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.

We have three finals on the docket today, ideally less of a catastrophe than yesterday’s event final crapocalypse—but at the same time, messes sure are fun.

The competition orders are as follows:

RINGS
[5] Zanetti
[8] You
[2] Liu
[7] Abliazin
[4] Colak
[3] Ait Said
[1] Petrounias
[6] Asil

So, we assume Petrounias because Petrounias, but Liu came up just a tenth behind Petrounias in qualification, and did so with a higher D score. It’s a rings final—it’s a dismount competition.

Because everything is monstrous, the women’s floor final will be conducted today with beam tomorrow, and it makes me more uncomfortable than can possibly be expressed by words.

WOMEN’S FLOOR
[5] Listunova
[2] Carey
[4] Jessica Gadirova
[6] Melnikova
[1] Ferrari
[7] Murakami
[3] Andrade
[8] Jennifer Gadirova

Carey is going to have the D score advantage here, but a critical question will be how much advantage she receives. In qualification, Carey attempted a 6.6 D score (or 6.7 if you say she’s going for a split 1.5) but got credit for only a 6.2 (and 6.3 in the all-around) because she’s getting so hammered on dance elements. If she gets credit for more in this final, she may be the favorite here over Ferrari and the gang, but I think Carey should take a page out of Lee’s book and do less, ditch one of her attempted dance elements and just be OK counting her front layout stepout, which will lower her intended D but also eliminate a deduction trap of a dance element in a way that should increase her final score.

MEN’S VAULT
[4] Asil
[7] Souza
[3] Nagornyy
[2] Davtyan
[8] Onder
[1] Shin
[5] Abliazin
[6] Yulo

…stay alive?

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The finals begin at the same time as the USWNT, so don’t be totally alarmed if the rings live blog is slightly more about Rose Lavelle than usual. I mean, it’s always a little bit about Rose Lavelle, but more.

Strongy boys marching out.

“In my opinion, it’s the most strength event.”

Zanetti – good initial planche positions – roll to maltese, very precise – front tuck to pikes to maletese, secure, lower to cross, good horizontal position – roll to cross, again solid – arch in final handstand – OOOOF, looked like he went for a triple tuck dismount, lands on hands and knees, not close there.

I feel like Lindsay Horan could medal in this final.

You – You???? How????? – uprise to inverted cross, good – maltese positions also very straight – a little hestiant on a handstand – nice double layout – pikes to cross, a little high in that cross position – double double layout, holds the landing but swims a coupel times, which is still a deduction. Not as strong on the rings as Zanetti, but you know, didn’t fall.

15.300. Holy crapoley that’s a score. 6.6 D and 8.7 E score.

Liu – pull up directly to planche is excellent – inverted cross, very smooth – front pike directly to cross, better cross position than You – planche lower to cross, neck crack – double double tuck, small movement, chest down, minimized movement but did move.

15.500 and into first place. 9.000 E score. He was stronger on the rings themselves than You, so the ranking is right.

Why do you get into the box and then act like you don’t know anything? That’s a subtweet of the entire team.

Abliazin – good first maltese positions – tuck to pikes to planche, got a little hung up in his saltos, to planche position, not quite horizontal, not quite as precise as Liu in handstand positions – double double layout, small step and swims to minimize additional movement.

14.833 for Abliazin and into 3rd.

Colak – again, good maltese, all of them can do those comfortably – straight planche – tucks and pikes to maltese, lower to cross, good position – some hesitation in a handstand double front pike, slide back. Good, not sure it can challenge though, despite his face-appearance bonus.

14.866 and 3rd place now.

Ait Said – lift up through planchge to handstand, gets it – roll to planche, slight angle – maltese is strong – some swing in holding handstands – front pike to maltese, good – another slightly hesitant planche, a bit of muscling up to handstand – DLO 1/1, small hop forward. Some things again.

Gets 14.900 for it and into third.

