Fab Five Wins Gold

During life everyone experiences achievements and disappointments. There are always ups and downs, but what is important is how you behave during the best and the worst times of your life. Well America has recently gone through some roller coaster times at the Olympics. Yet we survive on top of things.

First, we will start off with the gymnastics news. As you have probably already heard, the US Men's Gymnastics team did not perform to their utmost ability. After the qualifying round, it looked as if nothing stood in their way of finally getting gold in this event. However, the US gymnasts succumbed to the pressure of the event. Mistakes were made one right after the other. From floor to parallel bars, the men of the US gymnastics were not able to put their previous performances out of their minds. I think they kept thinking about their mistakes so much that repetition of the errors was inevitable. Yet, what made me more proud to call these men Americans is how the team was able to leave the stadium with their heads held high. They said that the team competition was not the end of the Olympics for them. Individual and All-around competition is yet to come, and the US men will be performing their hearts out so that they can come home with medals in hand. After seeing this I just wanted to give them all high fives.

As for the women, the Fab Five came into the stadium with the expectations of a nation on their shoulders. After the men were unable to come away from competition with medals around their necks, everyone was hoping that the 2012 US female gymnasts would win the first team gold in sixteen years. Thankfully, the women were able to open competition on their best feature, vault. The three vaults completed were the closest to perfection that I ever remember seeing. Stuck landings, pointed toes, legs together, and height that could not be topped set the American ladies on their journey to gold. With Russia following them, the US women's gymnastics team performed some of the best balance beam, floor, and uneven bars routines seen this season. With the final stuck landing of the last floor routine, only smiles were visible on the faces of the young American gymnasts. The first team to win gold in the Olympics since the 1996 US gymnastics team, will always be remembered as the team holding hands on the floor of the stadium in London, waving at the crowd as the final score came on screen backing up their achievement of first place.

In the swimming arena, Michael Phelps made history breaking the world record becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time. This, however, could not be completed without help from the 4x200m relay team Phelps swam with last night. For the first time, Phelps swam the anchor leg of this relay relying on his teammates to get a lead substantial enough to win the race. Additionally, Phelps was on this relay team with Ryan Lochte, his arch rival, showing that competitors can cooperate with each other in order to win a medal and represent a nation.

So after this day, the United States accumulates more medals and more world records. As the games progress the achievements of the Americans will become more numerous, but not without obstacles to overcome. I just know that all of the United States competitors will need tons of support from American spectators everywhere. So keep watching the games and cheering for your favorite athletes.