Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics Recap – USA winning Gold | The Fierce Five

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Party In The USA

What an amazing day to be an American! Team USA also is known as the “Fab 5” got the job done today by outscoring the Russian team by over 5 points. As we all know, this is only the 2nd time in history that the USA has won the team title. It has been 16 years since the gold was first brought home in 1996.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The USA held onto the lead throughout the entire competition, hitting every single routine. Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and Mckayla Maroney nailed their amanar vaults at the start of the competition. That put the USA in a comfortable lead after the first rotation. However, the highlight was definitely Mckayla sticking her amanar cold with a broken toe. (Kerri Strug anyone?) The height she reaches in the air and her form is by far the best we’ve ever seen. National team coordinator, Martha Karolyi even told the press “That was the best ever. It definitely deserved a 10 just to make a statement that she is much better than everybody else.”  Mckayla looked pretty pleased herself as she left the podium. She was brought here for that event only and I’d say she has definitely done her job thus far.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Another thing I would like to mention is how well Gabby Douglas performed. Throughout this year she has been a little shaky on beam and floor, but not today! Many people questioned if it was a smart move to put her in the beam lineup instead of Jordyn Wieber. Honestly, that doesn’t matter now considering she hit her routine and brought in a big score! If Gabby performs like she did today in the all-around final, she will easily outscore the rest of the field. Her all-around score today would have placed her 1st in qualification over the Russian favorite Viktoria Komova by 8 tenths.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Kyla Ross and Aly Raisman also brought in big scores for the USA. Kyla doing bars and beam, Aly doing beam and floor. It was nice seeing Kyla shed a tear after her beam routine and Aly break into tears at the end of her floor routine when she knew they had done it! This team would not be complete without all of these girls. They all contributed huge scores to the team total and worked so well together. I’m absolutely thrilled for them, and I’m hoping that this will give them the confidence they need to go all out with their individual assignments! I see more GREAT things in store for these girls! Well done ladies!

In other news, the Canadian women made history by placing 5th in the team final. This team has been through a lot. They lost one of their stars Peng-Peng Lee just before the games and have dealt with some injuries. To place 5th in the world at the Olympics games is a huge accomplishment for them!

Photo Credit: Getty Images

It was a sad day for the Russians. They fought long and hard to try to catch up to the Americans, but with some wobbles on beam and 2 major mistakes on the floor..it just wasn’t the Russians day. Although they all seemed very upset with themselves, I applaud them for smiling on the medal stand and happily accepting the silver.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Today was also a great day to be a gym fan! The “Gymternet” was very much alive during today’s competition with fans from all over the world posting their predictions, thoughts, and words of support to all the athletes! Let’s keep this GREAT spirit alive because of the next best thing to being an Olympian….is being a gym fan!

The rest of the team results can be found below. Congratulations to all the teams who competed today, this will forever remain a day to remember!

• USA  183.596
• Russia 178. 530
• Romania 176. 414
• China 174.430
• Canada 170.804
• Great Britain 170.495
• Italy  167.930
• Japan  166.646

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Quotes to remember:

“There is no joy on our faces because we are a little tired. We still haven’t fully processed it all. First, we cried with pain, then with joy. We knew that we could have been better. Even though we would not have been the first, but we could have competed more confidently. Although overtaking the United States would have probably been impossible. The American women have now proven that they are the best.”
– Aliya Mustafina

“We didn’t really pay attention to the scores too much. We just knew that we had a really important job to do, just make our routines and do what we’d been practicing. So we went to each event and we were very confident. After the floor, I think that we were feeling happy that we performed really well.”

– Jordyn Wieber

“I would hope that we all would be able to inspire a generation. We all look up to so many other gymnasts, so to be able to inspire little girls would definitely be a dream come true and would mean the world to all of us. It’s such an honor to be here. We’ve all been working so hard and it’s still so surreal to be an Olympic champion. Of course, there were some sacrifices, but it’s all so worth it. And we all love gymnastics so much, so at the time it didn’t feel like a sacrifice. So we’re just really excited to be here and to have been given this opportunity.”

– Aly Raisman

“I feel so blessed to have so many supporters. Thank you to all of my friends and family for helping me pursue my Olympic dream. Thanks to you, this dream has become a reality and it is beyond anything I could have ever hoped for. Competing alongside four amazing gymnasts and helping them reach new heights on the Olympic stage has been such an honor.”

– Kristina Vaculik

With the qualification round done, we now know who will be competing in the team, all around, and event finals. Below is what I’d like to see happen through the rest of these Olympic games.

