Ragan Smith: Countdown to Rio

Reagan Smith Wins The American Cup



On the women’s side, Smith recovered from an uncharacteristic miscue on balance beam to post the top score on floor exercise and win the American Cup on Saturday. Smith won the American Cup all-around with a dominating 56.099. Second-place Asuka Teramoto of Japan finished with a 54.231, while Melanie De Jesus dos Santos of France finished third with a 53.889. This was Smith’s first major international meet for the Americans since the Summer Games.



It can be argued that the women’s competition at the 2017 American Cup is lacking in terms of star power with the absence of Simone Biles, Gabrielle Douglas, Aly Raisman and others, but a new star could have been born in the name of Reagan Smith.



The impressive list of former American Cup champions includes 2016 Olympic all-around gold medalist Simone Biles, 2012 Olympic all-around gold medalist Gabby Douglas, 2008 Olympic all-around gold medalist Nastia Liukin and silver medalist Shawn Johnson, 2004 Olympic all-around gold medalist Carly Patterson, along with “Fierce Five” member Jordyn Wieber as well as Shannon Miller and Mary Lou Retton. Now, add Smith to that list.



“It’s amazing to add my name to that list especially since my coach [Kim Zmeskal] did it also. Now she has a gymnast who has done it with her.” Smith said after winning the American Cup.

The meet started off flawlessly for Smith, as she scored a 14.433 on vault and 14.4 on uneven bars with a clean Jaeger and stalder Tkatchev.



However, on beam—usually her signature routine—she stumbled and fell off and got a score of 13.266 on the event. However, Smith rebounded with a strong performance on floor to score a 14.000.



“Even though I had a mistake on beam, I just brushed it off and showed myself what I can do do on floor,” Smith said. “I just made a little error, things happen, I’m not always perfect, obviously. But besides that, I thought I did a good job.”