A/N: I'm BAAAACK! Thanks to Jordon for motivating my ass to write HAHA!

Time had flown since the opening ceremony. Already, it was Sunday, July 29th - the day she had had marked in her calendar for over a year as the first day of women's artistic competition at the London Olympic Games.

Today was the day that counted the most. If they made mistakes here and missed qualifying into finals, that was the end of their Olympic dreams. There were no second chances if they didn't hit in qualifications.

And yet, even with that knowledge, JJ found herself feeling surprisingly calm. Here she stood, her team around her, their competition numbers pinned to their backs for the first time throughout the Games. JJ's number was 412... funnily enough, she had noted that morning that it was the same as Will's birthday, April 12th. All five of them were dressed in a deep purple leotard, so deep it looked almost blue. Cut into the front of the outfits were a number of nude backed sheer panels that connected in the center to form a star. It was a nice leotard, but it wasn't JJ's favourite. She couldn't wait to wear the one she had fallen in love with the day they got it.

She could hear the murmur of the crowd out in the arena. They sounded so much more distant than they actually were, and it sounded like they were excited to see more wonderful gymnastics.

A hand came down on her shoulder, making her jump. She whipped around, finding Nick standing behind her with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry kiddo, didn't mean to scare you," he said gently.

"It's ok," she replied. "I was just lost in my thoughts I guess"

Nick gave her a smile. "I spoke to Tash this morning. She told me to tell you she's rooting for you and that if you feel yourself getting too intense, to remember the day I left a chalk handprint on her butt"

JJ laughed, immediately remembering the scandalised yet amused expression Tash had bore that day that really wasn't so long ago.

"Gymnasts, please prepare to enter the arena," came the voice of the event manager. The girls all straightened up, smiles spreading across their faces. JJ's butterflies intensified.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third subdivision of women's qualifying! Please, put your hands together for the gymnasts as they enter the arena!" rang out a comforting male voice from the arena sound system. And then, almost immediately, upbeat music began to play and they were walking, beside Great Britain and behind Canada.

They stepped out into brilliant lighting, Aly leading the way behind the volunteer carrying their country card. The crowd was enormous, more than JJ could have imagined, clapping along to the music as they cheered.

"Making their way to vault... the United States of America!"

A thrill shot through JJ's chest as the five girls lifted their arms and waved to the crowd as they walked.

"Making their way to bars... Canada!"

The girls came to a halt at the end of the podium, near the stairs that would take them up to the end of the vault runway. There was no introduction presentation to the judges for qualifying. It was simply diving straight in.

"Making their way to beam... Great Britain!"

The roar that filled the arena was absolutely thunderous. JJ couldn't help but smile as she watched the five British girls wave to their adoring home crowd. What a special moment this had to be for them, getting to compete at the Olympic Games in front of a home crowd, in their own country.

"Making their way to floor... France!"

Almost as soon as the announcement was over, they were heading up the stairs. Standing in a line before the judges, they quickly and unanimously saluted once, before turning and heading to the end of the vault runway, with Kyla making her way back down to the floor. The girls were quick, methodical even, about getting into their warmup, and moments later, Gabby was powering down for the first timer.

JJ was going first when the competition started. She was going to be the very first thing the world saw of the USA's Olympic gymnastics effort.

She had been in that position before. In 2010, at her first world championships in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, it hadn't exactly gone as well as she would have hoped. Performing her Yurchenko double twist, in the hopes of it being a strong start to their qualification, she had dislocated her shoulder when she hit the table.

But today, she wasn't going to let that happen. No, today, she was going to start strong.

"Gymnasts, the warmup is over. Prepare for competition!"

It felt like seconds later that she was standing alone at the end of the runway, her eyes trained on the screen at the opposite end that would flash her green light. The floor rotation was already underway; one of the French girls' floor music was filling the arena. She took a deep breath, holding her hands down at her side.

