A/N: Trying not to rush this but oh my god, I'm so excited to get to Rio, you guys are gonna love it!
"NBC Sports presents the 2016 Secret US Classic. Oftentimes the home for the sport of gymnastics is the XL Center, and a big crowd is here to cheer on their favourites as the road to Rio continues to be paved"
Just as it had three years earlier for the national championships, gymnastics had returned to Hartford, Connecticut, in the form of the Secret US Classic.
It had been hard for JJ to leave home for the competition, especially as her dad's health had seemed to just spiral downwards in the last few weeks. He was still as bright and as cheerful as he could muster the energy to be, but JJ knew he was in pain, and it was a thought that broke her heart. But she was determined to give him a reason to smile and forget about his suffering for even a short amount of time, and so she had steeled herself and gotten on the plane. Will, her grandmother, Jason and Katie had all made the trip to Hartford to support JJ in the first major competition of her season.
"Hi everybody, I'm Al Trautwig along with my favourite two Olympic gold medalists, Nastia Liukin and Tim Daggett, Andrea Joyce will be along a little bit later. So there used to be room for a Magnificent Seven, now it's down to five gymnasts per team. Who is allowed right now to think they can represent the United States in Brazil?"
"Well in my opinion, the most dominant athlete in the world today, male or female, is Simone Biles, three time World champion, she just doesn't ever lose, because of that, she's gonna go to Rio"
"To put it in perspective, she hasn't lost an all-around competition in almost three years, that's how good she is"
"Who's next?"
"You know, I could say Gabby Douglas here… being the reigning Olympic all-around champion, that gives you some props… but in fact, I think Jennifer Jareau is the only other athlete in the building tonight who is actually allowed to think 'I'm going to the Olympic Games'. She's been unbelievable over the past three years. She didn't take a break after London like most of her teammates, and while that's usually detrimental to an athlete's performance, she has just continued to rise, and she has actually surpassed the level she was at in London, she's awesome"
Not wanting to overdo it before nationals, JJ and Simone were both only competing two events here at the Classic. For Simone, it was her two 'weakest' events; bars and beam, which also served to reduce the impact on her body heading into the Olympic season. For JJ, she was only competing bars and floor, to try out her new routines and also to reduce her impact load on her body.
"So the top gymnast today who will be competing all-around is Aly Raisman… the top two World finishers, Simone Biles and Jennifer Jareau, are both only competing two events. Why do you think Aly has elected to compete all-around?"
"Well, Al, quite honestly, her qualification round at the World championships was a disaster. She made mistakes on every event and didn't qualify to any individual finals. Then earlier this year, at Jesolo in Italy, she sat her Amanar… I think Aly feels like she's got something to prove, and if she proves it here at the Classic, I'd say she's going to Rio"
Aly had already gone on the uneven bars and fallen on her first transition, much to JJ's surprise; Aly was by no means an extraordinary bar worker, but the one thing you could almost always count on was for her to at least stay on.
Standing waiting for her green flag, JJ took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. After four years that had felt so long and yet, so fast, she was really here, about to take the first step in her second Olympic bid. She couldn't believe it had finally arrived. And she still wouldn't truly believe until she walked into the Olympic Trials and saw the big '2016 OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS' plastered along the sides of the arena.
"Next up on uneven bars for Romero's, Jennifer Jareau!"
Her green flag went up, and she saluted immediately, before adjusting her grips and turning to face the bar. Time to show Marta how much she'd improved.
Glide kip… shaposh to the high bar, pulled straight up into a handstand… toe on full pirouette, a little wobbly on the top, but ok nonetheless… stalder… piked Tkatchev, connected straight to a Pak salto… stalder one and a half pirouette… shoot to the high bar, nearly in a dead hang, but muscled up to handstand… half turn… front giant… half turn… stalder… backwards giant...
With a satisfying ping from the high bar, she flicked off into her flighty full twisting double layout, sticking it to the mat without so much as a flicker of movement as the crowd went nuts.
"WOW, what a landing! There were a few little issues here and there, but by and large, that routine is miles better than the routine she's been using her entire career. Something has finally clicked for her on bars!"
"Remember to slow down once you get to the top of the swing, hold that handstand as long as you can and finish the turn right on top of the bar," Nick said, giving her a quick squeeze as she hopped down from the podium. "Your shoot was a little dead even on the low bar, remember to really kick it out from the underswing and drive it up even higher to prevent a dead hang"
JJ nodded, undoing her grips as they walked back to the chair bank.
"Straight into the corrections. I think she could've done that perfectly and Nick would still find a way to improve it. He's a meticulous man, I think that's partly while JJ has stayed so strong for such a long time"
The next rotation was a rest for JJ as she wasn't competing beam until they reached Nationals in two weeks time. She had watched on, stretching while Aly competed, filling with pride as her friend came back from the fall on bars with a superb beam routine.
Then they had moved to floor, where JJ was first up.
Before getting into her starting pose, she took a deep breath to settle herself, before stepping out onto the floor.
This would be the first time she had ever competed her new routine, and while it wasn't as upbeat as Simone's planned routine, or even Aly's, she hoped the crowd would love it just the same. She also knew Teagan was watching from home, and she wanted to make her proud of the routine she had created.
Her music began, making her zero her focus in on nothing but the floor routine she was about to do. It rolled and boomed around her, the intensity of it quite clear in her eyes.
And then the beat of music that was her cue reached her ears, prompting her to begin the routine.
Whipping back into the corner, she was barely there a second before she'd taken off into her first tumbling run. She and Nick had decided to hold off on the new skill until Nationals, wanting to ensure a clean doubtless qualification, and so it was that she simply competed her double layout.
"I'm wondering when she's going to put that upgrade in, because I'm almost 99 percent sure there's going to be one"
A little bit of choreo allowed her to breathe before taking off into her double double, which she soared through with surprising height.
Her leap series came next, flowing seamlessly into the choreography. By now, she was truly feeling the music, expressing its intensity and passion through every move.
Pushing through the next few moments, she went into her third tumbling run, and this time, she decided to go through with the connections. Hurdling, she did her round-off, into a whipback, into a double Arabian, followed by a high and flighty stag leap.
"Well, that's new! That was really good!"
The last section of dance led her into the final tumbling run, her full in, which she landed with her usual ease.
Dancing through the last few beats of music, she struck her final pose with a smile on her face as the arena broke into excited applause.
"So, a new routine for Jennifer Jareau, and a darn good one at that! It might not be Brazilian like Simone's, but I can see it in Rio!"
"Depending on the upgrade she's got in the wings too, it may even creep past Aly's potential, especially as her execution is generally a little better"
"She's had nothing but awful stuff the last couple of months, but tonight, tonight was an absolute hit on the road to Rio for Jennifer Jareau!"