Based on native skill, past performance and that killer vault she laid down in the team competition, McKayla Maroney was expected to win the gold medal in the individual vault event last night. She was supposed to win. Everyone knew she was going to win. Except she didn’t win. Her first vault was fine, but she lost it on the second. My technical knowledge of vaulting is basically zero so I’ll simply say that she fell on her butt and it wasn’t pretty.
Unlike other events I was able to watch on NBC’s taped delay/plausibly live coverage, I hadn’t seen the vault results in advance. As the event went on it occurred to me that if Maroney had won, I probably would have seen a “Maroney Wins Gold” headline on one website or another at some point during the day. The fact that I hadn’t was my first clue that perhaps this competition didn’t play out according to the script.
Second thought: was “Maroney Wins Gold” an accurate script or was that just how the American announcers played it? With hindsight, it’s easy to say that NBC blew the call, in particular the male commentator. I don’t know who it was, but throughout the competition he talked as if McKayla’s gold medal was a done deal, even saying at one point, “everyone knows she’s going to win.” Listening to him, you’d almost wonder why they bothered having the actual competition.
Although it’s devastating for the athletes, unpredictable outcomes are one of the reasons I like sports. The competitors are actual human beings and things don’t always go the way they’re expected to. If nothing else, I’m hoping NBC reminds its on-air talent that in sports, it’s not over ‘til it’s over.
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