Thoughts on the GB Euros team.

Aside from the absense of the recovering Beth Tweddle. GB has chosen to send their 'A' team to Europeans as a preview of things to come. World team members Hannah Whelan, Danusia Francis, Jennifer Pinches  and Imogen Cairns, as well as highly touted newcomer Rebecca Tunney will face off against the best from Russia and Romania, including Aliya Mustafina, Viktoria Komova and Larisa Iordache.

With olympic selection on everyone's minds, this team may well be a preview of what is to come. In a 5 member team that will (touch wood) definitely include Beth Tweddle, GB will likely need 3 strong all arounders and a specialist on the events Beth doesn't do, vault and beam.

What this means is that unless she can nab one of the all-around spots from one of her more experienced colleagues (Whelan, Pinches, Francis), Tunney may actually fall short of an olympic berth. Her strongest events are probably bars and floor, the same as Tweddle. GB needs a strong vaulter/consistent beam-worker, meaning they may look more seriously at a veteran like Cairns, or Niamh Rippin, who was 4th all around in the recent GB-Germany-Romania friendly meet. 

GB's goals for Europeans will be to test-out upgrades and show that even without a boost from Beth's high scores, they can contend with Russia, Romania and Europes other olympic teams - France, Germany and Italy. For the individual gymnasts, consistency and event final qualifications/medals will certainly be a boost to their quest for an olympic spot.