Author: Rick Mc

Aussie comedians Roy & H.G. commentate on Men’s Gymnastics at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

NBC TV coverage of the Olympics is taking a beating. As usual.

#NBCfail

Dvora Meyers is eloquent in her take down – Fake, Jingoistic, And Stupid: Gymnastics Coverage Is The Worst Part Of NBC’s Olympics

For the record, I don’t mind Al Trautwig as the dumb-as-a-stick everyman, relating to the non-gymnastics viewer. Tim Daggett is an active coach who knows what he’s talking about. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have explaining our sport to the general public.

Elfi Schlegel, a lovely person, never seems to add anything to the description. Bland, but not bad.

NBC must like them, though. They’ve been mainstays for many, many years.

Mashable has an outlandish proposal. Have the IOC sell the rights to a tech-savvy startup which would package video for any and all buyers.

Interesting. No NBC monopoly in the USA.

Don’t hold your breath, though. NBC paid $4.38 billion last year for exclusive rights to broadcast the summer and winter Olympics through 2020

(via The Gymnast Life)

No. Not gymnastics age cheats. Not this time. 🙂

… Ye Shiwen is a 16-year-old Chinese swimming prodigy who won two gold medals in London this week, obliterating her competition and setting a world record in the 400 meter individual medley, and people think she cheated. John Leonard, the executive director of U.S. Swimming, labeled Ye’s win “disturbing.”

In addition to setting a world record, her final 50 meters in the 400 medley were faster than Ryan Lochte, who won the gold for the men. As the U.S. director told The Guardian afterward, “The final 100m was impossible. Flat out. To swim three other splits at the rate that she did, which was quite ordinary for elite competition, and then unleash a historic anomaly, it is just not right.”

“We want to be very careful about calling it doping,” he added. “The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something, and I will put quotation marks around this, ‘unbelievable’, history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved.” …

China Paranoia: Ye Shiwen, Doping, And The Rush To Be Respectfully Offensive

I’m still not convinced that Lance Armstrong is guilty.

So I’ll praise Ye Shiwen as one of the great Olympians in London … until proven wrong.

Besides, China’s not a nation to cheat. Are they?

For many years to come people will be dissecting Gabby v Vika in the AA competition. And if FIG judging wasn’t so random in 2012, you might even muster an objective, logical debate.

But it’s case closed for me after these comments from our Silver and Bronze medalists:

… “She (Gabby) performed beautifully today,” 17-year-old Komova said through a translator. “And I believe that she earned her gold medal. She was very, very good tonight.”

Echoed Mustafina: “I absolutely agree with Viktoria. She (Gabby) was fantastic. She didn’t make a single mistake. She became the leading athlete from the very beginning.” …

Examiner – AA silver medalist Viktoria Komova: ‘I am proud about what I’ve done’

Related …

Dominique Dawes was mean in some of her comments on twitter. But she’s wonderful in this video interview linked by Aunt Joyce – Awesome Dawesome on the Flying Squirrel

start lists

Judges deemed her feet did not touch first during the AA Final today.

Zero score.

That’s not what this screen grab shows.

Update: Video review is required before giving a zero.

Grace Chiu:

In the Code, in Article 8 (vault), it says that the D-Panel & Apparatus Supervisor will automatically review any invalid (0 score) vault or vault with 1 hand (2.0 deduction). …

Grace, photographer on site, didn’t actually see the judges review the video.

1. Gabby Douglas 62.232
2. Viktoria Komova 61.973

3. Aly Raisman & Aliya Moustafina 59.566
… tie breaker (highest execution) makes Aliya the Bronze medalist

5. Izbasa
6. Deng
7. Huang
8. Ferrari
9. Ferlito
10. Seitz

full results
Wow.

I’m impressed with these two holding it together under Olympic AA Finals pressure.

Respect.

Both fantastic gymnasts. Amongst the best ever. Gabby’s score is the highest of the quadrennial.

Congratulations to everyone at Chows. And of course to Gustavo Moure and everyone at Excalibur. You have an OLYMPIC CHAMPION.

So far.

At the half way point …

How many little girls everywhere are getting fired up about gymnastics? 🙂

via @officialFIG

Women’s AA in progress. Last time Nastia had a fantastic day to take home the Gold.

Women’s AA LIVE scores.

If you can’t watch LIVE, here’s the latest iLITTER montage. The Olympic Team champions.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Some are calling the Fab 5 the best American Olympic Team ever.

Americans frustrated with NBC’s delayed coverage will be unhappy to learn that their TV ratings have been HUGE.

Next up. Thursday August 2nd.

Danny Sierra:

The Women’s All Around Final differs from the Men’s Final in that there are less gymnasts in the running for medals and only a handful that can compete for the gold. Additionally, there is no Kohei Uchimura figure – a dominant favorite …

Viktoria Komova, Russia

Gabby Douglas, USA

Aly Raisman, USA

Aliya Mustafina, Russia

Larisa Iordache, Romania

… Deng Linlin and Huang Qiushuang? … I’ll be cheering for the Ferrari too. 🙂

Gymnastike – What to Expect: Women’s All Around Final

Wild guess:

1. Gabby
2. Viktoria
3. Larisa

related – Beam Dreams – The All Around Finalists

Almost everyone I know is decrying the FIG rule allowing a maximum of 2 gymnasts / nation to qualify to Olympic Finals.

The main argument against the 2 / nation rule I’ve heard is that one of the very best gymnasts in the world, the defending World Champion, is not allowed to contend for the AA title. … This time.

If it was Aly 3rd, I doubt there would be much debate.

If it was Kazuhito Tanaka from Japan in the Men’s competition, there wouldn’t be much discussion. … Actually, Tanaka was eliminated, like Jordyn. … I didn’t hear a word.

He was eventually added, replacing an injured Koji Yamamuro.

The two solutions to this specific problem I hear are:

• return the rule to a maximum of 3 / nation (as it was in 2000), or …
• allow exceptions to the rule in cases of World Champions

Women’s Gymnastics is a sport where only 4 nations dominate the medals. I want to see gymnasts from other nations have a chance to contend, and even upset those 4 favourites.

The 2 / nation rule helps.

“Sudden Victory” at each level of competition helps.

Smaller team size helps.

The USA chose to have 3 gymnasts do the AA knowing that one would be knocked out. If they wanted those two to be Gabby and Jordyn, they should have kept Aly off Bars in prelims.

Beam Dreams – Two Per Country And Other Such Rules – My Take on the Debate

Of course the argument that the Olympics is all about deciding who’s BEST is specious. If that was the case we’d have 15 Americans in London and perhaps 1 Canadian.

There must be some maximum number of competitors at each level of competition. Two finalists is better than one, I feel. I personally think it looks bad for the sport to have all three from one nation on the podium.

… Still not convinced?

Read Thiago Simoes post on how the 2 / nation rule is seen in 2016 Olympic host Brazil:

There has been much debate over the last few days about Jordyn Wieber’s failure to qualify for the All-Around finals. This is all somewhat baffling to me, someone who lives in a country which has achieved respectful results in gymnastics after the two-per-country rule was applied. …

Couch Gymnast – Two-per-country Rule: Another View

Having only 4 nations dominate WAG at the Olympics is bad for the sport in the rest of the world. Just as having only 4 women’s College teams ever having won the Team title makes it more difficult — not less — for every other team in the NCAA to justify their existence.

For the greater good of the sport, I can live with the disappointment of not seeing Jordyn get a shot at winning the Olympic title today.

Good luck to Gabby and Aly.