Shawn Gets Her Turn

In this last big individual event for women's artistic gymnastics, it was finally Shawn Johnson's turn. She had come in second in the All Around, and second on Floor. Beam is one of her team mates' specialties (Nastia out scored Shawn on Beam in the All Around), and Cheng Fei was the local favorite for the gold. Despite all that pressure, Shawn pulled off an amazingly solid Beam routine. Nastia performed her usual magic on Beam too. While Nastia slightly edged out Shawn on execution (9.4 vs 9.2), Shawn's higher start value (7.0 vs 6.6) gave her the .2 advantage. The USA took the gold and silver again, like in the All Around, but this time swapping who took the gold.

In all, Nastia had an excellent Olympics. Silver in the team competition, Gold in the All Around. Silver on Bars, Silver on Beam and Bronze on Floor. Five Olympic medals is a pretty impressive haul. Shawn did her share too, bringing home the second of two gold medals for the USA in gymnastics. Gold on Beam, Silver on Floor, Silver in the All Around, and Silver for team.

All this great gymnastics seems like a good way to start out this next season with the OTW Team. Go Girls!

Tie = Silver? Huh?

Nastia Liukin scored the same 16.725 on Bars as China's He Kexin. Yet, He was awarded the gold. Liukin was given the silver. What's up with that? Many people were clearly upset with the new rules, thinking that awarding two golds was the proper way to go. That's how it used to be in prior Olympics as recently as the Atlanta Olympics. The IOC, however, didn't like duplicate medals and told the FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) to work up rules to resolve ties rather than award double medals. Like it or not (and I know at least one OTW gymnast who is outraged), here's how the tie-breaker rules work (as explained by NBC Sports):

New Scoring Scheme: A + B
A complete gymnastics score is now made up of two parts, A and B. The first, the A score, or the start value, is an assigned degree of difficulty.I n this instance, both He and Liukin had the same start value, 7.7. The second part of a score, the B score, is an execution score. Six judges vote. The high and the low are tossed per the rules. That leaves four scores. Those four are averaged. That average becomes the B score. Add the A and B together and you get a complete score. -- In this instance, both He and Liukin got 16.725.

Tiebreakers :
The first tiebreak is the B score. Here both got the same B score, 9.025.
The next tiebreak: the judges drop the next highest deduction. That obviously leaves three judges' scores instead of four -- or to be precise, the marks those three judges gave for deductions. Here, the average of those three judges' deductions for He: .933. For Liukin: .966. -- Liukin had a greater deduction. Thus she was second.

Another way of getting to that math: Take the B scores of the three judges from that second tie-break, add them together. The math for He's remaining three B scores: 9.1, 9.1, 9.0. That equals 27.2. For Liukin: 9.1, 9.0, 9.0. That equals 27.1. Thus she was second.

Is that fair? What do you think?

Two More Medals for Shawn & Nastia

On Floor, America's two stars were shining again. Shawn had to go first of the eight competitors. OTW girls who've been through a few meets know it's tough going first. But, Shawn put in good routine with a high start value. Her 15.50 kept her in first place through all the next six competitors. The two Chinese girls were expected to go for gold, but had a few problems. Cheng Fei had a fall at the end of one tumbling pass. It came down to the last two gymnasts. Shawn's 15.5 was still first. She was in line for a medal no matter what. Nastia Liukin turned in a very nice routine, with no flaws. Her lower start value meant her 15.425 put her behind Shawn, but ahead of everyone else. She was in for a medal too. The last gymnast, Sandra Izbasa of Romania, put in an excellent routine. Her 15.65 put her on top for the gold. Shawn and Nastia took the sliver and bronze.

On Vault, Alicia Sacramone did two very nice vaults with clean landings. She was edged out of the bronze by a tiny margin by Cheng Fei, who actually fell on her landing. That didn't seem quite right, but the judging is final. Oh well, we were still proud of Alicia.

Nastia Takes Gold, Shawn Silver

It was another late night of Olympics watching but well worth the lack of sleep. Nastia too the gold in the All Around, putting her in company with legend Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson. Shawn Johnson poured on her usual power to clinch the silver from China's Yang Yilin who seemed headed for gold.

Americans Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson were considered gold medal material going into the Olympics, but troubles in the team competition and the success of the Chinese girls meant that there was no shoe-in. After two rotations in the All Around competition, China's Yang Yilin was ahead in points, but not by too much. Nastia's Bars routine scored a 16.65, closing the gap considerably.

