FIG Friendship and Solidarity competition: Team Solidarity preview
Some of the top athletes from the world’s gymnastics powerhouses–the U.S. China, Japan, and Russia–have arrived in Tokyo ahead of this weekend’s FIG Friendship and Solidarity competition. In this preview, we’re breaking down who’s who on Team Solidarity.
(You can read our Team Friendship preview here.)
Team Solidarity is headlined by the U.S.’s eMjae Frazier and Shilese Jones and 2019 Junior World balance beam champion Elena Gerasimova (RUS). On the men’s side, Paul Juda will compete in his first international meet representing the U.S., competing with stars such as Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura (JPN) and 2019 World all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy (RUS).
| Team Solidarity | ||
| Women | Country | Apparatuses |
| LU Yufei | CHN | FX, VT, UB, BB |
| ZHANG Jin | CHN | FX, VT, UB, BB |
| HATAKEDA Chiaki | JPN | FX, VT, UB, BB |
| MATSUMURA Akari | JPN | FX, VT, UB, BB |
| GERASIMOVA Elena | RUS | FX, UB, BB |
| SHCHEKOLDINA Aleksandra | RUS | FX, VT, UB |
| FRAZIER eMjae | USA | VT, UB, BB |
| JONES Shilese | USA | VT, UB, BB |
| Men | Country | Apparatuses |
| MA Yue | CHN | FX, SR, VT, HB |
| YIN Dehang | CHN | FX, PH, SR, PB |
| TANIGAWA Wataru | JPN | FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB |
| UCHIMURA Kohei | JPN | FX, PH, VT, HB |
| LANKIN Dmitrii | RUS | FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB |
| NAGORNYY Nikita | RUS | FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB |
| JUDA Paul | USA | FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB |
The Women of Team Solidarity
LU Yufei
– Last Name: LU
– First Name: Yufei
– Country: CHN
– Age: 20
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: The 2019 Asian Championships uneven bars gold medalist and all-around silver medalist, Lu has been on the Chinese national scene since she was a junior but has only really come into her own in the past year or so. After finishing sixth at the 2019 American Cup, Lu went on to win uneven bars gold and all-around silver at the 2019 Asian Championships. Most recently, she earned her first Chinese National Championships medal with a bronze medal performance in September.
– Event to Watch: Floor and bars are the ones to watch for this well-rounded gymnast. While her twists and choreography on floor are spectacular, bars is the true showstopper. When she’s on her game, Lu is one of China’s best uneven bars workers. She opens with a Tkatchev-Gienger combo and her Jaeger-Pak salto connection is easily the highlight of the routine. Lu’s Jaeger is one of the best in the world right now.
ZHANG Jin
– Last Name: ZHANG
– First Name: Jin
– Country: CHN
– Age: 19
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: Zhang is the 2018 Stuttgart World Cup all-around champion, 2018 Chinese National all-around silver medalist, and 2018 Asian Games beam bronze medalist. Most recently, she posted the top score on beam at the 2020 American Cup, where she ultimately finished 9th out of 12. She’s been competing on the senior international stage since 2016, and although she’s had some definite highlights, one can’t help but feel like the best is yet to come for this beam queen.
– Event to Watch: All beam, all day. While the 2020 American Cup certainly wasn’t her best meet, her back handspring step-out to back handspring to two-footed layout on the apparatus is the stuff of dreams and is very reminiscent of 2000 Olympian Liu Xuan. Over on floor, Zhang opens with a rarely seen whip to triple twist to front punch mount.
HATAKEDA Chiaki
– Last Name: HATAKEDA
– First Name: Chiaki
– Country: JPN
– Age: 16
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: The younger of the Hatakeda sisters (Hitomi is on Team Friendship!), Chiaki is a first-year senior with loads of potential. The 2017 Junior Asian all-around and beam silver medalist made waves back in 2017 with her quad twist on floor. She is a twister no doubt, with her opening triple twist being an absolute marvel and all of her current floor passes being twisting skills except for her double back dismount. Over on beam, she’s previously competed both a round-off layout full and a triple twist dismount. The younger Hatakeda sister is likely the only current first-year senior for Japan that has a chance at making the Olympic team, and even then, she’ll need to upgrade her routines across the board–like adding back in the above-mentioned skills–if she wants to compete with Japan’s veterans, including dear old big sis.
