Hong and Izbasa Win 2008 Vault and Floor Finals
Johnson and Cheng Settle for Olympic Silver and Bronze
Aug 17, 2008
Going into the two women's gymnastics event finals on July 17th, 2008, Cheng Fei had a reasonable shot at two gold medals, and expected two medals of any color at the very least. However, trouble on floor and a fall on her second vault, Cheng finished with only a bronze on vault. Shawn Johnson, who competed first on floor, remained in the top position throughout the competition but walked away with her third silver of the games after Sandra Izbasa, competing last, scored a 15.65.
Cheng Sloppy on Vault and Sacramone in Fourth: Hong Takes Advantage
When the vault finals began, Cheng and North Korean gymnast Hong Un-Jong were expected to come in a close race for silver in gold, competing the same 6.5 value vaults. Cheng’s fall put her out of the running, however, and Hong performed cleanly, earning the first North Korean medal in gymnastics.
The second-place finisher was German Oksana Chusovitina. Chusovitina, who hails from Uzbekistan and is competing in her fifth Olympics, managed the silver medal despite slightly less difficult vaults. At thirty-three years old, this was a big victory for Chusovitina. Alicia Sacramone, America’s hope for a vaulting medal, was unable to stage a comeback after her disappointment in the team competition and finished fourth. Perhaps the most disappointing finish was last place vaulter Russian Anna Pavlova, who did not receive credit for her second vault because she started before the green light that means the judges are ready.
Johnson Beats Liukin on Floor, but Finishes Behind the Romanian Gymnast
Women’s gymnastics gold is normally no surprise for Romania, but at this event the Romanians were hoping to redeem themselves rather than being the favorites. Following a bronze medal in the team competition, which was a victory for this weaker Romanian team, all-around competitor Izbasa managed another success on floor exercise, where she competed in the advantageous last spot to knock Shawn Johnson out of the gold medal spot.
Both Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin performed cleanly on floor, and with slightly lower start values than Izbasa, should be proud of the two more medals they brought home for the US team. Cheng Fei was again disappointed on this event, unable to get over her fall on vault and finishing in seventh place with her A-score also devalued to a 6.3. Brazilian hope Daiane Dos Santos was also unable to pull out a first medal for her country, finishing sixth. The last-place finisher was Russian Anna Pavlova, who has had to face disappointment these Games twice on floor, with her unfortunate out-of-bounds landing during the team final possibly costing Russia the bronze medal.
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