U.S. captain Raisman earns redemption in floor exercise

U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman performs during the floor exercise final at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman performs during the floor exercise final at the 2012 Summer Olympics. (JULIE JACOBSEN / Associated Press)
Posted: August 08, 2012

LONDON - Aly Raisman finished the Olympics in style.

The U.S. captain matched Gabby Douglas in gold medals, winning the title in floor exercise Tuesday. Add in the bronze on balance beam from earlier in the day, and she becomes the most decorated of the Fierce Five.

"It definitely went better than I thought it would," Raisman said.

It's a good thing Raisman did so well, because the rest of the Americans came up empty-handed. Douglas had another rough day, finishing seventh on the balance beam after a fall. World champion Jordyn Wieber, voted most likely to leave the Olympics with the biggest haul, was seventh in the floor exercise and finished without any individual medals.

Danell Leyva and Jonathan Horton were fifth and sixth, respectively, on high bar, leaving the U.S. men with only Leyva's all-around bronze.

"I'm so happy, going home with two Olympic gold medals and a couple of titles under my belt," Douglas said. "I'm so happy for Aly; she deserves to be up on that podium."

Raisman may not have Douglas' bubbly personality or Wieber's resume, but she is prized for her steadiness, and that consistency paid off big in London.

Energized by her surprise bronze on beam, Raisman had an extra spark in the floor routine. Her tumbling passes were some of the most difficult, and she got such great height on them you could have parked a double-decker bus beneath her. Her landings were not only secure, one was so powerful it practically shook the floor.

Coach Mihai Brestyan was hopping up and down and pumping his fist as she finished, and even Raisman was impressed with herself, mouthing "wow" after she saluted the judges. When her score, a 15.6, was posted, teammate McKayla Maroney yelled "whoa!" so loudly from the stands it could be heard across the arena.

"I felt like I had nothing to lose," Raisman said. "It was going to be my last memory for London, so I just wanted to make it count and enjoy it."

It was the first Olympic gold in floor exercise for a U.S. woman.

Raisman had just missed a medal in the all-around, finishing with the same score as Mustafina but dropping to fourth on a tiebreak.

But she was on the right end of the rules earlier Tuesday, bumping Ponor down to the bronze on balance beam.

Raisman initially finished fourth with a score of 14.966. But she questioned it, and judges added an extra tenth to her routine's difficulty after a review. That gave her and Ponor identical scores of 15.066, but Raisman got the bronze because her execution score was higher.

Douglas' life has been a whirlwind since she won the all-around title last week, with media wanting a piece of her and celebrities flooding her Twitter time line, eager to be her new BFF. There was training to fit in, too, with finals on both uneven bars and balance beam. She admitted after Monday's lackluster showing on bars - she was last - that it was all catching up with her.

"I'm definitely not going to lie. It was definitely hard to regain your focus," Douglas said. "You're like, 'Yes, I'm the Olympic champion. I'm a world champion.' It's definitely kind of hard to turn the chapter for event finals."

Still, she leaves the Olympics without complaint.

"Olympic all-around champion is going to be attached to my name," said Douglas, the first African American to win the all-around title. "Life is going to be crazy for me. Even though we had a very bad ending of the chapter, the beginning was very strong."

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