So it seems like we all pretty much knew that the two American women would take the gold & silver if they both hit.** And I knew that no matter which one ended up on top, I would feel pretty sad for the one that took the silver.* Not that silver is bad but either [...]

So it seems like we all pretty much knew that the two American women would take the gold & silver if they both hit.** And I knew that no matter which one ended up on top, I would feel pretty sad for the one that took the silver.* Not that silver is bad but either one of them could have wound up on top of the medal stand and both were equally well-prepared and deserving of that top spot.*** And I did feel bad for Shawn.* I was thrilled to see Nastia pull through with 4 incredible routines to take the title, but it was hard to watch Shawn come up just a bit short.* Can’t be an easy spot to be in. Beyond that, here are a few of my general thoughts on the competition…

• It was great to see such a hotly contested competition.* It seems like the past few years of major All Around competitions have been fairly weak.** I particularly liked the fact that none of the top competitors fell.** If you fell, you actually lost a chance at a medal.* Imagine that.
• I personally prefer the style of Ksenia Semenova over that of Yang Yilin but both pulled out top performances in the All Around and the higher A score put Yilin on top.
• Speaking of Semenova, her full-turn on Beam (and double turn on Floor in the same position) is gorgeous, don’t you think?
• Nastia’s vault was perfection.* I’ve not seen it’s equal.
• I didn’t care for the way Al Trautwig quoted Valeri Liukin’s comment about winning gold medals.* It made it sound as if gold is the only thing accepted in their family.* Is it just me or does it seem like the media is out to portray Valeri as this overbearing, pushy coach & father?* We rarely hear anything positive about him.** From all I know of him, he seems like an incredibly kind and considerate man, who has coached his daughter well.*** Thoughts?
• I really like Yang Yilin’s combo of backhandspring, back tuck on Beam* Well done.

Now it’s your turn to sound off.* Fill me in on your thoughts. More...