Kaylie approached the balance beam and waited for the flag to go up. She hadn't felt as good about her gymnastics as she did in this moment for a very long time. In fact, the last time she'd felt this strong was during the China meet, just before she'd allowed the anorexia to ravage her mind and body, the day she'd beaten a then fourteen year old Genghi Cho for gold on beam.
She felt the adrenaline racing through her veins as she saw the small flag rise into the air. Her arms lifted up over her head, saluting the judges and then taking a step back she used the spring board to leap up onto the beam.
It wasn't a well known fact, but most elite gymnasts understood that the success of your beam routine was determined almost immediately upon mounting it. Your sense of balance and your mental focus were either there or they weren't. Kaylie couldn't contain a small smile as everything felt perfect upon her feet landing on the four inches and immediately into a split leap with a half turn, landing to face the judges, the smile still upon her face. Her fingers flicked and her arms danced around her, allowing her to turn and then flip into her flic-flac with a three quarter twist, before swinging her body down against the beam, and then back up to a walk-over, a ring leap, tossing her head back, her feet pounding back down onto the wood, before she spun in a half pirouette and held her hands out in front of her to steady herself, then her front tuck and then immediately into a double flic-flac, back handspring. Her heel hit the edge of the beam and she felt her smile grow.
For a moment she was back at the Rock, back before everything had gone downhill, her momentary time in the spotlight, before she'd been forced back into the shadow of greatness; when she was the best gymnast in America and rivaled the very best in the world. Then before she thought about it she was dismounting, taking two quick strides into a back handspring off the beam into her triple twist, except it was supposed to be a two and a half and as her body came around on the last half twist, not nearly enough room between her feet and the mat, she tried to forced her torso around to finish the dismount, but it was impossible, she didn't have enough momentum, she wasn't good enough for this move anymore. Her knee bent down to the mat, touching the slippery blue fabric and incurring an automatic one point deduction. She stood again, raising her hands over her head, she snapped back into reality and took a shaky breath, shaking her head.
She didn't know where it had come from, hadn't even thought about it before she'd done it and it was possibly the stupidest moment of her life. She was at the Olympic Games and she'd allowed her focus to slip. More than that, she'd allowed herself to blow it and not just for herself, but perhaps for her teammates.
She moved down the stairs and stood next to Sasha who was silent, but his eyes said it all.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as Lauren moved up the stairs and waited for the judge's signal.
"Don't be sorry," he said, taking a deep breath. "We've got four rotations, I need you to be ready for vault."
"I'll be ready," she said, but he was gone, moving up the stairs to move the springboard out of the way for Lauren after she mounted the beam with her front tuck.
She looked up and waited for her score, hoping that the difficult routine she'd put together solidly before her idiocy on the dismount would make it decent and not completely bury them.
"And just like the day before yesterday, the American team starts on an inauspicious note. Tim, what did we just see?" Al Trautwig asked his voice laced with disbelief.
Tim Daggett, an Olympic gold medalist himself shook his head. "Al, I have no idea. Ever since her National Championship win, Kaylie Cruz has been something of an enigma in the world of American gymnastics. There are times when she just wows you and other times she leaves you scratching your head and that routine was a microcosm of those issues. It was absolutely gorgeous until the very last moment when inexplicably she decided to go for a triple twist dismount, despite not having landed it in competition in years. Its mind boggling and the expression the face of Coach Sasha Beloff said it all I think. This is where not having any Olympic experience can hurt a team. Despite all the international meets and years on the elite circuit, nothing takes the place of having performed on the biggest stage of all."
"And the score is up for Kaylie," Al interrupted, "a 15.5, four tenths of a point below what she scored the other night in the preliminaries."
"Still a solid score, Al," Elfie Schlegel commented, "but she would have been easily into the sixteens had she stuck with her planned dismount. The routine up until that point had been nearly flawless. Let's hope Lauren Tanner and Payson Keeler with two of the most difficult beam routines in the world can make up for that deduction."
Payson felt her feet land firmly on the mat and saluted to the judges before jogging off the podium. The rotation was over and it was time to move on to floor.
She'd heard the crowd react loudly in the middle of her beam routine, but she'd quickly regained her focus as it came just prior to her dismount and as she fell into line, she turned to Marty.
