So it's here. It's time. It's the Olympics! I hope you enjoy it. There will be a few twists and turns and hopefully I haven't been too predictable…
Iargyrop – you want Kaylie to get her ass kicked? Well, here you go. On many levels. I hope you enjoy!
Luv2Live – here you are. I wasn't sure what's been happening with messaging. I've been getting double ups. Oh well. Enjoy!
Alexia05 – yes, Bars will always be Lauren's least favourite part of gymnastics. Ever. I hope you enjoy the twists and turns.
J – I love demanding. Bring on your inner Lauren. I love it.
- chapter break -\
Whispers followed the US into podium training. Since they'd arrived at the village they'd been surrounded by them. Ironically, it had brought them closer together as a team. While Emily Kmetko attempted to defend herself to America and the team as a whole was debated on breakfast television, the six remaining girls knuckled down, pulled their heads in and focused.
In the back of their minds they knew, if they didn't redeem themselves on the competition floor they'd be remembered for that forever.
Podium training was a rite of passage at any competition and doubly so at the Olympics. Unfortunately for the US, going in they were at a distinct disadvantage.
Kelly wasn't with them.
Instead, Andrea led them into the Olympic arena for the first time, in team USA sweats. Immediately they settled in and the veteran drew Beth's attention away from the crowd.
Lauren, Payson and Kaylie exchanged looks and then joined them. Automatically they started stretching and prepping. The coaches met up with their French, Canadian and British equivalents to coordinate their rotation as they'd be sharing the space, much like they'd be sharing their qualification round slot.
"We should chat." Lauren declared. The team stared "What?" She asked "We are not a creepy silent team. People already think we're falling apart without giving them anymore ammunition."
Andrea turned and called out "Hey Ellie" and waved. At the team's astonished look she reminded them "you realise like half the Canadian team competes NCAA, right?"
While the rest of them stripped off, Andrea kept on her team USA sweats as she warmed up. Whether or not she'd take them off to reveal the leo underneath was still up in the air.
Payson focused onto those watching from a distance; press, Olympic officials and other team officials. No doubt they were there to judge the competition. Of course, there were also the actual judges, getting a look as well. It was quite often said a whole meet could be decided in podium training.
"They're like vultures." Lauren snarled.
"No" Payson insisted. "Vultures go after the weak, and we are not weak. Marcus was right. We're the survivors. We're strong. We can do this we just have to band together, as a team."
"Go Captain Keeler go." Lauren muttered, but there was a hint of a grin on her face.
"Exactly. We can do this. I know we can. So let's show them what team USA is made of."
Despite Payson's inspiring pep-talk, podium training wasn't exactly a walk in the park. The coaches had given them the less than inspiring but altogether necessary talk about using this time to get used to the equipment. This wasn't a practice session. It had a practical purpose of getting used to equipment they'd never used, seen or touched before. And the coaches were right.
It took them a significant chuck of their allotted time just to get used to the spring in the floor.
However, it was increasingly looking like bars would be the bane of this team's existence. The bars were white and set up on a white mat, which made them particularly hard to see. One after another, they all missed at least one skill and went, one, two, three, four, into the mat.
Mac instantly had them back up there, and by the end of the rotation Lauren felt vaguely confident she could complete a routine at least. A week ago she'd had heart set on gold medals. Now she just wanted to know she wouldn't fall on her face and humiliate herself in front of the world.
"One more time." Sasha told her, with what was meant to be a reassuring pat on her shoulder. But his jaw was so tense it looked like it might snap.
He swung up and tried to attack the bars with her usual vigour. She started her routine on the low bar with her weiber kips and then up to the high bar and back down again. She knew it wasn't great and fought for it, but her releases were nowhere near high enough. They were so low she almost missed the bar entirely. She fought for it, wound up, and launched into her double-twisting double tuck. She landed it. Just.
"Nice job, Lo." Her team called out and Sasha patted her on the shoulder. He didn't need to say anything.
"Personally I thought it sucked." Kelly interrupted loudly. She had to make an entrance coming in on crutches with an ankle in a boot. She headed straight for Lauren. "Unless you were attempting to look like the gymnast doing it wrong in a training video."
"That's enough Kelly" Marcus told her quietly, hand authoritariatively on her shoulder. "I need to talk to Mac, please don't say anything else until I get back." He cast a wary eye in Lauren's direction "either of you."
Kelly eyed Lauren judgementally "you really should be let nowhere near a set of uneven bars. That was awful."
From where he was talking with Marcus, Mac turned back to snap "keep working. Atchinson. Get up there."
"Bite me Parker" Lauren spat back half-heartedly before demanding "Well?"
"I can compete" she insisted.
"But are they actually going to let you?"
"I can't vault." Kelly admitted "I mean, I know I can. but they think one bad vault landing could completely tear the ligament so no way in the prelims."
"What about bars landings?" Lauren asked, ignoring the pain in Kelly's voice.
Kelly shrugged with false casualness. "I've got at least one in me."
"Are you training today?" Payson asked quietly.
Kelly shook her head. "Not that I can't." She insisted "just the doctors won't let me."
"But they have cleared you for prelims?" Lauren checked one more time.
"I'm cleared. It's just a matter of whether Mac wants me or not."
Kelly awkwardly noticed Andrea watching "Sorry." She muttered.
"It's okay." Andrea insisted "You're what the team needs. Mac would be crazy not to use you."
Lauren eyed her disbelievingly "are you secretly a saint or something?"
Mac interrupted. "Girls. Beam. Now."
Beam went… Well it went. Lauren wasn't one to fall off, even in this kind of situation but she had a few near disasters. The other three all came off once each, but considering they all did more than one routine the odds were at least potentially in their favour and getting better each time. The coaches were pushing them through, looking to get as much experience on the apparatus for each gymnast as was possible.
Vault went better for the team. Miracle of miracles, Kaylie hit three Amanars in a row, much to the happiness of her teammates and Beth, after overshooting her first by huge margins, also had huge successes. Kelly, insistently, gave her a string of criticism that had the coaches hurrying over and Beth's face going ashen. They'd been deliberately kind on all the girls. Now was not the time for a crisis of confidence.
"If I'm not allowed to win gold then it's on you." Kelly insisted. "Congratulations. You're my legacy. Now do you want to win gold or not?"
Beth nodded and asked, voice still shakey but with a hint of determination "can I go again?"
Lauren's first vault landed entirely in the red. It was so off side she almost came off the landing area entirely. She managed to save it but Mac's face said it all. She was no Kelly Parker on vault and with Payson not having trained the apparatus in months they only had gymnasts capable of vaulting.
Sasha took a more proactive approach. Lauren wasn't one to be coddled and vault was not uneven bars. His tone, therefore, was distinctly unimpressed "Did you need me to draw you a box? Or was the bright red mat not indicative enough?"
With a far more determined than disheartened scowl she headed back to the top of the runway. This time she bounced a little, hit her block and was much closer to centre.
