NIGHT ONE
As in all post-Olympic years, the 2005 U.S. Nationals promised give a taste of the talent to come in the years leading to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With all the members of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team out of the competition, an ecstatic crowd at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis eagerly anticipated the crowning of a brand new United States Gymnastics Champion.
Nastia Liukin was the clear favorite, while Chellsie Memmel, Alicia Sacramone and Jana Bieger followed close behind.
Liukin, the daughter of two former Soviet gymnasts, began the preliminary round on night one on vault. She performed a beautifully-executed Yurchenko 1 ½ to score a 9.366. Memmel was in the same rotation as Liukin, and vaulted a double-twisting Yurchenko with a step forward, tying Liukin’s score.
Competing in her first senior national meet, Jana Bieger, the daughter of German Olympian Andrea Bieger, opened competition on balance beam. Showing original skills such as a back tuck to one knee right into a front aerial to one knee, Bieger capped off the routine with a double front dismount. She scored a 9.533.
Alicia Sacramone began on the beam in her quest to prove that she is not just a two-event gymnast. Sacramone tumbled aggressively, casually tossing a standing Arabian and a front tuck, falling on the latter. The 8.883 left Sacramone dejected as her coach, Mihai Brestyn, told her “It’s not okay.”
In the second rotation, Liukin and Memmel went to uneven bars, a specialty for each. Liukin swung bars as if she had been training with the Chinese. Her lines and tricks were superior, including a full Ono turn right to Endo. She dismounted with a double layout, taking a small step on the landing. She earned a 9.75 for the routine.
Memmel, the 2003 co-world champion on bars, performed her trademark difficulty (Hindorff to Pak; jam to invert, double front dismount) and scored a 9.666.
Sacramone and Beiger went to floor, each performing very powerful tumbling. Sacramone punched an Arabian double and ended her routine with a triple twist that seemed to hang in the air. She scored a 9.766.
Bieger threw a huge double layout, but had problems on her last two passes (double front; Arabian double), landing low, but managed to stand them up. A 9.166 left her in third place behind Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel at the conclusion of the second rotation.
Bieger and Sacramone moved to vault in the third rotation, each performing two different vaults. Sacramone did a huge double-twisting Yurchenko for her first vault, scoring a 9.650. She took a small hop on her second vault, a piked Rudi (handspring piked front somersault with 1 ½ twists).
Bieger’s vaults were not as difficult as Sacramone’s but they were just as powerful. She threw a Yurchenko 1 ½ and handspring front layout-half (barani), but she scored higher on the Yurchenko and counted a 9.40 toward her all-around score.
With Liukin on another one of her best events, balance beam, it seemed the U.S. National Championship would be one step closer to being hers if she just hit. After flawlessly tumbling a flip flop, two layout step outs, Liukin wobbled slightly on a side somi. She had another break on a wolf-full. The crowd gasped as Liukin’s left foot slipped off the beam on the round off into her triple full dismount. Liukin completed only two twists and fell to the mat, but was not hurt. The errant dismount lowered her start value to a 9.4, and she scored an 8.783.
Memmel seemed to sense the door was now wide open, and completed a beam routine full of variety, including a barani, standing Arabian and front aerial. She dismounted with a double pike to score a 9.700.
Heading into the fourth and final rotation of the preliminary round, Memmel was in first, Sacramone in second and Bieger third. Liukin was left in fourth place.
Memmel and Liukin headed to floor, where each have unique styles. Memmel performed to Middle Eastern music, tumbling back-to-back passes of two whipbacks to Arabian double front and a double layout. She earned generous applause from the audience and a 9.650 from the judges.
Liukin performed with the grace of a rhythmic gymnast, although she made a mistake on her first pass. Liukin was planning on doing a 3 ½ twist to open, but opened early and only completed 2 ½ twists. She twisted her way through the rest of the routine with ease, performing a layout to Randi (front somersault with 2 ½ twists) and a triple full at the end of her routine. She was given a 10.0 start value and awarded a 9.616, despite the mistake on her mount.
Bieger and Sacramone ended night one on uneven bars. Bieger steadily completed a routine that included a Stalder-full, Tkachev and full-twisting double somi dismount for a 9.516. Sacramone, on her weakest event, swung a clean routine (Geinger, double layout dismount), but had a low start value and had to settle for an 8.750.
At the conclusion of night one, the standings were as follows:
1. Chellsie Memmel 38.382
2. Jana Bieger 37.615
3. Nastia Liukin 37.515
4. Alicia Sacramone 37.016
5. Kassi Price 36.814
6. Annie Diluzio 35.932
7. Kayla Hoffman 35.915
8. Kristina Comforte 35.849
9. Brittani Mccullough 35.798
10. Sarah Shire 35.632
11. Kelly Fee 35.415
12. Hillary Mauro 35.399
13. Jacquelyn Johnson 35.349
14. Marcia Newby 34.982
15. Haley Deprospero 34.533
16. Jennifer Iovino 34.365
17. Susan Jackson 33.865
18. Anna Li 33.281
19. Ashley Jenkins 23.932
NIGHT TWO
Bela Karolyi addressed the crowd at Conseco Fieldhouse before march-in began on night two to commemorate Kim Zmeskal’s world championship title, which she won in Indianapolis’ RCA Dome in 1991. Zmeskal’s victory made her the first American world all-around champion. Karolyi stated, “This is the town where dreams were born.” On this night, one lucky gymnast’s dreams of becoming national champion would come true.
