Gymnastics in the spotlight, swimmers fall off

Michael Phelps isn't swimming for gold tonight, so all eyes will be on men's gymnastics individual titles. They're filling time with volleyball again, Misty May-Treanor vs. Carrie Walsh, they're hammering their toughest of the four initial opponents, the Norwegians.

The U.S. pounding Norway like the North Sea, says the non-Karch announcer. Ace on match point, 21-12, 21-15. Hmm, scary, they're dominating everyone even without a great serving game Karch says. Their 104th straight win in a row. Walsh says afterwards they just have to keep "outscrapping and outhearting these girls."

Ha, Bob Costas just admitted they have some extra time to fill since the volleyball match ended so quickly, so now they're going to replay the 200M individual medley heat from last night, featuring Phelps. Generally I'd rather they show a sport they usually don't, but in this case I didn't see this before, so it's new to me. He's leading after the butterfly/backstroke legs, Rowdy says he thinks it'd be a miracle if he won 8. Dan says he reminds him of Tiger Woods, he's the most talented, works harder, and is mentally strongest. It's a good comparison; meanwhile, last leg freestyle, finishes first in this heat.

It's cool, on the replay you can see the mobile camera they have on the floor of the pool, following Phelps. The camerawork in the pools have been stellar, makes it so much easier to appreciate the skill level.

Wow, so they're showing clips of all 11 of his gold medal swims. It's a little anti-climatic, not a great job of editing. Anyway, back to live swimming, they look at who could beat him in his final three events. Thursday, Friday, Saturday... should be great fun to watch.

Men's 200M breaststroke final. American Scott Spann; traditionally I think the Japanese do well in this event. And Kosuke Kitajima indeed wins, Spann well out of the medals.

Next, semis of women's 200M free, Natalie Coughlin swimming. She's got the lead at the turn, well out in front; but now coming back to the pack a bit, it's only a semi--she still wins. Second semis, another Chinese swimmer doing well, one finished in the top three in the first semis. The whole group is bunched together, Chinese swimmer wins. Rowdy says in the biggest shock, the defending champ in this event Libby Trickett doesn't qualify for the finals--then, they disqualify the Chinese swimmer! On the replay it's clear, she flinches on the start; and it means Trickett qualifies, last, for the finals.

Nice drama on a night filled with swimming semis. Aaron Piersol in 200M backstroke first semis, the favorite. Not in first after the first turn, just crusing along. In first halfway through, it's kindof a leisurely race. Cruises home, wins easily.

Next, Ryan Lochte, who will have tough back-to-back races against Piersol and Phelps tomorrow night. Just swimming his race, takes the lead after the second turn. Looks very relaxed. A growing lead, cruises to the finish.

Chris Collinsworth chats with Jason Lezak, it's a good interview interspersed with highlights from the race. Interesting watching Costas and Collinsworth hash over Lezak's words afterwards--this is journalism at its best, bringing out truth from evidence; they talk about how Lezak definitely was a little like, hey, it's not just Phelps, we're pretty good here too.

Women's 200M butterfly, finally a race for medals. They highlight an Aussia and a Pole, so apparently no Americans in the final. Best chance for the Chinese to win swimming gold Dan says, butchering their names in the process. Ohh, actually two Americans--wow, they barely mentioned them.

One American keeping up, the other behind. Odd, one of them comes off the second turn a bit weirdly. One of the Chinese swimmers, Liu, in front now--the other right behind her, Jiao. They're going to finish 1-2 I think, that would be horrible for the U.S., swimming is supposed to be our medal hotspot. Sure enough, the Chinese win; Americans finish last and next-to-last. What a great moment for China, says Rowdy; Liu wins gold. Hmm, somebody throws something into the water as they were coming down the stretch, it's a little drum. God, what an idiot, who would do something like that?!

