Defending world champion . . . and not even the second best gymnast in her country this week. Everyone falters at the Olympics. If you want Olympic gymnastics (or any sport) to spread and get bigger, you have to allow competitors from different countries in. In the end, you will have far greater competition. So this year, you have someone deserving miss it, but maybe the girl from Sudan who somehow gets into the finals ends up inspiring a whole generation of gymnasts that eventually make the Olympics more competitive 10 years from now. It's not a perfect rule, but there are legitimate reasons for it.