Who are contenders for 2022 Oly team event?

macy said:

i wish people had this same opinion when it comes to winning a team medal

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I (at least) do!

I love the team event. It was a little confusing in 2014 because it was so new, but you can’t deny the performances from the Russians weren’t top notch. Which one of us hasn’t watched Yulia’s team FS hundreds of times. That was the moment when she made the world fall in love with her.

Last time it was the Canadians vs the Russians for gold. The fight was amazing. Gabby I think was really the unsung hero of the ladies, but of course V/M were the stars. What made Team USA’s bronze so significant is that they had to fight for it. The Italians were not letting that go without a fight. I remember watching the screen with tons of calculations in my lap and biting my nails wondering if the Italians could pull ahead with a surprise conquering FD should Carolina prevale as I expected during the ladies FS. Mirai slammed the door on that possibility. Truly a magnificent competition.

I always gauge how countries would do in the team event. Right now, I don’t think anyone can challenge Russia for gold. Silver could be any combination of countries. China’s chances for a podium finish have gone up with a much stronger dance team. Team USA chances between silver and gold will all come down to the pairs. If by some miracle we can get a team that can rank as the forth highest scoring nation, we may have a shot. The ladies will be a bloodbath. So it’s really hard to say.

Look at me making predictions two years out. I need help.

frida80 said:

I (at least) do!

I love the team event. It was a little confusing in 2014 because it was so new, but you can’t deny the performances from the Russians weren’t top notch. Which one of us hasn’t watched Yulia’s team FS hundreds of times. That was the moment when she made the world fall in love with her.

Last time it was the Canadians vs the Russians for gold. The fight was amazing. Gabby I think was really the unsung hero of the ladies, but of course V/M were the stars. What made Team USA’s bronze so significant is that they had to fight for it. The Italians were not letting that go without a fight. I remember watching the screen with tons of calculations in my lap and biting my nails wondering if the Italians could pull ahead with a surprise conquering FD should Carolina prevale as I expected during the ladies FS. Mirai slammed the door on that possibility. Truly a magnificent competition.

I always gauge how countries would do in the team event. Right now, I don’t think anyone can challenge Russia for gold. Silver could be any combination of countries. China’s chances for a podium finish have gone up with a much stronger dance team. Team USA chances between silver and gold will all come down to the pairs. If by some miracle we can get a team that can rank as the forth highest scoring nation, we may have a shot. The ladies will be a bloodbath. So it’s really hard to say.

Look at me making predictions two years out. I need help.

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Totally with you on this. I love the team event, even if it's only been in place for two Olympics. True, a team medal is not the same as one from the individual events, but it never was intended to be. I just loved the competition between USA and Italy (much more fun than the one between Canada and Russia) and I loved Mirai's 3A but also Adam's wonderful skate (with no quad but just so beautiful to watch) while Valentina/Ondrej mesmerised me.

For now (with no team event on the horizon yet), I really enjoy Mariah's and Brady's skating. No quads or 3As yet (or ever perhaps) but excellent skating. Mariah at your Nationals truly moved me (I actually cried) while Brady had an excellent 4CC. Good for you!

frida80 said:

I (at least) do!

I love the team event. It was a little confusing in 2014 because it was so new, but you can’t deny the performances from the Russians weren’t top notch. Which one of us hasn’t watched Yulia’s team FS hundreds of times. That was the moment when she made the world fall in love with her.

Last time it was the Canadians vs the Russians for gold. The fight was amazing. Gabby I think was really the unsung hero of the ladies, but of course V/M were the stars. What made Team USA’s bronze so significant is that they had to fight for it. The Italians were not letting that go without a fight. I remember watching the screen with tons of calculations in my lap and biting my nails wondering if the Italians could pull ahead with a surprise conquering FD should Carolina prevale as I expected during the ladies FS. Mirai slammed the door on that possibility. Truly a magnificent competition.

I always gauge how countries would do in the team event. Right now, I don’t think anyone can challenge Russia for gold. Silver could be any combination of countries. China’s chances for a podium finish have gone up with a much stronger dance team. Team USA chances between silver and gold will all come down to the pairs. If by some miracle we can get a team that can rank as the forth highest scoring nation, we may have a shot. The ladies will be a bloodbath. So it’s really hard to say.

Look at me making predictions two years out. I need help.

