Maggie AstorCompte certifié

One letter value above anything else on beam does not accurately reflect how *much* more difficult it is than anything else on beam, and the point of the open-ended code is to enable FIG to make those sorts of distinctions. 13/

In its statement, FIG compared Simone's dismount to the Produnova vault. Because some gymnasts were chucking that vault unsafely, knowing the difficulty value would often outweigh the execution deductions they got for doing it badly, FIG lowered the difficulty value. 14/

But the two are not actually comparable. 15/

This is getting into some pretty technical weeds, but the sky-high difficulty value alone wasn't the reason gymnasts threw the Produnova when they shouldn't have. The other reason was that the Produnova, while WILDLY difficult, is simple in terms of technique. I'll explain. 16/

Again: unbelievably difficult. The amount of power it requires is insane. But it is TECHNICALLY very simple. There are no twists or direction changes. It doesn't require any complicated technique or finesse. It's just pure power.

So some naturally powerful gymnasts from countries that don't have elite gymnastics facilities or the best coaches went after the Produnova, because it is simple. Not easy, but simple. 19/