thecheekbonesquad

[thecheekbonesquad]

Why did 'The Man Who Never Fails' recently became 'The Married Man Who Does Indeed Fail'?

( ) it is pollen season in Japan, he may have allergies;

( ) he is stressed due to student loan debt after getting his Masters and doing a phD;

( ) he was so devastated after not winning any golds last year, he didn't even realize the true gold were the friends he made along the way;

( ) he lost confidence after being 2-per-country'd out of 2 major AA competitions last year (Tokyo Olympics and Worlds);

( ) he was so surprised to see Kamoto Yuya going so well on AA that he couldn't perform. The asian was too stunned to perform. I wasn't, because I've had a crush on Yuya for a Long Time and I just knew that the support and love from our fan club (which is me, my pet turtle, and my mom who joined in solidarity) would get him on the podium this time 💛 I commented on his instagram "congrats for your new medal" (in my poor japanese) and he said "thank you" (in english, he knows I'm stupid and it is SO cute that he remembered) so I'd say we are pretty close!!;

( X ) he got married on the same day that Uchimura Kohei announced his [r-word], staining his life and union with Bad Vibes, and the curse may only be broken when Kohei comes back;

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

A write up of

Wtf happened at All Japan Championships last week

Wtf is up with their worlds selection policies this year

Enjoy! :)

[thecheekbonesquad]

Do you hear this sound?

It is the sound of hundreds of young hearts breaking all over the world as Kaya Kazuma, our Man Who Never Fails™, captain of Team Japan, holder of Iron Cheekbones and the Many-Hairstyled God, announced his marriage to his long-term girlfriend.

I wish Mr. and Mrs. Kaya a very happy, healthy and fulfulling relationship! May you fly as high as ZJY's Bhavsar together, and find as much joy and excitement in each other as we find in Uchimura Kohei's 2014 Worlds floor routine in AA final. おめでとうございます! 🎉

Also: IS ANYONE ON THIS WEBSITE ABLE TO REACH KAYA KAZUMA AND ASK HIM TO REVEAL (spiritually as you would talk to each other telepathically) A PICTURE OF HIS NEW WIFE? i need to see her pls im so curious thank you

[thecheekbonesquad]

On January 11th, 2022, at the age of 33, Uchimura Kohei has officially announced his retirement from gymnastics. He will continue involved in the sport, focusing on dissemination and promotion activities.

Throughout his career, he won 21 medals in World Championships and 7 in Olympic Games. This includes winning every all-around competition in Worlds and Olympic Games from 2009 to 2016. He considered Japan to be "the home of beautiful gymnastics", and was commited to showing performances that were like pieces of art, with incredible difficulty and impecable execution. He inspired a whole generation of gymnasts around the world, who admired him not only for his amazing skills, but for his humble attitude, passion and respect for the sport. Uchimura Kohei is the most successful japanese gymnast to date, and is considered by many the greatest male gymnast of all time.

I'll miss you so much, King. Thank you for everything 💛 お疲れ様でした!

[thecheekbonesquad]

Happy birthday to the Bhavsar overlord, Our Lord and Savior, ZJY 💛

this comment + reply lives in my head rent free

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thinking about her (uchi’s fx from the 2014 worlds aa)

[thecheekbonesquad]

THE POCKET ROCKET 🚀

Worlds 2021 | Carlos Yulo (PHI) qualifies into the Vault final with an average of 14.808

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Lee Chih-Kai, master of the pommel horse and Lord of the flairs 🔥

Taiwan’s Chih Kai Lee during the artistic gymnastics men’s pommel horse of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

[thecheekbonesquad]

Japan was up against Russia, the reigning World team champions, with a team of world champions and/or Olympians and biggest favourites to the title. They were up against China, who won everything in gymnastics for 14 years and was out to kill. They were up against the USA, who so desperately wanted a medal after years of finishing off the podium. And they qualified in first place. The only team made entirely of gymnasts that had never been to an Olympics before, two of them are teenagers, Takeru hasn't even been to Worlds yet, took on the best teams on Earth and won, and proved they could. They won silver on finals, showing a very focused team with super strong performances, adding pressure to every other team until the last minute;

