Quick hits: Women's quals, day one: MEX, ISL, GUA, EGY, PUR, ISR, CZE, TRI

Endnotes: Hugs and high fives among all the Mexicans. Moreno gets picked up by the coach as she comes off the podium. Moreno is grinning, grinning, grinning as the Mexicans march out. This was a very impressive performance overall, aside from Garcia's mistakes, which were a shame -- she's capable of much better than she showed today.

Rotation four:

Notes: Mexico so far has one fall on bars, one fall on beam that they're counting. Garcia did a 2.5 to flyspring on floor in warmup.

One of the Guatemalans has a DTY on vault. Nice.

Ana Sofia Gomez Porras, vault: DTY, nice!

Paula Mejias, bars: Some form on her turning elements. Arabian double front with a step.

Krystina Palesova, beam: Scratch.

Ana Lago, floor: Love her opening five seconds, very nice arm movements to the music. Full in tuck. Good double tuck. 1.5 to double full, bounces straight in the air out of it. Double pike dismont, stuck. Very impressive, this one!

Alexa Grande, vault: FTY, a little leg form in the air.

Salma Mahmoud, bars: Hit routine with toe half dismount.

Thema Williams, beam: Bhs, layout, very well done. Full turn with leg up, slightly overturned, but she looks like she's fighting for eveything. Ah, shoot -- off on punch front. Double full with good landing.

K. Salazar, floor: "Sherlock Holmes." Full in tuck to begin. Triple full, very nice! Small hop forward, but great form. Tourjete half. OOB on third pass. OOB on final pass as well.

Monica Yool, vault: FTY.

Nancy Taman, bars: Full to Tkatchev caught fine, then bashes her legs on low bar swinging out of it. Ouch. Jumps off and is re-chalking. The equipment here has not been kind to her!

Valeriia Maksyuta, beam: Layout to two feet. Front aerial, pause, side aerial. Side somie. Really fighting for everything -- she definitely wants AA finals. Tourjete half. Lovely work, very evident she was (or is) trained by Russians or Ukrainians.

Yessenia Estrada, floor: Running double front, one foot slides a bit, but it's OK. Nearly decapitates herself on 1.5 to front layout but somehow manages to get it to her feet. Fast paced drum/Latin beat. Double tuck. Hey, the music gets the crowd clapping along! Double pike with a step. Very impressive performance today from this Mexican team overall. You want them to do well.

Thelma Hermannsdottir, vault: Handspring front tuck.

Sherine El-Zeiny, bars: Got lost somewhere and did an extra half turn. Double tuck dismount.

Roni Rabinovitz, beam: Front aerial. Two footed bhs to back tuck. Side aerial. Side somie. Could point her toes a bit more up there. Sheep.

Elsa Garcia, floor: Full in tuck, stuck! Good for her. Good double Arabian too. Switch ring, Tourjete half. Really showing it off on this event. Great 2.5 to front layout. Jazzy, slightly Latin piece of music. Double pike, step back. Nice to see Elsa end with a good routine here! Biggest applause of the day.

Agnes Suto, vault: Didn't see it.

Jana Sikulova, beam: Scratch.

Krystina Palesova, beam: Front aerial, bhs, layout. Switch to back tuck. Jumps. Very clean gymnast, good lines.

Alexa Moreno, floor: "Harry Potter." Easy full in tuck, bounds back. Arabian double front, little stumble on the landing but doesn't fall. 2.5 to punch front. Tourjete full. Much improved form from last year. Wow -- really open double pike, or fairly piked double layout. Amazing position.

Rotation three:

Notes: Mexico escapes bars by only having to count one fall. We'll see what they can do on beam. Elsa Garcia's first two events weren't quite what she's capable of.

Nancy Taman, vault: Yurchenko layout.

Krystina Palesova, bars: Tkatchev. Stuck double layout.

Marisela Cantu, beam: Bhs, layout, solid. Tourjete. Very nice presentation in arms and hands, just elegant. Side aerial. Nearly comes off on front aerial, big bend. Front somie. Stuck double full. Nice routine.

Agnes Suto, floor: "Smooth Criminal." Double tuck, stuck. Double twist, chest low.

Paula Mejias, vault: Tsuk full with a step back. Impressive gymnastics overall from Puerto Rico's only female gymnast here.

