The 'Montezuma's Revenge' award

The water in Tianjin and Beijing - Just like in Russia, a tubful of water has a yellowish tint. A friend asked for ice water at a Pizza Hut in Beijing and you could see little microbial things floating around. Uh, no thanks.

The 'I Can't Bear to Watch' award

Yevgenia Kuznetsova - After seeing Lobaznyuk's emotional stress just prior to her team final BB, Yevgenia walks outside the barrier and turns away, unable to watch the routine. She needn't have worried. The Lobster aced it!

The 'Changing of the Guard' award

Womens' AA - 7 of the top 10 AA finishers were youngsters. Experienced veterans Svetlana Khorkina and Simona Amanar finished well below their usual par.

The 'Ripped Off' award

Elena Produnova and Viktoria Karpenko - Both kind of got screwed during vault, and Produnova again on FX and Vika on UB finals. Many in the crowd did not like the scores and voiced their displeasure.

Ioannis Melissanidis - Received a questionably low score on floor finals. He probably should have medaled.

The 'Most Stupid Idea' award

The wretched yellow vests for press photographers - Even if you were credentialed, the arena security required a majority of the photographers to check out a yellow vest after every subdivision. Unreal! I mean whats the point of getting a credential in the first place? Whoever thought this up should be shot. This kind of goes along with the poor treatment of the press in general. After the first day of competition I spoke my mind freely to the Chinese press officials about what I thought of their system. (Luckily I was not arrested for freedom of speech). After that, they didn't hassle me as much.

The 'Biggest Disappointment' award

Team ESP - Missed making the team finals. But still an impressive young team that has the Ukrainians looking over their shoulder more often.

Adriana Crisci and Dmitry Karbanenko - Failed to make the AA. Karby didn't even try after blowing it in the first few rotations.

The 'Totally Ripped' award

Russian Women - Not an ounce of body fat, all muscle, ready for combat.

The 'I Wish I Could Only Do That Again in EF' award

Ioannis Melissanidis - During the men's AA Ioannis performs his Yurchenko double tuck vault and absolutely slams it, earning a 9.837. In the EF however, he has major breaks on both attempts.

The 'Happy Ending' award

Viktoria Karpenko - She finally stays healthy and gets a silver AA medal. Yay!

Dimosthenis Tambakos - gets a bronze on rings. Good work!

Elena Zamolodchikova - Wins V EF with two powerful vaults. She will be part of a strong core for the Russians in Sydney.

The 'Photographers Worst Nightmare' award

The first day of competition - In the first subdivisions, there was literally a smoggy haze in the arena that diffused the lighting. Really! The smog was that bad. Other than that, the lighting was quite sufficient.

Arena security - chill out!

The 'Scariest Moment' award

Public unrest - I was walking out of the press center one night and there was this big crowd right on the stairway. Many people were yelling angrily and I asked a colleague what was going on. Apparently Svetlana Khorkina was outside and the press was doing interviews with her. But a crowd of local fans surrounded her and started mobbing her. One correspondent started yelling and chasing the fans back, and they started yelling 'Go home!' I don't think it got any worse than that, but things were pretty intense for a few moments. My colleague and I split and grabbed a taxi out of there really quick!

The 'King of Pain' award

Jani Taskenen - Falls hard while doing a jaeger on HB and pops his shoulder, knocking him out of competition.

Ri Yong Chol (PRK) - Broke his lower leg on vault and had to be carried away. Poor dude.

Roberto Galli (ITA) - On FX he pops his knee after doing his first tumbling run and limps heavily off the floor, earning him a 0.000. He was able to recover sufficiently to compete on rings and make it into rings EF.

The 'Press Favorite' award

Svetlana Khorkina - after initially shunning the press, Svetlana gives the photographers what is essentially a one and a half minute modeling session with her gorgeous FX routine. She performed for the cameras and the crowd, giving secondary thought to the judges. It was hard NOT to take a great photo of her. At one of her many press conferences, she cuts it short, saying 'I am tired now, but tomorrow I will dance for you!' Masterful!

The 'Highlight of the Opening Ceremonies' award

The little kids troupe - Near the end of the elaborate and theatrical opening ceremonies, a troupe of about 10 boys and 10 girls, aged 7-8, all marched into the arena in complete unison. Then they performed a group routine that displayed absolutely unbelievable form and synchronicity. Unreal. Everyone was just floored by their performance. It would not surprise me in the least if some of those kids became the future stars of gymnastics or other performing arts in China.

The 'Nastiest Leotards' award

Korean men - Wearing a neon peachy pink reminiscent of the Russian women at the Europeans. You could even see the nasty color right thru their pants.

Yvonne Tousek - Her rainbow leotard during AA was a sight to behold. Is the Grateful Dead big in Canada?

The 'Textbook Phelps (not)' award

Simona Amanar - Performs a significantly piked vault that was rated higher than Elena Produnova's double front. What's wrong with this picture?? (See photo)

The 'Most Bummed Out After the AA' award

Alexei Bondarenko - Right after finishing his HB routine, Bondy steps off the podium and breaks down. Probably a combination of placing 10th as well as just being relieved of all the pressure of the AA competition. Many agree that Bondy was probably the best gymnast on the floor, but the stars just weren't aligned on this night and he became a victim of venomous fate.

The 'Make Us Feel Important' award

Police escort for the press bus - No matter where the press bus went, to the arena or to the Great Wall, it was always accompanied by a police escort with sirens blaring. All the traffic stopped for us and all the traffic guards just waved us right through. Pretty cool!

The 'I Blew My Two EF Events' award

Laura Martinez (ESP) - Huge breaks on both vaults and a shaky beam routine. Like the rest of Team ESP, she is very young and will have plenty of opportunites to bust ass in the future.

The 'Most Supportive Fans' award

Spanish fans during the mens team final - followed the men around the arena singing and chanting constantly.

Swiss fans during prelims and EF - The same bunch of people that were at the Europeans with their synchronized flags and clapping. They went nuts after Dieter Rehm won a vault EF bronze.

Korean fans battled with the Chinese for the most vocal support of their team during team finals. At least they were more well mannered about it than the Chinese.

The 'Stars of the Future' award

Andreea Raducan (ROM) - Great to see her place high in the AA. She will definitely be a force to contend with in Sydney.

Elena Zamolodchikova (RUS) - Tiny powerhouse with some cool routines. She did quite well here with a bronze for AA and gold on vault.

Sara Moro (ESP) - Finished 10th in the AA. Like her Spanish team, she is one gymnast that could sneak up on people and do some damage.