9:15 p.m.: And with that, podium training at the 2012 London Test Event concludes. The men's competition begins tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. London time. Good night from London!
9:11 p.m.: Elizarova tumbled only layouts on floor. Lovely routine though.
8:59 p.m.: Tunney on floor. Big music for such a little girl. Stylistically, this is a very mature routine, with mature choreo, which she is still growing into a little bit. But if you're looking for the future of British Gymnastics, it's in this arena.
Cool combo on uneven bars from one of the Koreans: stalder full to immediate Geinger. Another has a lovely routine with Markelov and beautiful double layout dismount.
8:57 p.m.: Galiulina and Dariya Elizarova, the two Uzbeks, seem a bit tired this evening. Random speculation: Elizarova is having some problems with her tumbling, which makes me wonder if she's injured or has been so recently.
8:51 p.m.: The groups are on their way to their last events of this podium training session. The British, the Uzbeks and Adlerteg will be on floor. The mixed group including Greece will be on vault, Brazil on beam and Korea on bars.
Straightaway on floor (to put it in the British parlance), Tunney impresses again, opening with an ambitious whip to immediate double Arabian, though she sits it down. Ditto a 1.5 to 2.5.
8:43 p.m.: Jonna Adlerteg fell once during her full set on beam (front somie) but stuck her double pike dismount. Up now: Poland's Marta Pihan-Kulesza, who has an awesome front aerial, side aerial combo -- so smooth! Pihan is recognizable by her hair, which is always cornrowed at the scalp, with rows dyed the colors of her leotard.
8:37 p.m.: Jocelyn Hunt full beam routine: Splits mount. Jumps. A little wild on bhs, layout, but saves it. Off on a jump element. Sits roundoff, double pike dismount.
Barbosa looked decent on bars. A few small form breaks but OK swing. Step on her double layout that she'll want to fix.
8:35 p.m.: Luisa Galiulina on beam: Hands down on roundoff, double pike dismount but otherwise a good routine.
Tunney on beam: Punch front. Switch side. Front aerial. Off on bhs, back pike. Observation: She has the bodyline (and bun) of a young Shannon Miller. She's one to watch for in the future.
8:29 p.m.: Daiane dos Santos on bars: Giant full to immediate turn to el-grip, which was cool. Also hop full to Tkatchev. She gives away a little bit of form here and there on this event, but that routine must carry a decent start score.
Vasiliki Millousi was excellent on floor as usual, although she had a bit of a problem with her Memmel turn.
Erceg on floor: Triple full to mount. 1.5 to front full. 2.5 twist to end. Such fun choreography. Everyone loves the suit leo. Arena announcer: "Dressed to the nines there, that was Tina Erceg from Croatia."
8:27 p.m.: On vault. Jo Hyunjoo is working both a DTY and a nice looking layout Podkopayeva.
8:22 p.m.: Fashion note! Salmon colored running shoes for all the Koreans. Worn with their leotards as they march from event to event.
8:16 p.m.: Great international class bar routine from Jonna Adlerteg of Sweden on uneven bars, including Shaposh, Maloney, Pak, Jaeger, kitchen sink and double layout.
8:14 p.m.: The Koreans are having some problems on floor...they don't look incapable of their difficulty, they're just a little bit off. Not quite as seasoned as they were at Worlds, perhaps.
8:10 p.m.: Brazilians on vault: Gomes has a good Yurchenko 1.5, as does Daniele Hypolito (who trained a Podkopayeva second vault). Barbosa has a DTY. Overall, they are the most powerful team on this apparatus, with the best technique from gymnast to gymnast.
8:07 p.m.: Wow again for Rebecca Tunney! Awesome combo on bars: Church (toe on piked Tkatchev) to immediate Pak. Very, very cool stuff. Hunt on bars is also quite impressive. The Brits have been keeping these two under wraps, it appears.
7:57 p.m.: DTY for Jade Barbosa on vault. She was quite decent on floor as well, and appears recovered from the freak ankle injury sustained during world finals on vault.
One of the Koreans has a great double layout on floor, and follows up with a full in pike. On the Korean front, they have a new senior, Song Jihye, who is exciting. Unfortunately, Kyun Jin Park injured herself in December (arm) and Jo Hyunjoo is not in the best shape either.
