Assoluti 2018 AA - Recap
Some good things and also some bad things below the cut.
GOOD THINGS:
- Giorgia Villa. That’s all. Jk lol, well she hit 4/4 for a 55.250 total score (no bonuses but some home inflation). This was probably one of her best performances AA, she can only add something on beam because she had a couple of big wobbles, and on bars where she had some form issues, but this is pretty much as good as it gets and we won’t complain.
- Alice D’Amato’s comeback on 3 events. Very good 5.8 bars set which got the same score as Giorgia’s (13.950) and FTY. Beam was a bit of a struggle but she stayed on. That’s a lot more than I was expecting from her.
- Martina Maggio also had a successful comeback competition and finished in fourth place with very much watered down, but solidly hit, routines. Her 13.050 (5.1D) on beam was the second highest beam score of the day (behind Grisetti’s 13.450) and she was rock solid throughout, including one of the best Italian ring leaps lol. I hope she can keep going and staying healthy.
- Sofia Busato’s DTY. Because we are on the topic of comebacks, Sofia has her DTY back. Her form still isn’t quite great but she gets good height. 14.550 for her. She also threw in a second vault (fhs pike half) cause it’s an easy gold for her if she hits tomorrow, now that Asia is out.
- Camilla Campagnaro (2004) has a DTY and it’s not even terrible. She scored a 14.200 so clearly it still needs work, but if you consider that Iorio’s got a 14.100 :’) Anyway this kid is one to keep an eye on. I remember her from Jesolo 2017, when she had a bit of a disaster meet but she already had nice difficulty and on beam she fought for like a full minute to save a fall (she fell anyway eventually lol) and we love a fighter lol. So remember this name~
- Lara Mori’s FX. I’m very happy that Lara finally found a combination of passes that she can hit consistently and relatively cleanly. The triple twist still needs a bit of a star and planet alignment but she gets it around, even tho the form isn’t great. The whip to full-in was the most clever upgrade for her, I’m glad they went for it instead of that fugly “DLO”, cause she gets very few deductions on it in comparison and she can stick it. 13.450. She only competed FX and BB (where she had a fall on her side somi, but everything else looked pretty great).
BAD THINGS:
- Elisa Meneghini’s lack of confidence. She’s clearly capable and talented but the fact that she never ever hits when it counts (except for that one time in Rio omg remember??) is worrying and I don’t understand why it hasn’t been addressed in all these years. I don’t know if she’s seeing a sports psychologist or not, but if she isn’t she really should, and if she is...maybe find a better one? Idk. Anyway she counted falls on everything but her FTY (two on floor tho, to make up for it). I think she might be having issues with her knee, but tbh she’s not hitting when she’s healthy either so. Idk it just makes me really sad cause this could have been her quad. Like Italy has literally a handful of senior AAers right now and she’s the only one who’s gone to the olympics.
- Asia D’Amato did not compete due to a “back problem”. Asia didn’t travel to Riccione with the other Brixia girls yesterday and she herself said that she is being kept at rest for a back problem. No idea about the extent of the “problem”. During the live stream of the competition today Casella apparently said it’s nothing serious and they are just keeping her out as a precaution (but that means nothing, that’s what they said at first when Giorgia tore her ACL too so :’))) She was at the arena today and she looked fine, walking and chilling, no braces or anything so hopefully it’s nothing major for real. We’ll know soon enough I guess.
- Notable absences. Italy can’t count on many gymnasts right now, especially among the seniors, so it sucks that not even all of them showed up at nationals. And not for nationals per se, but because Casella always uses domestic meets as verification for assignments. I was sad to see Carlotta Ferlito and Martina Rizzelli weren’t there when they had qualified as specialists.
- Inconsistency, lack of upgrades/downgrades. In general, the level wasn’t very high and not everyone brought their A game. I’m glad Busato did the DTY and Basile the DLO which she hit very well. Linari also upgraded on 3 events and even tho she still needs lots of work, it was nice to see her try out new things. On the other hand, Meneghini showed greatly downgraded routines (and she didn’t even hit them), Cereghetti downgraded floor and probably bars as well, and Basile’s UB has literally been the same since she medaled at junior euros in 2016. This is probably also due to injuries/growth spurts so I’m not blaming the gymnasts. It was just an uninspiring competition for some of them.
