2008 Summer Olympics

All I can say is...........Alicia Sacramone got robbed last night on the vault final. At the very least, she should have gotten the bronze, if not the silver. Again, the judging has been ridiculous for Olympic gymnastics, as it always is in figure skating as well. How frustrating for all of these talented athletes who train sooooooo hard. You shouldn't receive a bronze medal for landing on your knees after a vault. Or, you shouldn't receive the gold for landing out of bounds on BOTH vaults. The 33 year old woman from Germany should have won the gold. I feel so bad for Alicia................. I'm happy that Shawn and Nastia received the silver and bronze medals for the floor exercise. Last night was not the only night in the last week that the judging has been poor.

What a shining beam of hope for Romania! Sandra Izbasa had the weight of an entire nation on her and she brought home a gold for the former powerhouse country. Question becomes whether this is one last beam of light before it fades entirely away or if its a sign things might actually improve over there. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Definitely the highlight of the night.

Personally I think the new scoring system isn't better than the last one... and I do miss the old system if for no other reason than I'm a traditionalist at heart. I personally didn't find anything too troubling or too questionable in the scores last night (at least, not in the way Bela Karolyi did). There's never really been a great way to judge gymnastics or any subjective sport for that matter. Personally, I found the entire event final to be kind of bland. From the bronze medal down it was rather "ehh" performances, as if only two of them really brought their A-game to the event. It really didn't feel like an Olympics Vault Final to me at all and was kind of disappointing. There might have been something wrong with the score on Cheng or Sacramone's Vault... it's possible as to whether Cheng's SV was high enough to withstand that ridiculously horrible landing (which a lot don't think she count at all). But for me neither one of them really seemed to earn the Bronze, so either one of them getting it works for me... the score wasn't that different between them and neither one of them were as good as they have been in the past. I don't know... that event was just bad. Oksana was good, though... it's been a long time since a 30-something year old entered gymnastics there. I think the last one may have been in the 1950s or maybe even farther back. She was a lot of fun to watch and a nice refreshing moment away from the rest of the routines.

But on FX, I did find Nastia's score seemed a little lower than I would have expected... but the medal line-up seemed fair, and I imagine I wasn't paying attention to the things the judges obviously were. Looking forward to the last half.

It just seems like with the vault, you should try and do the most difficult vault you can, and if you land on your feet, great, but if you don't, that's fine too, because you'll still get a good score. The whole start value thing is pointless. Alicia still did a difficult vault, maybe not as difficult as others, but she landed with only a slight hop, and got a lower score than Cheng, who landed on her knees. Granted, it wasn't Mary Lou's exceptional vault that warranted a perfect 10 back in the day, but I thought she deserved the bronze for that particular vault. No vault could ever beat Mary Lou's!! I miss the old scoring system as well.

And I think we will continue to miss that scoring system as we go along.

Regarding the Bars Final, gymnastics needs to get with the program and allow dual gold medals, as Bela Karolyi pointed out in the commentary. When it comes to that note, I completely and whole-heartedly agree with him. None-the-less, rules are rules and this time the rules benefited China. And it couldn't have been a better pair up, the event specialist versus the all around champion, Gold Medalist versus Gold Medalist, China versus USA. Any way you slice it, that makes for great competition! But at the end, it was He Kexin who had her moment in the sun, which I'm sure she was thrilled about. This was her specialty, her event, but she is one of the ones whose looking to venture into all around competition and move into more even balance between the rotations, and if her performance on the UB was any indication... she might be a force to reckon with yet to come.

Also will mention here I was very impressed with Nastia's maturity over the matter. She was obviously upset when it occurred (who wouldn't be?), but when it came to the medal ceremony she was all class and that's the true test of anyone... how well you deal with those types of hick-ups in life. Needless to say, she handled it very well. I imagine she kept reminding herself, "Hey, I have the All-Around GOLD Medal." I'm sure that helped keep a smile on her face!

But yeah... they need to get rid of that ridiculous tie-breaking maneuver. Both Nastia and Kexin deserved that spot on the podium and I think that that goes beyond saying. I think it would have made a much better closing to have both anthems played and what a great display for the entire world to see! Having said that, Kexin came out on top as per the rules and she was certainly phenomenal in the event! China has got to be excited about their gymnastics program this year! I know I've been excited to see what they've crafted! Very, very impressive all around.