7:54 p.m.: Uzbeks on vault: A fairly weak handspring front tuck half from Luisa Galiulina, who is unrecognizable without her trademark socks.
7:53 p.m.: If Korea had been paired with any team in the world in Tokyo besides China, they would have felt great about their beamwork. Alas, the Koreans and Chinese worked side by side all through the training sessions, which probably didn't do a lot for the team's self confidence. But make no mistake: they are really, really good on beam, and they're showing it now.
7:52 p.m.: Erceg on bars: Comaneci salto right off the bat, but bends her legs on her Jaeger.
7:51 p.m.: Over on bars, Vasiliki Millousi of Greece, in a sleeveless black and orange/gold sleeveless leo, is being her usual goddessy self. Beautiful work.
7:46 p.m.: Daiane dos Santos on floor: Double layouts as her first and third passes. Second pass is punch front to double Arabian. She seems to have taken out some of her difficulty for this meet, which is probably team strategy. Her difficulty is eye-popping of course, but often earns her execution deductions. Playing it safer is probably a good move for the team.
7:43 p.m.: As they were in Tokyo, the Koreans are impressive on beam. Good tumbling, solid stuff all around. Not a lot of weakness on this event.
7:40 p.m.: Also here are two young women from Great Britain. One, Rebecca Tunney, a new senior, jumps out immediately because she is doing a DTY on vault. Wowza. The other, Jocelyn Hunt, is known for her exceptional form, though she has not competed too much internationally during the past couple years.
7:36 p.m.: Korea is on beam, in lovely sleeveless red and blue leos. They were so impressive at Worlds, and there are high hopes for them here. A mixed group, including the amusing Croatian Tina Erceg (in full "suit" leotard) is on bars, with another on vault.
7:34 p.m.: Now on floor: Brazil. The Brazilian women instantly make an impression on floor, especially Daiane dos Santos, who recently had a powwow with Oleg Ostapenko. She can still fly -- and all she has to do to prove it is a simple layout.
6:17 p.m.: And with that, the third session of women's podium training comes to an end. Session four, featuring the Brazilians and the Koreans, as well as Poland, Uzbekistan, Greece, Austria and Croatia begins in an hour and 15 minutes. Stay tuned!
6:13 p.m.: With five minutes to go in this session, World beam finalist Inshina does a lovely beam routine...and then falls on her side somie. Ah, the frustration spent getting to perfection! She's working beam like she's mad at herself for struggling on bars.
6:06 p.m.: Bars was a problem for Italy at Worlds (in the training, not the competition) but they look much more at ease here. Deagostino and Fasana are helping quite a bit, particularly Deagostino, who has a nice clean swing and double layout dismount.
Fasana works bars like a young Ferrari -- particularly notable is their identical technique on front giants.
6:03 p.m.: Inshina was in tears after her hard bars session, but looks better so far on beam. Nice double pike dismount there. "She's stressed," Eric said.
Grishina, meanwhile, looks quite good. She's had a fall or two so far on beam, but it does not appear to be a manifestation of big problems. In fact, she looks pretty dead on on her acrobatic elements. Like Komova in 2010. Truly impressive on bars and beam.
6:00 p.m.: You know, the more I see Valeriia Maksyuta's floor routine the more I admire the choreographer. It's very clever -- in several places it allows her time to rest and recover while appearing to still be doing something, which has the side benefit of making her seem more artistic. Very good tumbling as well.
5:58 p.m.: Dorina Boczogo is so cool. Her beam mount is a one-armed press handstand. Who does that in this era? Cool people, that's who. Great work all the way through.
5:56 p.m.: Go Grishina, go! She's connected her piked Taktchev to her Pak salto on bars, and on beam just threw a lovely roundoff, bhs, double pike off beam. Lovely, lovely.
5:49 p.m.: On floor for the fourth rotation, Maksyuta tumbles a bouncy 1.5 to front layout straight into the arms of the gymnast standing in the corner waiting to go. The gymnast -- Slovenia's Sasa Golob -- gamely catches her.
5:47 p.m.: They're replaying Elsa Garcia's floor music again, apparently trying to see what the glitch that sounds like a guy yawning (on second listen it sounds like a guy yawning, or saying "get out" in a really, really low voice). Elsa looks a bit concerned.
