Team USA
The U.S. women put on a fabulous display in their team performance at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile yesterday, winning the program’s sixth straight team gold medal while qualifying nine individual final spots with athletes leading in the all-around, bars, and floor competition.
Led by 2020 Olympian Jordan Chiles, the team was on fire from start to finish to earn a 165.196. Their start on beam was a bit slow, with a few checks and pauses and other small mistakes that added up and held them back to the low 13s for each routine, though all four athletes ultimately hit and placed among the top seven on this apparatus, which is pretty good for a “slow start.”
Things picked up on floor, where Kaliya Lincoln showed off her incredible difficulty in her senior international debut to top the field with a 13.8, followed close behind by Kayla DiCello, who looked better than we’ve seen her all season across the board, finishing second to Chiles going into the all-around final. All four athletes on vault performed strong Yurchenko double fulls, and on bars, Zoe Miller led the team – and the competition – with a 14.766, pairing high difficulty with beautiful execution.
I thought Brazil would be the team to beat here, especially coming off of their history-making silver medal win in Antwerp and given that they recently defeated a U.S. “B team” in continental competition, but with barely any break after worlds combined with a few lineup changes – Carolyne Pedro subbing in for Lorrane Oliveira, which held them back a bit on bars, while Rebeca Andrade opted to not compete floor – and the occasional mistake held them back a bit, though the team was still thrilled to win the silver medal with a 161.564, an improvement from bronze in 2019.
Bars was where the team really fell apart, with the team forced to count a 10.933 after a fall from Pedro was followed by a nervous routine from Jade Barbosa, who had a pause on the low bar that led to multiple corrections and directional changes and other mistakes she’s usually able to avoid. The team was also banking on a 13+ from Julia Soares on beam, though some uncharacteristic mistakes held her back to a 12.666. Both Andrade and Flavia Saraiva were excellent there, however, and the team had mostly brilliant rotations on vault and floor, with Andrade’s Cheng one of the best she’s ever performed to earn a 15.1, helping the Brazilians surpass the Americans on this apparatus.
Coming in for the bronze with a 154.230 was the very young Canadian team, featuring 2023 worlds team members Aurélie Tran, Ava Stewart, and Cassie Lee along with 2022 world medalist Sydney Turner and Frédérique Sgarbossa in her international debut.
The ladies started out with a very clean vault rotation, where Tran had a gorgeous flared Yurchenko full to earn a 13.2 while Stewart followed up with a solid Yurchenko 1½ for a 13.3, and though the team was a bit behind on bars to count a fall after Turner missed a release and Stewart put her hands down on her piked double front dismount, they came back for revenge on beam, where Stewart put up the best routine of her career to top the field with a 13.666. On floor, the difficulty levels were comparatively on the lower end, but we again saw some lovely performances, especially from Tran, who qualified into the final with a 12.666.
Rounding out the team competition were Mexico in fourth with a 150.595, Colombia in fifth with a 144.462, Argentina in sixth with a 144.329, Panama in seventh with a 140.429, Chile in eighth with a 138.195, and Puerto Rico in ninth with a 137.096.
Mexico opted to rest Alexa Moreno on every event but bars, a good way to keep her healthy for Paris 2024 while opening up some opportunities to other members of the team, though it meant the team was unable to capitalize on a weaker Canadian team and take advantage of some of their mistakes to challenge for a medal. Ahtziri Sandoval, who is also qualified for Paris, was the team’s top all-arounder with a 50.965, ahead of Natalia Escalera with a 49.998.
Escalera contributed scores to the team total on all four events, including posting the team’s top score on floor with a 12.4, proving once again why she’ll likely be Mexico’s top option when they award their non-nominative spot next year, while Sandoval eld the team on vault and bars, and Cassandra Loustalot was the strongest on beam, performing a beautiful set for a 12.666 to earn a spot in the final.
No other teams were really in the medal mix and performed about as expected, with Colombia getting a bit of a boost from Luisa Blanco, who brought some of her NCAA spirit to her new squad and told us the Olympic berth – which she’ll be the one to earn if she can repeat her qualifications performance in today’s final – is barely on her mind. Instead, she’s trying to soak up every moment in the last year in her career as a gymnast, with her priority making the atmosphere on the floor as fun and enjoyable as competing in college has been for her.
On the other side, Argentina performed a bit below what they’re capable of, as injuries and retirements have decimated the team over the past couple of years, while Meline Mesropian – normally a top all-arounder for the program – was forced to withdraw from all four events here, with the other gymnasts on the team all called up for all-around duty after her loss. Both Nicole Iribarne and Milagros Curti made the all-around final, and both could be in the mix for the Olympic spot, especially if Curti has a fully hit day, and I loved the performances we saw from Lucila Estarli, who turns 30 next week. Having only recently come back to international competition after nearly a decade away, Estarli was stunning on beam and floor here, and qualified to the vault final.
I was personally hoping to see Panama come in at a higher ranking knowing what they’re capable of, especially on vault, but I think all three of their worlds competitors were a bit tired, with both Hillary Heron – who earned an Olympics berth in Antwerp – and Karla Navas scoring multiple points below what they’re capable of, falling a couple of times apiece and struggling through a kind of disastrous vault rotation, where Heron competed just a handspring front tuck full instead of her usual layout rudi while Navas stumbled back her Yurchenko 1½ into the table.
Both athletes still made the all-around final, and if Navas can do what she did at worlds, she’ll be right back in the mix to earn the spot here, but I’m afraid with so little downtime between prelims and the final it won’t be easy to shake off yesterday’s performance.
