Here were two things going in McKayla Maroney's favor heading into Sunday afternoon's individual vault final: she was the reigning world champion in the event, and she had delivered one of the defining moments in this year's Olympics when she clinched the team gold for the U.S. with a near perfect vault.
But Maroney fell in her second vault on Sunday, thus only clinching silver. Gold was taken by Sandra Izbasa of Romania, while bronze was won by Russian Maria Paseka. Maroney finished the event with a score of 15.083, just a sliver behind Izbasa's score of 15.191.
Due to the difficulty of her vaults, Maroney almost certainly would have won gold had she landed her second vault, but it was not in the cards for her on Sunday.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For comprehensive coverage of the 2012 London Games, visit SB Nation's Olympics news hub. Stay up to date on the medal count with Sports Illustrated's tracker.
Here were two things going in McKayla Maroney's favor heading into Sunday afternoon's individual vault final: she was the reigning world champion in the event, and she had delivered one of the defining moments in this year's Olympics when she clinched the team gold for the U.S. with a near perfect vault.
But Maroney fell in her second vault on Sunday, thus only clinching silver. Gold was taken by Sandra Izbasa of Romania, while bronze was won by Russian Maria Paseka. Maroney finished the event with a score of 15.083, just a sliver behind Izbasa's score of 15.191.
Due to the difficulty of her vaults, Maroney almost certainly would have won gold had she landed her second vault, but it was not in the cards for her on Sunday.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For comprehensive coverage of the 2012 London Games, visit SB Nation's Olympics news hub. Stay up to date on the medal count with Sports Illustrated's tracker.