Komova had a faultless competition apart from a step on landing her Amanar vault. Frankly, she must feel utterly shattered after coming second once again by a very small margin to an American who was treated very generously by the judges. Komova soared and took every beam move to the max, rounding off with her rare double Arabian dismount in fine style; Douglas literally sidled along the beam, seeming frightened to take her feet off the apparatus for all but her somersaults. Komova was back to her junior form on floor, leaping, twisting and somersaulting with the most amazing power disguised as lightness, and dancing with all the confidence of a trained performer, while Douglas tiptoed and waved her arms in the air in what was a pale imitation of a floor routine.
Oh, and then there is bars; can anyone explain the .5 hike in Douglas's score compared to Tuesday's performance? Did she really improve her execution so much? Did she really manage to achieve better execution scores than both Mustafina and Komova?
Douglas was a worthy silver medallist, with significantly better line that we are used to from an American, but very poor choreography and not an all around champion by my measure, especially not against Komova at her best. Despite her step on vault Komova was the best today and should have won by rights. I don't like to listen to Russian coaches complaining about the marks, which I guess we are going to have to tolerate in coming days, but if the boot were on the other foot the gymternet would be alive with twitters, Facebook and blog posts by American coaches defending their gymnasts. The double standards are appalling. The FIG says it wants beautiful gymnastics and that the Amanar needs downgrading, then marks vault higher than ever before. Bars scores have favoured the American girls during both finals, being held down when they might help the Russian girls level during the team competition, and hiked during the all around when it favoured Douglas to do so.
Nevertheless, I will congratulate all the medallists for their fantastic performances today. It was by far the best all around competition I have seen in many years. And that bronze medal - well, it's worth more than its weight in gold. Kudos to Queen Mustafina, and commiserations to Tsarina Viktoria, who really should have been wearing the gold medal tonight.
I am emotional person so my opinion could be biased : ( I can say that sure Gabby did her job but vault is such easy event to get higher execution scores it's so unfair and Gabby definitely wasn't that great on bars ! It so sad that vika made such mistakes right from the start now is can't be changed
ReplyDeleteOh, dear Elizabeth! I can hardly explain my dissapointment on the today's competition! Victoria is everything what artistic gymnastics is about, she was absolutely stunning today, her beam set is just a grossmeister's class compared to every single gymnast in the field , her FX was extraordinary tonight, her bars are the purest techniqe of all the best bar workers.. She should have one!!! She's my only champion today! My deepest respect and the most hearted congradulations to Alya as well. NO MATTER WHAT THESE TWO ARE THE BEST FOR ME!!
ReplyDeleteI just couldn't believe my eyes when it was shown on the TV that Vika, once again, lost because of such controversial (by my measure, unreasonable) judgement. The moment Vika shed her tears in the arena, my heart absolutely sunk...
ReplyDeleteI am not a professional judge, I have no say in the hundredth or thousandth. But I do believe everyone is qaulified to raise doubts over many obviously suspicious scoring, such as those mentioned by Queen Elizabeth. Douglas is fine, but based on the performance tonight, Vika should have been the gold medalist.
I don't know what we can do. I don't know what to say to our beloved gymnast. I'm a bit tired of telling "carry on", "it'd be fine soon", that sort of things. As a fan, all I could do is to visit her website and leave a message to let her know, at least, we are here, we have witnessed it, and we will stay along.
I wish the tragedy (Yeah, I said "tragedy") tonight could be put aside for a moment while she's going to fight for BB and UB in two days. Wish the nineth wave will pass as soon as possible. Wish, that she will carry on and be fine.
Nonetheless, I was pleased that Aliya won a well-deserved bronze medal and the team won silver. The Russian school is great and this team is beyond compare. Thank you for giving a chance to see, as Kseniia said, "We will do it with beauty!"
With all my love,
Paco from HK
I hope that these two Russians will continue because they are wonderful for the sport. Gabby Douglas, imo, was overscored on uneven bars and the balance beam. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteI love Komova and was hoping that she would win, but I have to disagree - I had Komova with lower scores than she got on both vault and beam -- her connections were tenuous at best on the front walkover-back tuck-sheep jump. However, I also thought Komova's floor score could have been a bit higher. On the other hand, I had Douglas with a lower score on bars.
