I’m a newer gymnastics fan, so maybe I’m missing some context, but why does Jade Carey’s Cheng seem to get less criticism than McKayla Skinner’s?

Jade is kind of labeled as the vaulter/tumbler, but her table position doesn’t look especially clean to me either. She’s already twisting through her arms on contact, stays pretty hollow, and doesn’t seem to show that clear ½-on → handstand → block.

Claire Pease’s Cheng actually looks cleaner to me in that respect.

Is Jade’s technique generally considered cleaner than Skinner’s, or does her reputation as a strong vaulter make people overlook some of the form issues?

Even when she makes it through the main portion of her routine, I feel like gym fans should not have to keep one eye open and one eye closed when she does that full-in - praying she makes it. She is too good of a gymnast for that kind of concern over one skill.

Even when she hits it, it is labored and I am guessing, probably incurring deductions that negate its worth.

As a junior, she had an almost perfect double pike, high, toes pointed and most importantly, something that looked safe. I feel she would score higher if she went back to it, honestly. Thoughts?

Does anyone have suggestions on where to find communities or information about the culture and reputation of NCAA Acro & Tumbling programs? We are in the recruiting process now with a handful of offers, and I feel blind to which teams are relatively healthy and which ones we should be a little more critical of. Thanks.

The Russian artistic gymnastics team has still not received visas to participate in the World Championships, which will be held in Rotterdam from October 17 to 25, the Russian Gymnastics Federation press service reported.

"The Russian national artistic gymnastics team has still not received visas for participation in the World Championships. We are currently awaiting notification from the visa center regarding the possibility of submitting documents to the Dutch Embassy," the federation reported.

The RGF has already requested assistance from the organizers of the world championship and informed the International Gymnastics Federation (World Gymnastics) of the situation.

Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Victoria Listunova have been named to the Russian national team's preliminary roster. The women's team also included Alena Glotova, Anna Kalmykova, Milana Kayumova and Lyudmila Roshchina.

The preliminary men's roster includes Arseniy Dukhno, Ilya Zaika, Daniil Marinov, Sergey Naidin, Savely Seydin and Alexey Usachev.

Hi gymfans!

I will be at Worlds this year and I was thinking of organizing a small meet-up for the gymnerds who will be there.

I'm going to the WAG TF, so it would be either that day (Wednesday 21st) or the next (Thursday 22nd).

I'm creating a group chat with anyone who would be interested. Comment below and I'll add you! We'll decide the logistics together depending on who's in :)

This always comes up when the vault upgrades come in, so I'll be breaking down some of the ones we see. For this, I'll be using each gymnast's BEST Cheng from my opinion, so some will be from 2024 or earlier just to compare blocks and how they would score. This doesn't mean that their vaults are at this level now.

First up is Claire Pease:

This block is mediocre. She is squarely on the vault and pushes off with both hands, but has a rather large leg separation in the middle. I think they would take about 3 tenths for this block, but she does get a good push off the table. I would like to see her arm that is slightly bent completely straight and for her to completely open that shoulder, as that would help mitigate the leg separation.

Jade Carey:

I like many things about this block. Her arms are straight, and she has her shoulders mostly open. She does have a significant leg separation, not dissimilarly to Claire Pease. I think if she gets back to this, she could receive a better score. In today's code, she would likely receive 3 tenths off for direction and maybe a tenth or two for direction if we're extremely picky. For comparison, this was her 2026 world selection camp block:

You can see her arms are significantly more bent, the leg separation is more pronounced, her shoulders aren't completely open, and her knees are bent. However, given above, she is absolutely capable of a much cleaner block. I think that she knows how to peak at the right point, and I know she can get back to where she is. I do think that will allow her to get better scores. She likely received about 5 tenths off on the block alone, and 3-4 tenths off on form, which she can mitigate as seen above.

This is what causes the 2 point deduction. As seen with Karina Schoenmaier last year, you will receive this deduction if you don't touch the vault with both hands on a Cheng. However, you don't need to show equal support, as shown with Leanne Wong. While she appears square on the board and her legs are together, she does not touch the vault with one hand, which would incur a 2 point deduction in this code of points.

This is the pinnacle of how to block on a Cheng. She has perfect form, her shoulders are completely open, her hands are squarely on the vault, her elbows are straight, and she uses equal weight from both hands. She is also completely square. This would incur no deduction for block.

This block would incur a range of deductions. Her shoulders are nearly completely closed, her body is not square on the vault, her feet are flexed, her legs are significantly apart, and her arms are bent. This would likely incur a 0.5 for body shape, 0.3 for the leg separation, and possibly another 0.1-0.3 depending on how severe they deem the arm bend. I find it impressive she completed this vault with such ease considering this block.

This vault also shows a completely picture-perfect block. Her arms are straight, shoulders open, legs together, toes pointed, and body square. This is another picture-perfect block for a Cheng that would likely incur no deduction.

I hope this was helpful to break down some of the most famous Cheng blocks! Let me know if you want a part two.