Gymnastics - Women's All-Around part 2

[LuckyCharm]

But they had Lochte on and he didn't win.

And I'm pretty sure they'd have still had Douglas on if she'd won silver.

[Ziggy]

We definitely had the right three gymnasts on the podium.

Whilst Komova and Mustafina are better gymnasts than Douglas, she delivered close to 100% whilst they faltered. Both in the team and in the individual events.

I'd prefer to see Izbasa 4th but then there's the bars.

Whilst I agree with Louis that Raisman and Wieber seem unlikely to substantially improve, I think that Douglas has heaps of potential and I will be looking forward to seeing her development over the next few years.

Well unless she decides to rake all the money in and retire (and I wouldn't blame her).

[Loves_Shizuka]

^I think that basically sums it up.

Mustafina and Komova are the better gymnasts, but not so much better than Gabby that they could afford relatively big mistakes. Douglas competed better.

[Ziggy]

Gabby's mental fortitude so far has been extremely impressive and definitely worthy of Olympic gold.

[Loves_Shizuka]

^Especially as she's been called a "headcase" for the last eighteen months.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

It's just amazing to me to see her performance at Nationals 2011 where not only did she not perform well, but her packaging just looked like a mess. Then came Worlds 2011 and she looked confident and happy, and just continued to improve leaps and bounds. It's quite an amazing development to see.

[Lara]

I do think Gabby will have to work pretty hard to keep her current shape. She can't slack off if she's serious about continuing, or expect things to come as easily as before. But judging by what she's already accomplished, she can do it if she puts her mind to it.

[BigB08822]

But they had Lochte on and he didn't win.

Yes but like I said, it was Lochte's final night of competition and he was probably scheduled to be on WAY in advance. I promise you they didn't have Gabby scheduled in advance. Maybe after qualifications but she wasn't even a lock to compete in the AA. The biggest piece of evidence, to me, is what if Raisman had won? I seriously doubt they would have ignored the new AA champ and interviewed the gymnast who lost to her instead. No way. I feel confident that decisions were made last minute. But you know what, it doesn't matter if they were spoiling the results or not. It APPEARED that way and they should take steps to not do that, especially when they have already spoiled results during the broadcast at this Olympics.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

NBC has been a big old mess this whole Olympics. Maybe Dick Ebersole leaving affected them. Wasn't he the one in charge of production for the Olympics?

[LuckyCharm]

Nice little article on Gabby's dad and his reaction. According to this he's in London but wasn't at the competition.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/0...m-afghanistan/

I'm a little surprised NBC hasn't milked the Military Dad angle a bit more. It's certainly more compelling than "A gymnast moved away from home to train. Isn't that amazing!?!?!?"

[FSfan107]

NBC has been a big old mess this whole Olympics. Maybe Dick Ebersole leaving affected them. Wasn't he the one in charge of production for the Olympics?

They brought Dick Ebersole back though I thought as a consultant or something. This type of coverage (i.e. tape delay) was typical under his reign. It's time for NBC to get with the 21st century. Thank the heavens they no longer have the rights to Wimbledon!

[poths]

^Especially as she's been called a "headcase" for the last eighteen months.

And Credit to Marta for putting her up for beam in TF that could have gone either way but gave Gabby more confidence and gave the judges another opportunity to rate her.

Compare this to the Russians who pulled Komova from floor IMO affecting how the judges perceived her level of skill in this event.


I've watched the AA again and after all of the time to settle, I am genuinely happy with the result.

The sharpness, attack and determination in Komova's floor will forever be etched in my mind as an awesome Olympic moment. I wish all athletes could have that 'last chance for Olympic gold' mold their performances more often.

[Lara]

Until Wimbledon this year though I was wondering what rights ABC even had, both with the major NFL/MLB/NHL/NBA leagues and Olympic sports. They seem to have fallen down from Wide World of Sports unfortunately, unless I've missed something (maybe golf?)

I guess a lot's been given to ESPN, but surely the major network should carry something?

[centerstage01]

ABC Sports doesn't really exist anymore. They more or less merged with ESPN and while ABC will carry sporting events on their network, it's all pretty much done by ESPN now. I understand ABC Sports still exists, but in name for the most part.

[martyross]

now this is a sport that deserves to be in the olympic games. figure skating nowadays, not so much.

[vesperholly]

They brought Dick Ebersole back though I thought as a consultant or something. This type of coverage (i.e. tape delay) was typical under his reign. It's time for NBC to get with the 21st century. Thank the heavens they no longer have the rights to Wimbledon!

If it were me, I'd show as much live as possible, with final/medal rounds trumping preliminaries. They have a ton of networks — show the "big sport" of the day on NBC, and the rest on other networks. Water sports on MSNBC. Athletics on Bravo. Etc.

Carefully plan and segment the nightly roundup of highlights that you publish. Maybe one of those "rundown" graphics. Don't bounce between sports and announce the schedule of the roundup. 9-10, gymnastics; 10-10:30, diving; 10:30-10:45, swimming. Show as many athletes as possible and VERY LITTLE waiting around between events. Show clips of the medal ceremonies (medal being put on, flag being raised), and then send people to your website to watch "full coverage" of medal ceremonies.

Especially since London has a great 5-hour cushion and even more time before NBC primetime starts to edit content, this should be very accomplishable.

[ioana]

Bitang interview where she talks about event finals & the AA.

http://www.gsp.ro/sporturi/jo-2012/i...de-350999.html

Mrs. Bitang, how was the all around competition?
How could it be? I have no issues with Sandra on bars because this is an event she's worked on only for the past few months. For her it was a dress rehearsal for the vault and floor finals.

But Larisa?
About Larisa...Now I regret allowing her in the competition because her foot hurt a lot. She performed at half her potential, but she really wanted to take part, to test how much she could do. She didn't want to regret having a chance to be in this competition, but not (being) allowed in. If she had been healthy and performed like in all other meets she took part before the Olympics she would have been the fantastic (find) of this competition. She'd definitely have been on the podium. But she is young and can still make it to Rio in 2016.

Event finals are about to start...
Yes. And these will be finals for the mentally tough. Usually in EFs, the differences between gymnasts are extremely small. The ones who win are those that motivate themselves best. The battle will be psychological.

On all events?
I think there's only on exception, vault where USA's McKayla Maroney is clearly ahead. But she only does this event. Nothing else. [I am assuming she means in this competition. She was coaching Romania at 2011 Worlds where Maroney did FX during Team finals]

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Douglas = U.S.A. Gold!

[ponta1]

Nice little article on Gabby's dad and his reaction. According to this he's in London but wasn't at the competition.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/0...m-afghanistan/

I'm a little surprised NBC hasn't milked the Military Dad angle a bit more. It's certainly more compelling than "A gymnast moved away from home to train. Isn't that amazing!?!?!?"

How sad that her father couldn't get tickets for the event! I know I read in another article that Mrs. Weiber elected not to watch the AA; I wonder if she already had tickets and didn't use them, or if parents typically don't purchase tickets unless they are sure their children are competing?

[bek]

The all around through Paul Ziert's eyes http://sportsonearthblog.com/2012/08...ifferent-lens/