2020 Olympic Games | Event Finals Day 2 Live Blog

/ August 2, 2021

Welcome to the live blog for the second day of event finals at the 2020 Olympic Games, held in Tokyo, Japan!

Please refresh your browser every few minutes to see the most recent updates, which will appear at the top of the page.

7:40 pm. Men’s Vault Standings

1. Shin Jea-hwan KOR 14.783
2. Denis Abliazin RUS 14.783
3. Artur Davtyan ARM 14.733
4. Carlos Yulo PHI 14.716
5. Nikita Nagornyy RUS 14.716
6. Adem Asil TUR 14.449
7. Ahmet Önder TUR 14.066
8. Caio Souza BRA 13.683

7:33 pm. Carlos Yulo PHI VT: Kaz double full, super clean, but has a big step OOB off the mat. Maybe a HAIR underrotated. 14.566 (5.6, 9.066, -0.1)

Great handspring double front half, just a small step back. Good for him! Still pains me that he was not in the floor final but he’s happy about that. 14.866 (5.6, 9.266

14.716 average, puts him fourth by 0.017 😦

7:28 pm. Denis Abliazin RUS VT: Handspring randi, arches a bit off the table but straightens out and is pretty clean throughout. Just comes up short on the landing, chest at his knees, big step back. 14.766 (5.6, 9.166)

Tsuk double pike with a big step back, VERY controlled there. That was excellent. Chest also a little hunched over on the landing but not as bad as the randi. Some leg separation in the pre-flight as well, probably 0.3. Ends up with a 14.800 (5.6, 9.200)

14.783 average

7:24 pm. Shin Jea-hwan KOR VT: Kaz 2.5, big leg separation in pre-flight but his leg form in the air is CRAZY good. Actually looks a bit underrotated on the landing, but not fully sideways…feet are though, from the looks of it. Chest forward and feet to the side. Big hop forward OOB. Wonder if they’ll downgrade. Nope! 14.733 (6.0, 8.833, -0.1)

Handspring randi, big hop back, but again his form is excellent, and no questions on whether that one got around! 14.833 (5.6, 9.233)

14.783 average to take the lead!

7:20 pm. Ahmet Önder TUR VT: Handspring double front, a bit cowboyed and a really deep landing, butt probably a centimeter from touching the mat. 13.833 (5.2, 8.633)

Kaz 1.5 with a lunge forward, very clean throughout, just bends his knees in anticipation of the landing. 14.300 (5.2, 9.100)

14.066 average

7:17 pm. Artur Davtyan ARM VT: Starts with a kaz double full, nice and stretched in the air, loses his leg form a bit on the last twist. Comes in a little short and has to hop forward/to the side to control the landing. 14.800 (5.6, 9.200)

Handspring double front half with a small step to the side (I think OOB), excellent overall though! He has the best leg form on these. 14.666 (5.6, 9.166, -0.1)

14.733 average

7:13 pm. Nikita Nagornyy RUS VT: Handspring double front half-out, step back, but chest position was excellent. Cowboyed in the air of course. 14.833 (5.6, 9.233)

Tsuk double pike second vault, just a hop back! Slightly soft knees but nowhere near enough to downgrade, slight leg separation as well. Excellent final for him. 14.600 (5.6, 9.000)

14.716 average

7:10 pm. Caio Souza BRA VT: Kaz double full for the first attempt, still rotating a little on the landing, large lunge back to control it. Mostly clean in the air but had significant leg separation in pre-flight. 14.466 (5.6, 8.866)

Sits the (very cowboyed) handspring double front second vault. Thanks! I hate it here! 12.900 (5.2, 7.700)

13.683 average

7:07 pm. Adem Asil TUR VT: Excellent handspring piked double front half-out! Pike shape is pretty great, just a little low on the landing with a small hop back. 15.266 (6.0, 9.266)!!! That was a STATEMENT vault.

Second vault, a tsuk double pike, hands down. I would like to die right now. 13.633 (5.6, 8.033)

14.449 average

7:06 pm. The vault final is about to start! Time to panic!

6:38 pm. Women’s Floor Final Standings

1. Jade Carey USA 14.366
2. Vanessa Ferrari ITA 14.200
3. Angelina Melnikova RUS 14.166
3. Murakami Mai JPN 14.166
5. Rebeca Andrade BRA 14.033
6. Jessica Gadirova GBR 14.000
7. Jennifer Gadirova GBR 13.233
8. Viktoria Listunova RUS 12.400

6:34 pm. Jennifer Gadirova GBR FX: Love her sassy opening. Full-twisting double layout, really piked down at the end and a super low landing. Split jump full. Double layout super deep. Switch ring to tour jeté half, some leg form on the ring leap. Switch leap full. Front layout through to double tuck, clean with a hop.

