2008 Olympics - Team Final - Part 10

[twilightgluver123456]

People are saying that the Americans should be grateful and happy to have sliver but second place is not good enough if you KNOW you can get gold.sliver is hot enough because if you can achieve higher then what you have you should try your hardest! But I do feel bad for Alicia! It makes it seem she's the reason they didnt win but she's not! So shouldn't of felt to bad!:)

[chinghxd]

Shawn is such a trooper. Put them ahead when Alicia fell on beam. I wish people wouldn't blame Alicia that much; she probably felt like dying when she came off that floor. I'm glad she hasn't given up and she's still in elite proving that she can do it.

[ladodgerschick]

I just realized that Nastia doesn't do any back handsprings in her floor routine. She's quite a twister :)

[138cll]

I wish I could have hugged Alicia as soon as she got off floor...she did not need to shoulder the blame for the 2nd place - we lost on bars, pure and simple. The Chinese were too good, and had no mistakes. You know that A just felt like dying...

[AMY1310LUCY]

awkward moment when matt says 'well if someone goes out of that area...'

[coconutmilkshakeXD]

What is with everyone saying Chinese Gymnasts are under-aged? Sure, maybe they cheated in 2000, but that doesn't mean they cheated in this Olympics. The case against them was dropped as there was sufficient evidence that they were all of age. I'm a big fan of the USA team, but in the end, the Chinese gymnasts were the ones who gave the better performance on the day, and when they won the gold, they were met with huge speculation over their age and people saying they didn't deserve the gold. 

[wen2rocks]

whoo! go shawn johnson! she's amazing! love her! Whoo hoo! yeah!

[bigsleep32]

China cheated disgracefully they won nothing.

[AshaMcGuiness]

c'mon, with the amount of battle the american's put up against china, with them being neck a neck, who wouldn't be disapointed that they all know they could've gotten gold if they hadn't of stepped out of bounds on they're floor. you shouldn't criticize them, they're at the olympic games! not many people get he chance to do that, to know you didn't do the best you did which is why you haven't got gold, who wouldn't be disapointed?

[Jocelyn9918]

As for Nastia Liukin, I like her style. Very expressive and elegant with her body. But she should just please fix the leg problems - separation and crossing on different occasions - because it sort of ruins the whole thing.

[Jocelyn9918]

I think you could see that Alicia Sacramone was nervous at the beginning of her routine. Seeing Sandra Izbasa's vault, it makes me think of how now she has changed so much and yet still the same lovely girl. But her new look is - well, I don't know how to describe it - not mean, but she frightens me. I don't see her smiling anymore; but the determination is still there in her eyes.

[angelolyz]

Nastias so pretty to watch :0

[carmenleeka]

poor alicia

[Fevernova99]

Something to ponder as we get close to 2012 and a possible return of Shawn, Nastia and Alicia is the fact the Chinese in 2008 had just one really experienced gymnast. Some feel experience may sometimes play too much into your head and the reckless abandonment of youth may actually be better in these tense moments of competition!

[lanpingpug]

Sacramone's style on floor reminds me a bit of Boginskaya, the way it's quite seductive in the choreography. And yes, she made mistakes and they didn't win the gold so get over it and leave her alone. She probably feels bad enough without people reminding her of it all the time.

[joyjinuiuc]

Nistor's vault was amazing. Again, very efficient and fluid. :)

Sacramone's routine was impressive as well.

Nastia's flexibility in her arms, legs and backs makes her so beautiful on floor.

[BigThunderFan]

alicia just gets ahead of herself and doesn't think about the tumbling pass shes fixing to do and thats why she messes up

[emmyjo720]

The only one that consoled Alicia was Shawn's coach, he seems very nice.. Marta is

so cold and uncaring, you can see they don't like her.

