American McKayla Maroney Shocked In Women’s Vault, Settles For Silver Medal

The women’s vault might be the Olympic event that takes the least time to complete. The competitors have a mere two jumps to show why they merit a medal.

McKayla Maroney is, by almost all accounts, the world’s best vaulter. She made America proud and got judges’ jaws to drop with her near-perfect vault in the team final, going from a back handspring, completing two and a half twists, and sticking the landing absolutely perfectly. But one of her two jumps didn’t achieve the same near-perfection she showed the other night: she fell. She didn’t fully get around on her last flip, and didn’t get her feet under her, ending up on her behind, resulting in an automatic one-point deduction. The fall gave her a score of 14.3 on her second vault, which was the second worst score on a vault by anybody in the event.

Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London brought with it the first three individual-discipline gold medal finals in gymnastics. All three of those finals are now in the books following the conclusion of the men’s pommel horse.

Hungary took home the gold medal in the event, as Krisztian Berki took the top honors by the slimmest of margins over Great Britain’s Louis Smith. Britain further added to their medal count by picking up the bronze as well, as Max Whitlock claimed the third spot on the podium.

American McKayla Maroney already has one gold medal at the Summer Olympics, helping Team USA win with her absolutely ridiculous vault, and on Sunday, she was a heavy favorite to win her second of the Games as gymnastics began its individual medal events. The 2011 World Champion was in the lead after her first attempt, and with just one vault to go, gold was was seemingly all but certain. But then the unthinkable happened: she fell.

You know what they say: Any given Sunday (I never saw that movie; I assume it was about women’s gymnastics?). Here’s the story of Maroney’s shocking silver, in photos.

The gold medal finals in the individual gymnastics disciplines are underway on Sunday at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. There was a big upset in the finals for the women’s vault, as United States gymnast McKayla Maroney -- who was a favorite in the event and ahead on points with one vault left to go -- fell on her second attempt and, as a result, ceded the gold medal to Sandra Raluca Izbasa of Romania.

Maroney stumbled on her landing and sat down, resulting in a huge loss of points, dropping her behind Izbasa and into second place, where she would have to settle for silver. It was a very rare flub for Maroney, who falls on landings so infrequently that longtime observers couldn’t remember the last time it had happened.

America has fallen in love with Gabby Douglas and the Fab Five. Although their time as a team is over, and Douglas already has her all-around gold, gymnastics still goes on, as medals will be handed out in the individual apparatuses starting with three medals Sunday.

The United States has two competitors going for medals on Sunday. Anyone who watched McKayla Maroney’s jaw-droppingly perfect vault during the team competition knows she’s one of the world’s best on that apparatus, so she’s definitely a favorite to take gold in that event. On the men’s side, Jake Dalton will participate in the floor exercise. (The other event of the day is the pommel horse, which has been a perennial thorn in the side of American gymnasts.)