2008 Olympic Women's Gymnastics Floor Finals
Shawn Johnson Looks for Gold, but so do Liukin and Cheng Fei
Aug 16, 2008
After two less-than-sweet silver medals, American Shawn Johnson would surely love to prove herself by walking away with a gold medal on floor exercise. But she qualified third, with some tough competition from Chinese team leader Cheng Fei and Romanian sweetheart Sandra Izbasa. She will need to perform flawlessly to overcome the difficulty difference on this event.
The Importance of the A-Score on Floor Exercise
In qualifying, the top four gymnasts on floor exercise fell into place in order of difficulty. Cheng Fei has the highest A-score, a 6.6, but she also managed the highest execution score in that top group. If she steps out of bounds, another gymnast could easily pass her. Sandra Izbasa also relied on her high A-score, a 6.5, and only scored a 8.975 for execution. If she performs more cleanly, she could stand in the top spot.
Shawn Johnson was performing a routine valued at 6.3 in qualifying, but in the all-around she upgraded a tumbling pass to bring her start value up to 6.5. Though she was not credited for that value, if she is in event finals she will be in the running for gold. Liukin qualified fourth, with a 6.2. She is unlikely to earn the gold on this event without others making mistakes, but a performance like in the all-around would give her a strong chance at bronze or silver.
Two other gymnasts that could make it onto the podium are Brazilian Diane Dos Santos and Chinese Jiang Yuyuan. Jiang qualified last, but her playful routine with its difficult tumbling is valued out of 6.2, the same as Liukin. Dos Santos, a former World Champion on this event (like Cheng and Johnson), has a start value of 6.4.
What to Look for on Floor Exercise
Of course, tumbling is crucial on the floor exercise, and gymnasts need endurance to get through four or five tumbling passes. Though perfectly stuck landings are not as necessary on floor, it is crucial to stay in bounds. One foot over the line is a one-tenth deduction, two feet over is three-tenths, and landing the pass out of bounds is a painful five-tenths deduction.
Another place where deductions come off is body position and sloppy elements. Dance turns, for example, must be fully rotated to count, and a deduction can be as big here as for a tumbling error. Leaps must be fully extended, and tumbling elements also fully rotated. Artistry is also important on the floor.
These deductions can affect the A-score, as well as the B-score. In team finals, for example, Cheng was only awarded a 6.3 A-score, but Jiang had a 6.3. Johnson had only a 6.2. Shifts like these could easily be the difference between gold, silver, and bronze.
Floor Finals Results: Izbasa Gold, Johnson Silver, Liukin Bronze
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