"Welcome to the Women's Gymnastics World Championships brought to you by Visa. I'm Al Trautwig, alongside Olympic gold medalist, Tim Daggett and Elfie Schlegel. What a night, last night. Can either of you remember a more exciting or controversial start to a World Championships?"
"I can't, Al," Tim Daggett responded, "We started off yesterday wondering whether anyone from the United States would able to challenge Genghi Cho in the All-Around and if anyone would even come close to the Chinese as a team. And last night, what can you say about last night? Payson Keeler, not even scheduled to compete, accompanying her teammates to these World Championships as an assistant to her Coach, a four time Olympic gold medalist himself, Sasha Beloff, gets the call to the bullpen so to speak and quite simply stunned the world of elite gymnastics. A 66.95 yesterday, the highest score ever recorded in an international meet under the new scoring system."
Elfie cut in, "I've watched Payson for a long time. Before her injury she was so powerful, but now she's the most complete gymnast I've ever seen, combining her natural power and her athleticism with a level of artistry that rivals Nastia Luikin. And like you said, Tim, the judges awarded her accordingly with a 66.95."
Al nodded, "Now for those of you new to gymnastics or especially new to this scoring system, a 66.95 is like pitching a perfect game in baseball and striking out each of the twenty-seven batters you face on three pitches. It is as close to perfection this sport has seen in a long time."
Tim took it from there, "You know, Al, when they implemented this new scoring system, everyone said that we'd never see another perfect 10 and that it was a shame, well they're right. Last night Payson Keeler was not deducted even a hundredth of a point on her floor exercise. She completed a flawless routine, which if you know anything about floor exercise, that's almost impossible; there are too many opportunities in a 90 second routine for things to go just a little bit wrong. Now, the routine's start value was a 6.9 and she was given a 10 for execution, so that added up to a 16.9, but a little bit of juice was taken out of the crowd reaction to the score."
"Exactly, when Payson did her floor routine, the other rotations had actually already finished, so she was the only one performing and she had the entire crowd watching her perform to Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty Waltz and they were silent, she had stunned them into a state of absolute awe and when she finished they were on their feet screaming and yelling. This crowd knows their gymnastics, but there wasn't the eruption that she deserved on her score because they posted a 16.9, not a 10," said Elfie.
Al jumped in, "It is a shame, but it's the way gymnastics works nowadays. Now, Payson Keeler's performance also had a huge impact on the USA's chances to unseat the Chinese team as the gymnastics World Champions in the team competition finals tonight."
Tim took his cue perfectly, adding a laugh of disbelief for effect, "That's right, Al. Payson's scores, a full five points higher than the total you get from the best scores on each apparatus from any of the Chinese gymnasts, have given the US a substantial lead. Usually teams lead other teams by tenths and hundredths of a point, but this lead is nearly insurmountable, despite the fact that China's second through sixths gymnasts have all been outscoring the American team. An absolute disaster would have to occur for the United States and China would have to hit every routine perfectly in order for the USA to lose this Gold medal. Coaches Ellen Beals and Sasha Beloff have to be extremely confident going into today's competition."
"You can add Coach Payson Keeler to that too, because if you noticed yesterday, it was Payson talking to and encouraging the other girls before and after their routines," Elfie finished for them.
"Now, many of you are probably wondering about the condition of US National Champion, Kaylie Cruz. She was taken to the hospital yesterday just prior to the competition and she's going to be just fine."
"Nadia, Marylou, Payson," Al Trautwig started off his broadcast of the Individual All-Around finals. "Two gymnasts who need no introduction beyond their first names and now, a third, who from what we saw during the team competition, Payson Keeler has joined their ranks. Tim Daggett, Elfie Schlegel, we witnessed the United States win their first team world championship since their gold led by Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson two years ago, but the story of these championships has been Payson Keeler."
"She led her team to that gold medal last night with another huge performance, a 65.75 combined score on the four events and another perfect 10 for execution, this time on the uneven bars. I can't imagine what is going through the mind of this young lady right now, but look at her; she looks cool, calm and collected. Just talking to her coach, Sasha Beloff, smile on her face, no tension to be seen, like she's getting ready to go get dinner or watch a movie and not someone about to compete for the individual All-Around World Championship against the best gymnasts in the world," Elfie put in.
"Though if I'd been putting up the scores she's been putting up, if she just hits her routines like she did the last two nights, she knows she'll win this going away. She is simply outclassing the rest of the field," Tim added.
"And she's made it look so easy," Al transitioned, "What's the secret, Elfie?"
"Al, her routines are packed with difficulty from start to finish, but I spoke with Coach Sasha Beloff about Payson's return to gymnastics and he said that when Payson was given the green light to start training again, they realized that in her time out she'd grown an inch and maybe wouldn't be able to get all of her power gymnastics skills back to the level they'd been at. They started from scratch so to speak. In fact, he said Payson spent weeks working on simple skills, level one skills, cartwheels, round-offs and then they focused on the little things, the artistry of her routines, her extensions, her lines and then it was like something just clicked. She was still able to do those power moves, despite the small growth spurt, but the work on her artistry eliminated the small errors she used to make due to her sole focus on the power elements. I said this the night after her record breaking performance during the team compulsory competition, Payson is now the most complete gymnast I have ever seen and she's put the rest of the world on notice, get better, step up your game or get out of my way to the top of the podium."