13.233 (5.1, 8.133)

6:30 pm. Rebeca Andrade BRA FX: Front full through to tucked full-in, two big steps back OOB. Stuck the full-twisting double layout cold. Switch full. Y turn to stag, love that so much. Small hop on the double layout. Switch leap through to tour jeté half. Strong in all of her leaps I think. Double pike with a big step back.

14.033 (5.9, 8.233, -0.1)

6:25 pm. Murakami Mai JPN FX: I think a Memmel to start before her tumbling, not super controlled at the end, excellent double double. Great double layout, tiny hop back. 2.5 to front full, nails it. Tour jeté half to switch ring, love this section of music, I think a double pike to finish, couldn’t see her legs from this angle but another SOLID landing. I love Melnikova but kinda NEED Murakami to jump ahead…

14.166 (5.9, 8.266)

6:19 pm. Vanessa Ferrari ITA FX: Stuck the double double, maybe a slight tiny slide but looked SO solid. Whip to full-in, gets some wonky leg form but again SO nails that landing. Switch full to ring full, a little iffy in the leg form on her Memmel turn. Tour jeté full. split jump full. Gonna cry right about now…front layout through to double tuck with a small hop back. B E A U T I F U L. Give her all the medals.

14.200 (5.9, 8.300)

6:15 pm. Angelina Melnikova RUS FX: I love the bell ringing at the beginning of her routine, it’s like the Saved by the Bell theme song. Full-twisting double layout, strong landing, some leg form and maybe a little buckled. Double L turn to double pirouette. Double layout is great, small hop. Switch leap to switch ring half. Front double full to beat jump. Wolf turns are both good. Double pike…strong landing! Slightly soft knees. High-fives Jade Carey when she gets off the podium.

14.166 (5.9, 8.266)

6:11 pm. Jessica Gadirova GBR FX: Double double, a little short with a small step forward. Switch full. Double layout, some knee form but very strong landing. Switch ring to tour jeté full, slight lack of control on the landing but not bad. Lovely Popa in the corner. Front layout full through to double tuck, stuck. Fantastic job!

14.000 (5.6, 8.400)

6:06 pm. Jade Carey USA FX: I wish the red stripes on this leo continued down the arms in some way. Otherwise I love it. Full pirouette into the corner. Moors, some leg form, small hop back. Front layout through to double double, two small steps back. Hoda got on her feet for that. I love that I can see Hoda to my left and floor to my right simultaneously. Solid landing on the full-twisting double layout. Small hop on the full-in. Strong set, good landings, she’s happy with that.

14.366 (6.3, 8.066)

6:00 pm. Viktoria Listunova RUS FX: Double layout, bounced back OOB. Kind of stumbled around I think a Memmel turn, then completely just collapsed on the triple full, hands down. Clean L turn and wolf turn after. HODA IS CLAPPING ALONG. 2.5 to front tuck is clean. Switch ring, to tour jeté half. DANCE BREAK! Hop forward on the double tuck. She definitely looks a little bummed, obviously.

Really long wait for her score…

12.400 (5.2, 7.300, -0.1)

5:59 pm. Viktoria Listunova up now!

5:55 pm. Women are marching out now for floor!

5:34 pm. Time for the medal ceremony! Will be back in 100 years when floor starts for the women.

5:33 pm. Rings Final Standings

1. Liu Yang CHN 15.500
2. You Hao CHN 15.300
3. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 15.200
4. Samir Aït Saïd FRA 14.900
5. Ibrahim Colak TUR 14.866
6. Denis Abliazin RUS 14.833
7. Adem Asil TUR 14.600
8. Arthur Zanetti BRA 14.133

5:28 pm. Adem Asil TUR SR: Invert hang to maltese to iron cross, double tuck to double pike to Iron cross, little nod, invert pike through to planche, a little muscled, strong handstand position, slight sway in the next one but corrects, rough form on his double double layout dismount, lands low with a hop to the side.