– Event to Watch: Floor and beam, although that quad twist and layout full are currently a thing of the past for Hatakeda, she still shines on those events.
MATSUMURA Akari
– Last Name: MATSUMURA
– First Name: Akari
– Country: JPN
– Age: 20
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: A member of Japan’s 2019 Worlds team, Matsumura is an asset for Team Japan on vault with her Yurchenko double, and while she’s particularly strong on vault and floor, she’s also on track to being an Olympic alternate/dark-horse contender for the team if she can continue to prove herself as a consistent all-arounder. Matsumura took bronze on beam at the 2020 WOGA Classic and earned vault medals at both the NHK Trophy and All-Japan Championships with silver and bronze, respectively, back in 2019.
– Event to Watch: Vault is the big one for Matsumura, giving the Japanese women and, in this case, Team Solidarity a potentially solid score if she competes her Yurchenko double. Also be on the lookout for her fun floor routine, which usually features an exciting music track and excellent turns.
GERASIMOVA Elena
– Last Name: GERASIMOVA
– First Name: Elena
– Country: RUS
– Age: 16
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, UB, BB
– The Skinny: A first-year senior for Russia, Gerasimova is the 2019 Junior World champion on beam and bronze medalist on floor. She’s seen as a definite contender for Russia’s main Olympic team, or one of their potential specialist spots, if she continues to excel on beam, an event where Russia is not typically consistent. And consistent she is: Gerasimova hit every beam routine she competed in 2019 and usually scores in the mid-to-high 13 or low 14 range. Even better, she’s a fighter on an event that is notorious for being many a gymnast’s downfall. During 2019 Junior Worlds qualifying, she saved her wolf turn from complete disaster to qualify to that event final, going on to win gold.
– Event to Watch: Russia’s very own beam queen deserves all of your attention on the event. From start to finish, she shines. Her opening front walkover to front tuck is outstanding!
SHCHEKOLDINA Aleksandra
– Last Name: SHCHEKOLDINA
– First Name: Aleksandra
– Country: RUS
– Age: 18
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, VT, UB
– The Skinny: A last minute addition to the Russian squad for this meet–replacing Lilia Akhaimova after she tested positive for COVID-19–Shchekoldina was a World silver medalist with her team in 2019 and is the 2016 Russian junior national champion on vault. Beyond competing at Worlds, she also represented her country at the 2019 European Games, where she qualified to the all-around final, ultimately finishing fifth. In July of that year, she also traveled to Tokyo with the Russian national team to train in preparation for the Tokyo Games.
– Event to Watch: Like Akhaimova, Shchekoldina is strong on vault and floor, so it’s not surprising she was selected to replace her for this meet. But don’t miss her on vault: she does a very clean Yurchenko double that usually posts a big score.
FRAZIER eMjae
– Last Name: FRAZIER
– First Name: eMjae
– Country: USA
– Age: 16
– Expected Event Appearances: VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: If you recognize eMjae Frazier’s last name, that’s because she’s the younger sister of former U.S. National team member and current UCLA gymnast Margzetta Frazier. A first-year senior competing in her first international meet for Team USA, the younger Frazier is still coming into her own on the senior elite stage, but make no mistake, she won’t be standing in her sister’s shadow for much longer, with this meet being her first true step into the limelight.
– Event to Watch: A consistent all-arounder, Frazier usually posts her biggest scores on vault and floor, but seeing as she’s not competing floor this weekend, watch her bars instead. She’s been training a Nabieva, which may or may not be a part of her exercise this weekend, depending on what kind of statement she’s trying to make.
JONES Shilese
– Last Name: JONES
– First Name: Shilese
– Country: USA
– Age: 18
– Expected Event Appearances: VT, UB, BB
– The Skinny: The U.S. woman with the most International experience in Tokyo this weekend, Jones narrowly missed out on making the Worlds team in 2018. Shi, as she goes by, helped the U.S. to team gold at the 2018 Pan American Championships, while also securing an individual bronze for herself on bars. In 2019, she competed at the 2019 Jesolo Trophy, helping the U.S. to first in the team competition and finishing 9th in the all-around. Jones is committed to Florida and is set to join the Gators in the fall of 2021.
