Take A Look At History: Americans Take First and Second In Gymnastics All-Around

      Next to the men's 4x100m come-from-behind victory, I have to say that the women's all-around gymnastics final was the most exhilarating and nerve-wrecking event I have witnessed in these Olympics.

      Plagued by a series of underscored events, I was convinced this gymnastics event was rigged. From Nastia Liukin's stuck landings on both vault and beam, to Shawn Johnson's high difficulty scores despite minute errors, the scores ranged from high to low, but were far less than satisfactory. All the phone calling and video reviews from the judges made me nervous. Every step on the beam from any of these athletes drew a deep breath, every dismount, a fist clench. Sick of having the Chinese on that top podium I prayed our girls could pull through.But after two rotations and a series of unfair scores, too high for the Chinese, too low for the Americans.. our hopes looked grim. The faces of Johnson and Liukin said it all. Liukin's was grim, Johnson's, disbelieving. How could those routines, that to them, based on past routines, were near perfection, barely so much as graze the scores  of the team final? The broadcasters even publicly disagreed, both with the high Chinese scores and the low American scores.

        The last two rotations proved crucial for the Americans, but it was the floor exercise that defined history. It showed the world what these two girls, one nineteen, and one seventeen, were made of. It was further proof that you can never give up no matter what adversities you face. The last three routines  by these athletes, Yang Yilin from China, and Liukin and Johnson from the U.S., were a true display of pure artistry. Yilin put up a good routine, but good is not great, and she received a 15.000. To claim her gold medal, Liukin needed at least a 15.300, and she received a 15.525. Johnson with the same score, surpassed Yilin for silver. Americans went 1-2, for the first time in history.Honestly, its hard to find a pair more deserving than these two girls. Nastia Liukin becomes only the third American to complete this feat behind Carly Patterson and Mary Lou Retton, who was in attendance.

        Its difficult to say that one deserved it more over the other. They are both champions in my eyes. They've trained their whole lives for this dream, a dream in which a lot is demanded and very little is rewarded. Gymnastics is one of the toughest sports to compete in, because in contrast with any other sport in the world where the positive aspects are looked upon, and runs, points, touchdowns become what people remember, in gymnastics what is sought after is the bobbles, the falls, the extra steps and the general deductions. It is not truthfully perfection what is judged, but imperfection. Tonight these girls were darn near perfect.

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