And the all-arounders for the Worlds are...

Bruna Leal and Ethiene Franco! What a surprise that Khiuane Dias, the all-around champion at the recent Troféu Brasil (the closest to a "Nationals" we have had this year) will not compete in the all-around! Khiuane will perform on the Uneven Bars and Balance Beam events and Priscila Cobello will perform on the Balance Beam Vault and Floor. Good luck to the girls (and the boys as well)!

EDIT (on Oct. 3rd): Priscila Cobbelo will perform on the Vault and Floor. This is intriguing since Priscila is far from being one of Brazil's best vaulters. Rumors are that her most difficult vault will be a Front Twisting Yurchenko.

Who is going to London? (Part 2)

CBG has decided what girls are going to the Worlds 2009. The list is:

Ethiene Franco
Khiuane Dias
Bruna Leal
Priscila Cobello

It is a surprising list, considering that two of the girls have never been to a World Championships or Olympic Games (Bruna Leal and Priscila Cobello). I wish all the luck to them and I expect the girls to give their best and represent Brazil well (and I am sure they will).

No comments yet about the Men's team, though Diego Hypólito was officially confirmed by CBG. Initially, Diego threatened not to take part in the competition if his coach was not named head coach for the Men's team. His presence in the competition was only confirmed after CBG named Renato the head coach. It will not be a surprise if the alternate for the Women's team is Daniele Hypólito, for obvious reasons.

In other news, while Jade Barbosa will not take part at the Worlds 2009, she is going to compete in an international event in Italy later this year. I am really looking forward to see her new routines!

Who is going to London this year?

With the Brazilian National Championships taking place later this month, we can begin to speculate who is going to make it to the World Championships in October. After the Nationals, one "new" athlete will join the permanent team and CBG will be able to finally choose four girls to represent Brazil at the World Championships.

I would say Ethiene Franco is a lock for the team. Ethiene is not particularly strong in any specific apparatus, but her routines are solid and relatively difficult. This makes her a perfect candidate for being Brazil's best All-Arounder now that Jade Barbosa can not compete on every piece of apparatus anymore. As the team is now, I guess that the other three spots would probably be taken by Ana Claudia Silva, Khiuane Dias and Bruna Leal.

But there is one spot left on the team and both Jade and Daiane are going to compete at Nationals. Probably one of them will take the last spot and also make it to London as well. I bet on Daiane, since she is working hard to return to form. Earlier this year, she stated: "I want to go to London. (...) This is my objective, my dream". Good luck to her. If she makes it to London, Daiane is Brazil's best shot at a medal. The gymnast is a floor specialist and won the world title in 2003 at this apparatus. Can she make history again, six years later? We hope so. But first she has to secure her spot on the team.

At the men's side, Diego Hypólito is also a lock. I guess the other three spots will be taken by Artur Zanetti, Mosiah Rodrigues and Vitor Rosa. Sergio Eras will probably be the alternate. But this is just wild speculation and we still have a long way to go until October.

Uneven Bars and uneven results for Brazilian girls

Historically in Women's Artistic Gymnastics the worst apparatus for Brazilian girls has been the Uneven Bars. When it comes to World Championships, Brazilian gymnasts managed to at least get a place in the finals for the All-Around, Team, Vault, Balance Beam and Floor events, but never for the Uneven Bars. The only major title on bars for a Brazilian gymnast so far was taken by Luísa Parente, who won the gold medal on the apparatus at the 1991 Pan-American Games.

So, it comes as a surprise that gymnast Ethiene Franco (pictured*) is now focusing her training on the Uneven Bars (and getting good results so far). She is even training an element never attempted before by a Brazilian gymnast: a piked Gienger (check the video here). It sure is still sloppy, but at least she is showing steady improvement. I would even dare say she is a lock for the team at the next World Championships in October.

*Picture borrowed from http://globoesporte.globo.com. All rights reserved.