Her green light came. On the board, her name lit up beneath a big white GO.
412
JAREAU
JENNIFER
USA

"On vault, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"

A thrill ran through her. Stepping onto the runway, she saluted the judges with a small smile, before placing her toes on the little chalk line she had measured out during the warm-up period.

Her eyes now fixed on her daughter, Sandy reached over and grabbed Michael's hand. No matter how far removed they got from JJ's vault crash in the Netherlands, watching JJ on vault never failed to make her incredibly nervous.

With a swing of the arms, JJ launched into her run, powering evenly down towards the springboard. She hurdled, her hands coming down in the center of the mat as she flipped onto the springboard and backwards onto the table. As her hands brushed the surface of the table, Sandy drew in a breath, squeezing Michael's hand tightly.

Her block was strong, stronger than she thought it had ever been, and she was able to easily wrap in two clean twists. She could feel her feet coming slightly apart in the air, and she tried to pull them back together. The landing came up fast, her feet landing a little way off of the center line, but still easily within the red markings, even with a big hop to control the landing. Smiling, she turned and presented to the judges as the audience clapped for her excellent first effort.

She turned and walked off the podium, walking straight into a hug from Kyla. Jenny was bustling around, making sure everyone was where they needed to be, but she stopped for a moment to give JJ a pat on the back as she made her way back to the chairs.

As her teammates went up after her, JJ focused on getting her grips on right. Bars had always been touted as her weak event, which she didn't quite agree with... but she wanted to make sure her grips weren't going to cause her any trouble.

Aly and Gabby vaulted next, putting up a 15.700 and a 15.900 respectively. With McKayla still to go, JJ knew her score would be dropped from the team total, but it was hardly anything to worry about – she had put forth a strong showing for her own individual all-around efforts. A 14.800 was certainly not a bad start by any standards. Even though she was the lowest scoring vaulter from the US team, she was still higher than many other countries would get to.

As she was wrapping her buckles around her wrists, she brought her eyes up to the podium upon which McKayla now stood. The first of her two very strong vaults, the Amanar, was sure to be a top vault for their team total. The second was only counted towards her vault final qualification – which JJ was sure she would also top.

"Come on Mac!" she called out encouragingly as the light went green and McKayla saluted the judges. "You got it!"

And then the vaulting powerhouse was sprinting down the runway, flipping cleanly onto the springboard and then the table, before launching into the air and executing two and a half clean twists. A larger than usual step on landing demonstrated what little was showing of her Olympic jitters, but nonetheless, it was going to be a huge score.

Sure enough, a few minutes and a second vault later, McKayla had eclipsed the leader board for vault finals, and brought the USA to a staggering 47.500 event total.

Grips on and chalk ready to go, the girls waited patiently for the rotation to end; vault was always the first event to finish in the rotation. Eventually, however, it came to an end, and the girls were falling back into line behind the volunteer. They walked calmly and professionally around the arena, Jenny and Chow, Kyla and Gabby's coaches respectively, following with the bags. Due to the rule that allowed only two coaches onto the floor for each team at any time, the male coaches were having to rotate in and out. One of the coaches on the floor had to always be a woman, meaning that by default, Jenny would be with them every step of the way. As the national bars coach for the USA that year, Chow was to guide them through bars. McKayla's coach, Artur Akopyan had brought them through vault. Nick would be joining them for beam, followed by Mihai for floor.

Warm-ups flew by in a chalky breeze, and then the chimes rang to indicate the new rotation had started.

Aly was up first, followed by Kyla, so JJ took the short break to focus her mind on the task before her. Even though the line-up had initially had JJ going before Kyla, Cheryl Hamilton, the US international brevet judge, had consistently been scoring JJ higher than Kyla in the training sessions. For that reason, Marta had made the last minute decision to switch them around.

Bars were always touted as her weakest event... but she didn't agree in the slightest. For so long, people had doubted her ability on bars, and JJ wanted nothing more than to go up and prove that she was a bars worker the team could count on. She wanted to simply hit a good routine for the team total. If she went for broke, she was capable of a high 15... but she also risked wigging herself out and falling from the bars. If she took out a few connections, she could keep her focus and put up a steady score for the team.

