THIS. ENDS. NOW.

The final day of Olympic gymnastics brings us parallel bars, beam, and high bar.

The big focus is of course the return of Simone for this beam final, and I’m eager to see what kind of composition she ends up putting out there. If she’s able to dismount with a double pike or tuck with no twisting, she would remain extremely competitive in this final and have among the top difficulties. Honestly, even if she’s able to dismount with only an A, she could get her difficulty back up to competitive in this final with only a couple composition adjustments. If she’s not totally comfortable with double elements right now, that may be the way to go.

NEWS: Larisa Iordache went out to warm up but ultimately decided it was not happening and withdrew from the final. She’s replaced by the first reserve Ashikawa, who was also there warming up because of course.

But first the rotation orders:

PBARS
[4] Arican
[1] Zou
[5] Mikulak
[3] You
[8] Belyavskiy
[7] Pakhniuk
[6] Fraser
[2] Dauser

So, we’ll know after the second routine if we have a final on our hands or not. No one is going to catch a real hit from Zou, but if he has issues, then a whole crap-ton of people start looking like they’re in it.

BEAM
[4] Black
[2] Tang
[5] Biles
[3] Lee
[8] Ashikawa
[6] Urazova
[7] Saraiva
[1] Guan

Beyond the “all eyes on Biles” situation here, this is also a critical salvage moment for the Chinese women, who have had a disastrous Olympics with no medals to show for it so far. Guan’s difficulty should make her the favorite in this final at this point, but she has to come through with a hit. Tang is also waiting as a very realistic medalist should it not happen for Guan, or even if it does as they qualified 1-2. Remember to keep a supply of youth potion on hand because the amount of aging that will take place during this final…

HBAR
[2] Karimi
[5] Nagornyy
[4] Malone
[6] Kitazono
[7] Bull
[3] Srbic
[1] Hashimoto
[8] Deurloo

This has become a weird old final with Uchimura falling in qualification and Zonderland not being at a high enough level at these Olympics. Given the performances we’ve seen so far, favorite status now goes to Hashimoto, but we’ve seen Srbic come through so many times as needed. Karimi is the #2 qualifier, and if he hits a routine in a pressure event final, it would be a magical moment. Bart on high bar is the exactly correct way to end an Olympics. Especially this Olympics.

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Zou’s China Parka still has the tags on.

Arican’s E score will be telling first up. He has the D to medal but sometimes gets all over the place.

Arican – long pause in first hs – initial Makuts gets a little hung up – Diam is solid, some feet – hesitation in stutz, has to press himself back up to handstand – leans on one rail, pulls it back into healy – peach 1/2, hit – got more composed as he went, but some elbows and knees throughout – double front 1/2 out is stuck. Great finish. But A LOT there.

15.633 and an 8.633 E score. Things are going to get HIGGGH today.

Zou – makuts, very clean work in those – diam, right to handstand – peach half with a walk, hand adjustment – front straddle to long swing, excellent – bhavsar, so smooth – healy – double front 1/2 out stuck, maybe the slightest movement? Well, there’s our winner. He had one error on a peach 1/2 with an extra hand placement. Excellent.

16.233. 6.9 D and a 9.333 E score.

Mikulak – healy is solid – some form in peach 1/2 turn there, legs and a little movement – front tuck 1/2 is good – straddle to long swing, I don’t think he brushed there but it’s always a journey – bhavsar and tippelt looked good – stutz – double front 1/2 out, hop forward. Done with a hit.

15.000 and a 8.6 E score.

You – double back to arms, good – and double pike, also well done – loose back in peach 1/2, tumbling remaining the highlight, just do that – bhavsar, solid – tippelt, not the highest but smoothly done and secure – long pause before dismount, double front 1/2 out, quite low, hop forward.
15.466 and an 8.566 E score, into 3rd.

The dismount took away his shot at Arican.

Belyavkisy – peach – diam – stutz, a little short on that – nice tippelt – bhavsar, great style – AMAZING save to one rail where one arm was clearly off and he found a way to get it on – double front 1/2 out, step – pretty work but gave away enough.

15.200 and 4th place. 8.6 E score.

