Rio 2016: A Bittersweet All Around

I feel like I'm both emotionally and physically exhausted after so many days of gymnastics. But what a bittersweet AA final. I got my wish and Aliya medaled, which I'm incredibly happy about. But I'm also sad that she couldn't perform to her best and had a lackluster day at the Olympics, especially after her great performances in the team final. I guess she gave her best for the team, again. I still think that she earned that medal, she gave the others every opportunity to take advantage of her mistakes, but nobody could. It really wasn't the best day for anyone except Aly and Simone, who both delivered great performances.

And poor Seda, who ended the competition crying in Aliya's arms, much like Vika in 2012. I honestly think that like me, she's also mentally and physically exhausted. It was the same for her at the Russian Nationals and the Russian Cup, she was great for the first two days, but messed up everything after that. The beam routine was especially heartbreaking because she stayed on. But I think what happened with the dismount was also a coaching error. She's been training the full-in all year long and even at the Olympics, so I don't think it's coincidence that she has over-rotated every single one of her double pike dismounts. I was hoping that we'd get an angry-looking-for-vengeance floor routine from her after that, but it looked like she had given all she had to give at these Olympics. She looked to be in better spirits after the competition ended.

What I really hope, is that Aliya can now rest and hit the refresh button and come back to the UB finals with everything she has. The fact that she's only missing one color form her medal collection at these Olympics should spur her on. She downgraded her bar routine yesterday, so I'm a bit worried that her back is really bothering her, hopefully she can find some strength to do the komova one last time. And Madison Kocian is going later in the rotation so she has a huge advantage over Aliya. Same with Dasha. I think Aliya (and Dasha) is by far the more stylish bar worker, but the judges really seem to like Maddie, and it's not like she has that much that can be deducted... Those feet can drive me crazy, but she still only gets a small blanket deduction for it. And "beautiful lines" just don't get Aliya and Spiri as mych extra as it should. And Spiri... I already expressed my annoyance at her taking it easy during the team final, and it's going to get worse if she brings out the best routine she has now. Especially when Aliya gave the team her best and downgraded for the AA. I'm really not rooting for Dasha as much as I'm supposed to be, all because of that team final. Let Aliya get the gold and she can settle for silver or bronze.

I think I'm too nervous to actually watch the UB final, because I so desperately want Aliya to end her Olympics with a bang and become the Olympic UB champion again. I'm much more nervous for this than the AA. It's easier to watch when you know how it's going to end, but it's also torturous to gather the strength to look at the results. Ugh. Why do I have to care so much? I wish I didn't, damn you gymnastics for doing this to me.