"Better." Sasha told her.
Mac just looked relieved but also explained "you're twisting too early and hitting the vault to flat." She nodded. She knew that.
The third vault was definitely one of her better ones.
Then she handed over to Beth again. Kelly crutched her way to beside the apparatus, snapping criticisms.
When they were done there were interviews but the NGO didn't want long interviews. If they had their way, no gymnast would be near a camera unless they were on the competition floor however the media had shown up in full force. Lauren answered a few questions. When asked if she was happy with podium training she interpreted that as happy with the equipment, when asked what she thought about team chances against the rest of the world, she talked about the strength of America and how many talented gymnasts it was producing.
"You're just a little scary." Marcus told her, as they were escorted onto the bus.
After practice, they explored the village while expending as little energy as possible. They had a team dinner which was very quiet and waved at the boys having their own team dinner.
Given they had qualifications the next day, they had Marcus and their host of personal coaches there. The girls had Janet, recently-promoted-to-coach-so-she-can-come-to-practice Andrea and Beth's Mother/Coach supervising. Lauren thought that hopefully that just meant that the officials were focused on the men's prelims the next day. Not that they'd written the women off entirely.
Finishing up at the same time, Lauren hurried up and snuck in under Carter's arm.
"Hey." He smiled fondly, giving her a quick kiss "How was podium training?"
"Fine. It was fine. Are you psyched for tomorrow?"
He nodded.
"Staying up for the ceremony?"
"The first bit, I think." He admitted "they're not letting you guys march either?"
"Two days before prelims? No. But we're watching it at our place. Everyone. You should come?"
"Everyone? Like, the whole team?"
"Yes. Kaylie too. But also Beth and Kelly. Its bonding. You should come and bring everyone. That way, when you want to sleep your place will be empty."
"What are we talking about?" Austin came up behind the pair and slung an arm over each of them.
"Tonight. Ceremony watching at our place. Everyone's coming."
"Cool. Everyone as in both teams?"
"Yeah. The girls are all coming. Even Andrea."
"Awesome. Maxxie. Ceremony, tonight in the girls room. Tell Horton and Russo?"
"I might have plans tonight" Max hesitated
"You can have sex anyday. This is the opening ceremony. Be with your team."
Max hesitated dramatically. "Alright, but know I'm turning down a hot night with a Brazilian beach volleyballer for this."
"Volleyball? Again?" Lauren asked "did you learn nothing last time?"
- chapter break –
The boys arrived as a group. While Jon looked a little uncomfortable upon entering, Andrea waved happily. She was the only one in jeans, because she wouldn't be staying the whole time.
Payson, Kaylie and Beth in full team USA regalia (complete with face paint) were in the lounge area when the boys entered. She told them "grab a glass" and left the kitchenette with a plate of chopped up vegetables and a bag of party supplies under one arm.
"We're painting faces." Beth announced cheerfully "and Lauren said she'd do my hair."
"I certainly will." Lauren announced. She emerged in her own pair of stars and stripes shorts, and a Men's team hoodie that almost dwarfed them. It was her hair that drew attention. Payson was almost used to the dramatic hairstyles Lauren pulled off, but the halo braid, with not one but three ribbons was a new high.
"That looks impossible" Carter summed up.
"And by impossible he means awesome." Austin corrected.
They were disrupted by Kelly making an entrance. She gestured wildly "Sorry, sorry. I'm late. Has it started?"
"Nope" Payson shook her head. Lauren resisted the urge to snigger. Kelly had gone for Team USA colours as well, with a very visible red bra (that Lauren knew to be giving Kelly a lot of help) under a lacy navy camisole. It barely covered the bright red shorts.
"Mmm, Keeler. Pour me some of that." She announced "it's opening ceremony time and I need a champagne glass in my hand."
"Kelly you can't drink." Nicky hissed.
"Calm down genius, its sparkling water." Kelly pointed out.
He continued on. "Did you walk here like that?"
"No, I walked here naked."
The hand he was leaning on the table with slipped and he almost went careening. He snickered and Kelly flopped on the couch. "Let's get this party started then?"
Lauren curled in between her two boys, while Kelly draped herself on an appreciative Max. Every so often Payson, on Max's other side, cast a wary look at their hands to make sure she didn't need to relocate.
Kaylie took the only single arm-chair, while Beth sat down in front of Lauren (so she could do the braids) and Andrea, Nicky and Jon congenially shared their own lounge.
The boys stayed until the parade of nations, before they departed with best wishes from the girls. They wouldn't see them in the morning.
"We'll be watching" Lauren promised.
- chapter break -
Unlike worlds, the men had to qualify first, which meant Lauren sat in the stands, clutching Payson's hand nervously while the boys warmed up. With most of the coaches down on the floor, along with a wave of support personnel and the personal coaches of all the boys, the girls could've been devoid of supervision. However, the US Olympic Committee and the National Gymnastics Organisation were taking no chances and there were a handful of support staff sitting with them as well.
The boys finished warming up and Lauren enthusiastically cheered when Carter was announced first. They followed that with an enthused shout for Jon, Nicky and Max and gave a delighted whoop when Austin was announced. Even Payson barely heard it because the entire arena had broken into cheers. Apparently Austin's interview where he'd declared London his second home and declared his love for all things English ("especially Jack, but all things really") had won him some hard core British fans.
He waved with a broad smile before stepping back.
"You should've heard them with the British team." Jack, sitting a row back with his parents and friends leant forward to tell her. "It was… indescribable."
Lauren had been warned about it already. One of the reasons they'd been granted permission to come watch the boys qualify was to experience the roar and see what it was like. Even the less emotionally invested Kaylie and Beth were there and seemed gobsmacked at the noise.
Evidently, they wanted to start the competition out big because Austin led the charge on vault and from there the men's team didn't look back. Their qualifying group was a little hollow, meaning they had no really competition to be chased by or chase, but that didn't make qualifying first so far, any less gratifying.
Lauren also knew Austin's schedule was partially to do with the trainer getting enough access in-between routines. Austin posted scores that should see him qualify to every individual event bar pommel horse, even with a few stumbles here and there.
Max booked a trip to the pommel horse final and to Lauren's utter delight, Carter put in a great floor and vault that could see him qualify for both.
But they were taken back to the village before even the boys came out, let alone the third qualification round was performed. Instead, they were told to "relax" which, for the wired Lauren, was not a possibility.
While Payson attempted to "visualise," Lauren fluttered around the room until Payson's abrupt glare made her stop.
"Isn't there anything that would make you relax?" She demanded of Lauren.
"Sex. Sex would make me relax." She flopped back on the bed before sitting up, much to Payson's annoyance.
She stood back up again. "That's it. I'm going to the gym."
"Don't tire yourself out."
Lauren whirled "fine then, I'm going to the spa."
"Be careful." Payson called after the twitchy Lauren.