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Another way of looking at it; the US really underperformed putting the bronze in jeopordy. It wasn't so much Italy skated wonderfully it really was the case the US fell short.

ladyjane said:

Totally with you on this. I love the team event, even if it's only been in place for two Olympics. True, a team medal is not the same as one from the individual events, but it never was intended to be. I just loved the competition between USA and Italy (much more fun than the one between Canada and Russia) and I loved Mirai's 3A but also Adam's wonderful skate (with no quad but just so beautiful to watch) while Valentina/Ondrej mesmerised me.

For now (with no team event on the horizon yet), I really enjoy Mariah's and Brady's skating. No quads or 3As yet (or ever perhaps) but excellent skating. Mariah at your Nationals truly moved me (I actually cried) while Brady had an excellent 4CC. Good for you!

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I think eventually time, the team event will be held with higher regard. Women's gymnastics is a similar Olympic marquee event where team events are just scores added together, but it's arguably the most important medal for the country (even more so than the all-around or event finals). Part of that is due to USAG valuing that event more, but the team event in gymnastics has been a thing for so long and isn't an Olympic only event, so it's held with high esteem.

For figure skating, the multi-disciplinary (Mens, Womens, ID, Pairs) aspect might change the vibe and involve less strategy than gymnastics does, but more time and maybe more World Team Trophy/Worlds appearances of the team event will catapult it into higher esteem.

Skater Boy said:

Another way of looking at it; the US really underperformed putting the bronze in jeopordy. It wasn't so much Italy skated wonderfully it really was the case the US fell short.

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Honestly, I agree with you. The US had every opportunity to clinch even the silver after Mikhail imploded in the Mens SP, but Nathan wasn't able to capitalize on that.

The Russian team had ladies locked down, while the Canadian team had ice dance guaranteed with Virtue/Moir. Both teams could go either way in winning pairs, while their Men were big question marks. The Shibutanis and Knierims did the best they could, but Nathan's miss and Bradie's unfortunate 0.01 point loss to Satoko put the US suddenly in danger with Italy/Japan close by at that point in time.

Mirai missing the 3A and being last in the FS would've still kept the US in bronze, but at that point in time, it was super close. In terms of points, the Shibutanis deserve so much credit for nailing two 2nd places to keep the team total up. Also, I do wonder why they had Adam in the FS instead of Nathan, where Nathan would've (in theory) been able to easily crush the competition with his quad forte. No Yuzu or Shoma there too, so misses on his quads still would've been good for him to get 1st. Hindsight 2020, but Nathan's individual FS score would've beaten Patrick's 1st place team FS score by about 35 points! No blame, but a semi-consistent Nathan in both programs would've easily gotten the US the silver.

In terms of 2022 prospects based on what we see now, Men and ID will be strong for the US. Especially if Yuzu and Cizeron/Papadakis aren't competing in the team again, big points will be earned here. No Kostner for Italy or Osmond for Canada will drag those countries down, so the US should be able to stay competitive in the ladies against Russia & Japan. Korea may play spoiler in the ladies portion, but won't be a threat in the teams.

I'd expect Russia to run away with the Team Gold in 2022, but implosions in their Men may give the US a chance. I'd expect Canada, Japan, Italy to fight for Bronze. Japan will probably take the cake due to having strong Singles, while Canada and Italy have to rely on Ice Dance and an okay-ish Pairs to keep up.

^^
In the team event, the same entrant couldn’t be used in more than 2 disciplines. For the U.S., that was pairs & dance. So Nathan couldn’t have been used twice unless the Shibs were used only once. (IIRC, the U.S. had only one pairs spot, so the Knierims had to be used twice.) Really, the Shibs were much more likely to get 2 high rankings than anyone in U.S. men or ladies.

Moxiejan said:

^^
In the team event, the same entrant couldn’t be used in more than 2 disciplines. For the U.S., that was pairs & dance. So Nathan couldn’t have been used twice unless the Shibs were used only once. (IIRC, the U.S. had only one pairs spot, so the Knierims had to be used twice.) Really, the Shibs were much more likely to get 2 high rankings than anyone in U.S. men or ladies.

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Plus ... the individual men's SP was held only four days after the team event men's FS, whereas the individual dance SD was held seven days after the team event FD.

Nathan would have had fewer days to "recharge" after the team event than the Shibs did.

(And yes, you are correct that as the only U.S. pair, the Knierims had to compete in both the team SP and team FS.)

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lusterfan said:

... Women's gymnastics is a similar Olympic marquee event where team events are just scores added together ...

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Just to be clear: For the OWG figure skating team event, scores are *not* just added together.

Placements are what count.