– Event to Watch: Easily the best U.S. all-arounder in Tokyo, many fans will be disappointed to see Jones is not competing floor this weekend, especially after she recently revealed she’s bringing back “The Jones”–a double back with a 1.5 twist. But don’t fret, Jones is outstanding on vault, bars, and beam. Most notably, she’s been training an exciting laid out Jaeger on bars.
The Men of Team Solidarity
MA Yue
– Last Name: MA
– First Name: Yue
– Country: CHN
– Age: 22
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, SR, VT, HB
– The Skinny: You probably recognize Ma from the 2019 American Cup podium, where he placed third. He’s also the 2018 Melbourne World Cup rings champion and a two-time Youth Olympic Games silver medalist (vault and rings), ironically finishing second on rings to fellow Solidarity teammate Nikita Nagornyy (RUS). Beyond those performances, Ma has been relatively quiet on the international scene, but he’s delivered for his country when called upon. We expect no less in Tokyo.
– Event to Watch: Ma’s best event is easily rings, where he usually posts a D-score over 6.0. A close second is vault, where he might not be throwing the most difficult skills, but he’s definitely one of the cleanest when it comes to execution.
YIN Dehang
– Last Name: YIN
– First Name: Dehang
– Country: CHN
– Age: 19
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, SR, PB
– The Skinny: Yin is the 2018 Youth Olympic Games pommel horse champion, parallel bars silver medalist, and rings bronze medalist. The young up-and-comer most recently helped the Jiangsu province to team gold at the 2020 Chinese National Championships, although a break in his pommel routine kept him from qualifying to the event final.
– Event to Watch: Pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars are easily Yin’s best events, although when needed, he’s strong on practically every event. Yin also posted a huge 14.566 on parallel bars at 2020 nationals. His lines on all three events can only be described as simply exquisite.
TANIGAWA Wataru
– Last Name: TANIGAW
– First Name: Wataru
– Country: JPN
– Age: 24
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB
– The Skinny: Tanigawa has been a staple on the Japenese men’s team for the past few years, being a member of its Worlds team every year this quad. The two-time World bronze medalist has also been around the World Cup circuit a time or two. He earned a vault silver at the 2015 Osijek World Challenge Cup, floor silver and vault bronze at the 2016 World Challenge Cup in Anadia, and vault bronze at the 2017 Melbourne World Cup. He’s also a two-time silver medalist at the Tokyo All-Around World Cup (2018 and 2019). As it currently stands, Tanigawa is almost a sure bet for Japan’s Olympic team next summer.
– Event to Watch: Behind the Russian men, Tanigawa is one of the best vaulters competing this weekend. His piked double front vault is literally explosive and close to perfect. As is pretty typical of powerful vaulters, he’s also strong on floor. Watch out for his big piked double front-half out.
UCHIMURA Kohei
– Last Name: UCHIMURA
– First Name: Kohei
– Country: JPN
– Age: 31
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, VT, HB
– The Skinny: King Kohei definitely doesn’t need an introduction, but the G.O.A.T. will get one anyway. It’s been a roller coaster for Uchimura in the four years since his most recent Olympic all-around title, but he finally seems healthy and prepared to pursue one last Olympic berth as a high bar specialist. At 31 years old and with numerous injuries under his belt, Uchimura has made clear he is almost certainly not going to be trying to defend his all-around title next summer, but does he still have a few Olympic medals left in him? We’d say so. Also, Uchimura is probably extra happy to be participating in this event, as just a week ago he narrowly escaped a two-week coronavirus quarantine after a false positive. Lucky for all of us, he is most definitely negative and ready to put on a show.
– Event to Watch: Uchimura is the reigning, two-time Olympic all-around champion for a reason, but he’ll be focusing on a few events this weekend. Watch out for his upgraded high bar routine, where he’s added a Bretschneider (double-twisting Kovacs).
LANKIN Dmitrii
– Last Name: LANKIN
– First Name: Dmitrii
– Country: RUS
– Age: 23
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB
– The Skinny: Along with Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan, Lankin is one of Russia’s top all-rounders at the moment. A four-time European Championships medalist and a 2018 World silver medalist with his team, Lankin is the definition of a power tumbler, but also, he’s just darn good at basically everything. Lankin adds depth to an already stacked Russian men’s team, making gold in the Olympic team event next summer a serious possibility for the reigning World Champions.
– Event to Watch: You don’t want to miss Lankin’s Liukin (triple back) on floor. It’s easily one of the best, if not the best, in the world. Vault is another must-watch. He’s the 2019 European Games silver medalist on the event and the 2018 European Championships bronze medalist.
