OLYMPICS OR LAS VEGAS CASINO?
Aliya and Vika waited for Viktoria�s score for her floor, which closed the AA competition. Gabriella Douglas was completely alone, biting her lips.
Douglas was not sure of anything, except that Aliya Mustafina, who stayed in gymnastics like a heroine, had won bronze and Komova� In this instant it was decided to be, or not to be. To be Olympic Champion, or not to be Olympic Champion.
It�s over. Vika drops her head on Aliya�s shoulder. The judges have decided: Douglas!
I choose the sentence "Douglas has been named Olympic AA champion". I can explain when this happened. It was not when Komova didn�t land her Amanar vault well.
Her mistake on vault was not fatal. It was still possible to make it up. They just didn�t allow her to do so.
Douglas performed with pleasure and with luck. She was overscored for her uneven bars routine. Later they increased her �capital� on beam. It was enough for a new American victory. After bars Komova could have not fought. In her first World championships in Tokyo she was underscored on Wieber�s behalf. At her first Olympics, on Douglas� behalf. The Americans change, the judges� alliances remain the same. And they are very smart in the way that they build up their strategy.
Valentina Rodionenko mentioned those alliances during the spring. Let�s consider the judges on bars where Douglas was crowned. There wasn�t a single American judge. UK, Puerto Rico, Australia. That�s enough. Alliances working for the US include judges from South and North American, with Australia and the UK.
A gymnast can�t even upgrade her bars completely in a year. But then, there is a miracle in two days!
One of the team�s coaches says nervously: "All interviews after the final. What? Douglas? The judges know better".
I talk to Nastia Grishina who won silver with our team . I ask her the same question. What does she think about Douglas� score? She just says: �Judges� stuff�.
Komova�s turn on beam. She�s not scared. She looks beautiful.
?liya Mustafina falls off beam, but thanks to a fantastic bar routine she overcomes the second American � Aleksandra Raisman - and wins bronze! Her bronze is a genuine victory...
�Our girls, who perform elements from rhythmic gymnastics on floor, such as spins in vertical split, are standing and applauding. Art on floor cannot compete with the art of fair scoring when necessary.
On bars Komova was far better than Douglas, they were equal on beam. To compare them on floor is similar to comparing Mariinsky Theatre and a disco.
Yet Komova loses to Douglas. This happens and it will happen until someone does something to prevent the Olympics from becoming a casino.
"I feel happy for Komova, she fought all over," says Aleksei Nemov, four time Olympic champion. "For me she deserves to be Olympic champion. Vika is beautiful, polished and she has unique elements, while Douglas is kind of ugly, excuse the vulgarity of my masculine phrase. I say what I think. This is my feeling, you see, but the judges saw this differently... we cannot blame Vika for anything. Let�s congratulate her and Aliya."
Biassed? Yes. As biassed as much of the 'neutral' gymnastics press. As biassed as the 'objective' code ... as biassed as some of the 'fair' judges.
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