ReplyDeleteBoth Komova and Douglas didn't have the greatest floor choreo, though despite that, of course Komova hit her floor tonight.
In the end, it came down to only minor discrepancies here and there, and I felt the placements were correct. It was wonderful to see Komova hit the way she did, and I was happy about Douglas's great performance as well.
Gymnastics is supposed to be artistic and tonight artistry definitely lost to acrobatics and "untidiness" Komova's floor and beam (not to speak of bars) left us with a sense of beauty that could not be matched elsewhere. What can we do ?
ReplyDeleteThanks to your blog : keep up the good work : your first French fan
Im so happy Aliya got a well deserved medal! But poor Komova deserved that gold. I hate to take it away from Douglas but Komova showed the perfect combination of difficulty and artistry today. Douglas was over scored on bars and beam.
ReplyDeletePoor Vika, this has happened to her twice now : (
Poor Vika, this has happened to her twice now. Hopefully one day she will get her all around gold. It must be disheartening for her. I do think Gabby was a little overscored on both bars and beam. Her beam in AA was not better than the one in TF. Also Komova's score on vault and floor should have been a little higher. However, I am glad that she tried her best and that's all one can ask for.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Gabby!, she showed she is the top American and I definitely prefer her to Weiber and Raisman. It was always going to be between her and Komova, so even though I am sad Vika lost, at least it was to a good gymnast who performed well.
I am most happy for Musty! She was right there with them until beam and then she fell on her arabian, but she continued to pull through. I am happy she won the bronze, after such a big injury last year and her still not being 100%, she still fought and competed, so I am really happy for her. Yay Musty. If she continues, it will be interesting to see how things go when she gets back to 100%.
Russia has done a lot better than 08 so far and there are still more medals to get. Good luck to them.
15.1 for Vika's floor made me weep.. 15.1 for a routine without a step on the landing and dance out of this world.. Alka's 16.1 gave her that bronze and sweet Lord am I happy that it did.. and thank the Lord again that the tie breaker was in her favor. American gymnastics may still be on a pedestal, but Russia takes over what's around it. Only wait till we break this stool down in event finals.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on my blog, let us wrap our heads around the fact that Vika has now lost 2 gold medals to two overscored American beam routines. I cannot even begin to contemplate where that 15.5 came from. It's the highest score on beam thus far these Olympics! Was it better than Sui Lu's in quals or Catalina's in the TF? Absolutely, completely, no. What routine were the judges watching? I almost feel sorry for Gabby, as there is plenty of reason to think that she won the gold due to poor judging.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. Komova should have won.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, she's the real winner.
I Think judges should be ashamed of themselves especially those on bars and beam ... how on earth that Gabby got an E score more than the world bar champion Komova and that surge of her E score by .05 more than her scores on preliminary and team final? oh I forgot to say that you should look to the Execution's judges panel to realize why Gabby got that bonus and that what Redionenko warned about that certain countries tend to over-scoring Americans ...
ReplyDeleteKomova Should've gotten that gold if we are talking about Artistic not Acrobatic Gymnastics ... Komova you're the gold medalist in my eyes and thank you for what you have done you were great
God, I felt Vika's floor routine nailed it and was more than enough for gold, and she was hopeful, but it wasn't (it was underscored, imo). I do agree with everyone saying Gabby was overscored, but I'm just frustrated because I think gold went to the cheerleader, not the best all-around artistic gymnast. I was very impressed by Vika's consistence and that AMAZING floor routine that reminded everyone that this isn't just mere pirouette, it's supposed to be art and elegance. Unfortunately, right now there's no gold for this today, but let's show Vika some love. And pray for her to recover fast enough after London. And for the 10 to return.
ReplyDeleteso sad but also happy that Mustafina won bronze AA after all she's been through :( :(
ReplyDeleteNot an expert by any means, but Komova should have won. Gabby is a strong contender, but she lacks the singular grace that Komova brought to the competition. On the floor there was no comparison. I felt the poor Russian's grief - she should have taken gold by any reasonable measure.
ReplyDeleteI definitely know that Viktoria was the real winner in the All Around in this London Olympics...She was underscored in all of her events,however,and Gabby was overscored...
ReplyDeleteViktoria is the best Gymnast at these Olympics and the best Gymnast in the world...she's definitely my favorite...This is the second time that Vika has been cheated by the judges out of the Gold that she deserves...it's just appalling that the judging was so biased to favor someone else...
