All-around individual gold medalist and American darling Gabby Douglas was not able to win her third gold medal on Monday in the women’s uneven bar. Instead, Russian Aliya Mustafina won gold, with China’s Kexin He taking silver and hometown favorite, Britain’s Beth Tweddle, getting the bronze.
Douglas was considered a possibility for a medal, but in no way was the favorite, as both the Russian and Chinese gymnasts, as well as Tweddle, are particularly strong on bars. All five of those competitors put up strong routines, but Mustafina won with a score of 16.133, with a 9.133 on execution of a routine with a 7.0 difficulty and absolutely killed it on her landing.
Douglas, who had a routine with only a 6.3 difficulty, finished in last place of the eight finalists with a score of 14.900 despite a strong dismount of her own.
Mustafina is a bit of a surprise winner, coming off a torn ACL she suffered in 2011, but she appears to have recovered to her 2010 form, when she took gold in the individual all-around at the world championships. Tweddle’s bronze medal, meanwhile, is the first medal for Great Britain in women’s gymnastics since a bronze in the 1928 team all-around event.
Douglas will have one more chance to medal when she competes in the balance beam final on Tuesday.
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