By the end of the day, the US men knew they'd qualified first and were hugely impressed with themselves. They spent the rest of the day watching their competitions and performing their obligatory male bonding aside from when they remembered the girls were yet to compete and guilty offered to "come be supportive."
Lauren waved them off and left them to their post qualification celebration, instead occupying the evening with painting nails and hanging out with Payson, Kaylie and Beth.
Even Kelly joined in, and at least once every ten minutes somebody stopped by to check on them.
Beth, Kaylie and Payson all froze when Kelly asked whether Lauren would be competing with slut red lipstick and Lauren replied that devil red was taken but the two just metaphorically circled each other, Kelly re-establishing her independence since she'd been permitted back onto the team.
Beth's coach showed up, one of only two capable of being the designated female coach on the floor (the other was Janet). She reminded them all they needed the final pick of their team leo, from the three they'd shortlisted down too. Lauren's favourite was everyone else's' least favourite. But she decided she didn't care. She could wear it in the all-around. She crushed the thought down instantly. It was asking for problems.
Team dinner. Phone call to Dad. Bed. Then it was time.
They met and warmed up; suddenly quiet, suddenly focused.
In their group, like in the men, there was no China, or Russia, no Romania to keep them on their toes. They would, however, have Great Britain, and the loudest crowd imaginable.
They'd begin on beam, sending up Payson to set the benchmark.
She shook a little, Lauren could see. The Olympics set everyone's teeth on edge. No matter how much they had prepared, taking to the mat for their first Olympic routine would rattle anyone. It rattled Payson. Her routine relied upon huge execution and she just didn't have it. Persistent Payson persevered through the routine, and finished with a slightly overshot dismount that had her sighing in disappointment and forcing a smile for the salute.
It wasn't great. Lauren had seen much better by her roommate, but she was their first gymnast on their first apparatus. Their sacrificial lamb so to speak.
Lauren hugged her tightly and then started focusing on her own routine.
She didn't see it, but one by one the scores came up.
Payson 15.205
Kaylie: 15.905
Beth: 15.685
Kaylie was the only one truly performing at the best of her ability.
Then it was Lauren's turn.
She carefully checked her board distance. It was correct. It always was. Sasha had set it for her. She did it anyway. Counting out the steps calmed her. Then she saluted to a huge roar of the crowd she barely heard.
It was time.
No matter how much she reassured herself, it was still the Olympics and the nerves in her stomach, had her slightly off. She hit her mount and then had to raise her right leg in a big balance check. She paused to take a few shakey breaths.
As the coaches had insisted, she didn't go 100% for her connections, and while playing it safe would assure a spot in event finals, it set her teeth on edge. Her teeth were just set on edge generally.
Of course she didn't stand up her Grigoras fully and that drove her crazy. The rest of her routine was fine, and then she dismounted. She took a slight step, just to play it safe, and saluted. It wasn't her best but it would be good enough. Lauren scowled. When had her life become about good enough she wondered.
Sasha gave her a quick hug before getting straight to the point and reminding her "you're up next on floor."
She nodded. Her turn to be the sacrificial lamb. It was an advantage really. She was already warm and ready to go. Not like Kaylie, Beth and Payson, drilling on the sidelines. She didn't have time to worry either.
Lauren smiled and waved when the camera focused on her packing her gym kit while waiting for her score. She nodded when it came up. 16.7. What she'd expected. Everyone had also warned her that scores would drop for the games, especially compared to American scores. Sasha had warned her that the judges would be brutal with her execution in particular.
They marched to their next apparatus without her breaking focus. She had strict instructions. Nice and safe and solid. Rather than dwell, she focused. Sasha and Mac and the team were relying on her to get the job done.
She followed orders, hitting every tumble but also taking the time between skills or the extra step on landing. She wasn't angling for the event final and it showed. She was their reserve on floor. In case everything else fell apart. That had been happening an awful lot lately.
On the way past she high fived Kaylie, reading to go next with the most determined expression Lauren had perhaps ever seen on Kaylie's face.
"Well done." Sasha told her. "Stay warm. It's going to be a while." It was nothing she didn't know but she settled down regardless.
Kelly watched, rubbing at her muscles and warming up as much as she could without standing herself.
"So are you vaulting then?" Lauren asked.
"Only if Cruz truly botches it." Kelly answered. She was less than thrilled but the coaches weren't taking any chances.
Lauren smiled and waved when the camera focused on her for her score and nodded when it came up. 15.375. What she'd expected.
The huge roar of the crowd drew Lauren's attention to Beth Tweddle on bars. Kelly would have some competition from more than just Genji. After the dismount she cheered and then her attention was drawn back to Kaylie throwing a sky high double Arabian. Clearly she wanted the event final. After her great beam, Kaylie was on fire. The one US gymnast competing to her full potential.
Lauren cheered for her, and then for Beth, who was waiting to begin.
"Killer double Arabian." She told Kaylie, who smiled in response.
"Thanks!" She chirped, unnerving Lauren somewhat.
"Ready for vault?"
"Mac's letting me throw my Amanar." Kaylie grinned, causing Lauren's eyebrows to fly off her head.
"Really?"
"Uh huh."
She supposed it wasn't that unexpected. Kaylie's double was no more reliable than her two-and-a-half, despite being exponentially easier. Kaylie's problems had always been in her head.
Lauren's attention was caught by the cameras coming around, and Kaylie's 15.995. That was phenomenally good for the gymnast. It certainly didn't give Lauren much of a lead for vault and bars, even if they were no more Kaylie's specialties than they were Lauren's.
Beth competed her floor without glancing at Kaylie's score and finished up to huge applause before bouncing back to the group. A good floor routine had evidently energised her as well. They could all feel the team's spirit rising.
Beth was grinning broadly despite the fact that Kaylie had almost certainly kept her out of the event final, and happily high fived the whole team.
This time, Lauren took note of scores. Even with Beth's great 15.85, Kaylie had a .365 lead on Beth. It wasn't nothing considering Beth's bars were still to come and Kaylie was throwing an Amanar. Lauren, with her vault that had .4 less of start value, had less than a .2 lead.
Payson wrapped up on floor. Not the best Lauren had ever seen her but still in a class beyond the other American gymnasts. 16.1 would easily book an event final ticket.
By the time they were marching, she was worried. Her mind was whirring.
"Stop it." Sasha dragged her away when he caught her staring.
"She's close." Lauren stated.
"No, she's not and she hasn't had a clean vault all year. You're not here for Kaylie. You're here for Genji and Ivanka. All you need is a clean vault. So deep breath, focus, and forget about everything else. That's my job."
Lauren nodded.
"You want something to focus on. Land this vault and you've got something else in the code of points."
For some insane reason, she wanted to laugh. Instead she just nodded.
