Gymnastics

USA Gymnastics linked out to this video of Liang Chow as a competitor in the 1991 American Cup. It's fun to see him compete -- and Tim Daggett is the commentator, even here!

Decades later, Chow coached Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas to Olympic success in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

Chow (who changed his name from Qiao to the American phonetic spelling when he moved to the US) finished sixth all-around. Americans Trent Dimas and Chris Waller went 1-2, and on the women's side, Betty Okino bested American teammate (and future world all-around champ) Kim Zmeskal by a little over .2.

There's also video of Chow crashing on high bar later in the meet.

The entire 1991 American Cup, in parts.

Pictured above: Liang Chow with Shawn Johnson in 2007; © Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

There's plenty of not-so-pretty elite gymnastics being performed in 2013, but Russia's Anastasia Grishina manages to throw high difficulty levels while still paying attention to things like form, amplitude, and presentation.

One example? I could watch her bar set, from the recent European Championships, over and over again: Watch Grishina on bars

She throws high release moves, connects interesting elements (like a piked reverse hecht to Pak salto), and still keeps her feet together and pointed. It's gorgeous to watch. (With one exception: the bent knees on her tap before the dismount.)

Grishina is a hot-and-cold gymnast -- she scored a dismal 13.566 on this event in prelims and didn't make the event finals at Europeans -- but when she's on, she's great. In the all-around finals, she was .1 behind Olympic bar champion Aliya Mustafina with a 15.033.

Full women's results of the European Championships

Watch the women's all-around competition

LOS ANGELES -- The University of Florida won its first-ever NCAA title on Saturday, with a 197.575, edging Oklahoma (197.375) and Alabama (197.35). Florida, led by 2008 Olympian Bridget Sloan who also won the individual all-around on Friday, had a nightmare start to the competition. With two falls in the first rotation on beam, Florida's total of 48.875 was the only event score in the 48s all night long.

But the Gators came back with an incredible 49.725 event total on the next rotation on floor, and were on fire the rest of the night. Highlights included Marissa King's easy double layout on floor and Tsukahara 1.5 on vault (she scored a 9.95 on each event), and Alaina Johnson's picture-perfect bar set, that capped the meet and also earned a 9.95.

Florida has been the team to beat all season long, so it was impressive that the gymnasts were able to live up to the hype, even with such a bad start.

"It's taken me awhile to compose myself because I'm so proud of this team... It speaks volumes for their desire and their passion, and their never-give-up attitude..." said coach Rhonda Faehn after the competition. She called the mistakes on beam "uncharacteristic" and felt like it only served to rally the team for floor.

"It's an absolute dream come true... we've come so close every year, and to finally achieve it is amazing," said senior Marissa King, who turned 22 on the day of the competition. "I'll definitely never forget my 22nd," she joked after.

UCLA was fourth, LSU fifth, and Georgia sixth. UCLA, national champs in 2010, has had an injury-ridden year, with 2008 Olympian Samantha Peszek out all season, and 2010 world team member Mattie Larson injured halfway through.

Watch the meet on YouTube.

More quotes from the athletes and coaches after the competition.

Quotes and results from semifinal session one
Quotes and results from semifinal session two

American Cup runner-up Simone Biles won the all-around at the 2013 Jesolo Trophy on Saturday, a small-scale international competition that included competitors from the US, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland.

Biles led an American sweep in the all-around, with Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross in second, and 2012 Olympic Trials competitor Brenna Dowell in third. Not surprisingly, the US won the team competition as well. Bailie Key, fourth all-around at the 2012 US junior nationals, earned the junior all-around title.

Full results and lots of videos are up, from USA Gymnastics.

Since it's still early on in a post-Olympic year, it wasn't the strongest of competitions, but Biles was certainly a highlight. Check out her new tumbling pass -- a back 1.5 to a full-in! -- as her third pass. And that's after a tucked double-double mount, and a double layout second pass. Impressive!

World and Olympic champ Kohei Uchimura is still training, and is still pretty much Superman: Check out this video, posted last month of Uchimura throwing a Kovacs to two Kolmans -- in a row!

Kohei Uchimura high bar video.

Pictured above: Uchimura; © Clive Rose / Getty Images

First-year senior Katelyn Ohashi and 2012 Olympian Jake Dalton took home the 2013 American Cup titles on Saturday in Worcester, Mass. Ohashi had a solid competition in her first meet as a senior, with small mistakes on bars on her pirouettes (form breaks) and floor (she watered down her last pass). She looked poised throughout, though, and still throws one of the most difficult beam sets of anyone in the world. (Watch it.)

