“If Jordyn (Wieber) is doing her gymnastics the way she
can do it, she can compete with anybody.” —John Geddert
The early favorite could be Jordyn Wieber,
who turns 16 on July 12, the day after Bross
turns 18. Wieber opened her senior season at
the American Cup in March, when she knocked
off current world champion Aliya Mustafina.
Like Bross, Wieber has no weak event, and
unlike Bross, she holds the women’s all-around
trump card: a 21⁄2-twisting Yurchenko (Amanar).
That vault, worth 6. 5 compared with a 5. 8 for
the more common Yurchenko-double twist, is
an invaluable weapon in a quick, four-round
fight, and twice as influential across two days of
competition.
While a senior national title is nothing to
ignore, Wieber’s coach John Geddert shares
Liukin’s vision for what comes later. “We’re just
trying to take it easy through championships
because it’s a long road to worlds,” he said. “So
to be up and ready in August, and then go
through the grinder in September with the
In 2010, Rebecca Bross (opp. left) won easily
over runner-up Mattie Larson (opp. inset) and
third-place Alexandra Raisman (above). But
first-year senior Jordyn Wieber (above right)
has the potential to top them all in 2011.
training camps and qualification procedures that
USA uses, and then still have gas in the tank
for worlds, it’s a tough road.”
Geddert said Wieber has been working on
some upgrades, such as a triple twist off beam,
but is not sure if they’ll be routine ready for St.
Paul.
If it comes down to a Bross-Wieber duel, the
irony is that both gymnasts used to be at
Geddert’s gym together. “She came to us as a
Level 5, went Level 6 and was going 7, 8 when
they got the grass-is-greener mentality,” said
Geddert, who runs Twistars USA in Lansing,
Mich., with his wife, Kathryn. “She was just
like she is now: a little workaholic-type kid,
obviously very talented.”
Perhaps with the most to prove will be
Mattie Larson, the 2010 runner-up who
struggled at the Rotterdam worlds on floor
exercise, the event on which she is national
champion. She suffered a dislocated knee on a
tour-jete-full at the April national team training
camp, but has recovered well, according to All
Olympia coach Galina Marinova. Larson, 19,
also has upgraded her routines on uneven bars
and balance beam.
But as this issue went to press, Larson’s
teammate Mc Kayla Maroney was dealing
with a sore back. A first-year senior who turns
16 on Dec. 9, Maroney does an excellent
Amanar vault and had put together this floor
routine: 31⁄2 twist; 21⁄2 twist to front layout-full;
11⁄2 twist through to double back; Arabian dou-
ble. “She was doing just phenomenal,”
Marinova said. “But this Code is tough. I mean,
you cannot see healthy people with this Code.
You need to be flexible and strong, and I hope
they will change something … but probably not
until the Olympics. So many kids dealing with a
lot of injuries. Some of them are lucky, but they
cannot [be like Svetlana] Khorkina for two or
three Olympics with this tough sport right
now.”
