In fact there was only 4.601 separating silver medallists Russian Federation from last-placed finalist Brazil. China, which just missed out on a bronze medal in London, took the bronze medal.
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Marta Karolyi, who helped turn her native Romania into a gymnastics powerhouse in the 70s with her husband Bela long before becoming head coach of the American team, said the quality of the US programme, and its dynasty, stacks up against those dominant Eastern European programs of the past.
Lauren Hernandez and Madison Kocian joined Biles in taking home a gold from their first Olympics. 2016 is the previous year countries can send five team members before teams drop to four members in 2020.
Despite slight wobbles from Raisman, Hernandez and Biles, they hit all three routines on balance beam. Not that anyone expected to catch them. When the numbers flashed on the screen, the title that had all but been conceded to them before the competition even started was official.
“We were trying for silver”. China’s Shang Chunsong said her team “aimed for the silver medal”, a position the Chinese seemed to have in hand until stumbling on the final rotation. Biles’ score of 15.8 on the floor exercise sealed the margin of victory record for the “Final Five”, with a gold medal essentially being secured by that point. It is unbeaten in team competitions during that period. Her double-twisting Yurchenko – basically a roundoff into a pair of twists – put the machine in motion.
Final scores are now in for the vault; the USA scored a 46.866 – more than 2 points above the 44.332 for the Chinese gymnasts. Kocian’s score of 15.933 was a career best. We just have to keep going in and train. “If you try to run, it’s hard to catch up”, USA coach Mihai Brestyan said. Next was Raisman, the team’s eldest member and captain, who stuck a flawless Amanar.
For the greatest team in U.S. gymnastics history, it has only just begun.
The network said that its “total audience delivery” was 31.5 million for the Olympics on Monday night in prime time, compared to the virtually identical 31.6 million who watched on the corresponding night in London in 2012.
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Tuesday is show time in Rio for the US women’s gymnastics team, which made a statement in qualifiers by posting a top score that outpaced second-place China by a staggering 10 points.
