Raisman will join teammates Gabby Douglas (all-around gold in London), Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, and Madison Kocian in Rio. “Olympic gymnastics roster 2016”, and “Who made the United States of America women’s gymnastics team?”
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This year they will be led by three-time all around champion, Simone Biles, who is being hailed as one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Biles lives in Spring, just north of Houston.
“Thanks to everyone for all the love and support and cheering me on tonight”, Skinner posted on Instagram after the first day of the Olympic Trials.
After the team was announced, there was only one more piece of business to attend to: the team’s nickname.
HollywoodLifers, are you excited about the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team? It’s been four years since Team USA won gold in London.
Adrenaline is high when competing in front of 17,000 fans, but it’s through the roof when it’s the last chance to secure one of five spots on the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Given Raisman finished second to Biles at the P&G Championships and third at the Olympic Trials, she could do all four events in qualifying in Rio, setting her up for a shot at the all-around final.
“I know what we have done”, said Biles. “I think people are surprised at how hard it is”.
While later years saw an increased number of black Olympic gymnasts on the USA team, the number of Latinas remained small, though there were notable exceptions in the ’80s and as recently as 2004, according to Elle.
Raisman and the rest of Team USA will seek to defend their gold for the first time in history starting Wednesday, August 3.
Ashton Locklear, MyKayla Skinner and Ragan Smith will serve as replacement athletes.
Even though Biles’s margin of victory was decisive it was a far from polished effort from the 19-year-old mighty mite.
The youngest of the team members, Hernandez celebrated her 16h birthday in June. Did your fave gymnasts make the cut at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials? Hernandez was the surprise standout of the trials, with a memorably energetic floor routine and consistent routines on the three other events over the two-day competition, making it clear she’s ready for a shot at the Olympics.
“I’m really sad that she won’t be here on this team with me”, Kocian said. She went through her energetic routine with minimal deductions and stuck the landing. And only four months ago Douglas put up a competitive score of 60.165 in winning the AT&T American Cup, a prestigious invitational world cup meet. Just 12 weeks removed from surgery to fix a torn meniscus in her knee, the Minnesota native knew she had to not only prove her abilities in the all-around, but show that her health was on par for the Olympic Games. She ranked seventh in the all-around at trials. Locklear fell off the beam on Friday, yet she put in a solid performance there on Sunday.
“It’s really special to have this support system”, the Dallas, Texas, teen said. “It’s going to be really tough for anybody to contend”. On the all-important uneven bars, she was 12th.
Raisman was a part of the 2012 London team as well.
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“When they came in the room and named the team and I wasn’t on it, I started crying”, Locklear said. In addition to being favored for team gold, they might need a strongman to carry home their individual medals.