Ohashi and second-place finisher Simone Biles have huge potential to be stars for the US team. Biles did an enormous Amanar vault, and has upgraded on her other events as well: she mounted with a double-double on floor and came back with a double layout; dismounted with a full-in off beam; and added multiple skills on bars

The highlight of the non-American competitors? Victoria Moors on floor. She mounted with a double-double and had an artistry and dance ability that no one else matched. Not surprisingly, she won the event. (Watch it here.)

On the men's side, Dalton had a great day, hitting floor, vault, and rings, as well as the all-around by more than two points. Olympic bronze medalist Danell Leyva came into the competition in rough shape with a stomach bug, and ended in sixth after very low scores on floor and high bar.

USA Gymnastics has posted the routines not shown on the broadcast here -- check it out.

Women:

1. Katelyn Ohashi, Newcastle, Wash., 59.199

2. Simone Biles, Spring, Texas, 57.666

3. Victoria Moors, Canada, 57.066

4. Elisabeth Seitz, Germany, 56.698

5. Vanessa Ferrari, Italy, 56.098

6. Gabrielle Jupp, Great Britain, 55.665

7. Asuka Teramoto, Japan, 54.266

8. Maegan Chant, Canada, 51.399

Men:

1. Jake Dalton, Reno, Nev., 89.398

2. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 87.298

3. Marcel Nguyen, Germany, 87.031

4. Hiroki Ishikawa, Japan, 86.531

5. Kristian Thomas, Great Britain, 85.831

6. Danell Leyva, Homestead, Fla., 85.265

7. Sergio Sasaki Junior, Brazil, 83.232

8. Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez, Colombia, 82.298

Pictured above: Katelyn Ohashi; © Cammie Backus

London Olympian Kyla Ross has officially withdrawn from the American Cup, to be held on Mar. 2, due to a bruised heel. Since Elizabeth Price, the other American originally on the roster, also withdrew earlier, two new US athletes have been picked: Katelyn Ohashi and Simone Biles.

Both of these gymnasts are in their first season as a senior, so this will be the biggest meet of their careers so far. And both are fantastic! (I had recently put both on my list of gymnasts to watch this season). Ohashi competes some of the hardest balance beam skills being done, with amazing form throughout, and Biles brings power and charisma to all of her performances. I'm excited to watch them both -- either could win the all-around in a relatively weak women's field. (Vanessa Ferrari, Italy; Gabrielle Jupp, Great Britain; Maegan Chant, Canada; Victoria Moors, Canada; Elisabeth Seitz, Germany; Asuka Teramoto, Japan)

The American Cup will be aired on NBC at 1-3pm ET on Saturday, Mar. 2. More on the men's roster here -- it includes 2012 Olympians Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva.

Pictured above: Kyla Ross; © Harry How / Getty Images

It's a new quadrennium, and while many of the best gymnasts of 2012 will retire (or have retired), there is still an impressive group of great US gymnasts to keep your eye on.

Tops on the list? Kyla Ross. The youngest member of the Fierce Five is already back to full training, and will compete at the American Cup in a little over a week. (Updated (2/26): Ross is now out of the American Cup due to injury.) There are also new seniors, such as Katelyn Ohashi and Lexie Priessman who could make a big impact this year, and two of the Olympic team alternates -- Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan -- who could as well. Both alternates are currently recovering from injury, but were only getting better throughout 2012. Sixteen-year-old MyKayla Skinner could surprise more than a few people this year. She recently competed a layout double-double (yes, you read that right) on floor, and could potentially be an asset to the world team as a specialist.

Check out 9 Gymnasts to Watch this season, and possibly until the 2016 Games. As more gymnasts return to training or become seniors, we'll be adding to this list too.

Up-and-coming American star Elizabeth Price has been withdrawn from the roster for the American Cup (held Mar. 2 in Worcester, Mass.) due to a strained hip muscle. USA Gymnastics has also announced that Romanian gymnast Larisa Iordache will no longer be competing, though no reason was given for her withdrawal.

Japan's Koko Tsurumi and Canada's Victoria Moors have been added to the lineup, though neither of these athletes will replace Price and Iordache. Price's replacement will be an American, and will be named after a February national team training camp. Iordache's replacement, per USAG, will be named in the "near future."

I'm disappointed for Price and hope she heals quickly. She has been on fire this season so far. I hope the US chooses one of the new seniors as her replacement -- I'd love to see Katelyn Ohashi or Lexie Priessman earn the spot and get some big-meet experience.

Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller is pregnant with her second child, due at the end of June. (She hasn't found out the gender yet, but is hoping to).

Miller had chemotherapy and surgery for a rare form of ovarian cancer just two years ago, so this baby news is especially exciting for her and her husband, John Falconetti. Their son, Rocco, turned three in October. She wrote about her pregnancy and cancer journey for espnW.com. It's touching and inspiring -- and definitely worth reading. (Disclosure: I also work as an editor at espnW, but that doesn't change the fact that I find her story touching).

Pictured above: Miller in 1996; © Steve Lange