**Spoiler Alert – If you have not yet watched the finals for the Men’s Gymnastics all-around Olympic competition and do NOT wish to the know the results yet, stop reading now, for those who wish to know how the event turned out, keep reading**
Going into the London 2012 Olympic games and after Saturday’s all-around qualifying round, Team USA’s men’s gymnastic team was on top and the favorite for the gold medal. It was a different ending to the USA’s men’s team after the all-around finals today, with Team USA not only not medaling but dropping form first at the beginning of the events to fifth.
So what went wrong? It was a total of some uncharacteristic mistakes from the team’s top two members, Danell Leyva and John Orozco. Signals were flared early on when 19yr old Sam Mikulak made an error on his floor routine during this triple twisting back somersault. On the pommel horse, both Leyva and Orozco (who are both normally strong in this event) suffered falls of their own and delivered scores in the low 13′s (Leyva) and 12′s (Orozco) for Team USA. Orozco fell for a second time during his valut routine, signaling the end for Team USA’s hope for a team all-around gold medal in men’s gymnastics.
The mistakes made allowed Team China, Japan and Great Britain to sail past USA and finish out the team all-around finals on top. China and Japan took home the Gold and Silver while Great Britain claimed its first medal in this event, the bronze, in a 100-years.
Hope is still in the air for the men’s gymnastic teams as Tuesday starts the individual events where several of the team will try to earn themselves a medal.
Tune into NBC tomorrow night at 8pm ET for the Women’s Gymnastics all-around finals or watch it live online at NBCOlympics.com at 11:30am ET.
London 2012 - Men's Gymnastics All-Around Finals
[photos via NBC Olympics]
[...] RELATED l London 2012 Men’s Gymnastics Team All-Around Finals [...]