Pakhniuk – front straddle to arms, good – peach to one, holds ittttttt for a long time but ultimately a bit awkward – front straddle to arms – healy – some hesitations and hand placements here – his stutz to one was a reallll adventure, form all over the place and has to flop himself back to both bars – again a hit but plenty of things. Great double front 1/2 out stick.

14.533 and an 8.433 E score. Last place with two to go.

Fraser – like You, his acro is the highlight, back tuck 1/2 turn to arms – back tuck to arms, good – slight back loosenes in peach 1/2 – swing to one rail, leans and has to correct back to both rails – another lean in handstand on his stutz, one rail skills getting him – double front 1/2 out, tried to hold the stick, takes a step. Another one hit by the single rail.

14.500 and a 8.4 E score. Now he’s in last.

Dauser – peach, small arch – very nice pirouetting work – diam, right to handstand – stutz is short, elbows and a press up, but the rest is quite nice – a couple short handstands – double front 1/2 out, small step. That would be my silver medal. Some things, but much cleaner than Arican.

15.700 for Dauser does get him the silver medal. Though it shouldn’t have been as close as it was.

PBARS
Gold – Zou – 16.233
Silver – Dauser – 15.700
Bronze – Arican – 15.633

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OK. He we go. Beam final.

VERY interested to see what the Black, Biles, Saraiva compositions look like.

Black – switch mount to switch 1/2 to korbut, solid opening – double turn to full turn, wobble on the full turn, lean – split to wolf – front tuck, solid – bhs to tuck full, hits it! Step back – larger wobble on choreography – bhs to layout 2 feet, hip angle in the air but secure – side somi, check – front full dismount, hop. Didn’t actually have to make that many adjustments though. Like she was going to fall…

Definitely a lot of corrections, but a big deal to stay on the beam.

13.866 for Black to start.

Tang – loso mount, hit – very high layout to 2 feet, good – check – switch ring, hold it but breaks connection into split ring jump to korbut – switch to split ring leap to bhs, lovely elements but again opening the door to broken connections – aerial to split to straddle, nice – 2/1 dismount, nearly finds the stick with a step salute.

Beautiful elements, really nicely done. The D score will be the question because I wouldn’t give a lot of those combos.

14.233 for Tang. She gets 6.0 D, so missed a couple connections but also got credit for some. A really strong score for her.

Here we go.

Biles – wolf triple, hit – aerial to split to straddle, solid – bhs loso loso, right on – switch to switch 1/2, check and breaks connection into back pike – side aerial, good – straddle 1/2 from side to split 1/2, a bit tight in split positions but did well to try to connect – dismounts double pike with a bounce back. A hit! Well done. A delight to see her back in this final.

Should get either 5.9 or 6.1 D score for that one depending on the side jumps combo.

6.1 and a 7.9 E score for 14.000 and into second place.

Lee – wolf triple to wolf double, smooth – aerial to split to bhs, good combination – switch ring, connects-ish to split leap, a little lean as she was moving – swithc to switch 1/2 to split ring jump, another very small adjustment – side aerial to loso loso – AMAZING save but a huge break there, multiple leans and arm waves and everything – 2/1 dismount, a little ragged, hop to the side.

That break will destroy the score, but you know, she kind of had a great Olympics.

13.866 for Lee. Same score as Black but down to 4th on execution.

Ashikawa – bhs mount gorgeous – bhs loso, hit, small slide – wolf jump and sissone, – split ring jump, really nice closure position – switch to sheep jump, clean – side somi, solid – split jump 1/2 from side, good 180, a lean forward – switch ring and ANOTHER great save, one foot landed completely off but saved it – side aerial to split jump, hit – double turn, wobble correction – 3/1 dismount, bounce back. First half was awesome. Some errors in the second half but lovely execution and a great save.

13.733 for her, last so far.

Urazova – loso mount, very solid – bhs bhs bhs series, did not do any layouts there – switch to y spin to 1.5 turn with some pausing, she’s off but covering it – aerial, breaks connection into split onodi – wobble on illusion turn – gets herself back together on wolf turns, nice – side aerial, large break and bend at the waist – sissone to beat jump – bhs bhs 2.5, hop forward. She basically just invented an entire beam routine there, which is an accomplishment in itself. So, no acro series there and 800 wobbles and not the skills she intended.

