golden!!!

photo by al tielemans/si, via si.com

photo by al tielemans/si, via si.com

photo by bob rosato/si, via si.com

complete si ladies individual all-around competition photo gallery here...

nastia, girl!

photo: vladimir rys/bongarts, via getty images and the nytimes.com

i've managed to miss a lot of the olympics--between seeing "the dark knight", hearing accordion bands, going to hip-hop birthday parties...and work...and being sick (and under dr's orders to go to to bed early)--and despite near 24/7 coverage on a zillion nbc channels.

but i am definitely carving a few hours over the next handful of days to watch nastia liukin and the other female gymnasts, for the women's team final (tonight), the individual all-around competition on thursday night, and the individual events on sunday-tuesday (aug 17-19).

i'm not going to make any predictions--and here's an obvious observation: shawn johnson seemed impervious to the pressure and nerves that affected everyone else during the qualifying--but i'm going to be rooting hard for nastia liukin. before an ankle injury in '06, that required surgery and kept her out for basically all of 2007, she was women's gymnastics. there are a lot of powerful gymnasts in the world and they all perform tricks that defy our vision of what the body can (and should?) do, but none have her exquisite lines. (photos below taken at the 2008 olympic trials, via liukin's website.)

liukin will compete in the individual all-around, and the event finals for beam, floor, and bars, so you'll have many chances to see for yourself. here's the schedule....

enjoy!