LONDON —
The Americans grabbed hands and backed up, eager to get a better view of the scoreboard.
There really was no need. That Olympic gold medal was in the bag the minute they took the floor.
The Americans lived up to their considerable hype and then some Tuesday night, routing silver medalist Russia and everybody else on their way to their first Olympic title in women's gymnastics since 1996. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points ahead of Russia and made their final event, floor exercise, more like a coronation. Romania won the bronze.
With the Russians on the sidelines crying, the Americans stood at the center of the floor, clapping, cheering and basking in a winner’s glow. When the score for captain Aly Raisman flashed, the Americans screamed and a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” rang out around the arena. The women held up their index fingers for the cameras — just in case anyone had a doubt.
The Americans had come into the last two Olympics as world champions, only to leave without a gold. But this team is the strongest, top to bottom, the USA has ever had, and the rest of the world never stood a chance. After the U.S. opened with a barrage of booming vaults, everyone else was playing for silver.
Now all they have to do is find themselves a catchy nickname, like “The Magnificent Seven” from 1996. Some have suggested “The Fab Five.” Others have tossed out “The Fierce Five.”
How about “Best Gymnastics Team in the World. By A Lot.”
Some teenagers might find that pressure tough to bear, but the Americans reveled in it. When they saw the Russians and Romanians peeking in the doorway during training sessions, they would add some extra oomph to their routines, the better to intimidate the competition.
And when the gold was on the line, the Americans were simply spectacular.
They essentially won the gold medal in their first event, vault, putting on a fireworks show right in front of the Russians.
All of the Americans do Amanars, one of the toughest vaults in the world —a roundoff onto the takeoff board, back handspring onto the table and 2.5 twisting somersaults before landing. It's got a start value — the measure of difficulty — of 6.5, a whopping 0.7 above the vault most other gymnasts do, and they ripped off one massive one after another.
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Related Photos
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U.S. gymnasts Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman and Kyla Ross stand for their national anthem during the medal ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics on Tuesday in London. The U.S. team won the gold. Associated Press
Discussion
U.S. women’s gymnastics team earns gold medal
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