Men's Gymnastics

Although the Chinese men’s team started off with a rocky start, it ended up dominating the gymnastics competition and winning the gold. The United States also competed well and exceeded expectations by winning a bronze medal. It was only the fourth time the United States men’s team had won any medal and the first time China won a gold medal in men’s gymnastics.

The United States team met with a lot of confusion and last minute changes early on in the competition. Two star competitors (twins Paul and Morgan Hamm) gave up their spots on the team because of injuries and two alternates (Raj Bhavsar and Sasha Artemev) were put in the game. In fact, Artemev was notified that he would be competing in the Olympics less than one day before the competition began! Through the changes, the men pulled it together and gave a commendable performance for which they won a deserved bronze medal.

China too had its share of tough moments as it began the competition with a bit of bad luck and a few mistakes. In the end though China performed well and got the points it needed to win gold.

Have you ever played on a team when last minute changes or early mess-ups got you frazzled? What did you do in that situation?