14.600 (6.2, 8.400)

5:24 pm. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE SR: I wasn’t typing, but he was solid at the beginning on multiple maltese and planche transitions, held his iron cross elements well, good handstands, really the only glaring error was when he came a little low out of his dismount and had to hop it. I don’t think that’ll be enough for gold.

15.200 (6.3, 8.900)

5:20 pm. Samir Aït Saïd FRA SR: Maltese pressed right up to handstand, his new skill, amazing but he seemed really rushed out of the maltese and only held it for a fraction of a second. Planche through to maltese, a little swayed and muscled in a handstand, double pike to maltese, iron cross, opens his palms, planche, drops a little in it, then a little muscled on the handstand after. Full-twisting double layout with a small hop.

14.900 (6.3, 8.600)

5:16 pm. Ibrahim Colak TUR SR: Planche through to maltese, drops to invert hang, up to planche, good shape and control, double tuck to double pike to maltese, looks nice from my angle, through to iron cross, invert hang through a pike up to iron cross, big grin, LOL. A little muscled in a handstand before his front double pike, small hop back. Beautiful.

14.866 (6.2, 8.666)

5:13 pm. Denis Abliazin RUS SR: Maltese to invert hang back to maltese, to invert hang, double tuck to double pike to planche, knees apart in the saltos and planche angle isn’t straight, hit something after that but I already forgot, handstand good, second handstand a little crooked and shaky, double double layout with a small step.

14.833 (6.3, 8.533)

5:09 pm. Liu Yang CHN SR: Invert hang pressed through to maltese then through to planche, so controlled. Hangs down then presses up to an invert cross, front double pike through to iron cross, invert pike to double front tuck to maltese, through to iron cross, ROLLS HIS NECK aksdfjal;sdkj what a cocky son of a bitch. I love the guys that do this, but I don’t think anyone does it better than him. Double double dismount stuck with his chest down. Fantastic routine.

15.500 (6.5, 9.000)

5:06 pm. You Hao CHN SR: I wasn’t typing at the beginning but everything looked nice, iron cross to invert hang, maltese to invert hang to invert pike, swings up to handstand, a little shaky, double layout form was wonky, saltos through to iron cross better, had a slight muscle in a handstand near the end, double double layout form is not great and he’s staggered on the landing but that was a hit routine, I suppose! Don’t think he’ll do much better in execution compared to prelims…

…except he does. Four tenths I think!

15.300 (6.6, 8.700)

5:02 pm. Arthur Zanetti BRA SR: Maltese down to invert hang up to planche, noticeably muscled but holds it well, through to maltese, invert pike up through to his saltos, leg form on the pike was a little iffy, iron cross, pike through to iron cross, way arches over a handstand, came up short on his dismount and had a hard fall, OOF, that a triple back, that was terrifying.

14.133 (6.5, 7.633)

5:01 pm. The men have been introduced for rings! Getting ready to go shortly.

Related posts

60 thoughts on “2020 Olympic Games | Event Finals Day 2 Live Blog”

    • I agree. This was a very enjoyable, competitive and fun final to watch. The judges did a good job adding to the suspense (albeit not on purpose) by taking forever the post the scores. Lol. (The scores were fair too in my opinion). Very happy for Jade’s redemption gold and for Ferrari, Mai, and Melnikova. Andrade was fun to watch as always. I love the way she nails her layout double with 1/1.

      Like

      Reply

      • Her choreography reflects her personality. Not everyone is elegant, cheerful, goofy or provocative.

        She’s a mellow powerhouse.

        Like

        Reply

        • Certainly there are many different styles one can take! But it is also true that Jade just isn’t a mover the way others are and doesn’t have the same complexity of movement in her choreography.

          But again, I’m really pleased with how this routine works with Jade’s abilities and think she finally has a routine which allows her to show her floor off to its best. As you said, this suits her style and personality much better than her previous ones. And I’ve been really happy to see that for her this year!

          Like

  5. One of the best finals ever. Would have switched Ferrari and Jade but that podium was a dream. Love that the tie couldn’t be broken for Geyla and Murakami. Great redemption for Jade. But Ferrari – I salute you. That routine was stunning. 15 years of elite gymnastics and you got your Olympic silver. So proud!!!! I will never shut up about this final haha.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I loved this final, just a little sad for Listunova, but so so so happy for Vanessa, finally getting that medal!!! Also finally a shared medal in gymnastics, it was about time! Also, happy for Jade’s redemption, yet, perhaps I’m a bit biased, but I wished they had rewarded Vanessa’s artistry more.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. A medal for Vanessa Ferrari! One of my absolute favourite routines of hers. People keep calling Mykayla Skinner the comeback of the quad but like…Ferrari has come 4th in 2 Olympic floor finals, ruptured her Achilles in the floor final in Montreal, got drafted onto the Italian Olympic team last minute to do a whole bunch of extra events she hadn’t planned for, and still turned up to the floor final and did this. I am OBSESSED.

