The Smallest White

Team Finals

Hey my evil purple minions!!!!! So as I'm writing this, I'm in the car on my way to Nashville Tennessee :) But I'm not the one driving cuz distracted driving is a big no-no.

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Erin's POV

We pulled on our red leotards. Red like the stripes on the flag. USA stitched in white thread surrounded by a circle of stars on our left biceps. Clear crystals forming diagonal lines on the wrists and the chest and back. We are fierce. We are the USA Women's Artistic Gymnastics Team and we were here to win.

Our makeup was the same- silver eyeshadow, black eyeliner, black mascara and sparkly lipgloss. Hair pulled away from the face, whether by clips or in braids and then secured with a bright red scrunchie.

"Everyone make sure you have everything you need in your gym bag, we can't come back here until after the event." Marta called out rapping her knuckles on the door.

That was our cue. We stepped into our Team USA pants and zipped up our matching jackets. We slipped our arms into the straps of our backpacks and slid on our slides, walking out the door and down the hallway and into the arena.

As we stepped in, the screams only got louder. For some this may be intimidating, but we are not in any way ordinary. The screams from the crowd only fueled our desire to stand on top of the podium with gold medals hanging around our necks even more.

Our stretching had been done once again in a gym off to the side. We had been wearing tank leotards and then changed into our competition ones right before coming out.

"We can do this. Just keep your eyes on the prize and we can do this. Put forth your best routines and we'll do amazing." Aly stated to our team. But we prefer to be called family because that's what we feel like.

"Girls it's time. Tape ankles and put any braces you need on." Coach Shaw said, coming over and breaking up our team huddle. We put our hands in the middle and shouted "USA!" before walking back over to our bags.

We stood in front of the vault with the Russians as they announced the teams to the spectators. "Team USA" the voice called out. We all waved to the crowd, smiles on our faces.

We were given a total of two practice vaults each after all the teams had been named. I sprinted down the runway and stretched into the hurdle for my round off, pushed off of the table and did only a single rotation, bouncing as I landed. The point of these weren't to practice your actual vault, they were to let you get a feel for the equipment.

I was vaulting first after the Russians, so as soon as Aliya Mustafina's score was posted, I stepped up to the runway near the chalk bin and started to rub chalk on the soles of my feet and the palms of my Tiger Paws.

I stood patiently by where I start and waited for the board to turn green, meaning I could go.

I saluted and stepped onto the runway. I stared down at the table and began to sprint towards it, and leaned into my round off, watching my hands come off of the runway and push off of the vault. I twisted two and a half times before coming up on the blind landing. I took one small step before saluting to the judge panel, but I got my team off to an excellent start.

Jordyn's vault was amazing. It's hard to believe that last night she was crying because she didn't make the all around finals. I had offered to give up my spot for her, but she insisted that I deserved the chance to compete in the most prestigious event in gymnastics at the Olympics. The only condition was that either Aly or I had to get gold.

We all watched McKayla vault, cheering her on. The three of us did the same vault but without a doubt McKayla is the vault queen. We all screamed as the she stuck the landing. It was a flawless vault, but of course the judges found some deduction.