I'm excited to see where this thread goes, Gymmie -- especially your series of blog posts. I've often wondered what happens to the gymnasts in between Olympics. There are some gymnasts that I loved in past years, but they seem to mysteriously disappear within the four years in between. Your blog post series is a brilliant idea and I hope it'll help me catch up on where we were, where we are, and where we're going. I seriously can't wait.

I love the winter Olympics as well, but summer Olympics have always held extra thrill for me -- I'm really not sure why. I think it's probably because I find more of an interest in the summer sports than the winter sports. Plus, the summer Olympics add a bit of adventure to normally mediocre summer days. Because of school vacation, I get to see a lot more of the Olympics in the summer than I do in the winter. Some of my best summer memories have been spent glued to the TV.

Off the top of my head, my two favorite sports are swimming and gymnastics. Despite the fact that the Olympics are the only time I watch these sports, I do get a thrill from watching my favorite participants, whether they win or lose. Last year I specifically remember Shawn Johnson, Nastya Liukin, and Michael Phelps.

What I also really like is the opening ceremonies. That's a huge highlight for me. It's so fascinating to see what each country chooses to give us a taste of their culture. (I can think of some pretty weird opening ceremonies, though. ) The fact that they're being held in London makes it even more awesome. (Side note: I can't wait for the time when America can host them again.)

Looking at the list of summer sports right now, I can tell you that I'm interested in watching the archery competitions. I really don't remember much of it from Beijing so I'm looking forward to watching it this year.

Goodness, I didn't realize how much I loved the Olympics until now. I'm really, really excited.

Needless to say, as someone who lives and works in London, i am extremely excited for the Olympic games this year! I have tickets for both Athletics and Field Hockey and am also planning to take in a few of the free outdoor events such as the Cycling road race (which comes right out into my part of greater london) and the Marathon if i can. Also know quite a lot of people who have managed to get volunteer jobs helping out at in various parts of the Olympic Games over the summer, and several other people who have also managed to score tickets to various events, so it promises to be a really exciting summer! ..... Even the great British weather couldn't possibly spoil it for me

Yes! I was hoping we'd get an Olympics thread on here.

I have been eagerly and impatiently awaiting the Olympics ever since the Beijing Olympics ended. It's been a long four years. But it's almost here!

Last Olympics was the first Olympics I had ever watched. Growing up, my parents were not big sports fans of any kind, and so they would never have had it on the TV set. And I'm just starting to grow a love of things athletic. I tuned in last year near the beginning of the games and absolutely fell in love with it.

And I grew a sort of obsession for fencing, after watching the Sabre matches.

But really, what makes the Olympics special is not the sports, the awards, or even the excitement of it all. It's seeing all the nations come together -- not for a meeting -- but to play together. You have to admit, it doesn't get more special than that.

~Riella

Ah, the title harkens back to the childhood days when we'd watch that famous intro to The Wide World of Sports.

We also watched a lot of Olympics (the first one I really remember is Mexico City in 1968), though coverage back then was incredibly limited by today's standards. [/reminiscing]

I quite enjoyed your gymnastics analysis for the Beijing Games, Gymfan, and look forward to it again this summer.

I like to watch a lot of the summer sports, including gymnastics, but I think my favorite parts of the Olympics are the opening and closing ceremonies, and the medal ceremonies for the champions (as a national anthem buff I always hope to hear anthems from lots of different countries).

Attending events sounds exciting, icarus! Please share your experiences with us when the time comes.

(Some years ago my brother and I made tentative plans to try to see some events for the 2010 Vancouver Games, since he lived in Seattle. But that became impractical when he moved to Minnesota a few years before then )

This is the part where I get to plug those games most people don't even know about.

Actually, one thing I'm interested in is this: mixed doubles tennis will be back for the first time since 1924! Is there a difference when a guy and a girl team up to face off against each other than when it is two guys or two girls? We shall see... The only other Olympic sport with a mixed competition is badminton.

Other than that, if you're interested in seeing something different, I personally recommend the Canoe/Kayak Slalom events. These involve contestants going down a whitewater rapids course, maneuvering around slalom flags and trying not to flip over into the water. Lots of fun and definitely something different from the usual Olympic program.

I hope I'm not annoying but do you have any idea when your next gymnastics post in your Every Four Years series will be up, gymfan?

I found your first post fascinating and can't wait to read the rest. I love gymnastics but don't watch much throughout the year except clips on YouTube. Yesterday, I watched a bunch on YouTube. I watched coverage of the 2012 American Cup, the 2012 Nastia Liukin SuperGirl cup, and the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships. It was a lot of fun and awesome to watch! YouTube has the full two hour or 1.5 hour coverage on YouTube.

