Olympics: Gymnastics

Our favorite part of the summer Olympics has to be the gymnastics. Especially women's gymnastics. Last night, we stayed up way past our bedtime (till 11:30!) watching the head-to-head competition between the Chinese and American women's gymnastic teams. Don't worry, the Americans choked and got the silver medal.

The women's gymnastics has four parts of competition:
The Balance Beam (Where the girls flip about upon a 4" wide, 5 meter long beam that is about 4.5 ft from the ground.)

The Vault (Here, the girls run and jump and flip about until they hit a table-like apparatus doing more flipping about and then land upright. This is actually a very confusing one to explain.)

The Floor (A standard floor where the girls do flips and back handsprings and step out of bounds and "dance" about like fools. This is the only part of the competition wherein they use music.)

The Uneven Bars (Two bars, one at 8 feet and one at 4.5 feet; the women hang and swing from these bars.)

After describing these events, they seem quite bizarre, but they are quite fun to watch. The men's events include: The Parallel Bars, the Rings, the Pommel Horse, the High Bar, the Floor, and the Vault.


Quick vote: Even though the US failed last night, the gymnastic teams are always a blast to watch. Tune in for more!!!