5:45 p.m.: Inshina has had all kinds of problems on bars all rotation, but this no longer freaks me out. That's how the Russians are. She'll be able to do it better in competition. After all, better to be like that than to be like the Chinese of the mid-90s to mid-2000s, training perfectly and then missing in the competition...
5:40 p.m.: Great floor routine from Garcia of Mexico: full in tuck, good double Arabian, 2.5 to muscled punch front, double pike. But in the middle of her cheery music, after every pass there was a man's voice that said something incomprehensible. Unlike the breathing men from some other floor pieces we've heard today, I'm pretty sure that's not intentional...
5:35 p.m.: Nadia Mulhouser looks like she could be Giulia Steingruber's younger sister. She's quite literally a mini-Steingruber.
Fasana's got a second vault, too -- a front handspring fornt layout that looked a little stutter-stepped into. That's not a vault you can easily throw if your run is off.
5:32 p.m.: Erika Fasana has a DTY on vault! Not bad, a little bit of leg form, but that will probably be the best the Italians show on this event. Deagostini has an FTY, Ferrari will likely chuck her DTY (good Yurchenko 1.5 just now), and Ferlito has a good Yurchenko 1.5...
Liked the dance from Valeria Pereya of Argentina on floor. Classy violin piece, well choreographed.
5:28 p.m.: New rotation! Very impressed with the Mexican tumbling so far on floor. There's Ana Lago's double layout, and she has an Arabian double front as well that she's working. Garcia has a good full in tuck.
5:20 p.m.: On bars, Adela Sajn of Slovenia looked terrific. She's taller, with long lines, but it doesn't affect her swing at all. Very light work, a great double front dismount too.
5:12 p.m.: Laughter -- a new trend on floor? I never realized it before, but there are laughing vocals in the middle of Ferlito's floor music as well. That sort of thing tends to get drowned out with crowd noise in competition. Not in podium training though.
Ana Lago just did a beautiful standing Arabian on beam. Awesome.
And Ferrari just did -- get this -- a full in tuck to immediate standing back tuck on floor. I guess that's what the full ins to bouncing straight upward was about earlier in this session. That received applause from her teammates.
5:09 p.m.: Yes, that's definitely Fasana with the double layout. Second pass is a full in tuck. 1.5 to front layout, a little messy. But falls on double pike dismount. Not quite enough in the tank to get it around.
Inshina is still vaulting an FTY. Grishina's second vault is an Omelianchik (roundoff, half on, front pike off).
5:07 p.m.: Stylish music and choreo from Italy's Francesca Deagostini on floor. She made a bit of a splash at the Italian Grand Prix with her beam routine, and she's quite nice on floor as well. Good double pike to close her routine. Bizarre ending pose, though.
5:02 p.m.: The Russians are doing timer after Yurchenko layout timer on vault. Oh, there goes Grishina with a Yurchenko 1.5.
Solid stuff on beam from Ana Lago of Mexico. No dismount.
The highlight of Elisabetta Preziosa's floor routine is really the last 15 seconds, where she does real choreography that's to the music. Imagine that!
Ferrari's full routine: Double double, well done, gets some applause from Rick. Full in tuck, not quite as well done. Music is like an old grammophone record, very unique, especially in this era. Very good double pike. It appears that Ferrari will be second in the Italians' lineup for this event.
Good stuff from Elsa Garcia on beam as well. Great Rudi with just a small hop from Steingruber on vault. Very nice.
5:00 p.m.: Ferrari goes for a double double on floor and has to put her hands down, but it wasn't a bad attempt. Carlotta Ferlito's triple twist is still in good shape. Nice double layout from...new senior Erika Fasana? Don't quote me on that, but it was a good double layout from someone.
4:58 p.m.: Vanessa Ferrari on floor: Full in tuck and ping! Rebounds straight up in the air out of it. She looks in quite good shape. If I were her I'd be mad at missing out on floor finals at Worlds due to a flukey training gym injury and determined to do very well here.
4:55 p.m.: Second rotation for this third subdivision. The Russians go to vault, the Italians to floor. I confess I didn't watch much of Italy on beam, but promise to for floor.
4:52 p.m.: Inshina tends to separate her legs a bit on her back handsprings when she tumbles, which is a little unsightly, but overall the two Russians were quite impressive during this first rotation. Especially Grishina. That floor routine is a jewel.
