Kudos to Gabby Douglas, but Shame on NBC

Congratulations to Gabby Douglas, 16, who becomes the third consecutive American gymnast along with Carly Patterson (2004 Athens Olympics) and Nastia Liukin (2008 Beijing Olympics) to win all-around gold. Douglas, who was greatly influenced by Dominique Dawes, a member of the 1996 Olympics gymnastics team that won gold in Atlanta, becomes the first African-American to win an individual gold medal in women's gymnastics.

But, we feel outraged that NBC, the network broadcasting the games in the United States, had to zoom in constantly on Viktoria Komova, 17, the Russian gymnast who ended up finishing second as she underperformed on the floor exercise, her last event.

This was yet another dubious moment for the network which has been scorned by American Olympic viewers on social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook. NBC was also criticized for not airing a moment of silence to the victims of the July 7, 2005, London terrorist attacks at the opening ceremonies of the games.

There was yet another controversy in women's gymnastics at the games, and for a second time, it involved American gymnast Aly Raisman, as she lost a tie-breaker to Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina, 17, because the Russian gymnasts' lowest score, which occurred on the balance beam, was dropped.

Earlier, Raisman had edged out teammate Jordyn Wieber, the defending world champion, for the second American slot in the all-around competition. A provocative new rule states that only two gymnasts from each country may compete irregardless of scores.

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