Douglas, Wieber Dominate with Olympics on the Line
6.12.12
Philadelphia Inquirer
Jordyn Wieber likes the challenge of a close competition.
Good thing, because it looks as if Gabby Douglas is going to be pushing her all the way to London.
The reigning world champion earned her second straight U.S. title Sunday, getting an assist when Douglas fell off the balance beam at the start of the meet. Wieber finished with 121.900 points, 0.2 ahead of Douglas.
Aly Raisman was third, further cementing her position as a must-have when the Americans are packing for the Olympics. Kyla Ross, a two-time junior champ, was fourth.
The London team will be announced July 1 following Olympic Trials in San Jose, Calif. (June 20 – July 1), and only the trials winner is guaranteed a spot. A selection committee will fill in the rest of the five-person team.
Wieber ran roughshod over pretty much the entire world last year. After upstaging then-world champion Aliya Mustafina at the American Cup, her first meet as a senior, she claimed her first U.S. title in a rout, winning by a whopping six points.
She then led the Americans to only their third title at the world championships, and added the all-around gold.
But Douglas actually finished ahead of her at American Cup, though her scores didn’t count because she was competing as an alternate. The two tied in Friday’s preliminaries, and it was clear the Americans had the makings of a 1-2 punch like the one that drove Liukin and Shawn Johnson at the Beijing Olympics.
Wieber has had some trouble on uneven bars this year but she muscled through her routine without the slightest waver.
Douglas has the personality, poise and megawatt smile to captivate the world this summer, and there’s nothing she likes better than putting on a show. She’s been dubbed the “Flying Squirrel” for the height she attains in her routine of the bars. Her score of 15.85 was the highest of the meet on an event besides vault.
