Jonathan Horton’s Shining Silver Moment
Posted on 19 August 2008 by admin
“Can you believe that just happened?” That’s what Jonathan Horton screamed to his coach after he did everything he had to do last night on the high bar to claim another medal. He tweaked his routine to add difficulty (16.9 start value) and delivered a powerful performance. All that likely prevented Horton from striking gold was the lack of a stuck dismount, and that translated into a well-deserved silver medal for Horton. China’s Zou Kai squeaked by to win the gold by a scant margin of just .025, while Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen took the bronze.
Horton’s electrifying performance had the crowd buzzing, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep the less powerful, but more precise Kai, from winning China’s seventh gold medal of the competition. The silver medal topped off a successful Olympics for the men’s team, and confirmed Horton’s status as a major player on the international gymnastics scene. He has intimated that he plans to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. Something tells us we definitely have only seen the beginning of something great.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Believe it or not, that was a gutsy move to increase your difficulty level without ever practicing the routine. He was in a “nothing to lose” situation and he went for it. It paid off for him too. I’m really proud of the men and women of the USA and I hope Horton and Shawn J. both compete in London. It’ll be a heck of a show.
Randy Bernard
GymMeet
http://www.gymmeet.com
August 20th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Randy, I was happy to see Horton succeed on his gamble. Oftentimes, you hear of certain gymnasts planning to add something new to a routine,and then they end up changing their minds. Horton put it all out there. Too bad he didn’t stick his landing, otherwise he would be bringing home a big gold nugget. Barring injury, I have no doubt he’ll make the trip to London. I’m especially proud of the men’s team, since there were relatively low expectations for them. They proved otherwise.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:59 am
Just watch the skills competition where Horton does connected Kovacs-Kolman and a full twisting triple. On you tube. There’s also clip of him biting it. Guy has guts.
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I don’t know how long NBC will leave that youtube clip up, and it’s from someone’s video of their low-def TV, but here it is to copy and paste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsNkG01q6Uw
Horton will continue to be very fun to watch.