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Chapter Ten – July - August
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"Welcome back from break everyone, as we continue watching the parade of nations, at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games!"
"And we came back just in time to see the water polo legend Péter Biros walk in bearing the Hungarian Flag."
"That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Three Olympics, three gold medals, and in 2008 he competed with a cyst by his heart! This man is a legend!"
"Hungary moves on, and here comes Iceland, the westernmost European country. A small nation that has yet to win a gold medal in the games"
"And now a welcome to the Independent Olympic Athletes. Both the flag and the name placard are carried by representative of the volunteers and other 'makers of the games' as they are called, who were chosen by their peers."
"I believe this is one of the biggest Independent Olympic Athletes contingent since 1992, when 58 athletes from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Macedonia competed under this banner. And I am obviously discounting the Unified Team composed by athletes from the former USSR, since they competed under a different agreement."
"I do think you are right. We have here an athlete from South Sudan, due to the country not having a National Olympic formed yet, three athletes from the now dissolved nation of the Netherlands Antilles who did not wish to compete under the banner of the Netherlands or Aruba, and two young women from the USA, who were banned from their national gymnastics federation."
"Indeed. Let us remind our viewers that in January Payson and Rebecca Keeler shocked the world when they released the news that they had been banned from their sport in their home country. They appealed to the FIG, the international federation for their sport, and to the IOC, who both agreed they were innocent of all accusations against them. As the American federation refused to budge, the IOC gave the two young ladies the option to qualify for the games in the test event held in February, and they easily guaranteed their places, as you can see right now."
"And the British crowd loves them. Considering that they train in London and that Payson Keeler's boyfriend and coach is British four-time gold medalist Sasha Belov, it is no surprise that they received such a warm welcome."
"Well, now the stadium gives another warm welcome, this time to India."
"Their flag is carried by..."
"Alright girls. Use your podium training wisely." Sasha said as they moved through the O2 arena's corridors, from the changing rooms to the floor.
Becca and Payson nodded, as they shouldered their bags.
It had been decided that Sasha would accompany Becca and Payson, while Nicolai took charge of the girls in the British team. It was easier to have separate roles, considering the possibility of the gymnasts competing at the same time in different corners of the gym.
As they came out of the corridor and onto the arena's floor, they passed the US squad coming out from their own podium training.
Payson kept her face impassive as Kaylie sneered at them and turned her face, but gave a little smile as Lauren winked at her. Surprisingly, Kelly Parker completely ignored the woman she guessed was Ellen Beals, and came up to her with a smirk on her face.
"So, you are back, uh Keller? Good to see you. I always knew you would somehow make it. You're like a weed, no one can actually kill you!" The girl laughed, before raising her and for a fist bump. "Let the best gymnast win!"
Payson smiled and accepted the gesture, and waved at the horn wearing girl as she went back to her team. She easily ignored Beals evil eyes, and followed Sasha to the beam.
"Who would ever have guessed?" Becca said, before her eyes widened slightly. "Dam, I'm saying this too many times about your previous teammates Pay!"
Payson laughed, before putting her serious face back on. Lauren and Kaylie would probably call her the Payson Bot if they saw her, but she couldn't care less. She was in competition mode, and no one would stop her.
2012 Olympic Games – Artistic Gymnastics Individual Women's All-Around qualification
1- Payson Keeler (IOA) – 62. 238
2- Gengui Cho (CHN) – 60.291
3- Rebecca Keeler (IOA) – 60.265
4- Kelly Parker (USA) – 60.265
5- Ivanka Kirilenko (RUS) – 59.966
6- Kaylie Cruz (USA) – 57.998
7- Daria Laga (ROM) – 57.800
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. There is a scandal shaking the US sports world. Two US gymnasts are competing as International Olympic Athletes, and have qualified for the finals ahead of all the gymnasts representing the US." An attractive, blond, woman announced from behind a news table.
"That is right." Her co-host, an attractive brunet man said. "Payson and Rebecca Keeler have qualified first and third to the all-around final in the woman's artistic gymnastics competition. Not only that, Rebecca Keeler has qualified for three event finals, and Payson Keeler qualified in first place to all four!"
"Meanwhile, just yesterday the US women's team could only reach the bronze medal on team finals, behind both China and Russia."
"Here with us today, to better understand this situation is..."
[Xena_123] Go, Go Keeler Sisters!
[Emma_Shore] YES! I'm rooting for them so much! I hope the NGO gets hit hard over this s***
[Anarchist] The fallout from this is going to be BEAUTIFUL!
[gymnastics_geek] Take that! everyone who ever doubted these girls was just proven wrong!
[Olympics_lover] Payson and Sasha are so cute together! 3
They were standing in the tunnel that led into the arena, just outside the view of the public. Payson and Becca were slightly jumping in place to keep themselves warm as they waited for the go ahead.
Sasha, with a bag in each arm, had to make an effort to keep the smile off his face. Two of his athletes had qualified in great positions to the most important event in individual gymnastics, and looked poised to win medals in just a few hours.
This was the moment of truth. The test event had been crucial, yes, but it was not an important event where the world was concerned. Almost no one watched it live, and the audience, while of a considerable size, had nothing on the numbers present right now. The same could be said for the qualifications just a few days ago. Payson and Becca had competed in subdivision 1, together with twelve other gymnasts without teams and Brazil, which guaranteed that none of the big gymnastics countries where watching.