It's coming. I would have had it done by now but life got in the way! Hopefully by tonight or so.

I am going to be in london about 2 weeks before they Olympics start. I usually only watch the water sports and gymnastics because the others are usually boring.

I don't know if this link will work or not cause Yahoo links can be really finicky sometimes, but I thought I'd attempt to share it anyways.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/100-days-to-olympics-1334760896-slideshow/260-guardsmen-grenadier-coldstream-scots-welsh-guards-pose-photo-230503881.html#show-gallery-btn

100 Days to go!

YAY! How much better can you get then Olympics + Summertime + London ENGLAND! *wuv England*

So. I hope we get that channel with our limited TV. XD

Ok, the first part of Every Four Years is up, and it's a recap of the 2008 Olympics.

http://www.spareoom.net/gymfan15/blog/?p=610

I am so sorry it's taken so long to get this put together, lol! Wow, that was embarrassing. I laid out all these grand plans and then bam, life hit me HARD and I never got around to them.

The good news is that the second blog post is written; I just need to edit it. Hopefully it will be up before the weekend is over, and then there's just one or two more posts to go which WILL be out before next week is up.

Speaking of next week, y'all might want to set your DVR's! The Secret US Classic, the last US domestic competition before Nationals and Trials is next Saturday in Chicago, and I will be in attendance. Practically every person in contention for the Olympic team will be there, with the notable exception being Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone. But Nastia, Jordyn, McKayla, Gabrielle; they will all be there and competing. (If those names don't mean much to you right now; that's ok! I'm working on making sure that's not a problem soon. ).

Anyway, Universal Sports will be showing it so if you have DirectTV you are in luck. It also might be shown online at Universalsports.com. The competition begins in the evening, around 6:30 or 7pm, I believe. I'll get back to you on that.

You're not going to want to miss it! I'm so excited that I'll be there in person, yet again! Look for me on the TV! I'll be the one with the big "BROSS IS BOSS" and "UNITED STATES OF AMANAR" sign. (Again; if that doesn't mean anything...just wait a blog post or two! ).

So, the Olympic Trials of gymnastics concluded last night, and it was by far the most emotionally charged gymnastics competition I have ever seen. It was full of realized dreams and heartbreak, and I'm not ashamed to say that I shed tears on more than one occasion. It's an incredibly stressful and emotional competition not only for the gymnasts, but for the fans as well. I've been following some of these gymnasts for over eight years, and it's almost personal now, lol. In some ways it's more emotional than the Olympics themselves. Just getting named to the US Olympic team is a huge honor in and of itself. No matter how the next competition goes you're an Olympian, and no one can take that away from you.

So yeah, back to Trials!

The women's field boasted of three returning '08 Olympians, Nastia Liukin, Bridget Sloan and Alicia Sacramone. Chellsie Memmel and Shawn Johnson all made a run for the Olympics at various points. Ultimately none of them ended up making the team, either as an official team member or as an alternate. Shawn Johnson retired a few months ago after a knee injury hampered her progress. Chellsie Memmel was plagued with injuries and had a poor showing at Classics, resulting in her petition to Nationals being denied (a big controversy, btw. People said it was a slap in the face to an athlete who literally gave her body to USA Gymnastics and only wanted the chance to prove herself again). Nastia, Alicia and Bridget all made Trials, but Bridget had to pull out just minutes before it began due to a shoulder injury. Nastia simply ran out of time in her comeback and was never able to put a decent bar routine together; which was critical to her bid for the Games. And Alicia overcame possibly the most of all of them, after rupturing her Achilles tendon last year at Worlds. She made it back in time for Nationals at Trials and had a great meet at each one. Unfortunately there was no spot for her on the team, and she was not named alternate either. All of these girls were much respected and commended for their efforts to come back, and will definitely be missed.

As far as the girls who DID make the team, it ended up not really being a surprise or shocker at all. Just a few months ago the race was WIDE OPEN; in January one would be hard-pressed to come up with any athletes who might be considered locks except reigning AA World Champion Jordyn Wieber. But as time went on and the girls competed at more meets, the Olympic picture started to become a lot clearer. By the time Trials started, four girls were virtual locks, with the fifth spot only in limbo because McKayla Maroney suffered a concussion at Nationals and was unable to finish the competiton, resulting with her having to petiton to Trials. People weren't sure she would be able to get back in time and prove herself (there was only two weeks between Nats and Trials) but she did, quite handily.

