Rebecca Bross came within a tumbling pass of winning the 2009 World all-around title. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
Don't expect Rebecca Bross to look back.
Even though she came within a tumbling run of winning the 2009 World all-around title, Bross and coach Valeri Liukin have already set their minds on bigger things.
"[Winning Worlds] is not the goal," Liukin said at the post all-around press conference in London. "The goal is obviously the Olympic Games."
If Bross was disappointed by her performance, where she demonstrated incredible difficulty but also made some rookie mistakes (including putting her hands down on her Arabian double front dismount on beam in qualifications and crashing her 2.5 twist to barani on floor during all-around finals), she didn't show it.
Rebecca Bross, 2009 World Championships All-Around, Beam:
"It just didn't work out," she said of the all-around final, where she led Bridget Sloan by more than a point until the tail end of the meet. "I was just trying to do the best [I could] and perform to the best of my abilities." Bross's fall on floor, combined with Sloan's impeccable performance on the same event, gave Sloan the gold.
Rebecca Bross, 2009 World Championships All-Around, Floor:
"It's just being young," Liukin said of what Bross referred to as a "mishap" on floor. "She did incredible." The lesson he wanted her to take away from the women's all-around competition: It ain't over 'til it's over.
By winning silver in the all-around at her first World Championships, Bross is in excellent company. Her WOGA compatriots Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin did the same thing in 2003 and 2005. Both went on to become Olympic all-around champions.
Bross, who tied Romania's Ana Porgras for bronze on uneven bars in event finals, was one of only three women to win multiple medals at the 2009 World Championships. Lauren Mitchell of Australia won silvers on beam and floor, and Japan's Koko Tsurumi, third in the all-around, was second on bars.
Rebecca Bross, 2009 World Championships Event Finals, Bars:
In London, someone asked Liukin why Bross seems so stoic on the competition floor. It's the sport, he responded.
"There's some reporters saying she should smile more," Liukin said, gesturing toward Bross, who was grinning and answering questions a few feet away. "She knows how to smile. There's a time and a place for that."
"She's a very smart girl," he said. Bross, who is homeschooled, is also year ahead in her studies, Liukin added.
Comments
Nice article. Agree she has a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see her improve on the way to 2012. fyi...just a small error above...she fell on her 2.5 to barani not rudi...although would love to see her doing a 2.5 to rudi. I don't think I've seen any of the women doing that yet, but there are a few men doing it. I love that tumbling pass. Would also love to see someone step out of a 2.5 like the athletes are stepping out of a 1.5. I think Bridget Sloan could do that or even Kayla Williams. As easy as she does a triple for a side pass, I would think she's capable of tumbling out of a 2.5. Would love to see it.
Coach M: Sandra Izbasa had a 2.5-twist to rudi in her 2006 floor routine at Worlds. It's really amazing!
Oh geez, did I say rudi? I meant barani. Fixed!
Ugh, if Bross wins the Olympic All-around, I will stop watching women's gymnastics altogether. That girl has no style.
Thanks Marquez. I watched that 2006 Floor Event Finals at World's again. That was a good event final. Lots of great tumbling. Cheng Fei hit a home run with that routine. I wasn't crazy about Izbasa's 1st tumbling run, but the rest of her routine rocked.
Tipical WOGA, "the worlds dont mean sh*&^t to us its all about the olympics".less the 5% of gymnasts will reach competitive levels and 1% of that elite so getting to just be able to go to a worlds is a big deal.
I wouldn't exactly call Bridget Sloan's performance "impeccable." Her beam was full of checks and breaks, all of which probably added up to somewhere around a full fall. It would've been interesting to have seen both Sloan and Bross at their very best - not sure who would've had the edge if that was the case.
She wasn't referring to Sloan's AA as impeccable. She was referring to her floor routine (last rotation in the AA for Bross and Sloan). Sloan nailed her floor routine, while Bross faltered, which was the determining factor for the AA medal results.
Tipical WOGA, "the worlds dont mean sh*&^t to us its all about the olympics".less the 5% of gymnasts will reach competitive levels and 1% of that elite so getting to just be able to go to a worlds is a big deal.
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