I'm sure Gabby is a good kid and I won't insult her personally,of course, but I don't like her gymnastics and personally I don't think she should have even made it thru the qualifying round...there are quite a few better Gymnasts than her that deserved to place ahead of her and Gabby shouldn't have even been on the podium with Vika and as I've said the Gold medal truly belongs to Viktoria Komova...
I'd love it if the judging were scored fairly as it should've been with Viktoria getting the Gold--very sad that's not the case...
Congratulations to you Viktoria for all that you have done...please know that you are the true Champion...
Komova deserved a higher score on the floor exercise-flawless!! She should have gotten the gold, although I'm an American, Gabby was in my opinion somewhat conservative and stiff on some routines. I guess it's about the errors, but Komova was perfect at the end and should have gotten higher than a 15.1-ridiculous. Komova is in my opinion more deserving here of Gold...
ReplyDeleteThank you for speaking what you see as truth and fair, believe me not many people can be like you
DeleteI cannot express just how much I agree with you! I felt that Gabby Douglass did well, but her routines were straightforward and safe. Her splits on the beam were disappointing and should have cost her more points as she did not manage to ever fully straighten her legs. To see such an amazing gymnast like Komova, a perfectionist who is so dedicated to her sport lose by a .2 was disappointing. I like to believe that judges know what they are doing, but after this Olympic finals, I can't seem to shake of the feeling that some heavy bias lies within the panel. Komova is an absolutely stunning gymnyst, and I hope she snatches the golds up during the individual apparatus finals. Douglas did well, but her performance was silver medal quality at best.
ReplyDeleteSo typical... the results aren't what they want so they bash the winner... because you feel sorry for someone balling their eyes out because they can't handle defeat... This article is a cheap, low, and sore loser response-
ReplyDeleteHere's the facts. Vika screwed up big-time on the vault- plain and simple- and it was that score alone that mathematically dropped her down too far. She couldn't even keep it on the "track" (an auto-racing term) and she gets a 15.4! Anyone who takes two big steps and walks off the padded stage before addressing the judges is someone whop doesn't deserve that score. As far as this writer's opinions go- get the facts right pal... It's not about the level of difficulty only. It's the level of difficulty as well as how well you execute them. Someone with a higher level of difficulty can screw-up all the way through while someone else without the same level can be near flawless- So what if Vika did more outstanding moves on the beam- it was littered with balance-checks (at least 3 big ones). Gabby did a full twist-back flip and had no balance checks anywhere! Hers was a smoother routine. And although Gabby hopped on the landing from the beam- her legs stayed together in form. Vika took a big-step back. On the bars- gabby flew higher and still grabbed the bars- she also nearly stuck her land- a little hop- but again the legs were together (keeping form, that's what's important!)- But Vika took a big step on her bar's landing. Sorry but Gabby deserved the gold... Period!
Do you believe yourself?
DeleteI absolutely agree with her and believe her, so not only does she believe herself so does others. We can all choose to go on and on about this, but the fact still remains. Gabby Douglas is the 2012 Olympic All Around Champion. And you can not change that. Viktoria Komova had some wonderful highlight moments in her competition, but to suggest she was error free is plain stupid. Her execution WAS NOT better than Gabby's on bars on this night. Viktoria had bent knees in her pump swings and a step on her dismount, those alone would come to .500 in deductions. And that's not even looking at her handstands or any other part of her routine. Gabby performed with glued together perfectly straight legs. Most of her handstands were hit. Viktoria scored higher because she had a .400 cushion in difficulty, not due to her execution. Aliya Mustafina is different. She had and EXCEPTIONAL performance on bars and absolutely deserved her score. As for beam, Viktoria had more wobbles, a lower start value, and questionable connections. Gabby hit her connections, had a wobble only on a leap to back somersault connection, ample flexibility and composure. She also had a step on her landing, which I'm sure the judges took. Why must there always be injustice done when whom you favor does not win. It's a sport that is judged, which will always be subjective. But when it comes to ALL AROUND, Gabby was the better ALL AROUNDER this day. Sorry if that hurts your feelings or you disagree. You are still entitled an opinion and so is everyone else.