She knew straightaway that that was the better choice. If she qualified for finals, she could go for broke there. Sure, if she made a mistake there, it would suck, but at least she wouldn't have brought the team down with her.

There were other routines going on around the arena, but Sandy couldn't take her eyes off the tiny form of her daughter, waiting by the stairs for her turn on bars. She looked extremely calm and collected... a complete opposite to the child who had called her in tears after the first night of Trials. For Sandy, however, the moment was filled with butterflies. She loved, and hated watching JJ compete at the same time. JJ was a beautiful gymnast, and Sandy loved watching her do the thing she was most passionate about, but it filled her with nerves and anxiety at the same time. The last thing she wanted to see was JJ falling, or getting hurt, and her long awaited dreams slipping away.

The two scores for the USA were now up. Aly had started them off with a 14.066, with Kyla upping her own score by eight tenths on Aly's, earning a respectable 14.866 for her solid efforts.

Sandy leant forward, resting her elbows on her knees as JJ ascended the stairs. The US were an efficient team, with Chow chalking up the bars for JJ as JJ chalked her grips. Before too long, JJ was standing beneath the bars, facing the judges, waiting for her green light to go ahead.

Michael's hand came to rest on her knee as JJ saluted the judges and turned to face the low bar. Taking a deep breath, Sandy shook her head slightly, sitting up a little straighter and focusing intently on her daughter.

With a jump and a glide, JJ had mounted, and Sandy's hand found her husband's.

"Come on baby girl... come on," she muttered softly, watching as JJ transitioned easily to the high bar.

"Good form," Michael said, mostly to himself as JJ swung into a stalder and ended in a perfect handstand atop the bar. So far, he knew some of her connections had been taken out, to save the risk of a fall, but so far, she was standing up to the pressure of hitting bars for the team.

Sandy leaned back in her chair as JJ swung beneath the high bar and up into her Tkatchev, instinctively holding her breath. The catch was easy, and JJ immediately connected it into her Pak transition back to the low bar. She was supposed to connect it to an immediate transition back, but instead simply cast back into handstand. Taking a moment to steady herself above the bar, she swung around the low bar, releasing and recatching the high bar.

"Nice JJ!" Michael called out, gripping Sandy's hand.

Just the dismount. They gripped each other's hands tightly as JJ wound up, building energy and speed.

With a ping that seemed to reverberate around the arena, she let go, rocketing up into a flighty double layout.

"YES! Good girl!" Michael yelled as she hit the mats and didn't move.

"Jennifer Jareau!" the announcer's voice said, loud and clear as JJ saluted the judges and turned to leave the podium.

"Oh no, that means beam is next," Sandy groaned, making Michael laugh.

"San, she's literally the reigning world champion"

"Yes, but it's the scariest event. That and bars. Oh, I don't know," Sandy sighed. Michael laughed again, squeezing her hand tightly.

"She'll be fine," he murmured, turning and pressing a kiss to her temple.

"She's doing really well so far, don't you think Mike?" Anne said conversationally from the row in front of them as she turned to face her son. "They all are!"

"They've trained years for this Anne, of course they're doing well," Harry chuckled from beside her.

"I'm not going to lie... I'm just so happy to be watching her actually compete in person. Watching it online just isn't the same," Anne gushed, patting Michael's knee before turning back to face the competition floor.

By the time JJ had packed away her grips, Gabby had finished, anchoring the team with a 15.333 – perfectly tying JJ's score from before. If they qualified to the bars final, which was looking promising, the tie would be broken to determine their ranking. As JJ's difficulty score was lower than Gabby's, therefore ensuring her execution was higher, she would slip one place above Gabby on the bars ranking.

It was a seemingly quick wait for the British girls to be finished on floor. The roars of the British crowd were nothing short of incredible, and JJ found herself hoping that Team GB would earn a berth to the team final. What an incredible experience it would be, competing as a top eight nation in front of a home crowd.

