Precious Medal

They're so pretty!!  [Photo Source]  
I heard on the radio that Olympic Athletes owe $9,000 if they win a gold medal.  It didn't make sense to me that you could work your whole life to win a medal and then when you finally earn said medal you have to pay for it.  Is the gold medal really worth that much? 

The 2012 Olympic medals are 3.3 inches wide, 0.2 inches thick and weigh between 14-15 ounces.  According to CBSNews.com the gold medal is just over 1% real gold, 92.5% silver and 6.16 % copper and is worth about $644.  In the silver medal the gold part is replaced with more copper and is worth about $330.  The bronze medal is 97% copper, 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin and is only worth about $4.70.  Obviously, the sentimental value and what they represent far outweighs their actual monetary value.  The taxes on the $5-$600 medal itself can't be all that much so where did a number like $9,000 come from?

Olympic athletes are compensated for winning medals.  The United States Olympic Committee pays $25,000 for a Gold medal, $15,000 for a Silver medal and $10,000 for a Bronze. This money can be even be accepted by amateur athletes without compromising their College eligibility.  And that's what they owe major taxes on.  Is there nothing sacred?  The government gets a cut of everything!  The IOC doesn't have have to pay them to make them want to win medals, but it's gotta be a nice bonus.  Especially for those athletes that don't do money maker sports like Basketball or Tennis.  This is their big chance to finally earn some money after years and years of sacrifice and expensive training costs.

If you are already rich like Michael Phelps or going to be rich like Gabby Douglas then you can probably afford to come up with the tax money that's owed.  If not, I say don't spend it all in one place.  The $25K might only be $16K after taxes which is kind of sad, but at least you'd have the money to pay up without the IRS coming after you.

Gabby Got Gold

Cha Ching!  This is what happens when you win the AA Olympic Gold [Photo Source-USAGymnastics.com]
What can I say?  The girl is good.  She took the lead after vault and never looked back.  She is a totally changed gymnast from last year.  She was consistent from start to finish.  Even the Russian ballerina gymnast Victoria Komova couldn't stop her.  There was another staring contest with the scoreboard.   All eyes were on it awaiting the results.  Victoria had her hands crossed tightly in front of her chest and with her eyes you could just see her silently begging for first.  She narrowly missed out on a Gold medal to Jordan Wieber at last years Worlds and when it happened again she burst into tears.  Gabby's wins her first AA title at the Olympics.  Not too shabby.
Standing full twisting back tuck on beam [Photo Source:  NBCOlympics.com]
I felt so bad for Aly.  She hit every single routine for her team but when it was time to do it for herself she put her hands on the beam and almost fell off which was her first real mistake of the Olympics.  Aliya Mustafina actually did fall off beam.  She's a beautiful gymnast. Having come back from an ACL tear just last year she has to be happy with 3rd even though those Russians want nothing less then Gold.  I would have loved to see two Americans on the podium and Aly was totally capable of it but as we've seen it only matters what you do on that one specific day in that one specific moment.  The worse thing about it is that as you can see from the results below Aliya and Aly actually tied in the AA.  Nastia Liukin lost out on a Gold Medal on bars in 2008 with FIG tie breaker math and now it's Aly on the wrong side of the mathematical equation.  They did some funny formula where whoever had the highest execution and difficulty total on 3 events with their lowest event score dropped got the medal.  Why can't they both just get the bronze?  I'm not sure why it makes sense that this formula is the best way to determine who gets to stand on the podium but as we saw when Jordan didn't qualify for All Around finals due to the 2 per country technicality, rules are rules.  No matter how unfair they might seem.
Golden Girls:  Mary Lou, Gabby, Carly and Nastia [Photo Source:  USAGymastics.com]
Mary Lou Retton won it in 1984, Carly Patterson won it in 2004 and Nastia Liukin won it in 2008.  With that win Gabby Douglas becomes the 4th ever and the 3rd American Olympic All Around Gold Medalist in a row.  She's also the first ever African American to win it.  If she didn't know that moving away from home to train and dedicating her life to gymnastics was the right choice she certainly knows it now.  Her sacrifice has paid off big time and her life is forever changed.  Seriously, how did they get that Corn Flakes box made so fast?  Maybe the whole team will get the Wheaties box!  Not only is she going to be able to cash in on some major endorsements but she has the satisfaction of working hard for a dream and achieving it.  I can't take credit for noticing this on my own but all the letters in Gabby's last name Douglas actually spell out USA Gold when you re arrange them.  Guess it was meant to be.

Based on NBC's coverage you'd never know it but there were actually 24 and not just 5 gymnasts in the competition.  Here are the results.

