2008 In Review

2008 In Review
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Downs

Anna Pavlova
The vault zero and being robbed of a Balance Beam Bronze. She injured herself (tore ligaments), and now is out for a while (at least 6 more months).

Russia - no team medal
I really wanted Russia to medal over Romania.

Alicia Sacramone
Robbed of a vault bronze, and fell twice in the team competition. Poor girl. She retired a couple months back. I wish her all the best.

Cheng Fei
Poor girl. I expected to come out of Beijing with three golds. She took home one (team gold).

The Brazilian Team
Oleg Ostapenko (Tatiana Lyssenko's old coach) didn't do nearly as well as expected with the girls. I hope it didn't demolish their spirit. I think we have a lot of great gymnastics to come from Brazil in Worlds at London.

The Ukrainians
They're so inconsistent. They finished 4th as a team in Athens, and they didn't even qualify as a team (9th) in Beijing! I heard the National Training Center is closing down and all the gymnasts are moving back to their home clubs.



Ups

Shawn Johnson and Liang Chow
A fabulous relationship. I am really impressed. Shawn's biggest mistake in the competition was a step out of bounds. She performed a total of 14 routines at the games.

Nastia Liukin's All-Around Success
One of the best all around titles ever won.

China's Team Gold
Clean, difficult gymnastics. Looking forward to seeing them at Worlds.

He Kexin and Yang Yilin
Their medals were well deserved. In the UB Finals, Kexin lifted up Yang to wave to the crowd. :)

Jiang Yuyuan
Energetic performances! Look at her floor!

Sandra Izbasa's Floor Gold
4/5 Stuck passes.

Hong Un Jong's Vault Gold
A record for the North Koreans. Do not confuse her with SU Jong (world silver medalist - vault). Hong SU Jong is Hong UN Jong's older sister. Anyways, I am delighted with both of them.