Nastia Liukin Wins the Gold Medal!!

Wow!! It was definitely worth staying up late last night to watch the finals in the women’s all-around gymnastics at the Olympics! Before the competition began, NBC was all about Shawn Johnson, almost making it seem like Nastia Liukin was an afterthought, which I thought was not quite fair. After seeing the team competition on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning there), I could see that both girls had amazing talent. Shawn has power and precision wrapped up in a very athletic and cute package. Nastia, however, just has that grace and beauty that you expect from an artistic gymnast.

I always get so nervous for the Americans in the gymnastics competition. (Also the Ice Skating in the winter Olympics!) I think it has to do with the fact that instead of competing side by side like you do with the swimming or racing, you are performing all by yourself with a billion eyes on you. It’s totally nervewracking, and I honestly don’t know how these young women handle the pressure.

Watching them last night, you could tell that Nastia and Shawn were determined to do their best. Shawn had a very solid performance, only taking some steps on her dismounts, earning her a silver medal just above the Chinese gymnast, Yang Yilin. But it was Nastia that truly shined! Her first round was on the vault, and I still can’t see where in the world the judges found any deductions. She got great height, looked amazing in the air with her feet together, and stuck the landing without a wobble. I thought it looked like a perfect 10 or damn near close to it, but I think the judges scored here at 9.5 or something. Her uneven bars were graceful and beautiful as well. She had a tiny bobble and I think she took a step on the landing, but her score was pretty good. She did not do as great as she had done on the team night, but it was still very nice! Her balance beam routine was just about perfect as well. Everything was executed with precision and grace. And in the end, it all came down to her floor exercise. I was so nervous that she was going to go out of bounds like so many of them had done in the team competition! Watching her, I had my hands pressed together in nervousness, praying for her to do a great job, and boy did she deliver! That was one of the most perfect and beautiful floor routines I’ve ever seen at the Olympics!

Oh, and how cute was Bella Carolli (or however you spell it) in the studio with Bob Costas? When they showed him watching Nastia’s performance, I just thought he was the sweetest and cutest ever. Of course, you can barely understand him half of the time, but you can tell how excited he is and how much he is truly rooting for those girls!

When she received her very high scores on floor routine, putting her above Yang Yilin with only Shawn left to perform, she and her father exchanged a very knowing and hopeful look. It seemed to say, “Wow, I think I just won!” Shawn’s floor routine was almost flawless as well, and she received a score good enough to move her above Yilin as well, but not above Nastia. For the first time in history, American women won Gold and Silver in the Olympic women’s all-around competition. It was a beautiful sight to see. Congratulations to both girls who have worked so hard for so many years, and made so many sacrifices in order to be the best! I can’t wait to see the indivudual competitions. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nastia win another gold or two!!