Maybe you already knew that, but I think your wording could be confusing for someone who does not already know.

lusterfan said:

... For figure skating, the multi-disciplinary (Mens, Womens, ID, Pairs) aspect might change the vibe and involve less strategy than gymnastics does ...

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I would say that the OWG figure skating team event does involve quite a bit of strategy.

(I will refrain from giving an opinion as to which sport's team event involves more strategy than the other's.)

lusterfan said:

I think eventually time, the team event will be held with higher regard. Women's gymnastics is a similar Olympic marquee event where team events are just scores added together, but it's arguably the most important medal for the country (even more so than the all-around or event finals). Part of that is due to USAG valuing that event more, but the team event in gymnastics has been a thing for so long and isn't an Olympic only event, so it's held with high esteem.

For figure skating, the multi-disciplinary (Mens, Womens, ID, Pairs) aspect might change the vibe and involve less strategy than gymnastics does, but more time and maybe more World Team Trophy/Worlds appearances of the team event will catapult it into higher esteem.

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these are also my thoughts- it's interesting to me that other sports such as gymnastics place so much importance on the team event. it is viewed as the most important event over the AA, because the country as a whole is medaling, not just one or two individual athletes. i'm not too sure why in other sports its seen as something that isn't necessary or the medals aren't worth as much. to me it's still an olympic medal and you earned it the same as every other athlete who participated...you don't ever see someone talking down the worth of a team medal earned by a gymnast who only competed in one event.

IMO, Kerri Strug and the 1996 US wonder team is the reason the team olympics gymnastics gold is the benchmark in the US.

Not sure if other countries view that event the same way. Probably Russia, Romania and China at least do.

lusterfan said:

In terms of 2022 prospects based on what we see now, Men and ID will be strong for the US. Especially if Yuzu and Cizeron/Papadakis aren't competing in the team again, big points will be earned here. No Kostner for Italy or Osmond for Canada will drag those countries down, so the US should be able to stay competitive in the ladies against Russia & Japan. Korea may play spoiler in the ladies portion, but won't be a threat in the teams.

I'd expect Russia to run away with the Team Gold in 2022, but implosions in their Men may give the US a chance. I'd expect Canada, Japan, Italy to fight for Bronze. Japan will probably take the cake due to having strong Singles, while Canada and Italy have to rely on Ice Dance and an okay-ish Pairs to keep up.

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I think you are really selling China short in 2022. It is a home country Olympics and I expect them to come out fighting. They could win pairs with Sui/Han. Boyang can contend with the best in the world for men. Their new dance team has really caught my eye. they can at least do well enough to keep them in contention for the team event. That just leaves the ladies. And rumor has it China is looking. I expect them to be in the mix for the team medal.

lusterfan said:

Honestly, I agree with you. The US had every opportunity to clinch even the silver after Mikhail imploded in the Mens SP, but Nathan wasn't able to capitalize on that.

The Russian team had ladies locked down, while the Canadian team had ice dance guaranteed with Virtue/Moir. Both teams could go either way in winning pairs, while their Men were big question marks. The Shibutanis and Knierims did the best they could, but Nathan's miss and Bradie's unfortunate 0.01 point loss to Satoko put the US suddenly in danger with Italy/Japan close by at that point in time.

Mirai missing the 3A and being last in the FS would've still kept the US in bronze, but at that point in time, it was super close. In terms of points, the Shibutanis deserve so much credit for nailing two 2nd places to keep the team total up. Also, I do wonder why they had Adam in the FS instead of Nathan, where Nathan would've (in theory) been able to easily crush the competition with his quad forte. No Yuzu or Shoma there too, so misses on his quads still would've been good for him to get 1st. Hindsight 2020, but Nathan's individual FS score would've beaten Patrick's 1st place team FS score by about 35 points! No blame, but a semi-consistent Nathan in both programs would've easily gotten the US the silver.

In terms of 2022 prospects based on what we see now, Men and ID will be strong for the US. Especially if Yuzu and Cizeron/Papadakis aren't competing in the team again, big points will be earned here. No Kostner for Italy or Osmond for Canada will drag those countries down, so the US should be able to stay competitive in the ladies against Russia & Japan. Korea may play spoiler in the ladies portion, but won't be a threat in the teams.

I'd expect Russia to run away with the Team Gold in 2022, but implosions in their Men may give the US a chance. I'd expect Canada, Japan, Italy to fight for Bronze. Japan will probably take the cake due to having strong Singles, while Canada and Italy have to rely on Ice Dance and an okay-ish Pairs to keep up.