I see a lot of Uchimura Kohei on them. He always talked about Japan being 'the home of beautiful gymnastics' and the younger generations are really keeping it up. I think Kaya's leadership and passion, Takeru's energy, Daiki's commitment and respect for the sport and Wataru's resilience, are pieces of the King's legacy;

Daiki, I remember how hyped everyone was about you when you went to your first Worlds in 2019. 'Japan's newest hope', they said, as you shiningly made your way through qualifications. And then, that sparkle kind of shrunk a little after the 'high school hero' fell during his floor routine on Team final, almost costing Japan a medal; then again on pommel horse final. The 'brilliant teenager' finished off with no individual medals on 2019 Worlds and 2020 World Cup. But you stood up and stayed strong, building a beautiful career for yourself, and you've showed the world what you're made of. I wonder what they will call you now, 'double Olympic champion and team silver medallist' certainly has a nice ring to it;

Takeru, you've amazed audiences all over the world with your performances at the Youth Olympics, writting your name in history as the gymnast with most medals won in one edition. Everyone was so excited to see you back in action, but that scary fall from high bar in April made things uncertain. I heard that you didn't even want to be on the trial anymore, but I'm so glad that you did. I can't imagine how much pressure you were on, being the youngest on the team, with an elbow held together by tape&prayers, side by side with your idol, in your home country. And you kept your head together, looking so calm and confident, and delivered beautiful routines, outscoring much more experienced gymnasts. I'm already so proud of you, and looking forward to the brilliant future you have ahead;

Wataru, your road had been kind of rocky sometimes. But even between injuries and mistakes, you've managed to stay among the best of the country. You have some of the cleanest and most elegant gymnastics out there, and I've joked more than once that the Ri Se Gwang 2 should be renamed after you. I remember a few years ago when Shirai Kenzo started competing AA, people on the gymternet where wondering if you'd be the new 'floor + vault guy' for Japan. But you've become a strong all-arounder and a super important member of the team. And there seems to be such a lightness around you, like, you always seem so calm and happy, always cheering on your teammates, always smiling. I really want to see you win the all-around at All-Japan soon;

And, Kaya... damn, you have me speechless sometimes. I remember how devastated you were after being named an alternate for Rio 2016. I saw the bittersweet look on your face when Japan won the team gold and you weren't there with them. For a while, I thought you might just quit gymnastics after this, but instead, I watched you grow, slow and steady, even when you were shadowed by other stars. I watched you go from 'just a pommel horse guy' to 'the man who never fails', and I'm just so immensely proud of you. I wanted to give you a big hug and tell you that all your hard work is paying off. That you still have a lot to do, but look at how far you've already come. I wanted to tell you that yes, you've been on the right path all this time. I need you to know that more than a captain, you're a leader; more than a team member, you're an inspiration. I wonder how many little boys are dreaming of becoming gymnasts right now because of you. It's been an honour to follow your career so far, and I know you'll keep doing your best on everything. Paris is waiting 💛

Thank you for everything. 私はいつもチームジャパンを応援しています。 パリが待っています！頑張ってください！

Daiki Hashimoto, Kazuma Kaya, Takeru Kitazono and Wataru Tanigawa of Japan win the silver medal in the Men’s Team Final on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

[thecheekbonesquad]

Jesus, I am So Tired of this.

"Nikita was the favourite", THIS DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING. Nobody "deserves" to get a medal. A lot of people were favourites for a lot of things. Cheng Fei was the favourite for the vault title in 2008 Olympics and ended up with bronze after a fall. McKayla Maroney was favourite for vault in 2012 and ended up with silver after a fall. Hell, Uchimura Kohei and Epke Zonderland were favourites for the high bar title this year and ended up with nothing because they didn't even qualify for finals. It doesn't matter that you are a favourite, that you won lots of things before, what matters is the performance you deliver the day of the finals. I have the biggest respect for Nikita, but he did not perform well on floor on AA final, and I guess he got upset and his emotions got the best of him (he said on instagram he was frustrated that he wasn't performing the way he wanted). The performance he delivered was not enough to beat Xiao or Hashimoto Daiki.

