When it comes to the world’s top gymnasts, all eyes are on two of them this week at the World Selection Committee. Only the top three in the all-around at Tuesday’s meeting will lock a spot on next year’s Olympic team. Olympic champion Simone Biles has a huge advantage over the field, but she’ll need a good performance on uneven bars to catch teammate Jordan Chiles in the all-around race.
A good score on that event will make her a strong contender to become the first woman to win four consecutive all-around titles. But the committee also must take into account the balance of a team’s scores on each apparatus. Ideally, the team will have monster performances on all events. That will give the U.S. the best chance of winning a medal and challenging for the overall title.
The 2022 world team alternate, Katelyn Jong, could find herself in a similar situation to Biles. She won the all-around at last month’s national championships and has a solid shot of making the team. But her vault and uneven bars might need to improve significantly for her to be a medal contender.
Jong might find herself on the outside looking in, but her coach, Laurent Landi, is not giving up on her. He expects her to be ready for the world championships in October. But if the American isn’t quite up to speed, she might have to wait until after the Tokyo Games for her big opportunity.
For Jong, the main objective at this stage is getting healthy and back to full strength. She’s expected to have a full training camp before the end of June, but it might not be enough for her to compete in the world championships, which begin Oct. 15.
The builder selection committee is comprised of national soccer Hall of Fame members, media and historians as well as coaches and administrators with U.S. Soccer or U.S. First Division experience. Members serve 3-year terms.
Hirwani, who retired from competitive cricket in 2006, is the most recent out of all the selectors to have been a first-class player. He remained in the game for 23 years, coaching at the grassroots level and working with city and club teams before finally hanging up his gloves.
He has a bit of an axe to grind with the BCCI selection process, as it came at a particularly acrimonious time in Indian cricket’s history. He had gone on record to slam selectors Greg Chappell and Kiran More for omitting Sourav Ganguly from the 2007 World Cup squad. That’s the kind of squabble that could still flare up again when the selectors meet this year.