NAGORNYY Nikita
– Last Name: NAGORNYY
– First Name: Nikita
– Country: RUS
– Age: 23
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB
– The Skinny: The reigning World all-around champion is the second half of Russia’s dominant twosome–with the other being his longtime friend Artur Dalaloyan. Ever since he won five medals at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, it has been pretty clear that big things were in store for Nagornyy, and while he already has an Olympic silver medal with his team, five World medals, and seven European Championship medals (six of which are gold), this 23-year-old is just on the cusp of what will go down as a legendary career. Rest assured, he’ll be back here in Tokyo next summer, and don’t be surprised when he walks away from those games with multiple individual Olympic medals in addition to the team medal the Russian men are practically guaranteed at this rate.
– Event to Watch: We feel like we’re on repeat, but just like his teammates Dalaloyan and Lankin, Nagornyy is a power tumbler. He’s the 2019 World champion on vault (easily a can’t miss event for him), and his floor routine will make your jaw drop.
JUDA Paul
– Last Name: JUDA
– First Name: Paul
– Country: USA
– Age: 19
– Expected Event Appearances: FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB
– The Skinny: At 19, Juda is one of the newest members of the U.S. Senior National team. A rising sophomore at Michigan, Juda’s already made a name for himself on the NCAA stage with plenty of accolades, including being named a CGA Regular Season All-American after leading the nation on high bar with an average score of 14.083 (his high was a 15.000, the third-highest score in the NCAA). He was also named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, Big Ten Freshman of the Week (twice), and CGA Gymnast and Freshman of the Week.
– Event to Watch: Juda is a high-flyer on high bar. The reigning U.S. and Winter Cup bronze medalist excels on that event and on floor exercise, where he’s been showing sneak peeks of some serious upgrades, including a wild 3.5-1.5 combo.
A test for the real Tokyo 2020
While intended to be a showcase of international camaraderie, the meet will double as a test to prove that staging a high-profile event in Tokyo is possible despite the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Upon athletes arrival in Tokyo late Tuesday/early Wednesday, the FIG released the official team rosters for both Team Friendship and Team Solidarity, which feature an even mix of athletes from each participating nation and easily the most exciting and deepest roster of elite competitors at a meet in over seven months.
Competition Format, Schedule, and How to Watch
Two mixed teams–Team Friendship (BLUE) and Team Solidarity (RED)–from the four participating nations will compete.
Each team is composed of 15 gymnasts (mix of MAG and WAG). The top 3 scores on each apparatus for MAG and top 3 scores on each apparatus for WAG will count toward the final team score. Athletes are not required to compete in the all-around. There is no all-around final or individual event finals, but gymnasts are allowed to perform two vaults if they want. Only the first will count toward the team score.
The opening ceremony for the meet will start at 12:40 p.m. JST on Sunday, November 8 (10:40 p.m. EST on Saturday, November 7), with the main competition taking place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. JST (11 p.m. to 2 a.m. EST).
The meet will be live broadcast starting at 11 p.m. ET on NBC Sports, NBCSports.com/live, and the NBC Sports app for Olympic Channel subscribers. In Japan, it will be live broadcast on Japan’s CS Tele Morning Channel 2 at this link. The FIG will also be live-streaming the entire event on its YouTube channel. (Note: If the content is geoblocked, it means a TV channel in your territory has bought the rights. Click here to see the list of rightsholders.)
Strict medical protocol and procedures will be followed by all participating delegations, complying with Japanese regulations and the Medical Guidelines for FIG Competitions and Events During the COVID-19 Pandemic that the FIG recently announced.
Athletes and officials will undergo daily testing and be restricted to the venue, training hall, and their hotels.
A crowd of approximately 2,000 will be on hand to witness the meet.
Reigning Olympic all-around champion Uchimura tested positive for the coronavirus last week, but three subsequent tests from three different hospitals all came back negative. As such, the initial positive result has been deemed a false positive, according to the FIG, and Uchimura has been cleared to compete. All of Uchimura’s teammates have also tested negative.
“The world will be watching us,” said FIG President Morinari Watanabe. “While sports also need to live with the unknown virus, we will ensure solutions to the issues one by one, and will strive for creating the environment where mental support is provided to gymnasts.”
