Because she’s been on teams with two all-around champions – Douglas in London and Simone Biles here – Raisman’s contributions have been a little overshadowed.
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The Netherlands has earned the first medal of any color in women’s gymnastics thanks to Sanne Wevers, who will leave Rio with a gold medal around her neck. It was still enough for bronze behind the Dutchwoman Sanne Wevers (15.433) and American Laurie Hernandez (15.333).
“I’m not disappointed in the medal that I received because anyone would love to have a bronze at an Olympics Games”, Biles also told the AP. “I’m just super excited because I was able to upgrade my second vault, and it’s exactly what I needed to do”. Balance beam is the most hard apparatus I would say.
Her misfortune allowed Wevers to become the first female Dutch gymnast to grab gold in an individual final, with a graceful yet low-risk routine featuring numerous spins, including a triple.
We couldn’t be prouder of Simone [Biles] and the women’s team after all of their incredible achievements here in Rio representing Team USA.
The only Russian registered for athletics has already signed a victory when the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Monday that Darya Klishina was eligible for the Rio Games since she does not train in Russia. Being just 4-foot-4, Saraiva is one of the lightest beam workers in Rio, meaning that she seems to float about the 4-inch-wide wooden beam. I was pretty impressed with that. I see it as a triumph.
Earlier North Korea’s Ri Se-Gwang won Olympic gold on the men’s vault with Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias taking the rings title. She had huge leaps with lovely full splits.
Wevers mounted on the four-inch wide wood never having won a gold medal at an global meet but that shortcoming did not stop her from impressing the judges as she avoided any glaring errors to bag the top prize. Hernandez, who helped the Americans to team gold last week, followed with a 15.333 to give the “Final Five” seven medals overall in Rio.
Wevers’ dismount seemed ideal: she ran toward the end of the beam, flipped backward in the air and landed with a solid thud. Now, they are co-individual medalists. Her back handspring, layout, layout-flawless.
We’ll say this for Onyshko and her coach: Their relationship is a good one. Biles led the Americans to team gold last week before claiming Olympic all-around gold.
United States star Biles goes for a fourth gold on the beam having already captured the individual all-around and been part of the title-winning team event.
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Biles has impressed the world with her gymnastics skills and inspirational quotes. I knew everything was up to that jump, whether I even had a chance of going on, that’s the biggest, craziest feeling in the whole world. “It’s something you guys [in the media] shove into my head, but I don’t put that much stress on myself because I am only 19, and I think you guys want it more than I do”.
