Olympic Gymnastics

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love gymnastics.  Yes, I did gymnastics when I was younger and competed all through high school....but nothing compared to what you see the elite gymnasts on TV doing.  Ten plus years later, I still miss being up on the balance beam, springing off the vault and doing back-handsprings on just about any flat surface (including church dances to show up the boys).  I sometimes wish I could do it all again.  We had an amazing, fun, and united team, many of whom I am still friends with.  I think if I had a second chance, I could do even better...but maybe not, since I am much too tall for the sport :)  I can still do a pretty good handstand and can flip around on the trampoline, but I must now live vicariously through those gymnasts on TV.

It has been extremely fun to watch the Olympics this year.  That's what we do most every night (and thanks to DVR, we can watch anything we missed during the day as well).  Without say, the USA women's team has been amazing!  I, of course, was super excited when they won gold and when Gabby won gold in the all-around.  I must admit that I even teared up a couple of times.  I also love the reminiscing the nation is doing about the 1996 Olympic champion team....the Magnificent 7.  Those Olympic Games were very memorable to me, especially as I had watched the gymnasts all year prepare and compete.  I especially remember how fun and crowd-pleasing their floor routines were (no offense to the gymnasts now).  And then there was Kerri Strug's final vault....so courageous, so historic, so memorable. After the Olympics, the gymnasts on both the women's and men's teams did a tour, which was super fun to go see.  Anyway, to complement my trip down memory lane, I have been watching a few of the routines from 1996 on YouTube.  Very enjoyable.

After 16 years, this is the routine that has always stuck in my head...

And there was Shannon Miller's flawless beam routine....  No full-twisting flips in this, but look at her handstand skills!  She won an individual gold with this routine.