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It’s easy in hindsight to say what the strategy should’ve been, but we have to put everything in proper perspective.

First, Nathan couldn’t take advantage of Mikhail’s implosion because he skated just before Mikhail did. He had no idea what Mikhail would do or could have done. Before the team event, Mikail was having a decent season. He just gotten bronze in the GPF and won nationals. Even with his falls, he could still manage to beat most of the men that he lost to in the team event. In fact, he had just beaten most of these competitors at Europeans the month before. There was no reason to expect Mikhail to implode at the level he did. Plus Nathan was dealing with the pressure being put on him to win gold against Yuzuru Hanyu of all people. He was clearly preoccupied.

Second, Nathan did implode but his fall wasn’t that bad for the team. They were expecting either a 1st or 2nd place. He scored 4th, which was only a few places lower than expected. Those points were made up by a better than expected results by the Knierims in pairs.

Silver for the USA was something that just couldn’t be planned for. The ladies and pairs just weren’t strong enough. Bradie’s 5th place finish was exactly what I predicted. All the ladies skating with her had already scored pretty high, and Bradie was just emerging on the scene. They weren’t going to give her the same points then as they are now. Our pairs were so weak, they should’ve been in 7th place in the SP. They truly overperformed, allowing them to make up points for Nathan’s weaker SP. But, the Canadian’s and Russians were very very strong. Even if Mihkail faltered, there no way to predict the Kniernims strong SP or Mirai’s strong FS. They could only do what I did, look at SB and strategize from there. A bronze was always on the table, a silver wasn’t.

It would be a huge disserves to Matteo to not emphasize just how good he was in the team event SP. By SB, he was supposed to be in 7th or 8th place. He didn’t just beat Mikhail, but Han Yan! I also thought that Junhwan would get into the hometown spirit and overperform, but that didn’t happen either. hwell:

This better than expected result by Matteo was what truly changed things for the Italians, that and Carolina’s 2nd place in the SP. Their strategy was excellent and could’ve worked. Each one of their teams were quite strong, Carolina being the strongest. If she also excelled in the FS, then they the Italians could try to beat the Shibsibs in the FD like the just had in the GPF. The Shibutani’s were coming off two unusual FD losses in the GPF and US nationals. They weren’t as stable looking as before. If the Italians could take the lead in the ladies FS, then the pressure would be on! Even if the Shibsibs had placed 2nd, if C/L had done as well as they had in the GPF they could’ve risen one place and prevented the USA from regaining the lead.

That’s why was freaking out by the Ladies event! The Italians kept raking up points in the ladies FD and in the pairs FS! If Mirai hadn’t nailed her FS when she did, which managed to freak out the competition that followed her.

(This is very common in competition. One skater over performs and the entire group falls apart afterwards. See Nathan at the 2016 GPF.)

However, that ensured that the Italians couldn’t take the lead. They couldn’t put the pressure on the Shibutani’s, who’d just had two weaker FS. Mirai’s FS was the end of the Italian’s ascension. However, I was enthused by their estatic reactions to their 4th place finish. The warm posing for the camera’s and how they embraced each other. Carolina explained that the Italians lost because there weren’t many ice rinks in Italy. (Something that made me want to shake her shoulders, and demand she see exactly how much talent is in her country! She’s a legend already! Seriously!) But they fought and were glad they put themselves in contention. It’s that moment, when I realized how big the Team event had become. Karne clued me in by rightfully complaining than Australia wouldn’t qualify for the event. So just being selected as one of the top nations is a very big deal. I have no doubt that in Beijing there’s going to be a huge fight over the medals and no one will take anything for granted. China is going for the podium for sure! It’s up to the countries right now to develop their skaters carefully and so they can be at their best in 2022.





I’d like to discuss more about where team rankings currently stand, but this is definately the wrong thread for this. I’ll probably make a Team Event thread later on if there there is some interest.

macy said:

these are also my thoughts- it's interesting to me that other sports such as gymnastics place so much importance on the team event. it is viewed as the most important event over the AA, because the country as a whole is medaling, not just one or two individual athletes. i'm not too sure why in other sports its seen as something that isn't necessary or the medals aren't worth as much. to me it's still an olympic medal and you earned it the same as every other athlete who participated...you don't ever see someone talking down the worth of a team medal earned by a gymnast who only competed in one event.

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For me, the difference with skating is that the teams are based on four different disciplines. Some countries that are really strong in one or two disciplines have no competitors at all in other disciplines, which makes it difficult or impossible to enter the team event.