    Also thrilled for Jade after yesterday – I’m not a fan of her routine, but seeing her stick that first landing and making it really clear she was going to fight for this one, I was SO happy for her. Love a redemption arc, and her tumbling really deserves recognition.

    Murakami and Melnikova both winning the bronze was also brilliant – I love them both on floor and this is the best I’ve seen both of them look this competition, so I’m so glad it’s been rewarded!

    A little bit gutted for Rebeca Andrade who I really hoped would medal today, but rooting for Flavia to do well tomorrow – can’t wait to see what the Brazilian team looks like after this next three year quad. They’re both so brilliant, and I’m excited for the future of their programme.

    Like

    Reply

    • I absolutely agree, Vanessa is comeback queen, between surgeries, covid, two fourth places and now she finally gets this medal at 30. Honestly, MyKayla is a phenomenal and determined gymnast, I was happy for her silver, but I always found her a little overdramatic. In other countries where college gymnastics is not an option her story doesn’t sound as special: look at Vanessa, Rebeca, Larisa, the Downies, Giorgia Villa who missed out because of an injury occurred 2 weeks before the games, and all the gymnasts sticking around for quads through it all and she still acts as if she were robbed.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Comeback queen Vanessa Ferrari! This final is honestly going to have such a special place in my heart – it’s also really wonderful that it’s a final where only 3/8 athletes entered without having already won a medal these games, and all three left with one. A final where everyone is a medal winner! What a joy!

        And I agree so much! College sports in the US are so totally different to the rest of the world, where you just stop competing and hope you can find another career. I think it’s a really cool opportunity US gymnasts get, and treating coming back from an all expenses paid college degree Skinner effectively received as a reward for her gymnastics as an “extraordinary thing to overcome” has always felt really weird to me! No hate on Skinner herself – loved her in the vault final – just a reflection on how she’s talked about by American fans (who are inevitably the loudest voices in any English speaking gymnastics discussion) in a way that feels like it drowns out stories of athletes like Ferrari and Andrade.

        Like

        Reply

        • It wasn’t coming back FROM COLLEGE specifically – it was coming back after three years out of elite to get back into the kind of shape that will get you to the Olympics. IIRC, the last gymnast who managed that was Mohini. We see athletes in other countries do it too – it’s not UNIQUE to her – but it’s super rare in the US and the odds were very much stacked against her. Not to mention she had a pretty bad bout of COVID just weeks before trials – that’s what I assume is “an extraordinary thing to overcome”.

          Like

    • Are we seriously debating the merits of different comebacks by gymnasts at this Olympics? You don’t have to choose one, you know, there’s not a competition.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Sorry, I really didn’t mean it as a debate/a gymnast comeback tier list! I just meant in terms of how people have been talking about them! Like, bigger gymnastics reporters keep being like “where is Skinner’s LIFETIME MOVIE where is her BOOK DEAL” and it was literally just a curiosity thing about why (mostly American) gymnastics reporters seem to dedicate a lot of time to celebrating her comeback at the expense of covering some of the stories of other gymnasts competing in this Olympics, whose stories I found more powerful. It’s not a question of who has the best comeback, it was more genuine curiosity about why certain gymnast’s stories get more airtime than others – not ranking gymnast comebacks at all, just wanting to talk about why they’re talked about differently when I thought Vanessa’s routine and the way her choreo told her story were so powerful, if that makes sense!

        Like

        Reply

        • Why are American commetators talking up an American gymnast at the expense of gymnasts from other countries?

          Why is water wet?

