2.Emma Sadowsky
15.1
3.Daniela Olivero
13.7
I want to pull out my phone and take a picture. I’m leading the all-around competition at the Olympic Games—if only for a few more minutes. It feels like something I should commemorate.
Okay, Audrey, that’s enough. It’s time to focus on beam.
We salute the judges and then warm up briefly. The beam is wobbly, just like it always is on a podium, but training on it yesterday helped a bit.
The Klaxon sounds again, signaling the end of warm-up, and Chelsea’s beside the beam, leading us off. Just like bars, it isn’t her strength, but this time she gets through the routine cleanly, with just a few wobbles here and there.
It’s something I can build upon.
I bump fists with Chelsea on the stairs as she comes down and I go up. Janet is straightening the springboard for me, and when she steps away, I bounce on it and then lean forward to make sure it’s exactly the right distance away. It’s perfect.
I shift back and forth on my feet, the seconds ticking by as we wait for Chelsea’s score. Across the arena one of the Japanese girls is finishing her floor routine, the crowd clapping along to the music, but I tear my eyes away. Chelsea’s score comes up, a 13.0, and the red light flashes over to green.
“Let’s go, Rey!” Emma calls, but that’s the last noise I hear as my gaze lasers in on the end of the beam. Three steps into a roundoff onto the springboard and then backward on the beam, my balance steady, my momentum carrying me into a layout, stepping out, and then into another one. I rise up. Perfect.
And from there, it’s just like breathing; my turns flow into each other seamlessly, my arms working around me into the choreography, linking every skill together, and then finally at the end, a perfect triple twist—okay, maybe it’s a little bit short, but not too bad.
It’s what I came here to do—hit bars and beam—and I’ve done it.
I pump my fist and yell, “Yes!” before turning to the judges and saluting.
Dani’s next. Her eyes are steely, and her mouth is set in a firm line.
“Get it, Dani,” I call, and our hands clasp briefly as we pass on the stairs.
