LONDON – There is another American gymnast star – Aly Raisman.
With Gabby Douglas falling off the beam Tuesday, Aly Raisman stole the day by winning two medals – the bronze in the balance beam after an inquiry and nailing the gold medal in the floor exercise.
It gave Raisman three medals for the Olympics – including two golds. Raisman aced her floor exercise to the Horah – an Israeli dance. Raisman, of Needham, Mass., is Jewish. Raisman, 18, scored a 15.6.
“That was the best floor performance I’ve ever done and to do it for the Olympics is great, ” she said. “And I definitely felt like redemption from the all-around the other night.. It ended up working out.”
Raisman’s 15.600 for her routine was 0.4 ahead of silver medalist Catalina Ponor of Romania, who took the silver with a 15.200. The bronze medal was won by Russia’s Aliya Mustafina with a 14.900. American Jordyn Wieber, who had battled injuries after coming in as a potential golden girl, placed seventh with a score of 14.500.
Meanwhile, Douglas’ trip and fall was a disappointing finish to her Olympics with a seventh place in the balance beam competition and a 13.6 score.
Douglas, a two-time gold medalist, was dead last Monday in the uneven bars. However, her countrywoman Raisman earned the spotlight. Raisman performed a solid routine on the beam but her 14.96 score as the final competitor placed her fourth – one spot shy of a medal.
But an inquiry by her coaches raised her score to a 15.066. That got her tied for third with Ponor and she was awarded the bronze medal in a tie-breaking procedure.
“All I could think about when I got fourth again is it’s definitely bittersweet because you’re excited to be fourth in the world but you just missed being on the podium and I’ve gotten fourth a million times,’ Raisman said.
Douglas, 16, admitted she got worn down from the Olympics and suffered a letdown following gold medals in the team event and women’s all-around – the first African American to win that event, which is considered gymnastics’ most prestigious competition.
“My mind was there but it wasn’t there like it was for the all-around finals and team finals,’’ Douglas said. “I’m not going to lie. It was hard to regain your focus. You get so drained. My mind wasn’t mentally there.’’
It was an ironic twist for Raisman, who had lost out on the bronze in the all-around on a tie-breaker. Inquiries are only allowed on the degree of difficulty section of her score and she risked being graded worse after the judges watched a slow-motion replay. She won the tiebreaker, which is based only on the execution score.
““I’m so happy for Aly,’’ Douglas said afterward. “She deserves to be on the podium. She deserves every minute of it.’’
Midway through the routine, Douglas slipped and fell off the beam, grabbing it before hitting the mat completely. She climbed back up but the score indicated she didn’t finish her whole routine in the allotted time.
“I missed my footing and fell,’’ Douglas said. “We’re all human. We make mistakes. Obviously it wasn’t my day to shine.’’
Douglas is now headed back home to Virginia Beach. She said he heard there would be a hometown parade in her honor.
“My life is going to change so much,’’ Douglas said. “I made history. People are going to recognize me … I’m looking forward to enjoying life, seeing my dogs, living Virginia Beach style, going to the beach.”