Jana Sikulova, bars: Scratch.

Ana Lago, beam: Punch front. Bhs, layout, fights to stay on. Side aerial. Great split leap full, and did she just sneak in a standing Arabian? I think she did! Double turn. And stuck double tuck dismount! That should energize the Mexicans!

Ana Sofia Gomez Porras, floor: Double full second pass was really all I saw. Soft Spanish music. Routine got good applause.

Sherine El-Zeiny, vault: FTY with fairly scary low landing. I'm afriad for her legs.

Thema Williams, bars: Double pike dismount.

K. Salazar, beam: Nice side aerial, front aerial combo (little wobble.) Near fall on switch half. Comes off on 1.5 turn, maybe meant to be a double. Too bad -- a lot of elegance this gymnast has. Double tuck with a step back.

Alexa Grande, floor: Full in, little hop forward. Doing a popular piece by Bond. OOB while prepping her second pass, a full twist. And then a 2.5 twist to end!

Salma Mahmoud, vault: Didn't see it.

Valeriia Maksyuta, bars: Has to swing the wrong way on her toe Weiler, doesn't quite make it over. Messy legs on bail. Does only a double front half out, as we know she's capable of a double front full out. But nice landing. She's likely trying to make the AA final.

Elsa Garcia, beam: Pressure is on her after that fall from Lago...looks very focused. Jump onto the beam. Switch half to three jumps. Side aerial, very good. I can hear the clicks of the photographers snapping her on the floor. Side somie. Bhs, layout to two feet, comes off! What a shame. She is so lovely on this event, but this has not been her day. Saves her front aerial. A bit close to the beam on her double tuck dismount, the crowd gasps a little bit. Mexico will count a fall on beam too.

Monica Yool, floor: OOB on fairly open double pike. 2.5 to front tuck. Pretty, energetic dance. Memmel turn. Second pass is double tuck. Switch half. Double full with a step back.

Roni Rabinovitz, bars: Didn't see it. But she looked very strong on it in training...

Yessenia Estrada, beam: Switch, back pike. Front aerial, back tuck. She really looks like two-time U.S. champion Kristen Maloney -- same curly brown hair, pale skin. Side aerial. Double pike.

Thelma Hermannsdottir, floor: A tango! One foot OOB on double pike. Switch, switch half. Front layout, front full. Her music reminds me a little bit of Shawn Johnson's new music, though they are not the same. OOB again on last pas.

Rotation two:

Notes: The Japanese crowd is dead silent while routines are going on, but they applaud politely afterward when a gymnast does well. Vivacious it isn't. A few people are trying to get some clapping in unison going as the gymnasts change apparatuses, but it's not really catching on.

Best routine of the last rotation went to Israel's Valeriia Maksyuta on floor, and Alexa Moreno on vault. Both did hard things, very well. Maksyuta looked like Viktoria Karpenko out there.

Little Ana Sofia Gomez Porras is super impressive in beam warmup!

Roni Rabinovitz, vault: FTY.

K. Salazar, bars: Tkatchve. Blind. Bail to toe hecht. Blind to double front -- great landing! The Mexicans as a team look very clean so far, minus Garcia's vault.

Dominiqua Belyani, beam: Bhs, layout, good. Switch to back tuck, step back. moving well though. Pike Gainer off the end.

Nanacy Taman, floor: 2.5 to open. Second pass ends in a full twist. She's in a black leo with turquoise accents. Double full. Double tuck.

Krystina Palesova, vault: FTY, stuck.

Ana Lagos, bars: Big applause from the Mexicans after her full in tuck dismount. Very nice.

Agnes Suto, beam: Off, didn't see on what. Simple Barani off the beam.

Sherine El-Zeiny, floor: Whip to...back tuck first pass. Whip was way too high and so was bhs out. Good thing she didn't go for the double back. Double pike second pass. Limps off the floor when this routine is done. Obviously that leg injury is something of a doozy.

Jana Sikulova, vault: FTY, hands didn't even touch the horse she came on so high. No block. Falls and appears to have hurt her left leg/ankle. Moves her ankle while sitting down and begins to try to stand up, then stops. Crying. Carried off the podium. Oh dear...

Alexa Moreno, bars: Falls after not going over on a blind, covering up, and not going over on another turn. Too bad -- this was looking good up to then.

