“For us this silver medal feels like gold”, said Spain’s Alejandra Quereda.
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A free flowing acrobatic display with hoops and clubs saw Russia’s rhythmic gymnasts shut out the rest of the world as they won a fifth successive group all-around Olympic title on Sunday.
Bulgaria, world champions in 2014, grabbed the bronze.
“We represented our country with honor, despite having to deal with very big difficulties”, said the team’s coach, Ira Vigdorchik. Spain had the best shot at dethroning the Russian team this year, and the Spanish team led the field midway through the competition. They eventually claimed silver. At that point, Russia trailed both Spain and Bulgaria, but the Russian team rebounded with compelling performances in the hoops and clubs events.
The team took home three gold medals earlier this year at the European Championships.
Bulgaria struggled in the qualifications for the group all-around, squeaking into the finals as the seventh of eight teams, finishing just ahead of Ukraine. In the final, Bulgaria scored a 35.766, which secured the bronze medal.
Israel will end the Games with two bronze medals, in men’s and women’s judo, after Or Sasson defeated Cuba’s Alex Maxell Garcia Mendoza in the men’s +100kg competition and Yarden Gerbi bested Japan’s Miku Tashiro in the women’s under-63 kg competition.
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For the fifth successive Olympics, Russia completed the rhythmic gymnastics double after Margarita Mamun won the individual all-around gold on Saturday. The Americans finished last in the qualification round in Rio.
