The U.S. Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team was determined at the conclusion of the 2016 USA Gymnastics Championships, which were held June 8-13 in Providence, R.I. The group includes Kiana Eide, Natalie McGiffert, Monica Rokhman and Kristen Shaldybin.
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“Just when we thought we were at the physical limit of the sport, then here comes Simone Biles”, Retton said at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Simone Biles runs through her floor routine during a training session before the start of the Summer Olympic Games on August 4, 2016 at Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
The Massachusetts native made her competitive return in March 2014, and more than two years later, she finished third in the all-around competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials to punch her ticket to Rio.
Swimmers Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky, both gold medalists in London, will pace the US women in the pool, while track and field star Allyson Felix (six Olympic medals) enters as the most decorated female on Team USA.
Ledecky, who plans to attend Stanford this fall, won the 200, 400 and 800 at last year’s World Championships as well as the 1,500, a distance not contested by women at the Olympics. “We’re hoping to get a medal as a team”.
She was later able to reverse the decision after writing a letter to USA Gymnastics, the national governing body of US gymnastics, but the moment was a turning point.
She has the power to get such height on the vault it seems as if she’s bungee jumping from the roof.
But if it wasn’t for her maternal grandparents, Biles may not be in the Olympics at all.
Aged 18, Raisman was also captain of the team who were dubbed the Fierce Five in London. “I think she’s unbeatable”. That’s a big burden, but one she seems capable of carrying.
The Americans are the reigning Olympic and two-time world team champions, with gold theirs for the taking with the battle between Douglas and Biles set to ignite the all-around. “So when you see Simone out there competing on the floor, and she’s happy and smiling and making little colorful comments and remarks, that’s genuinely her”. “There’s just so much competition that I’m just really focusing right now on being the best Aly I can be”.
The only hardware missing for Biles – who wasn’t eligible to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London because of her age – is an Olympic medal. But Biles wasn’t ready to relax just yet.
She was much too hard on herself, Raisman concluded, treating every routine as if it were life-and-death. I guess I’m just a little bit more powerful, and I’ve matured over the years. “She is the most dynamic, talented, ambitious, propulsive athlete I think I’ve ever seen”. For pretty much as long as she can remember, Ron and Nellie have been her parents and her adoption wasn’t worth mentioning. “At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day”. “I still believe anything is possible”.
It’s exactly what Karolyi had in mind when she selected Douglas over alternates MyKayla Skinner, Ashton Locklear and Ragan Smith and 2015 world championship team member Maggie Nichols.
Until a couple of weeks ago, Ebner was “only” known as one of the few Jewish players in the National Football League – the 27-year-old special teams ace and safety helped the New England Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
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While training at the World Champions Centre – a gym her parents built recently after retiring and selling a chain of nursing homes they owned – Biles easily does a double-twisting, double-tuck off beam.
