Australian MAG Worlds Trials

Australia had its men's world championships trials on Saturday in Canberra. Sam Offord came 1st and Sam Simpson came 2nd. Josh Jefferis had an off day with problems on floor, rings and high bar to drop out of all around contention, but he should still make the team for some individual apparatus. Philippe Rizzo also had some problems, missing his def on high bar. Prashanth Sellathurai showed an incredibly difficult pommel horse routine with a D-score of 7.0, including a brand new skill which could possibly get named after him. But I won't tell you what it is just yet. You'll have to wait until worlds for that.

Aus WAG Worlds Trials

Trials for the Australian WAG worlds team were held on Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday). The results are due to be released today. With a maximum of 4 girls being selected for worlds this year (I think), it is likely that Lauren Mitchell and Shona Morgan will be on the team. Georgia Bonora and Emma Dennis didn't compete at nationals, but if they are back in reasonable shape they should also make the team, but Britt Greeley and Larissa Miller (for bars) will also have a shot at making the team.

US Men's Worlds Team

The US men's worlds team has just been announced and I am a little surprised. The team is Jonathan Horton, Alexander Artemev, Tim McNeill, Danell Leyva, Steven Legendre and David Sender. I am a little surprised at the inclusion of Sender and Artemev. I am surprised at Sender's inclusion, not because of his performance, but because he said that he would not be competing at worlds and that VISA championships would be his last competition as he is starting vet school. However, his day 1 performance certainly warrants his inclusion for at least floor, rings and vault. I am surprised at Artemevs inclusion on the other hand basically because of the hefty pommel scores put up by McNeill and also Daniel Ribeiro, making Artemev only the 3rd best pommel horse worker in the US. Ribeiro put up a 15.9 (6.8 D-score) on day 1 and McNeill put up a 15.6 (6.7 D) on day 2. In the past Artemev has only shown a 6.1 D-score and only put up 15.35 and 15.25 at the Olympics, and with his recent injuries it is unlikely that he will have been able to upgrade his routine. Admittedly, Ribeiro and McNeill only hit on 1 of the 2 days, but Artemev is also not known for his consistency, and could not have gained selection based on this.