I’m definitely experiencing the inevitable let down now that the artistic gymnastics portion of the Olympics has come to a close.  There is such build up, such anticipation for the Olympics and it always seems to fly by once it’s here.  I’ll admit though, that I did enjoy going to bed at a decent hour last night.   Anyhow, there is still much to talk and blog about so here are some of my thoughts on the Event Finals…

Men’s Floor: Zou Kai was amazing for Gold but I was so hoping to see Diego Hypolito come out on top.  His error on his last pass after a nearly flawless routine was devastating.   He looked absolutely crushed.   Here’s what he was quoted as saying after the competition:

“I don’t know what happened,” Hypolito said. “Everything was fine. I never expected this would happen. It’s an element I’ve been doing for years, and I never get it wrong. I’m sorry. I’m sorry to all the Brazilians.”

Anyone know if Hypolito is planning to continue competing after these Games?

Pommel Horse:  I admit I don’t know much about Pommel Horse.  I realize that Xiao Qin was dominant but I still don’t like seeing a routine with a big form break take the Gold.  It seems counter-intuitive somehow.  Bravo for Great Britain & Croatia on the Silver & Bronze.

Rings: Chen Yibing is brilliant.  His dismount, as I mentioned before, is fantastic.  I really like how he flairs out of it.  I was very much disappointed for Jordan Jotchev.   After taking the Silver (instead of the Gold he deserved) in Athens, I wanted to see him on the podium.

Men’s Vault: Didn’t get to see too much here with the NBC broadcast.  I could not believe that Marian Dragulescu basically carbon copied his performance from Athens.  That was unreal.  His first vault, again, was a perfect 10.  No question.  And then he biffs his second vault.  I just couldn’t believe it.    It was nice to see the Chinese Men’s gold medal streak interrupted finally with Leszek Blanik’s gold.

Parallel Bars:  But the streak picked right back up after Vault with Li Xiaopeng taking the title on P-Bars.  It was a well-deserved gold for him.  Great performance.  I also really liked Anton Fokin.  He has such a smooth style and his routine was quite pleasing to the eye.   Is anyone else sick of all the doubles between the bars, though?

High Bar: Poor Fabian Hambuchen.  It was his last chance in Beijing, a chance to make up for all his missteps earlier in the week but he was just not on at this competition.   He did pull out the Bronze but he could easily have challenged for Gold.  I was so impressed that despite his personal disappointments, he still seemed to be genuinely cheering for and encouraging the other men out on the floor.  Impressive.

Zou Kai… hmmm.  Apparently his start value was just unbeatable but his routine was boring.  Except for his excellent full-twisting jaeger his routine seemed unexceptional to me.  Am I airing my ignorance here?  Is there something that I’m missing?

Jonathan Horton: Wow!  What a show!  High flying release moves and a thrilling dismount.  I think a routine like that should take the top spot.  Anyone else think so?  Or am I showing an American bias?

What was your take on the Men’s Event Finals?  Agree with my assessment?  Disagree?

Be Sociable, Share!