10. Russian Resurgence
9. “Officially” Olympians … first time gymnasts
8. Hambuchen’s Return to Form
7. Horton’s High Bar Redemption
6. World Rankings Shook Up
5. Team USA’s Chemistry, Youth and Skill
4. Uchimura proves he’s human, while remaining the favorite
Kohei Uchimura qualified in ninth place, making most of us question everything we know about ourselves and the world around us. We aren’t accustomed to seeing Kohei stumble, yet he did so multiple times in prelims, dropping off high bar and pommel horse.
Still, it’s hard to think of his performance as anything more than a fluke – a momentary lapse in perfection. The medal rounds are where Kohei’s readiness will truly be measured.
2. Philipp Boy’s fighting Olympic spirit
2. Jordan Jovtchev makes the Rings Final at Age 39
1. Great Britain Rises to the Occasion
Timothy Shieff (born March 24, 1988 in Hartford, Connecticut) is a professional American-English Freerunner and Traceur. He is best known for winning the 2009 Barclaycard World Freerun Championship and participating on the television programme MTV’s Ultimate Parkour Challenge.
Not long ago, a pair of gymnast memoirs hit bookshelves and dutifully took up their positions at either end of the sport’s narrative spectrum: Shawn Johnson’s Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith and Living Your Dreams and Dominique Moceanu’s Off Balance. You can learn a little about gymnastics from the books. You can learn a lot about American culture from the distance between the two. …