Women's Gymnastics - Team Final

[Karpenko]

Sounds like it was wicked good. That must have been amazing, and its better to be a surprise because then you dont wear yourself out thinking about it for a really long time. I loved reading your comments and am super stoked for you!! I can relate to a lot of what you said from going to US Olympic Trials, it's all about just loving gymnastics and wanting the gymnasts to have great memories. ITA about the arena too, seeing it all lit up before they walk out like that just on TV is total goosebumps. Did you see or meet any gymnasts or anybody?? What was it like in there after Maroney's vault?

[ioana]

I think pretty much everyone expects Iordache to be put into beam finals over Bulimar but the Izbasa thing is new. There's no good reason to pull her; she doesn't have to compete again until Sunday. And it would be a great way to finish out her AA career. I don't even think another Romanian could replace her if she did pull out, right?

No, Iordache and Ponor are the only ones who did 4 events. The gym delegation seemed ok with Flavius Koczi pulling out of the men's all-around since he 'didn't have a chance to medal', so logic isn't at the forefront of their decision-making. I assume B&B are just talking about this to get Sandra mad and have her perform better on bars. Yes, this is their usual negative reinforcement tactic, so hopefully it's nothing more.

Can we get someone else to give up their AA spot for Jordyn ? Maybe trade it off with Celine van Gerner for a spot in he UB finals. Even though I love her floor...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtZs2NISsiA

ETA : Belated happy birthday Loves_Shizuka and thank you for the voids!

[Anita18]

Apparently some people were more concerned about Gabby's hair than her gymnastics. Jesus, the girl can't get any slack. I hope she wins the AA tomorrow with her hair just like it is.

Bwuh? I can't even....arrrrrgh.

I had a classmate last semester who was a gorgeous girl, originally from Senegal. She modeled (totally not surprising), and I saw some of her old modeling shots. All of them were with chemically-relaxed hair, and I was shocked since she always came to class with a rockin' fro and it was gorgeous on her! I have the completely opposite kind of hair and I thought it was awesome!

I suppose the American public ain't ready for a natural, rockin' fro.

[Scintillation]

Okay trying to do those release moves on bars with a fro....yeah no. I'm not big on chemical relaxers but there is a time and place for everything.

[aka_gerbil]

This isn't really team finals related, but Belu & Bitang are already talking about replacing Bulimar with Iordache in the BB final if her heel feels better. Also, they're considering pulling Izbasa out of the AA to 'motivate' her .

Why on earth would they pull Izbasa from the AA? That would be dumb.

[gingercrush]

Finally watched it after having major problems with my dvr system. Not the result I wanted but you can't deny that the US didn't deserve the win. I'd compare them with Romania in 2004 who just hit and hit and hit. Russia were good. Obviously they couldn't match vault. Komova's amanar looked much cleaner today which was good. Americans had awesome vaults. Maroney had one very minor fault and that was her feet slightly twisted. But awesome awesome vault from her.

I still think the Russians were sluggish on UB. I'm not sure what happened but they just don't seem as crisp and Grishina's score was a bit of a shock. Though UB scoring appears to be more tentative than normal. I felt they had a chance after UB even with the 0.400 gap. US obviously just went bonkers with Douglas hitting a great Beam set again. Ross also brilliant and I didn't get to see Raisman. Floor. Afanaseva looked good till the last tumble. We missed Grishina. Mustafina was lovely. I think her twisting gets a lot worse when she tenses up as she did here. Weiber looked amazing on floor, we missed Douglas and my DVR stuffed up Raisman. Russia deserved Silver.

I love Romania and very happy they got Bronze. But they give so many points away with terrible terrible UB sets. Ponor rocked beam ^_^. OMG please let beam be awesome between Ponor, Lui and Komova in particular. Loved Izbasa and Bulimars floor. They missed Ponors.

China were clearly disappointed. It is unfortunate because they had really good UB sets and Lui rocked beam. I can't believe how low their floor scores are though.

And Canada? Wow. Awesome vaults and floor and just amazing that they were able to grab that 5th place. Well done.

Looking on.

Tweddle for UB gold? Maroney vault gold. Lui and Ponor favourites for beam gold. Raisman winning floor (I think the difference is difficulty).

AA. If Douglas can repeat her TF finals I think she'll smash through. Komova needs to rock UB, have a damn good amanar and a hit beam. On floor she just has to not leave points on the table. I still maintain these two can control their destiny in AA. If they were both to hit 4 for 4. Douglas would tip over I'd say due to the difference in difficulty on floor and cleaner vault. Though I think a totally clean beam from Komova has the capacity to score 15.5/15.6+ Mustafina and Raisman are right up there too but lack the ability to control their destiny.

Not the competition I wanted but you can't expect them to be. I also think some of my expectations were a tad overstated.

End thoughts. I get the feeling judges are too willing to give higher execution to more difficult programs. Too many good/great performances from gymnasts with lower difficulty are not being rewarded and that isn't fair.

