There are similar rules in nearly every sport at the Olympics. And that’s saying a lot, considering she’s only 22 years old.
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Even on “autopilot”, Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas will spearhead a powerful US women’s gymnastics team’s bid for Olympic gold from Sunday.
His wife, former women’s gymnastics world champion Hollie Vise, did the special laundering for him for world championships and the U.S. Olympic trials.
Most recently, Gabby Douglas competed in the 2012 London Olympics and became the first African American to win the individual and team all-around gold medal.
“I kept it calm, because I know how it feels when people rush over to me”, said the 19-year-old Biles, speaking from her experience of winning three straight world all-around titles.
“I guess we just done so many routines and we’re just on autopilot”.
While rivals China, Russia and Britain fell and stumbled their way through qualifying, the only blips for the Americans was when Douglas stepped out of bounds during the floor exercise and Raisman flapped her arms about to save herself falling off the beam following a big wobble.
Qualification for all six rotations along with the individual and team all-around competitions begins on Saturday morning.
With gymnasts from multiple nations competing on all four events at once, there was something to see in every quadrant of the arena floor Sunday.
“I really wasn’t trying to prove anyone wrong”, she said. “I have to respect the decision, but it’s hard when I look back and realize she was second both days at Trials and had the second-highest all-around score to Simone coming in”. It’s never a ‘lock, ‘ but she is the type of talent and she has the difficulty like a Michael Jordan has, like a Michael Phelps has, there’s some athletes that are just so incredibly talented and can produce on a regular basis.
While Raisman was overjoyed to qualify for another chance at an all-around medal, having been edged for bronze in 2012, she called the two-per-country rule “heartbreaking”, saying she believed all five members of the USA team were among the world’s top 24 gymnasts. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why Douglas took Sunday’s setback so well. They’ve been to this show before, but this time, they’re determined to bring home a medal in men’s gymnastics for the first time since 2008. Here are the top routines from the yesterday’s men’s podium training.
But while Biles’ place in gymnastics history is already assured, she really isn’t finished.
For the first time, the world’s biggest sporting event can be experienced through virtual reality, allowing sports fans to get a front-row seat to the Rio Olympics without having to leave the country. She has won the 2012 World Junior Championship and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the mile while finishing second at the 2015 World Championships.
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Then the lights came on, and just like that, the young women in the glittery red-and-blue leotards relaxed, then dominated on bars, on uneven bars and on vault and floor, too. In Sunday’s events, they placed 1-2-3 in qualifications for Tuesday’s all-around final.