Petrounias – up to planche, good – maltese positions very straight – secure handstands shown, good planche again – lower to cross, very horizontal – rolls up to cross, same – pikes to handstand, slight hesitation – double double tuck was raggedy, chest down and a hop forward. Not as strong as Liu.

15.200 for Petrounias and into 3rd. I have some questions about why You is ahead of Petrounias though. I mean I know D score but still.

Asil – he has very efficient positions, especially in moltese, but also ends up a little higher in some crosses, lowers into his second one – the maltese and planche positions are nice – double double layout is a struggle, low and a bounce to the side.

14.600 for Asil, finishes 7th.

RINGS
Gold – Liu – 15.500
Silver – You – 15.300
Bronze – Petrounias – 15.200

Soo…that was rings.

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OMG this medal ceremony is still going on. I might die.

They’re finally walking out for floor.

Listunova – DLO, stumble back and OOB – falls out of double Y a bit at the end – 3/1, hands down. GREATTTTT. I was wondering if her floor final woes would alleviate since she didn’t have the AA, but… – 2.5 to front tuck, hop – switch ring – switch full, a litlte under – TIME TO GET HER FREAK ON – double tuck, short, bounce.

Let’s take 15 hours to come up with her score too. I think that’s a solid idea.

AHHHHHHH.

Oh look a 12.400.

Carey – Starts with Moors, solid landing, small hop, some pike – front loso throigh to double double tuck, shuffle back, both feet – looks like she took out the double L turn – L hop full to switch full, that looked around – DLO 1/1, small shuffle – split leap 1.5-ish attempt will still get hammered – full in, bounce back. Good. Pretty solid control.

14.366 with a 6.3 D score. Her top floor score of the event. Also her highest D score of the event even while taking out the double L.

Jessica Gadirova – her open double double tuck in the lay-puck position, a little chest down, step – switch full, good elevation, borderline around – DLO, nice and high, only small slide back – switch ring to split leap 1.5, bouncy landing – front full throigh to fouble tuck, stuck landing. Nice work all around. Minimized the landing deductions pretty well, has the performance presence.

14.000 for her. Higher E than Carey by several tenths but well down on difficulty.

Melnikova – SCHOOL’S OUT – DLO 1/1, a little short but controls it, small adjustment forward – double L to double turn is lovely – DLO, nice, bounce back – switch, switch ring 1/2, a little bouncy – front full to beat jump – adjustment pause before triple wolf but pulls it around, double is fine – double pike, pretty large bounce back on that one with another shuffle – didn’t give away a lot until that final landing.

14.166 goes ahead of Gadirova but behind Carey. 5.9 D score, 8.266 execution.

Ferrari time – double double, NAILED landing – whip to full-in, another stick, just chest down – switch ring, split leap full – Ferrari was probably the largest deduction, form and an insecure landing – double y borderline finish – split leap 1.5, closest to around we’ve seen thus far on the sttempts – split jump full – front loso through to double tuck, shuffle back. Excellent. We’ll see how much that deduction on the Ferrari factors.

14.200 for Ferrari. 2nd place. Ferrari gets an 8.3 E score, 5.9 D score.

Murakami – I’d say she got around that triple y but did lean out at the end – double double tuck, small slide – DLO, bounce back – 2.5 to front full, keeps it right into the corner, small movement – definitely around on double L turn – short on some split leaping – switch ring – double pike is pretty solid, small hop forward. Some of her better landing control and should get credit for most of her dance. Will be close.

14.166. Tied with Melnikova on both execution and difficulty so the tie would not be broken.

Andrade – front full through to full in and a bounce OOB – those damn OOBs! – DLO 1/1, nailed it again, great stick – split leap full with a hop – double y to stag 1/2, lovely – DLO, small bounce back – switch – split leap full, hop – double pike, another large bounce back. Similar landing errors to the AA which should keep her out of the medals.

14.0333, actually got pretty close though.

