A Review of the Men's & Women's Gymnastics Competition at the 2012 London Olympics from Delta Coach Anna Plourde!

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI!

 

Australia had two BEST finishes ever: 

·         Lauren Mitchell finished 5^th in the Floor Exercise finals, with a floor routine that drew international praise for its expressiveness and artistry.  It is the highest finish ever for any Australian Artistic Gymnast, male or female, and she was only 0.067 out of the Bronze Medal!    If you have coverage recorded, Lauren competed with her five teammates in Team Prelims on 29-July (they finished 10^th!), and she represented Australia in Floor Finals on 7-August.

 

Lauren Mitchell competing in Floor Finals on 7 August.

·         Queensland’s own Josh Jefferis had a phenomenal competition, finishing 19^th in the Men’s All Around Finals.  The previous best finish ever was an Australian man was 30^th place.  Josh competed on Thursday 28 July (Prelims), then again on 1 August (Finals).  Channel 9 showed all of 6 of his finals routines during their primetime coverage on Thursday 2-August in case you have it recorded or can catch a replay.

Josh Jefferis warming up for competition in the London Olympics O2 Arena.

  

WOMEN’s & MEN’s TEAM COMPETITION

 

In the Women’s Team Competition, USA dominated to win the Gold Medal.   USA hit every single routine, and blew away Silver Medal winner Russia by over 5 points – an unheard of margin.    Traditional power house Romania, who until 10 months ago wasn’t even supposed to contend for a medal, showed why they are and have been since the standard of Olympic excellence in gymnastics, pulling away from China to win the Bronze.    The surprise of the competition was Canada, who was without their best gymnast (injury), and who finished a best ever 5^th Overall.

In the Men’s Team Competition,   China came back from a disastrous Team Prelims to thoroughly dominate in Team Finals, and won the Gold Medal easily.    Japan snuck into Silver after an inquiry raised the score of the very last Japanese routine of the night, moving the team from 4^th to 2^nd.   Great Britain won its first Team Medal ever, proudly taking the Bronze Medal, to the delight of the crowd.   Ukraine was the surprise of the competition, showing the best form and lines in the competition to finish 4^th – once they bring up their difficulty, watch out World!

    

WOMEN’s & MEN’s ALL AROUND COMPETITION

 The All Around competitions featured a great contrast – the up-and-coming talent, and the long-established legend.  16 year old Gabby Douglas (USA) won the Gold Medal in the Women’s All Around, her first ever major international All Around Finals.    Kohei Uchimura (JPN), by contrast, cemented his place in history becoming the greatest male gymnast ever when he won the Gold in the Men’s All Around.   Kohei was 2^nd in the 2008 Olympics, and became the first gymnast, male or female, to “win the cycle” – he was the 2009 World Champion, the 2010 World Champion, the 2011 World Champion, and now the 2012 Olympic Champion. 

EVENT FINALS 

Event Finals featured the top 8 gymnasts in the 4 women’s apparatus (vault, bars, beam, and floor), and the 6 men’s apparatus (Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and High Bar).    The emotion was at its highest here – from the amazing Olympic highs of the Men’s Vault and Men’s High Bar Finals (probably two of the best event finals in gymnastics history), to the Olympic lows of Women’s Vault and Beam (where pressure and nerves showed the fallibility of even the world’s best).  

 

Netherlands gymnast Epke Zonderland flew more than 5 meters high to soar to the Gold on High Bar
 

Canadian gymnast Elisabeth Black is consoled by her coaches and teammates after missing her vault in Event Finals