"Hey kiddo," came a familiar voice behind JJ as she stuffed her water bottle back into her bag. She turned, smiling widely at her coach who had now joined them on the floor for the beam rotation.

"You've done well. Really well. I was impressed by your bars score," Nick said warmly.

"Thanks," JJ said with a small smile. "I was surprised it was so high seeing as I took out a couple of connections"

"Yeah, but that allowed you to really hone in on the execution. It was a good routine, JJ, I think you'll make the final with it," Nick said reassuringly. JJ smiled, not saying any more as she gathered her thoughts and honed her focus down onto the next event.

The end of the rotation was upon them soon enough, and in line once more, they walked around the arena to the same upbeat music, headed for beam.

Her pet event. The event she had become the surprise world champion on, just nine months earlier, in Tokyo, Japan.

She'd been so solid. Every landing, so perfectly centred, she had hardly dared to believe it. A stuck landing had been the cherry on top of a picture perfect routine.

And perfect it would have to be. Sui Lu of China had posted a massive 15.866 earlier in the final. JJ hadn't realised just how badly she wanted to win until the score had gone up, and the challenge was set.

"It's going to be a big order for JJ, but if anyone can surpass a 15.866, it's her, she does after all, have the astronomical start value. That routine was about the absolute best she could have- PHWOAR! OH MY GOSH!"

Breaking into a grin, JJ leapt up excitedly, throwing her arms around Jordyn, who was laughing beside her. For her name had just slid into the top spot – with a massive 15.933.

Closing her eyes as the chime sounded for warm-up to begin, JJ took a deep breath, shaking her arms out as she did.

This was her event. Now, more than ever, it was time to block out the nerves, block out the crowds, and most importantly, block out the Olympic rings which were staring at her from what felt like every possible surface.

After Kyla had hopped down from the beam, JJ waited for Nick to position her springboard. When it was in place, she took a breath to settle herself, before running at it and punching off the board. She flipped through a clean front pike, finding her feet easily. Once she was happy with her position, she turned, wanting to practice her major flight series.

Her time was up faster than she knew. Happy with her skills, she left the podium, finding a little spot down the end of the chair row to sit and focus herself on her event. She wasn't really nervous. Beam was her thing. She had never fallen in competition, and the apparatus simply failed to scare her. Many gymnasts dreaded beam... but she absolutely relished in it.

Lost in her own world, it wasn't long before it was her turn to take the podium. Gabby, Kyla and Aly had all gone ahead of her, posting strong scores of 15.066, 15.075, and 15.100 respectively.

Thousands of miles away in Tessa's living room, JJ's closest friends were sprawled out around the room, their eyes fixed keenly on the screen.

"Now, what Marta Karolyi does is she builds lineups on the basis of score building. The strongest athlete on each piece always goes last. The building has gone quite well, the scores have very gradually crept up from Gabby's 15.066, but my guess is, this young lady right here is going to absolutely smash it out of the park"

"Yeah, I would not be surprised to see a mid 15 here, that's fairly standard for her"

"I just... every time I see JJ standing by a balance beam, I am struck by how little she is! She's only about four foot nine, maybe ten, but... I don't know. It just always makes me laugh. It's even funnier... she celebrated her eighteenth birthday last week, and yes, that means she can legally drink in the United Kingdom even though I don't think she would be able to see over the bar"

JJ's friends laughed, Will shifting in his seat as he got more comfortable.

"Come on Jayje, time to kick ass! Show 'em who's beam boss!" Lani called encouragingly towards the TV.

Standing beneath the dazzling lights of the arena, JJ felt a wave of calm wash over as she watched her light flick to green. Smiling, she turned and saluted the judges, before lining herself back up in front of the board.

She took a deep breath, bringing her hands down in front of her, and then she was off, running lightly towards the springboard. Punching easily off of it, she flipped through a clean front pike, slamming her feet down onto the beam in earnest. Keeping it secure, she omitted the wolf jump she sometimes connected out of the mount, not wanting to risk it all on the first move.