[dannyradar]

I just don't really know why Alicia went first anyways. I love her to death and shes a great gymnast, but shes not the type to start off with, because shes the type of gymnast that builds on team momentum. she needs to see 2 good routines before her, then she steps it up. i think she feels too much pressure when going 1st to start off with a great routine, but when she performs last its relieving and less stressful to her and she doesnt think about things as much.

[lanpingpug]

How tall are the Americans on the team? I always think of Nastia as very tall but in reality, a tall gymnast is usually only about 5'3".

[TellMeThatYouLov3Me]

@lanpingpug eeh shawn at the time was like 4ft9! alicia is 5ft1 and the rest are like 5ft

[TerynDoll]

Ok, so Marta still trusts Alicia after 2 falls(beam and floor) and a step-out at the Olympics, but Mattie Larson falls in bounds on her floor routine at Worlds and Marta says she can't be trusted. And she said she won't be in 2012 because of that one mistake. So Marta is trusting Alicia. And she trusted Rebecca Bross even after she fell on floor at Worlds too. Wow! Stupid.

[dannyradar]

@TerynDoll but see theres just one detail that Alicia Sacramone has that Mattie doesnt. Alicia is tied as the most decorated american gymnast with 9 world medals. By experience, Alicia has proven that the olympics were just a bad week, because we have seen her excel at the world championship level 4 different years...therefore she can be trusted.

[iamyukilee]

@TerynDoll So sad for Mattie Larson. She is really good on floor. Her tumbling is great and her dance is great. In my opinion, she is the best dancer in the USA team. She did make a big mistake but I think Marta can't say such words to hurt one's feeling. And what makes me angry is Marta said she will not choose Mattie Larson to go to London Olympics! Such a biased woman.

[AshnMorgShow]

poor alicia :(

[safehaven11]

What on earth is it with Alicia? She falls and steps out.

[PommeDidi]

J'aime tellement Shawn Johnson <3 & dire que les Chinoises sourient tout le temps faut pas charrier -- ' , Les Américaines, comme les autres gymnastes d'ailleurs se concentrent c'st tout donc lire sa srx, sa m'exaspère.

[23pointe]

ok people....so wat if the americans dont look like they are having a good time?they are focusing really hard...and when u focus hard you tend to not smile a lot...

[bbhouk1]

i hate how none of the US gymnasts seem to enjoy being there

the romanians smiled the chinese smiled but the only time the US gymnasts smiled was at the beginning and ending of routines and even that was perfunctory they just did it for the judges

you would think that the chinese would be the ones not smiling

everyones under pressure but the chinese had the most pressure because it was their home country and probably 3/4 of the audience was chinese

[bbhouk1]

it shows how far downhill Romanian gymnastics has went

the russians had 3 MAJOR mistakes before romania was in medal contention

[blokflip13]

THE ROMANIANS LOOK SO ENTHUSIASTIC they're glad to get a medal and don't care what color it is good for them true sportmanship

[sochisochi]

Sacramone wasn't the only great gymnast to fall on team competition, the great Russian team in 2000 took silver the same way. It is just part of gymnastics, and the stupid rule of 3 in teams, in the past they used 5 and didnt take the least score.

[tubechiq88]

she is a choke artist and clutch athlete, oh well she still pretty

[ladodgerschick]

Poor, poor Alicia. Let down two Olympics in a row. She's such a sweetheart; it breaks my heart to see her cry like that.

[afgymnast96]

i think nastia always ended after her music

[beautifulgymnastics]

Nastia's double arabian is so ugly!

[TheSoccerstar45ify]

on the mat for vault do they have to land in the lines

[beautifulgymnastics]

@TheSoccerstar45ify YES

[GymFloozie]

Romania's problem was that Forminte wasn't able to exert as heavy a hand as necessary in their training. He even said (paraphrase): You can't force this new generation to work. You have to negotiate with them That's the main reason Belu quit. The stress of not being able to make gymnasts train like gymnasts landed Mariana Bitang in a hospital. Forminte has his hands full, after this, the worst showing from Romania since 1972.

