Women Olympic Gymnastics Team & All-Around Final

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The number of years it has been since the United States of American has won a Gold medal in the Women's Gymnastics Team Final at the Olympics. The 'Magnificent Seven' captured this title in 1996 and while we were so close to another title in Beijing, we couldn't overcome the Chinese. But, this year looked different. This team was SOLID. We had strong athletes with big dreams and even bigger skills and routines.

2012 - The Fab Five

Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross

These fabulous girls took over and won their well-deserved Gold Medal at the Team Finals in London!!! Coming in second was Russia, who fought until the very end. It was estimated that the Team Final would come down to tenths of points, but by a margin of over 5 points these fabulous ladies secured the #1 spot on the podium.

I couldn't tell you how PROUD I am of these girls. They have worked themselves to the bones for this deserving title and deserve all of the glory.

Here are some of my favorite highlights:

 McKayla Maroney's perfect vault. I would seriously like to know where the deduction was in that vault??! Even the judges faces were wide open after. She had the highest score of the night with a 16.233. Her reaction after the vault is also one of my favorite moments. She KNEW she nailed that.

Also, how cute was McKayla as the cheerleader for the girls? You could hear her over everyone during their routines.

Jordyn Wieber's vault and floor routine. She nailed her vault, proving that she deserved to be apart of the All-Around with BOTH teammates Gabby and Aly. EVERY time that girl hit a pass or part in her Floor Exercise that was key on, she SMILED so big. It was the CUTEST thing seeing her SO happy and do so awesome.

Kyla Ross had an amazing bar and beam routine. I was SO proud of her. The hug her and her coach shared after her beam routine was just precious. I also love what McKyla, her long time best friend, said to her after her routine: "That was SO good. I am SO proud of you!"

Aly Raisman crying before her floor routine was even over. After her last pass she basically knew that her team were the winners. I mean she only needed a 10 something to clench Gold!

My favorite part was watching the girls hold hands and stare at the scoreboard waiting to see the results! They were COMPLETELY adorable and their celebration after with hugs and tears was something I'll never forget. I was a mess watching how happy these girls were. They so deserved it! I am so proud of them!

Congratulations to these AMAZING girls! And, a HUGE congratulations to Gabby Douglas, the Gold All-Around Champion! That is three years in a row that the USA has held that title! Also, a very special congrats to Aly Raisman who got 4th place after a tie breaker. She definitely deserved a medal and fought her way through the entire thing! She is SUCH a great sport and a true role model. Definitely a GREAT team captain!

Their support for each other on Twitter was so heart warming. And, so many celebrities tweeted at them including TAYLOR SWIFT. This is beyond cute.

London Olympics so Far

For those of you who don't know, I am utterly obsessed with the summer Olympics. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if I lost a few friends after these are over .... (ok, kidding)! I cried a minimum of 5 times this weekend watching the athletes and their reactions. My heart feels for every good and bad moment that comes along with the tough competition.My absolute favorite sport is Women's Artistic Gymnastics. I will watch that all year round regardless of the Olympics. I also love diving and swimming.

Opening Ceremony: To be honest I was a bit disappointed in these ceremonies. There were also very high stakes surrounding this year's opening. How could 2012 even compare to the Beijing Opening Ceremony?! I was a little bored with the history timeline as well as the music. Although I could see how much detail went into everything, I was not impressed. I did, however, love the explosion of the rings and the 'queen' diving in with James Bond. I also LOVE me some Kate Middleton, so watching her in the audience was rather thrilling to me.

Swimming: I would like to congratulate Ryan Lochte and Dana Vollmer on their Gold Medals in swimming! Dana set a new world record in the 100m Butterfly after missing her ticket and chance to Beijing at the Olympic Trials in 2008. But, Ryan, please, for the love of everyone, get rid of those grills!!!

Diving: Tears were definitely shed watching the reaction of USA divers Kelci Bryant and Abby Johnston. Winning medal among the Chinese is so impressive! Especially after they basically swept all of the medals in Beijing! So proud of these girls and they deserve all the glory! They were ecstatic!