"Oh but Nikita was underscored", really? Where? How familiar are you with the Code? How qualified are you to evaluate routines from your couch and complain about professional judges doing their jobs?

I'm so done with all the "Daiki was overscored because he is japanese" comments. If you have any actual evidence of judges being biased, please contact the FIG, IOC and the police, because favouritism of athletes from the host nation is prohibited and the judges will be banned from the sport. If you have no real knowledge of how gymnastics scoring works, the Code of Points and Technical Regulations, and is just hurt that your favourite didn't win, this would be a good time for you to stop talking. Hashimoto Daiki got over 25,000 comments on instagram insulting him after his AA victory, and this is part of the problem. He is an athlete that did what he was supposed to, and he is the rightful champion. DEAL WITH IT.

1. “ The commentators always say that Nikita is a favorite, but the judges have been underscoring him a lot. He easily should have beaten Hasimoto and Xiau and gotten the gold, and on today’s vault he should have at least medaled. “

2. “ The judges have really been underscoring Nikita Nagornyy. He was far better than Hashimoto and Xiau and he should have gotten the gold then. He also should have medaled today in the vault. “

3. “ Hashimoto is a great gymnast but both times he won gold and Nikita got bronze, the judges were very biased and overscored Hashimoto and underscored Nikita, who deserved the to get the gold “

[thecheekbonesquad]

“So how come when an adult man competes on an injury he’s tough and impressive, but when an adult woman does everyone criticizes the coaches for not stopping her?”

[thecheekbonesquad]

In 2019 Worlds team final, Daiki fell on his third tumbling pass on floor. He finished his routine, but he was already tearing up when he left the mat. I remember him crying so hard he could barely stand, as he was thinking his mistake had costed Japan a medal. All his teammates came to console him. A couple of days later, he fell again on pommel horse final after being visibly nervous for his routine, which led him to finishing last place. He also made mistakes during his World Cup participation last year and finished off the podium.

But he went on to win the All Japan Championship. Then he qualified first place for the Olympic team, above favourites Kaya Kazuma and Tanigawa Wataru. He hit 6/6 on qualification, making first place in the all-around and high bar. I can't imagine the pressure he was on when he went to his high bar routine on team final, but he stepped up and performed beautifully, delivering a huge score and hitting 6/6 again. Today, I saw a Daiki that was so calm and focused. He managed to keep himself together after his bad landing on vault, and I'll admit I teared up when he finished on high bar. I felt so happy and I just wanted to hug him and say, 'you've come such a long way, look at you know!'. He said he wants to lead the new generation of japanese gymnasts, just like Uchimura Kohei led his.

Daiki is no longer that nervous boy. He has become a confident athlete and an amazing human being, he is a leader and an inspiration, and I'm so immensely proud of him. His evolution and growth genuinely motivates me. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the future 💛

Congraturations! DAIKI HASHIMOTO ~ Tokyo Olympics AA Final GOLD

[thecheekbonesquad]

So immensely proud of them. I can't event find the words yet <3

Team Japan’s reaction after Daiki Hashimoto HB || Team Final

[thecheekbonesquad]

MAG Dream Team - a challenge;

have you ever wondered what your MAG Dream Team would look like?

i’ve given it a lot of some thought because i don’t want to write my dissertation right now and thought i’d share it here. so, there are some rules:

1. you can choose five gymnasts for your Team, of any nationality, as long as they are a senior (16+ years old) and from a FIG-associated country; 2. you also have one spot for a Specialist on each of the six apparatus, and one spot on the individual AA, same specifics as above; 3. you can’t repeat gymnasts! that means if you choose someone to be on your Team, they can’t be used as a Specialist, and vice-versa; 4. retired and suspended gymnasts can’t be chosen! you can choose injured/recovering gymnasts though, we’ll just pretend they’re healthy lol; 5. standart FIG rules for Team finals apply: you can send three gymnasts to each apparatus, all scores count;

i had a rough time choosing because i’m emotionally attached to a lot of gymnasts, and feel like sometimes i’ve made choices based more on how I feel about them rather than their actual results lol but anyway, here’s my Team:

