Sacramone poor on floor
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BEIJING - When the women's gymnastics individual floor finals take place Aug. 17, Winchester's Alicia Sacramone will be noticeably absent from the lineup of competitors. The 2005 world champion and 2007 runner-up in the event stepped out of bounds during her routine in team qualifying yesterday, scoring just 14.425 and finishing 31st, far outside the top eight slotted for the final.
It was a devastating blow to Sacramone, who has struggled to stay inbounds after her power tumbling passes. She stepped out of bounds at the Visa Championships in Boston in June and, two weeks later, at the Olympic trials in Philadelphia.
"That's the one thing I didn't want to do," said Sacramone. "[I said to myself], 'I'm not going to go out of bounds.' And I did."
Sacramone, like the rest of her teammates, was rattled when teammate Samantha Peszek suffered a sprained ankle at the end of warm-ups. The injury forced national team coordinator Martha Karolyi to shuffle the lineup at the last minute. Still, despite a rough day of competition, the US team easily advanced to the finals, finishing with 246.800 points, second to China (248.275).
"Some of the girls get a tiny bit more disturbed by adversities happening," said Karolyi. "Alicia and Sam are best friends."
But by the time the US gymnasts moved from floor to vault, Sacramone had collected herself. She pulled off two strong vaults, including an opening Yurchenko that scored 15.850, and helped her advance to the event finals. Sacramone has medaled three times in vault (two bronze, one silver) at World Championship meets.
When it comes to who will compete in the team finals Wednesday, fans should expect Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin on all four events and Sacramone will compete on every apparatus except bars. Chellsie Memmel made a cameo in qualifying. However, she fell off the top bar during a release move. "It was just one of those things," said Memmel. "I felt great [until I fell]. I had a grip on it. It just wasn't enough." (Shira Springer, Globe staff)