"Now the United States has three gymnasts who qualified for the individual All-Around competition, obviously, Payson Keeler, but also Andrea Conway and the other surprise of these World Championships, Emily Kmetko, who trains with Payson at the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club in Boulder, Colorado under Coach Sasha Beloff. Emily's rise in the ranks would definitely be the story of the competition if not for Payson's complete domination of the field. Two years ago, Emily was training at the local Y and had never competed in an elite level event….."
"Here we are, the final night of the 2010 Women's Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, the individual event finals, where the best of the best on each apparatus will compete to see who claims domination of that event and speaking of domination, Tim Daggett, Elfie Schlegel, two words for you guys: Payson Keeler."
Tim started, "Domination indeed, Al. I feel like I'm just constantly repeating myself, but last night in the individual All-Around, we saw something special. Halfway through this Olympic cycle, it is only two years until the 2012 Olympics and Payson Keeler has thrown down a challenge to every other gymnast in the world. She won the individual All-Around gold medal last night, coming full circle from what she thought was a career ending injury suffered during this year's National Championships. Last night in the All-Around, she and Genghi Cho went head to head, Payson attempting to duplicate her performances and Genghi Cho trying to claw her way back to a title she'd held for the last year, as World Champion. The problem for Cho was that Payson Keeler came here with routines she and Coach Sasha Beloff designed that were just flat out more difficult than anyone else's and really only Payson Keeler is capable of performing. She tied the record she set during team compulsories, a 66.95 and won the All-Around by 4.95 points, which is just simply astounding. I can't think of a gymnast in the world that marries power and artistry the way we've seen her do this competition."
"And another perfect ten in execution, on the uneven bars, the same event she fell on at Nationals and sustained that injury," Al transitioned and looked at Elfie.
"Another perfect ten, Al and it was her last event of the night. Not a leg separation, wobble, under or over extension, perfect distance from the bars, handstands dead on twelve o'clock, knees pressed together, a stuck landing, but most important what was the routine lacked, it lacked any fear of another fall. She attacked the routine from start to finish. She didn't even look up to get her score, she just ran straight into the arms of her coach, Sasha Beloff and they hugged until the crowd started to roar. Then when she saw the 17.0 go up, she just leapt into his arms again. Both athlete and coach were a little misty eyed when they broke the embrace. But who can blame them for shedding a few happy tears, Payson Keeler's performance at these World Championships might be the best performance in any competition by any gymnast in the history of the sport and the event isn't even over yet."
"Two gold medals already and she qualified for all four event finals, so the possibility for more," Al added, "Now, the other surprise from last night, although maybe we shouldn't be surprised since this young lady trains in the same gym as Payson and while she didn't medal last night, Emily Kmetko finished fifth in the All Around competition."
"Sasha Beloff and his girls from the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club, they're just taking the world by storm. Emily Kmetko, a great story, like we said last night, two years ago she was training in a community center, last night she placed fifth and if she gets the degree of difficulty up on her balance beam routine, she is going to be a force to reckoned with during the second half of the 2012 Olympic cycle."
"And there you have it, folks, the 2010 World Championships in Women's Artistic Gymnastics come to an end and what an end. Payson Keeler finishing the meet the way she started it, with gold. And it was a very successful World Championships for the United States on both the men's and women's side. The women's team won gold, the men's team silver, Payson Keeler and Austin Tucker from the United States both took the gold in the All-Around, Nicky Russo with the silver in the All-Around as well. And then, well the event finals read like a laundry list of accomplishments for Team USA. Austin Tucker, gold on the rings, gold on the parallel bars, bronze on the floor. Nicky Russo, bronze on rings, gold on high bar, and gold on pommel horse. For the women, Andrea Conway, a bronze on balance beam and a surprise, Emily Kmetko, a silver medal on the uneven bars and then the great, Payson Keeler, silver on the balance beam, gold on the floor exercise, silver on the vault and finally, gold on the uneven bars with her fourth perfect ten of the weekend and third on that specific event. An amazing meet for the United States, there just aren't words to describe this." Al Trautwig said, "But Tim, Elfie, try for us."
Tim shook his head, "No one saw this coming. This is the finest team of athletes the United States has ever put together, especially when you look at the men and women together. Seventeen medals at these World Championships, well above any expectations that were set. If I'm the head of the US National Committee, the only thing that would make this better would be if the Olympics were tomorrow and not two years from now. Although, barring injury, there isn't any reason any of these athletes won't be in London in 2012. They are just too good."
"Incredible, just incredible," Elfie added, "Payson Keeler, just months ago thought she'd never be able to do gymnastics again and today she's taking home six medals, four of them gold and is the World Champion of her sport. It's the most amazing sports story I've ever heard."
"Thanks everyone for joining us for these World Championships. A statement was made this weekend, USA gymnastics is back and better than ever. This is Al Trautwig with Tim Daggett and Elfie Schlegel saying good night everyone from Rotterdam."