1. Kenzo SHIRAI (JPN): the twisting prince, a precious ray of sunshine, please take a moment to realize how beautiful his smile is; 2. ZOU Jingyuan (CHN): squeaky clean all the time, beautiful routines, commentators mispronounce his name 98% of the time; 3. Ryohei KATO (JPN): rock solid, cheekbones that can cut through diamonds, beautiful smile, blinks a lot, has a pretty cat; 4. Kazuma KAYA (JPN): also rock solid, great cheekbones, his roar can awake your ancestors’ spirits; 5. Artur DALALOYAN (RUS): super elegant, i like his hairstyle and his respectful bow at the end of his routines, doesn’t keep spitting on himself like his russian teammates;

FLOOR EXERCISE - TEAM; 1. Kenzo SHIRAI (JPN): i mean, no explanation needed, right?; 2. Ryohei KATO (JPN): great balance of difficulty and execution, good landings; 3. Artur DALALOYAN (RUS): very elegant and clean, his opening tumbling pass from 2019 (front layout + double pike with a half turn) is so beautiful; FLOOR EXERCISE - SPECIALIST; 1. Carlos Edriel YULO (PHI): his execution is just SO GOOD, he is so clean and precise, he looks underage (mostly because of his hair + he is 1.5m) but he is actually 20 years old;

POMMEL HORSE - TEAM; 1. Ryohei KATO (JPN): clean and precise, there is nothing this man can’t do; 2. ZOU Jingyuan (CHN): his form is beautiful, difficult and very well executed routines, i wish he'd do flares because it’d look awesome; 3. Kazuma KAYA (JPN): pommel horse guy, beautiful lines, i feel like he can step up his game a little bit and add some extra difficulty to his routine (like a triple russian between the handles or a spindle on flares); POMMEL HORSE - SPECIALIST; 1. LEE Chih Kai (TPE): known for flaring through 95% of his routine and it’s AWESOME, his legs look insanely long and his hand placement is just so accurate and precise. he looks very serious but has a pretty smile. he is the kind of gymnast i’d like to take to the park and walk and feed the ducks and talk about diplomatics and modern art, u know? i like him;

RINGS - TEAM; 1. ZOU Jingyuan (CHN): not insanely difficult but his routines are clean and beautiful, moves very smoothly between positions; 2. Ryohei KATO (JPN): again, nothing this man can’t do, he blinks a lot but his face is always so calm, even on the craziest positions; 3. Artur DALALOYAN (RUS): he is not like great on rings, but he is better than Kenzo and Kaya, so go Artur. but as usual he is very elegant and has beautiful execution; RINGS - SPECIALIST; 1. Eleftherios PETROUNIAS (GRE): the Lord of the Rings and a greek god, i still think he is the best in the world;

VAULT - TEAM; 1. Kenzo SHIRAI (JPN): not a surprise that Kenzo is here, i love all his eponymous vaults; 2. Artur DALALOYAN (RUS): he shall enlighten us with the second best double pike out there; 3. Ryohei KATO (JPN): usually does a 5.2 but his execution makes up for the difficulty, great landings. he also looks very good on round, Harry Potter-style glasses; VAULT - SPECIALIST; 1. Marian DRAGULESCU (ROU): this man is a living legend, very consistent, no one does a Dragulescu like Dragulescu himself;

PARALLEL BARS - TEAM; 1. ZOU Jingyuan (CHN): 2017 and 2018 world champion, would’ve been on 2019 too (i’m not over this yet). unparalleled combination of difficulty and execution, so beautiful and elegant. commentators always talk about how light he is on his moves (i was curious and he weights like 46kg). i’d totally go out for a brunch with him; 2. Ryohei KATO (JPN): probably not his favourite event and i’m sorry to inflict this on him, but he is very precise and clean and i like his performances; 3. Kazuma KAYA (JPN): nice work, very clean and elegant, he can step up his game here too; PARALLEL BARS - SPECIALIST; 1. Oleg VERNIAIEV (UKR): he is not as clean as Yuanyuan but he is pretty elegant, nice difficulty. has some issues with consistency but he is a very good pbars worker. he is also very humble and has a nice smile;

