13 posts, August 1, 2016 to August 16, 2016. In order, oldest first.
Leaving for a first Olympic Games wearing two hats at once: writing for Inside Gymnastics, and treating whoever needs it. The suitcase is mostly medical.
Men's podium training, two hours in the credentialing queue, and traffic that beggars belief. First impressions of Rio, and of Brazilians who could not be nicer.
Women's podium training a day out from the Opening Ceremonies: Oksana Chusovitina at her seventh Games, a Chinese team not looking like itself, and a detour to the diving.
The world comes together for one night and the American gymnasts mostly watch it on television. Why artistic gymnastics starts before the ceremony has finished.
Men's qualification, and how a gymnast actually reaches a final: team, all-around, and event, three different routes decided on the same night.
Why the United States could not have swept an Olympic all-around podium even with the three best gymnasts in the world, and what that rule does to a lineup.
Five subdivisions of women qualifying for three different finals, thirteen hours in the arena, and a late escape to the swimming with John Roethlisberger.
Finals week begins. What live scoring has done to the job of reporting from a Games, and what the men's team final looked like from the floor of the arena.
Simone Biles proved she is unbreakable but not unbendable. A physical therapist reads the hip turnout on bars and the low chest that produced the wobble on beam.
One of the best competitions she has ever watched: Kohei Uchimura against Oleg Verniaiev, and the tenths that left Sam Mikulak just outside a medal.
The women's all-around, what athletes actually do with a day off at an Olympics, and what an Olympic medal is made of. Plus the people they thank.
Simone Biles above the entire field on vault, and Alex Naddour taking the first American men's individual medal in 32 years. Why finals run one event at a time.
Almost twenty years of wanting to be at an Olympics, and five days left of it. What it took to get here, and what it feels like to be nearly finished.