She had just a second for a vault touch and then it was time. How quickly this was happening. Lauren thought to herself. Halfway through Olympic qualifiers. Halfway through to being nearly halfway through the Olympics. Her mind ran a head of her, until she reminded herself "Focus" she drew in a deep breath. Just focus on vault.
Sasha eyed her approvingly.
Salute. Ready. Green Light.
She took the maximum run distance she could to get the power and focused. She focused on the way it would feel, how much her body would twist, then she looked to the judges, saw the green like and started running. She blocked the vault as hard as she could, felt her muscle memory kick in, and for once, for once, she glanced down to see the line just under her left foot.
For a second the breath rushed out of her in pure relief.
She saluted proudly.
"Well done." Sasha insisted warmly. "I knew you could do it."
She high-fived Payson and settled down.
Waving again when the score came up, her chest felt tight from nerves but there was relief now. She'd hit her vault. It was out of her hands.
15.505.
She stood to watch Kaylie, nerves itching.
She watched the girl talk with Marty, watched her focus.
She powered down the runway, hit the vault and arched up. It wasn't clean. It wasn't pretty but it was fully rotated.
Lauren made sure not to show any reaction to the vault except a supportive cheer. It was alright. Not quite bad enough for her to feel safe but not great enough to really threaten her. She wanted to know the score.
15.405.
She forced herself to take a deep breath and then decided to focus on Beth, letting out a supportive yell as the girl got ready.
The tiny powerhouse also took the maximum distance and powered at the vault, hitting it and launching sky high to perform a huge vault. It took two steps to control it and Lauren applauded proudly.
That would post a great score. Lauren thought, and she was right. 15.975.
Payson told Kelly "I'm sorry." She wouldn't be needed. Not on vault. They had three scores they could count even if Kaylie's was miles below what Kelly could produce.
Kelly's face was impassive. She just leant down and retested the brace on her ankle. It had to survive her dismount and she had strict instructions she could fall on her arse "a 'la Austin at trials", if it meant conserving her ankles for finals.
Kelly had no intention of allowing it. She wanted a bars qualification and if that meant she'd stay vertical by method of an ankle brace, athletic tape and sheer will power, she'd take it.
They were refocused by Beth's second vault which she landed with ease. She was so excited she raced back and hugged first her coach and then all of them. She hesitated when she reached Kelly.
"Don't be stupid." Kelly told her shortly "It's not your fault I'm a gimp. Now you just have no excuse not to win."
Lauren checked the scoreboard as casually as she could. Beth's huge Amanar rocketed her to just half a tenth behind Lauren. For some reason she'd rather not think about, this worried her less. Perhaps because Beth had never come close to a competitive bars set.
"Do I have to go first?" Lauren checked with Sasha.
"Yes. Because you have nothing to worry about." Sasha told her.
She sighed and began to warm up. They only had a tiny fraction of warm up time for the team and most would go to Kelly, since she'd never touched the apparatus before.
A few transfers and she dropped off, accepting a somewhat surprising high five as she passed her old rival.
"So are you going to let her beat you?" Sasha got her revved up "because that's the only way either of them qualify above you."
Lauren didn't have to ask which team member he was referring too. Instead she just gave him a look that made him smirk.
Now she was fired up. Like all her bars routines, it wasn't pretty or delicate. It wasn't nice but it ended in a huge perfectly stuck dismount that made it good enough.
She saluted, relieved, and enjoyed the roar of the crowd before hugging Sasha and waiting for the score.
After her was Beth. Really she should have been first if you went by the worst to last rule, but Mac evidently wanted a tablesetter to stabilise them and get the job done. Lauren had done that.
She cheered loudly "come on Beth" distracting her from her score until the cameras in her face reminded her.
15.490. She nodded. That should keep the hounds at bay.
She found Payson, not competing on bars in the qualifiers, and linked hands to watch Beth. Then she cringed. A horribly arched back in pirouette saw Beth struggling to stay up there. She struggled, she struggled and plummeted into the mat.
"Ouch." Lauren commented. Payson looked horrified. She always looked horrified when someone fell from the higher bar.
"It's okay Beth!" Payson told her, calling out as soon as the girl started moving. Lauren joined in, along with a supportive crowd.
The rest of the routine was only a little better, and she was near tears when she finished.
"I'll miss out on the all-around." She proclaimed. Lauren glanced around, hoping no camera had picked it up, before hugging the girl and hissing quietly.
"Just wait." Lauren insisted
The score came up. 14.05
"It's okay." Lauren repeated, already watching Kaylie.
She looked particularly edgy and Lauren felt something roll over in her stomach. She didn't like that look on Kaylie.
From the second she mounted Lauren frowned. This was wrong.
"What is she doing?" Lauren hissed to Payson.
"She's really going for it." Payson responded, when Kaylie threw a connection Lauren had only seen her do once or twice. It was a hail mary skill. Not one you did when you're team mate just fell in the qualifiers at the Olympics.
She managed it, and then, going back down, ate mat entirely. She smacked body first into the podium.
Lauren made a face. It was a nasty fall. Then she followed Payson's lead in cheering supportively.
"Come on Kaylie. Get back up there."
She did, but it was even worse than Beth. She fell a second time, hitting mat even harder, and then eventually landed with a handful of steps she made no effort to stop or control.
By the time she entered the pit she was crying.
"It's okay." Payson told her, going to reassure the girl, ever the team captain.
Kaylie spat back "it's not okay. I deserve that spot."
Lauren moved to head straight past Kaylie to her gym bag. They were almost done here and there were cameras everywhere. She'd been around a hysterical, defensive, Kaylie before.
"What, you're not going to gloat?" Kaylie demanded though, still sniffling.
"No" Lauren replied "I'm going to watch Kelly qualify us, seeing as how you risked our team spot for your own agenda and now, even though she's injured, she'll need a stuck routine because we have to count Beth's score."
"But it's fine when you do it?" Kaylie demanded.
"I don't fall!" Lauren reminded her before hissing "And I sure as hell have never done it at qualifiers at the Olympics." She quickly reminded herself of where they were before turning back to the arena to watch some of the final athletes.
Kelly was fantastic. Lauren wondered how much they'd deduct for her toes not being pointed when she was wearing an ankle brace that kept her from pointing them. She made up for form flaws, her lower difficulty and unfamiliarity with the equipment with huge releases and a landing that was surprisingly good considering she landed on one foot and hopped before steadying herself. She stayed vertical just long enough to salute then sank down on the podium.
She managed a 15.8. There team's highest score even for her watered down routine with a soft landing and incredibly poor lower leg form. It was incredible and exactly what the team needed to end the competition with.
Lauren, of course, was not planning on admitting that voluntarily. Nor that Kelly's mental and physical strength hadn't actually surprised her.
"Is Cruz crying?" Kelly asked, while they packed up. "Jeeze."
The final scores had Lauren on 63.07, Beth on 61.56 and Kaylie on 60.605. Even with her falls, her three other scores might have compensated enough to qualify her top 24 (low in the top 24) but the two per country kept her firmly out.