Jennifer Gadirova – her lay in, pike out with a full twist causes problems, chest down with a lunge – DLO, a bit short, step forward – switch ring to split leap full – split leap full, a little under – front loso through to double tuck, bounce back. That won’t challenge the medals

FLOOR
Gold – Carey – 14.366
Silver – Ferrari – 14.200
Bronze – Murakami & Melnikova – 14.166

Don’t think that anyone who didn’t get into the medals should have. If it were up to me to break the 3rd-place tie, I would have given it to Murakami. I honestly think it was the deductions on the Ferrari that spoiled the gold for Ferrari. She still gets her floor medal though.

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In the interest of lunacy, now it’s men’s vault. At least after a 50 hour medal ceremony. The real winner will be the ACLs we didn’t tear along the way.

Asil – 1 – quite a lot of hand spit to start – handspring double front pike 1/2 out is quite strong – chest down, not too large on the hop back – shows a real pike shape. 15.266

Asil – 2 – Tsuk double back pike and hands down – oh he knows he had it after that first vault. 13.633 for that one.

14.449 average.

Souza – 1 – Kas 2/1, pulls it around, a jarred landing with a large lunge back – some leg crossing – 14.466

Sousa – 2 – handspring double front and got NOOOOOO block, no chance to pull it around (and he was intending to do a pike), second athlete, second fall on second vault. 12.900

13.683

So the final was going great.

Nagornyy – 1 – double front 1/2 out, pulls it around, the usual cowboy and flexed feet throughout, a fairly large lunge back. 14.833

Nagornyy – 2 – Tsuk double pike and successfully stays upright, so that’s a win – leg break, feet – bounce back and a little extra step. 14.600

14.716 and comfortably into the lead.

Davtyan – 1 – Kas 2/1 is a real sidewinder, but he gets it – comes in at some angle and has to hop it around – but not too large on the hop and stays in the area.

Davtyan – 2 – goes fro the Dragulescu as well, lunge to the side and out of bounds – feet, cowboy at the end but less –

ooooh 14.733 is enough to go ahead of Nagornyy

Onder – 1 – double front first vault, very deep landing and a bounce back. 13. 833

Onder – 2 – Kas 1.5, lunge forward, leg crossing, some knee bending. Posted 5.6 vaults for both but did 5.2s on both.

14.066 average, so behind Asil.

Shin – 1 -Kas 2.5 and bassiicallly pulls it around? He lands about a 1/4 turn short – hops it around with a bound forward. The large bound forward takes him OOB as well. 14.733

Shin – 2- handspring 2.5 is quite strong, a large bounce back but landed chest up and had good direction

14.833 for the second vault. 14.783 average and into first.

Abliazin – 1 – handspring 2.5 is hit, the landing is jarring enough that it seemed like his hop bones might shoot out his butt when he landed, but that’s normal, lunge back

Abliazin – 2 – good control on his Tsuk double pike, a step back but one of the smaller steps we’ve had today. 14.800 second vault.

That gives him 14.783 and he’s into 2nd on the tiebreak after getting the same average as Shin.

I think he’s having a “but why would I be second?” moment.

Yulo – 1 – Struggles on his Kas 2/1, large lunge to the side and off the mat – 14.566

Yulo – 2 – Dragulescu is much better – very high, some cowboy, lunge back.

14.866 for his second vault, the best score of the day, but that puts him on 14.716 average, the same as Nagornyy in 4th.

VAULT
Gold – Shin
Silver – Abliazin
Bronze – Davtyan

The separation of .077 between first and fifth in this final really reinforced the “all vaults are the same” judging principles. Do I have an opinion about the order? I don’t but I really want one, so maybe I’ll try to come up with something.

One more day of this!

Welcome back, and on to event final season. We’ve got four today, starting with men’s floor, then women’s vault, then pommel horse, and then bars.

The current Simone update is that she has withdrawn from vault, bars, and floor, though we haven’t yet heard about beam. It’s possible that she might still compete that one and elect to do something less with no twisting as a dismount, but time will tell there.

