Final American Cup Roster

It has changed a lot since I last posted about it. Jiang Yuyuan pulled out to compete at Wild Rose and Elisabeth Seitz pulled out due to an injury (she isn’t ready for all around). Georgia Bonora and Jade Barbosa both turned down their invitations, so Hannah Whelan was selected to compete. To fill Seitz’s spot, they had to go down to 22nd in the all around; Tanaka, Hypolito, van Gerner, Pihan-Kulesza and Tsurumi all declined with such short notice. Great Britain’s Nicole Hibbert will take the final spot.

Fourteen out of twenty-two gymnasts have declined. There goes the prestigious American Cup with the top eight all around gymnasts in the world. The final roster is as follows:

• Aliya Mustafina (RUS)
• Huang Qiushuang (CHN)
• Lauren Mitchell (AUS)
• Ariella Kaeslin (SUI)
• Jessica Lopez (VEN)
• Alexandra Raisman (USA)
• Hannah Whelan (GBR)
• Nicole Hibbert (GBR)

My prediction is pretty much the same as it was before, just without Jiang Yuyuan. Aliya Mustafina, Huang Qiushuang, Lauren Mitchell and Alexandra Raisman should be the medal contenders unless they make major mistakes.