[bek]

Because Aly and Gabby are decent people who just won a gold medal together and are friends? Lord knows we can't possibly have two people want to cheer for each other while they're also competing against each other. After all, it's all about looking out for number one, right?

I'm sorry this is a sport. Only one person can win the AA gold medal and two other people can get a medal in this sport. The two girls have been training for this moment their entire lives. They and their families have sacrificed their entire lives for their moment. And both know that one can win.

And to be quite frank neither girl got to where she was at, without a hard nosed competitive streak. All of these girls may meet at camps but they also have to compete against each other for spots on teams, qualifications (at worlds/Olympics etc) They have been competitors all of their lives too.

This doesn't mean they can't be friends. But when they are competiting against each other you better believe that one is outside of the hall.

Viktoria Komova said it well when she talked about her and Mustafina. She said inside the gym we are competitors. Period. Outside of the gym we are friends..

Right now when the competition starts in the AA; I guarantee you both Aly and Gabby want to beat each other just as freakin much as they want to beat Komova..

In basketball you can have players especially if they played for lets say the US Olympic team or another nations Olympic team. Who play for opposing teams that can absolutely be friends. Of course. But you better believe when that game is on that they are competitors at war. Thats the mentality you have when your a high level athlete....Once its over the ones with good sportsmanship can go over and shake hands, say nice things. But during game day??

For example Mustafina is known for her hard nose competitor personality. But apparently she gave according to the Chinese twitter Yao Jinanan a teddy bear to cheer her up after the team competition. Real terrible diva that girl.

[Karpenko]

Yes but they are both already Olympic Champions. That pressure to have a gold medal is off a lot more than it is the others, given how prepared these two are that could in the end help them. That changes things very much. They will be focused but still team-mates in the AA I guarantee it, they just won the Olympic team title and are experiencing the whirlwind high of their life together. It's almost as if the two of them started a small little bond with each other as soon as they knew the two AA qualifiers. They are going to pump each other up to both hit all 4, with the "whatever happens, happens" attitude. It's different this time, and they are being marketed as a close team, I expect them to be pumping each other up when they aren't in their own personal bubbles.

I hope for Douglas/Komova/Mustafina. I'd be fine with any other order, and I'd also be fine with an AA medal for Aly if one of the above 3 mess it up. I just have a bad feeling this will be very anticlimatic. I hope I'm wrong, and really hope Gabby and Komova are at the top of their mental game. It could be an epic showdown, but it could also be an epic disaster.

[bek]

Many have said and this includes Raisman because she has a history of screwing up bars in AA international competition.. That if any of these girls is the least likely to fall it is Mustafina. I must say I'm more and more disappointed Jordyn isn't it. I remember saying I liked her the least of the top all arounders. Well I was wrong... I do like Aly's personality better.

And Karpenko. It kind of depends...Last time the USA won team gold the top All Arounders didn't perform so well in the All Around they were two estatic about team gold. One has to wonder how much celebrating is being done...

[Spareoom]

Eh, Miller was injured out of the kazoo in Atlanta...it's hard to blame her AA splat completely on the TF gold.

I don't know about Gabby, but I know Aly in particular will be hungry to prove to the world that she deserved that AA spot and that she CAN get through bars. She's not the one to forget losses; I remember her first tweet after getting bronze on floor her first Tweet afterwards was, "FINALLY". She'd been keeping track of all her 4th-5th places and really wanted that medal. She knows how many times she's fallen on bars during the AA and will be determined not to do it again.

No, if Aly struggles tomorrow, it won't be on bars, I think.

[HisWeirness]

Here is Afanaseva's Team final Floor routine. The video is small but it is of the BBC coverage.

http://deadspin.com/5930817/the-us-a...show-it-to-you

[altai_rose]

I think both Gabby and Aly will do extremely well tomorrow. They've shown that they can hit under immense pressure.

The Russians.... Well Komova's floor and beam will likely bring her down and Mustafina does not have enough difficulty. Personally, I'd say both Aly and Gabby have a 50% chance of hitting their events well... Komova? Well maybe 0.1%.... I feel that both Komova and Mustafina were rushed back from their injuries to get ready for the Olympics... There wasnt enough time and both still have the potential to be much better than what theyve shown at the Olympics so far.

[DimaToe]

Here is Afanaseva's Team final Floor routine. The video is small but it is of the BBC coverage.

http://deadspin.com/5930817/the-us-a...show-it-to-you

Thank you :-) I love Afan's FX, shame about the mistake at the end But I must say, McKayla's bitch stance while Komova and Grishina are walking by is epic! Maroney wasn't there only for Vault, she was there to stare down the competition!

[Spareoom]

Guys, I am DYING by the adorableness of Gabby and Aly after bars. I'm in the middle of going through all the event streams and writing out visual descriptions for a blind member of IG and I keep hitting replay on this part; it just makes me smile so much.

