“Madison Kocian – who shared uneven bars world championships gold previous year – rounded out the team announced by the selection committee headed by USA national team coordinator Martha Karolyi”.
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Sitting seventh after Friday’s opening round, no one was under more pressure to deliver on Sunday than Douglas.
So while recent results suggest that Douglas could be limited to just bars in the Olympic team final and left out of the all-around competition altogether, Karolyi sees an opportunity. It was history-making, y’all, and she also happens to be the first black gymnast to win an individual Olympic gold, which is just fantastic.
“Everybody was banged up at the Olympics”, she said. After she went through the healing process, she came back into the game, but she tore her patellar tendon in her knee. Not until she heard from national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, even if the Olympic dream she had been chasing for most of her life was locked down long ago.
QUALIFICATION ALERT: Jenn Suhr will get to defend her Olympic gold medal in the pole vault after winning the event at the U.S. Track and Field Trials. Aly is 22, which in gymnastics years means she’s over the hill, but at the trials she was one of the most consistent performers of the weekend. She is the first female gymnast since 1980 to head back to the Olympics as a reigning champion. On Sunday, the North Carolina gymnast posted 15.700 on the uneven bars and 14.400 on the balance beam.
Now the official line-up for the US team squad is complete with the addition of Biles and ready to head to train, compete, and luck and hope and will, win. Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, both of whom were locks to join the team, cried in anticipation. Hernandez finished third all-around at P&Gs and did it with flair, especially on floor. She followed that up by finishing second in the all-around during Trials.
“She did four for four but the selections is based on three of three (routines) and if you look up her scores on every single even, her score is not factoring in, not even one time in three of three counts”, Karoyli said. If another gymnast gets hurt, she could step-in and compete in Rio.
The two-hour show (including intermission) portrayed the sport of gymnastics in the best possible light.
Douglas, who has family in Northwest Indiana, blew into each hand before starting a routine where she fell for the second time at the trials.
For now, the team will go to the US National Team Training Camp at Karolyi’s ranch in Houston for a week and a half. “To have her just lead this team, we’ve been there, and for us to be back on this road together is just fantastic …” She can use three of the five on each individual apparatus in the team final, essentially putting together complementary puzzle pieces that can allow the team to be strong on each event.
Usain Bolt’s quest for more Olympic gold is back on. Hernandez is fearless and spunky and her floor routine has an energy that riles up a crowd and draws them into her corner.
Douglas’ scoring potential on uneven bars also put her ahead of the other two alternates.
For Douglas, the announcement of her name was a relief after a night that had highs and lows.
It’s a mindset that can place Karolyi and her staff in a hard position, particularly when it comes to teenagers who likely will have just one shot at their sport’s biggest stage. The three alternates are Locklear, Ragan Smith, and MyKayla Skinner.
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Dan Pizzuta is a freelance writer and former Division I gymnast at Temple University.