          Like

        • I’m not talking about the commentators specifically – I’m talking about fan spaces and writers, too. I don’t think it’s unreasonable in a sport with so many excellent gymnasts to focus on the other countries – the BBC for example has written stories about Chuso, Danusia Francis, and lots on Simone, despite the historic British bronze medal. After the floor final, Beth Tweddle’s debrief talked through each of the competitors in turn instead of focussing on the history-making Gadirovas. There are hundreds of Brazilian fans congratulating every winner despite all of Andrade’s performances. Prt of the reason I appreciate the gymternet’s coverage so much is because Lauren is really good at giving space to the stories of non-American gymnasts and clearly has fantastic knowledge of their careers in a way that I really respect (the piece on Lara Mori was a really wonderful example of this, and Lauren’s writing on the Chinese teams never fails to bring me joy!). I’ve found it quite frustrating spending time in gymnastics discussion spaces this Olympic cycle, where people seem outright unwilling to learn about non-American gymnasts and uninterested in their stories. For example, currently loads of people are celebrating Simone’s bronze to the complete neglect of Tang Xijing’s redemption on beam. As an international fan who literally just wants to celebrate good and interesting gymnasts regardless of nation, it makes for a really frustrating setup. That’s all. It’s nothing against the US team – I have spent the last week yelling about how fantastic Jordan Chiles was on beam in the team final and will happily continue to do so! – it’s a comment on fan spaces and writers, and the way US gymnasts are framed as the main characters of every meet, regardless of the stories of other gymnasts there. The gymternet does a great job of countering this, I just wish that American fans and other writers could do the same.

          Liked by 1 person

        • Iconic WAG Moments of 2021
          byu/Sarsar98 inGymnastics

          Sorry to harp on about this but here’s a really good example – in a thread about best moments of this Olympics the poster includes 7. 2 are general comments about Tokyo, 3 are about Americans, only 2 are about non-US gymnasts (Chuso and Andrade). The first few comments are about Suni and Jade. It completely glosses over all of the incredible firsts in this WAG olympics – Nina winning the first ever Belgian medal and maintaining her gold bars streak, Yeo Seojeong and her insane vault and historic bronze, Vanessa Ferrari winning her first Olympic medal at 30 and Italy’s first individual medal, Britain’s team bronze, Mai winning Japan’s first individual medal, Ellie Black achieving Canada’s best ever Olympic result, Russia’s first team win as Russia(ish) after everyone had treated a US win as a foregone conclusion…
          It was an incredible olympics for so many reasons and for so many nations without a huge programme, and it frustrates me how much it’s been overlooked. I’m really excited for Lauren’s roundup of this stuff!

          Another example from this thread is “Simone ties with Shannon Miller for most Olympic medals”, which is false. She’s tied with Shannon Miller as the AMERICAN with the most Olympic medals. The fact that so many US fans don’t even think to make this distinction speaks volumes.

          Liked by 1 person

  8. I don’t know how unpopular this opinion is, but I wish floor had something like the components in figure skating, in order to make artistry more relevant. At this point it would be in the code leading to the LA Olympics, I think it’s too late for the next quad. Also, I see the us federation opposing it, but I would take advantage of their mess and the fact that Simone’s retiring.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • YES THANK. As far as I’m concerned, artistry should be a major component of the difficulty score – maybe make it part of the composition requirements? Make it a full point, and tenths can be deducted from that proportionate to how bad the artistry is, and/or added for how good it is. No more of this “winning just because you have the most difficult tumbles” shite. You don’t have to be a ballerina, but musicality and expression should be mandatory.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Yeah, I really don’t think a routine as bland and robotic as Jade Carey’s should be able to win the title. I think that utilizing the .5 deduction is so that gymnasts that don’t have the opportunity to work on artistry as much still have a chance to score well enough to qualify to worlds/Olympics; plus, Carey was literally the only finalist who doesn’t have artistry. It just was a bit of a let down to watch someone going through the motions beat out athletes performing with passion.

        Like

        Reply

        • I agree so much on this. I thought Jade Carey did some of the best, cleanest tumbling I’ve seen, and it was rightfully rewarded under the current code, but I really wish there was space for gold medals to go to routines like Vanessa’s and Mai’s which were less complex but both of them performed the house down. Those will be routines that stay with me the most from this final, and I wish they could be more greatly rewarded for it.

          Liked by 1 person

    • I’ve read this complaint about figure skating too, actually. That skating should not weigh so much on just amazing jumps, but choreography, footwork, and one other thing I forgot.

      If I were king emperess of the universe, I would have given medals all the same floor medalists, just in a different order. But I also recognize I am not the Code.

      I think a complete Floor Ex package involves 4 things: Tumbling, Choreography, Execution (landings, form, completion of splits/turns, etc), and Presentation (because if I say artistry, people freak out and say ‘artistry’s not just ballet! As if I don’t already know and agree with that).

