My favorite part of Nastia's "Gold".

Last night I have a fun time chatting with my little 6th grade gym friend about the Olympics. She loves gymnastics, and so it is fun to hear her chat about it. She likes Shawn Johnson and wished Shawn had taken the gold. I'm happy we took 1-2, but I told her I was sort of pulling for Nastia this time...maybe we will see Shawn return to the next olympics. Shawn is fabulous...always trying to be friendly and maintain a positive attitude. She's got power on all events. She resembles the Mary-Lou-American style gymnast. I do like her gymnastics. She is awesome. But...I was pulling for Nastia...maybe bc of WOGA...maybe bc of her dad...maybe bc Vladimir beat him in '88 for the AA and I wanted Nastia to get it and not silver ...but, my favorite part of the AA competition wasn't just Nastia and Shawn's routines and seeing He on the bars again for China....it was when Nastia nailed her vault...what did she do?--she ran over to her dad and smacked him with a big kiss instantly bc she was so happy. That was my favorite....seeing a daughter and father's love and excitement after many years of her putting up with 'grueling Russian attitude' in the gym. : ) ...and she followed each event with the same actions..but the vault was great bc she was bubbling over...so, that gold wasn't just for the US or herself...but for her dad in a very personal way...and her and her father's expressions of shared joy were priceless...That was the gold...not the medal around her neck.