DeleteThat's the worst piece of music and choreography in a floor exercise i have seen in a while(Douglas)shes a great athlete no doubt about that but she didn't deserve that score on floor and lets not talk about her bars score like 0.3 or 0.4 above whats she deserved...KOMOVA got robbed once again thanks to Usa media that wants stars so they can still sell tickets to gymnastics shows after the olympics..im afraid this sport is turning into an ugly business where the power countries always get their way to come on top :/....#artisticfailure
ReplyDeleteЖизнь Комова У России
ReplyDeleteYep gymnastics are coming down to more about athletic ability then beauty, elegance, and feminine art and grace.. So this dangerous trend will open the doors to girls enhancing themselves with drugs like the butchy female sprinters to perform better.. Are we opening the door to the girls to take steroids to jump higher and swing harder?? If the main focus is athletic performance and overall presentation then perhaps so.. DO we really want this?? Anyone else get the vibe how much more graceful and eye pleasing it was to watch the russian girls?? The American girls look so Mechanical.. machine like unlike the the 2 russians with your smooth transitions and graceful feminine beauty that could just sweep the Viewer away.. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, and still think Victoria Komova an edge above Gabby Douglas, who was good, but seemed a wee bit more basic.
DeleteArtistry doesn't have to be "feminine". Look at Shushunova and Produnova. You're being incredible sexist.
DeleteI agree, the sport is going in a direction that I am not liking. The trend is going towards more athleticism and power, rather than having that balance between power and grace. I have to say in response to Viola, that even though Produnova had a more athletic looking body similar to the Americans, she was still artistic and graceful and was also innovative! Just watch her 1995 world championships floor exercise, she had power but still had interesting choreography and that graceful flair. Basically any routine you saw back then with any country was like that. It's not the gymnasts, it's the sport that is heading into the wrong direction; I still don't like the new scoring system, it just favors difficulty, over clean execution and artistry - we need to have compulsories back!!!!
DeletePlus in regards to Gabriel and Komova, I have to speak on an non-objective stand point. I'm a big fan of Russian gymnastics, and honestly was heart broken when they won the silver and Komova got second, but her vault was her undoing. I wished she fought a little harder on her vault because those extra steps she took was unnecessary and she could've saved it. Had she done that, I think we wouldn't be talking about this today and Komova would be the olympic champion - she was only a little more than 2.5 tenths from claiming gold, that was pretty much what the steps on vault were worth. Her floor should've been higher, it was nearly flawless and a classic Russian routine. Gabby got the medal because she made few errors on every event, but I honestly thought she was a tad bit over scored on the uneven bars (she did a routine similar to this in the team finals and only scored a 15.033) and on beam, I thought she did it well albeit a little stiff, but still that shouldn't have been a 15.5, should've somewhere around 15.2 or 15.3. Once again, I think it came down to vault unfortunately, and Gabby did a great Amanar - I seriously hate how this competition is centered around this vault. It's hard, it's difficult and so many injuries occurred because of gymnasts attempting it. I would rather see a beautiful yurchenko full *cough* Shannon Miller, than a sloppy Amanar.
In the end, it's bittersweet. Both Gabby and Vika were at the top of their game and it is what it is.
I personally thought Gabby deserved to win. She did her job from the start and didn't make early mistakes like Komavo did. I actually thought Komava was overscored so far in the entire event. But I do have to raise an eyebrow on some of the judge's scores. Even back in the qualification round Jordyn Wieber was underscored and in team finals Maroney had a PERFECT vault. And Komava's vault! Are you freaking kidding me! She was basically in the stands before she addressed the judges and still got a 15.4! Now you wanna complain about Gabby? And what do you mean the USA media decided the score? Channels like NBC and ESPN are NOT the judges. So that is just ignorant and completely wrong. The Russian team should just be glad that Wieber got robbed on Monday or else the US would have won both gold and silver.
ReplyDeleteVika deserved the gold. Period. All the complaining Americans should watch acrobatic gymnastics instead.
ReplyDeleteYOU are the won that should stop crying because the Russians DIDN'T win. I don't hear the Americans whining because they DID. Besides, contemplating the scores of a well deserved very close match is GREAT, go for it, but why is everyone 'shocked' as if Douglas won by a landslide 5 points?? If any overscoring/underscoring occurred with anyone it was slight.
DeleteIt's sad to see that all the time the russians put on developing quality of movement and artistry is a waste. I know it is a cliche, but the term "artistic" is worth nothing for gymnastics and they could very well remove it.