"I heard the groans in the middle of my routine. What happened?" she asked.
Marty frowned, "Genghi Cho fell on her vault," he said, quietly, before moving away to make sure they weren't leaving anything behind. "Almost a face plant, she got her hands out in time."
Her eyes flashed up to the scoreboard where her score just popped up, a 16.4, just five hundredths of a point lower than her score from the first round, but her eyes flicked past it to the Chinese scores, where it listed Cho's score on vault as a 16.25, low for her, but not low enough to have been the result of a fall, unless….
"What vault did she attempt?" Payson mumbled, flicking her eyes to the younger girl's start value, a startling 7.1.
"A Produnova," Sasha supplied for her as he moved to the head of their line, "an ill-executed one, but definitely a double front."
"Silly girl," she said, hitching her bag over her shoulder more securely. "Is that meant to intimidate me?"
"Definitely," Sasha said, "I suppose they assumed she'd be able to execute it, otherwise they'd have never let her attempt it. Either way, they had an opportunity with Kaylie's slip up and they wasted it."
They arrived in the small alleyway near the floor and she tossed her bag onto a chair. Kaylie appeared at her shoulder suddenly and Payson took a deep breath.
"You okay?" she asked, quietly, having wanted to address it, but after the immediate shock had passed.
Kaylie nodded quickly, taking a sip of water from her bottle, before replacing it in her bag. "I'm fine and it won't happen again."
That was enough for Payson. She trusted Kaylie, despite the mental lapse and they needed her to be confident for their vault rotation. "Good," she said quickly before moving away and up onto the floor to begin warming up her tumbling passes. She paused next to Izzy who was waiting for Kelly to finish her first passes and move out of the way.
The younger girl looked nervous, but not nearly as much as she had on day one, which wasn't saying much since she'd been a rather deep shade of green when she'd mounted the uneven bars that first day.
"Izzy," she finally said to the younger girl who normally was not nearly this stoic. If she didn't snap out of it, she would start off this rotation like Kaylie had the last. Izzy looked up, her green eyes wide, pupils dilated. Payson smiled and raised her eyebrows. She nodded, "Just another floor routine, like you've done a million times before, Iz. Make sure you keep breathing and trust yourself."
Payson couldn't believe it, but she actually saw Izzy's chin wobble for a moment. Apparently gentle wasn't going to cut it. "Hey," she said, sharply. "None of that. You are an Olympian, Isabella Ruggeri and you are going take this floor in a minute and bring down the house. Got it?"
Her tone seemed to resonate, at least a little and Izzy nodded, as Kelly moved out of their way, having completed her two tumbling passes. Izzy moved up into the corner of the floor and then pushing up onto her toes took off down the spring loaded mat for a nice clean pass, landing lightly and bouncing up to avoid impact on her ankle. She regained her balance after a moment and returned back towards Payson, this time sticking the pass solidly.
She nodded to herself and then took a deep breath.
Payson put the younger girl's nerves out of her mind as she ran through her most difficult tumbling pass, her double arabian streched, landing it solidly before moving back towards the other end of the mat for her first and probably easiest pass, her two and a half twist, punch front that despite the ease of the moves, gave her a tenth of a point connection bonus that boosted her score.
"You got this," Payson said as a small beeping noise called an end to their warm-up session. The rest of their teammates moved off the floor, but Payson hesitated one more moment. She held her fist out for Izzy to bump. The younger girl allowed herself a small smile as their knuckles met briefly. Then with a nod she left the floor as well and moved back down into their team's waiting area.
"Well?" Sasha asked, as she bit her lip, watching Izzy waiting for the judges to signal her with the flag.
"We'll see," she said, unsure if she'd gotten through to the younger gymnast as well as she would have liked, but knowing there was nothing she could do about it now.
It wasn't a disaster, but it certainly wasn't a routine to get excited over. Despite that however, Payson met Izzy at the bottom of the podium stairs and embraced her. "Nice job, we can build from there," she told her and Izzy nodded quickly and sighed with relief. The youngest member of team USA had stepped out of bounds on her first tumbling pass, but recovered quickly from there, nailing the rest of her routine. As the score of 15.45 went up Payson nodded towards Sasha who pulled Izzy into a sideways hug, the tiny girl barely reaching his chest, but hugged him back firmly around the waist as they all turned to watch Kelly perform in what was easily her best event.