Now, Lezak in the 100M free, rematch with Bernard; everyone's huge in this race. Lezak is trailng, won't be in it--wins bronze in a tie with a Brazilian, Bernard wins gold and has a huge smile on his face. Lezak's first individual medal, has 6 other relay medals. Rowdy's good, points out the huge wall of water as pretty much everyone comes into the first turn, Bernard did a better job of turning under the swell. And Bernard looked at Sullivan, the silver medalist, at the final wall, just like he looked at Lezak.

Now, gymnastics; they open by profiling Yang Wei, China's top gymnast, and his quest for overall gold. Then they briefly mentioned Jonathan Horton; then they compare the best overall gymnast to a panda. Tim says it'd be shocking if Wei doesn't win gold, has a huge advantage in terms of difficulty start value.

Alexander Artemev up first, six events, best score at the end wins. It's already 11 EST, this is going to be a long night. Rings first for Artemev, Tim says probably his weakest. Nice routine, actually, pretty clean. Japanese gymnast in floor exercises, Al reminds us gymnastics is all about deductions, you don't get points for doing things well. Tim thinks Jonathan could very well make it to the podium.

Back to the pool, Phelps in men's 200M IM first semi. 12th of 17 swims for him. They show the margins of victory in all his events, he's had 2 close races (one when his goggles filled up), rest have been pretty dominant. Shot of the camera bay, it's filled with photogs. Phelps hasn't lost this race in 7 years; loves swimming it. Ah, Lazlo Cseh, who's his main threat and apparently has been swimming well. Hmm, an Israeli swimmer in the field.

Phelps is already near the lead after the start, about third after the fly; now backstroke, in like second. Breastroke, Cseh is right on him, Phelps is in first coming down the freestyle leg. Easily out in front, just cruises to first. Hmm, some water in his goggles again. Interesting watching something that you know people will be revisiting for years.

Lochte back in the pool, 46 minutes later; very red. He has 3 of the 10 fastest times ever, Phelps owns all the rest. Some camera issues, Lochte's out of focus. Hicks says Lochte says he's changed Phelps, made him more laid-back. He's just off the lead halfway through; now in front during the breaststroke, extending his lead. Pulling out on the free leg, wins is in controlled fashion.

Back to gymnastics, Yang Wei on his weakest event, floor exercises. Horton's on pommel horse, it's also his weakest event. Hmm, he looks pretty awkward, making what Tim calls a very big mistake, but says he'll still be in it. 13.675, sheesh.

Women's 4x200M freestyle relay. U.S. the clear favorite coming into the Olympics, but France swam really well in prelims, with 2 new swimmers so they'll be even faster. Wow, four swimming medals for China tonight already; vs. just 1, a bronze, for the U.S. U.S. has won every gold medal in this race. U.S. in first at the first turn, ahead of WR time. It's pretty tight at the 2nd turn, still in first, slightly. Now she's being caught, everyone's bunched up. Pace is slowing down for everyone, Australia out front, U.S. is really falling back, quite a lot, like fourth now; France in first.

Coughlin now in the water. Tim says too slow for the U.S., not what U.S. wanted. Hmm, Aussies in first halfway through the 2nd leg; Coughlin catching up a bit, Aussies way out in front. Coughlin in 3rd now, coming to the 3rd leg; Tim says the last racer is best for U.S., so we'll see what happens here; Australia is way out front, China's in second, U.S. has fallen back.

Aussies slowing a bit, U.S. catching up to China, passing her, Aussies still way out front; Tim says the lead might be too big. U.S. still stuck in third, coming up to the last leg. U.S. and China fighting for silver, but Hoff is fast.... Wow, China is beating her though; we're gonna be lucky to get silver.

Man, first time in history, we've lost this race... hmm, Aussies now falling back, U.S. and China coming up. Hoff is now a bit behind Chinese, Aussies are gonna win this thing, Hoff may not catch China; and she won't. Wow, Australia screaming like crazy, new WR. U.S. fades to bronze, a rough night in the pool for the U.S.

