“I think that’s really special”, said Biles, the three-time world champion who is going to need an armored vehicle to get all her bling home after posting the top scores on vault, floor exercise and balance beam.
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Winning isn’t enough for Karolyi.
The team then moved to bars, where Douglas scored a 15.766.
“Now I feel like I am a little bit more aggressive”, Douglas said. “I was ‘Oh, what’s happening to me?” Karolyi has made perfection the standard in her 15 years as the national team coordinator, and that’s exactly what the Americans gave her. Her athletes – all of whom she’s nurtured from prodigies to champions – repaid her hard work with a fitting tribute of precision and tenacity. The two of them are as tough as a gymnast’s calloused hands. No falls. No major wobbles.
The US posted a score of 184.897, more than eight points clear of silver-medallist Russian Federation and almost nine more than China, who took bronze.
“Coming out in this arena, it feels like you’re in a movie or some insane fantastic dream”, said Raisman, a member of the 2012 team.
Throughout the team final at the Rio Olympics, 2012 Olympians Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, along with first-time Olympians Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez and Simone Biles, looked focused but confident, never faltering under the weight of the world’s or their expectations.
“I don’t really view myself as the world’s best or anything like that”, Biles said in the spring. “It’s Martha’s previous year”. The only moment of tension on Tuesday came early. Fast forward to Sunday night while the 20-year-old was competing for more Olympic glory and the trolls were back out in full force.
Count another gold for Texas and another for Team USA.
Biles’ explosive tumbling passes – which included her trademark soaring double layout with a half twist at the end – had the Brazilian crowd roaring their approval. Biles, Raisman and Douglas took the top three all-around spots in qualifications, though the “two per country” rule means that Douglas will not be allowed to defend her Olympic all-around title on Thursday. She’s molded the US program into a ponytailed juggernaut.
It’s a fate the rest of the field seemed to accept. China also landed on the podium with a bronze-medal effort.
SHAPIRO: NPR’s Russell Lewis, who is at the women’s gymnastics team final at the Summer Olympics in Rio – thank you, Russell.
They made Martha Karolyi cry.
“When they called my name, it kind of felt like I got hit in the head with a hammer”, Hernandez said. No detail is overlooked. The order for the U.S.: Biles; Douglas; Kocian; Raisman; and Hernandez. “So we should carry ourselves that way, not be scared and shaky because we have that pressure”.
The retirement party will have to wait. Simone Biles and Aly Raisman will represent the United States.
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“We always want to do our best and deliver the best routines we can and have fun and enjoy these moments because they are so special, it’s just awesome to compete for the USA”. The job is not done.
