Highs and Lows of Pan Am Championships

Sep 1, 2014 by Keri Monstrola

Highs

1. Team USA sweeps team gold medals
Team USA went two for two in team gold! The women’s team scored 223.70 over Brazil with a 216.95. The men scored a 352.550 over Colombia with a 346.80. The women’s team competed in the first subdivision and had to wait to see if their scored held up. Brazil started on floor and scored higher than USA on both beam and floor. However, they were weaker on vault floor and ended up in second. The men’s team rallied behind an injury to Eddie Penev, on their first event, to come out on top over Colombia.

2. Mykayla Skinner shines

Skinner brings home 4 gold medals; team, all-around, vault, and floor. Skinner scored a 56.85 in the all-around, 15.037 average on vault, and on floor a 14.75. Skinner showed improvement from team finals on floor as where she showed more control on her tumbling passes, staying in bounds. She impressed with two strong vaults with clean landings, performing a Cheng and DTY. Skinner comes home from the Pan Am Championships as the most decorated US athlete. Mykayla talks about her success

3. Ashton Locklear’s gold medal bar routine
Locklear made a successful senior international debut this weekend. She has had a busy but successful few months and has gone from qualifying to elite to competing at Secret Classic and Championships to being named to the Pam Am Team. She continued to impress this weekend with her difficult bar routine as she scored a 14.975 to bring home gold. Locklear’s bar routine features fluid connections, high difficulty, beautiful lines, and she caps it off with a stuck dismount.

4. Brazil’s Silver Medal Winning Team Performance

The Brazil team had a strong team performance to capture the silver medal with a team score of 216.95.The Brazil team posted a higher team score than the US team on both beam and floor. Brazil posted a 55.75 on beam, while the US posted a 55.50. Brazil then posted a 53.30 on floor, while the US posted a 52.75. Brazil was able to hang tough with the US on vault posting four consistent scores. However, Brazil wasn’t able to close the door with a subpar 51.650 team score on bars. Brazil finished with a 216.95 team score, to bring home a silver medal. Daniele Hypolito was Brazil’s highest placed all-arounder with a 54.1 placing 7th.

5. Jessica Lopez's raw emotion

Lopez shows raw emotion after hitting a jam packed bar routine. She shows a fist pump and even tears as she walks off the podium. This emotion is not seen too often in the sport of gymnastics as it reminds us of how serious these gymnasts are. Lopez’s bar routine was the second highest score from the team competition. Lopez went on to finish 7th in the bar finals. See her raw emotion after this bar routine.

Lows

1. Maggie Nichols' injury

Nichols had a bad landing on her final floor tumbling pass and injured her knee. She was able to finish the competition but only competed a Yurchenko full on vault. She then withdrew from event finals and was not at the award ceremony. Nichols left the competition early and traveled home for further evaluation on her knee. This injury would be a big loss for Team USA, as she was a contender for the World Championship Team. Watch her floor routine here.

2. Eddie Penev’s injury

Eddie Penev was injured during the first rotation of the team finals competition. Penev had a great first vault, but a weird landing and received medical attention for his knee. Due to Penev’s injury, the men’s team only competed four routines on pommel horse. Wynn warmed up to compete pommel horse incase his score/routine was needed.

3. Jessica Lopez’s bar routine during event finals

Lopez finished a disappointing 7th place with a score of 12.175. Bar finals looked to be a battle between Lopez and Locklear. Lopez took an uncharacteristic fall as she casted over on a handstand. She then took a second fall on her tkachev, which caused her to also miss connection bonus. Lopez had hit strong bar routines with great difficulty earlier in the Championships which proved this to be a disappointment. Watch her routine here.

4. No beam medals for Team USA

Team USA had two gymnasts in Mykayla Skinner and Madison Kocian competing in event finals on balance beam, but was unable to place on the podium. Skinner had a shaky routine throughout causing her to miss connections, lowering her start value. Skinner took at large deduction on her difficult back handspring full series. Kocian also had a shaky routine causing her to also miss connections. She finished with a double pike and had to take a step forward with a low landing. Team USA will look to improve on their beam performances in preparation for Worlds. Watch Madison's beam routine here. Watch Mykayla's beam routine here