Women's Olympic Gymnastics Qualifying Round

What to Expect from the US in the Team, All Around, and Event Finals

Aug 10, 2008

The qualifying round was a shaky experience for the US team, with Memmel and Peszek injured and only competing on bars. Johnson and Liukin, however, finished strong.

The women's gymnastics qualifying round, which took place August 10th in Beijing, produced unsurprising results on the whole but rattled the US team emotionally when Samantha Peszek suffered a sprained ankle on warm-ups for the floor exercise. Peszek and Chellsie Memmel, who had already injured her ankle in training, will now only be able to compete on uneven bars.

The Team Competition

The US team finished second to the Chinese in the qualifying round, followed by Russia and Romania. The team was competing with only four gymnasts on three events, however, due to the injuries. The 6-5-4 format allows five gymnasts to compete and four scores to count, which put the US at a disadvantage. This will not be true of the team final, whose 6-3-3 format allows only three gymnasts to compete, with all scores counting.

The Americans performed well on vault and beam Sunday, but were shaky on bars, their weakest event. Both Memmel and Nastia Liukin, the team's strongest performer on bars, took a fall. With Peszek out on floor and vault, the team will be looking to Alicia Sacramone and Bridget Sloan for strong scores. Fortunately, Sloan has been steady since her selection at the training camp, and placed eleventh all-around. The team also showed emotional fortitude in its strong performance on beam immediately following the troubles on bars.

After the team competition, American competitors will gear up for the all-around, with both Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson favored for a medal. They finished 1-2 in qualifying, with Johnson on top, which is becoming a familiar scenario for the US gymnasts. China's Yilin Yang finished third, followed by three Russian gymnasts – Semenova, Pavlova, and Afanasyeva.

Though Liukin suffered a fall on the bars, her difficulty level ensured her the second spot, and Johnson performed solidly on all four events. If the US does not win team gold, these two women will be hoping to bring home medals of their own.

Event Finals: Vault, Bars, Beam, and Floor

The final competition for the women in gymnastics is the event finals, where the top eight gymnasts from qualifying will compete for four more gold medals. Johnson and Liukin both qualified on floor and beam, Sacramone qualified on vault, and Liukin on bars despite her fall. Though Sacramone finished fourth on beam, only two team members are allowed per event.

The US did not put up a top score on any event in qualifying, but if Liukin can perform her bars routine cleanly at event finals she has a good shot at a medal. Sacramone is also a particularly strong vaulter, and the US may be able to manage a 1-2 on beam if both gymnasts perform smoothly.

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