The women’s all around competition was a satisfying event for gymnastics fans, who got to witness clean routines and a tight race at the end of the meet. The two American women knew going in that they could not afford a major mistake, and they delivered.
Mediocre Scores on Vault and Bars Open the Door
In the first two rotations, it is difficult to tell who will finish on top because gymnasts compete in four different groups, and some events – beam and especially bars – score higher than others, like vault. The top competitors all began on vault, so the scores were predictably low, but even Shawn Johnson only managed a 15.875. Though this was the highest scoring vault, Johnson can score sixteen or higher, and so the favorite for gold opened a door.
After the first rotation, Romanian Steliana Nistor was leading the field, having competed first on the uneven bars. Nastia Liukin, who is not particularly strong on vault, started in tenth place, with Russian Anna Pavlova in fourth and Chinese Yang Yilin in sixth. On bars, Liukin also scored well, but not as high as she normally does, on her best event. Yang Yilin bested her 16.650 to move into first place, with Liukin second and Nistor in third. Though Johnson dropped to fifth, bars is her weakest event, so this was expected.
Liukin Nails the Beam; Yang is Shaky
The third rotation set the stage for the final event. The top competitors were on beam, and Liukin performed beautifully, earning a 16.125 that put her in first place after Yang ran into trouble in several places in her routine. Johnson performed well, but not so flawlessly as she did in the team competition. She climbed to third behind Yang, however, because of her routine’s high difficulty. Russian Ksenia Semenova and Chinese Jiang Yuyuan stood in fourth and fifth after the end of the rotation.
Americans Liukin and Johnson Seal the Deal on Floor
On the floor exercise, Yang would go fourth, followed by Liukin and then Johnson. Yang’s performance was only so-so, and she scored a fifteen. After her stellar performance on beam, Liukin knew exactly what she needed to finish ahead of Yang, and she went above and beyond with a 15.525. Johnson also performed well, but it was clear going in that she was not going to stand above Liukin in the familiar gold medal spot. She needed a score higher than sixteen to win, and that was unlikely on the floor exercise. A strong performance, however, landed her the silver medal. Semenova and Nistor finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
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