What might be the most superb collection of gymnasts ever put together – led by Simone Biles, a teenager who may one day be crowned the greatest gymnast ever – put on the show the sport had been waiting for Tuesday in a performance that was over nearly by the time Laurie Hernandez finished the first vault.
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And barring a major disaster, the question heading into the team final Tuesday afternoon at the Rio Olympic Arena won’t be whether these five American women will win gold. Madison Kocian held the highest score in uneven bars, giving Team USA the top score in each event.
The all-around champion from London has been one of the best of the world in her comeback.
However, a two-per-country rule in the Olympics has deterred Raisman and her bid to win back-to-back golds in the all-around final, who was edged out by Raisman by a mere 0.351 in what the ecstatic gymnast called the “best vault (she) has ever done in (her) life”. All three broke sixty and were at least a point ahead of the 4th place finisher, but only Biles and Raisman will move on to the all-around final.
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.
Two of the members of the self-titled “Final Five” won gold medals for their second Olympics in a row. In a four-way tie, Kocian won gold on bars at the 2015 world championships.
USA TODAY Sports’ Martin Rogers breaks down likely highlights from the Rio Games on August 9. When Raisman drilled her dismount on beam, Douglas rose from her chair and gave Raisman a hug.
The beam routine included her spinning around 900 degrees on the four-inch wide apparatus as she balanced her entire body weight on her right toes. If that’s all it took for her to stay cool as a cucumber to dominate her first Olympic competition-plus the confidence that she’s the best in the world-I’ll have what she’s having.
“I haven’t found the word yet”, Biles said.
An awe-inspiring performance even meant that Gabby Douglas, the defending Olympic all-around gymnastics champion, failed to qualify for the all-around final on a technicality. China and Russian Federation both struggled at times on Sunday, beset by the mistakes they can’t afford to make if they want to make the team finals anything more than a coronation.
And just for good measure, the Americans finished the competition on the floor exercise, with 16-year-old Lauren Hernandez – nicknamed the “Human Emoji” for her exuberant personality – leading off and the reigning Olympic (Raisman) and world (Biles) champions in the event the last two to perform.
Given a chance following Olympic preliminaries on Sunday to take it back, Mustafina instead doubled down. Her score of 62.366 was well clear of teammate Aly Raisman.
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Raisman was in the all-around final with a 60.607 score.