ReplyDeleteApart of that, I'd like to rewatch Douglas UB routine, because her execution improved dramatically today. Did she really perform it so much better than in TF or qualis?
I am American, but I do have to say that although I enjoy Gabby's gymnastics, Komova's combination of ARTISTRY and gymnastics is simply magical. I do think that both Gabby's bars and Komova's vault were overscored equally, so the total all around scores both gymnasts received were comparable. However, when I say "fair," I mean fair under the current code of points which really does nothing to reward artistry. I believe that the judging should be changed to add an artisty section (worth a full point) in addition to the difficulty and execution. This could involve performance quality, choreography, and aesthetics (like pointed toes, extention, etc.) for the beam and floor. Performances with superior artistry like Anna Pavlova's all around floor and Komova's all around floor could be given a full point, while Aly Raisman, for example, could be given .4 out of the full point. This way Russia's superior artistry could be taken into account, and Komova could win a very much deserved gold for that fantastic floor routine that shocked me with its brilliance.
ReplyDeleteKomova had more than just a step on vault, and IMO was overscored on that event.
ReplyDeleteFor me the absolute test is if I had to watch a set again, whose performances would I choose?
ReplyDeleteGabby was solid but not special. There was nothing she did that I can particularly remember.
Vika, on the other hand, had some moments of pure brilliance and class. She was a joy to watch (Aliya too), and I'd choose the Russians every time. I think that the effort that they expend in the choreography, artistry and technique isn't properly rewarded.
Aurora
ReplyDeleteKomova is special and magical. The judges know that at the next Olympics she'll no longer be 16 or 17. It'll be difficult for her to win the AA. The scores were unfair because they didn't factor artistry in. Douglas was confident but had also wobbles. Her floor is not special. Her beam is confident but not artistic. She has execution problems everywhere because she has been trained as an athlete, NOT AS A GYMNAST. Even the way she walks when she finishes a routine is not the way a gymnast walks (see Grishina, Afanassieva...).
What a shame!!!!
Ha, such whiny spoiled brats on the blog today. Komova was the benefactor of inflated scores througout the competition (beam in team anyone?). God whine yourself a river. Such idiots who have no clue about judging gymnastics and trying to steal a victory from a well deserved Olympian in Douglas. Hopefully the same comes about your way when you earn something and people just bash it as undeserved.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day and go join Komova in her self pity. Can't even describe Aiyla's horrid attitude and mistakes that weren't penalized.
Calling others " Brats " and " idiots " doesn't make you a good one on contrary it's makes you unpolite person with nothing to argue about, you can live with that
DeleteThere are few sports where Females out-rival guys for big money and attention,, Gymnastics, Figure skating, Tennis, beach volleyball... and a few other to and why you think?? Most guys would way rather watch these females then guys performing these sports.. JUDGING Gymnastics on pure athletic performance and ignore the other VERY important factors... BOOM sports goes from main stream to a "no one cares non mainstream sport" very quickly.. Bottom Turn this Sport into who is more athletic and take out ARTISTRY and its rating will be on par with women's power lifting.. How much camera, fame, money and endorsement do they get?? PS Anna Kournikova is worth over $50,000,000! THE cash will tell you what people want! DON'T ruin Female Gymnastics by turning it into a butchy masculine sport where they need to do frequent Steroid test..
DeleteAliya's horrible attitude? What??
DeleteI agree - please keep the comments on topic and do not make personal comments. Aliya is a fine competitor and supportive team mate.
DeleteThe affirmative action points threw Douglas over the top. I am from America. Douglas
ReplyDeleteclearly lost the floor exercise.
And you being an American should be ashamed of such an ignorant remark as the one you just made. Affirmative action? I mean seriously? What does that have to do with the Olympics and judges that were from other countries. They have nothing to gain by affirmative action. Just another comment trying to cover your true agenda....bringing racism and prejudice into a competition where it does not belong. Sad for you. Good way for you to represent YOUR country. At least she did represent hers well.
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ReplyDeleteall she needed was a 15.3 on floor to win....but what do they give her, a 15.1.... waaaay underscored!! her routine was flawless, she definitely deserved more than what she got for her floor routine. she was robbed, again. this is not fair. gabby was great, but vika was better!! all-around was hers. everyone knows it.
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