[emmyjo720]

@GymFloozie The Romanians also have less parents willing to send their girls to become gymnasts because

of the stories of abuse.

[natalienat518]

if chellsie memmel is there on floor, the u.s. should've gotten the gold

[MrZaack]

@natalienat518 in gymnastics tere isnt IF...

[MrZaack]

@natalienat518 i meant: there isnt IF

[LMA629]

poor alicia. she's such a good gymnast too!! just let the nerves get to her i guess. and for all the haters out there, its not like you can do what she does, so just shut up already

[MrZaack]

@Sublue oh gosh... when u dont have any important to say... shut up!!!

[blokflip13]

@Sublue THATS NOT NICE ALL THE CHINESE GIRLS ARE ABOVE AGE SO BE QUIET THEY WORKED FOR THEYRE GOLD MEDAL IF THEY ARE UNDERAGE( NOT SAYING THEY ARE) ITS NOT THEIR FAULT

[amazingness8]

at 6:21, get the camera OFF of her. Jeesh! the camery guy got right up in her face!! that annoys me when they don't even give the girls space, and even though their job is to film stuff, it just seems rude to me what he did at 6:21....

[PrometheanRunGood]

Shawn Johnson is built like a tiny tank. I'm 6' and 180 lb but if I met her in a dark alley I'd still feel like I had to hand my wallet over.

[PinkDancer96]

But then again it was all Alicia's fault...becuase Nastia bobbled a bit on beam...and the US had steps out of bounds on the floor...so it;s not entirly Alicia's fault...but I agree though we did have a shot but it was just small things that really killed us too...But I wish she haden't folded under pressure either...

[LeadingEdgeGymnast]

i have nastia's floor music!

[chinagurl673]

it stinks sam was hurt. she would have been a great contrubuter to beam.

[babylishee]

1:18- did sandra just say 'thank you' in english? that's really sweet ;)

[apluskel]

it's one thing for Alicia to fall on beam, but to sit down on floor too is ridiculous. I don't blame her, but the decision to use her. She clearly had something wrong with her mental state, her second floor pass, and the pressure of a beam fall. Maybe Marta should have used someone else for beam

[moondog1997]

Martha would have used Chellsie Memmel on beam if she hadn't been injured and then I think Team USA might still have had a fighting chance. I thought they rallied well after Alicia's fall on beam though. Ahh, poor Alicia, there was just too much pressure for her.

[12bmills]

@moondog1997 If Sam hadn't been injured, she would've been my pick for beam.

[12bmills]

@moondog1997 Bridget would've been my pick for floor. She stuck her double pike to win both the National AA title and the World AA title.

[moondog1997]

Yeah, Sam would have been a likely one to be picked for beam too, I was just using Chellsie as an example.

As for Bridget -- remember she was making mistakes on floor at the Trials, and Martha hadn't seen any of her 2009 routines yet, since they hadn't even happened. ;)

[happystuff12345]

Alicia fell, and all of the american gymnasts stepped out. That along with Alicia's fall is 0.8+0.8+0.1+0.1+0.1 is over 2 points lost. If none of this had happened, then US could have gotten gold, and fought back, but...

[chickchick111]

if Cheng fei didn't fall

not to mention the Chinese didn't use their highest A-score routines in FX

so ...god knows what will happen

[iamtheonly]

if everybody is perfect........that is meaningless.....

[MaebySurelyBarely]

That adds up to 1.9 (which is under 2 points lost). USA scored 186.525. China scored 188.9. 186.525 + 1.9 = 188.425 < 188.9. (Not to mention that if we're making everyone perfect, I should've added .8 to China for Cheng Fei's BB). Perfect is meaningless, anyways.

[Shallikoops]

7:26 AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Just looove Sandra!!!

[HereWasRachel]

I know it just makes me smile so much!!!!

[artyowen92]

Liukin is simply beautiful. Her choreography is so much more attractive than any of the other american gymnasts. truly lovely.

