Biles on top after first day of Olympic Trials

Gabrielle Douglas competes on the balance beam during the women’s U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in San Jose, Calif., Friday, July 8, 2016.

EUGENE, Ore. – Justin Gatlin won the 200-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday, and 41-year-old Bernard Lagat won the 5,000-meter race.

Two weeks after the P&G Championships in St. Louis, Gabby Douglas was without her coach of the past two years at the U.S. Olympic trials. In the weeks between the two most important meets before the Rio Olympics, she made another coaching adjustment. Hard to blame her considering the way she so effortlessly reached the top of the podium, a soaring victory that made her a crossover star.

“It’s hard to control the adrenaline and bring it back down because I don’t think any of besides Gabby and Aly are used to that”, said Biles, about competing in front of boisterous capacity crowd of 17,904 at the SAP Center.

For a stretch last fall and this spring, it was. Even Carpenter admitted she was wary of taking on Douglas when Douglas first came to her. She wondered if Douglas would be a diva in the gym and said she was pleasantly surprised to find out she was not. Her professional effort while capturing events in New Jersey and Italy in March stirred inevitable comparisons to her Olympic run. Last month she won her fourth consecutive national championship – by four points, another unheard-of margin in events usually decided by hundredths of points. While she is a fan favorite and still a top contender to make the team, her spot is not guaranteed, and there will be no room for error tonight.

“She is not one to peak too early”, Karolyi said. There have been days she’ll peel herself off the floor to go home and her father will need to pick her up because she can’t muster the energy to get behind the wheel.

“If I say something, I don’t get to do bars”, she said.

Three-time World all-around champion Simone Biles was first all-around (61.850) followed by Laurie Hernandez (60.850), 2012 Olympian Aly Raisman (59.950), Skinner (59.450), Ragan Smith (58.700), Madison Kocian (58.600) and 2012 Olympian Gabby Douglas (58.550).

Douglas emphasized the decision was pragmatic, not personal. Yet the fact Hernandez is in the same area code is a testament to her level of comfort on the biggest stage. During the opening round of Olympic Trials on Friday night, “everyone else” drew as close to Biles as they have in a while, led by the electric 16-year-old Hernandez. Douglas thought it would happen at nationals and trials too.

“I would be, ‘No, I’m fine”. “The performances were OK”.

While others her age are finishing college, embarking on careers and exploring the freedom of young adulthood, Raisman craves nothing quite so much as a nap. In some ways, the detractors weren’t wrong.

In the second rotation, the woman known as the “Flying Squirrel” wrapped tape tight around her wrists before leaping off a springboard to record a solid 15.250.

“I am definitely going to recover because that is what I do, I’m a fighter”.

Douglas presents a complex challenge for national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, who seems intent on giving Douglas every opportunity to get right. Karolyi is one member of the three-person selection committee that will choose the team, but the running joke is that Karolyi’s opinion counts for three votes that essentially trump the other two. “You see what is good and what you were able to do in the past”.

Douglas got a lift walking off the arena floor when Karolyi offered encouraging words. “I’ve had my best workout on bars I think ever at a competition, so I’ve been feeling really good”. “I just have to tell myself that it’s not over until it’s over”.

Douglas’ reputation for somehow coming up with the goods when she needs to will be tested now.

After she completed her beam routine, a disappointed Douglas took a few minutes to collect herself.