the best junior, by the numbers

[medstudent24]

All this talk about Komova and Mustafina got me thinking how good they REALLY are compared to the rising American talent. I took the highest scores each gymnast received on each apparatus and combined them to come up with a total. The results are...

1. Jordyn Wieber. VT-15.75 UB-14.8 BB-15 FX-14.65 AA: 60.2
2. Viktoria Komova. VT-15.1 UB-15.45 BB-14.955 FX-14.3 AA: 59.805
3. Kyla Ross. VT-15.2 UB-14.15 BB-15 FX-14.2 AA: 58.55
4. Aliya Mustafina. VT-14.850 UB-14.825 BB-14.175 FX-14.650 AA: 58.5

So the Russians are good, really good. Almost as good as the Americans.

Looking at the scores of the other Russians and Americans (including seniors), a Team event would have the US coming out on top, with Russia second followed closely by China. (I'll post the exact number on this shortly).

Notes
-Wieber's total comes from the American Cup, in which she may or may not have been overscored, just like Komova may or may not have been overscored at the Junior Japan Int. meet, where her highest total was received.
- It's a moot point to see where these scores fit into the recent Worlds (they'd all be in the top). What I did here was take the highest score per event across many competitions, which is not really realistic. It's just a measure of how high the gymnast can score, not how they will score.

Thoughts on the future
-Kyla Ross is relying heavily on stellar execution scores, the rest are maximizing D scores. Since the COP new shift *allegedly* rewards execution over difficulty, I'm thinking she could have an advantage, specially since there's plenty of room for upgrades.
-The US currently has 4 great AA'ers (Bross, Sloan, Ross, Wieber). Even if Sloan pulls out by the time the Olympics roll around, it'd be interesting to see who gets the two AA spots.
-If Liukin comes back to UB and BB by next year's Worlds, the Team advantage for the US increases, significantly.
-As it stands, the 2 powerhouses are the US and Russia. Should make for a VERY interesting quad