Olympic Gymnastics Results 2012: What Went Wrong for America in the All Around?

After an impressive qualifying performance that saw them go into the finals with the top overall score, the USA Men's Gymnastic Olympic team failed to repeat their qualifying performance and walked away without a medal in the overall competition, finishing fifth.

China won the gold, while Japan and Great Britain took home the silver and bronze, respectively. 

This was a major let down for Team USA, who was expected to be serious medal contenders, if not the favorites to win the gold. 

America will have to wait another four years for a shot at glory again, but let's reassess what went wrong for Team USA that caused their disappointing performance on Monday night. 

Lack of Experience

Team USA had high medal aspirations going into the event, but when you look closer, you can see that they simply were not ready for such a big stage collectively.

Only Jonathan Horton, at age 26, was around for the 2008 games, and the young guys like Danell Leyva and John Orozco did not seem prepared for the event. 

"You know you don't have a routine to throw out," said Horton to Bonnie D. Ford of ESPN.com. "The nerves really kick in. It's tough. And it's a young group of guys, 19- and 20-year-old guys who are going out there trying to win an Olympic gold medal."

After a shaky start knocked America off their high horse (pun intended), they lacked the experience to gain their confidence back, and couldn't pick themselves up off the mat. 

Bad Order of Events

It may have just been the luck of the draw, but unfortunately for Team USA, the events in which they struggle the most—the floor exercise and the pommel horse—were the first two events in their rotation in the all-around competition.

If they had been able to start elsewhere and perhaps open up an early lead, they could have at least held on to contend for a medal. But after Team USA failed on these two events, it became clear that they had lost their confidence and were not going to be able to gain it back quickly enough to put themselves in medal contention.

When it was all said and done, Team USA finished with a total score of 269.952 points, almost a full six points lower than their qualifying score. 

It's hard to argue that the order of the events being changed could have won them gold, but starting off better could have at least carried them into contention with Britain for the bronze. 

Impressive Performance by the Medal Winners

Perhaps in another year in a different competition, America's score of 269.952 could have scored them a medal, but not in London. 

The top three teams—China, Japan, and Great Britain—all made sure they brought their A-game to the competition, leaving no room for error for the Americans.

China struggled in qualifying, leaving other nations like USA to think that they possibly had a shot at ending the Chinese dominance of Men's Gymnastics in recent years.

However, when it was all said and done, China walked away with an impressive score of 275.997 to give them their second straight gold at the Olympics and total dominance of the event, a full four points ahead of Japan.

Even if USA had brought their best, no one was beating China on Monday night.

As for the silver and bronze, Japan was put back on the podium after the score of Kohei Uchimura on the pommel horse was reversed, and although it was disappointing to Japan to not come closer to the gold, their eventual score of 271.952 is still solid by any means.

Great Britain originally believed they had won the silver before Japan's score was changed, but nevertheless, the team had to be thrilled to win a medal in front of their home fans, and it was clear they were more motivated than just about any team to make it to the podium.

Team USA would have needed to be at their absolute best if they were going to top Britain and medal at the games, and unfortunately for fans of American Gymnastics, they simply weren't. 

Leyva's Weaknesses Revealed

Unfortunately for Danell Leyva, being one of the top gymnasts in the world comes with extremely high expectations at the Olympics.

While he still has time to salvage his 2012 performance at the Individual All-Around competition, Leyva was unable to meet expectations in the team competition.

Leyva fell on his routine on the pommel horse, a mistake any gymnast can make at any time, but one that he so desperately needed to avoid to keep America in the medal hunt. 

Even though the rest of his routine was solid, his mistake was part of the reason that USA had such a disappointing result, and only a shining performance in the individual competition can truly redeem his status. 

Orozco Has a Horrible Day

Yesterday is probably a day that John Orozco will relive for the next four years until he gets another shot at it in 2016. 

Olympic sports like Gymnastics are particularly tough on those who fail since a real chance at redemption won't come for another four years, unlike yearly or bi-yearly events in most other sports.

The 19-year-old Orozco had high hopes going into London in 2012, and like Leyva, he will get another shot at it in the individual competition. Still, his performance in the all-around team competition left a lot to be desired.

Orozco also struggled on the pommel horse, and then followed that up with a disastrous performance on the vault, in which he shockingly fell during his landing.

As unfortunate as it is to say, Orozco, more than anything, cost America a shot at a medal in the team competition.