Payson could remember the days when she envied Kelly's comfort on the floor exercise. It had always been a struggle for her before her surgery and lessons from Mistress Viola and her awful cane and before Sasha, before he'd run out from behind the training camera, embraced her and spun her around in celebration, before she'd pushed up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his.
From that moment on, floor was her sanctuary, the one place she could go and block everything else out entirely, where it was just her and the music and the freedom of expressing herself through her body, the only thing she'd ever been able to count on completely.
"And that was an excellent routine from Kelly Parker," Elfie Schlegel said, as the commentators watched Kelly wave to the crowd, smiling brightly. "She's always been a crowd favorite on the floor and she just showed why, she had what can be a very quiet and subdued British audience cheering from the first note of music."
"There's her score, a 16.275, what an incredible effort from Parker, righting the ship so to speak after another shaky beginning for Isabella Ruggeri," Al Trautwig added.
"And now we get to see Payson Keeler and folks, if this is the first time you've ever watched gymnastics, get ready, you're in for a show. She is one of the best we've ever seen in this sport and you'll see why in a moment."
The music began, Chopin's Nocturne in F Sharpe Major Op. 15/2, and Payson raised herself up from the folded position on the mat, up into a standing position.
"She moves immediately into a pirouette, rotating four times in place, just one of the many skills that bring a difficulty level to her gymnastics that others just can't match. It's an E level skill where most gymnasts perform a B or C level skill for that requirement," Elfie commented, as Payson moved down the mat, quickly striding into her split ring leap, the move that became the signature of her comeback, the image of her legs fully extended, head thrown back gracefully plastered in print ads and magazine covers over and over again. "Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous."
"But this is where she truly sets herself apart, Elfie," Tim continued, "the elegance and artistry of her routines is incredible, but" he said as Payson moved to the corner of the mat, "check this out, her first tumbling pass, a two and a half punch front, masterfully done, with a connectivity bonus and that's the easiest of her passes."
"The difference is startling in crowd reaction here, where Kelly Parker's routine had the audience cheering and clapping along, Payson's seems to stun them into silence."
"And rightly so, Al," Tim said, "they know they're seeing something they're likely not going to witness again in their lifetime, so they're soaking it in."
"Here's my favorite part of her routine, mostly because we see a little of the old Payson Keeler, from before her back surgery. She does an arabian double stretched…flawless!" Elfie said, the awe ringing out clearly in her voice as Payson's feet landed solidly on the floor. "She's five feet, four inches tall and I've seen her do this routine over and over again and I still have no idea where she generates the kind of power necessary for that move at her height, but she more than manages it."
"The level of difficulty is insane, but it's no surprise really," Tim said, "her coach and fiancé as it happens, was well known for his risky routines when he was competing, but she marries that difficulty, no pun intended, with a level of artistry virtually unknown in the sport these days. Here's where she shows it, in her second dance passage, she maintains that artistry, where most gymnasts as this point are focused on showcasing their tumbling. Look at those illusions, 720 degrees and then straight back up into a leap that looks like it belongs on the stage at the ballet. It adds absolutely no difficulty to her routine at all, at least as far as the judges are concerned, but she put it in because that's what fit best. That's something every other gymnast in this arena should take note of when choreographing their routines."
"Listen to the two of you, and we're only halfway through," Al said, chuckling.
"It really is that incredible. Now here she goes, back into the corner for her third tumbling pass, a double back tuck with one and a half twists, which is just as difficult as it sounds and she nails it with her usual precision," Tim said, laughing.
"And now she'll travel down towards the far corner of the mat, you can see her American teammates standing just behind her, there's Sasha and Marty Walsh as well just behind her," Elfie added.
"She does a Wolf leap, rotating 720 degrees, this is just crazy difficult and towards her final pass of the day, the acrobatic skill Sasha Beloff told us she added in secret at the beginning of her comeback, proving to him she could still land power moves and here it is, a double back stretched with a full twist and, there you have it ladies and gentleman. That's the best floor routine any of us have ever seen or may ever see and that may be the best she's ever performed it."
