Gabby Douglas makes coaching adjustment before Olympic Trials

Meanwhile, the next wave of challengers has announced itself in the run-up to Rio, led by 19-year-old Simone Biles, the three-time and defending all-around world champion, who leads USA trials with a score of 61.850.

Hernandez is kidding, but not really.

Biles is glad Douglas, 20, made a comeback after two years away.

Raisman acknowledged questioning whether the journey has been too much on the cusp of becoming the first American gymnast to qualify for consecutive Olympic teams in 16 years.

Biles and Hernandez reacted well to moments of adversity on Day 1, Karolyi pointed out. The gap is sizable to be sure.

“And I kind of like that part of it”, Douglas said. “The arena is just bigger than usual”.

Gabby Douglas, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, stood on shaky ground when she stepped up to the beam Friday at SAP Center.

“I think the reason why a lot of girls don’t come back – and I’ve talked about this with Nastia and Shawn – is because when you come back, you have to go back to that control of (doing) everything your coach says just because they know what’s best for you”, said Raisman, who has been coached by Mihai Brestyan since age 10.

Marshall Jones of Milpitas understood the influence after taking his daughter, now 9, to the US trials here four years ago.

“What you saw was the adrenaline today”, Boorman said.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this it?'” she said.

But with less than a month until the Rio Olympics, the US national team coordinator doesn’t need the women vying for the five-woman team to be at 100 percent. “When competition rolls around, I got it, ‘” she said. “Even with some mistakes here or there”.

Karolyi “always looks into our training”, Biles said.

Biles, Hernandez and Raisman appear to be in solid position while Douglas is still searching for the form that helped her win an eye-opening silver in the all-around to Biles at the world championships last fall.

Nevermind that Gallardo has been working with Douglas since she moved to Columbus, Ohio, and that she is still in the same gym. At 22, she’s also the leader of the US women’s gymnastics team, and so much a veteran that Simone Biles, the new star of the team, jokingly calls her “Grandma Aly”. Olympic rules only allow one personal coach on the event floor, and Douglas’ comfortability with Gallardo made the difference.

“Tomorrow we still have training and hopefully we can perform better in day two”. Or did she want to make a second Olympics just to add another corporate sponsor or two?

If there was any immediate impact on the decision, it didn’t show under the lights, a place where Douglas so often thrives.

Gabrielle Douglas competes on the balance beam during the women’s U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in San Jose, Calif., Friday, July 8, 2016.

Douglas’ wobble may open the door for other candidates to slip into the group. Skinner put a strong 59.450, including top four scores on vault, beam and floor.

There is no drama at the top, though there might be company for Biles.

In 1992, Betty Okino and Dawes became the first African-American gymnasts to win an Olympic medal when the United States finished third as a team. In the fix book, a water pump replacement is a fixed number of hours regardless how long the job actually takes. Her score of 15.75 surpassed the two she posted last month when claiming the USA title at the P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis. She’s separated herself from the rest of the world so completely that anything less than dominance seems like disappointment.

Probably a good idea if she wants to erase any lingering doubt in Karolyi’s mind.

“We have a second option, third option, fourth option and even fifth option depending on what we see on the conclusion of the second day”.

“I do this thing where I guess I roll my ankles a lot, and she was just like, ‘Stop moving, just breathe, ‘” Hernandez said. “That’s fine. It’s like crickets out there (at selection camp)”.

Friday night was dramatic enough, viewed by a full house at the Shark Tank, with a crowd composed roughly of 90 percent moms and preteen daughters – at least gauged by the high-pitch shriek level of the Taylor-Swift-concert-noise level whenever one of the favorite gymnasts jumped onto the floor mat. “That’s what we train for”.