Poise, grace and American pride

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It was almost as if the Chinese fans let out a collective sigh of relief when it happened.

Moments after Chinese hero Cheng Fei fell off the balance beam in the third rotation of the women's team finals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, American Alicia Sacramone mounted the beam, lost her balance, and dropped to the mat as well.

For all of the pride the Chinese fans felt toward their athletes, maybe no two teams felt that as strongly as the artistic gymnastics teams. And for all of the head-to-head competition between Olympic heavyweights China and the USA, perhaps none was more high profile or more evenly matched than the women's artistic gymnastics team competition.

The Chinese fans anxiously watched every movement made by the Chinese and American gymnasts, who conveniently were competing in the same rotation. The National Indoor Stadium-just feet from the iconic Bird's Nest and Water Cube stadiums in the heart of the Olympic Green-erupted each time a Chinese gymnast stuck a landing or completed a skill.

When the teams marched from one apparatus to another, echoes of the Chinese chant jiayou! (which literally means "add fuel," but carries the connotation of "let's go") roared throughout the packed 20,000-seat stadium.

The mostly Chinese fans had reason to cheer that day. Cheng Fei's fall on the beam was the only major blemish in an otherwise spectacular day for Team China.

In the fourth and final rotation, the floor exercise, the battle-tested Americans finally faded while the Chinese stayed steady. Sacramone fell on a tumbling pass and all three Americans-Sacramone, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson-stepped out of bounds.

Exactly one year ago today, on Aug. 13, 2008, a day after dominating the field in the men's team competition, China completed the sweep in the gymnastics team competition when the women outscored the Americans 188.900 to 186.525 for another Chinese gold medal. Team USA took the silver.

The result can hardly be blamed on Sacramone, who at 20 was the emotional leader of the team-and, as it turned out, her 0.80 penalty for falling on the beam only would have made up a fraction of China's 2.375-point margin of victory.

But by that point, for a U.S. team that had already overcome two injuries-one just minutes before the team marched out to start prelims-it would have taken something out of this world to catch the extraordinary Chinese.

"She was first, so that's never comforting because you already have a mistake so there is no way you can fall or make any slight mistake," Liukin said, her voice still trembling a bit even one year later.

One year later, what still stands out to USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny aren't the falls or the controversies surrounding the ages of some of the Chinese gymnasts. What impressed Penny the most is how the gymnasts reacted to adversity-be it Sacramone's fall, injuries, the crowd, the media, or any of the other distractions at an Olympic Games.

The six American girls-none was older than 20-stood on the podium smiling as the Chinese team was awarded the gold medals and the crowd began to celebrate. Moments later, they marched, heads held high, and said all the right things to the hordes of news reporters.

Two days later, Liukin became the third American woman to win the Olympic gold medal all-around competition. (Mary Lou Retton was the first at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and Carly Patterson struck gold 20 years later at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games).  Johnson earned the silver medal in the all-around event.

In the individual events that followed, Liukin added silver medals in the balance beam and uneven bars along with a bronze medal on floor. Johnson won a gold medal in beam and earned a silver on floor. Sacramone came back to finish fourth in the vault competition.

"That team was on a mission," Penny said. "That team went there to achieve what they achieved, and because they stayed committed to that mission, they were able to do it. And the amount of medals they came home with was a testament to that."

One year later, they still are focusing on the positives.

"We had mistakes, but not many people can have mistakes at such a meet and pull themselves back together," Johnson said. "We were really proud of ourselves because that takes a lot of mental strength too, to fall on the biggest stage in the world and pick yourselves up right after it."

Even though they didn't win the team gold in Beijing, the U.S. women's gymnastics squad became the golden girls of the event. Afterward, the team went on a 37-city "Tour of Gymnastics Superstars" with the U.S. men's team. Liukin and Johnson went on to become celebrities in their own right, adding job descriptions like model, actress, dancer and spokesperson to their resumes in the year that followed. Johnson became a winner on ABC's hit, "Dancing with the Stars.''

 But when it all comes down to it, they are all gymnasts first. Liukin, Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan are all expected to compete in the 2009 national championships and are leaving the door open to London in 2012. Johnson said she has hired a personal trainer and hasn't ruled out a return to the gym.

 All of the teammates say they are best friends and still communicate almost daily.

 "I've been on three other world championship teams and I think this Olympic team, the bond that we had as a team, and we all got along so well, and I think that's why we succeeded as a team," Liukin said.

 No matter what got in its way, the team of mostly teenagers persevered and showed confidence and poise throughout the competition. When the team was dealt a setback at the last minute, it was a teammate who didn't even have her learner's permit yet who stepped up and performed like a veteran.

The team was in the back gym finishing warming up for floor-its first event in prelims-when, just before marching into the field of play, Peszek heard a pop in her ankle. Chellsie Memmel would already be limited to solely the uneven bars due to injury. Now Peszek, who was expected to compete in all four events, would be, too.

 Team USA would only be able to field four gymnasts in the other three events with all four scores counting. Normally each team has five gymnasts per event with only the top four scores counting.

Enter Bridget Sloan.

"So I knew that my score was going to count whether it was good or bad," Sloan said.

Sloan handled the lineup changes with grace not normally known to a 16-year-old, competing in all four events and finishing up with a strong 15.500 on balance beam. Overall, her all-around score in prelims was 11th overall.

Gymnastics is always one of the most popular sports in an Olympic year, but 2008 was special. Individually, Team USA came away with more medals than ever at an Olympic Games held outside of the United States. As a team, the U.S. finished a respectable second place and did it with the grace, charisma and humility of All-American girls.

Penny, and America, couldn't have asked for more.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.