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United States of America women romp to Rio Olympics gymnastics team gold

This is the United States’ second consecutive team all-around gold medal. Raisman is the reigning Olympic champion on floor while Biles is the reigning world champion, and they showed why.

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The nickname is an homage to Martha Karolyi, who is retiring as coordinator of the USA women’s gymnastics team following these Olympics. Next up was uneven bars, where Kocian and Douglas earned two of the highest uneven bars scores of the day. This team has dubbed themselves “The Final Five”.

Notable moments included: Simone Biles’ everything, Raisman’s impeccable floor routine and mother-ducking her teammates around the stadium so they all looked excited at exactly the right moments, and Team China looking devastated every time the camera cut to them.

This team of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian – a group that led every event in qualifying – kept the Americans far ahead of Russian Federation in second and China third.

The Americans’ margin of victory of 8.209 points establishes a new Olympic record, surpassing the mark they set four years ago in London.

The United States women were heavily favored to take home the gold, and they did, dominating from the very first event.

By the beginning of the final rotation, when the US competed on floor, their victory was all but assured, given the difficulty scores ― numerical head starts ― awarded to Raisman’s, Biles’s and Hernandez’s routines.

The members of the U.S team, picked and prepared by outgoing national team coordinator and gymnastics coaching legend Márta Károlyi, were chosen for their ability to deliver stellar routines under pressure.

“I always tell the girls, we’re competing against ourselves”, Karolyi said.

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Their score of 184.897 was more than eight points points clear of silver medalist China, a blowout that Michael Jordan’s “Dream Team” should envy.

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