Looking forward to the Beam!

I agree, Jon. They award dual medals in swimming and track, so why not gymnastics? Nastia and He definitely deserved to each win the gold. Actually, I thought that the Chinese girl who got the bronze was going to get a higher score than Nastia and He. Her start value must have been lower. We'll see what happens tonight with the beam final. I really hope that Shawn can win a gold medal. She's so powerful on her beam routines. She just needs to stick her landings. I love listening to Bela. He cracks me up! He's so passionate about gymnastics. I also enjoy watching Nastia's father, Valeri. He's very passionate about the sport as well, as he should be.

I also think they should have awarded two gold medals, plus that tie-breaker thing doesen't even make sense.
They're have been alot of wacky things going on gymnastics scoring.
Vault with Alicia Sacremone, I mean how did she not get bronze when the other girl fell.
And last night that Astralian judge forgot to deduct He for something.

I already know what happens in Mens high bar and womens gymnastics tonigh since its already happened. Stinks it isin't live but oh well, I'll still watch it. I won't say anything here though.

I love Bela Karoly, he is so funny and passionate anhe makes good points.

Twenty years ago at the Olympics.......



Balance Beam

Floor Exercises

Uneven Bars

Those are hilarious! I especially liked his dismounts from the uneven bars and the floor exercise.

Thanks, Rhonda!

How 'bout those handstands?!?!?

I give each routine a perfect 10! LOL!! I love the way he walks out, looking all shy. Very funny, Rhonda!

Rhonda wrote:

How 'bout those handstands?!?!?

Great! I especially liked the *headstand* during the floor exercise!

Lily wrote:

How can you not like him with those little pigtails?! :Hahaha:

Very Half-Pint-esque. :shifty:

Oh, I am soooooooooo happy right now. Shawn Johnson got the gold medal for her beam routine. Nastia got the silver. I am so proud of Shawn. She's just a girl from West Des Moines, Iowa, my hometown, living out her Olympic dream. I was so nervous tonight, I could hardly watch. She is just so incredibly powerful on that beam! Nobody else looks quite like her. I am thrilled that she got a gold medal. I had tears in my eyes watching her as she realized she would win the gold. I bet West Des Moines, and Valley High School, can't wait to welcome home their girl!!
Congrats to Jonathan Horton as well. He won the silver medal for his highbar routine!!!!

I knew you'd be thrilled as soon as I saw that last night, Teresa! lol

Shawn definitely brought everything out. The Americans had the best Balance Beam routines hands-down and it really showed everyone else that they are going to have to work that much harder next time. I did feel a little bad for Koko Tsurumi who had to follow behind the two of them, though. Can you imagine being in those shoes?

And Paul Hunt... one of the great promoters of the sport. I always love watching his comedic routines!

LOL, Jon!! Yes, I was quite thrilled for Shawn. She just looked so happy, and probably relieved that it was all over. Now she can relax. I had never seen Koko, the Japanese gymnast, perform, so I didn't know what to expect. Did you watch the interview with Bob Costas, Shawn, Chow, and Bela? That was neat to watch.

I love that Olympics! Great job to Michael Phelps!
Another one of my favorites is Dara Torres.

Yes, I stuck around to watch the interview afterward, where Bela was finally able to relax a bit. And I honestly don't know if Shawn has the ability not to smile, she just seems to be stuck in the mood of overjoy. There's got to be something in her DNA that makes her look that happy all the time. But it was a great end to the sport this year. And now we have to wait another four years for the next one. But for the time being at least history can say Shawn Johnson = Olympic Gold Medalist. (but she sure made her fans sweat for it this year!)

Ash, I loved the swimming events as well! Watching Phelps' races, in particular. That first team relay race was probably the most excited I got for the whole Games this year. And I certainly was rooting for Torres, as well, when she was up. She may have come up just a hair short on gold, but I think everyone can agree that what she did this year was not only unprecedented but absolutely outstanding at every turn as well! As far as I'm concerned, she should be racing in a sixth Olympic Games! (now wouldn't that be interesting?)

Jon, I did notice when Shawn wasn't smiling. LOL!! It was during the medal ceremony. During the National Anthem she was so serious and focused, then she smiled when it was over. I'm sure she was exhausted. I just thought it was funny, not seeing her smiling.