Women's Gymnastic Qualifications: This was by far the biggest upset of the weekend so far. It breaks my heart to even think about it, let alone type it out. Jordyn Wieber, the current All-Around  (AA) World Champion was denied a chance to compete at the Individual All-Around competition Thursday. With the current rules in place, only TWO gymnasts from each country are able to compete in the All-Around. The two highest scoring gymnasts from qualifications move forward. Sadly, Jordyn was beat out by her teammates and best friends, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman.

Final scores:

1. Victoria Komova -  60.632

2. Aly Raisman - 60.391

3. Gabby Douglas - 60.265

4. Jordyn Wieber  - 60.032

So, even though Jordyn placed 4th out of ALL the girls in Women's Gymnastics she is not allowed to compete due to the 2 per country rule.

In my opinion, it should be the top 24 girls no matter what country you are from. If you are the best, you are the best. These girls have trained their whole lives and practice endlessly. The fact that these girls will NOT be competing against the current WORLD champion (the best gymnast in the world!!!!) is absurd. Some people have argued that the current world champion should automatically be put in the AA finals.

Jordyn has been talked about as a medal contender for an All-Around medal along with her teammate, Gabby Dougals. Gabby and Jordyn placed 1/2 at Olympic Trials and have been rock solid going into London. Aly Raisman, Jordyn's Olympic roommate, the oldest person on the Fab 5 Olympic Team, and also the team captain beat out BOTH Jordyn and Gabby in yesterday's qualifications.

Although my heart is breaking for Jordyn, Aly deserves as much as a chance as any other girl. She has worked endlessly for this opportunity. And her reaction shows it. She had no idea what her scores were going into her last routine (floor). She just wanted to do a good floor routine so she could compete in the Floor Excercise finals. Little did she know, her score helped put her above Jordyn and Gabby and gave her the chance to compete in the AA on Thursday.

Aly Raisman after finding out she made the AA finals - "I did?!?! Where does it say that?!"

Priceless.

I can only imagine the pressure on these girls. What do you (Aly) say to your best friend (Jordyn), teammate and roommate after such an emotional day? But, Jordyn is SUCH a class act. She supported her teammates in tears and knows that they have worked just as hard as her to be in London. I truly hope that they can all make it through this together and be an even stronger team.

These girls go into the Team Finals on Tuesday as the favorite for the Gold medal which hasn't been captured in 16 years!! I hope that all their hearts can all heal after such a big day yesterday and that they can move forward and share the Gold medal glory together.

Below is my favorite moment from yesterday! Watching Aly Raisman's parents as she performs on bars. Ha ha!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE BOYS IN THE GYMANSTICS TEAM FINAL TODAY! Stay tuned :)



Gymnastics Pictures #1

With the London 2012 Olympics being just about upon us it is time to take a look at one of th most elegant of the Olympic sports.  Check out some of these wonderful gymnastics pictures.  This will be a two part collection of these Gymnactics pics.  SO be sure to check back for part II.

Meet the 2012 Women's Olympic Gymnastics Team

Congratulations to the 2012 Women's Olympic Gymanstics team!!!

McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross!

I'd also like to congratulate Nastia Liukin and Alicia Sacramone on the ending of their careers!

They both came out there yesterday and gave it their all. Nastia may not have been strong enough to compete at the Olympics, but she NEVER gave up. She got shot down and went through a TON of pressure, but she went out there and gave it literally every last drop she had in her. Her ending beam routine was definitely a good way to end as well as her standing ovation leaving the arena! Alicia performed two amazing vaults and a great beam exercise. Definitely a career highlight for this girl that has overcome SO much since the 2008 Olympics and recovery from surgery. 

I've been obsessed with gymnastics since I was little. I did gymnastics myself for a few years before I started to play competitive basketball for years after. Shawn Johnson is my favorite gymnast to date and after her retirement annoucement in May of 2012 I was crushed. But, I know that she will go out there and do great things like she always has.

I am SO proud of the 2012 Olympic Girls!!! I have been following their careers for a while now and I wish them ALL the best in London! Can't wait to see them dominate some Gold medals!!

They have all worked SO hard for their well-deserved spot on this team. It was exhilirating watching their dreams come true on television last night. <3

McKayla Maroney

Age 16

Long Beach, CA

McKayla is a world champion on vault. She is undoubetly the best vaulter in the world.  She performed her Amanar vault this weekend at trials which helped her earn her spot on the 2012 Olympic team.