A quick leap series brought her down to the other end of the beam. Swinging down, she flipped back once, twice, before rebounding into her full twisting layout. It was landed with a defiant THWACK against the end of the beam, garnering applause. Someone's floor music started in the background, but against JJ's focus, it may as well have been dead silent in the arena.

"Nice JJ! Come on!" came McKayla's voice from the sidelines.

Bringing her arms up, she stepped into an easy front aerial. It was strong, secure, and easily connected to a second one. As soon as she was upright on the second aerial, she swung her arms back, flipping into an Onodi. Now facing back the way she had come, she straightened up, presenting the end of the skill with a little flourish

She worked her way easily through the remaining elements of the routine. A switch ring for difficulty... some simple acro skills connected to dance elements... a full turn.

And then, she was standing at the end of the beam, the ten second buzzer ringing in her ears.

She leapt back, flipping once, then twice down the beam before punching into a soaring full twisting double tuck. She hit the ground with a little too much momentum, jumping backwards a sizeable distance to catch herself, but even so, she was smiling as she saluted the judges. Through the applause for her routine, she walked off the podium and into a tight hug from Nick.

"Good job. Really, really good. Except for that three tenth hop on the end, you muppet," he teased, swatting her shoulder lightly as she laughed and turned towards the girls.

Her score was up within a few minutes, an extremely respectable 15.500 that would have her near the top, if not on top of the beam standings after qualifications.

Five minutes later, they were rotating around to floor, and JJ finally felt completely at ease. The hum of competition butterflies had disappeared since her score, and she was ready to make floor her best floor routine yet.

She was so calm, she even felt comfortable enough to watch Kyla and Gabby go before her. Kyla was up first, not entirely prepared for the enormity of Olympic competition, and JJ felt herself clenching her fists in a sudden wave of anxiety as Kyla bounded out of her first pass, a double Arabian to stag, and clean off the edge of the floor. After that, she kind of wanted to look away, but she couldn't... and she silently thanked whatever gym gods were watching above when Kyla made the rest of the routine with few errors.

Gabby was up next, and her first pass was clean and controlled. Her second pass, however, also a double Arabian, sparked up a fresh wave of nerves in JJ when she too rebounded out of the corner and clear over the boundary lines.

By the time her turn came, JJ was feeling a little edgy. But nonetheless, she stepped out onto the floor with a smile on face, breathing deeply to collect herself in the few moments before the music began.

When it started, she kicked into gear, extending every line, dragging out every note.

"Come on JJ," Sandy muttered under her breath as she watched JJ take off for her first tumble. A double layout, which she landed with relative ease.

Flourishing her arms as she stepped back into the corner, she tipped her chin up and took a deep breath. Before she even had time to think, she was off again, springing across the floor and flipping into a strong double Arabian. As she hit the ground, she suddenly understood the issue Gabby and Kyla had had, finding herself rebounding out of it more than she would have liked. By the skin of her teeth though, she managed to keep it in bounds.

"Come on Jayje!"

"Nice!"

She relaxed into the music, dancing her way around the floor. Her leap series, her turn sequence, all blended seamlessly between carefully selected choreography.

Almost on autopilot, she was off, flying through the air in a tight triple twist. When she landed, she threw her arms up, before carrying into her remaining choreography.

As she approached the final corner, she found herself thinking of all the times she had run out of stamina and crashed her double pike. But she just as quickly forced the thought away, turning and pressing her heels into the corner with a determined expression.

When she landed a strong double pike just seconds later, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. Beaming from ear to ear, she struck her final pose, garnering strong applause from the watching crowd.

"Jennifer Jareau!"

She left the floor, still smiling, immediately getting a tight hug from McKayla at the bottom of the stairs. Mihai gave her another squeeze, patting the top of her head happily, clearly proud of how strong she had been.

The remaining few minutes were a blur. Aly had put up a strong final showing for the USA, bringing their overall team total to a staggering 182.564. They were without a doubt through to the team final.