If gymnastics team events had to combine men and women on the same team, and some countries with strong women's teams were out of the running because of few or no world-class men, or vice versa, I think you'd see less enthusiasm. Even moreso if events like rhythmic gymnastics or trampoline were also required in the team results.

macy said:

these are also my thoughts- it's interesting to me that other sports such as gymnastics place so much importance on the team event. it is viewed as the most important event over the AA, because the country as a whole is medaling, not just one or two individual athletes. i'm not too sure why in other sports its seen as something that isn't necessary or the medals aren't worth as much. to me it's still an olympic medal and you earned it the same as every other athlete who participated...you don't ever see someone talking down the worth of a team medal earned by a gymnast who only competed in one event.

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Part of it is because its between different disciplines, like Men, woman’s, pairs and dance. With a team relay, they’re all running/swimming/skating all the same. All ladies on a Gymnasitc team event can do other events like the uneven bars or floor. Women vs. Pairs are entirely different.

The other reason is because it’s still new. We’ve had a century of individual medals and only two cycles of team medals. It will take some time for audiences to fully buy into the new team event But we can already see it’s growing. I imagine the teams saw the team event as just a way to practice their programs in 2014. That’s what the US announcers declared it was in 2014. It was only after Russia won and were in full celebration mode did people start to realize these were real olympic medals. Yulia may not have done well in the individual event, but she is still the youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in history. She still got a Mercedes, cash prize and apartment from her country as well as being photographed with Putin. She still enthralled audiences all over the world. Steven Spielberg saw her from the US and was so moved that he wrote her a personal letter, something that she and her team sees the same as a gold medal in itself.

Seeing her, Plushy, and the full time put on their team Russia caps and cheer wildly as a team in 2014, inspired other teams in 2018. In 2022, more teams will have been inspired by Mirai’s estatic reaction to her FS and the Canadian’s overjoyed reaction to their gold. I hope that not only China, but Japan, France, and other countries are inspired to fight for that Olympic medal in the team event.

The team event wil have such good effects on skating as a whole. China is finally developing their ID and ladies, knowing that they need it to make the podium. Other teams that want to contend will have to focus on their weaker disciplines to become more competitive. I just love it.

We are now way off topic, but I think the team even needs to be developed into its own animal, so to speak. Right now, it is simply a cherrypicking of the individual programs smushed together, almost a preview of bits of the individual events rather than something unique in its own right.

And as each team member's performance is strictly on their own, part of their individual competition, there really isn't any 'real teaminess' to it.

crazydreamer said:

IMO, Kerri Strug and the 1996 US wonder team is the reason the team olympics gymnastics gold is the benchmark in the US.

Not sure if other countries view that event the same way. Probably Russia, Romania and China at least do.

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In hindsight, mathematically, the US didn't need Keri to do her famous vaults, and Mirai didn't need to do a triple axel at the team event. But in the heat of the moment, it did seem like they had to give it their all to secure a medal.

I remember that a Japanese male gymnast said that it was more important for Team Japan to win gold at team gymnastics than it was for him to win gold at individuals. Hanyu took the opposite approach and sat out the team event so he could be fully rested for the individual competition.

I don't follow gymnastics, is it like figure skating? For example, if someone says Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Wagner or Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold, there will be someone who chirps in with "but it was only the team event". There was a gymnast who did that famous disappointed smirk after getting silver at vault. If people say Olympic gold medalist viral smirk gymnast, will someone say "it was only gold at the team event"?

Moxiejan said:

^^
In the team event, the same entrant couldn’t be used in more than 2 disciplines. For the U.S., that was pairs & dance. So Nathan couldn’t have been used twice unless the Shibs were used only once. (IIRC, the U.S. had only one pairs spot, so the Knierims had to be used twice.) Really, the Shibs were much more likely to get 2 high rankings than anyone in U.S. men or ladies.

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No, that’s not the case. You can only swap out two disciplines, but you aren’t required to do so. The Canadian team in 2018 only swapped out the ladies; men, pairs and dance were the same in both. The reason the US didn’t have Nathan do both is that he didn’t want to (understandably, with the men’s event so close).

To relate this back to the notional thread topic, the US team in Beijing will face a similar potential choice. Assuming her development continues apace, they’ll presumably want Liu to do the short program because of her triple Axel, but it seems questionable whether she’d also want to compete the free.

brightphoton said:

I don't follow gymnastics, is it like figure skating? For example, if someone says Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Wagner or Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold, there will be someone who chirps in with "but it was only the team event". There was a gymnast who did that famous disappointed smirk after getting silver at vault. If people say Olympic gold medalist viral smirk gymnast, will someone say "it was only gold at the team event"?

