After weeks of near certainty about who was going to the Olympics from Team USA, the team of Wieber, Raisman, Douglas, Ross and Maroney was confirmed last night after two nights of competition. However, there are of course a few items worth discussing now that the fat lady has sung:
1.) Scoring madness
There were more than a few WTF moments in the scoring last night. I don't really understand the benefits of soft scoring (which more than a few nations are guilty of at national competitions, not just the USA). Surely it just inflates expectations unnecessarily, for athletes as well as casual observers. At any rate, Gabby managed to get a higher degree of execution for her floor routine last night, where she fell out of her turn and botched her split jump out of her double tuck, than the routine she hit cold on Night One. McKayla still managed a 14.5 on floor after landing an entire pass OOB. Aly had an extremely scary landing of her Amanar on Night Two and still got a 8.9 execution score. What are these judges watching? Are they rounding up or something? I just don't get it.
You could certainly make a case that this scoring contributed to Gabby beating Jordyn by a tenth in the AA. This is certainly not either athlete's fault, and goodness knows Jordyn's been given some extremely lenient scoring in domestic competitions as well, but Jordyn did not look entirely happy last night prior to the team announcement, and I couldn't really fault her there. In my opinion, Gabby did not do enough on floor to justify her score there.
2.) Careers coming to a close
Alicia Sacramone, Nastia Liukin and Rebecca Bross all performed their last elite routines last night. One of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen in a competition was Rebecca's epic meltdown on bars, on a set that she's been hitting well for months now. It was excruciating to watch, and made me angry all over again about how her career was managed since 2010. She hit a solid beam set (which NBC didn't show) but that bar routine, her disfigured knee (which NBC did show), and her Patterson woes were not the way her career should have ended.
Alicia had another good outing, sticking her DTY for the first time in YEARS, but her skill set is simply not needed on a 5 member team. I would have liked to have seen her grab an alternate slot, but I can understand why she wasn't chosen. At least she was able to finish with her head held high after a seriously impressive physical recovery.
Nastia struggled again on bars, but hit a great beam set to finish off her career. I think there are a few "what if's" surrounding her come-back- what if she had started serious training earlier, or had shoulder surgery after Beijing? It's all hypothetical of course, but you can't help but wonder what might have been.
3.) Hooray for Anna Li!
I was so pleased that Anna was able to snap up one of the "replacement athlete" slots. She more than earned it, hitting her out of control awesome bars set on both days of competition and making it look way too easy. If the Olympic squad still had six members, I bet she'd be going as a specialist. She is one of many athletes who are going to miss out on an Olympic opportunity due to the five person rule.
1.) Scoring madness
There were more than a few WTF moments in the scoring last night. I don't really understand the benefits of soft scoring (which more than a few nations are guilty of at national competitions, not just the USA). Surely it just inflates expectations unnecessarily, for athletes as well as casual observers. At any rate, Gabby managed to get a higher degree of execution for her floor routine last night, where she fell out of her turn and botched her split jump out of her double tuck, than the routine she hit cold on Night One. McKayla still managed a 14.5 on floor after landing an entire pass OOB. Aly had an extremely scary landing of her Amanar on Night Two and still got a 8.9 execution score. What are these judges watching? Are they rounding up or something? I just don't get it.
You could certainly make a case that this scoring contributed to Gabby beating Jordyn by a tenth in the AA. This is certainly not either athlete's fault, and goodness knows Jordyn's been given some extremely lenient scoring in domestic competitions as well, but Jordyn did not look entirely happy last night prior to the team announcement, and I couldn't really fault her there. In my opinion, Gabby did not do enough on floor to justify her score there.
2.) Careers coming to a close
Alicia Sacramone, Nastia Liukin and Rebecca Bross all performed their last elite routines last night. One of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen in a competition was Rebecca's epic meltdown on bars, on a set that she's been hitting well for months now. It was excruciating to watch, and made me angry all over again about how her career was managed since 2010. She hit a solid beam set (which NBC didn't show) but that bar routine, her disfigured knee (which NBC did show), and her Patterson woes were not the way her career should have ended.
Alicia had another good outing, sticking her DTY for the first time in YEARS, but her skill set is simply not needed on a 5 member team. I would have liked to have seen her grab an alternate slot, but I can understand why she wasn't chosen. At least she was able to finish with her head held high after a seriously impressive physical recovery.
Nastia struggled again on bars, but hit a great beam set to finish off her career. I think there are a few "what if's" surrounding her come-back- what if she had started serious training earlier, or had shoulder surgery after Beijing? It's all hypothetical of course, but you can't help but wonder what might have been.
3.) Hooray for Anna Li!
I was so pleased that Anna was able to snap up one of the "replacement athlete" slots. She more than earned it, hitting her out of control awesome bars set on both days of competition and making it look way too easy. If the Olympic squad still had six members, I bet she'd be going as a specialist. She is one of many athletes who are going to miss out on an Olympic opportunity due to the five person rule.
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