game — or chose to perform on fewer than four apparatuses. Biles passed. She’s expected to return for a World Cup in Tokyo in May, her first competition since the October 2019 World Championships. Hernandez, in her first meet in four and a half years, had the fifth-highest score on balance beam (13.95) and was 11th on floor exercise (12.05), taking out some difficulty ahead of the more important spring and summer events. “It was terrifying to initially go back out there,” she said. “Super watered-down routines so we could dip my toe back in the water and get the feeling of what it feels like to compete again at such a high level. … I’m really excited about how today went, and I think it foreshadows a really good meet season.” Chiles, the 2017 U.S. all-around silver medalist, had the highest scores on vault (14.9) and floor (13.6) and tied for the best beam score (14.5). She won in her first competition since September 2019. “The last year and a half, I honestly put in so much work to prove to myself that I can do it,” said Chiles, who moved from her native Washington to train at Biles’ gym in Texas in 2019. “I went out here and did the same thing.” |
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