Payson folded herself back down onto the mat as the music faded, her breath coming in deep, heavy puffs. She put everything she had into the routine and suddenly the arena went from virtually silent, the only noise that of the other competitors, to a thunderous roar, the crowd leaping to its collective feet as she rose to salute for the judges. She smiled and waved as she jogged back to the other side of the floor and leapt down straight to the floor, ignoring the stairs entirely. She was immediately embraced by Kaylie and then Lauren and then practically tackled by Isabella. Kelly hovered just over her shoulder, smiling.
"Nice job, PK," she said as Izzy moved away from her to grab her bag.
"You too, KP," Payson said, laughing and shaking her head. Her breath finally evened as she picked up her bag, digging around quickly for her wrists braces, her focus already on the vault. Cho thinks she can do a Produnova? I'll show her how it's done.
They were already striding towards the vault when an absolute tidal wave of noise erupted from the crowd, Payson looked up and her eyes bulged. She blinked; just to be sure she wasn't seeing things.
Keeler, Payson [USA] Floor Exercise – 16.9
That's my difficulty score, plus ten, which means…holy shit!
Her entire team stopped their march to the vault and embraced her again immediately. The crowd was chanting "Ten!" over and over, as they had before, at her first World Championships and then again in this same arena almost two years ago. The first and only time she'd received a ten for execution on the floor exercise had been at the tainted 2010 World Championships. She knew the score had been a ploy to mask the underscoring of the Chinese team, but now, here at the Olympic Games, she knew she earned it. She knew as soon as the music stopped that the routine had been perfect, though she never thought the judges would actually give her a ten for execution.
She took a deep breath, pulling away, "Come on, we've got vault," she said quietly. She didn't want her team to lose focus, especially Kaylie. They needed her to vault like she did in the team competition and not let her fall on her beam dismount carry over.
Payson dropped her bag quickly and held her wrists out to Sasha who helped her buckle her wrist guards securely. "Have you been keeping an eye on the scoreboard?" she asked, looking down, hoping the cameras that were surely focused on them couldn't read her lips.
"They're ahead," he said, his voice low as well, "barely. China's pulling out all the stops, the two girls who went before Cho nailed Amanars and on bars, well you know how flawless they are on bars."
She nodded and then smirked, "And what did Cho get on her vault again?" she asked, him.
His mouth quirked up in a small smile, "A 16.25," he said.
"I hope she's watching."
"As it stands right now, the Chinese are in first place, the United States right behind them. They're down 1.7 points right now and this is where the math comes into play," Al Trautwig said.
"It does, Al and we just saw the Chinese on what's one of their two best events, uneven bars and they're moving onto what's probably their best, the balance beam. Now what's encouraging for the Americans is that they are only down by that tiny margin and they haven't competed on either of their best events, as least as far as the team is concerned."
"That's right, Tim," Elfie agreed. "So it looks like this is going to come down to which team blinks first."
"The US has to be confident going into this rotation though; the three young women about to compete on vault are experienced and know how to win. At one point, each of these ladies was considered the best gymnast in the United States," Al added.
"And each of them have vaults that will knock your socks off," Tim said. "We start with Kelly Parker, she'll be doing the same vault we saw from two of the three Chinese gymnasts, the Amanar and she can just fly. She'll do a round off onto the springboard, onto the table and twist her body around two and a half times," he paused as Kelly ran down the lane at full speed, "A sensational vault from Kelly Parker and that's exactly what the US needed coming into this rotation. That'll get a big score," he said.
"And it does," Al stated as the score flashed across his monitor, "That's a 16.05 for Kelly Parker and an excellent start for the Americans on vault. Vault is probably the quickest rotation of all them, because as soon as Kelly Parker was down with the rest of her teammates, Kaylie Cruz was up waiting for the judge's flag."
"Let's see if the mental lapse from earlier effect's Kaylie," Elfie said. "That's been her major weakness throughout her career, mental toughness."
"She looks ready to go to me," Al said.
Tim took it from there, "Kaylie does a round off, half turn, with a one and a half, which is one of the more original vaults at these games, where you'll see most athletes go with a Yurchenko or a handspring vault. She nailed this vault in qualifying and she'll be joining Payson Keeler in the vault event finals as well as the All-Around, but right now this is the biggest vault of her life."
Payson watched her friend's face carefully as she saluted the judges and then pushed up onto her toes before pounding down the runway. In a split second it was over and Kaylie was standing, legs pressed together, arms raised in the air, a near flawless vault, much like two days ago.