She did have a likely shot at beam and floor finals. While Lauren also booked a spot on beam, Payson on Floor, Kelly on bars and Beth on vault. They'd have to wait for qualifiers to end for sure, but as individuals they hadn't done too badly. As a team… the situation was worse. However that didn't occur to them at the time. Instead, the focus was immediately on the final and how they could improve. That, and scowling at Kaylie.
It wasn't until they were on the bus that suddenly all the tension drained away.
Someone said something, Lauren thought it was Kelly, about how at least the Spanish leos weren't as bad as the Spanish village wear. It set them all (bar Kaylie) off entirely.
By the time they reached the village they were all exhausted.
"Naps." Mac declared
"Like we're three?" Lauren checked
"Exactly." Sasha replied, he seemed particularly terse but wasn't saying exactly why. "One hour. Everyone awake by five. Team meeting, dinner. Bed. No excuses."
"Hey Lo." Payson pointed out when Lauren called "dibs first shower."
"Yeah?"
"We just qualified at the Olympics."
Lauren stuck her head out "you know, tonight, we should just bring that up, again and again."
Mac and Marcus led the team meeting. They went over team strategy but everyone was on edge about Kaylie. Lauren and Payson sat quietly beside Sasha, just waiting.
Marcus, evidently, had been taking lessons in how best to torture elite gymnasts, because he went straight for the jugular.
Kaylie shrank back, wide eyed, towards Marty.
"I'm not going to bother telling you how disappointed we are in you." He told her "You know what you did, and you knew that you had an injured teammate who may not have been able to deliver."
Even across the table, Lauren heard Kelly insist "I always deliver."
Marcus gave Kelly his increasingly patented disappointed look. Kelly pulled the wide-eyed innocent look, but on her it looked deliberately ironic.
"This wasn't an accident." Marcus turned his attention back to Kaylie "You deliberately performed a skill that your coach had not given you permission to do, and you did it for your own gain, over your team's needs. Your team needed you, not to perform miracles, but simply to put them first, and you let them down."
After that downer, dinner was a bit of a letdown. The received word they'd qualified seventh. Seventh. It was almost inconceivable. They hadn't considered their team standing. The idea they'd nearly not qualified was horrific.
"I don't understand" Beth pointed out "I know we weren't great, and I know my score on bars really brought us down but seventh"
"We were only two points behind third." Payson pointed out, trying to find the glass half full. "Fourth to seventh was really close. And we had a three point lead on eighth."
"Seventh Keeler." Kelly reminded her "The British beat us. The Canadians beat us. Japan beat us."
"No." Lauren protested "it's all strategy."
"You can't' seriously be claiming we strategically came in seventh. The coaches are crazy worried. I'm surprised we've been let out of our rooms."
"One, the coaches think we're too stressed. Sasha's a step away from suggesting we all take a meditation class" Lauren insisted "and two, when I said strategy I meant, we deliberately did anything, but we had to count most of our bad scores and we were half strength. The other teams had just as many falls, they just didn't have to count them cause they weren't on the same apparatus. Look, come finals, Kelly competes full strength on bars, and maybe vault. That's like an extra point just there. Payson competes bars, that's even more. Plus we all compete full difficulty?"
"I'm loathe to say it but Tanner might have a point." Kelly chipped in "today blew. But the final will be different. Provided Princess Cruz" she raised her voice which drew the parent's attention to their little huddle. Kaylie, rather than join the gaggle of gymnasts, was wedged between her parents "pulls her head in and does what she's told."
Alex Cruz seemed particularly affronted by Kelly's tone and stepped in. Of course he addressed Sheila.
"Have your kid watch her tone." He insisted "that's my daughter she's talking about."
Kelly didn't need her mother's protection, retaliating herself "and it's your daughter who almost ruined all my dreams today."
Lauren couldn't help it. She laughed. The image of Alex Cruz, leaning forward and looming at tiny Kelly, devil buns on top of her head was too surreal.
Everyone stared.
"What?" She shrugged.
"I'm glad you find this funny, Lauren." Alex rounded on her "but considering how your actions have led to this situation, I would think you would be a bit more apologetic."
"Whoops." Lauren stated emotionlessly "my mistake."
"I don't understand how this could possibly be Lauren's fault." Her father interrupted "she had a great day. She qualified third for the all-around."
"She put Wendy Capshaw on this team instead of my daughter, because she was jealous."
"Why would I possibly be jealous?" Lauren viciously lashed back. He'd hit a raw spot "Pathetic doesn't look good on me, and right now, this whole…." She waved her hands at the Cruz family "thing, is looking pretty pathetic. What other things can you come up with to blame Kaylie's mistakes on?"
"If she had been on the team properly, and not thrown in at the last minute, it never would've happened." He insisted, causing Lauren to laugh.
"Right. So it's the coaches fault Kaylie disobeyed them."
"Like you can talk. You do this stuff all the time." Kaylie insisted, speaking up. "Diva Lauren, who breaks all the rules, right? That's what the media calls you."
"Breaks the rules like doing gymnastics with boobs." Lauren rolled her eyes "and mouthing off. Not like disobeying my coaches and almost destroying my team's chances. That was cool at regional comps two years ago. Not at the Olympics." Kaylie scowled and Lauren couldn't resist needling "it's all about peaking at the right time but you wouldn't know much about that, would you?"
"Enough. Stop it." Payson interrupted. She was flushed red and had the glint of determination in her eye "don't you get it? Everything that happened in the past, Wendy, national championship titles, the fact that Kelly and I don't compete all-around anymore? What Kaylie did this morning, none of it matters. We're the team. It's us. There's nothing left to fight about. Come the day after tomorrow, it won't matter who's responsible for what. All we'll remember is how we performed as a team. How we represented our nation. And the only way we have a shot at a gold medal, at any medal, is if we all perform to our best. We have to be better than we've ever been. And we can't do that if you guys are clawing at each other's throats. Now, I've given up, hoping we're all friends, but we're supposed to be a team: Teammates."
They all froze and slipped into silence until Kelly spoke up "Captain Keeler has a point. What happened today doesn't matter. We focus on finals, as a team."
They all nodded and Payson quietly lowered her hands, the blood draining away from her face. "Good."
- chapter break -
The women the next morning suffered through practice. For Lauren, she'd competed a full comp the day before and her body was suffering from it. Lauren had never quite understood why a competition, which involved only four routines, would make your body ache more than a full day's practice; something about adrenalin, emotional exhaustion and lactic acid apparently.
Given the competition they had a light session scheduled with plenty of physio. However, with finals the next day, the coaches were expecting nothing less than perfection.
Lauren thought, aside from a few mishaps caused more by the state of her body than the state of her mind, that she did rather well. She thought the same of Payson, who seemed to have taken their seventh place finish as a personal affront.