Back to gymnastics, they're telling us the Japanese gymnast who was in the leader falls; and then they show his routine; kindof dumb, Tim calls it a choke; then Elfi tells us he falls again, and then sure enough, he does. Very odd announcing strategy. They follow the American tradition of calling South Korea 'Korea', and also tell us that their gymnast falls; sure enough, he does.

Horton on still rings, he looks good, but not as other-worldly as the Chinese do; a number of small bobbles, 15.575. Yang Wei on pommel horse, just attacks it and does well. 15.275; essentially in front after two events since he hasn't done the high-scoring events.

Hmm, they show us China's medal ceremony from the 200M butterfly. I'm telling you, having NBC owned by GE is good for fair coverage. They're both very obviously singing along. Funny, Costas says no commercial breaks from now on will be longer than 1:20.

The essential second-place gymnast was put on the Japanese team even though he didn't qualify, ahead of another gymnast due to 'injury'. Tim says he'd feel shame beyond belief if he doesn't do well here.

Of all the nights so far, this has been the least interesting; Yang is going to win gold, U.S. got destroyed in the pool, only thing left is seeing if Horton can get a medal. South Korean on the rings, silver four years ago, fell on the pommel horse though; Tim says they always look competitive in training, just fall apart. So they need to hire a Chinese coach. 15.4.

Horton on the vault now, chance for big points. Looks a bit tense, other night didn't really. Not bad, didn't quite stick the landing. Hmm, a great score, 16.1. Smiles for the first time tonight. Yang on the rings, where he's great. Almost sticks the landing, rest of the event was good, not quite as great as the other night for some reason.

Al talks about how the disaster in Athens almost made him give up the sport; that it really was devastating to the Chinese team. Wow, 16.725 for Yang. In first, hasn't even hit the vault.

Disappointing Russians have had mistake after mistake on both men and women's side, one of them on rings--a lot of noise, not much precision. Another non-stuck landing, Tim says everyone's been missing them today, you have to be patient in believe, otherwise you're going to slide.

Tim says he thinks on the Japanese team, the guy who qualified likely went to the team and said he didn't have a great of a shot, let's let our leader go in my place; he cites his experience being coached by a Japanese coach for many years. He looks good here, very precise. Tim says he may have just made a mistake, not sure what happened. Oh man, he falls off on his landing, the announcers gasp; Tim says they've been complaining about the rings, one of his hands slipped, he let go with the other, falls ugly to the mat. Wow, really scary, trainer gets him ice.

Artemev's had low scores, on the parallel bars. Looks really good, as Elfi mentioned he has good lines; a bit messed-up on the dismount, but not bad. Next up the Korean who due to judging error wasn't awarded the all-around gold in Athens, it going to Paul Hamm instead. Parallel bars high potential scoring for him, Elfi says. He looks silky smoother here. Sticks the landing, great routine; Tim says when he's good he's oh so good, when bad he's really bad.

Yang waving to the crowd as he goes on to the vault. Wow, Japanese guy falling on his vault warm-up. It's all pretty close, Artemev in 12th, Horton in 14th. He's talking to the camera, announcers laugh and talk over him. German guy up first, totally biffs the landing, 15.975 despite that. Yang also has trouble on his landing, but it's a good vault otherwise. Then a Russian totally falls off the mat on his landing, it's crazy.

Jonathan on the parallel bars, an early bobble. Not quite vertical on his holds; big step on his landing, too. Not bad, not great. Tamida, the Japanese guy, on the vault is okay, big step on the landing. Korean up next, totally does poorly, Tim wonders if he hit his head, back technique, ludicrous landing.

Artemev up on the high bar, nice so far--wow, and sticks the landing! Nice; he has an outside shot at a medal I think. South Korean up next, Tim says he's been falling like crazy, first time he's succesfully completed a move.