The organizers gave the sign to go in, and Sasha followed the other coaches of the top six gymnasts as they headed for vault. He had to admit that it was strange to once again be on the floor with Marty Walsh, although this time as coaches.
"Never thought I would see you here." The man he had once called a friend whispered to him, as the girls lined up to greet the audience and the judges.
Sasha snorted. "Never say never." He simply stated, turning around to greet his girls as they came down from the podium.
He looked them in the eyes and was satisfied to see them focused and determined.
"Alright. Becca, get to the stairs, you're up second. Pay, you're fourth, so keep warm. You know the drill."
Payson nodded, as she kept moving in her jacket, obviously visualizing her vault.
Sasha followed Becca into the podium as soon as Kelly Parker was done, making sure the springboard and mat were positioned exactly right.
The vaults went as expected. The American had always been good vaulters, and Payson the best of them. Becca came in in fifth, which was not bad considering that was her worst event.
He was not worried about Payson at all. She was rock solid, completely ignoring the side looks that Cruz was sending her way. No Payson would have no problems. She was leagues away from everyone else.
Becca on the other hand, was a different story. The second through fifth qualifiers were too close to each other to make any predictions.
Two years ago, the Chinese had been smugly showing off Ghengi Cho's prowess, but now the joke was on them. Two years was an eternity in the world of gymnastics and, as anyone with any sense had expected, many other gymnasts had leveled up.
Bars also went as expected. That was the Keelers strong point, but so was Kelly Parker's. At the end of the second rotation, Payson was firmly in first, followed by Kelly Parker, while Becca was fourth. Ghengi Cho was hanging on to third, with the sole Russian in fifth. Kaylie Cruz had had an unfortunate routine, with several mistakes, dumping her into sixth.
Sasha took a deep breath, looking over the girls to make sure they were fine and that they didn't need a distraction. Seeing Becca mimic her Beam routine on a line on the floor, he dug through her bag for her headphones, so he could have her floor music ready the moment she came out. It would help her focus during the time she would have to wait. He spied Payson's already on top of her own bag, ready to go.
The beam was not known as the event that could make, or break you, for nothing. And that was never as evident as in these Olympics. Payson was on first and completely killed it. Every line extended, every step, every tumble, every turn. Everything was perfect without the slightest hesitation, and Sasha had no idea how the judges could possibly find anything to deduct.
He gave her a high five as she put on her headphones, turning her back to the scoring board and prepping for floor.
When the crowd suddenly roared, Payson didn't even twitch. It said something to her experience as an athlete, because of all the top six gymnasts, only Kelly Parker and Ivanka Kirilenko had refrained from looking around for the cause, and so they were the only too who didn't notice the very flashy 16.47 on the scoring board. The scoring board that also stated that Payson had just received an amazing 9.97 for her execution score.
The reactions couldn't be more different. Becca raised her hand to fist bump him, while thankfully resisting doing the same to her sister. While Ghengi Cho, who was next up for beam basically lost all the color on her face. And so had Marty's athlete, whom he was now trying to calm down.
The effect of Payson's score on the Chinese girl was noticeable from the moment that Cho stepped on the beam. The girl must have immediately understood that the gold medal was completely impossible, and that had probably thrown her off her game, and out of the beam.
The scores were low, and with that the young girl unfortunately guaranteed that she would not get any medal. He couldn't see Parker or Kirilenko having a mistake like that. Or Becca, even
He was right. The Russian and American both had solid performances. So had Becca, who showed why she had qualified fourth for the beam final, bringing herself to third, just two tenths of a point lower than Kelly Parker.
Kaylie Cruz was another story. The girl had probably seen an opening, with Cho's fall and her own good scores on floor, it would have been possible to get a bronze if she had just a slightly higher start value.
He could see Marty shake his head as Kaylie obviously added an unplanned skill, and promptly flayed her arms and legs around, fighting to stay on the beam. She managed it, but the tenths lost in execution would certainly not be worth the difficulty value.
Sasha took a deep breath. Just floor left, and Becca was one of the first up.
Kylie Cruz had a nice routine, but it wouldn't be enough for a medal. In fact, Ghengi Cho would probably pass her soon.
Then came Becca. She was a great performer. She had a confidence and sassiness that was endearing in a naive and sweat way.
Becca passed to first place, temporarily, but there were still four others to go.
Ivanka Kirilenko was good, but it wasn't enough to pass Becca's overall score. Then came Ghengi Cho. Floor was not her specialty, and that put her behind Kirilenko, prompting Becca to squeal in excitement, with the knowledge that the bronze was now in her grasp.
Payson was next, and her beautiful routine, that combined power with grace made the crowd scream in delight.
As she came down from the podium, he opened his arms for a hug, and got a kiss on the lips instead, making the crowd go wild once more.
"You're in first Becca! Yes! That's awesome!" Payson screamed, delighted, as she hugged her sister after finally looking up at the scoring board.
Becca smiled back. "Not for long. You'll pass me in about a minute"
And so she did. With the highest floor score of the day, Payson Keeler guaranteed herself the silver medal, by going into first place with one gymnast to go.