WOMEN'S ALL AROUND
1. Gabby Douglas (USA)- 62.232 (GOLD)
2. Viktoria Komova (RUS)- 61.973 (SILVER)
3. Aliya Mustafina (RUS)- 59.566 (BRONZE)
4. Aly Raisman (USA)- 59.566
5. Sandra Izbasa (ROM)- 58.833
6. Deng Linlin (CHN)- 58.399
7. Huang Qiushuang (CHN)- 58.115
8. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA)- 57.999
9. Larisa Iordache (ROM)- 57.965
10. Elisabeth Seitz (GER)- 57.365
11. Asuka Teramoto (JPN)- 57.332
12. Celine van Gerner (NED)- 57.232
13. Rebecca Tunney (GBR)- 56.932
14. Giulia Steingruber (SUI)- 56.148
15. Emily Little (AUS)- 55.765
16. Rie Tanaka (JPN)- 55.632
17. Dominique Pegg (CAN)- 55.565
18. Jessica Lopez (VEN)- 55.5
19. Marta Pihan Kulesza (POL)- 55.465
20. Ashleigh Brennan (AUS)- 55.332
21. Carlotta Ferlito (ITA)- 55.098
22. Ana Sofia Gomez Porras (GUA)- 54.899
23. Aurelie Malaussena (FRA)- 50.166
24. Hannah Whelan (GBR)- 41.999

Next Up: Event Finals

Oil of Olay


Since I know that you are all dying to know, I'm going to tell you about my skin care routine.  It's simple, inexpensive, and has never changed.  My mom uses Oil of Olay and  her mom used Oil of Olay back in the day when it came in the glass container.  My sister uses it too, and we all look younger then our age so I figure we're doing something right.  I can't tell you how many best drug store brand lists that Oil of Olay has made.  Every time one comes out in Glamour, Marie Claire or whatever magazine I happen to be reading it's always at the top of the list.  This means that it's inexpensive AND effective.  I'm always on a budget so I don't want to pay expensive department store prices if I don't have to.
My skin care regime
The routine is simple.  Wash, tone and moisturize.  I switch back and forth between the Olay foaming face wash and the Olay Cleanser + Face scrub.  Then, I apply the Toner with a cotton ball.  I love the smell.  Really fresh and clean.  It removes any left over make up or dirt and doesn't dry out my skin.  Then I moisturize.  I use Olay Complete with SPF 15 during the day and Night of Olay Firming Creme at night which is a slightly thicker formula.  I love the way everything smells and I love the way my skin looks and feels afterwards.  Totally clean, smooth and moisturized.  That's it.  And you you really can't beat the prices.  Everything I use ranges in price between $5-$10 bucks.
  • Olay Pore Minimizing Cleanser & Scrub 
  • Olay Normal Foaming Face Wash
  • Olay Oil Minimizing toner 
  • Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer with SPF 15 
  • Night of Olay Firming Cream
They've got a ton of other products now including sensitive, acne and anti aging lines so there is something for everyone.  These are just the ones that I really like and have stuck with over the years.  I've been meaning to switch to the Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti Aging line for the last five years or so.  Every time I look at the price of the moisturizer ($18.99) I say, "Eh...I'm not THAT old yet, I'll do it next time" and then next time never comes.  The Regenerist cleanser and wash is about the same price so I just need to do it already.  The Regenerist moisturizer is still relatively cheap compared so I'll still be getting a great product for a lot less then what I could be paying.

The Fierce Five is Golden!!

What am I loving on Wednesday?  Duh.  Gymnastics.  They women won Gold in the team competition for the first time since 1996.  There was the Magnificent Seven and now there is the Fab Five.  And fabulous they were.  They beat Russia by 5 points.   They nailed everything.  It was just such a beautiful sight to see.  Aly started crying right in the middle of her last split jump before she even finished her routine.  They joined hands and all eyes were glued on that scoreboard waiting for the final results to flash. The Russians cried tears of defeat, the Americans cried tears of joy and I cried too.  If Mj hadn't been sitting beside me I probably would have been bawling but I held it back.  It was good to see Jordan smiling and so happy after being so devastated two days ago.  And who would have ever thought Gabby Douglas would be the only Team USA gymnast to do All Around?  I never thought I'd see her in a team final on beam but it looks like things have clicked and she's got it.  What tough and talented group of girls.  How awesome must it be to be them right now.  Fab Five or Fierce Five.  They're amazing no matter what you call them.
Mckayla, Kyla, Aly, Gabby, Jordan [Photo Source Getty Images @NBCOlympic.com]
I'm also loving that Mj sat right there and watched the whole thing with me.  With all the jumping around NBC does with Olympic coverage it was hours.  He asked me questions about what was going on.  He was interested and it was pretty cool.  I had to totally unplug the day of competition because between the time difference in London and the East Coast West Coast time difference I can't risk being a spoiler alert victim.  I really like the suspense of watching the competition without knowing the results.  So there was little internet and no Facebook yesterday.  And it'll be the same on Thursday for All Around finals.  I could DVR and watch it the next day but I can't wait!  I'm so tired today but staying up was worth it.  I get a whole week of watching the best gymnasts in the world compete.  I'm on Gymnastics overload and I love it.
 
Team Final Results
USA  183.596
Russia 178. 530
Romania 176. 414
China 174.430
Canada 170.804
Great Britain 170.495
Italy  167.930
Japan  166.646

Next Up: All Around Finals 

So golden they ended up on a Corn Flakes Box!!!