The United States Olympic Gymnasts knew they had their work cut out for them in the team finals against China, Romania, Russia, Japan, Australia, France and Brazil, but they were favored to place in the top two - which they did. And while everyone was hoping for an upset and a Gold medal for the US women, it was not to be. China was too strong and the US women were unable to put up their best team due to injuries.

Left to right: Bridget Sloan, Alicia Sacramone, Samantha Peszek, Chellsie Memmel, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson - US Womens Gymnastics team takes Silver.

The US women should still be so proud. A silver medal is a great accomplishment and there are still more medals to be had. The showdown I am really looking forward to is the Womens All Around final - Powerhouse Shawn Johnson vs. Artistic Gymnastics personified Nastia Liukin. The media has hyped Shawn Johnson to an incredible level, while Nastia just keeps focused, working hard, and quietly getting better and better with each passing day. Personally I feel that Nastia is the more complete gymnast and the true description of an Olympic All Around champion, however, I will be so happy for either one of them if they grab the gold.

While NBC did not show anything other than the US and China last night, I have to say the most captivating routine I saw was Jiang Yuyuan’s floor routine. She absolutely showed that routine off! She smiled, she flirted with the crowd (in a theatrical way), and genuinely looked like she was having fun. Her choreography fit her to a tee and she played it up for all it was worth. Here is a video from earlier this year:

I am so looking forward to the All Around finals and the US women should be too - there is a lot of hardware still up for grabs and they can do it!

I am going to go against the grain and say that I really would love to see Nastia Liukin win the All Around Gold at these Olympics. Shawn Johnson is the media favorite and she is a phenomenal gymnast, but Nastia Liukin is such a beautiful and artistic athlete - more of a complete package.

Watching the women’s podium training earlier this week, Nastia looked so calm, so confident and truly ready to take on the world. I know she made a mistake on bars in Team Prelims, but she has one of the most difficult sets being performed anywhere in the world. Her floor routine is the epitome of extension, grace and artistry. Her beam routine is chocked full of original and difficult moves. And even her vault is pretty!

On the other hand, Shawn Johnson is just an amazing talent - she is a little firecracker and I am rooting for her too! We saw her compete at the US Classic a few years ago when she first burst on the scene and were completely mesmerized by her personality and power. She makes tumbling on beam look like it was on the floor but she lacks the extension and flexibility of Nastia.  Shawn is incredibly consistent and has handled all the media attention with grace and poise like no other.

So, who do you think will win? The oh-so graceful Nastia Liukin or the power packed Shawn Johnson?

First of all, let me say that this is one of the most GORGEOUS photos of Nastia Liukin I have seen yet! It is a balance beam photo from Team Preliminaries at the Olympics. (Photo: USAG)

While I haven’t seen the video footage yet (will see it tonight in primetime), it sounds as if the US and many others had a rough go of it in prelims. Samantha Peszek sprained her ankle in warmups leaving only 4 girls to compete on 3 of the events. Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin both had uncharacteristic falls on bars. Even the Chinese gymnasts made mistakes in prelims (He Kexin from China even fell on bars) - but if you are going to make mistakes, that is where to make them.

And, even with the mistakes, the US team qualified 2nd to team finals behind China. I almost prefer the US be in 2nd going into finals - less pressure. Rounding out the top 8 teams that qualified to the team finals are Russia, Romania, Australia, France, Brazil and Japan.

In the individual All Around race, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin lead the pack qualifying 1 and 2 to finals. For individual event finals the US girls qualified at least one gymnast in each event. Alicia Sacramone qualified to Vault finals, Nastia Liukin qualified to Bars finals, Nastia, Shawn and Alicia finished in the top 8 on beam but I am not sure if Alicia gets to go to finals or not based on the 2 per country rule, and Shawn and Nastia both qualified for finals on floor.

Its going to be anyone’s game I think for team finals - afterall the format is 3 athletes per event and all 3 scores count. It was a good idea to get the mistakes and the nerves out during prelims because the heat will be on in finals!