Blaming

This is just pathetic.

The US women's gymnastics team blamed stadium officials Wednesday for distracting one of their athletes who went on to make crucial mistakes that destroyed their gold medal hopes.

China won its showdown with the United States after Alicia Sacramone fell off the balance beam then slipped over during the floor exercise, opening the way for the home team to post a narrow 2.375 point victory.

US team coordinator Martha Karolyi said officials at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium had disrupted Sacramone's preparations for the beam.

"First they called her name up, then they did not even put her name up even though the Chinese had finished ... (it was) totally unusual holding," she said.

"She was mentally prepared and then she had a mental break, then after not doing the job, the beam, on the floor exercise her concentration was bothered."

Karolyi insisted the world champion US team would have won gold if Sacramone had not become unsettled.

As an American, I'm embarrassed.