Chinese Men Win Gold; US Takes Bronze
Tuesday August 12, 2008
 The US Men's Olympic Team Photo © Cameron Spencer / Getty Images |
Led by Jonathan Horton, who stuck his double front vault (16.200), triple-twisting double layout high bar dismount (15.700) and full-in floor dismount (15.575), the US team rolled through the competition, hitting routine after routine. Going into the sixth rotation, the US led Japan in the silver medal spot, but rough pommel horse sets from Kevin Tan (12.775) and Raj Bhavsar (13.750) dropped them to third in the final standings.
Still, the team qualified into finals in sixth position, so a bronze medal is an enormous success. After all the hype surrounding the Hamms' withdrawal from the Olympic team, the US men pulled together and won an unexpected bronze on their own.
Final scores:
1. China 286.125
2. Japan 278.875
3. United States 275.850
4. Germany 274.600
5. Korea 274.375
6. Russia 274.300
7. Romania 274.175
8. France 272.875
Comments
I was so impressed with the guys. They really pulled it together. And I was especially impressed with Sasha. It would have been so easy to crash and burn after sitting through five rotations and then watching his teammates miss their routines, knowing that their medal hopes lived or died with his routine. WOW! Way to go!! Good luck to the women!!!
Congrats to teh US men! High bar was AWESOME to watch!
A truly great meet for the U.S., was so exciting.
I was dissapointed with Kevin Tan, 15.4 on rings and then falling apart on horse…