Beth recovered physically better than all of them, but mentally required some coaching until her head was in the game. Kelly's only negative was her short tantrum at the limited training she was permitted. She did win the right to through a few vault timers and exactly one Amanar. Afterwards, she was pulled off the floor and stuck with an ice bath for her ankle.
Eyes were on Kaylie though.
The practice had begun with a brief warm-up and a tiny period of time in which the gymnasts could fiddle with their routines with their their personal coaches before Mac would take over.
For Lauren, Sasha wanted a quick run-through of bits of a few different routines. A few last attempts at correcting her piourettes on bars, form corrections on floor, and letting her play on beam; if play involved throwing some serious combinations.
Payson wanted time on her floor. She wanted it perfect.
Kelly had requested Mac's help, ironing out any problems with her most recent bars connection. Lauren had noticed and had looked around for Marty. He was with Kaylie on the set of uneven bars right next door. She was repetitively demonstrating the skills she'd fallen on the day before, as if hoping to demonstrate her competence.
When they'd gathered them all up, they'd begun on uneven bars and Mac had torn Kaylie to shreds. Decimating her form, her routine and her attitude.
Lauren hadn't agreed, not because she didn't undertsnad why, but because Kaylie reacted badly to things like that.
For the rest of the morning she was competent but with none of the flair her routines were normally composed of, no matter how frustrated Mac and even Marty got.
After practice she stormed out while the others gathered their things.
"Tanner, Keeler." Kelly called.
Lauren and Payson paused at their bags before shrugging and heading over to where Kelly was limiting the swelling in her ankle.
"Are you going to team finals?" Kelly asked.
"Yeah." Lauren answered the question like she thought Kelly was stupid.
"Can I come?"
Lauren considered the girl. "Who are you sleeping with?" She asked, overwhelmed with curiosity.
"No one." Kelly insisted before rolling her eyes and admitting "Nick. Well, we used to be, not anymore because he needs to focus on his gymnastics." She rolled her eyes again after quoting him, making a face. "Why is it men struggle so much with multi-tasking?"
"So you want to watch your ex-boyfriend compete?"
"No. We never dated." Kelly admitted "Look, I just don't want him to think that I'm there supporting him, but if you're there."
"That's pretty fucked up." Lauren told her.
"No shit, Tanner. Now can I come or not?"
"You need permission from the coaches and they're leaving, like, right now, but sure. Marcus asked Pay and I to do interviews as well, so we'll have to meet you there. I'll text you our seating section. Oh, and Navy zip up jackets, no sweats."
Kelly nodded. "Got it."
- chapter break -
Before Lauren could head for the stadium, she had to be interviewed. It would run in the pre-coverage before the men's comp was shown in primetime. She'd been ready and psyched to do it, and then Marcus had pulled Payson from the interview.
She'd eyed Payson's replacement cautiously.
Hi, and welcome back to NBC's coverage of the 2012 Olympics. In just half an hour, we'll show you one of the most impressive displays of athleticism to be seen here in London, Men's gymnastics. But first, we're catching up with two members of the women's gymnastics team, Lauren Tanner and Kelly Parker. Welcome.
"Thanks for having us." Kelly answered perkily, the media darling of yesteryear reapearing.
"Now the US team qualified seventh yesterday. Can you explain what happened, and whether or not that will happen in the final?"
"Absolutely." Kelly responded first "I think everyone knows that as a team we've had a tough run up to the Games and we were a little off our game lately because of that. We also had a few unlucky falls and we didn't all compete our full difficulty. As a team, I know we're better than seventh place and that's what we're going to prove in the final."
The host nodded and turned "Lauren, you qualified fourth to the individual all-around final yesterday. How do you feel you performed?"
"Well, on some levels, I'm not happy. Obviously I could've done better in a few places, but on the other hand, no one was competiting for a gold medal yesterday. My coach and I have long held the plan that burning yourself out on the first day wont get you on the podium, and in a few days, no one should remember how we performed in qualifiers anyway."
"This individual qualification focus seemed to be the cause of Kaylie Cruz's disappointing two falls on bars. Qualification for team and individual events happens at the same time. After a fall by teammate Beth Atchinson in the final rotation, Team USA S needed a routine with no major errors to qualify as a top four team. However, Kaylie Cruz saw an opportunity to beat Beth in the individual qualifications and therefore take the second spot open for USA athletes in the individual finals. To do so she needed to compete a much more difficult routine. Disobeying team coaches she went for individual glory and cost her team severely. Lauren, how as a team, can you recover from a betrayal by a teammate like that?"
Lauren startled. The question was a bit blunter than she was expecting.
"Well I think Kaylie took a risk. It was a big gamble and the nature of a risk like that is sometimes it doesn't pay off. I think It's something we've all done at some point. The reason people are so angry though, is Kaylie didn't just gamble with her career or her safety. She gambled with all of ours. As to whether or not its forgivable?" Lauren shrugged "Kaylie's been punished enough. Now we have to move on and focus on the future. And I have to say, judging by our performance this morning, at practice, as a team we'll be just fine."
"That punishment Lauren's talking about is the US Olympic Committee decision this morning, that Kaylie Cruz had been withdrawn from individual compettiiton here at the games. She had qualified in the individual beam and floor finals and will now not compete. To make team tensions worse, the gymnast who will take her spot in those two finals is American Beth Atchinson. Now, you two, more than any gymnasts on the national team are famous for not getting along. Tell us, what's the mood like in the team?"
"You know, it's funny" Lauren stated "Kelly and I are not friends."
"No" Kelly agreed "not at all."
"But I think we've really become great teammates and I think the reason for that, is Kelly and I know all the right buttons to push. Once, we would've used that to compete against each other but now we can use that to motivate each other. I think the whole team knows we have to come together as a team now."
"Yep."Kelly answered popping the P.
"Now, do you think the men will win gold today?"
"Absolutely." Lauren answered immediately. "of course, anything can happen, but they're a phenomenal team."
"She has to say that. Her boyfriend and best friend are both on the team." Kelly pointed out dryly.
"Alright. Well, the women's team competes tomorrow, and we'll be watching with baited breath. But first, can our men win gold in the team event. We'll take you to the action, right now?"
After the interview, Lauren and Kelly adjusted make up and clothes before heading to the stadium.
"Have you really forgiven Kaylie?" Kelly asked curiously.
"Yes. I said I had didn't I?" Lauren carefully touched up her lips. "What?" She asked, when Kelly looked particularly disbelieving.
"Nothing. Its just, you're not Keeler. You hold a grudge."
"I forgive." Lauren insisted "I don't forget."
"Right." Kelly smirked "so that's a no."
"Its not a no." Lauren sighed exasperated "you wouldn't get it."
"Why not?"
"Because you don't have friends."
Kelly recoiled, hurt and Lauren relented.
