Olympic gymnasts aren’t always so lucky.
But sometimes an uncomfortable or embarrassing mistake can get the gymnasts noticed for the wrong reason.
When you see their incredible routines, it might be hard to believe that Olympians are even human.
The young gymnast impressed the entire world with her routines at the beginning of the competition.
Recalling the games later, Korbut said, according toher website, “It was amazing.
One day, I was a nobody, and the next day, I was a star.”
She made three significant mistakes throughout the routine, dropping her to seventh place with a score of 7.5.
The most blatant of these errors was the awkward start.
She had to restart, and the embarrassing mistake seemed to throw off the rest of her routine.
Speaking about the moment toBBC, Korbut was as surprised by her mistake as the audience was.
“I didn’t feel anything because I was shocked.”
But, in a strange turn of events, the error made Korbut an even larger sensation.
When the camera caught the young girl in tears, it endeared her to viewers around the world.
Vinsant has been doing trampoline routines since she was a young girl.
Since day one, I was hooked on trampoline!"
These athletes perform fantastic acrobatics high in the air using the trampoline as a springboard.
Despite these impressive feats, Vinsant became most well-known for the awkward faces she made during her routine.
Fortunately, Vinsant had a lot more to be proud of than any embarrassment that might have caused.
Johnson and her teammate Alicia Sacramone became well-known for a photo taken of them during the games.
In the photo, Johnson seems to be comforting Sacramone, who’d just finished a disappointing performance.
However, years later, Johnson revealed the famous photo was not at all what people thought.
News, “It’s incredibly embarrassing, but we were talking about Harry Potter.
It was always funny because people always wanted to ask me about this moment.
About how I ‘brought the team together’ and how I ‘picked her back up.’
I never wanted to comment because it was so embarrassing.”
“She’s the best,” she told the Associated Press (viaHuffPost) simply before the competition.
However, Maroney had a disappointing performance during the women’s vault final.
Maroney later toldInside Gymnastics Magazinethat the face didn’t mean anything.
“If you watch the video, it’s two seconds.
And I remember thinking, did I just make a face?
Cause it’s natural.
I do it all the time,” she said.
It became so well-known that Maroney evenposed with Barack Obamalater on, both of them pulling the iconic face.
Starting at a confident run, Maroney flew through the air and landed perfectly.
After what appeared to be a flawless vault, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Maroney rushed to hug her coaches and teammates, who were all overjoyed at her performance.
Even the NBC commentators agreed with this assessment.
Right after Maroney stuck the landing, one of the commentators said, “There was nothing wrong.
Another commentator demanded a perfect score saying, “16.5.
Judges, give it up.”
The judges deducted .267 points from Maroney, leaving her just shy of the perfect score everyone expected.
It was slightly awkward to see the points after celebrating the 16.5 they assumed she’d get.
Many still believe she deserved a higher score.
As theBleacher Reportsaid, “If there was ever perfection in the vault, this was it.”
During the1996 Olympics, Team USA and the Soviets were battling it out for first place in gymnastics.
As they reached the final competition, vault, the U.S. had a slight lead.
The pressure was on Strug to get her team the gold.
On her first vault, Strug landed badly, injuring her ankle.
Strug was in incredible pain but knew she had to vault again for her team to win.
Showing remarkable determination, the U.S. gymnast completed the second vault on her injured leg.
This defining moment gave team USA their first gold medal in the team all-around.
Recalling the triumph, Strug toldElle, “I’ll remember the moment on the podium forever.
I definitely had some contrasting emotions.
I have no pants on.”
The cameras caught Komova crying bitterly as her teammate and coach tried to comfort her.
According toReuters, the distraught gymnast couldn’t even stand to keep the silver medal on.
She took it off quickly after dismounting the podium reportedly because it was too heavy.
When asked about her feelings, Komova made no secret of her disappointment.
“When I entered the arena, I thought I would win gold.”
Things took a turn for the worse during her floor routine.
She didn’t rotate far enough for one trick andlanded awkwardlyon her head and neck.
The crowd gasped audibly, and photos of her ungraceful landing circulated the internet soon after.
If she does it like that, she manages to at least get over and land on her back.
However, after leaving and getting a check-up, Downie returned for the final portion of the day.
She came back to compete on vault and landed both attempts nicely despite her prior injury.
Competing in the last portion helped put Great Britain in third place going into the finals.
She was also the first woman of color from any nationality to become the individual all-around champion.
Because if you don’t, you’re not going to be on the top.”
One of these mistakes was during the same 2012 games while on the balance beam.
Douglas was shaky at the start of her balance beam routine, checking her balance a few times.
Shehung awkwardlywith one leg and her hands on the beam before getting up and starting the routine again.
