Fourth rotation, ups and downs and winners

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

PHILADELPHIA -- Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin earned the two automatic Olympic team berths that were awarded Sunday night after the second round of the U.S. Olympic trials. But the big winner may have been Jana Bieger, who finished sixth in the all around.

The other four team spots and up to three alternate positions are supposed to be determined after a final training camp at the ranch of team coordinator Martha Karolyi near Houston. But the Wachovia Center crowd of 13,920 was rooting for the selection committee to name third-place finisher Chellsie Memmel. Alicia Sacramone’s talents on vault, floor exercise and balance beam make her a near lock, and Samantha Peszek’s reliable all-around efforts that put her in fourth place overall seem to leave only one starting spot in question.

Bieger, the 2006 world all-around silver medalist, improved her scores on all four apparatus from Friday’s first round and performed with more confidence and authority than Ivana Hong, Shayla Worley and Bridget Sloan, who all had major falls or mistakes.

WAY, WAY UPS: Johnson released all the pressure of being the favorite and finished with a rousing floor exercise routine done to her hand-picked music from the movie ‘August Rush.’ Her score of 16.200 cemented her Olympic all-around title, by nearly two points over runner-up Liukin. Those two earned the only automatic Olympic berths to be awarded at these Olympic trials.

DOWNS: The floor judges who raised the yellow flag on Mattie Larson’s floor exercise routine. The flag meant a .1 deduction for stepping out of bounds, but the big-screen replay indicated Larson stayed on the line. In fine Philly tradition, the crowd loudly booed the judges.

-- Diane Pucin