Hernandez (121.150) finished second overall, followed by Raisman (119.750) and Skinner (118.600). Douglas will also be the first all-around gold medalist to return to a second Olympics since Nadia Comaneci in 1980.
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On the balance beam, which was her third rotation of the night, Raisman looked nothing short of confident and let out a tiny breath before her dismount on the routine that scored a 15.250 – much stronger than her 14.8 in Friday’s opening night of the Olympic Trials.
The country’s most recognizable gymnast made the decision hard because of her struggles on the 4-inch beam in front of 17,496 fans.
“Mom, really?” Douglas burst out when asked about a previously undisclosed right knee injury the gymnast suffered just before the 2015 World Championships. But it was just enough.
At 16, Laurie Hernandez is the youngest member of Team USA.
But as national team coordinator Martha Karolyi pointed out afterward, the decision on Douglas could have gone another way. Karolyi explained that Douglas has the ability to excel in four apparatuses instead of Ashton Locklear’s two. The U.S. won by more than five points each of the last two years, colossal routs in a sport where medals are usually decided by tenths and hundredths.
Douglas’ underwhelming performance led to questions among the three-member selection committee.
It’s a sobering justification for taking Douglas to Rio.
“Fierce Five, second generation”, Biles told Andrea Joyce on NBC. Kocian is a former world champion on the bars. She switched from hands on hips to swaying side to side, pacing back and forth to the chalk trough, then working in a quick quad stretch here and there. She revealed to Team USA that since hearing she made the team, she hasn’t been as emotional as she’d expected: “I think it just hasn’t really sunk in yet”. She also won a bronze on the balance beam, making her the most decorated American gymnast at the London games.
Douglas, the reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist, leaps on the beam.
Douglas, known as “the Flying Squirrel”, dazzled audiences in London four years ago by leading the United States to a team gold medal, as well as winning the prestigious all-around title.
“She doesn’t really talk about results”, USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said.
Her routines are packed with so much difficulty that she starts the competition a point or two ahead, and rarely does she give anyone the chance to close the gap.
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By Biles’ side will be two gymnasts from 2012, Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas and Olympic floor champion Aly Raisman. You can see her epic tumble choreography piece above! “But you never know”. And she’s very active on social media, where she shares inspirational messages, supports her teammates, and posts silly videos of her and her friends going to concerts, eating out, and celebrating like any teenager who’s going to the Olympics would. Maggie Nichols, part of last year’s world team, is still a few weeks away from being at her best after tearing her meniscus this spring.
