A/N: I have gymnastics brain!


"Ooh, that was so close, she barely had her hands around the bar!"

"Come on Simone!" JJ cheered, clapping her hands together as Simone flew between the high and low bar on her Pak salto.

It was night 1 of Nationals. JJ couldn't believe how fast time had flown. It was a year since the Olympics had ended, and here she was, proving she still had it in her to compete at the top level.

Simone flew into the air for her full twisting double back, landing it with ease and straightening up immediately to salute the judges. JJ and the other girls in their rotation began to applaud as Simone jumped down from the podium and hugged her coach, Aimee.

Grabbing her spray bottle, JJ headed up onto the podium; she would congratulate Simone on a hit routine later. Nick was already there, prepping the bars for her as she stood over the chalk bucket readying her grips.

"So we'll have JJ up next on the bars... you know, I used to think that JJ wasn't very strong on bars, but she went and made me eat crow by winning that bronze medal last year hahaha. I think JJ's issue is actually consistency; she's capable of a GREAT routine, but very rarely does she actually hit it"

"She certainly hit it four for four in London"

Simone's score was announced amongst the noise of the crowd, and JJ was ready to go. She got her green flag almost immediately, and wasted no time in saluting the judges.

Before she had too much time to think about it, she had mounted the bars and cast up into handstand, focusing on keeping everything tight and clean.

The first few skills were fine; pirouettes, kips, low to high flight element, all good. Her Tkatchev was clear over the high bar, and it connected straight to her Pak salto.

And it was on the Pak salto that it became a little unravelled. When she caught sight of the bar on the other end of the flip, she was way too close to it to catch it smoothly. Instead, she hit it and buckled her elbows, losing control of the momentum and smacking her feet into the floor as she flew through into a wild kip cast.

"Oh boy"

Heart racing, her nerves a little on edge, she muscled her way back into a handstand, executing a quick half turn before shooting back up to the high bar.

"She's rattled now, and she's working a little bit quicker than she should. She needs to slow down, calm down, and keep going"

Giant swing, straight into her double layout dismount. The landing was clean, but the damage was done.

"Not a good routine for JJ. This is the problem they have with her on bars. She's not as comfortable swinging bars as she is working on beam, so one little mistake can really rattle her nerves for the whole routine. She was really close on that Pak salto, I think she scared herself when she flipped forward and saw the bar"

Heaving a sigh, JJ hopped down onto the walkway.

"That was bad," she sighed.

"Wasn't your best, but that's ok, it's things we can fix. You and I are going to win this battle against the bars this quad, that's a promise," Nick said with a reassuring smile. "You are good on bars JJ, I think sometimes the bars get the best of you and the self doubt creeps in"

"The battle of the bars. I hope JJ can conquer this apparatus in coming years, because she has a beautiful style up there. She could be a real asset to Team USA in the team final if she gets a bit more consistent"


Every skill was punched into the beam with a loud thwack. She fought hard not to wobble. After the bars mishap, there was no room for mistakes if she wanted to prove to Marta that she was ready to go to Worlds.

Her leaps were beautifully flexible, her acrobatic skills clean and concise. Not a wobble to be seen.

With a ring of the bell, it was just the dismount to go.

Flip, flip, full twisting double tuck. Only the slightest shuffle of her feet and she was up.

"Good comeback! Marta will be impressed with that!"

"Yes!" JJ cheered as she walked back down to join Nick, clapping her hands together triumphantly. Nick beamed, giving her a tight hug before she was congratulated on her great routine by the other girls.

"She's happy with that, and rightly so!"

'Atta girl,' Nick thought as he watched her with a smile. What a way to fight back after a mistake.


Floor had gone better than at the Classic; she hadn't fallen on her a double layout, but she had still come up slightly short and had to take a couple of steps forward to compensate. But she had finished her other tumbles strongly, and therefore, finished her night on a high note.

After the fourth rotation, during which JJ had sat and started icing her muscles as she wasn't competing on the vault, Simone was leading the standings, with Kyla just behind her, and Brenna Dowell in third. But those standings meant nothing until after the second night of competition; if they couldn't hit it twice in a row, they couldn't handle the pressure.

Only a month left until the Worlds selection camp, and JJ was ready for anything.


Skill Guide

Pak salto – from a backwards (swinging facing forward, if the gymnast releases into a flip, they rotate backwards) giant facing the low bar, the gymnast drives their feet into the air, releases the high bar, and flips their body beneath their legs so that they are essentially diving towards the lowbar. *One of the first skills I ever learned to identify by sight*