Andrew Thornton is making my prediction that the USA will win the Beijing Olympics look dubious:
The first “virtual gymnastics meet†is now over, and the best girls from China have beaten the best from the USA.
Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor, Team (3-up, 3-count Team Finals)
… I’m sure you can see that this competition was won on uneven bars!!! Does this make it more clear exactly why the U.S. is still in need of improvement here? It does for me at least. Chellsie Memmel’s bar routine has certainly helped close the gap a little, but we still have a long way to go to catch this team that not only has a 1.4 advantage in start values on bars over us, but clearly has superior execution as well. …
I would have a hard time believing the Romanians or Russians can challenge these two teams, but you never know. Romania could show up again with another incredibly well-prepared team that is ready to nail every routine in the team finals like they did four years ago. Combine another performance like that with some mistakes from the U.S. and China, and maybe there could be some surprises. As of right now, though, I clearly see the U.S. and China as the ones to beat, and I would expect Romania and Russia to battle for the bronze.
Is the 1.45 difference I came up with in this virtual meet too much for the U.S. to make up? Absolutely not, but it definitely shows where we could potentially get beat by China if we don’t do something about it fast. I hope Martha Karolyi gets a chance to watch this virtual meet so she doesn’t toss out a gymnast like Bridget Sloan, who could potentially score a 16.0 on bars. Though it’s still going to take a team effort to make the improvements necessary to catch China on this event, this game has emphasized to me even more the need for the U.S. to find that elusive third bars score. …
Bridget – AP Photo by Mary Schwalm
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