Women's Gymnastics Team Final - quite the disappointment

The commentators said it tonight and I was thinking it: what a contrast between the demeanor of the U.S. men's team who "won" a bronze medal last night, and the U.S. women's team who "lost" the gold medal and had to settle for the silver tonight. It was a devastating disappointment for the U.S. gymnasts, who came into the competition as the reigning world champions. I get so emotionally invested in these competitions when I watch them, and I think I had the same look on my face at the end as all of the U.S. gymnasts - disappointment and frustration. It would have been a lot easier to take if the U.S. had hit all of their routines and just been out-gymnasticsed (no, I don't think that's really a word) by the Chinese, but the problem is that the U.S. had opportunities to pull ahead! Obviously the most disappointing competitor for the U.S. was the veteran teammate, Alicia Sacramone, who at age 20 has been through so many international competitions and has also competed in NCAA gymnastics for Brown University. After her fall on the beam I was sure she'd come back fighting on the floor and hit a great routine (especially because of the determined/mean look on her face), but alas, all she did was fall on her rear end and then step out of bounds. As we watched her walk off the floor along with the U.S.'s hopes of a gold medal, Karl said, "Poor girl." I'm sorry and maybe I'm way too harsh but I didn't feel sorry for her at all. I thought she should have sucked it up after that beam routine and put it all together on the floor. She's one of the most experienced competitors the U.S. could have possibly put on the competition floor and the one that should've been able to deal with the pressure. I just read a quote from her saying that she apologized to her teammates and felt that it was her fault they lost. Okay...maybe I do feel a little bad for her. That would be an awful feeling to live with. I just saw the emotional interview on NBC...and yes, I'm softening up. I can tell she's just crushed.

As for the rest of the team, they all did their jobs quite well. Bridget Sloan looked so nervous on vault that I thought she was going to pass out, but she ended up having a great double-twisting yurchenko, and Chellsie Memmel recovered nicely on bars from her fall during prelims. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson are absolutely amazing - it is going to be a FUN all-around competition to watch with these two! I really think this could be the first Olympics that we see two Americans on the medal stand for the all-around competition (as long as they stay in bounds on the floor!) Nastia's bar routine was crazy amazing...and she scored a 16.9! She could very well win the individual event title if she has a routine like she did tonight.

Side note - who designs these USA team leotards? Both of the ones we've seen so far this Olympics are just hideous! It's time to hire a new designer if you ask me! On night one they looked like a dead star fish had been sewn onto the side of the leotards, and tonight it was a mess of flames that were just plain distracting.

Now, I can't end this post without commenting on the Chinese gymnasts. They dealt with the pressure quite well, with just one major break during the whole competition when a gymnast fell off the beam. I must be out of the loop because when did the Chinese get so good at floor and vault?!?! They used to never even be in contention to medal in team competitions because of how weak they were on floor and vault....they've certainly turned things around and they were very impressive on every event tonight. As for the age controversy, did anyone else notice that Deng Linlin, one of the tiniest gymnasts on the team, is missing a tooth? Could that be a baby tooth or is it just a permanently missing tooth? I don't know, but she sure looks young enough to still be losing her baby teeth. Helene Elliott of the L.A. Times obviously noticed it, as she described the Chinese gymnasts as, "Pre-teen tiny. Haven't-lost-all-their-baby-teeth-tiny." Watching the Chinese team tonight, I was just envisioning a tell-all book written by one of them in about 10 years when they've defected to the United States, revealing exactly how their coaches and government made them lie about their age. It outrages me, but what can you do? I doubt the IOC will ever gather the proof necessary to take the medal away, but it sure isn't fair to all of the other countries who played by the rules. For more on the controversy, and proof that three of the gymnasts are underage, read this quick post by Christine Brennan of USA Today.

Speaking of Chinese lying, did you see the news about the little girl who was "singing" during the Opening Ceremonies? Apparently the REAL singing girl didn't have the looks to sing at the Opening Ceremonies, so they had a "cuter" little girl lip synch. Talk about crushing the self-esteem of a seven year old girl. Simply awful...and if they're willing to do that, I bet they're willing to falsify passports of gymnasts.

Alright, I'm sort of bitter tonight so I had better get some sleep! I can't wait for the All-Around and Event Finals! Men's all-around tomorrow...go Horton! :)