Australia: Team Final AS WE SPEAK!

Scores updated live here. 10:30 a.m. Beijing time. 12:30m here.

Rotation 1 - Beam

12:24 our time - Eeeeeek! It's starting! Hold on to your hats, they're getting ready to march in!

March In: Australia in green-and-gold (the 'glitter spatter' leo from pre-departure photos). America and Brazil in pretty fugly outfits as far as I can tell from fan comments.

12:33 China has already had one vaulter perform. No going back now!

12:35 Shona 15.225 for her routine! WOOOHOOO!

12:37 Ashleigh 15.125! Way to iron out the kinks! Now come on, Lauren! Please, please please, hit! Do it for Dasha!

12: 42 Lauren 15.550, HURRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! Girls, what a great start! Keep it up!


Rotation 2 - Floor

The major clincher here will be Lauren keeping her piked double arabian INSIDE the floor lines. I've seen her do it only twice this year. She will often hit it but then flub the tucked one that comes after it. Come on Lauren, hopefully you've got it down pat this time!

1:02 France will go first on floor, then us. We alternate, y'see?

dum di dum.... Team USA going great guns on bars...

1:11 France's three are done, it's now time for our girls!


1:14 Blah blah Stephanie Rice is on telly blah blah swimming blah blah... see what I did there? I fulfilled this blog's Obligatory Stephanie Rice Mention daily quota. The end. (Oh wait.... she won... damn, that's another 14 ages of the paper I'll have to skip through tomorrow...) I call the headline: Rice Twice as Nice. There. I called your pun, Herald Sun (and there I am rhyming again.... JEEBUS H CROP CIRCLE, WHERE ARE AUSTRALIA'S FLOOR SCORES!!!???)

1:20 Here we go. Georgia gets a 14.450 on floor. Good effort for G-Bo. Poor Anna Pavlova fell on (I should say 'off') beam. But I love her gymnastics so much, how unlucky for her!

1:21 Ashleigh 14.650 this is looking very promising indeed! C'moooooon Lauren.

1:25 Aaargh crap. 13.675 for Lauren. Bronze is slipping away.


Rotation 3 - Vault

1:31 Georgia B does a Y1.5 for a score of 14.625!

1:33 Lauren a 14.7 for what I assume was a Y1.5. If they don't put Dasha up, I sure hope Shona does her double!

1:35 Shona 14.825, not shabby at all. SV was only 5.5, must have done a 1.5, dammit! But at least it will have been a good one! Her execution scores were in the 9's!


Rotation 4 - Uneven Bars

This is the end, my friend.
They clearly didn't put Dasha up on vault so here's hoping she does do a good effort on bars. I'm praying (in my apathethic Catholic way) for some MIRACLES here. Russia has had a few falls so Romania could be edging them out but my *dream* is for us to snare a bronze with some great bars routines. I'm disgusted with how well Romania have been scoring considering their usual icky execution.


Aaaargh France are going first again. I need a change of pants! I hope Dasha wraps it up with a great routine complete with stuck dismount and relieved expression, a la Test Event.

Holy crap, right now Team USA are having such a tough time on floor! OOB's from Sacramone, Liukin AND Johnson! This is not the night they were hoping for!

2:12 Damn. Shona must've stuffed it big time, 13.800. Not good!

OH EM JEE CHANNEL 7 NOOOOOOOW, PEOPLE!


2:15 Olivia 15.1, that's great! What a personal best and a boost for the team!

2:18 Dasha 14.675, a bit shaky there. (Ooh, the tv's showing Lauren's beam! Martine is so thrilled. Shame we can't see Shona or Ash) Good on Dasha for going through the pain, what a champion.

So I think that leaves us in 6th, our best ever finish! Go girls!