commentaries

And if Michael Phelps had burst into tears after his 4th place performance ...

"Because of a ridiculous new rule limiting the number of team members who can qualify for the all-around individual competition" - Ridiculous? Yes. New? No. There have been limits in place on the number of competitors allowed per country in the All-Around finals for years. In fact, a limit of 3-per-country was in place for a long time, at the same time the All-Around was limited to 36 competitors. In 2004, they reduced the All-Around field to 24 competitors, and at the same time instituted a 2-per-country limit. Elena Zamolodchikova of Russia has the dubious distincion of missing the Olympic All-Around finals for two straight Olympics under both the limits of 3 and 2 (she finished 4th and 3rd on her team, respectively); fortunately for her, she's recovered to win individual medals on floor and vault. Many great gymnasts have been excluded from All-Around finals for many, many years, with that impact being profoundly felt among Russian and Romanian gymnasts where there is a history of deep teams. The rule is stupid and it's silly, yes. But it's also a little silly that Americans only finally care about it and even notice it once it impacts one of our own.

Gaby rules!