155: University and Pan Am Games

Manrique Larduet (CUB) urges the crowd to show their appreciation after his parallel bars routine in prelims of the Pan American Games. © Grace Chiu

This week Mary-Anne "Mez Monckton from the Australian national team, Uncle Tim and Jessica chat about:

• Pan Am Games Team Finals and All-Around Competitions:
  • Do we like Elfi Schlegel better on on ESPN or NBC?
  • We answer the most important question of the meet: Where’s Marta?
  • Cuba, Cuba and more Cuba! Manrique Larduet and Marcia Videaux Jimenez thrilled us.
  • Yamilet Peña (DOM)and the Execution score vaulting problem; should Yamilet Peña have gotten credit for her Produnova/buttahara/chalk skid mark landing?
  • If Manrique was deducted for excessive celebration, was it justified?
  • Was Daniele Hypolito (BRA), aka "Hypolito The Great” and "No Gripz Hypolitz," unfairly deducted for a fall on her beam dismount?
  • Yes, darling of the Games, Flavia Saraiva (BRA) touched the beam for a 1.0 deduction but Jessica doesn’t care.
  • Winning with a fall: the Sam Mikulak (USA) vs Manrique all-around showdown.
  • Did the US team make the right decision by not letting Donnell Whittenberg (USA) repeat his Cassina after slamming his head against the ground and possibly suffering a concussion in all-around finals?
  • Jorge “The Hair” Vega (GUA) and his ode to Japanese gymnastics.
  • Ellie Black (CAN) informed the world that she is the shield maiden of the North!
  • We love that Maddie Desch (USA) went for all her difficulty, including a laid-out full on beam.
  • Who would we put up in a team final on beam? Amelia Hundley (USA) and Ana Lago (MEX).
  University Games in Gwangju, South Korea:
  • Mary-Anne “Mez” Monckton (AUS) talks about her experiences competing at the Uni Games after nine months out for ankle reconstruction.
  • Mez talks about her coping mechanisms for handling disappointment.
  • MERS outbreak may have kept some teams at home, but the bars almost falling on judges, plastic sheets on the beds, and unpredictable schedule kept the competitors living the phrase, “be prepared for anything.”
  • The Russian training system in action: how Maria Paseka (RUS) hit her routines.
  • With a score of 92 (higher than Kohei’s in the last two Worlds), is Oleg Vernaiev (UKR) now THE legitimate threat to Kohei (JPN)?

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

• Steve Nunno is rumored to be coaching again
• Nia Dennis has left her longtime gym, Buckeye, for Legacy Elite Gymnastics in Chicago.
• Keira Brown has officially transferred to University of Pennsylvania.
• Kyla has a new skill on bars; a Bhardwaj (Pak full) and we will post the video by Deanne Hong at midnight EST Wednesday, July 15th!
• We read your feedback about Aly Raisman’s statement on eating disorders in The Body issue of ESPN magazine.

• Best Routines of 2015 So Far
• 77: Aly Raisman
• 118: Pan American Championships and the American Men at US Championships
• Episode 44: Pan Am Report and P&G Championships Preview
• 130: Mary-Anne “Mez” Monckton
• 128: Aly is Back
• 139: Steve Butcher, President of the FIG Men’s Technical Committee
• 115: Kenzo Shirai
• 72: John Orozco
• Episode 32: Sam Mikulak & 2013 Men’s NCAA Championships
• 151: Danell Leyva