"Look, the thing is, I'm not surprised. Kaylie throws a princess act and then gets forgiven. Its practically the status quo. Keeler" she twisted Payson's name." She doesn't get it because she doesn't see that. But me? If I couldn't forgive and move on, Kaylie and I wouldn't have survived our first summer camp when she blew me off because Nastia asked her if she wanted to have lunch."
"So you just let her get away with it?"
"No. She gets punished. She might not realise it but she does."
"Like keeping her off the team at camp?"
"This time the NGO did the punishing themselves."
Kelly considered, and checked her own hair in the mirror.
Lauren's phone vibrated, Payson was there already and wondering where they were.
- chapter break -
The men were psyched for finals. They'd qualified second and would be perfectly positioned to battle the Chinese for gold. Right behind them was the Japanese and Ukranian teams but the two favourites, along with Team GB, would be the focus of the arena's attention.
Laurenand Kelly arrived and revelled in their VIP passes. They took their seats surrounded by Payson, the NGO President, by Marcus and by some high ranking USOC officials. Jack ha arrived before them and was in the row behind. As they arrived as the pre-competition entertainment was winding down.
Floor was up first.
Nicky Russo started out and he came out all guns blazing. That resulted in a slight overshooting on a few tricks, and Lauren winced a few times but it was a solid beginning. She was more focused on their second gymnast.
She could tell Carter was nervous in the warm up. Anyone could tell. But Lauren knew Carter's gymnastics suffered with his nerves. It wasn't normally apparent because he was so laid back, but it was apparent now.
He'd been wedged between Austin and Sasha though, and whatever they said worked because while he still looked a bit shaky, his floor was fantastic.
He was captivating. In a room full of sheer power, he was noticeably lighter and more fluid. His routine was without major bumps and he was clearly thrilled. Max and Sasha greeted him happily, as did the rest of the team. Then quickly they quietened down. It was a moment of truth. Could Austin survive floor?
Austin wasn't paying attention to anything going on around him. He was blocking it all out. If Lauren had to hazard a guess, he was blocking out the pain in his leg as well.
When it was time, his saluted emotionlessly and then began. On his first pass his less leg crumpled a bit but he regained himself quickly.
Oh dear, but he settles himself after that full twisting double straight. He certainly had enough height and power. That was an uncharacteristic mistake. Whip, two-and-a-half, then one and a half. That was four big tumbles in that line, much better. Another combination, brilliant. Now his strength move. He looks a bit stiff, not his usual perfect form, but we're really searching for small errors here, and I have to say, there haven't been many to find. The roll-out… he really is one of the best tumblers in the world and he has a huge finale a double-twisting double back. Just some slightly crumbly legs but what a way for USA to finish the first rotation.
Lauren leant forward. Eyes locked on the gymnasts. When she stood to join in the rapturous applause her eyes didn't move from where they were locked.
Sasha hugged Austin and threw an arm around him. It gave him the chance to not only talk Austin, but also to take some weight.
Austin said something but he was looking determined. Lauren knew if it got so bad he couldn't compete, he wouldn't be able to hide the devastation.
Sasha all but carried him to the chair he was dropped into. Max, bouncing up and down and swinging his arms to stay warm for pommel, said something with a grin. The rest of the team greeted him, enthused.
As a team they waited for his score and then moved on to the next apparatus as a pack, Austin wedged in the middle.
On pommel, Nicky Russo was up first. Lauren couldn't help but watch Kelly as he got ready. She was leaning forward on the edge of her seat, twitchy, with an inscrutable face.
Nicholas Russo up now. He had a good start on floor. He's a real asset on this team. Often overshadowed by Austin Tucker, he'll also be competing in the individual all-around.
Here he goes now. Up into the handstand. A little bit of a hesitation there. Now he's moving up and down. He needs to keep the rhythm and that, alone, is very difficult as he has to travel up and down while not spiralling out of control. He's just picking up execution errors here and there, split feet, bent knees, oh, there was a brush against the horse, but he's staying on. Into the dismount…. Oh no. That was not ideal and will be a huge deduction for Team USA on pommel. What a pity.
Now keep in mind pommel is not a strength of Russo's. The USA are actually so weak on pommel horse, their third athlete, Max Spencer, was selected for the team based solely on his skills on this event.
After Russo's routine, Kelly didn't show a whole heap of emotion. Certainly not more than Lauren did, cheering supportively for the fellow American.
Then it was Austin's turn. He too went into the handstand, before coming down and going straight into the circles. His rhythm was off and then his leg hit a handle. He tried to save it but couldn't and the arena groaned.
Slowly, he chalked his hands, taking deep breaths until he was ready to keep going.
Not only did he keep going, he repeated the skill he'd fallen on. It meant his difficulty wouldn't suffer from not counting a skill, but his arms would. Not to mention his exectution score.
Carter was there as he came off, to hug him in a brief bro hug.
They were boys, they didn't talk, they just settled around each other, a solid pack offering grip tape with an underlying message of support. That said, with the mood Austin was in, they kept a little distance.
He was seething. The cameras caught it and Lauren could see it all the way from the stands. He furiously took off his grips jaw clenched and when Mac came over, the other guys found quick reasons to put some space between them.
Mac crouched down. "Tucker" Mac questioned "look at me. How's the pain?"
"Zero. I'm not thinking about the pain. It doesn't exist."
"You have rings. How are your arms?"
"Fine. I'm fine."
"We have Anderson on rings if we need him, and Russo can vault. You don't need to compete every apparatus and destroy your body doing it."
"They're not as good." Austin growled "I'm the defending Olympic, defending World Champion, and you do need me. I didn't come all this way to not give everything I have. I can work through it."
In the stands, they watched nervously as Max stepped up.
Max's pommel was the same it always was. So slow and lazy through the air it constantly looked like he was about to fall. Except he wasn't. He just had such a degree of control he could move that slowly.
She breathed a sigh of relief when he finished.
Down on the floor, Sasha and Mac finished talking to Austin.
Lauren didn't know what they had been saying. She just watched while Jon and Nicky performed great routines.
Then it was Austin and when he stepped up, Lauren knew this would be good. Maybe it would be his last routine, she wondered, or maybe he was just getting fired up. Either way, he looked like old-school Austin. She couldn't see a hit of injury.
By sheer strength and power, his rings had silence reigning throughout the arena. Lauren, anyone in fact, would have been hard-pressed to find an error, both because any error was so small and because, watching him, it was easy to forget everything else and just stare. When he dismounted, he shuffled cringing a bit, and the whole arena seemed to snap out of it before jumping up.
With men, it was even harder to predict which team was in front. The different apparatuses (and how the teams favoured them) was so different and with six instead of four, like the women, it was hard to pick a winner. What was looking certain was that between the high scoring floor and rings, the US disaster on pommel mistakes wasn't quite as bad.
They had vault though, and that was all or nothing.
People had started to notice Austin's condition as well. Even in the stands Lauren could hear the murmurs.
"Holy shit. Check it out." Kelly Parker, twisted in her seat.
