There were a few wobbles here and there, even for Simone Biles, but those imperfections could not stop the United States from blowing away the opposition to capture the Olympic women’s team title with a record margin on Tuesday.
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“Dreams DO come true”, is what Simone Biles tweeted immediately after leaving the mats Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro.
They swore they’d keep it a secret, like the best sisters do, until the time was right.
SHAPIRO: NPR’s Russell Lewis, who is at the women’s gymnastics team final at the Summer Olympics in Rio – thank you, Russell.
Martha Karolyi, U.S. gymnastics team coordinator, celebrates her team’s performance at the artistic gymnastics women’s team final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.
At the end of the competition, the team huddled up for a cheer, shouting, “We are the Final Five!” The gymnastics world was taken aback by this show of humanity by Biles. It was so cute. Consider that in previous global events, the United States’ women won by 4.08 points at the 2011 World Championships, 5.07 points at the 2012 Olympics, and 6.7 and 5.2 points at the two most recent world competitions. Every other Olympic competition since 2000 has seen a difference of less than two points between gold and silver.
Her first event, the vault, had produced a staggering 15.933.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team proved golden once more.
The Americans stand to build on that total with more medals later this week. Here’s how the competition works.
Biles and American teammates Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Maddie Kocian, and Laurie Hernandez dominated its competition, scoring 184.897 points. I mean at 19, she’s already a superstar. “It is just phenomenal”, 2012 all-around champion Douglas said.
Biles, regarded as arguably the best gymnast ever, was the only member of the team to compete in all four rotations for the United States, posting massive scores on the vault (15.933) and floor exercise (15.800). From a five-woman squad, each nation picks three gymnasts to compete on the four apparatus.
The heavily-favored Americans got off to a strong start on the vault in the first rotation. And on the floor exercise with Simon Biles – Aly Raisman. Unlike the other seven, the Americans didn’t slip off uneven bars. She delivered beautifully, getting great extension on a hard routine.
At the halfway point the USA women were nearly home and dry having already pulled over four points ahead of China and Russian Federation. When Hernandez was introduced to the crowd, Raisman nudged her and told her to wave, which the 16-year-old did with a toothy smile. Douglas turned in a strong 15.766 before Kocian topped that with a 15.933 of her own.
There is more on tap Tuesday night with Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Ryan Lochte in the pool, and the Brazilian women’s soccer team trying to atone for their underwhelming men against South Africa. It was just the beginning, though: Aly Raisman then followed it up with a almost flawless routine for a 15.3. She finished with a 15.3.
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Biles brought the arena to life with the samba flavor of a routine she so clearly loves.