The last two events, Beam and Floor, were both strong ones for the Americans and they did not disappoint. Nastia's Beam routine was almost perfect. Shawn's was as powerful as ever, with only one visible balance check. Yilin's was noticeably shakier. On Floor, Yiling's routine had the same difficulty factor as Nastia's, so she could still have the gold. A couple of wobbles lowered her score. This left the door open. Nastia's floor routine was flawless. Shawn's was great too.

It will be a very sleepy-eyed day on Friday, having stayed up to past 1 a.m., but it was worth it. Gymnastics moments like that don't come around very often.

USA Takes Silver in Beijing

It was a late night of gymnastics watching, and a tough one too. The American gymnasts were having a better night, but still had some troubles. They gave the Chinese girls some strong competition, but in the end were still 2 points behind at the last rotation. The Chinese team took the gold. The American team took the silver. The Romanian team took the bronze.

There were several nail-biter moments last night. Chellsie Memmel go through her release move on Bars which she fell on two nights ago. Nastia stuck her Bars landing. Local favorite Alicia Sacramone fell on Beam, but went on to finish her routine rock solid. On floor, all three girls stepped out of bounds. It was a tough night. High points include Nastia's 16.90 on Bars and Shawn's 16.175 on Beam. There was a lot of great gymnastics to see.

The commentators were saying that the Chinese team had an edge going in. Their somewhat more difficult routines gave them a two point advantage in the scoring total. That's how much they won by. Even if you put back in the fall and out-of-bounds deductions, the Chinese would still have won it. The American girls gave it a great shot. Silver is nothing to be ashamed of.

Now, on to the individual events. (need to get some sleep sometime)

Excited Over the Olympics

More than a few OTW team girls have been glued to their TVs watching the Beijing Olympics. Sunday night, especially, was a big night for young gymnasts -- the Women's Qualifying round. In part, they qualify as a team for one of the eight slots in the team competition. Their individual scores determined who would go on to compete on the individual events (two per country). At least I think that's how they said it worked.

The Italians, Japanese and British teams (also in Sub#2) were generally scoring in the 14s. The Chinese women in Sub#1 were looking a little thin on artistry, but had strong scores. It was a tough night for Team USA. Watching Alicia Sacramone and Bridget Sloan step out on Floor was tough. Watching the falls and slips on Bars was even tougher. But, seeing Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin's Floor and Beam routines was impressive.

What did YOU think after watching Team USA Sunday night? Click on the "comments" link below and share your thoughts.

Camp Week 4: Finale

This last week of the summer camp saw many skills being honed. For the compulsory levels, this was the week to pin down the skills for the next level. Coach Paul has developed a first pass at the team lists. For the optional levels, there is still a couple months before competition, so optional teams are less set. For this week, however, it was still time for fun too. There were contests and challenges. This week's teams were: XYZ, Wouldn't-You-Like-To-Know, Say-Whaaat? and Hiya-David-M-N-O-P-Slippery-When-Wet-Lather-Rinse-Repeat-Padiddle-Padaddle-Padoink. This last team not only takes the prize for the longest name, they also won the week's competition. This week also had some added fun. The coaches got into the silly mood, dressing up as Flintstones and acting silly. The skits were to be news reports from the gym. Jamie recreated Jess's famous double-trip Beam mount. Kayla re-enacted her famous Grand Canyon Leap, for all those who didn't get to see it the first time. Allison acted out a "fisher cat" sighting. Ellie was a monkey on the loose. A hilarious end to four weeks of hard work.
Now we all await the beginning of the season. (with a diversion with the Olympics)

Kingston Days

The rain held off, but the mats were set up in the big tent anyway, just in case. Coach Liz was a natural as the master of ceremonies, helping the large crowd understand team gymnastics and the various skills required at each level. The girls performed their routines well. The tumbling was a real crowd pleaser. The girls also did a demonstration for the little kids. The day was a good one for outreach and helping the public understand at least a little bit of what team gymnastics is about.

Head over to the Pix page for some photos Pat shot during the day.

Camp Week 3

The mixed weather meant things weren't quite as hot in the gym, except for Friday. Still, the girls were making progress on their new skills. There were more Flex Routines to keep them flexible, handstand contest and challenges. This week's teams were called: 1-2-3-(snap), Table 9 3/4, The Terrific Ten and ¡Saawingg!, who was the wining team. The skits on Friday were on the theme of occupations. There was a hypnotist skit, a restaurant skit, some super heroes, and a silly barber shop. Amid all the skill development and fun, many of the girls worked on a routine for Kingston Days.

Just one more week left of camp!