Anyway, North Korea could only qualify two gymnasts to Beijing, despite their throwing the toughest skills they could imagine. Which was part of their problem...

...well, I say there's no question that the Communist state is going to send 2007 world silver medalist (and 2004 Olympian) Hong Su Jong to the Olympics; she's being groomed for the Olympics for sure. Besides, she ain't bad on uneven bars.

Here's Hong on uneven bars event finals in the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar, which she won:

That was cool. But I still feel sorry for He Ning.

And of course, here are the vaults that won Hong her first Worlds medal, following in 2003 world silver medalist Kang Yun Mi's footsteps:

That's her sister, Hong Un Jong, who's cheering her on. Hong Su Jong decided to keep up with the Joneses Cheng Fei (CHN) by pulling out an Amânar (Yurchenko 2.5 twist) and a Cheng.

Hong Su Jong qualified 10th into the 2007 Stuttgart world all-around finals--her weakest event being floor exercise. In any case, Hong's flight to Beijing (if the PRK girls even take airplanes) is solidified.

...But what about the second North Korean girl?

Possibly the strongest candidate is Hong Un Jong, the aforementioned Hong sister. (No one said they were related, but then, with North Koreans, you can't know anything, so best not to say it. But they look suspiciously alike.) Un Jong was the second-highest all-around qualifier from North Korea. I like her because she always seems cheerful and excited to be where she's at, unlike Su Jong, who is more dour.

Hong Un Jong, 2007 Stuttgart vault event finals, where she placed 4th behind Sacramone. She performed the Yurchenko 2.0 twist and the Cheng.

I love how's she's all "I did it yay!" after her Cheng.

My sentimental PRK favorite is 2004 Olympian Pyon Kwang Sun, who, to my utter disappointment, didn't compete in Stuttgart (I'm resigned to thinking that she's not likely to appear in Beijing).

Like Hong Un Jong, Pyon's a smiley type--she isn't the "stiff upper lip" North Korean so well portrayed by Hong Su Jong. I remember Pyon for her nice clean uneven bars routine and her Cute Awkward Moment with Courtney Kupets in Athens.

Pyon Kwang Sun in Doha, 2006:

She's still sticking with the old double layout dismount...is it just me, or did she do the Bhardwaj? Woo... Apparently, she did an Ezhova.

Other PRK girls, who just might emerge in years to come if they don't go to Beijing:

Kim Myong Bok, in Doha, 2006.

Her casting to handstand sucks. But...ain't she a tiny little thing? Her Comaneci is...not jaw-dropping. I suppose it's better than falling on it, though (e.g., Vanessa Ferrari).

Cha Yong Hwa, 2007 Stuttgart:

Her casting to handstand sucks too.
But OMG the Def! And the jam (that's a Luo, I think?)! I say, that Def was a helluva lot prettier than Emilie Le Pennec's (FRA).
Cha could contend with Ksenia Semenova (RUS) and Nastia Liukin if she would only work on casting, and landing her double layout well.

(I wish at least one of the PRK girls could get a new dismount; there are only so many double layouts that I can take.)

Your Potential Uneven Bars People are:

Nastia (2007 Worlds, Stuttgart)

Lots of yelling in the background. Enough said.

Shawn (2007 Worlds, Stuttgart)

(Is her dismount really that much harder than Amy Chow's double twisting double back?) Shawn is at best decent, but she's not UB event finals material. (Yet. Knowing her, she'll probably go for broke.)

Shayla (2007 Worlds, Stuttgart)

Shayla’s best UB score came in team finals: 15.575. She would have just barely made it into event finals had she done that in qualifications. She really needs to work on that shaky dismount of hers (she always seems to be taking big steps and/or falling).

Ideally, that's all we have. (Do we have anyone else eligible? I assume some juniors will be cropping up, in the style of McCool, but I don't know any juniors, except for Rebecca Bross, who's too young.)

Internationally, Bridget, Ivana, and Sam Peszek couldn't break 15, Jana's all but fallen off the radar, and Martha K. won't let Alicia train bars, even though she might have improved (only very little).
But anyway, for your consideration:

Bridget (2007 Test Event, Beijing)

Um, I really like the leotard? Other than that, it looked like she was kind of falling out of her handstands.

Ivana (2007 Worlds, Stuttgart)

It's kind of painful to watch this, not because it is bad (quite the contrary, I thought it looked very clean), but because Ivana looks really tired, and she gets a 14.800 for her pains.

I can't find a good video of Sam P. on bars (and as much as I love Sac, her bars routine hurts my eyes after I've seen the likes of Nastia) so...well, there you have it.

And as for the former world champion Chellsie Memmel...I can't find a video of Chellsie on uneven bars at the Test Event (or any time recent), but suffice to say that she is a huge question mark at this point. (That is, she didn't do well.) Now people are doubting that she’ll ever be the same on UB again. I don’t want to doubt Chellsie’s grit, but…

Today the Worlds team, including Bridget (who was wearing a gold medal too!) were interviewed on the Today Show. Duh.

Not much to report here...Shawn did say "It was such an honor." (Note she didn't use the contraction "it's". The girl is trying.)

Boots and jeans are the order of the day. Note the boot on Shawn's right leg, which I have reported on previously.

NBCOlympics.com also did interviews and things with the girls.

There was one pretty funny video that talked about how the girls were as roommates. I learned that Alicia is not a morning person, Nastia is not an evening person, Ivana is obsessed with brushing her teeth, Bridget can sleep through everything, Sam keeps losing her hotel keys, Shayla religiously takes naps, and Shawn will not sleep with the lights on.

