Monday, June 23, 2008

Team America


I didn't watch much of the 2004 Olympics, even the gymnastics, because I was pretty busy. I was getting married and going on my honeymoon for the bulk of the games. Watching the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials this weekend made me realize how far I've wandered from the sport of gymnastics, and how much I've missed it!

The scoring system is completely overhauled, which will make Jeremy happy, but pretty simple to understand. I like it. I miss the days of the 10-point scale, but I do think this new system works better. Also changed is the way the Olympic event will be run. In the qualifying first round, five of the six ladies will compete on each event, and four of the scores will count, to qualify the USA into the team finals. The scores from this round will also qualifty two Americans into the all-around final, and individuals can qualify into the event finals. In the final round of team competition, only three Americans will compete in each event, and all the scores will count.

The American team will consist of six women, two of whom were named Sunday night after the trials (Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, above). The remaining four athletes will be chosen at a Marta Karolyi's training camp over the next two weeks. 12 ladies were given invitations to the camp. Most analysts (and I) agree that five of the six spots are spoken for. Marta will choose the sixth.

As for the team, my projections are below. Places 1 through 3 on each event will compete in the team final. Places 4 and 5 will compete in the qualifier. This means we have three competitors for the all-around competition (Johnson, Liukin, and Memmel). Alicia Sacramone is my favorite, but I know Shawn Johnson has the best chances at gold medals and is about as rock-solid as possible with a gymnast. Nastia Liukin, pictured above, is my favorite gymnast to watch, and she is probably the best in the world on uneven bars. However, she seems to be a little bratty in interviews, so who knows. What's not in doubt is that these women are GOOD. The Americans are the reigning World Champions, so they should medal, and have a shot at gold.

VAULT
1. Shawn Johnson
2. Alicia Sacramone
3. Samantha Peszek
4. Nastia Liukin
5. Chellsie Memmel
UNEVEN BARS
1. Nastia Liukin
2. Chellsie Memmel
3. Jana Bieger
4. Shawn Johnson
5. Samantha Peszek
BALANCE BEAM
1. Shawn Johnson
2. Nastia Liukin
3. Chellsie Memmel
4. Alicia Sacramone
5. Samantha Peszek
FLOOR EXCERSICE
1. Shawn Johnson
2. Alicia Sacramore
3. Samantha Peszek
4. Chellsie Memmel
5. Nastia Liukin

Jana Bieger is the wild card spot that Marta Karolyi will have to choose. The reason I picked her is because each team on the floor is required to have at least one female coach. The five who are most likely to be on the team (Johnson, Liuken, Memmel, Peszek, Sacramone) all have male coaches. Bieger is very consistent at bars and one of the few with a female coach (her mom). So she definitely has that going for her.

Another interesting thing about this team is their international ties. Johnson's coach, Liang Chow, was born in China and will bring his star athlete back to his hometown in search of medals. Liukin was born in Russia and raised in Texas by her father and coach, Valeri, who won two gold medals for Russia in the 1988 games. Jana Bieger is German-born, raised and coached by her mother, Andrea, who competed in the 1976 Olympics for West Germany. Peszek also has a coach from Beijing - Peter Zhao.

Sorry if that was boring for a lot of you - as you can tell, I'm into it. I'll be watching with bated breath on 8-8-08. Go Team!

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