Romania – bronze medallist in 2012 – failed to qualify a team for Rio with Britain bidding for their first women’s Olympic team medal since 1928 after bronze at worlds a year ago.
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As insane as it sounds, it’s not impossible for Team USA gymnastics to sweep the team and individual gold medals in Rio. Here, a USA sweep of the golds is not far-fetched. Three-time world champion Simone Biles, New Jersey’s 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez and, yes, Douglas, will be part of the five-woman squad trying to defend the United States’ team gold. Ashton Locklear, Ragan Smith and MyKayla Skinner are the alternates if any of the five suffer any injuries. Biles wrote back that it made her day.
The USA was only.70 points ahead of Russian Federation after starting on vault, but they were up by more than four after bars and almost five after the beam.
Only Biles, the three-time all around world champion who is appearing at her first Olympics, and Raisman, a gold medal victor in the floor exercise at the London Games, scored higher. Only two gymnasts per country can compete in Thursday’s final, leaving Douglas out of luck.
From left, United States’ Lauren Hernandez, Gabrielle Douglas and Simone Biles stand together after their floor routine during the artistic gymnastics women’s qualification at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. That’s simply how good the Americans are. Raisman, who took home gold in the London Games in 2012 on floor, was second in the event on Sunday with a 15.275. Theoretically, that shouldn’t be an issue.
The U.S. got off to a rough start with their first of six rotations and it only got slightly better from there on out. Biles is the clear favorite in the all-around. Biles performed to thundrous applause and her floor routine to the samba classic “Mas que nada” had the whole house clapping to the strong baseline.
“It’s not really a bummer”, Douglas said.
“I would have loved to go out there and defend my title, but right now I’m just rejoicing and so far this has just been an fantastic experience”, she said. “I’m known for being very tough. When Aly told me the name of the team, that was the moment I was crying”. And I do believe in myself.
During the Olympic trials, Douglas fell twice on the balance beam, but on Sunday, she offered an mpressive performance during the finals.
“I feel like the two-per-country rule is fine”, Douglas said, via USA Today.
“I’m just so proud of myself and the team”, Biles said. Aly Raisman is the captain of the U.S. team, somehow still in her prime at 22. She’s also the captain. After being edged by Raisman by 0.351, Douglas’ bid to become the first American woman to win back-to-back golds in the all-around has ended. And then she had to sit and wait to see what Raisman would do. If the USA had swapped out its highest score on each event with its lowest, it would still be up by six points.
Women’s Balance Beam Final, Monday, August 15 at 3:46p.m.
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“I wish they would change it, but I don’t think they ever will”. “I was like, ‘Whoa!'” Unlike the other seven, the Americans didn’t slip off uneven bars. Nor is winning two medals on every event except vault. Coach Martha Karolyi criticized the rule, saying that it allowed “lower level” participants in the finals but added that it forced her athletes to compete harder. “They were calm and really trusted their skills”. Some events happen Tuesday afternoon, so you can either watch livestream coverage online or wait for NBC’s delayed airing of big events this evening.