      Now few gymnasts are AMAZING at all 4 of these things, and that’s okay. Some people are naturally better tumblers, some naturally better at presentation, whatever, and it’s okay to PLAY to your strengths. I understand if a gymnast’s best asset is tumbling (like Jade) or choreography and presentation (like the Dutch), or form (like many). But I would like floor workers to be at least okay in all 4 things.

      Many gymnasts have mix-and-match levels of these 4 things. And I’m okay with someone winning because of tumbling difficulty if they at least have a decent level of the other 3 things. I don’t want someone winning on tumbling and form alone, nor do I want a ballerina winning with a double tuck mount and double twist dismount. Does this make sense?

      Simone has amazing tumbling and form, great presentation, and okay choreography. But she does have choreography. Aly Raisman had amazing tumbling, actually good choreography, okay presentation and okay form. But both of them fulfilled all 4 categories at an acceptable level. All 4 categories were at least present, even if some were stronger than others.

      For a complete package in these floor finals, I did feel Vanessa and Mai both showed the best All Around-Floor package. They both had difficult tumbling, decent execution/form, wonderful presentation and wonderful choreography. They weren’t missing in any category.

      I want to point out that Jade has good form, in addition to having incredible tumbling. She’s not somebody who can’t hit a split leap. I also want to congratulate her on an incredible performance and deserved gold.

      But if we are discussing what I would like to see the Code reward, it would be having a base decent level of tumbling, execution, choreography, and presentation. If one is missing, something from the entire performance is missing. I would love to see floor ex celebrated as a complete package.

      I would also like people to stop dismissing ‘artistry’ and ‘choreography’ as ‘oh, that’s just not who they are.’ Because artistry and choreography are not personality traits. They are skills that you have to learn and work on and perfect. To dismiss them, and the competitors who give them to us, as just airy fluff is a disservice to the hours they spent working on their dance, training their bodyline, learning complex choreography, and putting energy into expression- hours that they could have spent on just tumbling. So I do think we should stop thinking of ‘artistry’ and ‘choreography’ as something that people just have or don’t have. It’s not true. They’re skills. Learned skills. Listunova isn’t the character of her floor routine any more than an actor is the role they play. She worked at that choreography and bodyline in order to tell a story.

      So, Jade, you were incredible. Amazing job. The ease of your tumbling amazes me, as does your wonderful landing positions. Mai and Vanessa- yours are the routines I will watch those over and over in the future…are actually the two that I have rewatched more than once already.

      Like

      Reply

  9. Redemption for Carey!!! I am so happy. Justice is done! everyone on the US team is coming home with a medal!
    And to top that off, we will see simone on the balance beam!! Would be crazy if she gets a medal there!

    Like

    Reply

      • Can’t agree more. The only medal that mattered was the BB gold, so it’s no shock she’s ‘recovered’ to go for it.

        I wish her the best, but the outline of events since her VT looks very much like a PR save than anything else.

        Like

        Reply

        • Can you explain why you think this is a “PR save”?
          I find it quite hard to read that much into it tbh – she’s said she struggles with twisting elements and beam has the fewest of those and the fewest complex aerial requirements – to me it makes perfect sense she’d compete beam out of all the events she’d qualified for. And she’s the 7th qualifier for the beam final, Urazova beat her quals score in the all around, and Guan Chenchen leads on quals by an astounding 0.6. I might be very wrong here, but I imagine for Simone this is more of getting back on the horse than it is a medal bid? Which she’s perfectly entitled to do because she qualified!

          Like

        • 1. Vt fail.
          2. Her expressions and dialogue on US cam with coach and sports doctor when she pulled out for mental health reasons.
          3. Announced she’d be better by Thursday for AA.
          4. Social blowback, how could she predict that?
          5. Articles started creeping up about “twisties”, then she announces she’s out of AA.
          6. Then announces it’s “twisties”, posts bizarre fails on dismounts, then deletes them.
          7. Recall her ‘all I regret and want is BB gold and do this for me’ when she came back in 2019.
          8. Suddenly she’s all good for BB.

          Who knows? Her medals are nothing in $ compared to her sponsorship $.

          Like

        • I’m not in her head so I can’t say definitively it is a PR stunt. I will say the optics of it all is making those outside of the sport question whether she was in distress or she was doing it for attention, and everyone is divided strongly to either side of that line. I don’t know that any other gymnast would have been able to drag this out for a week and deciding day by day whether she felt like competing or not. At least not without some serious pushback. And I don’t think she should be put up on some pedestal like a hero for doing it. The last week has been a media blitz that is all about an athlete who left the competition, for whatever reasons, and it really did get to be quite annoying.

