Heading into the 2012 London Olympics, the "face" of the U.S. women's gymnastics team was Jordyn Wieber. Wieber was the 2011 world champion and the 2012 national champion and easily one of the favorites to win the women's all around gold medal.
Even when Gabby Douglas narrowly edged out Wieber for first place during the Olympic trials, many of the commentators seemingly referred to it as an anomaly; which was not a criticism of Gabby Douglas, but a reiteration that among the "Fierce Five" of Ali Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney and Wieber, Wieber was the "sure thing."
Then the unthinkable happened, Wieber did not qualify for the women's all around competition that she seemed destined to win! Instead, her teammates Ali Raisman and Gabby Douglas qualified for the two available American spots.
While conventional wisdom predicted that Douglas would have been one of the qualifiers, Ali Raisman seemed to be the long shot. Indeed after she edged out Wieber for the final all around spot, the coverage focused more on Wieber not making it, as it did on Raisman qualifying.
So what did Gabby and Ali do? If you've watched the Olympics, you know that Gabby Douglas went on to win the gold medal in the women's all around competition. She also qualified for a couple of individual events.
And Ali Raisman, as the long shot, may have the coolest story of all. While she finished in fourth place during the all-around competition (due to a tie-breaker with the eventual bronze medal winner), she ended up with two medals in the individual events; a bronze medal on the balance beam and a gold medal on the floor exercise.
Here is what I love about what Raisman did; when her time came she was ready. She didn't get caught up in the attention she did or didn't get leading up to the Olympics. When she beat Jordyn Wieber for the final spot, she was gracious (as was Wieber) yet you could see that she was also confident that she belonged.
When you're presented with your moment, will you be prepared?
Even when Gabby Douglas narrowly edged out Wieber for first place during the Olympic trials, many of the commentators seemingly referred to it as an anomaly; which was not a criticism of Gabby Douglas, but a reiteration that among the "Fierce Five" of Ali Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney and Wieber, Wieber was the "sure thing."
Then the unthinkable happened, Wieber did not qualify for the women's all around competition that she seemed destined to win! Instead, her teammates Ali Raisman and Gabby Douglas qualified for the two available American spots.
While conventional wisdom predicted that Douglas would have been one of the qualifiers, Ali Raisman seemed to be the long shot. Indeed after she edged out Wieber for the final all around spot, the coverage focused more on Wieber not making it, as it did on Raisman qualifying.
So what did Gabby and Ali do? If you've watched the Olympics, you know that Gabby Douglas went on to win the gold medal in the women's all around competition. She also qualified for a couple of individual events.
And Ali Raisman, as the long shot, may have the coolest story of all. While she finished in fourth place during the all-around competition (due to a tie-breaker with the eventual bronze medal winner), she ended up with two medals in the individual events; a bronze medal on the balance beam and a gold medal on the floor exercise.
Here is what I love about what Raisman did; when her time came she was ready. She didn't get caught up in the attention she did or didn't get leading up to the Olympics. When she beat Jordyn Wieber for the final spot, she was gracious (as was Wieber) yet you could see that she was also confident that she belonged.
When you're presented with your moment, will you be prepared?
