Rio Olympics: U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Wins All-Around Gold
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team – Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Gabby Douglas – took home the gold medal in the all-around competition, fending off early challenges from China (who’d yield the silver to Russia), but ultimately claiming the top spot in the world. It was expected, but victory did not come without competition. The long wait time between sets, leading some commentators to say the U.S. team was being “iced,” had no impact on that team’s overall performance, with Biles leading the way by competing in each of the competition’s events.
The popular American team, who received a reception nearly as loud as any of the home team’s competitors, were heavily favored to dominate these games, going to Rio as one of the biggest stories alongside legendary Olympians Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt competing in their last games. Some wondered if the team could deal with the pressure.
One look at the members of Team USA and it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to be the case. And it never was. They were nearly flawless all throughout.
There were stories leading up to the day’s competition, however. The biggest was possibly Douglas, the 2012 all-around gold medalist, not making it to the all-around finals due to the two-per-country rule. With Biles and Raisman advancing to the final of that competition, Tuesday’s final would be the last of the Rio Olympics for the American great. Of course, Douglas, a veteran at 20 years old, was dominant on the uneven bars with a 15.766 score, as was Kocian. Raisman played an intricate part in the victory, setting the tone with a nearly unbeatable performance on the balance beam, Hernandez the same in her floor exercise, giving a wink to the judges before starting. Biles was simply dominant all throughout, proving on the biggest stage that she is the greatest at what she does. The entire competition lived up to all the hype and the team undoubtedly will be considered the greatest ever.