Gabby finishes bars, gets her grips off and lets out a long breath; like she’s already thinking about beam. You can see her tense up a bit. She walks over to where Aly is stretching by the podium and says something to her. Aly immediately responds with ,”You’ll be fine”, and then puts her hands on Gabby’s shoulders and says some more words of assurance. “You can do it”. Gabby nods and says thank you. The other girls come over and join them, but Aly continues talking. “Positive thinking; don’t let any negative thoughts into your head”, she says. “You got 15.2 the first day; that’s one of the hardest score. Be aggressive and do each skill one at a time, like Marta says”. Meanwhile Gabby nods and starts to relax just a bit.

And we all know how Gabby ROCKED beam...wow, Aly. I want you to give me a pep talk before all the difficult moments in MY life!

[centerstage01]

I'm sorry this is a sport. Only one person can win the AA gold medal and two other people can get a medal in this sport. The two girls have been training for this moment their entire lives. They and their families have sacrificed their entire lives for their moment. And both know that one can win..

No kidding, genius. But what you seem incapable of understanding is that two people can, in fact, strive to win while wishing the best for the other person. I've no doubt they both want that AA gold medal for themselves. But I'd also be willing to bet that if one girl doesn't get it they'd rather their teammate win than someone from another country. If the Russian women don't have that mentality that's their hangup.

[bek]

I think both Gabby and Aly will do extremely well tomorrow. They've shown that they can hit under immense pressure.

The Russians.... Well Komova's floor and beam will likely bring her down and Mustafina does not have enough difficulty. Personally, I'd say both Aly and Gabby have a 50% chance of hitting their events well... Komova? Well maybe 0.1%.... I feel that both Komova and Mustafina were rushed back from their injuries to get ready for the Olympics... There wasnt enough time and both still have the potential to be much better than what theyve shown at the Olympics so far.

I think your underestimating Viktoria a bit. She actually has a pretty strong AA track record......She had two major errors in Team Finals at worlds last year, but she managed to pull it together to almost win. Sure she had some errors but still mentally given how unprepared she was it says something.

Some commentators have mentioned that Komova is much more confident, smiling, spring in her step here than she was at Worlds last year....I am worried about her floor, but I know they were saying in training she was doing some leaps, stags to limit some of her deductions.

I am worried about floor, but I have a feeling she's soon going to be 2010 Komova on beam;. She is getting stronger and stronger on beam I think.. Until the dismount issue that was the most wobble free Komova's been in a LONG time. And in her most pressure filled moment!

And to be quite honest, I had a feeilng something would go wrong with that dismount. Its the hardest dismount in the world.. A G dismount in combination. Raisman does that dismount but not in combination. She hasn't had a whole lot of competition on it..Someone said they think maybe she was just a iittle shocked by that wobble. It threw her off I don't think it will happen again though.

To be honest I have resigned myself to the idea that this may not be Komova's time because of floor.

[Loves_Shizuka]

Sounds like it was wicked good. That must have been amazing, and its better to be a surprise because then you dont wear yourself out thinking about it for a really long time. I loved reading your comments and am super stoked for you!! I can relate to a lot of what you said from going to US Olympic Trials, it's all about just loving gymnastics and wanting the gymnasts to have great memories. ITA about the arena too, seeing it all lit up before they walk out like that just on TV is total goosebumps. Did you see or meet any gymnasts or anybody?? What was it like in there after Maroney's vault?

Thank you, and it was "wicked good!"

I think I spotted Martha Karolyi in the audience, but I couldn't quite tell - do people know where she was sitting by any chance?

After Maroney's vault the place was WILD. But still, the rotation wasn't over so, IIRC, I was trying to watch the Chinese on bars but this wasn't easy! The ladies next to me were certainly making themselves heard

[doubleflutz]

And we all know how Gabby ROCKED beam...wow, Aly. I want you to give me a pep talk before all the difficult moments in MY life!

Aly's obviously tremendously bright, and I kind of doubt she'll want to spend the rest of her life in the gymnastics world, but man, if she does decide that's what she wants to make her career? ALY RAISMAN FOR US GYMNASTICS WOMEN'S TEAM COORDINATOR. Seriously, Bela can just hand over the deed to the ranch the second she's done with college.

[floskate]

I'm still in awe of Maroney's vault. They didn't join the comp until bars on my feed so I'm thrilled it's already available. Thanks for the links. I'm so happy that she had that special moment. When your team contribution is only 10 seconds it's hard to make your Mark but did she ever. To do that vault to the very best of her ability at that time when it mattered most - well that's just incredibly special. Her vault will go down in history and for me at least was the most brilliant piece of gymnastics since Silivas' compulsory floor in 87. This girl deserves to be a superstar!!

[Loves_Shizuka]

^In person it was ridiculous. I gasped so loudly when she left the table. And then the stick; it DID give me goosebumps. I wasn't really at the best angle to see how high it was, but you can tell she's way higher than everyone else.