There's an absolutely adorable picture of Jiang Yuyuan* on floor exercise--if Longines (also known as "That Watch Company in Cahoots With FIG") ever made a "Prize For Cuteness" to go along with their "Prize For Elegance" (ha), I'd nominate "Yuanyuan" quicker than it takes Shawn to say "It's such an honor."

*FIG can't frigging spell. All over their official results and reports, Jiang's name is given as "Yuyan", when it's actually supposed to be spelled "Yuyuan" as that is the correct way to pronounce it. And thus the FIG made me (I share Jiang's ethnicity and I should know the right way to spell her name) look like a fool. I didn't know it was supposed to be "Yuyuan" until I watched Chinese programming.

There's also a very sweet picture of the Romanian girls Sandra Izbasa and Steliana Nistor consoling each other during the team final. They hadn't had the best competition, and they knew they didn't deserve the bronze. Sandra is very pretty.

As disgusting as this sounds, I can't stop looking at the Chinese men's armpit hair on the front cover. Surely they could have chosen a better picture...

Oh, and I got a poster of Shawn. It's such an honor.

Speaking of Shawn, the proliferating rumors state that:

1. Shawn is having a "stress reaction" in her leg, that is, one step away from a stress fracture;

2. Chellsie is practicing her signature "jam" on bars, which is not conducive to her health;

3. Natasha Kelley is going to Glasgow for a Cup event. Good for her.

Anyway, on to more cheerful stuff.

How do I watch gymnastics? Superficially, of course (see blog sub-title). I do enjoy the routines, but for me, more than half the fun comes from watching the goings-on before and after the actual routine.

Case in point: Here’s Yang Yilin’s event finals uneven bars routine from Stuttgart.

Hear that screeching going on while she’s busy? That’s He Ning, who later ends up jiggling the barrier while waiting for Yang’s score. (Watch closely: while Yang is putting away her hand guards, the camera pans slightly to the right, and there’s He Ning.)
Funny how He Ning ends up back there; maybe the Important People got sick of her yelling and plunked her behind the barrier. Ho ho.

And here's the USA version: Alicia making lots of supportive noise for Nastia...

The close friendship between these two girls give me warm fuzzies. And also Yelena Zamolodchikova randomly coming up and giving Nast a greeting kiss. I shudder at the amount of hair clips Yang Yilin is using. And doesn't anyone else besides me wonder what Sam Peszek was whispering into Alicia's ear?

People have been complaining about how judges take too long to score the gymnasts, but aside from the suspense that such predicaments inspire (ha), I enjoy watching for little moments like the ones I have just posted above. You all should try it too.

I've recently taken a liking to Daria "Dasha" Joura, of Australia. Her sassy "Standing Yang Bo" salute used to scare the heck out of me, but now, I watch her just to see that salute:

Dasha at 2006 Aarhus.

I quite adore this picture (click for full size).

2002 Debrecen: (L-R) Ashley Postell, Courtney K., Terin H., and Sam Sheehan goofing around in a "hotel hallway in Hungary" (can you say that five times fast?), wearing the USA's "spacesuit" leotards. This was back when Courtney still had braces and looked like a (cute) dork, and before Terin started experimenting with flashy eyeshadow during meets.

2006 Aarhus: (L-R) Chellsie, Jana, Ashley Priess, Jacquelyn Johnson, Nastia, Alicia, and Natasha Kelley making pretensions to the School of Hard Knocks, with Valeri looking on sourly. Someone put this picture up on a gymnastics messageboard that I frequent, and some people started harping about how middle-class white girls should stop glorifying gang culture, ruining the humor of the whole photo. It's all well and good to oppose gangs, but are you saying the girls can't even indulge in a little satire...?

2007 Stuttgart, starring Jiang Yuyan (L) and Yang Yilin (R).
Yang: (shuffling through pockets) Dude, where's my chocolate?!
Jiang: *munch munch* Hmm?

Forget Shawn, Jiang is much much much cuter.

I actually felt very sorry for the Chinese girls after seeing this picture. He Ning looks just as devastated as the American girls were last year in Aarhus. And poor Cheng Fei is trying to be upbeat for her teammate's sake despite her disappointment. Bless her.

And now for a special treat:

Alicia Sacramone Punches Somebody!!

Apparently the guy dared Sac to punch him, and she did. Only she didn't think that it would actually hurt. HAHAHAHAHA

And I missed it. WAAAAAHHH...

I hope someone puts it up on Youtube. Please, whoever you are out there, I want to see it. No matter how bad you think Elfi, Tim and Al are, please put it up. Please please please...

In the meantime, please enjoy this montage, which I have been watching over and over again recently.
Little Cheng Fei is very cute.

Drunk last night, drunk the night before
Drunk every night, like I never drunk before!

COMING SOON: Picking an Olympic team has more drama than the Olympics itself. Rumors and conspiracies abound!

...in honour of 2007 Stuttgart. One of the two best "summary montages" I've seen of a gymnastics competition.

Uneven Bars

Nastia Liukin (USA), team final

It's so pretty in slow-motion. Tall gymnasts tend to look much better on this apparatus (I don't really appreciate Shawn Johnson's form, or Ksenia Semenova's. They're too short, but Nastia's easily one of the tallest gymnasts out there.) Which is probably why Diva Khorkina won the uneven bars event final two Olympics in a row, in 1996 and 2000.

Balance Beam

Li Shanshan (CHN), event final

Gorgeous, in spite of the fall. Sorry, Nast, I love you but...compared to this, your gold-medal routine was kind of...boring.

Vault

Jana Komrskova (CZE), event final

Not the hardest vaults, but the cleanest landings I've ever seen these days. They should have given her a higher execution score. Stupid judges.

Floor Exercise

Jiang Yuyan (CHN), team qualifications

I like Alicia's super sexy routine, but this one...had more visually pleasing elements.