Four years ago in London, Douglas was the Olympic gold medalist in the all-around event and was part of the gold-medal-winning US team. In three years, Biles has won 14 world championship medals, 10 of which were gold, putting her at the top of the list for any USA athlete in history. Retired Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton told espnW that Biles is “the best I’ve ever seen”. On Sunday, it was a more aggressive move, a backflip, that was her undoing. Douglas has the potential to be a surprise all-around final competitor and medalist, according to the team’s site. With a breakout 2016 propelling her to new heights, it was inevitable that Hernandez’s rise would result in a first Olympic selection for the 16-year-old.
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Madison Kocian rounded out the final, fifth spot on the team, largely due to her proficiency on the uneven bars.
While her lead was never in danger – and really, it hasn’t been since the summer of 2013 – there’s little doubt the missteps will linger with Biles as she prepares for Brazil.
“I can improve a lot more and I’m so excited to go into the gym and work really hard”.
That had more to do with the quality of gymnasts who didn’t make the team rather than the lack of clarity about the decision. The panel met for almost half an hour after the trials were completed at the SAP Center to name the remainder of the team. And this determined, ultra-focused grandmother gymnast will be leading the Americans into another Olympics with all the kids, even if she wasn’t exactly until she got the official announcement.
Ashton Locklear, MyKayla Skinner and Ragan Smith will serve as replacement athletes. Biles will be a big part of Team USA! Her London teammate Aly Raisman also earned a second Olympic spot with solid finishes throughout this season. Heading into P&G Championships, it was unclear how exactly Hernandez fit into the Olympic picture, but four days of competition later she’s made a claim to the No. 2 spot behind Biles, along with Raisman.
Among her achievements, Biles is a three-time world floor champion (2013-2015), a four-time United States of America national all-around champion (2013-2016), and a three-time world all-around champion (2013-2015). She won the world title in 2015, and is considered an “event specialist”. Who do you think will win gold? Now, she gushed, “It’s insane to look back and see that I was fan-girling over like these awesome superstars back then, and now we can all be together on a team”. It was history-making, y’all, and she also happens to be the first black gymnast to win an individual Olympic gold, which is just unbelievable. Hernandez was the surprise standout of the trials, with a memorably energetic floor routine and consistent routines on the three other events over the two-day competition, making it clear she’s ready for a shot at the Olympics. Her score of 15.7 is gold-medal worthy if she can repeat it in Rio. She ranked seventh in the all-around at trials.
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Douglas, 20, and Raisman, 22, are the first Americans to make consecutive Olympics teams since 2000. “We have a strong makeup as a team and not individually so I think we’re going to have a great run”. “It’s going to be really tough for anybody to contend”.
