Gamesmanship

These seventy-pound pixies are not giggling school girls out on the field of competition. They are fierce competitors and there is gamesmanship and intimidation involved. Before the start of every round, each competitor has a chance to quickly practice on the apparatus. This is where mind games are played. In the photo below you'll notice that Nastia is standing right next to the beam and staring daggers at Yang as she warms up. While Nastia was warming up and still on one end of the beam, Jiang the other Chinese gymnast, started to rub down the other end with chalk as if to say, "This is MY beam." The slap of hands as teammates Johnson and Liukin exchange places on and off the floor exercise (photo below) is very business-like. You'll even notice the competitors wear their own unique uniforms, unlike the team competition where the unis are standardized across the team. All the hugging, kissing and congratulating is for after the competition.