ST. LOUIS -- With another steady and powerful performance, Jordyn Wieber won the all-around at Sunday's Visa Championships. She came into the event tied with Gabrielle Douglas, but a fall on the beam doomed Douglas to second place.
Wieber was consistent throughout both days of competition. She had just one score, the beam from day one, that fell below a 15. To ensure her victory on Sunday, she needed to come up with a big score, and notched a 15.9 on vault.
Douglas had the chance to pull ahead of Wieber in the final performance of the day with a 16.050. Though the bars are her best event, that score was just out of her reach. She pulled a 15.850.
Wieber, the newly crowned all-around champ, liked the competition that brewed between her and Douglas.
"It's really exciting. It's kind of like a dogfight out there. But we're really supportive of each other, and it just shows the depth of the U.S. team," Wieber said.
The fall cost Douglas a point, but she only lost by two-tenths of a point. She said the second-place finish will motivate her in the next two weeks as she prepares for the Olympic Trials.
"That's the kind of stuff that motivates us. I'm going to work my butt off. I'm going to do a lot of repetitions on beam. More numbers, more routines, more consistency," Douglas said.
The balance beam turned out to be the nemesis of many athletes on Sunday. Douglas and Bridget Sloan fell. Nastia Liukin and Sarah Finnegan had big wobbles. Other gymnasts missed connections and had shaky routines. Of the top gymnasts, only Aly Raisman and Alicia Sacramone truly hit their beam routines.
The event lost a competitor before it even began. World vaulting champion McKayla Maroney fell badly when warming up on floor exercise. She sustained a mild concussion and a small nasal fracture but was granted a spot to compete at the Olympic Trials.
The top eight finishers of the event automatically qualified to the trials, which will help decide the Olympic team, and six wild-card berths were also given. These women will compete at the trials in San Jose at the end of June, listed with their hometown and team:
Jordyn Wieber, DeWitt, Mich., Gedderts' Twistars USA
Gabby Douglas, Virginia Beach, Va., Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute
Aly Raisman, Needham, Mass., Brestyan's American Gymnastics
Kyla Ross, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Gym-Max Gymnastics
Elizabeth Price, Coopersburg, Pa., Parkettes National Gymnastics Center
Sarah Finnegan, St. Louis, Mo., Great American Gymnastics Express
Sabrina Vega, Carmel, N.Y., Dynamic Gymnastics
Kennedy Baker, Flower Mound, Texas, Texas Dreams Gymnastics
Brenna Dowell, Odessa, Mo., Great American Gymnastics Express
Bridget Sloan, Pittsboro, Ind., Sharp's Gymnastics
McKayla Maroney, Long Beach, Calif., All Olympia Gymnastics Center
Alicia Sacramone, Winchester, Mass., Brestyan's American Gymnastics
Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, WOGA
Anna Li, Naperville, Ill., Legacy Elite
Nastia Liukin, Parker, Texas, WOGA