For more coverage on the 2012 London Olympic Games, check out the Olympics Spotlight Page
Before the games even started, we had our favorites picked for the finals and one of the obvious choices was gymnastics’ reigning world champion, Jordyn Wieber.
But jaws dropped around the country last night when Wieber failed to qualify for the women’s gymnastics all-around finals.
Even though she had the fourth best score in the team qualifying round, she will not advance to the all-around due to an international rule that allows only two competitors from each country to compete.
Her teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas finished just ahead of Wieber, edging the 17-year-old out.
This has sparked a major uproar from gymnastics fans who think the system has unfairly eliminated a gymnast who is one of the best in the world. Wieber broke down in tears at the end of the night – following an uncharacteristically low score on her final event, the floor exercise.
Her longtime coach, John Geddert, spoke out about what he called an “injustice.”
“That’s the lowest floor score she’s gotten … ever,” he told PEOPLE. “And again, they gave her nothing in her floor routine that was questionable.”
He added that the rule unfairly punishes gymnasts from countries with better teams.
“We have always known the 2 per country rule, we are not crying of spilt milk, yet it makes it difficult to explain how the 4th best AA finisher, the former world champion, does not get a shot at fulfilling her dream, just because her country happens to be incredibly strong,” Geddert wrote on Facebook.
Legendary gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, also expressed his frustration with the results. “To eliminate somebody because a teammate beat her. Still among the first four gymnasts in the world, and still you’re eliminated?” he told reporters.
For us, the worst part of the evening was NBC’s decision to interview Aly Raisman on how excited she was to make the all-around…. while Weiber sobbed in the background. Not cool, NBC.
Bela’s wife Marta, the official Team USA coordinator, was more level-headed with her comments, saying “I would be very disappointed, too. Today she wasn’t quite as sharp. She was very good but not quite as sharp and the other two girls surpassed her… What can you do? Sport is sport.”
While Wieber won’t be competing in the all-around, she’ll still get a chance to shine in the team finals tomorrow night. “Thank you all for your love and support,” she tweeted. “I am so proud of our team today and I can’t wait for team finals!!”
For more coverage on the 2012 London Olympic Games, check out the Olympics Spotlight Page
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