Before the Rio Olympics even started, it is a known fact that it will be a sure gold for the US for the team and all-around final.
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Because of a limit of two athletes in the individual finals only Raisman will join Biles in the all-around final later this week.
As for Raisman, team captain and Olympic veteran (she has a gold and bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics), she admitted to some sort of luck. That was shortly after the 1996 U.S. women’s team, the “Magnificent Seven”, who ranged in ages from 14 to 19, cleaned up at the Atlanta games.
Even though Douglas lost to her teammate by less than half a point, she says happy with her solid performance. Biles has won 14 world medals (10 gold, two silver, two bronze), the most for a USA female gymnast.
The U.S. lead over China?
Because the US women’s team is so dominant this year, all five athletes could have earned a spot in the all-around finals if not for the rule.
Trautwig had been scolded by a woman on Twitter for not referring to Ron and Nellie Biles as the 19-year-old Olympic gymnast’s parents.
Gabby Douglas, meanwhile, will compete only on uneven bars.
But she will compete in the team and uneven bars finals, along with Kocian who led the way on the apparatus ahead of London Games gold medallist Aliya Mustafina of Russian Federation. You could sense the urgency all afternoon, as she went through the events, turning in some of her best ever performances across three apparatuses.
China, the 2008 Beijing champions who finished off the podium in London, were a shadow of their United States rivals, with Wang Yang qualifying seventh in the all-around and Shang Chunsong 20th as she complained of illness. That’s what they did in Sunday’s qualifying session, making what should be the most hard-fought competition in the world look like an exhibition.
After hurtling down the runway, Simone Biles’ body becomes completely calm the second she hits the air on her vault.
The five-woman USA team, winners in 2012, lead 2008 Olympic champions China by almost ten points.
Why? Because of the two-per-country rule, instituted by the International Federation of Gymnastics, that allows just two gymnasts from a given country to compete in the all-around final.
Raisman also will compete in the individual competition in the floor exercise.
And she has received high praise from another gymnastics icon: Mary Lou Retton, who was the first American to win all-around gold at the Olympics in 1984. “Everybody looked at her and said that kid’s going to do something big some day”. Nor is winning two medals on every event except vault.
It is estimated that for Gabby Douglas to qualify for the Olympics 2016 artistic gymnastics, she and her family had to pay a minimum of $25,000 every year. After failing to earn a spot on the 2012 London Olympics Team, Brooks considered retiring.
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Still active in the sport, Jordyn helps manage UCLA’s gymnastics team (Maybe she helped convince Kyla Ross to go there?).