12.733 and a 5.0 D score.

Saraiva – bhs mount, nice – layout series with a huge break, has to grab the beam to stay on. Oh Flavia. Always the way isn’t it – switch to sissone – bhs loso loso, hit with a bend to the side – switch ring, perfect position but gets caught up on the landing with a wobble and a step – aerial combination, perfection – side somi, hit – split ring leap – double pike, lunge back. OH FLAVIA.

13.133. Guan still to go. Tang and Biles assured medals. Guan in the perfect position, with a chance to fall and still medal.

Guan – switch to switch 1/2, small pause before bhs – layout 2 feet, arm wave check – switch, pause – switch side, lean, breaks connection into straddle 1/2 from side, does connect that to switch 1/2 from side – fhs to front tuck, hits it with a step forward – split leap to aerial to straddle jump to korbut, nice and floaty and a better connection there – double pike, chest down but pretty secure. Not nearly her best routine but will be a big score regardless.

14.633 and a 6.6 D score gives her the win.

BEAM
Gold – Guan 14.633
Silver – Tang 14.233
Bronze – Biles 14.000

Guan and Tang out her to save China’s bacon today with two medals. Love this bronze for both Simone and for assholes everywhere. Black kind of heartbreaking in 4th, but we didn’t even think she would be able to go in this final.

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And we still have another one. High bar time!

Karimi – great height on Yam but close – insane Cassina, not sure how he caught that – Kovacs and falls – Oh Milad. You and Flavia. Redoes Kovacs and falls on it again, way far away. Double double layout dismount was good, hop back.

11.266. A high bar of a start.

Nagornyy – Yam, hit – layout tkatchev – lay tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1 finish position pretty good, tak 1/2 is shorter, as it usually is for him – tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – zou li min is good – stalder slightly hesitant – double double layout, stuck landing. He doesn’t have quite the D but a good one.

14.533 should be competitive though.

Malone – Casina, gets it – Kolman, also caught – layou ttkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 are comfortable – layou tkatchev 1/, hit – tak 1/1 but goes over the wrong way and has to readjust – tak 1/2 – DLO 2/1, lunge back. Had a good one going, but the tak 1/1 will take him out, presumably.

14.200 is down on qualifying and he’s behind Nagornyy, who has 5 tenths lower D.

Kitazono – Yam, piking but fine – tak 1/2, very late – Cassina is verrry low and couldn’t get his hand over the bar, slams down. Redoes Cassina and hits, as well as Kolman – german giants, solid – layout tkatchev – tkatchev and falls again. Sticks double double layout.

2 hits, 2 disasters. Where she stops, nobody knows.

12.333 for him.

Bull – tak 1/2 is OK – Kovacs, hit, a little close – gets Cassina – piked Kovacs, some hesitation – Yam, hit – zou li min a little crooked – tries to go into his german giant attempt? Jam? – can’t get it, hops off – some more form breaks upon resuming – FLO 1/1, short, lunge forward.

12.466 and into third place.

Srbic – stalder rybalko, a little crazy bit hit – stalder tkatchev to tkatchev to layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, hit – tak 1/2, a bit late – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1 extremely late – DLO 1/1, holds the stick with a lean. I mean plenty of deductions but today that counts as a hit.

Into first place with a 14.900 (went for his 6.5 D today instead of the 6.2) and gets an 8.4 E score.

Hashimoto – tak 1/2 a bit crooked – Cassina, hit – Kolman same, good height – layuout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, late but obviously – yam is pretty low – stalder – giant full – doble double layout and a stick. Really strong. Best so far.

15.066 and into 1st place. Just Deurloo to go.

Deurloo – Cassina, hit legs – Kolman and falls – I mean we knew it would be. Oh Bart. Big high Kovacs and piked Kovacs – tak 1/1 extremely late – tak 1/2 – hop full with legs – double double layout, lunge forward.

12.266 for Bart. Sigh.

HBAR
Gold – Hashimoto 15.066
Silver – Srbic 14.900
Bronze – Nagornyy – 14.533

Nagornyy’s individual event medal is on high bar. Because this Olympics.

Well, it’s been real.