[randomness132]

06:21

I wish they would leave her alone

[afungfun]

yeah yeah

Nistor's floor was EXTREMELY UNDERSCORED!!! only 14. sth.???!!!

that's impossible

and i well really loved the romanian team they are the real gymnasts

[can1052]

I don't think they've based their happiness on beating the Chinese. I think they are disappointed that they did not perform as well as they could have. Between injuries, falls, etc they had the wind taken out of their sails.  You can't blame them for wanting gold after being World Champions. They should be proud of silver though, the Chinese just really out-performed them.

[tammy842]

They don't look disappointed. They look absolutely miserable. I don't blame them for wanting gold. I was rooting for them. When you can't enjoy what you've won and spend your time thinking about what you've lost, it is a wasted experience. I hope they didn't dwell on it too long.

[can1052]

They look miserable after beam, but after floor you can see Nastia and Shawn laughing a little bit. I don't know. I think the media put a lot of pressure on them to win gold and made it seem like silver was a failure. I do agree with you in the sense that I hope especially Alicia can take the good with the bad and have some positive experiences to take from this.

[tammy842]

Absolutely. But then again, Shawn and Nastia had more to go. Alicia was finished with most of her competition. I wonder how different things might have been if Sam and Chellsie hadn't been injured. What if, what if...

[juicybaby2000]

@can1052 they tried der best so dnt go commenting reeli meaan stuff on dem

[can1052]

@juicybaby2000 What did I say about "dem" that was so "meaan"? I merely put that the American women should be proud of themselves for winning silver after the adversity they faced and the pressure the media put on them. They seemed disappointed with silver but I think many teams in their position would have failed to medal.

[juicybaby2000]

@can1052 ur sayin all de tings bouh dem lookin miserable nd all jus leave dem der better dan u so i tink dey no wah to do u lil mongo

[can1052]

@juicybaby2000 was that english?

[juicybaby2000]

@can1052 yeh u lil dumbo ihs slang muppet

[smartcowgirl]

@juicybaby2000 You need to learn how to spell, and not us that spelling because its annoying and nobody wants to figure out what your saying. Okay? Thanks

[juicybaby2000]

@smartcowgirl hunnn sorrry get a fucking life yes i do know how to spell can yuou see :O and i dont think either of us should fight because its wasting me fucking time

[aubreybird123]

You would be disappointed too if you worked so hard and didn't come in first. I don't believe they set their happiness on beating the Chinese either. Don't you set out to do your best??? The US did exactly that. After all their hard work, they naturally feel disappointed of not winning gold... naturally! But they did beautifully. USA <3

[tammy842]

There is no shame in silver. They should have picked themselves up and been happy about it. But I love 'em anyway.

[aubreybird123]

Definately no shame in silver. And they did pick themselves up and were happy about it. Can't wait for 2012. :)

[blokflip13]

@tammy842 I agree i am american and that is abit typical of us we like to win alot and beat the better people and if we dont we feel angry im not biased im just saying

[snofagun1814]

@tammy842 um duh they spend their whole lives for this, and the americans should have won, and they would have without alicia's mistakes ..... gymnast for gymnast and routine for routine the americans were far superior to the chinese, but in a few years when they find the real ages of the chinese, they will be rewarded with the gold, since we americans don't cheat like they do

[emmyjo720]

@snofagun1814  All three gymnasts stepped on on floor on the US team.

[CliqueGirlzFanAPD]

@tammy842 Really? I think they enjoyed it. If they performed better obviously they eould have been happier.

[blokflip13]

We've never been happy with 2nd. At 2010 Worlds, the girls looked upset. In 04', they looked sad with silver. They only seem happy when they win gold. I bet Russia,Romania, Brazil,Japan,Australia, and France would have killed for an Olympic team medal. Silver is still better than nothing. Be happy you medaled at all. Russia and tons of other countries didn't medal at all. I used to be like this when I competed and I realized it made people look down on you. They should try to be more happy!