4:47 p.m.: No new floor routine for Anastasia Grishina. The young Russian debuted something new toward the end of the year, but here she's reverted to that delightful, playful, balletic piece that has served her so well. Glad to see it!
Her tumbling looks good, much better than at Massilia two months ago. The 1.5 to triple is there, she does a double Arabian second pass, and a strong double pike to end. Good routine. Very good routine.
4:45 p.m.: New floor routine for Yulia Inshina. Less Russian folk, more nouveau Russian class. It's a fairly fast-paced, Bond-ish number with violins and a guitar segment. Would be crowd-pleasing in this atmosphere during the Olympics.
She appears to be in good shape after the Christmas break. Her whip to immediate double Arabian looks serviceable.
4:43 p.m.: Giulia Steingruber on floor: Same routine she had at Worlds, very nice double layout, done with a spot from her coach. The coach stands on the podium the whole time she's on floor and appears to talk her through parts of her routine.
Maksyuta has moved onto her DTY on vault after doing one Yurchenko timer.
4:42 p.m.: Nadia Mulhouser of Switzerland on floor: Artistically a little immature, but she's young. And the Swiss have made it very clear that they're dedicated to rebuilding for the next four years.
Maksyuta's handspring front pike fulls are getting more determined, but she's still not standing them up.
4:40 p.m.: Fashion note! The Italian team is wearing puffy silvery winter jackets over their leotards as they wait to go up on beam. You can tell which Italian is going up next because she begins taking off her jacket right as the girl on beam is getting ready to dismount.
4:38 p.m.: Over on vault, Maksyuta is sitting down her handspring front pike fulls. Elsa Garcia looks very nice on bars, and in fact just stuck a double front dismount.
4:36 p.m.: Hungary's Dorina Boczogo and Laura Gombas are also on floor. Boczogo, in a bright pink leotard, attracts attention with her eye-catching double front pass -- and Bon Jovi music.
4:35 p.m.: Beuatiful double layout from Steingruber on floor. Grishina works a 1.5 to triple full, well done, as well as a 2.5 twist, while Inshina warmed up a double Arabian.
4:30 p.m.: The Russians are beginning on floor. Also here are Mexicans Ana Lago and Elsa Garcia, Switzerland's Giulia Steingruber and Israel's Valeriia Maksyuta.
4:28 p.m.: Subdivision three, featuring Italy and Russians Anastastia Grishina and Yulia Inshina, is about to begin! The Italians will be on beam first, the Russians...somewhere else.
4:05 p.m.: Also from the press conference -- podium training for gymnastics at the Olympics will be the 25th and 26th of July. But there will be no Olympic gala this time around. (Booo...hopefully the FIG will reconsider that one.)
3:54 p.m.: Live streaming! Via the press conference that took place a few minutes ago...the FIG has decided to stream the men's and women's event finals, which will take place over two days beginning Thursday, live on its Youtube channel. Hooray!
3:25 p.m.: According to a new friend, who has been in the training gym and is now sitting her in the press tribune with me, the Russians look really good. Hang on to your hats -- hey're coming up soon!
3:22 p.m.: So we're on hiatus again waiting for session three to begin, which will be in about 40 minutes. This session will feature the Italians, with Korea and Brazil still to come in subdivision four.
2:34 p.m.: Belgian barwork. Again, it's not their strongest event. But the Belgians are a much improved team and continue to improve.
2:29 p.m.: Kuhm continues to be impressive, tumbling two whips to a double pike and following up with a clean triple full. Her choreo tends a little toward the cutesy, with a bit of finger waving at the judges and things like that, which is fine given her age, I suppose. Her music is kind of a soft, big-band piece.
Marine Brevet's double layout on floor looks good. What makes it especially pretty is that she does the skill with her arms spead wide, so she basically makes the cross position in midair while upside down. Very few gymnasts do it that way, and it makes it far more beautiful.
2:24 p.m.: France moves to floor in the fourth rotation of subdivision II, while the Belgians are on bars and the Spanish beam.
Over on vault, Emily Little's doing big FTYs in preparation for her DTY, no doubt, and on floor, Sophia Serseri is dancing to an incredibly French-sounding piece of accordian with violins.
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