The other gymnast to keep an eye on for the Olympics berth is Lynnzee Brown of Haiti, who qualified to the all-around final in 14th place after a great competition yesterday. Her difficulty being a bit lower, especially on bars where she’s missing credit requirements, means she’ll be held back a bit and would need to both be at her best while also requiring some mistakes from stronger competitors, but I wouldn’t count her out. She’s been super consistent and solid since starting her elite journey, and if she can keep that up today, she’d be in a good place to take advantage should others falter.
A full team rankings list is below, along with a list of all of the individual qualifiers. Athletes in italics are not eligible for the final due to two-per-country limitations.
Team Final Standings
1. United States 165.196
2. Brazil 161.564
3. Canada 154.230
4. Mexico 150.595
5. Colombia 144.462
6. Argentina 144.329
7. Panama 140.429
8. Chile 138.195
9. Puerto Rico 137.096
All-Around Qualifiers
1. Jordan Chiles USA 54.666
2. Kayla DiCello USA 54.565
3. Flavia Saraiva BRA 54.466
4. Tiana Sumanasekera USA 53.066
5. Aurélie Tran CAN 52.132
6. Ava Stewart CAN 51.832
7. Ahtziri Sandoval MEX 50.965
8. Jade Barbosa BRA 50.666
9. Natalia Escalera MEX 49.998
10. Luisa Blanco COL 49.431
11. Sydney Turner CAN 49.099
12. Nicole Iribarne ARG 48.732
13. Milagros Curti ARG 47.932
14. Lynnzee Brown HAI 47.632
15. Paulina Campos MEX 47.199
16. Lucila Estarli ARG 46.899
17. Alais Perea ECU 46.699
18. Karla Navas PAN 46.531
19. Barbara Achondo 46.465
20. Hillary Heron PAN 46.399
21. Alexa Grande ESA 46.399
22. Lana Herrera PAN 46.033
23. Makarena Pinto CHI 45.798
24. Stella Diaz PUR 45.665
25. Leila Martinez ARG 45.465
26. Alejandra Alvarez PUR 45.432
27. Anya Pilgrim BAR 45.366
28. Franciny Morales CRC 45.332
29. Karelys Diaz PUR 44.899
30. Deborah Salmina VEN 44.632
31. Ashley Bohorquez ECU 44.465
R1. Anelena Rodriguez CRC 43.865
R2. Ginna Escobar COL 43.565
R3. Ana Karina Mendez PER 43.065
Vault Qualifiers
1. Rebeca Andrade BRA 14.816
2. Jordan Chiles USA 14.099
3. Ahtziri Sandoval MEX 13.249
4. Natalia Escalera MEX 13.166
5. Makarena Pinto CHI 12.783
6. Lucila Estarli ARG 12.399
7. Camil Betances DOM 12.366
8. Franchesca Santi CHI 12.316
R1. Alexa Grande ESA 12.083
R2. Franciny Morales CRC 11.883
R3. Diana Vasquez BOL 11.666
Uneven Bars Qualifiers
1. Zoe Miller USA 14.766
2. Rebeca Andrade BRA 14.300
3. Jordan Chiles USA 14.100
4. Kayla DiCello USA 13.800
5. Flavia Saraiva BRA 13.633
6. Katelyn Jong USA 13.633
7. Aurélie Tran CAN 13.400
8. Ahtziri Sandoval MEX 13.333
9. Tiana Sumanasekera USA 12.900
10. Paulina Campos MEX 12.600
11. Ava Stewart CAN 12.400
R1. Nicole Iribarne ARG 12.000
R2. Tyesha Mattis JAM 12.000
R3. Luisa Blanco COL 11.966
Balance Beam Qualifiers
1. Ava Stewart CAN 13.666
2. Rebeca Andrade BRA 13.566
3. Flavia Saraiva BRA 13.433
4. Kaliya Lincoln USA 13.233
5. Kayla DiCello USA 13.066
6. Tiana Sumanasekera USA 13.066
7. Jordan Chiles USA 13.000
8. Aurélie Tran CAN 12.866
9. Julia Soares BRA 12.666
10. Cassandra Loustalot MEX 12.666
11. Sydney Turner CAN 12.633
12. Jade Barbosa BRA 12.600
13. Luisa Blanco COL 12.266
R1. Nicole Iribarne ARG 12.133
R2. Natalia Escalera MEX 11.966
R3. Lucila Estarli ARG 11.933
Floor Exercise Qualifiers
1. Kaliya Lincoln USA 13.800
2. Kayla DiCello USA 13.633
3. Flavia Saraiva BRA 13.400
4. Julia Soares BRA 13.400
5. Jade Barbosa BRA 13.333
6. Jordan Chiles USA 13.200
7. Tiana Sumanasekera USA 13.000
8. Hillary Heron PAN 12.966
9. Aurélie Tran CAN 12.666
10. Barbara Achondo CHI 12.633
11. Sydney Turner CAN 12.500
R1. Milagros Curti ARG 12.433
R2. Natalia Escalera MEX 12.400
R3. Makarena Pinto CHI 12.033
Article by Lauren Hopkins
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By: Lauren
Title: U.S. Women Win Sixth Straight Pan Am Games Team Gold in Santiago
Sourced From: thegymter.net/2023/10/23/u-s-women-win-sixth-straight-pan-am-games-team-gold-in-santiago/
Published Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:57:00 +0000
