Women’s Team Finals medal standings. And even if they did, it would have been a lost cause. They were champions again.
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The all-around champion from London has been one of the best of the world in her comeback. Biles has won four consecutive all-around titles at the US national championships, becoming the first female gymnast to accomplish such a feat since 1974.
LEWIS: Well, is it any surprise if I tell you that they won gold, and they won gold convincingly.
“It’s flawless”, Biles said.
“It feels unbelievable especially to be alongside Aly we did this again and history again”. The U.S. has an all-star women’s team, which includes breakout star of the 2012 London Olympics, Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, and newcomer 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez.
As expected, the United States have come away with yet another gold medal. This time it was even wider.
Midway through the competition, the US women held a lead of more than four points over China.
The Americans started on vault. If she could get at least a 7.591 she would secure the gold medal for the United States, and she nearly doubled it earning a 15.8. Next was Raisman, the team’s eldest member and captain, who stuck a flawless Amanar.
Raisman said Biles saw a reference to the Final Five online and immediately texted her teammates. She was followed by Kocian, who bested her qualifications score, with a 15.966. Ten of the team’s 12 routines – the women compete on four apparatuses – received scores of 15.000 or better. In part due to this, the United States took over a four-point lead into the third rotation.
On Sunday, shortly after Biles stepped out for her first routine – her powerhouse discipline, the floor – global audiences responded by making #SimoneBiles a top-trending hashtag. They finished with Hernandez, Raisman and Biles delivering high-flying, engaging floor routines. We won’t know who will be competing in that until closer to the competition. Yet it was as much a lean-forward moment as these Olympics have seen.
After dominating in Tuesday’s team finals with a score of 184.897, Team USA revealed their new nickname: The Final Five. Only the margin of victory was ever in question. The U.S. team kicked the whole thing off, which made waiting for the final point count a little nerve-wracking to watch, since silver medalists Russian Federation and bronze medalists China were also killing it throughout the afternoon.
At the end of the competition, the team huddled up for a cheer, shouting, “We are the Final Five!”.
But Rio is not done with them yet.
Team USA finished out the competition on the balance beam and the floor exercises, with only Lauren Hernandez’s 14.833 on the floor falling below 15 points the rest of the way. She will be joined by Raisman on the floor and Hernandez in the beam, while Douglas and Kocian will attempt to win medals in the bars. “But anything can happen”.
“We set the standard and we’re not going down. This is why we’re here”.
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“They were not only physically prepared, but mentally prepared, and that’s a nice place to be because you don’t have to snap anybody into place”, US Olympic coach Aimee Boorman said, according to the USA Gymnastics website.
