On Sunday’s showing, China’s hopes of regaining the Olympic team title they relinquished to the U.S.in 2012 may end up being a mere pipe dream after a series of shaky performances left them second in qualifying with 175.279 points. Douglas had shaken off a sub-par performance in Olympic trials and quieted critics who were convinced she didn’t deserve to make this team.
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Three-time world champion Simone Biles led the way.
And barring a major disaster, the question heading into the team final Tuesday afternoon at the Rio Olympic Arena won’t be whether these five American women will win gold. She easily qualified first on the vault; impressed with her signature move-the Biles-during the floor exercise; and received a standing ovation when she stuck the dismount on the beam in her final routine of the day.
Biles, already a three-time world champ at just 19, wowed onlookers with a total score of 62.366 at the close of her event on Sunday, placing her a full two points ahead of teammate Aly Raisman. It’s hard not to marvel at their extraordinary athleticism. They’ve previously won the gold medal each time they’ve participated in the event (in 2000, 2008 and 2012). But pound for pound, Biles may be the strongest athlete in Rio, and her mental strength is equally formidable.
“I think Gabby just proved that she has a place on this team”, Karolyi said. Gymnastics may be the most “feminine” sport, as New York Magazine’s Megan O’Rourke called it, but it’s also brutal, grueling work, and not for the weak, or weak at heart. Biles has won 14 world medals (10 gold, two silver, two bronze), the most for a USA female gymnast. Comaneci did it in 1980 after winning gold in 1976.
Kardashian wasn’t the only star the young gymnast star was interacting with over social media.
With the US Olympics 2016 artistic gymnastics team expected to win in the finals in the coming days, the Olympics is the continuation in the comeback months for young gymnast Gabby Douglas. In 1997, it was bumped up to 16.
Aimee Boorman, Biles’s longtime coach who is also serving as head coach of the USA women’s team and will be their primary voice and cheerleader on the competition floor, said she and Karolyi expected nothing less than a clean run-through this week. When this team competes, it competes against itself and strives for perfection. A score of 11.700 reflected her flop show. They want every girl on the team to dominate in each category.
After opening group play against New Zealand, one of America’s most popular Olympic teams will play its second game, this time against France, another medal contender.
While rivals China, Russia and Britain fell and stumbled their way through qualifying, the only blips for the Americans was when Douglas stepped out of bounds during the floor exercise and Raisman flapped her arms about to save herself falling off the beam following a big wobble.
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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.
