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This was not what the Americans expected.
Oh sure, being atop the standings by a comfortable margin after their qualifying session in women’s gymnastics, that went according to plan. But world champion Jordyn Wieber (a heavy favorite to add the Olympic gold) won’t even get to contend for the all-around title after finishing behind teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas. Countries are limited to two gymnasts in the all-around and event finals.
It was a stunner for Wieber, who had lost only two all-around competitions since 2008 – though both to fellow Americans – and it left her teammates reeling.
“I was really surprised, and I feel awful because she wanted it so bad” – said Raisman, Wieber’s closest friend on the team and the one who knocked her out of the all-around. “But she should still feel proud because she’s an Olympian. We have to stay calm and focused on team finals.”
The 17-year-old Wieber was sobbing as she made her way through the mixed zone, so distraught she couldn’t speak to reporters. A quote attributed to her and distributed by the London Games’ internal news agency said – “It is a bit of a disappointment. It has always been a dream of mine to compete in the all-around final of the Olympics.”

Jordyn Wieber.

As Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman and the rest of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team waited to march onto the happy pink floor of North Greenwich Arena at the London Olympics, coach John Geddert pulled out his iPhone and, in a tweet, described the anticipation as “10 minutes of hell.”
But it only got worse once the meet began.
“It’s almost like when someone passes away” = national team coordinator Martha Karolyi said. “What’s to say?”
Wieber, the defending world champion and favorite in the individual all-around at these Games, was upset by her teammate, Raisman, and knocked out of the all-around competition after not one major miscue but several teetering imperfections.
There was a step out of bounds on the vault and a break in form on the uneven bars, and Wieber never quite seemed to achieve balance on the beam. On the final rotation, the floor exercise, she stepped beyond the corner boundary.
Wieber (17) had not lost a meet in two years before the U.S. Olympic trials, when she was upset by charming rising star Gabby Douglas (16).
Meanwhile, Raisman, the 18-year-old team captain, had the “meet of her life” – Geddert said. Geddert is also Wieber’s personal coach in DeWitt, Mich.
Russian Victoria Komova led the way in the individual all-around with 60,632 but was followed by the tight grouping of three Americans.
Raisman finished a team-high 60,391, and Douglas qualified with a 60,265, ahead of Wieber (60,032), who, despite a fourth-place finish, does not qualify because of a rule limiting each country to two gymnasts.

Now, Wieber has to find a way to regroup in time to help the U.S. capture its first team title since the “Magnificent Seven” in Atlanta 16 years ago.
“This is the beauty of our program” – USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. “On any given day one of the girls on our team can do it.”
True, except for the last three years, that one girl has almost always been Wieber. She’s only lost twice in competition since 2009, both times to fellow Americans. And she’s never finished behind two teammates in the same meet.
Not until Sunday at least. How she’ll respond is anybody’s guess.
“She’s a strong gymnast” – teammate McKayla Maroney said. “She can turn it around in two seconds.”
Wieber will get two days.
She might need every minute of it.
The 17-year-old is the star the U.S. program has orbited around during the last three years, leading the Americans to a world title in Tokyo last fall.
She kept it going this spring and summer, with Douglas’ emergence giving the U.S. a one-two punch few teams can match.
An all-around showdown in London between Wieber and Douglas has been looming for months. They’ve taken turns gracing the covers of national magazines trying to duplicate the showdown between Liukin and Shawn Johnson in Beijing four years ago.
Consider Douglas the winner by technical knockout.
The rules allow just two gymnasts per country to compete in the individual all-around finals. Raisman’s rock-solid floor exercise on the heels of sloppy routines by both Douglas and Wieber allowed the U.S. captain to leapfrog her more heralded teammates and into the finals.
Even Raisman was stunned, barely blinking during interviews as she tried to balance the greatest day of her career against her best friend’s bitter disappointment.
“It’s really hard” – Raisman said. “That was kind of like my first thought. I was really happy but then at the same time I feel bad just because I know how bad (Wieber) wanted it.”
And if it’s gold Wieber wants, there’s still gold to be had.