It is unbeaten in team competitions during that period.
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Douglas finished third behind Simone Biles and Raisman. Yet she’s always had a knack for putting adversity behind her when it mattered, and when national team director Martha Karolyi rewarded her with a spot on the five-woman team, she immediately responded.
“I just wanted to go out there and believe in my abilities and use the talent that I was given”, she said. Yet, Simone Biles nailed the best score on the floor for the whole competition!
The Final Five posted the highest score in every single event – vault, uneven bars, floor exercise and balance beam.
“Rio better watch out, because we’re coming”, Douglas said.
The race for silver and bronze tight until the endThe podium for the Team Finals in Women’s Gymnastics at the 2016 Olympics.
Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez are the “Final Five”. She has said she routinely lights a candle to St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes and of Rio, before each meet. She finished second at worlds previous year and was third in qualifying and didn’t make the all-around final because of the two-per-country rule. The U.S. would have to average only slightly higher than a 12 to guarantee a gold medal. So she was surprised to find tears in her eyes when the team told her the name they had chosen. If the U.S. had swapped its highest score for each event with its lowest, it would still be up by six points.
And of course Douglas, the all-around champ at the 2012 London games, couldn’t help but reflect on Olympics past. Russian Federation claimed silver, while China picked up bronze.
Late Friday, four U.S. Senators including Diane Feinstein and Patrick Leahy sent a letter to Steve Penny, the President of USA Gymnastics demanding an explanation of the allegations being made in that lawsuit.
JUDO HISTORY: Hungarian-born Szandra Szogedi made history when she stepped onto the judo mat.
The Olympic team final is a test of a nation’s breadth and depth of gymnastics talent.
Gabby Douglas could have been a hummingbird for as easily as she floated from one bar to the other on uneven bars while Madison Kocian made what is one of the most hard routines being done look as easy as playing on the monkey bars.
Gabby’s mother, Natalie Hawkins, has been through all of the excitement and nerves of the Olympics before, but said Rio is still hitting her differently.
Simone Biles will be the only gymnast to compete in all four events Tuesday as the American women look for a second consecutive Olympic team gold.
Yet it’s not just enough for Karolyi for her team to win.
The Final Five join the Fierce Five – a team that included Raisman and Douglas – and the Magnificent Seven as the United States’ Olympic champions.
It happened a few times, Raisman explaining that her coach, Mihai Brestyan, became emotional when she placed her gold medal around his neck.
WORLD-RECORD LIFT: Deng Wei won Olympic gold and set a world record in women’s weightlifting, hoisting 147 kilograms in the clean and jerk and 115 in the snatch for a total of 262.
“I won’t make that mistake again”, he says.
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At 4 feet 8, Biles isn’t ideally suited to the uneven bars, but she was solid.
