Women's Gymnastics 2012: Stars Still in Contention for Olympic Gold

Women's Gymnastics at the Olympics has two main groups of events: individual competitions and the team all-around. The team all-around is always the focus, but the stars that are competing for gold will shine in the individual events.

Individual event qualifying is a bit different than the team qualifying. While a country can use any three of the five members in the team finals, the individual events only take the top eight who qualify with only two from each country allowed to compete. The individual all-around takes the top 24, with just two from each country allowed to compete as well.

Vault

Qualifiers

McKayla Maroney (United States), Sandra Izbasa (Romania), Maria Paseka (Russia), Oksana Chusovitina (Germany), Yamilet Pena Abreu (Domincan Republic), Janine Berger (Germany), Brittany Rogers (Canada), Elsabeth Black (Canada)

Medal Predictions

Gold: McKayla Maroney (United States)

Silver: Maria Paseka (Russia)

Bronze: Oksana Chusovitina (Germany)

McKayla Maroney is the vault assassin. She is the best in the world and it just isn't even close, unless another one of her United States teammates would have also tried to qualify. Even then, Maroney qualified a full half-point ahead of the second place Izbasa. Izbasa did very well in qualifying but Chusovitina and Paseka will be able to fly into the second and third spots with higher start values on their vaults.

Uneven Bars

Qualifiers

Elizabeth Tweddle (United Kingdom), Kexin He (China), Victoria Komova (Russia), Jinnan Yao (China), Aliya Mustafina (Russia), Gabby Douglas (United States), Elisabeth Seitz (Germany), Koko Tsurumi (Japan)

Medal Predictions

Gold: Elizabeth Tweddle (United Kingdom)

Silver: Kexin He (China)

Bronze: Aliya Mustafina (Russia)

Tweddle is the best bet for a home gold in the gym. She's a great uneven bars competitor and looks to be the favorite going in. He from China is the only real competition for Tweddle's quest to gold and could end up on top of the podium in this event. Komova is a real competitor for gold as well, but don't be shocked if Aliya Mustafina comes out and has an amazing day on the bars.

Balance Beam

Qualifiers

Sui Lu (China), Victoria Komova (Russia), Gabby Douglas (United States), Linlin Deng (China), Aly Raisman (United States), Kseniia Afanaseva (Russia), Catalina Ponor (Romania), Diana Bulimar (Romania)

Medal Predictions

Gold: Sui Lu (China)

Silver: Gabby Douglas (United States)

Bronze: Victoria Komova (Russia)

Much like McKayla Maroney on the vault, Sui Lu is the best in the world at what she does. She always ends up with perfect execution and her difficulty level is on top. If there is anyone who can challenge her though, it's Komova from Russia or Douglas from the U.S. They both have the same difficulty as Lu but would need to execute flawlessly to win the gold.

Floor Exercise

Qualifiers

Aly Raisman (United States), Sandra Izbasa (Romania), Vanessa Ferrari (Italy), Kseniia Afanaseva (Russia), Lauren Mitchell (Australia), Jordyn Wieber (United States), Catalina Ponor (Romania), Aliya Mustafina (Russia)

Medal Predictions

Gold: Aly Raisman (United States)

Silver: Kseniia Afanaseva (Russia)

Bronze: Jordyn Wieber (United States)

When Raisman comes out and does her floor routine, there isn't anyone who can touch her. Afanaseva will have to up her difficulty to compete for the gold, but she has the ability to do so. Jordyn Wieber is one that could compete with Raisman for gold as well, but she will have to execute almost flawlessly to even come close.

All-Around

Qualifiers

Victoria Komova (Russia), Aly Raisman (United States), Gabby Douglas (United States), Aliya Mustafina (Russia), Linlin Deng (China), Vanessa Ferrari (Italy), Asuka Teramoto (Japan), Larisa Iordache (Romania), Qiushuang Huang (China), Sandra Isbasa (Romania), Jessica Lopez (Venezuela), Elisabeth Seitz (Germany), Rebecca Tunney (United Kingdom), Ana Gomez Porras (Guatemala), Hannah Whelan (United Kingdom), Dominique Pegg (Canada), Celine van Gerner (Netherlands), Carlotta Ferlito (Italy), Giulia Steingruber (Switzerland), Emily Little (Australia), Aurelie Malaussena (France), Marta Pihan-Kulesza (Poland), Rie Tanaka (Japan), Ashleigh Brennan (Australia)

Medal Predictions

Gold: Aly Raisman (United States)

Silver: Victoria Komova (Russia)

Bronze: Gabby Douglas (United States)

Aly Raisman is known as a steady, even-keeled gymnast who has ice water running through her veins. She will need it to win the all-around gold. Gabby Douglas is another American who is coming in as a favorite to win an all-around medal. Mustafina could challenge for a medal here as well, but the best qualifier, Victoria Komova, will have to try and duplicate her qualifying performance to earn the top prize.

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist and Trends and Traffic Writer for Bleacher Report. As a Featured Columnist, he covers the Atlanta Falcons, NFL and NFL Draft. He is also the Falcons analyst at Drafttek and runs the NFL Draft Website ScarDraft.com and host Kvetching Draftniks Radio.

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