Teamwork

Just finished watching the primetime presentation of Olympic coverage and what a night it was! Michael Phelps became the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. He shattered more world records in the process. He has had an amazing swimming career at in previous Olympics and World Championships, but he has owned these games. He is also on par to surpass mark Spitz's long-standing record of most gold medals won in a single Olympics. I got a kick out of the men's 4x200 relay. The US men completely dominated the race and shattered the previous world record.

The best part of the night though was watching the women's team finals in gymnastics. The rules state that the best three can compete on each event, a change from previous years. It can be a huge advantage or a major detriment. With gymnastics, it's always hit or miss...literally. Team USA started out pretty strong on vault and bars, with a particularly strong showing by Nastia Liukin on uneven bars. I believe she had the highest score of the night with a 16.900. However, there was an awesome performance by one of the Chinese gymnasts with an extremely different release combination. She received a 16.850. When the ladies rotated to the balance beam, both teams began to struggle. Cheng Fui, China's team captain, fell during her routine. The Chinese women were mostly sticking their difficult moves, but made many little mistakes in the simpler ones. They seemed to be checking their balance quite frequently. It seemed to open the door for the Americans. It was not to be.

With a chance to catch the Chinese, who were leading at this point, Alicia Sacramone buckled under the pressure by falling after her mount. She managed to finish the routine strong, but her score hurt the USA's chances of winning the gold. Nastia Liukin performed well as did Shawn Johnson, who has become a little Mary Lou-type of dynamo. She is tiny, powerful, and the most consistent member of the squad. The teams then rotated to the final even on floor ex. Still reeling from her mishap on beam, Alicia slipped during one of her tumbling passes. This added more pressure to the ladies to follow her, but they managed to hang in there. The night truly belonged to China. They finished out the night with a heartfelt performance by Cheng Fui, who teared up at the end with the pride of the whole indoor stadium rooting for her. It even made me cry a little. The way I see it, the Chinese deserved to stand atop the podium on this night. On that same token, America didn't lose a gold tonight, they won a silver. And that is something to be proud of. It was to hard to watch Alicia Sacramone's interview after her falls. She blamed herself for the end result and you could tell she was fighting back the tears. It was great to see how supportive the girls were of each other though. The medal ceremony was really touching to see. the Chinese crowd swelled with such national pride as their tiny gymnasts were awarded their gold medals. It was a great moment for them to be sure. They are in the words of Al Troutwig, "true trailblazers" as they are the first ever from China to win the women's team finals.

I'm definitely looking forward to the all-around. Both Nastia and Shawn qualified and both have a real shot at the title. Should be interesting!