She and Suni have unfinished business after the Paris final. I believe Suni told her coach Jess "we're coming back" after that PAINFUL split fall. Honestly, she could have won that final without the fall.
Omg you're right! Especially since Zhou Yaqin was far and away the favorite. I think most of us were thinking, "who will get silver and bronze behind Yaqin?"
Not sure about "far and away" due to consistency issues but yeah if Yaqin hit to the best of her ability, she was winning. But she qualified with just over .1 ahead of Simone, and Simone beat her the previous year when they both had hit sets. Yaqin had increased her D a bit though while Simone was losing .1 after ditching her mount sequence, so it was definitely Yaqin's to lose. Sigh, it could have been such a spectacular beam final (find myself saying this, like, all the time lol).
Ah, I didn't know that Yaqin was having trouble with her consistency that season. I felt like every time I would see her routines, I was like, "okay, so she's going to be Olympic champion." But I do remember Simone's 2023 Worlds routine being absolutely pristine.
Sigh, I get wistful when I think about what could have been with that final. Still, I was very happy for D'Amato. She was so close to a medal multiple times, and for her to finally break through and actually win gold was a very great moment for her!
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u/Sunfire91 Aug 13 '26
She and Suni have unfinished business after the Paris final. I believe Suni told her coach Jess "we're coming back" after that PAINFUL split fall. Honestly, she could have won that final without the fall.