Ana Sofia Gomez Porras, beam: Bhs to tuck full, hangs on after going off to the side and stays on. Switch to back pike, nice. Jumps. Switch half, a little wild. Frton aerial to back tuck. Switch side. Bhs, bhs, 2.5 lands lock legged and takes two big steps. Hang on. Twist was notably great in the air though.

Paula Mejias, floor: Arabian double front, nice.

Thema Williams, vault: Yurchenko layout, well done.

Marisela Cantu, bars: Tkatchev. Full to bail, comes off somehow on the low bar. Two misses in a row for Mexico...then sticks the double front. Sigh.

Alexa Grande, beam: Off on side aerial. Switch leap not at 180. Comes off after bhs, layout too. Still, for such a young gymnast from such a young gymnastics country, she's very impressive -- good technique. Falls a third time, didn't see on what. Bhs stepout to double full. No confidence, but again, very young.

Salma Mahmoud, floor: Hands down on double tuck dismount after a nice routine.

Valeriia Maksyuta, vault: DTY, very nice. Sets up and begins her twist a bit late for my taste, but that was more than 7/8 around. Good laning too, tiny little step. Second vault is a...handspring front pike full. Nice!

Elsa Garcia, bars: Toe hecht to high, a little wild on her 1.5 to pike Jaeger. A bit off center on her bail to low too, but she makes the routine. Double front dismount, I believe (or maybe it was an Arabian double front). Anyway, it had a good landing. She must be relieved.

Monica Yool, beam: Very long wait for her and Hermannsdottir, who are the last two athletes in this rotation. Very long wait. The last gymnast fell three times -- what is taking so long to tabulate the score? Press mount. Front aerial, bhs, layout, lovely! Switch to back pike. Side somie, excellent! Jumps. Switch side. Perfunctory choreo, which is too bad as she's quite graceful...side aerial, very nice. Double full dismount. That was worth the wait.

Thelma Hermannsdottir, beam: Off on punch front mount. Risky in this era. Punch front. Bhs, layout, back leg bent on both skills. Switch, wolf. Back tuck. Full turn with leg up. As impressive as the tricks are, I'd really rather see more interesting choreo. Maybe if the time limit were two minutes? Switch side. Front layout full.

Subdivision one, rotation one:

Notes: The judges pledge is taken by the U.S.'s Steve Butcher and Yoko Takashashi of Japan. The athletes pledge is taken by Britain's Beth Tweddle and Japan's Kohei Uchimura. Former Japanese star Hiroyuki Tomita and Peggy Liddick take the coaches pledge.

And now we hear from Bruno Grandi, who is speaking English and starts by saying, "Konnichiwa, Tokyo!" "I am honored to be here in a country with such high gymnastics potential, a country dedicated to the success and reputation of our sport," he adds. Then more along the same lines, and he declares the 43rd World Gymnastics Championships open.

Sherine El-Zeiny of Egypt is wearing a very large knee brace on her left knee. Left ankle is wrapped as well.

Wow -- one of the Egyptians, the first to touch the beam, fell on her side aerial and appeared to hit her wrist and ribs on the beam. She's instantly crying and helped off the podium. Wow.

K. Salazar, vault: FTY, nicely done.

Thelma Hermannsdottir, bars: Bail, legs apart. Misses Ray, not enough height.

Salma Mahmoud, beam: Comes off on front aerial, front somie, back tuck combo. Could have saved it too. Needed to fight.

Valeriia Maksyuta, floor: Hip hop beat. Double layout, stuck. Nice! She's in blue and white and black. Mostly blue. 1.5 to front full, little bit of legs in the air. Ends with full in tuck -- wow! Took a step forward, but hey, a full in tuck at the end. Sits down on the edge of the podium for a sec afterward and pumps her fist as her coach approaches. She's psyched. Wouldn't you be?

Ana Lagos, vault: The Mexicans are in blue with what appear to be almost white bolero style "jackets" edged in red. I approve. FTY, nicely done.

Dominiqua Belyani, bars: Double twist dismount. Hit routine.

Nancy Taman, beam: She's the girl who came off on the side aerial in the touch -- good for her for getting back on. Very nice form overall, too. Wobble on the side aerial, but stays on.

Roni Rabinovitz, floor: Jewish beat. Low front layout after 2.5. Big bounce back on double pike second pass.