Photo Credit: USA Gymnastics

Team Finals

After what happened in qualifications, I don’t want anything more than to see the USA and Jordyn Wieber dominate. I’m confident that the USA can win this. If they can do exactly what they did in prelims, they’ll be unbeatable. I think our advantage really comes on vault. With 3 solid amanars under our belt, all we need to do it hit the other 3 events and we’re golden. I’d really like to see Romania take silver. Their team has improved so much since the retirement of Ana Porgras. They have worked their butts off and I think it’s about time for it to pay off!  If they can stay calm and do what they’ve been training, I don’t doubt their medal possibilities!  For the bronze medal, I honestly don’t care if it goes to Russia or China. I love the Chinese, but I just don’t know if they have what it takes this time around. The Russians can be VERY good when they’re on. But they’re known for making uncharacteristic mistakes in competition. The tiny deductions they tend to make could be the difference between a silver and a bronze.  But whoever performs better that day shall get the bronze! Best of luck to everyone!

All-Around 

I never would have imagined talking about an all-around final without Jordyn Wieber in it. But at this point, it is what it is. With Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas representing the USA, I just want them to go out and do the best that they can! I think Gabby has a better shot at winning than Aly does, but she could pull out a podium finish if she hits 100%. Bars are going to be the event that either makes or breaks her. To me, Dougie has star quality. She has the fire in her eyes, the passion, and an amazing story that we all can’t help but love. I wish her the best of luck as she goes for the gold. I’ll be rooting for her.

Vault Finals

I think it’s quite obvious who the favorite is here. This event is Mckayla Maroney’s to lose and I can’t wait to watch this all unfold.  As far as silver and bronze go, I really don’t care. But I’d love to see Yamilet Pena land her Produnova and win the first-ever Olympic medal for the Dominican Republic! That vault has given her so much trouble and I’d LOVE to see her make it when it counts the most. I’d like to see Oksana Chusovitina medal here as well. Again, I don’t really care about the color, I just want everyone to enjoy the experience and throw the best vaults of their lives!

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Bar Finals

For a long time now, I’ve always said I wanted Beth Tweddle to win bars in London. It’s her best event and when she hits, her routine is phenomenal! How great would it be to see Beth Tweedle FINALLY get her Olympic gold medal in front of a home crowd?! But I think the bar title will be a tough one with so many great bar workers including Gabby Douglas, Viktoria Komova, Alyia Mustafina, and the reigning Olympic champ He Kexin. I would love the podium to be Beth Tweddle, Gabby Douglas, and He Kexin though. This is going to be one heck of a showdown!

Beam Finals

I would like to see Sui Lu take home the gold. I really like her beam work! I think Catalina Ponor deserves another medal, whatever color it may be. Overall I really like all the beam finalists and would be happy with whatever the outcome is. A beam is a tough event and anything can happen due to the pressure. I think it will come down to whoever is best on this particular day (that’s kind of been the story at these games!)

Photo Credit: USA Gymnastics

Floor Finals

This is Jordyn Wieber’s only final and I really hope she can medal. As much as I’d love to see her win it, I’m not sure how possible that is. Personally, I think Jordyn should add in the double layout she’s been training because she has nothing to lose at this point! She might as well give it her all and go all out. I think she would have to have the best routine of her life and maybe have some mess-ups from her competitors. But do I think she can make it on the podium? Yes! I think Aly Raisman will be the one to beat, but Sandra Izbasa is the reigning Olympic champ and will be tough to overcome as well. Looking at the field now, I realize how stacked it is with Olympic and world champs!

1. Aly Raisman – 2011 world bronze medalist on floor
2. Sandra Izbasa- 2008 Olympic Champion on floor
3. Vanessa Ferrari- 2006 all-around world champion
4. Ksenia Afanasyeva- 2011 world champion on floor
5. Lauren Mitchell- 2010 world champion on floor
6. Jordyn Wieber- 2011 world all-around champion
7. Catalina Ponor- 2004 Olympic champion on floor
8. Alyia Mustafina- 2010 world all-around champion

I feel like the Olympics never turn out how I want. First Shawn in 2008 and now Jordyn in 2012. But I would still be satisfied if any of the things mentioned above happen. There’s a pretty big difference between what we would all LIKE to happen, and what WILL happen. These are just a few of the things we would like to see happen. No hard feelings, and no rude comments because you feel differently. This is all based on opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_zsjGagYZ4