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Gymnastics has several medal events: team, individual all-around, and individual apparatus finals. I've heard of members of gold-medal winning teams and individual apparatus winners being referred to as "gold medalist so-and-so" but the big prize, all-around, is usually specified (i.e. "Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles).

Colonel Green said:

To relate this back to the notional thread topic, the US team in Beijing will face a similar potential choice. Assuming her development continues apace, they’ll presumably want Liu to do the short program because of her triple Axel, but it seems questionable whether she’d also want to compete the free.

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If we had a situation like at Nationals, where there would be a tough choice to go with the skater who had the better season (Bradie) or the higher finisher at Nationals (Mariah), I could see them going with Alysa for both just to avoid having to make a pick between two close contenders. However, I think the USFSA is biased towards the women and would probably rather spread the wealth there, giving two athletes an Olympic medal and bypassing a second pick in dance or pairs.

brightphoton said:

In hindsight, mathematically, the US didn't need Keri to do her famous vaults, and Mirai didn't need to do a triple axel at the team event. But in the heat of the moment, it did seem like they had to give it their all to secure a medal.

I remember that a Japanese male gymnast said that it was more important for Team Japan to win gold at team gymnastics than it was for him to win gold at individuals. Hanyu took the opposite approach and sat out the team event so he could be fully rested for the individual competition.

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Yuzu's case was different though... Japan couldn't really hope for team gold but could for him. Ashley and Gracie (and the latter is one of the ladies I do have a big soft spot for) and Mirai were in the reverse position, their chances of team medals were in all honesty that bit better than individual. They all ended up with the best probable outcome for themselves and their countries and have a piece of history to show for it.

For example, if someone says Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Wagner or Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold, there will be someone who chirps in with "but it was only the team event".

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I think as long as it's the same programs they show in the individual and team competitions, it's not going to change much, or do so slowly (and team medals won't count in slams either). And it's hard for audiences to change their view when the athletes rank them that way: ask any of the US girls - hell, any any of the athletes at all at Sochi or Pyeongchang - if they'd switch the team medal for its equivalent individual or vice versa, and if they are honest...

But 12-16 years down the track? Who knows?

brightphoton said:

In hindsight, mathematically, the US didn't need Keri to do her famous vaults, and Mirai didn't need to do a triple axel at the team event. But in the heat of the moment, it did seem like they had to give it their all to secure a medal.

I remember that a Japanese male gymnast said that it was more important for Team Japan to win gold at team gymnastics than it was for him to win gold at individuals. Hanyu took the opposite approach and sat out the team event so he could be fully rested for the individual competition.

I don't follow gymnastics, is it like figure skating? For example, if someone says Olympic bronze medalist Ashley Wagner or Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold, there will be someone who chirps in with "but it was only the team event". There was a gymnast who did that famous disappointed smirk after getting silver at vault. If people say Olympic gold medalist viral smirk gymnast, will someone say "it was only gold at the team event"?

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In gymnastics they are Olympic Gold Medalist, period. They’ll never have someone say team event snidely. In fact, they’ll brag about it being in the team event because they delivered when it counted. Team members from 1996 Magnificent Seven are Olympic Gold medalist. In fact the team event makes it even more significant. It was a bigger deal that Team USA won the Team event 1996 and 2012 than it was the all around medals in 1984, 2004, and 2008. I think it was the national element of it. Where the team had to work together to achieve the medal as opposed to just one person. There was a visceral disappointment when our dominant ladies didn’t win gold as expected. Carly’s AA was a welcome gold, but it didn’t make up for the team event. Neither did Nadia in 2008.

The AA were very important. But by then we had such a huge culture surrounding the team aspect of gymnastics. I think it was also a post Cold War thing where the team names Russia and USA would reflect more of a international rivalries that audiences would latch onto. Team USA also had created a long lasting image of gymnastics camaraderie, like emphasizing Bela Karolyi giving big bear hugs and encouraging athletes. So it was a bigger deal in 2012 when the Fierce Five won gold for the first time in 16 years.

BTW McKayla Maroney was one of the best vaulters in the world. She nailed a perfect vault in the team event, which Bela declared was the best vault he had ever seen. She was a heavy favorite for gold in the Vault event, but made an uncharacteristic mistake, costing her gold and leading to that infamous pout. She was just pissed at herself for screwing something up at she knew she could nail. I thought it was a riot.