Women's gymnastics: 20 to watch in 2012

In no particular order:

Jordyn Wieber, USA. Reigning World champion. USA MVP. Olympic gold medal favorite. Wieber has great expectations going into the Olympic year. Will she be able to

Nastia Liukin, USA. Reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist. One of the great American gymnasts wants to feel the Olympic magic again. Aside from her accolades, Nastia Liukin has two things going for her: she's fantastic on uneven bars (the U.S.'s worst event) and she hasn't competed in a couple of years. That could be seen as a drawback, but I tend to think it means Liukin is fresher and less likely to get a wear-and-tear injury.

Kyla Ross, USA. Bolstered by an Amanar and a sweet start value on bars, this first-year senior is considered to have a good chance of making the U.S. Olympic team.

Rebecca Bross, USA. The U.S. team's fighter, Bross is currently battling back from a dislocated kneecap and has to contend with the deepest pool of American talent at any time in her senior career. Will she make the top five?

Viktoria Komova, Russia. Her heartbreak at finishing second at Worlds is matched only by her desire to be at the top of the podium in London. Her stunning-when-on gymnastics and enormous natural talent could get her there.

Aliya Mustafina, Russia. The determined 17-year-old will let nothing -- not even a torn ACL -- stop her from going for Olympic gold. Mustafina's knee injury cost her most of her 2011 season, but she has the potential to come back and challenge for the Olympic title this year.

Anna Dementyeva, Russia. She had a moment in the sun when she won the European Championships in 2011, but her disappointing competition at Worlds left the impression that she can do more. Provided she survives the Russian selection process, she will be incredibly interesting to watch in London.

Ksenia Afanasyeva, Russia. The reigning World floor champion is Mama bear on the Russian squad. Can she continue her individual success at the Olympics?

Yao Jinnan, China. She went from Chinese team unknown to Olympic favorite overnight. History would have been different had this first-year senior not fallen from beam during the women's all-around final in Tokyo. It's not inconceivable that she could win all-around gold in London.

Sui Lu, China. A team player since before the Beijing Olympics, Sui Lu came into her own at the 2011 Worlds, winning beam and bagging a silver on floor. She'll have a new Adi Pop-choreographed floor routine for the Olympics, and if all goes well will challenge for gold on beam, too.

Huang Qiushuang, China. Never count Huang out -- after being named the Chinese team's alternate at the World Championships, she was inserted into the lineup at the last minute, finished fifth, won bronze on bars, and capped off her 2011 by becoming World Cup all-around champion. That should do a lot toward repairing her reputation.

Zeng Siqi, China. This baby-faced youngster, third at last year's Chinese Championships, is a favorite for the gold medal in cuteness in any competition. She's not bad gymnast, either, with real potential to be one of China's five chosen ones for the Olympic team.

Victoria Moors, Canada. The first-year senior has the biggest tumbling passes of any Canadian -- ever.

Lauren Mitchell, Australia. Lifted by a recent sponsorship from Visa, the 2010 World floor champion is set to peak next summer. But can she control those difficult tumbling passes when it really counts?

Catalina Ponor, Romania. The triple Olympic champion from the 2004 Olympics lifted the Romanian team at the last World Championships but looks like she still has room to improve before the Games.

Larisa Iordache, Romania. The new Romanian star is also their biggest hope for all-around gold in London. But will she have had enough experience to contend for the Olympic title?

Sandra Izbasa, Romania. A foot injury kept her out of the World Championships last year, but before that Izbasa looked like a force to be reckoned with on vault and floor, events where she won the European title in 2011.

Ana Porgras, Romania. The 2010 World beam champion's elegance survived the return of Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang as head coaches of the Romanian team. But she looked tired and out of shape at intervals last year, and hinted during a recent interview that she may stop training vault. Still, she's one of the best in the world on beam, and always fabulous on floor.

Beth Tweddle, Great Britain. In her Olympic swansong, "Britain's Beth" will have a great chance at gold on both bars and floor.

Elisabeth Seitz, Germany. Seitz finished ninth at the World Championships and second at the 2011 Europeans. In addition, she has one of the harder bar routines being done in the world. She has plenty of room for upward mobility in 2012.

Honorable mentions: Since this list would perhaps be better if it included the top 50 gymnasts to watch in 2012, I feel compelled to add a few honorable mentions:

-- Natsumi Sasada, Japan. Amazing layout Garrison mount on beam.

-- Mai Murakami, Japan. She's Japan's answer to Shawn Johnson -- compact and incredibly powerful. Already a darkhorse for the Olympic floor title even though she has yet to compete as a senior.

-- Jessica Lopez, Venezuela. Continues adding difficulty into her mid-20s.

-- Ana Sofia Gomez Porras, Guatemala. Guatemala's rising star.

-- Giulia Steingruber, Switzerland. The great Swiss vault hope for 2012.

-- Oksana Chusovitina, Germany. The energizer bunny of gymnastics is going for her sixth Olympic Games.

-- Nadine Jarosch, Germany. She finished 10th all-around in Tokyo. A fresh young face for the Germans.

-- Shawn Johnson, USA. One of the biggest stars of the 2008 Games hopes for more Olympic magic, but her floor is still a question mark.

-- Jonna Adlerteg, Sweden. She's especially impressive on bars.

-- Vanessa Ferrari, Italy. The grande dame of Italian gymnastics (at 21!), Ferrari has great potential on floor this year.

-- Erika Fasana, Italy. A bright new senior from Italy.

-- Lisa Top, Netherlands. A bright new senior from the Netherlands.

-- Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Poland. Boasts a high level of difficulty and mastery on bars, beam and floor.

-- Youna Dufournet, France. Now with a new coach, Dufournet is, to use a word employed by the French, "radiant."