Back to Costas in the studio, for some idiot reason they're going to show Bernard's medal ceremony. They're really just filling time tonight. Horton on the high bar now, Tim cuts short the happy talk by saying although he's been great on this event in China, previously he's really struggled. So far, so good; nice and easy, actually. Wow; nice dismount, two hop but good. Yang was on parallel bars, Al tells us that's why the crowd was yelling jia yo, add fuel; his accent isn't bad! Big step on dismount, but otherwise really strong. Up by 1.6 anyway, other competitors congratulate him too.

15.35 for Horton, Al says he was hoping for better, not really moving up. They do a replay of his routine from above, it's cool; and then the video with frame grabs to show you his form; and now super-slo-mo. More scoring delays, it's really been ridiculous. Less delays today, less micro-managing says Tim. Artemev on tumbling, big mistake already says Tim. Nice form on some of his routines, though. Rest of it a bit ragged; oh well.

South Korean next, looks grim, bad body language. Good start though. Ooh, a crazy mistake, comes out of tumbling sequence and just skitters across the floor. Frenchman on the high bar, clean routine, Al says it'd be a shock if a Frenchman got a medal here, he's currently in 3rd and has a 1/2 point cushion over 4th. Gosh, where the heck are the Russians?! Maybe instead of invading Georgia they should focus on things like this.

Yang cheering on the German guy, Fabian; Tim says everyone spends so much time together, no defense so everyone relies on themselves, not versus someone else. Taking a lot of time before starting his routine, on the grip. He's nervous, slips, Tim says a very big mistake, looking very ragged.

Russian now in 3rd, South Korean in second, Yang in first; it's likely to stay that way, except for a Japanese gymnast trying to sneak into bronze. Horton's in 11th; it's 1:07 EST, Al says commercial free now through the end. Russian screws up on high bar, it could be three Asians on the medal podium.

Artemev back on pommel horse, just like the other night he nails it, looks really good; big applause from the crowd actually, Tim says he can actually win a medal in this in the individual finals. S. Korean Yang on the pommel horse, almost falls but stays on; odd, I'd think gymnasts would like this, it's almost Zen and rythmic; sits down on the easiest skill though, Tim says incredible, complete lack of concentration, he could probably have done that skill when he was 8 years old. Ouch!

Uchimuro, who's moved up from 2nd to last at one point, on high bar, man he gets big height; Tim though says he's got bent arms, which is bad. Oh, and he nails the landing, hangs on; Tim thinks he'll move up to silver. The Russian guy is doing a really sloppy floor exercises, just going through the motions at this point, like he doesn't care. Tim says he doesn't know what these guys are thinking, Russian fails to hold something for two seconds. They show the Japanese guy's routine again on slo-mo, it's great; 15.4, 13.7 for the S. Korean.

Horton on floor exercises, which they pick up halfway through. He's doing a good job, not just going through the motions. Now Fabian the German, who's world champ on the high bar, has a chance to get into the medals again. Oh man, he slips, and totally falls! Wow, it happens again, he apparently fell the first day too. It's a disaster says Tim. He gets back on, is doing really well now, now another mistake but sticks the landing.

Now Yang Wei, on the high bar, crowd is going nuts in anticipation. Slips a bit; messes up on a move, his coach can be heard giving him instructions, the crowd is hushed; messes up the landing a bit, but more than good enough for gold. Big applause, and the Frenchman is celebrating bronze, totally crying and in disbelief. Yang gets a big flag, displays it for the cameras and crowd, looks totally emotional; salutes the crowd, smiles, great moment.

Yang gives a cackle for the cameras; Uchimura silver, Caranobe bronze. Medal count: wow, 20 gold for China, 10 for U.S.; 32 total for China, 31 for U.S. Sheesh.

Oddly enough, they finish with a serious piece by Jimmy Roberts, looking at politics intersecting with the Olympics, tied in to Russia/Georgia facing each other yesterday.

Costas, as usual the consumamte pro, tells us that Horton finishes 9th, Artemev 12th.