McKayla Maroney Vault Fall Video: US Gymnast Falls in Finals, Costs Her the Gold

Apparent from her Olympic performances, McKayla Maroney's strength is the vault but on Aug. 5, the gymnast made a terrible error which caused her to fall off the vault in front of millions watching.

Before the vault finals, Maroney's coach, Martha Karolyi, told The Associated Press, "[McKayla's] the best."

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After receiving the highest vault score during the qualifying round and making her team proud by performing an extraordinary vault during the team finals, Maroney did well enough to gain her the silver medal on Sunday, though many thought she would get the gold.

The reining world champion struggled to maintain her landing and fell into a sitting position on the mat. That mistake itself cost the 16-year-old the gold medal.

Romania's Sandra Raluca Izbasa won the gold medal with a score of 15.191.

"I didn't deserve to win gold if I landed on my butt," Maroney told reporters after Sunday's competition, according to USA Today. "I'm not disappointed about the silver, I'm disappointed about my performance."

The California native finished with an overall score of 15.083. Team Russia's Maria Paseka won bronze with 15.050.

Though she did not get the gold for her individual performance, Maroney is already an Olympic gold medalist after winning the gymnastics team finals last week. Her vault performance was the determining factor in America's fate during the finals and her flawless performance secured the gold medal for Team USA.