It’s Biles’ virtuoso routines, which fuse fun, pulse-quickening rhythms with stunning tumbles and a touch of sass that make her a fan favorite. She has won 10 world championship gold medals (three in the all-around, three for floor exercise, two for the team competition, and two for balance beam) and is the first woman ever to win three consecutive world all-around titles.
Advertisement
Biles, who hasn’t lost in more than three years, posted a two-day total of 123.250. The young women were selected after two nights of fierce competition at the Olympic trials in San Jose, CA. The 20-year-old adjusted her coaching staff between last month’s national championships and the trials, a move Karolyi said caused “confusion” in Douglas’ training.
After the agonizing wait, Gabrielle Douglas, reigning Olympic all-around gold medalist from London 2012, learned that she qualified for her second Olympic trip despite coming in seventh at the trials.
However, Raisman essentially secured her spot from USA national team coordinator Martha Karolyi with a strong showing over the previous six weeks, which included an all-around victory in last month’s Hartford tune-up meet.
Karolyi, when asked whether she still viewed Douglas as a legitimate contender for an all-around medal or whether the gymnast is more of a specialist who can also compete all four events, also refused to write off the defending champ. Biles, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez are newcomers on the U.S. Olympic squad.
Madison Kocian rounded out the final, fifth spot on the team, largely due to her proficiency on the uneven bars. But the fact that Douglas had to save her case only four years after dazzling the world in London is as stunning as it gets in a world where American dominance is basically foreordained.
A strong performance in Brazil seems likely for Raisman, one of the most decorated gymnasts in the world. On the all-important uneven bars, she was 12th. Raisman took bronze (119.750), closing with a powerful floor routine.
Three alternate athletes were also named: Ragan Smith, Ashton Locklear and MyKayla Skinner.
PHOTOS: Michael Phelps’ Infant Son Boomer Cheers Him on at the Olympic Trials – See the Cute Pics!
“I’m willing to put everything into it, and I’m really excited to go back and clean up those details, add a few extra tenths (of a point) here and there, and really just push myself”, she said. “If Simone, who is number one, automatically named to the team, best gymnast in the world, still has to hear her name for the Olympics, I think that could summarize probably how we felt a little”. “I’m going to put my all in”, said the London gold medalist following trials on Sunday. “I came back because I knew I could do better”. Kocian takes her swings right up to the straight line without much hesitation. Sure, she was spectacular at times particularly on vault where her score of 16.2 included a 9.9 mark for execution.
Advertisement
Ultimately it was the event that first helped Douglas first catch Karolyi’s eye years ago – the uneven bars – that made her the first Olympic champion to return for the next games since Romania’s Nadia Comaneci in 1980. While many people see her as being intimidating and curt, ESPN reports that she cried while telling the competitors and their coaches who she would be taking to the ranch and then to Rio.