She didn't have time to congratulate her friend personally, so she shouted, "Yeah, Kaylie!" from the other end of the run, jogging up the steps and waiting for the judges to signal her. She took several steadying breaths as she chalked her feet quickly.
The crowd cheered loudly, she assumed for Kaylie's score, but almost immediately the flag went up. Payson raised her arms above her head and the moved onto the runway. She took a deep steadying breath and let the crowd noise dwindle to just a light hum, the loud music of a Romanian gymnast's floor routine faded and the only thing that existed was the horse just yards away.
She sprinted down the runway, gaining momentum with each stride and hit the springboard exactly right, her hands pressed off the table and she knew as her legs tucked into her chest that it would be perfect. She landed blindly, but firmly onto the mat and raised her hands in salute.
"What a vault by Payson Keeler!" Tim screamed, "Oh, it just doesn't get any better than that. Genghi Cho attempted this same vault just two rotations ago, but that is how it done. Payson Keeler pulling out all the stops."
"We saw the crowd go wild when Kelly Parker's vault outscored all the Chinese women on this event, let's see how they react when…"
"I think that answers your question, Al," Tim said, laughing. "A 16.95, just twenty five hundredths of a point in deductions and where they found them I have no idea and this crowd is going insane."
They marched quiet towards the uneven bars, every eye on the scoreboard. Payson knew they would be behind still, especially if the Chinese hit their beam routines, which it looked as if they did, she grimaced as she saw they'd actually increased their lead to just over two points.
She looked to Emily, who would be competing for the first time today. The girl who started out in the local Y's stripped off her track pants and team jacket, before digging her grips out of her bag, she looked determined. Then she glanced at Izzy Ruggeri, who was wrapping her wrist with pre-wrap before she would put on her grips.
She was about to take a step towards the younger girl, when suddenly Sasha was in front of her, holding out her leather grips to her. She smiled, looking down at the chalky bits of leather and canvas. She remembered when he'd held them out to her at the Rock Invitational, putting her in as an alternate, medaling out of the question, but simply as an inspiration to her teammates.
"Thanks," she said, slipping her hands into them, tightening the grips. Suddenly her hands were in his and he squeezed them gently. She looked up and met his eyes. "Love you," she mouthed, not trusting her voice.
"Love you," he said, squeezing her hands again, before moving away to help ready the bars for their routines.
She tightened the grips to her preference and then caught a glance of Izzy again. She moved to the younger girl, suddenly knowing exactly what she wanted to say, "This is just the beginning for you, you know that right?" Payson said quietly as they both approached the chalk box.
Izzy looked up at her, quizzically.
"It is, you're going to compete today, but you're going to keep going, for four more years. You and Genghi Cho and you'll both be back in Rio."
"Payson, what?" she asked, not forming a full question, but Payson knew what she was asking.
"Rio 2016, it starts now," Payson said simply. "You're going to go up on these bars and have the set of your life. You're going to show Genghi Cho that you are a force to be reckoned with, Isabella Ruggeri and you are going to put us on the gold medal podium, right now."
Her words resonated, she could tell. Izzy's shoulders straightened and she stood tall, moving towards the bars to warm up.
As Payson moved off the podium, warm ups complete, she held out her fist for the younger girl to bump. Their knuckles connected lightly and they both smiled.
"So here we go," Al Trautwig began. "Somewhere in London there's a man sitting in a hospital bed, probably watching this on television no matter what his doctor's order, watching his girls trying to battle back, pull ahead of the Chinese team with just one rotation left. How do they do it, Tim?"
"Very simply, they have to hit their routines. Bars is one of the US's strengths and the Chinese are on floor, one of their admitted weaknesses. It'll be close, but their fate is in their hands, if the US puts together three routines in a row, well we'll see. Whoever wins, it'll likely be by the smallest of margins."
"We start off with Isabella Ruggeri in what will be her last routine of these Olympic Games, not having qualified for the bars final later this week. Two days ago she performed a forgettable routine to begin the preliminary competition, but she is capable of so much more," Elfie said. "If she hits this routine, you're looking at a huge score."