Yessenia Estrada, vault: Yurchenko 1.5, a little off to the side, two steps but stays on her feet.

Agnes Suto, bars: Off on Geinger.

Sherine El-Zeiny, beam: She appears to be limping on that heavily, heavily banaged left leg even as she walks to the board...bodyline looks a bit like Beth Tweddle's. Front aerial, bhs.

Krystina Palesova, floor: Safri Duo. Tidy double pike. 2.5 to front pike.

Alexa Moreno, vault: Great Rudi! Terrific landing. Boy, she's powerful. Second vault: Tsuk full with a step back. Nice job.

Ana Sofia Gomez Porras, bars: First look at the young talent from Guatemala, who came out of nowhere last year. Full to Geinger, legs apart a little. Nice swing though. Full in tuck, nearly stuck.

Paula Mejias, beam: Falls, didn't see on what. Double tuck dismount.

Jana Sikulova, floor: Powerful handspring double front from this tall Czech. One foot OOB on second pass. Fast music. In pink and white, just in case you wanted to know what she's wearing.

Elsa Rodriguez, vault: Sits Yurchenko 1.5. What a shame! Especially after that vault from Moreno. No second vault for Elsa today.

Alexa Grande, bars: Hands down and rolls out of underrotated full in tuck dismount.

Thema Williams, floor: Triple full? overrotates to her bottom. Too bad! Front layout, front full with a step. Strong Popa. 2.5 twist, good. Falls on double tuck to end. Well, this is her first Worlds, and a big learning experience for her.

Monica Yool, bars: Very clean routine with full to Geinger, Jaeger, bail to Ray, full in tuck with a step. Good job.

11:17 a.m.: The Japanese anthem is played, and then Hidenori Futagi, President of the Japanese Gymnastics Association, takes the floor to mkae a speech. He expresses the sincere gratitude of the Japanese that the Tokyo Worlds have been allowed to proceed after the "Great Eastern Japan Earthquake" March 11.

11:14 a.m.: Two guys in traditional garments come out onto the floor mat and blow horns to signal the opening of this World Championships. On the screen, they play a little montage featuring Kohei Uchimura and very dramatic music. Here we go...

11:09 a.m.: Mexico, 21st in Rotterdam last year, will be trying to improve five places in order to qualify for London. They are the only team in this first session. We'll see Venezuela and Romania later this morning.

The announcer shouts something in Japanese (in my head it's something like, "Welcome to the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships!") and the crowd applauds politely. Then, in English, they say that the opening ceremony will begin shortly, and warn everyone that the lights will be turned off for this ceremony.

There's also -- get this -- an announcement explaining that in the event of an earthquake, competition is likely to be interrupted.

10:56 a.m.: The judges, in navy suits and bright blue scarves, are beginning to file in as well. Some commercials are playing on the large screen right above the press gallery.

10:39 a.m.: The crowd is beginning to fill in filter in to this close and intimate venue. The Spidercam, which shoots the gymnasts from above and provides very interesting angles for the TV coverage, is being looked after by officials in blue vests on the floor.

TOKYO, 10:14 a.m.: We've got about an hour and 15 minutes to go before women's qualifications officially get underway here in Tokyo, and around the arena, the Japanese are doing last minute rehersals for march out and marching to and from the apparatus.

Gymnasts will follow volunteers dressed in what I take to be traditional Japanese robes, who carry fan-shaped signs with the name of the country on them and march rather like soldiers.

There's also a red carpet forming an "L" shape running along the floor mat right now, and a microphone has been set up in front of it, meaning that there are likely to be a few welcome speeches.

In the first session today we'll see Mexico, Iceland, Guatemala, Egypt, Puerto Rico, Israel, the Czech Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. Gymnasts to watch Mexico's always-elegant Elsa Garcia, the powerful Alexa Moreno and veteran Marisela Cantu, Israel's Valeriia Maksyuta and Roni Rabinovitz, the Czech Republic's Jana Sikulova and Trinidad's first year senior, Thema Williams.

The Gymnastics Examiner will be in Tokyo for the duration of the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships, which are the first round of qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games. Please check back often for quick hits from training sessions and competition, interviews, videos and photogrpahs. Like The Gymnastics Examiner on Facebook, follow on Twitter, or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.