But goodness, the competition was still incredibly nerve-wracking and emotional, even though we basically knew who would be on the team. The real battle was for the alternate posistions, of which there were three up for grabs. Becca Bross, who suffered a knee injury during Nationals last year (one of hte most devastating things I have ever witnessed) tried her best, but strugged throughout. She had the skills back, but her mental game just was not there. One had to wonder if she was self-sabotauging, almost...she seemed to perform better after taking herself completely out of the running. Her bar routine was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen; her coach had to stop her before she even finsiehd because she kept falling and was clearly not in it at all. Everyone had tears in their eyes, including her. Becca is such an amazing gymnast and was the "it" girl to be the star in London, but injuries and inconssitany kept her from ever becoming a World Champion and ultimatly an Olympicn.

Sorry to ramble, but I just love Bross. At first I wasn't her hugest fans, but she gained a lot of my respect during 2010 Worlds when she fought through a leg injury to be a really solid member of the team. And then when she blew her knee at 2011 Nationals, everyone was shocked to see the usually stoic and game-faced Becca cry so much. She's always been a pretty private person, but her tweets after Trials were nothing short of classy and supportive. She's such a class act and I hope that whatever the future brings, she is happy. If she wanted to continue gymnastics, I would be there at her next meet!

Lol, it's funny, but when I go to the few competitions that I am able to attend live, it's always hard to choose what sign to make. The first time I went to Classics I made a sign for Alicia Sacramone because it was her first competition back after Beijing. This year, I felt it was fitting to honor and support Becca.

Love her!

Anyway, back to Trials, haha. Gabby Douglas ended up taking the win; her first official major all-around title and the first time Jordyn Wieber has been officially beaten since early 2011. Technally, Gabby did outscore Jordyn at the American Cup this year, but her routines were performed in exhibtition and did not count.

Gabby won the automatic spot to the Olympic Games by winning, but no one thought that the other top girls wouldn't make it either. After the competiton ended, the selection committee rushed backstage and took about 20 minutes to deliberate before coming out and announcing the entire team.

And it was!

Gabby Douglas
Jordyn Wieber
Aly Raisman
Kyla Ross
McKayla Maroney

The moment the team was announced was just electric. And then the girls came out to be presented to the crowd, and I was just crying, it was so emotional, lol. Aly was bawling her eyes out and Gabby, Jo and McKayla were crying and Kyla was just grinning from ear to ear.

I dare you to watch this video of the announcement and not get a little teary. Even if you don't know these girls and their stories, you'd have to have a stone-cold heart not to feel the immense emotion of the moment.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/gymnas ... eiled.html
(If this link does not work for you, there is a lower quality version here:

... e=youtu.be)

If you recognize some of the girls, it's probably because you've seen them in my sig pic for the last few months.

This photo was from when the team won gold at last year's Worlds, and all the girls except the one in the middle, Sabrina Vega, made the Olympic team. Pretty awesome, eh? I guess I need to get a new sig pic now!

Speaking of Sabrina Vega, one has to remember that for every girl that was named to the team, there was several disappointed and heartbroken girls behind her. While Sabrina was on the team last year, she was never really a factor for the Olympics but hoped for the best and was pretty devastated when she didn't make it.

Thrill of victory, agony of defeat. It's hard, but it's sport.

Congratulations to the five girls who made the USA Olympic team! It's such a huge accomplishment for them and I'm feeling really, really good about their chances in London.

Just a few more weeks, guys! Can't wait!

I've never been an athletically-inclined person, so it never really interested me to watch sports. However, once I discovered that the Olympics are not mainstream sports, I think I might just follow them this year. Yes, I know hardly anything about them, but I figured that there's no harm in trying.

Gymfan, I was watching a bit of the trials before the news and was trying to spot your posters (having seen your post) but I was not able to. I actually got to see when the five girls were chosen, at that moment, and see their reaction -- I'm glad I got to see it even though I was unaware of precisely what was occurring! All the best to them! At first, we thought that perhaps they had not been chosen, which was why they were crying/reacting as they did. But that's really exciting!

Where is everybody? Don't you know that tomorrow marks the day that means the Olympics are just one week away? ONE WEEK!!!! *squee*

Oh goodness, I am getting so excited and nervous and yeah, just excited. I've already started pulling all my resources together so there won't be any blips in watching everything live, and I'm one of those poor people who have no life and actually took time off work to make sure I could watch the important stuff live.

The USA gymnasts left for London today...in two Sundays they'll be competing! Their session is actually going to be JUST as I'm in church, so I will be locking my phone away in my car so I'm not tempted to check results during the meeting.

Anyone else getting excited? Are you going to try and watch live, or will you wait for primetime coverage on TV? What events are you excited to watch?