"What?" Lauren scanned the crowd, not knowing what Kelly was pointing out.
Then she saw, coming down the steps and stopping halfway down to take their seats, were the British Princes.
"Oh my god that is so cool." She agreed.
Her attention was drawn back to the competition floor where they were finishing their brief warm-up. Austin hadn't done a single vault to his feet but she was hoping that was deliberate.
"He's going first?" Jack leant forward to enquire.
"Maybe they want to give him longer to rest before bars?" Lauren suggested.
When he vaulted there was almost an arena wide intake of breath. His vault always caused that. There was something of a bounce, the vault was so powerful and his legs crumpled just a bit before he steadied.
Right then Lauren knew he must be in pain two-fold; once for his legs and the other in mourning for the chance to complete in the vault event final. He was just that good.
Lauren could also see the shiver that ran through him. The way he stiffly moved.
"How bad was it this morning?" Lauren asked Jack
Jack shook his head "if this was any other situation… he shouldn't be competing."
"But it's the Olympics." She corrected gently.
"So I'm just going to sit here, against every part of me that's made oaths to do no harm, and help him destroy his body with every landing?"
"That's professional sports. I mean, what happens before soccer game? You have to compete through injuries. Compete until you can't anymore."
"Not like this." Jack protested "any other sport and you would take time off. Maybe you'd play the grand final or the super-bowl. But not training and competitng week in week out, and it's only going to get worse."
Their attention was drawn back to the floor where Carter was about to vault. Lauren once more drew in a huge breath but she had nothing to worry about.
The vault was high and clean. She cheered as loudly as anyone in the arena, standing up to yell loudly.
Nicky didn't fare so well. He hit the vault with too much power, too much determination, and it had him taking hurried steps to recover.
The arena was distracted by the sudden realisation of why exactly the princes had shown up, and that was exactly how well Great Britain was doing. They had a real shot at the medals and suddenly every spec of attention was on the young team.
After four rotations, they had a much better look at the medal standings. China and USA were clearly one and two, and both competing on the same apparatuses there were no advantages. They both had p-bars and high bar left and China was just an inch in front.
First up was Max, and it wasn't his specialty. He did his best on p-bars but it was no Spencer pommel routine.
Nicky went second and made an uncharacteristic fumble, making Lauren's throat tighten. The Chinese had two p-bars workers in the event final, and their third wasn't too shabby either.
Austin was equally troubled. No major flaws, just not his best routine. You could see weakness throughout it and it was sheer determination that had him finishing.
Afterwards, they all stopped to watch the Chinese,
They weren't just good. They were great. Between the three clean, impressive routines, the Chinese pulled ahead by well over a solid point.
Then the USA's rivals transferred over to high bar, where they'd compete first before leaving the US to try and catch them.
Lauren felt a rush of hope when Feng Zhe posted a 15.00. They could beat that. Then it was Zhang Chenglong, one of few gymnasts as tall as Carter. He performed near flawlessly before Zhou Kai came out and hit a high bar routine for a phenomenal 16.4. He would be one of Austin's main competitors in the event final.
"Can they beat that?" Jack leant forward to ask.
"I don't know." Lauren admitted, but internally she knew the answer. That was near impossible territory.
They would need three scores in the sixteens and neither Carter nor Nicky had been producing those.
Carter was up first and despite Austin and Max's best efforts he looked nervous. Like Chenglong, he was one of few gymnasts tall enough to just grab the bar before starting to move. For all his nerves it was a great routine. Good swing, terrifying skills. Somehow his body always made it around. A few form breaks. Given his height (and youth) it'd be impossible not to have a few. He stuck the dismount and saluted, before heading into the pit.
Around the arena, standings slotted into place.
The arena was going crazy at the potential for the GB team to win a medal.
Nicky was second and he performed well as well. Suddenly though, it was the end of the finals and every deduction was like a glaring beacon as the hope of gold slipped away. He stuck the routine and the Chinese were already celebrating, while Austin got ready to perform. What he needed was actually beyond his capability. A 17.2 was impossible, even for Austin. But he needed at least a 15.1 to stay ahead of the British after three fantastic vaults that had nudged them higher and higher.
Austin was good. Not the best Lauren had ever seen him, but good. When he finished he saluted with a smile and the men's team all gathered together. It was clear where they'd finished but, as Lauren and the rest of the crowd gave a standing ovation (most of the crowd for the British bronze) they didn't look disappointed.
- chapter break -
After being reminded under no circumstances were they to go out celebrating ("no shit" Kelly had commented) the three girls along with the family members present, were lead under the stadium to where they could meet the athletes.
She threw her arms around Carter and he swept her up, so she wrapped her legs around him. He kissed her fiercely and she laughed in delight. "Happy?" She asked him.
He just nodded. His face said it all and he spun her around again.
"I love you." She told him "and I am so, so happy for you."
There were hugs and pictures and Lauren quietly whispered to Austin "Are you alright?" He nodded but looked slightly out of it. He almost fell over when Jon Horton surprise-hugged him.
"Maybe team silver is your lucky charm." Horton told him, alluding to USA gymnastics' history of winning team silver since Austin had become the tour de force in men's gymnastics. Austin laughed "yeah. Here's hoping."
"Alright." Marcus raised his voice "gentlemen you have press in five minutes."
"Always time to celebrate with Marcus." Lauren pointed out impudently.
Payson grabbed Lauren's eye and she nodded. The terms of their attendance were very clear. She regretfully turned back to Carter.
"You have to go?" He confirmed.
She nodded "and you have to go celebrate. I know Max's already got something planned. Just don't get so hung-over you miss us tomorrow."
"Never. Not a chance." He picked her up and spun her one more time, just because he could.
- chapter break -
US Men Win Silver in Team Gymnastics Final
Disappointed US miss out on Gold while China and Great Britain Celebrate
Jon Horton on Team Silver: We gave it our all
Perez Hilton - Check it out: Tucker and Anderson get hot and heavy in post competition celebrations (No. Not with each other we're afraid). We're celebrating whoever it was with a camera when the US Gymnastics team met their friends and family post competition (and for once it wasn't Max Spencer). They recorded this touching clip (and by that we mean hot, hot, hot) of Tucker and his partner celebrating. The notoriously shy couple didn't seem to notice the cameras (they were busy) as they celebrated Tucker's first medal of the Olympics. Straight boy pin-up Carter Anderson celebrated his silver a little more athletically with his girlfriend Lauren Tanner. Oh, the arms of a gymnast! While Tucker and fellow All-around hopeful Nicholas Russo join the ladies in heading back to the village for a good rest, Anderson and Spencer hit the Olympic hotspot Chinawhite.
So who saw the boys missing out on gold? Poor darlings. What did you think of the women's qualifying? Or the team? Seventh? you may ask/Can they come back from that? Well you'll find out next time! What will happen in the Team Final? What will happen in the all-around finals? Who's going home with what?