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Jordyn Wieber doesn’t qualify for all-around as Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas shine

In a huge upset, Jordyn Wieber, the defending world all-around gymnastics champion, will not go for the same title at the Olympics because each country is only allowed two all-around competitors. After a steady performance on each apparatus, Aly Raisman had the best all-around score on Team USA and will represent the U.S. during Thursday's all-around competition. She will be joined by Gabrielle Douglas, whose huge scores on vault, beam and uneven bars made up for a mistake on floor exercise.

Overall, it was a perfect morning for Team USA. Each vaulter hit her Amanar and scored a 15.833 or better, giving them a combined 47.633 on vault. They followed it up with a 45.032 on bars, then a 45.441 on the balance beam. Each routine was solid, and Douglas built a comfortable AA lead on her teammates with three 15-plus scores.

[ Photos: U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber ]

Floor exercise didn't go as well. Kyla Ross' opening pass was too powerful, and she stepped out of bounds. Douglas made the same mistake but took a bigger step and was given a 13.766. This opened the door for Wieber or Raisman.

Like in her beam, Wieber's floor routine had small mistakes. She stepped out of bounds, though not as big a step as Douglas or Ross. With a score of 14.666, she left the door open for Raisman, the team captain.

Raisman bounded right through it with a big, booming floor exercise. She is the national champ on floor and took bronze at the world championships. Her experience and success on the apparatus showed as Raisman landed each tumbling pass and earned a score of 15.325. It put her ahead of both Douglas and Wieber.

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Raisman didn't believe her coach, Mihai Brestyan, when he told her the news.

"Really? Who told you? Where does it say that?"

She drilled him with questions like a detective until finally giving in and believing him, then breaking into tears. Wieber graciously congratulated her teammate before experiencing some tears of her own.

[ Photos: Gymnastics starlet Gabrielle Douglas ]

The upset shows just how deep the U.S. women's team is. Wieber's mistakes were small but just big enough to lose to Douglas by 0.233. Another illustration of the U.S. prowess? After three out of five subdivisions, the U.S. leads the field by 11 points.

Wieber will now hope to qualify in event finals. If she scored in the top eight in any individual event, she can go for an individual event medal. Wieber can also power the U.S. to team gold.


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