It was as she was gathering her things, ready to walk out with the other girls through to the mixed zone, that she glanced up at the scoreboard.

Her jaw dropped.

RK-ATHLETE-COUNTRY-SCORE
1 – JAREAU J. – USA – 60.566
2 - DOUGLAS G. – USA – 60.065
3 - RAISMAN A. – USA – 59.991
4 - FERRARI V. – ITA – 57.932
5 - TUNNEY R. – GBR – 56.391
6 - GOMEZ PORRAS A. S. – GUA – 56.132
7 - WHELAN H. – GBR – 55.699
8 – PEGG D. – CAN – 55.657

"First? I'm in first all-around?" she said in disbelief, turning to Mihai. Mihai laughed, nodding. Behind him, Aly looked vaguely disappointed as she gathered her things.

"Yes," he said in his thick accent, patting her shoulder. "You and Gabby will be in the all-around"

Gaping, JJ couldn't help the smile that was forming. She was one of the top all-arounders in the USA. She had bested both Aly and Gabby in this stage of the competition, and while both had had minor mistakes, she felt that her 60+ score was proof that she was strong enough to contend.

"Huh," she chuckled softly, bending down to grab her bag from the floor. "Glorified beam specialist my ass"

REAL RESULTS

At the end of American qualifications, Aly Raisman was the top American all-arounder, besting Gabby's score of 60.065. She and Gabby qualified to the all-around and beam finals, two per countrying Jordyn Wieber out of a chance to fight for Olympic gold as the reigning world champion. McKayla Maroney was the top qualifier to the vault final, Gabby qualified sixth to the bars final, and Aly and Jordyn qualified first and sixth into the floor final respectively.

TERMINOLOGY GUIDE

As I'm going to start differentiating skills between events, I'm including the event designations in this guide.

VT – vault

UB – uneven bars

BB – balance beam

FX – floor exercise

Layout full (BB) – in a stretched 'layout' body position, the gymnast punches from the competition surface, and completes a single flip through the air, while rotating through a full 360 degrees about the longitudinal axis. It was first competed by Olessia Dudnik of the Soviet Union in the late 1980's, although the skill was never named for her.

Front aerial – standing on one foot, the gymnast steps forward on her other foot and propels upwards off of that foot. Without hand support, the gymnast whips though a front salto motion, with her legs coming one after the other to land on the same foot she started on. Landing on one foot allows the skill to be easily connected to other skills. Is most often performed on beam, but can be performed on floor as well.

Double layout (UB/FX) – (on floor) from a roundoff or back handspring, the gymnast punches from the floor in a laid out body position. She rotates twice through the air before landing on her feet still facing the way she started. (on bars) letting go of the high bar, the gymnasts feet swing up and over her head. She keeps her body stretched and flips through two rotations before landing on her feet.

Triple twist – can be done on floor or off the beam as a dismount. From a roundoff or back handspring, the gymnast punches into the air in a laid out body position. She rotates three times about the longitudinal axis (1080 degrees of rotation), while flipping once through the air. She lands facing the way she came.

Double pike (BB/FX)- rebounding from a backwards flip, the gymnast brings her legs towards her chest, keeping her knees straight. Any hip angle of less than 90* is classified as a pike. Some angles between 90* and 180* are debatable depending on the skill.

Tap – during a giant swing on uneven bars, as the gymnast leaves the handstand position atop the bar, she hollows her body through the first half of the swing. In live motion, it appears as a quick flicking motion of the lower body, as if she is tapping her feet towards the lower bar. It helps generate swing and momentum.

Flight series – a required series on beam. Two or more connected acrobatic skills, one of which requires flight – no hand contact with the beam.

Short landing – a landing of anything less than upright. The chest will be out of alignment with the feet. A short forward landing may result in the gymnast sitting a skill. A short backwards landing can put real strain on the ankles.

Stalder - a giant swing on bars where the gymnast straddles her legs, keeps her toes near her hands, and swings around the bar. REF - Laurie Hernandez demonstrates many stalder skills in her 2016 bar routine.