HIGH BAR - TEAM; 1. Kazuma KAYA (JPN): has some cool German giants, very flexible and clean, nails the landing most of the time; 2. Ryohei KATO (JPN): he fell on his Voronin (B skill, back uprise + piked vault with a half turn, basically the move where they just jump over the bar) on Rio 2016 AA final and my heart is still shattered, but i trust him, he is awesome; 3. Artur DALALOYAN (RUS): very elegant on his releases, i like his style and the way his hair flows during giants; HIGH BAR - SPECIALIST; 1. Kohei UCHIMURA (JPN): there is absolutely no way that i’d leave King Kohei out of this. i was crushed when he said he wouldn’t be defending his olympic AA title, but i totally understand him now. he is nailing the Bretschneider (full twisting Kovacs) now, and he can also do a Liukin (full twisting Tkatchev, not insanely difficult but i like how it looks) and some pretty neat connections. beautiful, great balance of difficulty and execution, elegant, precise, nails the landing, long live the King;

ALL-AROUNDER; 1. XIAO Ruoteng (CHN): i like him a lot. has some small issues with consistency but he is very reliable, can deliver great routines, nails his landings. he grinds his own coffee beans every morning and cuts his friends’ hair. has a very particular way of vaulting, doesn’t sprint like other usually do. he could snap a neck if he wanted to, he is always humble and friendly and he uses an electric toothbrush. i like him. i’d go jet-skiing with him;

wow this took so much longer than i thought, but i actually enjoyed myself a lot doing this. sooo, feel free to take the challenge too! i’d love to see what you guys come up with! <3

[thecheekbonesquad]

PARALLEL BARS | Kazuma KAYA (JPN) performs his bronze-winning routine on the parallel bars (14.966, D 6.3) at the 2019 World Championship Stuttgart. he is very clean, has a nice landing and I like his characteristic mighty roar at the end;

commentators often talk about how he has risen to the occasion and became the leader of Japan's team after King Kohei withdrew due to injury. I think he really can be an inspirational figure because he is rock solid, super consistent, never fails to deliver when it's important;

he was known previously as "the pommel horse guy", but he is growing a lot as an all-arounder. his best events are pommel horse (beautiful lines, nice flares) and parallel bars, but he also has some nice work on the high bar (has some cool German giants). I think he needs to step up his game on vault, though. he usually does a 5.2 and never really nails the landing, you know? there is always a big hop or step (or both) at the end. if he wants to keep vaulting a 5.2, maybe bring his execution to 9-9.2?;

also, those Cheekbones™ man 💛 damn!;

[thecheekbonesquad]

PARALLEL BARS | ZOU Jingyuan (CHN) epic routine on parallel bars for the Team final, which had the highest score (16.383, D 7.0) not only on this event but for the entire Team competition. 2019 World Championship Stuttgart;

he was the absolute favorite to win his third in a row World Champion title on the parallel bars, but he made a mistake on his Tippelt in qualification. both his legs touched the bars and it wasn't credited, causing him to not qualify for the event final. the score he got on Team final would've given him the gold medal with over 1.3 points above Joe FRASER (GBR).

after his first title in 2017, a reporter asked him "people are calling [your pbars routine] the most beautiful pbars routine they've ever seen. how does that make you feel?", to which he smiled and responded "I hope I can do even better next time". and so you shall, Yuan Yuan 🐐💛

[thecheekbonesquad]

RINGS | happy 26th birthday to Yuya KAMOTO, the strongest Rings worker on the japanese team! he is a great and very consistent gymnast, really hoping to see him on the Olympic team next year. on this routine he performs a nice O'Neill (which is a Guczoghy in layout position) to Maltese connection - 2019 World Championship Stuttgart;

I like his floor work as well, not an incredible amount of difficulty but he is pretty clean and has good landings. check out his qualification performance on Stuttgart here;

also wanted to share that I sent him a message on instagram wishing him a happy birthday and he answered me! 💛

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A post shared by Wataru Tanigawa/谷川航 (@watarugymnast) on Nov 27, 2017 at 9:22pm PST

VAULT | Wataru TANIGAWA (JPN), member of the Cheekbone Squad™, vaulting a Blanik (double front handspring in piked position). gorgeous form in the air and he nailed the landing. 2018 All Japan Championship;