On Maggie Nichols

wagymnastics.wikia.com

Up until April, Maggie Nichols was the second closest thing to a lock for an Olympic Team spot.  Nichols had a meteoric rise through the US Elite System, competing at the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2011, placing 11th at the 2012 Junior National Championships, before upgrading a ton and placing fifth in 2013 as a senior.  Still, Nichols missed a place on the World Championships Team, and upgraded even more.  In 2014, Nichols won the bronze medal at the Visa National Championships, was named to the 2014 Pan American Championships Team.  During the Team Final of that meet, Nichols dislocated her kneecap and had to miss the World Championships.

In 2015, Nichols came back from her knee injury, won the bronze medal at Nationals yet again, and was this time named to the her first World Championship Team.  In Glasgow, Nichols did not compete All Around in qualifications, meaning she could not compete in the All Around finals.  However, she was the only American gymnast who competed on every event in the team final, where the US won the Team Gold.  Nichols also won the floor bronze.

In 2016, Nichols was selected to compete at the ATT American Cup on March 7, 2016 in Newark, NJ.  Nichols won the silver behind reigning Olympic All Around Champion Gabby Douglas, and made a huge statement about her spot on the Olympic Team.  She was later named to the Pacific Rim Team, but tore her meniscus, requiring surgery and will now miss six weeks of training.  She tore her meniscus on an Amanar that she should not have been doing.

Associated Press

When Nichols debuted the Amanar last year, people everywhere were scared for her knees.  Her form was similar to Aly Raisman, except that Nichols does not have the same iron knees that Raisman has.  Nichols, who had already hurt her knee less than a year before showing her Amanar, did not need this vault.  Her coaches were making a big gamble when it wasn't exactly needed.  She could've done her double twisting Yurchenko, which looked strong.  She scored fine on the easier vault and was still in the top-5 in the country without it.

Her Amanar was a knee injury waiting to happen.  She took it out at the American Cup this year, and people knew that it was coming back because she did not need it this early in the year.  It was disappointing to hear that Nichols would need surgery because she tore her meniscus.  But at the same time, there was not a doubt in anyone's mind how it happened.  Nichols should not have been doing the Amanar this early in the year.

Now, Nichols spot on the Olympic team is very much in question.  She won't be clear to train fully until late May or early June, less than a month before Olympic Trials.  There may not be enough time for her to be back into form.  All because she was doing a vault she did not need to be doing.