Faces for 2011 - an end of year report

About a year ago I wrote a post previewing some of the promising junior gymnasts who would be turning seniors in 2011 and had a chance to rock the international gymnastics scene. Well, here is their end of year report.

Tan Sixin (China)

Grade: B+

Tan was one of the most pleasant surprises at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. In a country known for it's young stars, she was set to shine for China in her first senior year. 2011 was by no means a disaster for Tan, she made the world team in Tokyo and performed well on uneven bars in the pressured team final.  However she was overshadowed somewhat by the successes of Sui Lu and fellow new-senior Yao Jinnan. With her artistry and strong execution (and with the possible fading star of He Kexin) Tan is still very much in the running for a spot on the 2012 olympic team.

Viktoria Komova (Russia)

Grade: A-

Everyone knows of Komova's rocky path through 2011. Following the injury to Aliya Mustafina, the pressure of soviet expectation shifted to the slight shoulders of Komova, who herself was coming back from an ankle injury. She performed admirably, helping a depleted team to world silver and became world champion on bars herself. She will be rueing her 0.033 point loss in the all around though. Look out for a Komova with serious attitude in London!

Jordyn Wieber (USA)

Grade A+

If anyone could say that 2011 was a year of undiluted success, it would be Wieber- American Cup Champion, National Champion, World Champion, Professional Athlete, All she needs now is the title of Olympic Champion in 2012 and the world is her oyster! Mustafina, Komova and others may have something to say about that though...

Diana Bulimar (Romania) 

Grade B+

Romania will be looking very closely at what went wrong for them to come away with zero medals from the 2011 worlds. It wasn't for lack of trying! One of their major chances of a medal came from young bulimar who, whilst inconsistent on several of the other pieces, qualified comfortably to the floor final before having to withdraw from injury. She also in the process got her name in the code of points with her signature leap. Bulimar has a reasonable shot of making the Romanian team in 2012, although her weakness on bars and nagging injuries may be what holds her back.

Laura Mitchell (Great Britain)

Grade: C

She was GB's top junior in 2010 and looked like she would be a useful asset for the senior team in 2011. It never really happened for Mitchell this year aas she was fighting injuries right up to the worlds selection competitions. She'll still be in the running for 2012 but a lack of senior international experience will disadvantage her, and GB also has several strong first year seniors for 2012.

Sabrina Vega (USA)

 Grade A-

2011 was a very successful year for Vega, as well as all the 1st year seniors on the Gold Medal winning machine that was team USA. Vega was strong and consistent at worlds contributing to the team victory on nervy pieces like balance beam. However, with the depth of talent in the USA she is not quite close enough to the top of the all-around rankings to be sure of an olympic spot. The more difficulty and consistency she can build (whilst avoiding injury) the better her chances will be.

Natsumi Sasada (Japan) 

Grade: B-

4th place all around at last year's Youth Olympics. We haven't seen much of Sasada this year. She competed at the Cottbus challenger cup finishing 4th on floor. She was 8th at Japanese nationals and didn't make the cut for the world Championship team. Hopefully we will see more of her in 2012 as she had some great qualities.

Carlotta Ferlito (Italy)

Grade: B+

Ferlito made a smooth transition into Italy's senior ranks this year, qualifying to the European and World teams. In Berlin at Europeans she won a bronze medal on balance beam and placed 7th on floor and all-around. The disappointment of the year came when the Italians finished 9th in Tokyo, so a good performance is vital at the upcoming test event in London.

Special Mention: Yao Jinnan (China) 

Grade: A+

Jinnan wasn't even on my list of new faces a year ago, but she was the pleasant surprise of the year, helping the Chinese team to bronze and also taking home all-around bronze and balance beam silver for herself. She may not be the most consistent gymnast on the chinese team but she has a lovely sparkly quality similar to what we enjoyed from Jiang Yuyuan in Beijing 2008. She competes in January at the test event and with her great talent it would be a shame not to see her back in London next summer.

With the size of the olympic team shrinking, the class of 2011 must prove themselves against the new seniors of the class of 2012 including Anastasia Grishina & Anastasia Sidorova of Russia, Kyla Ross of the USA,  Larisa Iordace of Romania (Pictured below), Venus Romaeo and Rebecca Tunney of GB and many others.