The 2012 US women’s gymnastics team is gearing up to be one of the best teams we seen in the past few Olympics and is highly favored to win the gold medal in London. With two very dominate contenders to claim the All Around Gold in Gabrielle Douglas and Jordyn Weiber, it will be exciting to see if this squad can live up to the lofty expectations of the nation.
At age 16, Gabrielle Douglas known as the “flying squirrel” excels at the uneven bars. While she has struggled with consistency in past competitions Gabrielle is sure to be one to watch. Douglas upset the current World champion Weiber at the US Trials and has an eye on the gold in London as well.
As the reigning U.S. and World all around champion 17 year old Jordyn Weiber is probably the strongest competitor on the team. She dominates on vault and floor but claims the beam as her favorite. She comes in looking for redemption after falling 0.100 points short of winning the US Trials as well, and needs to step up her shaky Uneven Bars performances if she wants to continue the run of All Around Gold for the US.
Winning the gold medal for vault in her debut at the 2011 world championship McKayla Maroney, at age 17 showed she can be a huge competitor in this event, but she shouldn’t be ruled out as an all around contender winning two silver all around medals twice in the last year.
As the oldest member of the team 18-year-old Aly Raisman claimed her spot by taking first in both beam and floor and third in all around at the trials. While known for her powerful style of gymnastics Aly has shown to struggle on uneven bars in the past.
Known as “Mighty Mouse” and the youngest team member, this will be 16-year-old Kyla Ross’ first senior outing as a gymnast. She excels on the balance beam as well as showing great ability on the uneven bars, which she displayed by taking second behind Gabrielle at the trials. Having two strong contenders in this event will be a great asset to the U.S. since this has been their weakest event in past Olympics.
The team is searching for the first All Around gold for the women’s team since 96, and the blend of talent throughout, as well as the strong start values should lead the US to having a good shot to finally winning another gold.
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