2021 Olympic Trials. The Good. The bad. The ugly….. The end of trials talk

The good…

Sunisa Lee beat Simone Biles night 2 of trials. No one has done that in… well I don’t remember how many years but it’s still something Suni should be proud of. I had a sort of Epiphany, a dream, more like a kind of idea in my head a few weeks ago that Suni would win the 2021 Olympic gold medal in the All-Around after Simone fell twice. I kept coming back to, “I know it won’t happen but… ” but then Suni had the lead against Simone after bars and beam on night one and I was like….. but then I thought to myself, vault and floor still have to happen but then night 2 was about to begin and Simone had a mistake on bars.. and then she fell on beam and I was like, look I’m ******* Nostradamus. Okay, kidding (half kidding aside actually ) Suni should be very proud for doing her job at Trials improving enough on day to do the impossible, beat Simone without her falling twice.

I might be annoyed with Simone’s attitude as of late but Irregardless, if you’re not amazed at some of the aspects of her ability to fly to the rafters then I just don’t know what to say to you. She doesn’t have the form she used to but what she does do is still better than 78% of the gymnasts at Trials. (Basically, anyone not trained at GAGE and Suni Lee) There isn’t going to be a gymnast like Simone for a very long time, if ever, and I’m trying to appreciate her more while she’s around. (While secretly hoping she retires so we don’t know who wins before it happens)

Did I mention how happy I am that Mykayla Skinner made the Olympics? 🙂 It isn’t about a medal (though I think she can beat Jade on vault if given fair judging) It’s about a female, a teenager at the time defending herself against a huge injustice and being told she should just shut up. Simone Biles talks of a fake agenda against her dominating the planet ( over the value of her difficult skills) and the world praises her even though it’s a complete lie but Mykayla defends herself by retweeting some tweets and people have vilified for life over a few tweets created by SOMEONE ELSE? Nah. CONGRATULATIONS MYKAYLA! You’re an Olympian and no one can take that away from you.

Jordan Chiles crying even while still finishing her floor routine. Even I wanted her to hit at that point. I am going to start calling her Tabitha Yim. I like nothing better than seeing someone I had written off prove me wrong. When she didn’t fall at Nationals I truly expected her to tank Trials. She didn’t. You have to respect that. The good thing about Jordan is, why she comes across as kind of (what’s the words??) extroverted, ad nauseam (AkA really loud and attention seeking) she isn’t a cocky asshat so while she’s loud she’s still likable (when she isn’t being loud) so that means I get to be happy for her. Congrats Jordan.

Leanne Wong, Kayla Dicello, Kara Eaker and Emma Malabuyo. Your alternates make a pretty decent Olympic team if you ask me. I also think this team could win a medal if put up against the rest of the world. Each member had an up and down trials but you could actually make a case for each one of them making the Olympic team as an individual. There highlights… Emma on beam. (Night 2. Can’t find a video) Kara on beam. Kayla on floor… and Leanne on floor

The Bad…..

Emily Lee getting injured on her first pass. In the past, ( as in 2 weeks ago) NBC would have had us staring at Simone sitting in a chair brushing her teeth but NBC was going to give Emily Lee her 5 minutes of fame on Nationals television but instead all we got to see was her get hurt.

The ugly…

The injury to Skye Blakely A 2 second lack of concentration and her dream was over. Skye Blakely could have been a surprise at this trials. Her beam when hit is top-notch. She has periods of consistency and she 100% could have been in the alternate position if she didn’t get injured. The reason I didn’t put this as the bad and Emily as the ugly is Emily’s chance at the Olympics was over when she got injured. Poor Skye never got the chance to make the team. That sucks.

I will end this with two things. One, while there was some controversy over the actual team the right 6 gymnasts get to represent the US at the ” 2020 ” Olympics. Marta part deux didn’t take the bars specialist that didn’t even deserve to be here by his “rules” He did the right thing and named the 5 top All Arounders. Even if some people (me included think it was in the wrong order. (I can’t remember the second reason so we end here:)

What were your favorite moments. Routines. Favorite anything???

I REMEMBER NOW. I was supposed to end the ugly with a picture of Nastia in her trials outfit from night 2. 🙂 Damn that would have been a good one but looking at her still makes me ill so can’t do that 🙂