Women US Champs - WAG

[skschlag]

Champs are this weekend! Use this thread to chat all things WAG at Champs! So excited!

https://xfinitychampionships.com/

 

[iola]

I'm not from the US. Can somebody please explain to me why there are only 24 senior and 19 junior female competitors, but 54 and 39 male competitors.
Thats kind of unfair.
I think like in every other country there are also much more girls doing gymnastics than boys. That's really weird.

 

[Coach Kate]

I think there are more women than men from last year's cycle who are taking time off, and there were also a lot of significant injuries for the women last year and many of them aren't back yet.

It's also an individual worlds this year and then men have two more events than women, so there are more specialists. I think there are 3-5 pommel horse specialists alone! While it's very rare to have women doing only one event, it's becoming fairly regular for the men.

 

[skschlag]

Women's schedule

• Wednesday, August 6 – 2:30-5:00 p.m. – Junior Women’s Podium Training
• Wednesday, August 6 – 5:00-7:30 p.m. – Senior Women’s Podium Training
• Friday, August 8 –Jr. Women – 1:45 p.m. CT
• Friday, August 8 – Senior Women Day 1 – Peacock LIVE – 6:45-9:00 p.m.
• Saturday, August 9 – Senior Women Day 1 – CNBC (Tape Delay) – 3:30-5:30 p.m.
• Sunday, August 10 -Jr. Women – 12:45 p.m. CT
• Sunday, August 10 – Senior Women Day 2 – NBC LIVE – 6:00-8:00 p.m.

 

[josie55]

I don't know how difficult it is to qualify for MAG, but it's very difficult to qualify for elite in WAG and even more difficult to qualify for Championships. While yes some people are taking the year off or are injured, and the numbers are likely lower this year than average, I doubt that the numbers are ever as high as those numbers for men. Similarly, at DP Nationals, only the top Level 10 females can qualify, yet at the same meet for MAG, people qualify as 8s, 9s and 10s. I have no idea why, but my guess is that it's two totally different programs run by different people/organizations, so they aren't really trying to be in sync or equitable.

 

[skschlag]

True. Those 8s and 9s are on the elite track (and have qualified as so) so maybe similar to Hopes for the women (I do not know). The men only have L10 nationals, NCAA, Winter Cup and a qualifier to qualify to this meet.

I do think there is a difference in program, and the men may allow more due to having 6 events vs 4, but it is not super easy to qualify. It is different since the women do have a different elite track, whereas the men's is embedded in the DP and NCAA programs.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

It is a championship event and a certain standard should be expected.


A few of the senior ladies didn't achieve the minimum score but were added to get 24 athletes. That is the same number of athletes included in international all around competitions, which makes for a nicely run event - especially for TV broadcasters.
Historically nationals after the Olympics are always a bit smaller in number for WAG and the overall standard is lower due to the four year cycle of peaking for the Olympics.