The gold was there for the taking. All it required was a few mistake free performances from the U.S. womens gymnastics team and iot could have been all theres.
However, it was the host country China, which captured another team gymnastics gold for the second consecutive time, thanks to some clutch performances, and some untimely miscues from the U.S. team.
China led halfway through the competition, but both teams would finish up on the balance beam and floor exercise, events which were considered to be the Americans best two events. Then China opened the door when Cheng fell off the beam, giving the Americans the chance to lock up a gold medal.
All they needed to do was get through the last two events and the gold would have been theirs. It was just not meant to be.
Alicia Sacramone was first up for the Americnas on the balance beam,but was forced to wait some 15 minutes before beginning her routine. The time seemed to agitate Sacramones nerves as she paced back and forth waiting for her routine to begin.
Apparently, Sacramone let her nerves get the best of her, as she came down to land the somersault that opens her routine, her right foot slipped off the edge of the 4-inch beam. She tried to regain her balance by any means possible, flaining her arms, and twisting her body,but the effort proved futile and Sacramone fell off the beam to the ounds of a stunned crowd. Not only was the fall a penalty, but Sacramone never got the chance to do the blackflip losing even more valuable points.
Sean Johnson consoles Alicia Sacramone after her fall.
Sacramone never really got the chance to recover from her mistake either, as she was the first one to compete on the floor exercise which in the past has been her signature event. She won a world title in 2005, with her trademark spunk and flair.
None of that was present on Wednesday however, and as she was going through her second tumbling run her feet slipped out from under her and she fell flat on her back, costing her team any chance at gold.
“I guess it was a little too hard to get out of the funk,” she said, “and it affected me on floor.”
Her teammates didn’t help the cause either when both made minor mistakes in stepping out of bounds during their routines.
The Chinese took the floor needing to average just above 14 points to claim the gold medal and instead of playing it safe, they played it up to the raucous home crowd.
The three Chinese women, some of whom may or may not have been old enough to compete, performed flawlessly, obviously delighted by the cheers of their countrymen and the prospect of claiming the gold.
Though the silver medal is an honor it has to come as a dissapointment to an American teamthat has dominated gymnastics the last several years, but has failed to produce on the world’s biggest stage.
Some of the American gymnasts such as Shawn Johnson and Sacramone will get another shot at gold when the individual comptetitions begin.
Hopefully, for Sacramone especially, she will earn a small measure of redemption and capture gold for herself and try to erase the memories of Wednesday night.
U.S.A Captures 4×100 Meter Relay Gold in Dramatic Fashion
Aug 11
Posted by admin in 2008 Olympics, Gold Medal, Michael Phelps, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Uncategorized, fresstyle, online sports community, relay, relays, swimming | No Comments
It’s being touted as the greatest relay race in Olympic history and if you stayed up late enough to watch there is no doubt that you would feel the same way.
It was the exact type of event that makes the Olympics so compelling to watch. There was drama, there was thrash talking, and eventually there was a Gold medal.
The drama in this instance was three fold. First, there was the French telling all who would listen that thy would “smash” the Americans in their upcoming relay heat and capture the Gold. Then there was Michael Phelps, whose quest for 8 Olympic Gold’s could have been halted before it ever even got off the ground. Lastly, there was the drama of the event itself and a finish that will go down as one of the greatest of all time in Olympic swimming competition.
Take these other factors as well, not only was the World Record broken by an astonishing 4 seconds by the Americans, but it was broken by five teams total….a time that just four years ago would have insured Olympic Gold wouldn’t even have gotten you on the medal stand last night.
The drama came to a thundering conclusion in the epic final 100 meters. With American Jason Lezak- the anchor on America’s disappointing 2000 and 2004 4×100 meter4 freestyle relay teams facing off against France’s Alain Bernard, the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle going into the event, and the very man who had boasted of the inevitability of a French victory. Perhaps in a moment of foreshadowing Bernard had actually lost his world-record to Australia’s Eamon Sullivan just moments earlier when he opened the relay with a 47.24 leg capturing the world record.
Phelps lead off the first leg for the Americans and established an excellent pace. Weber-Gale followed and the Americans came away from his leg with the lead. Cullen Jones was the next man in the pool for the Americans and as predicted swam the slowest leg, relinquishing the American lead and giving France a six-tenths of a second advantage entering the final leg. By the time Lezak got into the pool and made his final turn that gap had grown to .82 seconds, and the Americans were declared dead by NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines. Yet, thankfully no one told that to Jason Lezak who pulled off the fastest 100-meter split in the history of the games: 46.06 second catching Bernard in the final meters and beating him to the wall, erasing every bad memory from Olympic relays past and sealing the first Gold medal for the United States in the event since 1996.
Lezak trying to surpass French swimmer Bernard
Until 2000, the U.S. had never lost a 4×100 meter freestyle. Then came the Sydney Games, when another man, Gary Hall Jr. of Australia, made a bold proclamation saying of his Australian team, “We’ll smash them like guitars.” Hall and the Australians stayed true to their word beating the Americans by .19 seconds, mockingly playing air guitars atop the medal stand while waiting for the medals to be handed out.
Then came 2004, the lowest point for the American relay team. Not only did they not capture the gold, but finished behind both South Africa and Netherlands taking home a disappointing bronze medal.
Lezak was the anchor on both teams and turned in what many classified as sub par performances. Well, redemption thy name is gold and the U.S. has one man to thank.
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