"Now the beauty of this digital world we live in is that we'll be able to know almost immediately as the routines finish what the Americans need for gold as both they and the Chinese compete simultaneously."
"Exactly, Al," Tim said, "and we do have the first score from the Chinese on the floor, a 15.95 which is a very good score, higher than we expected based upon their previous performances, but here's Isabella as the judges signal for her to begin."
"Here we go, Izzy!" Kaylie shouted.
"Come on, Iz, you got this, let's go!" Lauren added.
The young junior national champion was swinging a great set, slipping easily past the mistake she'd made two days before, her legs straight and pressed together, her handstands at twelve o'clock, her releases with impressive height.
"Just the dismount," Payson mumbled, next to Emily who was still stretching out her arms as she was up next.
Izzy swung around once, twice and then again before flinging her body into the air into a double twisting, double straight, the dismount made famous by Shawn Johnson, just a small bend in her knees.
"Yes!" Payson yelled. "Just like that, just like that, Em," she said turning to her friend who nodded firmly as they both hugged Izzy tightly once she made her way back to the floor. Emily didn't have time to waste, she moved away up the stairs towards the bars where Sasha was adjusting the height for her. Payson didn't let go as they rocked back and forth together.
Then her score came up: 16.95 and Izzy shrieked in reaction.
"Oh my God!" she shouted, unable to contain her joy.
"Great job, Iz," Payson said, finally releasing her as the rest of the girls came around them.
She stepped away, rotating her arms, stretching them out, running through her routine in her mind. Then she couldn't help herself, she glanced up at the score board. The Chinese were through two routines and though the numbers held little meaning since Emily had yet to compete, their scores were solid, very solid.
She took a deep breath and kept stretching.
"And now Emily Kmetko, who four years ago, Marty Walsh found training at the local Y, here she is in the Olympic team final," Al Trautwig said, opening the door for the analysist.
"Bars were always Emily's strength, even back then, but this routine is exquisite and she'll be competing in two days during the event finals where she could very likely medal," Elfie said.
"But for right now, the Americans need a solid score in the sixteens from Emily. She scored a 16.825 in the preliminaries and they would love to see her replicate that."
Payson was focused as Emily landed, but she knew from the crowd noise around her that the routine had been good. There would be a slight delay before her routine as Sasha had to adjust the bars for her height and the tension between the bars as her routine was very different from Emily's. She hugged her friend as they crossed paths on the podium stairs. "Great job, Em."
"Bring it home, Pay," Emily said simply and she moved away to be congratulated by the rest of their team. The chalk box, oddly enough faced the scoreboard and as she rubbed the white powder into her grips, she saw the final Chinese floor score appear on the screen.
Cho, Genghi [CHN] Floor Exercise – 16.275
This is going to be close, Pay. Closer than anyone imagined. It was Sasha's voice in her head, as it always was in moments like this. Then he was there, just behind her, hand on her shoulder. "Breathe," he said, quietly, before squeezing her shoulder lightly and moving away.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She rubbed her hands together and blew softly on each one to rid them of excess chalk, before turning towards the judge's table, waiting for their signal.
The flag went up and Payson took a deep steadying breath, as Sasha had instructed. Her body flew through the air, the feel of the bars beneath her grips solid and firm. Her momentum was perfect as she transitioned back and forth between the bars, swinging well, nailing her handstands with precision, making sure each one stayed perfectly perpendicular to the bar. She released into the air, twisting and turning her body, catching the high bar, after the Comaneci and then the Tkatchev, as she did in the prelims, the final huge release move of her routine.
She propelled her body around the bar three times, her legs pressed firmly together. As her arms released the bar they tucked into her chest to allow for maximum rotation and then her feet hit the mat, firmly, no bend, no stumble. Her eyes closed, almost not believing it. She exhaled and raised her arms over her head, saluting the crowd, saluting the judges and then she was in Sasha's arms. He'd been standing just off the mat to spot her during that final release move and was just feet away from as she landed cleanly.
"You did it," he whispered in her ear, as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, allowing him to lift her from the ground.
"We did it," she corrected, pressing her lips to his cheek quickly as he released her and they both moved down into the well to await her score.
They stood together, each of the girls, hand in hand, waiting for the score to go up. Payson saw the Chinese final score and knew they were within reach, but she didn't know what she needed.
