Olympic thoughts (finally!)
OK, so here's a quick take on everything that went down with gymnastics during the Olympics:
1) I was so shocked that Alicia fell during her beam routine in Team Finals. And I don't think she ever regained her composure during the rest of that competition which of course was made obvious by her blunders on floor. It was really unlike her because usually she's a rock and she was the unofficial team captain so it was just a surprise to see. You could tell she was visibly shaken and I felt awful for her but I think she handled it well in the days after. But in the end I was proud of our girls winning silver and how they continued to support Alicia throughout.
2) I was so pleased to see Nastia win AA gold! Her gymnastics has been gorgeous of late and she performed nearly flawlessly the entire time in Beijing. She definitely was the best all-around gymnast in the competition. And it was great to see all of that emotion come bursting out of her at the end! You could also tell how proud her Dad was of her as well.
3) I thought Alicia was robbed on Vault Event Finals. How that girl could have sat down her vault and still got the gold is beyond me. She should have gone home with that one gold.
I think Shawn was underscored in her beam routine in both Team Finals and in AA but she FINALLY was finally rewarded in the Balance Beam Event Finals. Her routine was spot on and she nailed all of her big skills with perfection. It was great to see.
Nastia has the most aesthetically pleasing bars routine in the world and I think she should have won gold in the Uneven Bars Event Finals but I guess it wasn't meant to be. She did get to go home with 5 total medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) so that made EFs a little easier to swallow.
4) I think the Chinese probably had more than one underage girl in the competition and I wish that the IOC and/or the FIG really need to do more to crack down on the age violations in the future. That said, I'm not an advocate of stripping their medals or anything. I think they won them during the competition and unless they were caught using performance enhancing drugs or something similar, their results should stand.
5) I liked most of the leotards that the US wore during the competition. My favorites were definitely Nastia's pink leo that she wore for the All-Around final and also the purple leo that Shawn wore during the Floor Exercise Even Finals! I love the colors on both and I loved the arrangement of the crystals on them too!
In the end I was extremely proud of how our girls performed in the competition and also how they carried themselves throughout the games. They were champions on every level and they deserve all of the praise and accolades they received/will receive!
1) I was so shocked that Alicia fell during her beam routine in Team Finals. And I don't think she ever regained her composure during the rest of that competition which of course was made obvious by her blunders on floor. It was really unlike her because usually she's a rock and she was the unofficial team captain so it was just a surprise to see. You could tell she was visibly shaken and I felt awful for her but I think she handled it well in the days after. But in the end I was proud of our girls winning silver and how they continued to support Alicia throughout.
2) I was so pleased to see Nastia win AA gold! Her gymnastics has been gorgeous of late and she performed nearly flawlessly the entire time in Beijing. She definitely was the best all-around gymnast in the competition. And it was great to see all of that emotion come bursting out of her at the end! You could also tell how proud her Dad was of her as well.
3) I thought Alicia was robbed on Vault Event Finals. How that girl could have sat down her vault and still got the gold is beyond me. She should have gone home with that one gold.
I think Shawn was underscored in her beam routine in both Team Finals and in AA but she FINALLY was finally rewarded in the Balance Beam Event Finals. Her routine was spot on and she nailed all of her big skills with perfection. It was great to see.
Nastia has the most aesthetically pleasing bars routine in the world and I think she should have won gold in the Uneven Bars Event Finals but I guess it wasn't meant to be. She did get to go home with 5 total medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze) so that made EFs a little easier to swallow.
4) I think the Chinese probably had more than one underage girl in the competition and I wish that the IOC and/or the FIG really need to do more to crack down on the age violations in the future. That said, I'm not an advocate of stripping their medals or anything. I think they won them during the competition and unless they were caught using performance enhancing drugs or something similar, their results should stand.
5) I liked most of the leotards that the US wore during the competition. My favorites were definitely Nastia's pink leo that she wore for the All-Around final and also the purple leo that Shawn wore during the Floor Exercise Even Finals! I love the colors on both and I loved the arrangement of the crystals on them too!
In the end I was extremely proud of how our girls performed in the competition and also how they carried themselves throughout the games. They were champions on every level and they deserve all of the praise and accolades they received/will receive!