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 After their sensational performance at
last year's Junior European Championships in Paris, where
they won two bronze medals (team and bars), the Dutch team
has been highly praised. Their star Verona van de Leur was
very impressive at the Grand Prix meets earlier this year.
In Nijmegen, she was very stable until her final pass on
floor -triple twist- which she sat down. Her very difficult
bars set (10 SV!) looked effortless and she was confident
on beam (RO-layout mount; wolf jump ½ turn to full-twisting
ff) except for a wobble on her Onodi. Gabrielle Wammes,
who sat out last year's Junior Europeans because of an injury,
has returned to form and placed third AA. Red head Rikst
Valentijn is also back on track after a year of injury and
illness and was impressive with her tight lines and mature
choreography in her tango floor routine. Rounding out the
Dutch team were 1999 Worlds team members Monique Nuijten
(RO- full-twisting ff mount and a standing Arabian on BB)
and Renske Endel. Endel was impressive on bars but had problems
on beam and floor. Team member Fieke Willems, who suffered
a foot injury in the competition against Romania in September,
was not used for this competition.
 15th at the 1999 World Championships in
Tianjin, the Germans want to improve in Ghent and they likely
will with their good stability. Yvonne Musik withdrew from
the competition after injuring her foot on her double front
dismount during bars warm up and couldn't hold back the
tears. The team competed with a new confidence and had few
breaks. Birgit Schweigert and Katja Abel were the leaders.
Schweigert, who rarely misses a routine, had a wobble on
her series of ff-layout-layout on beam but was solid on
the other pieces. 18-year-old Katja Abel is the daughter
of 1972 GDR Olympian Irene Abel and finally seems to be
heading for her first World Championships. Too young in
1997 and injured in 1999, Abel's clean lines can add a lot
to the team. Veteran Gabi Weller looked very strong on vault
(piked barani) but came off bars on a Shushunova. Lisa Brüggemann
was very spunky on floor with great tumbling (Arabian double
front, full-in) and was great on beam with a pass of full-twisting
ff-ff-layout but put her hands down on her dismount.
 The Canadian team had been training in
Nijmegen the week prior to the competition. Only six gymnasts
travelled to the Netherlands and 2000 Olympian Crystal Gilmore
was unable to compete due to an injury. Only four gymnasts
competed on bars (Joelle Ouellette sat out) and Kate Richardson
hit her heels on her layout Jaeger and fell after overarching
a handstand on the low bar. She showed her class on beam
with a stylish mount and her original choreography on floor. Her routine was popular with the crowd
despite being watered down (she only opened with a double
tuck). Amelie Plante caught her Def and won floor with a
strong performance tumbling a piked full-in, triple twist
and a double pike.
Without Katerina Maresova and Jana Komrskova, who injured
her arm in warm-up, the Czechs never challenged the other
three teams. However, this team did have two juniors in
Petra Chytilova and Veronika Ozanova, both only 14 years
old. Ozanova attempted a double front dismount from beam,
but fell. In general, the team did not seem to have had
much opportunity to test the new vaulting table since their
vaulting looked somewhat uncomfortable.
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