The start orders are thus:

FLOOR
[2] Nagornyy
[4] Zapata
[6] Moldauer
[1] Dolgopyat
[5] Kim
[3] Ryu
[7] Xiao
[8] Karimi

It will be interesting to see whether Nagornyy elects to pull out a triple a push it with the opening routine. He was not far behind Dolgopyat in qualification with a 6.2 D, but “keep it safer for a medal” has never really been the way of the Russian men.

VAULT
[3] Skinner
[7] Moreno
[2] Andrade
[1] Carey
[4] Yeo
[5] Olsen
[6] Melnikova
[8] Akhaimova

We know that Carey and Skinner will be going for the Cheng and Amanar combo. The big strategic question will be whether Andrade elects to pull out the Amanar as well. Theoretically, her Cheng form should give her enough of an advantage that she wouldn’t need the Amanar, but the reality of the scoring in the all-around final may put the pressure on for her to do the 2.5 so she can match Carey and Skinner on difficulty.

HORSE
[5] Whitlock
[4] Yoder
[6] Sun
[8] Belyavskiy
[1] Lee
[7] Kaya
[2] McClenaghan
[2] Kameyama

Lee, McClenaghan, and Kameyama all tied in qualification on 15.266, with Yoder just behind them at 15.200, and then Whitlock at 14.900. Whitlock’s execution scores have not been high at these Olympics thus far, but he’ll set the mark to beat with that first routine with the most difficulty in the field. This one should get real, and the rotation order lends to the excitement as we have some actual gold medal contenders ending the final instead of getting them out of the way in the first half like on the other ones.

BARS
[2] Lee
[8] De Jesus Dos Santos
[1] Derwael
[3] Iliankova
[4] Melnikova
[7] Fan
[5] Lu
[5] Seitz

The conclusion of the much-anticipated Lee/Derwael race. Lee got the better of Derwael for the first time in the all-around final, which I thought portended some advantage to Lee because it wasn’t her best routine, though having seen something closer to the judges’ side angle from the NBC rebroadcast, you really couldn’t tell from that position how crooked Lee was on her combo, so that may not have been taken into account too much in the scoring.

Continue reading Olympic Event Finals Day 1 →

So, um, ahhhhhh.

Simone’s withdrawal has turned the Olympic all-around final into a free-for-all where the most likely medalist is everybody in what is now the most open Olympic all-around final we’ve had in the non-10 era. The top 6 qualifiers were separated by less than a point on the first day. Hello, chaos, lovely to see you again.

Rebeca Andrade now enters as the top qualifier followed by Sunisa Lee, Angelina Melnikova, and Vladislava Urazova all bunched together. But we’re going to have to keep our eyes on most of the groups at all times, with people like De Jesus Dos Santos in the mix (especially if she scores like she did in the team final), and Murakami hanging out in that third group starting on beam.

Continue reading Women’s Olympic All-Around Final →

First the news that Simone has withdrawn from the women’s AA tomorrow. That means that Rebeca Andrade will now enter as the top qualifier and that Jade Carey (!) will compete in the all-around as the top US gymnast who had been two-per-country-ed. This Olympics is just the weirdest.

Now to the men’s AA. Dare we hope that today’s action proves slightly less stressful than yesterday? Admittedly, that may be too much to ask for with Danny Death Wish rolling around here.

The big question is whether pre-event favorite and world champion Nikita Nagornyy will indeed fulfill the prophecy, or whether top qualifier Hashimoto Daiki has found consistency with his 88s in time to win a home gold medal. The smart money is probably also on Xiao Ruoteng for a medal, but I wouldn’t say no to an exceptional performance from Sun Wei to shake things up. As for Dalaloyan, I don’t imagine he’s going to be able to put together the floor routine to get himself up with the top athletes, but I also didn’t imagine he would still be able to walk, so…

Also Ellie Black pulled out of the AA so Lieke Wevers is going in. It’s fine. We’re all fine.

“The individual medals will be cracked open and handed out.” Oh. John. That’s not how medals work.

Continue reading Men’s Olympic All-Around Final →