          Like

    • That’s my take too, all of them came home with medals!

      I’m still on the fence about how I feel in regards to Simone getting one for her basic fall VT score (Suni scored a point higher in AA on VT) and pull out in team and coming back for BB, but it’s her health, her choice. I think she has a good chance to bring home a medal on BB depending on what her dismount looks like and if her biggest competition can deliver. I really hope she isn’t under pressure to do it if she’s still not feeling safe.

      Like

      Reply

      • She shoudn’t be on too much pressure because :
        1) GuanChecnchen wins if she does her job
        2) if Biles fails whe’s the winner because being soooooo brave ! competing without her troubles ? nobody could do that
        3) If Biles wins , well it only confirms she is the (self-proclaimed) goat
        We’ve been prepared to ‘she is her only opponent’ for months …. so whatever she does she wins.
        I don’t know elsewhere but in France every day it’s about Biles ….. (a bit about Melanie and Samir too). That she doesn’t compete made the headlines over – say – Lee’s gold ….. it’s ‘Access to Hollywood’ here too !

        (GO Iordache BTW !)

        Like

        Reply

      • Samantha Peszek has a team silver medal from the 2008 Olympics despite doing *no* routines
        at all in the team final. and only one routine (bars) in team qualifying. Biles did the all-around
        in the qualifying, and one routine in the final. Do you also have mixed feelings about Peszek’s medal?

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • LOL. 🙂 The problem is, you’re using logic against people who irrationally don’t like Simone Biles. They’ll always have special rules why it should be X for Biles, but Y for everyone else. (shrug) Pathetic of them.

          But great comeback, @Kathy! 😀

          Like

        • I am on the fence about it, because according to Simone she was experiencing this prior to qualifications, so she should have bowed out and let someone else go. She pressed on because of the pressure (hers, her teammates, coaches?). So, on one hand, she deserves the medal, because she was on the team and on the other hand, she shouldn’t, because she shouldn’t have been on the team.

          Like

  10. So happy for Jade! She fought for this after her uncharacteristic vault mishap yesterday! Awesome to see a rare unbroken tie as well! Nice job ladies.

    Like

    Reply

  11. Stupid question, but why did Shin Jea-hwan win vault when the execution score of Denis Abliazin seems to be higher when you add them up?

    Like

    Reply

    • Yes. Tomorrow is M Parallel Bars, W Beam, & M High Bar.

      This sounds like another set of nail biters, especially W Floor and M Vault; I’m sorry I couldn’t watch it (yet!), but thanks, Lauren, for live-blogging, which I read from the bottom up to get the true OMG WHAT’S NEXT WTH IS GOING ON HERE experience! 😉 Hehehe.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • P.S. (not to reply to myself, except I will), very happy for Jade Carey’s comeback after the vault flub, but also really happy for all the other winners. MAI!!! Wow, a true tie!

        Like

        Reply

    • I can get your feeling but maybe you could also enjoy the variety gymnastics is able to produce ? Carey optimised her qualities with a music that was very well choosen given her non-existent expressive qualities. But she is a fantastic tumbler and the code is what it is …. D score has always played a huge role since 2006. Carey’s FX will never be my cup of tea but at least she doesn’t pretend to be a dancer or to have fun. She’s a working girl. I may even rewatch her FX some day (which I never do with Biles’s) and for sure will rewatch all the other seven FXs. The best FX final since ….. 1988 ? … for my taste). I would have prefered Ferrari’s win, but only for sentimental reasons. And Melnikova ….. if you can not stick a double piked then you loose it (the gold was hers otherwise).

      Like

      Reply

  16. Has anyone commented on this yet? Correct me if I’m wrong, but of the 8 routines in women’s FX finals, 6 of them, count them, SIX, did NOT do a wolf turn. And that includes 3 out of the 4 medalists did NOT do a wolf turn. No wonder everyone enjoyed FX finals so much today.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Beam final will be so interesting!! I am wondering if Biles will downgrade her dismount to a double pike dismount which would only be E value. Or maybe she will pull out a double layout dismount as a new element? 😉
    The two chinese routines def have the advantage. Then again beam is beam… Just whoever last standing…

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Christian Cancel reply