Olympic Trials Day 1

Well. Our morning started out normally. We got up showered and had leftover pizza for breakfast. We then dropped my mom and Delaney off at the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and they did their own thing (Delaney will guest star later.) My dad and I were then off to the Olympic Trials. I was trying not to jump out of my seat with excitment. We got to the HP Pavilion at 10:30 (Trials started at 12:00.) We wandered around Fan Fest for awhile. Delaney would have loved it. We headed into the arena at 11:00. We were up high but in the middle. It was actually pretty easy too see especially since routines were broadcasted on the giant big screen above the whole arena. My favorite gymnast (Jake Dalton!!!!) had a fantastic competition. He started off on pommel horse. It was a mess:( unfortuantly. Chris Brooks (another one of my favorites) also came off horse about halfway throgh. They both came back to hit very solid rings routines. Jon Horton (an '08 Olympian) hit a solid pommel and killed rings (at 26, he's basically a rings specialist.) He is up there as well. I really want all the guys to make it! But only five will:( Then the Dalton group headed to vault. Leader Danell Leyva hit two solid routines as did runner up John Orozco. Horton was in third followed by Dalton. Sam Mikulak, who was in third after day 1, withdrew from the all around due to a bad ankle. He fractured them both last year and competed on them for the rest of the competition. Yes both ankles. Ouch and you have earned my respect Sam! He competed only on horse and did a fantastic job. Dalton on vault: Super hard vault. Max score a 17.000. Nails it! Stuck and almost stright down the center! 16.350. His teamate Steven Legendre pulled a double front half out and dismounted the landing mat and almost the podium. Ouch. Jon competed a handspring double front. Close to the center, some cowboying, and a pretty decent hop. Impressive comeback since surgery for a Lisfranc injury last October. Chirs Brooks competed a handspring double pike. Straight down the center, slightly tucked on the third rotation, and small hop takes him off the center line. One of the best I've seen him do. Easier on his bad ankles. By the way, he and Jake Dalton have the most adorable handshake ever:D The world could use more Chris Brooks. He loves everybody and is super supportive of everyone else. You can hear him in the background of other people's videos and I could hear him from almost the last row up. He is the heart and soul of Team USA behind Jon. Dalton group to Parallel Bars: Dalton puts on a handstand hitting clinic. To quote Blythe Lawrence: "He's making this olympic team one routine at a time." Hit routines for Brooks, Legendre, and Horton. Horton and Brooks are from the same gym as are Jake and Steven. They are super supportive and run around chalking up bars for each other, cheering each other on, and tackling each other after routines. It's so much fun to watch them support each other. Fourth rotation, Dalton group to high bar. Not Jake's strongest event and probably not an event he would be put up on in team finals. However he can put up a high 14's or low 15's score IF he hits his handstands. Let's go Jake! Solid routine high 14's. Steven is up. He is a vault/floor specialist and unlike Jake is weak on all the other events. Jake is also a floor/vault specialist but can be put up on multiple events. Hit routine in the low 14's. Chris Brooks nails it; high15's. He's recovering from that fall on pommel. Jon nails a high bar routine. He is the reigning Olympic Silver medalist on high bar but has downgraded his routine quite a bit. Hit routines for everyone. A random fact: Alex Buscgalia (sp?) has a beautiful combo on high bar: Liukin to immidiate Gienger:D Sixth and final rotation: Floor. Jake killed this event night one. He had a 9.5 ececution score which if you're new to gymnastics is MASSIVE. Jake on floor; holding my breath. Here we go: Arabian double layout;nails it. Finished with a massive triple full. 9.4 execution score, 16.000 overall. Legendre hits floor; impressive. 16.2 is BIG. Brooks nails it as well. Proud of him:D Jon up. Clean until...Ohhhh...Puts his hands down and out of bounds. That could be costly. Mikulak nails horse by the way. Good for him. The top two male gymnasts in the all around are named to the Olympic team AS LONG AS they have 3 top 3 finishes in single events. Danell Leyva and John Orozco both fit the bill. they are being interviewed on the podium. John is crying and Danell's chillin like a villain. Orozco is from the Bronx. His story is so inspiring. His parents are crying on the crowd. Big supporter of him and his gymnastics. You can tell that his parents are extremely proud of him. The other three will be named on July 1st (today!) They are Jon Horton, Sam Mikulak, and Jake Dalton. Alternates are Steven Legendre, Chris Brooks, and Alex Naddour, who is from Arizona. I am very happy with this team and predicted that this team after the National Championships concluded at the beginning of June. As I mentioned earlier, Jake will be used on floor and vault, most likely on rings, and might be put up on P Bars and high bar in team finals but definitly in Quals. We will see what Kevin does with this team in London. Congrats to the 2012 Men's U.S. Olympic team and the alternates. Special shout out to Jon, who is the only 2008 Olympian still competing. Congrats on your second Olympic Jon! And of course a shout out to my favorite gymnast Jake Dalton! And lastly to Chris Brooks for beings supportive and classy in the face of hardship. Good luck in London gentleman!