Despite having to compete with no one-touch warm up, the athletes were ready to give it their all on the second and final night of competition, which determined the United States Gymnastics Champion and individual event champions. The top 12 athletes also made the national team that will represent the United States in international competition this year.
The big question on this night was: Can Nastia Liukin rebound from night one and claim the Championship title?
That question was quickly answered during the first rotation, where Liukin started on uneven bars. She performed a carbon copy of her routine in night one, earning a slightly higher score, a 9.766. Chellsie Memmel, in first place after the first night of competition, also began on bars and equaled her bar score from night one, a 9.666.
The highlight of the evening’s competition came early in the meet with Alicia Sacramone’s floor exercise. Sacramone, fourth after night one, completed an Arabian double front with knees together for her first pass. She stuck her second pass, a full-in, and ended the routine with a triple twist that was so high there was no question she got it all the way around.
The crowd cheered and Sacramone’s face showed her surprise and excitement as the score came up: 9.90…probably as close to a perfect 10 as we will ever see again.
Jana Bieger also began on floor. Her landings improved from night one and her score improved from a 9.166 on night one to a 9.316 on night two.
After the first rotation, Memmel still lead the field, with Liukin trailing by just .767.
Liukin and Memmel headed to the balance beam, the event which would tell if Liukin was back in the game. She breezed through a gorgeous beam set—no wobbles this time. She made her round-off, triple twist dismount, but landed a tad short and had to sneak the triple around. The judges didn’t seem to mind this, however, and Liukin garnered a 9.80.
Memmel had a look of serious concentration before mounting the beam. With Liukin’s high score, a hit routine from Memmel would virtually tie the two. A momentary lapse in Memmel’s concentration caused her to go crooked on a barani, taking her off the beam. She had more breaks throughout the routine, leaving her with an 8.80.
Bieger and Sacramone vaulted in the second rotation. Bieger performed the same vaults she performed night one, but this time it was her handspring barani that scored higher, with a 9.483.
Sacramone performed a huge Yurchenko double twist. Despite a hop out on the landing, the judges awarded her with a 9.60 (9.80 start value).
Liukin claimed the lead after the second rotation, 57.081 to Memmel’s 56.848. Sacramone and Bieger were in third and fourth, respectively.
Liukin went to floor exercise, where she danced and tumbled her way to a 9.60. She changed her passes a bit, but the strategy worked. She opened with a layout to Randi, and ended with a 2 ½ twist.
Memmel also went to floor exercise with the hope that she could make up some of the ground she’d lost on balance beam. She struggled to stay in bounds on her first pass, an Arabian double. She also had a low landing on a piked full-in, and scored a 9.433.
Sacramone went to uneven bars, which would either make or break the outcome of her competition. She hesitated during a toe-on full pirouette and broke form on her only release, a Geinger. The routine was not as strong as it was in night one, and she scored only an 8.266.
Bieger stayed consistent as ever, hitting her bar routine for a 9.566.
The gymnasts moved to the final rotation. Liukin’s lead was big enough that all she had to do was stand up her vault, a 1 ½ twisting Yurchenko. She nearly stuck it and scored a 9.483.
It seemed Memmel’s concentration was all but gone as she performed a double-twisting Yurchenko with very sloppy form in the air. She scored a 9.516 to end her 2005 National Championships.
Sacramone and Bieger ended on the balance beam. Sacramone stayed on the beam this time, albeit a wobble after a tour jete half, but scored a 9.466. Bieger, on the other hand, showed a break in her steely nerves, making serious mistakes for the first time during the entire competition. She was off kilter on her piked barani and had to grab the beam, almost doing a handstand to stay on. She grabbed the beam again during her back tuck to one knee, front aerial to one knee combination. Bieger’s beam routine scored an 8.70, which was her lowest score in two days of competition.
After winning the past two junior national titles, Liukin claimed her first senior all-around victory. Already in her young career, she is becoming the new media darling, the favorite to win gold at the 2008 Olympics.
“It feels great winning a third time at these Nationals,” Liukin told NBC’s Andrea Joyce after the meet. “[I learned] it's never over until it's over and you always have to fight back. Never give up."
FINAL STANDINGS:
1. Liukin, 76.164
2. Memmel, 75.797
3. Bieger, 74.68
4. Sacramone, 74.248
5. Price, 73.696
6. Comforte, 71.664
7. DiLuzio, 71.631
8. Hoffman, 71.413
9. Shire, 71.213
10. Johnson, 71.181
11. McCullough, 70.914
12. Mauro, 70.848
13. Newby, 70.364
14. Fee, 70.231
15. Jackson, 69.064
16. Li, 68.096
17. Deprospero, 67.815
18. Iovino, 59.598 (did not compete all events)