Then her score flashed upon the board:
Keeler, Payson [USA] Uneven Bars – 17.2
She felt Emily and Kelly's hands squeeze hers and she squeezed right back. The crowd was cheering, but they didn't know the final outcome any more than the rest of them.
Then the screen flashed back to the team totals and Payson had to blink to make sure she read it correctly.
1. United States of America - 197.045
2. China - 196.96
3. Romania - 194.825
Lauren was the first to react, "We won!" she screamed.
"Oh my God!" Kaylie said, softly.
"Gold, we won gold," Kelly said.
It seemed Izzy and Emily were speechless and Payson couldn't find words either as they converged upon each other, hugging tightly, huddled together.
All six of them had fought tooth and nail for this; they had earned it, together.
They finally separated, an official from the event staff motioning for them to collect their things and move back into the locker room, but it seemed no one wanted to leave.
There was a video camera following Payson as she led by example and began to remove her bar grips, still strapped firmly to her wrists. She turned into the camera, smiled and waved, "Mom, Dad, Becca! I love you guys. Austin, we're going to celebrate tonight!We just won gold! Boris, if they let you watch, I hope you enjoyed that. You were in our hearts, socru."
The excitement couldn't be contained as they moved off the floor to the locker room and as they pulled on their warm-up suits, they simply couldn't stop shouting. Then they'd lapse into silence until a moment later someone else would exclaim, "We're Olympic Champions!" or just simply, "Gold!" and would start them up again.
Then just minutes later they were led out onto the floor again, behind the Romanian and Chinese teams, the crowd cheering wildly for them. It was a blur, because they were suddenly standing on the floor, though it didn't feel like the same place she'd competed upon just a half hour before, where the judges had awarded her a perfect execution score halfway through the competition. Suddenly, everything seemed different; this was the other side of the looking glass. This was what it felt like to be an Olympic gold medalist.
They stood on top of the podium and received flowers and handshakes from people who were important to the IOC in some way, but whose names she would never recall. Then finally, after a lifetime of sacrifice, of dedication and passion, the heavy weight of the Olympic gold medal was placed around her neck and then necks of her teams.
She caught Sasha's eye as he stood just off the floor, watching with Marty and the coaches from China and Romania. He smiled at her as she stood, grasping the medal tightly in the hand and then let it go as she placed her hand over her heart.
"And now, the anthem of the United States of America," the announcer called, followed by a quick French translation. Their flag lifted into the air, above the others, the notes of the Star Spangled Banner ringing in her ears and she couldn't help the shiver running through her or the tears that suddenly sprung into her eyes.
As soon as they moved off the podium, she went straight for Sasha, knowing the cameras were on her and not caring one bit. He lifted her down from the floor and pulled her into his arms. Then she leaned in and kissed him full on the mouth. He hesitated for the smallest fraction of a second before he responded in kind, deepening the kiss, her medal bouncing lightly off his chest as their bodies pressed together. The cameras swarmed around them, neither of them paying any mind to it, until Payson pulled away laughingly. She walked away, rejoining her teammates, who seemed more than a little amused as her antics.
The next few hours were nothing but a blur of media, first interviews with NBC Sports, which the USOC had granted them exclusive rights to, then a press conference where it seemed the same questions were asked over and over again which they happily answered repeatedly.
It wasn't until they were on the bus, away from the constant whir of noise and activity that it sunk in for any of them. It was oddly silent as they sat in their seats, clutching their medals tightly in their hands, or letting them hang around their necks heavily.
The bus ground to a halt just outside their building and they all hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure what to do next.
"Ladies," Marty said, standing, along with Sasha. "Sasha and I just wanted to tell you how proud we are of you. What you did today, together, it…it was our honor to be a part of it."
Sasha nodded, "Truly, our honor. You all have worked your entire lives for this. Soak it in, celebrate…"
"We know how you're going to celebrate," Lauren said, cheekily.
Sasha smirked, not embarrassed in the slightest. "As I said, celebrate," he said, unabashedly meeting Payson's gaze and she felt a surge of attraction pulse through her body at the way he was looking at her.
Marty took it from there, clearing his throat, "There's still some work to be done for most of you, but you're Olympic Champions tonight and for the rest of your lives, no one will be able to take that away from you. Congratulations, ladies, you earned it."