The US women's gymnastics team has stressed for months its depth is the key to its dominance.

Now it has to make sure that depth doesn't accidentally lead to its downfall.

Sure, the Americans rolled to victory in Olympic team qualifying on Sunday, posting a score of 181.863 that only Russia came even remotely close to threatening.

But the image of world champion Jordyn Wieber leaving the floor in tears after failing to advance to the individual all-around final will be hard to shake. Beaten out by teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, the ever-composed Wieber crumbled when she realized her dreams of joining the likes of Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin, Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson evaporated in a series of uncharacteristic miscues.

Now, Wieber has to find a way to regroup in time to help the US capture its first team title since the "Magnificent Seven" in Atlanta 16 years ago.

"This is the beauty of our program," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "On any given day, one of the girls on our team can do it."

True, except for the last three years, that one girl has almost always been Wieber. She's only lost twice in competition since 2009, both times to fellow Americans. And she's never finished behind two teammates in the same meet.

Not until Sunday at least. How she'll respond is anybody's guess.

"She's a strong gymnast," teammate McKayla Maroney said. "She can turn it around in two seconds."

Wieber will get two days.

She might need every minute of it.

The 17-year-old is the star the US program has orbited around during the last three years, leading the Americans to a world title in Tokyo last fall.

She kept it going this spring and summer, with Douglas' emergence giving the US a one-two punch few teams can match.

An all-around showdown in London between Wieber and Douglas has been looming for months. They've taken turns gracing the covers of national magazines trying to duplicate the showdown between Liukin and Shawn Johnson in Beijing four years ago.

Consider Douglas the winner by technical knockout.

The rules allow just two gymnasts per country to compete in the individual all-around finals. Raisman's rock-solid floor exercise on the heels of sloppy routines by both Douglas and Wieber allowed the US captain to leapfrog her more heralded teammates and into the finals.

Wieber, her eyes blotchy from crying, declined to speak to reporters afterward but seemed to recover a few hours later, thanking fans for their support and insisting she can't wait for team finals.

The rest of the world can.

The Russians came closest, with Victoria Komova posting the highest all-around score of the day (60.632) to nudge Raisman out of the top spot. Former world champion Aliya Mustafina put up a steady if not spectacular 59.966 to place fifth, but the Russians will be hard-pressed to close the 1.4-point gap with the US.

China came in third, more than five points back. Romania, Britain, Japan, Italy and Canada will also head to the finals. If Wieber recovers in time, the rest of the field knows they're likely fighting for second and third.

(China Daily 07/31/2012 page12)