 Gabby Douglas

Age 16

Virginia Beach, VA

This girl is definitely an Olympian. She has SO much energy in her and great focus. Her main accomplishments include her Silver medal at the 2012 Visa Championships and her GOLD All-Around at the Olympic Trials this past weekend! She managed to beat the reigning World Champion, Jordyn Wieber in the All-Around. She is also a Gold Medalist in the Uneven bars which is very important for Team USA due to our lack of high scores in that event.

Aly Raisman

Age 18

Needham, MA

This adorable girl just graduated from public high school and has so much on her resume! She has (in my opnion) the best Floor Exercise routine from the USA. She received the Gold Medal at the 2012 Visa Championship in both the balance beam and floor exericise events. She also recently placed second in the All-Around at the American Cup behind Jordyn Wieber. I can't wait to see her dominate the floor in London so soon!

Jordyn Wieber

Age 16 (Until halfway through this month!)

DeWitt, Michigan

This girl is truly unstoppable. She received the All-Around Gold at the 2012 Visa Champsions, 2012 American Cup, the 2012 Pacific Rim Championship and she is the reigning 2011 World Champion!! I absolutely LOVE her floor routine and I'm so happy she has recently upgraded her uneven bars routine and she has done absolutely amazing with it!! I couldn't be more proud. That has definitely helped her in so many ways. This girl has worked SO hard and is a well-deserved Olympic Champion. Can't wait to see how she does in London!

Kyla Ross

Age 15 (The youngest on the team. She will be 16 within the year which allows her to compete at the Olympics)

Aliso Viejo, CA

I love this girls spirit and smile! Her uneven bars routine have definitely helped her secure her spot on the Olympic team. She has been doing great with it and received the Silver in the Uneven bars at the 2012 Visa Championships. Notably, she was the silver all-around champion at the Pacific Rim Championship in 2012. I really hope she goes far in London! She definitley deserved her spot on the team with her recent performances!

Good luck to ALL of these girls! I love that they are all friends with one another and can't wait to see how their journey pans out in London in just a month!!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am linking up with Tracy from Then I Got To Thinking for Thankful Thursday!

First and foremost, I am thankful for this beautiful day. I am thankful for the opportunity to wake up in my beautiful, clean, organized and functional apartment. I'm blessed to put my feet on hardware floors and have a spacious area to get ready and eat breakfast. I'm thankful to have a (at the moment) functioning car that gets me from A to B and plays music (because that's important)!

My family. They are there for me regardless of my actions and attitude. I know if I ever truly needed them, they would always have my back and fill me with love and support as they always do.

Education. No one can ever take that away from me. I love my school and our beautiful campus and I'm thankful I have received a great experience there (and still 1 more year to go!) and won't come out with any student loans.

My job. With this ever changing economy, I'm thankful to have an internship that helps me grow and propser and teaches me valuable things while giving me a great experience to talk about. They also are a great company that provides many benefits even for those who are not full time employees.

My health. I'm so lucky to be healthy and happy and not have any pressing issues to deal with currently.

Music. It is the greatest outlet of stress, anger, happiness, sad times and any other feeling for me. It's nice to jam out to while cleaning, listen while at work, run to after a long day or just enjoy in the background on a normal basis. I always, always have music on unless people are talking or if the TV is on.

My boyfriend. For the laughs, the constant smiles and the butterflies I still get even to this day. He sets me back to reality when I need it and also lets me escape it with him every so often. He plans cute dates and is the only boy to ever truly surprise me.

These ended up being pretty standard. Pooo. But, I'm also oh so thankful for my beautiful friends and their wittty personality, antibiotic cream, emjoi icons, my DroidX that came back to life, colorful post its, clean water, winnnnnnneee, dates with best friends, & having a washer and dryer IN my apartment! :)

Have a thankful day everyone <3

PS I'm SO excited to start reading this!!!! So sad Shawn Johnson annouced her retirement, but proud of everything she's been through and has worked for her in life. She's such an inspiration and will always be my favorite gymnast!