© John Cheng

LONDON, Aug. 6, 2012 – Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif./University of Michigan, finished fifth in the men’s vault final, and Gabby Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow’s Gymnastics, was eighth in the women’s uneven bars finals at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Douglas was last up on bars and scored a 14.900 for eighth place. She made a small mistake in the middle of her routine when she went the wrong way on her toe shoot full, which caused her to have a lower start value and score than normal. She covered up the mistake and finished her routine, complete with a double layout dismount. Aliya Mustafina of Russia won the gold with a score of 16.133. He Kexin of China was second with a 15.933 and hometown favorite Beth Tweddle of Great Britain won the bronze with a score of 15.916.

Douglas said, "It was an amazing bar finals with so many great competitors. Coming into bar finals was a big challenge for me and I made a little mistake. Even if I would have hit a solid routine, I know I have a lower start value then the other competitors. I’m going to go into beam finals tomorrow and try really hard to end on a good note."

In men’s vault finals, Mikulak was up sixth. He performed his double twisting Kasamatsu and scored a 16.100. On his second vault, a handspring double front, he stuck the landing and scored a 16.000 for a two-vault average of 16.050 to finish fifth.

"I’m happy I went out there today and put two vaults on my feet," said Mikulak. When asked why he kissed the vault after he competed he said, "Vault was so good to me today I tried to give it some love back."

Regarding his second vault, Mikulak said "This was only the third time I’ve ever competed the handspring double front vault, so to stick it today I was very happy."

Korea’s Yang Hak Seon won the vault gold medal with a 16.533. Denis Ablyazin of Russia won the silver with 16.399. Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov won bronze with 16.316.

In the men’s still rings final, Brazil’s Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti won the title with a sore of 15.900. China’s Chen Yibing earned the silver with a 15.800 and Italy’s Matteo Morandi won the bronze, scoring a 15.733. The U.S. did not have a competitor in the still rings finals competition.

Men’s and women’s event finals continue Aug. 7. Tuesday’s events are men’s parallel bars and horizontal bar and women’s balance beam and floor exercise. The U.S. athletes competing on Tuesday include Danell Leyva of Miami/Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics) and Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics) on horizontal bar; Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan’s American Gymnastics, and Douglas on balance beam; and Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA, and Raisman on women’s floor exercise.

Gymnastics concludes at the Olympic Games with Rhythmic Gymnastics on Aug. 9-10 at Wembley Arena. Julie Zetlin of Bethesda, Md./Capital Rhythmics, will compete for the USA.

Ways to follow the Olympic Games include:

  • USAGym.org, the USA Gymnastics official website, is a great source for information about the sport: latest news, the schedule of its premier events, athlete biographies, videos, photo galleries, live scoring from major events and more. USA Gymnastics also has usagymclub.org, which is a resource center for parents of potential and existing gymnasts.
  • TeamUSA.org, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s website will also be a good resource for information on the Team USA in London.
  • Facebook – USA Gymnastics has an official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/USAGymnastics, which carries USA Gymnastics information and activities for fans. The USOC’s official Facebook page is www.facebook.com/USOlympicTeam
  • Twitter – USA Gymnastics has an official Twitter feed — @usagym. The USOC’s Twitter feed is @usolympic.
  • NBCOlympics.com – NBC is the broadcast and web source for coverage and news on the Olympic Games. NBCOlympics.com will carry live coverage of every gymnastics session as well as all sports, and maintain an archive for on-demand coverage. A special "Live Extra" app for smartphones and tablets is available as well. For gymnastics, viewing options will include a single "integrated" feed showing various competitors (akin to watching on TV), plus separate feeds for each apparatus.
    Check your local listings for dates and times in your area here: http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv-listings/index.html.
  • YouTube – USA Gymnastics has an official YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/usagymnasticsorg, which features routines of the top gymnasts from various events, interviews, etc. The USOC’s YouTube Channel is www.youtube.com/TeamUSA.