[NYCBlonde]

@tammy842 What a pointlessly cynical, negative comment. You have no way of knowing whether or not they're "enjoying this experience" (if it's because some are not not smiling, let me remind you--they're world-class athletes at the Olympics, not dollies who smile mindlessly) or what they're feeling or why. "What a waste"--what a nasty, dismissive remark about their experience. FAIL.

[tammy842]

@NYCBlonde Ouch. Retracted.

[unevercalled]

@tammy842 don't take it personally lol

[tammy842]

Her name IS Anastasia.

[garyj79]

If someone want to see a young lady REALLY dance then they need to watch Natalia Illienko (think thats how you spell it) from the early 80's - much better than Nastia!

[Gr33nkiwi]

I feel soo bad for Alicia and Anna. Nothing went right for them. I feel bad for Cheng Fei too, but at least she did get gold in the team.

[Rosane18]

on 0:40 it looks like Alicia would punsh Shawn away.

[GymMonkeyAz]

I think that the jugges underscored the less popular teams like Australia and Romania. Steliana Nistor's routines all seem underscored except her bars.

[Illja3]

Finally she gets underscored (with which I don't agree actually).. She's always the one that gets overscored (you should watch the 2007 worlds.. She is amazingly overscored there..)

[cleicsioluek]

4:40 NO!!!!! ooh :(

[morenodelaorilla]

I happen to find most of the romanian girls very beautiful, they are so cute.

[poohpush39]

they happen to look like angels..

[alexzjay]

Specially Sandra, she's GORGEOUS. Steliana is CUTE.

[morenodelaorilla]

I like gabriela dogroi, I know they are just little girls, but I allowed myself a sin.

[alexzjay]

Oh LOL. Well, Nistor and Isbaza are legal... Dragoi I don't know, though.

[morenodelaorilla]

I wonder what they do after a hard competition. if you are romanian and if you ever bump into any of them, tell them that I love them all, from southamerica.

[darkeyes2404]

i feel so bad for alicia sacramone but i still admire her as a gymnast and her spirit too, but it was not solely her fault that USA won the silver, all 3 of the USA gymnasts stepped out of the area on the floor and they had lower start values than the chinese to begin with, but i did want USA to win the team final :(

btw have you got the mens team final to post?

[morenodelaorilla]

the judges did not take so much of her score, 15.1 is a quite good score on any apparatus except for bars and floor.

[hitsugaya1001]

nah, a 15.1 is a decent score on floor. on beam and bars it is relatively low.

[miniaturepanda]

Oh ok, I take my comment back then. Thanks for helping me better understand :)

[romaniankoko]

wow Sacramone just screwed up big time.....

[gemuetlichkeit1982]

it's gymnastics. Sometimes you fall down.

[lepi4san]

yeah, and some gymnasts have the misfortune to fall just in the worst possible moment for their teams. like sacramone here. too bad, she's a great athlete

[gemuetlichkeit1982]

She is one of the best in the world, and it is a true shame that her Olympic experience wasn't all it should have been. She is a multiple-time two-event world champion for crying out loud, and she qualified fourth on bb on day one... anyone who thinks she sucks flat out doesn't know what they're talking about.

At least she wasn't the only one, she is in good company with Cheng Fei and Anna Pavlova and Dasha Joura for what-should-have-been in Beijing.

[snofagun1814]

sacramento could have easily saved that double arabian

[momoyay21]

ok, if you can't even spell her name, you have no room to criticize

[cleicsioluek]

he actually didn't land on the middle of her feet, it was at the end... so then you need to sit i down... its soo sad :(

[yiudiumui]

sacramone is totally the sinner of these competition for the US

[morenodelaorilla]

excellent competition, this is an amazing world of beauty.

[starbuckriver]

The commentator kept saying that Shawn put USA in firs after beam. They were still behind by a full point. then the numbers came on the screen and the commentators pretended they were never wrong. annoying

[66nylorac]

Actually, he amends his comment, pointing out simply that the US had the highest beam score.