Olympic Gymnastics 2012: Jordyn Wieber's Disappointment Reaffirms U.S. Supremacy

Jordyn Wieber’s letdown says far more about Team USA’s 2012 Olympic women’s gymnastics squad than it does about her.

There isn’t any doubt about it. She’s the most talented women’s gymnast in the world.

Since 2008, Wieber has lost just two individual all-around competitions compared to seven victories in the American Cup, World, Pacific Rim and Visa Championships.

Her loss didn’t reveal weakness—it simply exposed the strength of the U.S.

Wieber didn’t choke. Don’t make the mistake of labeling her disappointment that.

A total of 24 gymnasts qualify for the finals. Wieber finished fourth.

How didn’t she qualify? Only two gymnasts per country are allowed to participate in the final. She was outperformed by her own teammates Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, who took second and third.

Raisman recorded a score of 60.391, Douglas 60.265 and Wieber 60.032. That’s how close the margin of error was. While Wieber is forced to watch, women that scored in the mid-50s will compete in the finals.

The Associated Press reported that Raisman, Wieber’s best friend on the squad, felt horrible about eliminating Wieber. However, she stressed that the fallen favorite must maintain her competitive edge for the good of the team (via ESPN):

"I was really surprised, and I feel awful because she wanted it so bad. But she should still feel proud because she's an Olympian. We have to stay calm and focused on team finals."

Dare I say Team USA just got more dangerous?

Think about it. Wieber isn’t leaving London without a gold medal. She wanted at least two, but without an individual all-around gold, she’ll be more determined than ever to lead the U.S. to victory in the team competition.

This group finished first in qualifiers, with Russia being the only nation in the same realm in terms of talent. However, the Russians are carried by Viktoria Komova. Meanwhile, the Americans are deeper than the Atlantic Ocean that they flew across to get to the Olympics.

Team USA boasted three out of the top four scores in the individual all-around qualifiers. No other nation finished with three in the top 10, let alone top five. Only Russia and China had two gymnasts in the top 10.

Also on the U.S., McKayla Maroney finished first in vault and Kyla Ross sixth on beam and 11th on the uneven bars.

Expect nothing less than the five American teenage girls to massacre the competition in Tuesday’s team final.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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