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The U.S. Men started on Rings.

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I suspect Kevin Tan will not qualify for the Rings Final. His score of 15.75 will likely not be high enough.

Watch live scoring on NBC.

UPDATE: Vault went GREAT. Everyone hit.

Congratulations China!

We’re watching the (delayed) North American TV coverage. Fantastic.

Police watch Olympic rings formed in the sky by fireworks during the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. (AP Images) – 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremonies Spectacular – Bodog Beat

I love the Olympics.

From Leo Laporte on Twitter:

I think we’ll look back at this and say, this was when the American century ended and the Chinese century began.

From F.I.G.:

Saturday 9 August, 2008 will be a nerve-wrecking day for all the participants in the Men’s Gymnastics Qualifications at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, because it is the first and vitally important step to the 2008 Olympic medals.

The outcome of this event will decide:

The top 8 Teams who will proceed to the Team Final on Monday, 11 August;

The top 24 individuals who will fight for the All-around title and medals on Thursday, 14 August;

The top 8 individuals on each piece of apparatus who will target the highest Olympic honours on 17, 18 and 19 Aug.

By far the most interesting competition, I feel, is the first one. Prelims.

“nerve-wrecking” may not be a typo.

Subdivision 1: 12:00- 14:06
ITA, ESP, USA, MG2 – 2GBR, ISR, UZB, COL; MG 6- EGY, GRE, GEO, YEM, MG 3- 2
SUI, POL, NED

Subdivision 2: 16:00- 18:06
CHN, CAN, RUS, JPN, FRA, MG 4- HUN, CRO, CZE, BRA

Subdivision 3: 20:00-22:06
BLR, KOR, GER, ROM, MG5-2 UKR, SLO, BEL and MG1- LUX, BUL, VEN, PUR, AUS

full press release from F.I.G. – PDF file

more photos – NBCOlympics.com

Wow.

… The 44-year-old Li Ning was hoisted then into the air, hundreds of feet above the National Stadium packed with nearly 100,000 athletes, spectators and world dignitaries. Running through the sky, Li circled the stadium in an homage to the thousands of miles the Olympic flame has traveled on its way from Olympus to Beijing, before finally lighting the cauldron.

…

He earned six medals, including three golds, at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He retired after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

In 1990 Li founded Li-Ning Company Limited, which has grown into one of the largest sportswear companies in the world. With more than 4,000 retail stores, Li-Ning is a major competitor to Nike and adidas in some markets. …

International Gymnast

This will sell some apparel !!

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Getty Images

(via Shergymrag)

The first I’ve heard of this conspiracy theory.

International Gymnast Publisher Paul Ziert on podium training:

… OK, the American men had a less-than-impressive showing from what I have heard, but remember this is just a dress rehearsal. Nevertheless, from what IG has learned, the men’s program personnel pushed the big panic button, and irrationally created a situation which I know they will regret later. Sources have told IG that Morgan Hamm became the scapegoat for this shaky rehearsal. …

Ziert Alert! from Beijing

Ziert is wrong far more often than he is right.

But is there some truth to this allegation?

… Ex-gymnast and three-time gold medal winner Li Ning will light the Olympic cauldron, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Li Ning, China’s best-known gymnast of the 1980s, is also founder of sports clothes manufacturer Li Ning. …

The Standard

One of my favourite gymnasts of all time.

Nice call, China.

Wrapping up my own Olympic Gold Medal predictions, I cheated and checked the list posted by Amy Van Deusen on About.com Gymnastics:

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics

Team
GOLD USA
SILVER China
BRONZE Romania

All-Around
GOLD Shawn Johnson, USA
SILVER Nastia Liukin, USA
BRONZE Steliana Nistor, Romania …

Click through for the full list, including Men’s, Rhythmic and Trampoline. Check out this poll, as well, and add your vote.

Smart.

The less media frenzy the better throughout the Games.

Though the team is stacked with experienced superstar veterans, the more psychic energy saved for the competition, the better.

… All-round favourite Yang Wei and his team mates slipped out of the National Indoor Stadium unnoticed on Wednesday after going through their paces in their only training session at the Olympic arena.

With a nation of 1.3 billion people expecting the hosts to pick up the majority of the 14 golds up for grabs in artistic gymnastics, the Chinese made sure no one would distract them. …

Gymnastics-Chinese build great wall of silence – Yahoo Sports

A fall on Horizontal Bar cost Yang Wei big time in 2004. … And in podium training he showed no release parts on Bar.

… Interesting.

Photo by Grace Chiu – Inside Gymnastics

Any of the finalists will have a shot at a medal in Beijing. (Qualifying for the Final is the most difficult step.) Vault for men is the craziest apparatus, years ahead in difficulty over the Women.

Of the many good vaulters, Leszek Blanik from Poland has the best chance of winning. His two super vaults are relatively “easy” (for him) and he should take smaller landing deductions.

Click PLAY to see Blanik winning the 2007 World Championships (to qualify for Beijing) on YouTube.

Blanik won the Bronze in 2000 but did not qualify to compete in Athens. He also won the 2008 European Championships on Vault (video).

See the rest of our Olympic Gold Medal predictions.