© John Cheng
Watch a tape-delayed broadcast Sunday night on NBC between 7 p.m. and midnight ET
LONDON, England, July 29, 2012 – The U.S. women advanced to the team finals at the 2012 Olympic Games after an impressive team effort at the North Greenwich Arena that put them at the top of the team rankings for the qualification round. Also, the USA's Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics, and Gabby Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute, are second and third, respectively, in the qualifying rankings for the all-around. In addition, four women advanced to the individual event finals. The men's team finals are Monday, July 30, followed by the women's team finals on July 31.
The U.S. Women's Team features: Douglas, McKayla Maroney of Long Beach, Calif./All Olympia Gymnastics Center, Raisman, Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max Gymnastics, and Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts' Twistars USA.
The USA posted a team total of 181.863, putting them ahead of Russia at 180.429 and China at 176.637, respectively. Rounding out the team final field are Romania, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, and Canada. Scores from the qualifying round do not carry forward to the finals.
The gymnasts advancing to the individual finals are listed below.
- All-around
Gabby Douglas
Aly RaismanIndividual event finals
Vault: McKayla Maroney
Uneven bars: Gabby Douglas
Balance beam: Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman
Floor exercise: Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber
The women's team final is July 31, followed by the men's and women's all-around finals on Aug. 1 and 2, respectively. The individual event finals are Aug. 5-7.
Women's National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi said, "I'm very pleased with how the competition went. We proved we are very well prepared. They hit all of their routines, which is what I expected. We did have some tiny mistakes here and there that we will correct for the team finals."
The USA women started on vault with four solid Yurchenko two-and-a-half twists, also known as Amanars. Raisman started the team off scoring a 15.800. Douglas scored a 15.900 followed by Wieber's 15.833. 2011 world vault champion Maroney finished strong scoring a 15.900 on her Amanar and a 15.700 on her Yurchenko half on front layout full off, for an average score of 15.800, which makes her first in the vault rankings as of now. Any gymnast vying for a spot in the vault event finals must do two vaults from two different families; the first vault score counts for the team total.
On uneven bars, Raisman started the USA Team out with a solid routine, including a Shaposhnikova, Yaeger and Tkatchev to double front dismount to score a 14.166. Wieber followed with her Weiler kip half turn to Shaposhnikova, Tkatchev and full-twisting double layout dismount to score a 14.833. Ross' strong routine with beautiful lines included a Shaposhnikova to Pak, Shaposhnikova half Stalder half to Yaeger and she dismounted with a stuck double layout. Ross earned a 14.866. Douglas finished out the bar line-up showing excellent lines and incredible amplitude. Her routine included an Endo, two huge Tkatchevs, and a double layout dismount. Douglas scored a 15.333, the highest bar score for Team USA.
On balance beam, Ross scored a 15.075 for her routine, which included a front aerial to flip flop layout step out, a side somi and a double tuck dismount. Douglas wowed the audience, scoring a 15.266 with her standing full and flip flop, flip flop to double pike dismount. Wieber's routine was loaded with skills including a combination front handspring to standing full to flip flop. She dismounted with a flip flop, flip flop, two-and-a-half twist. Wieber scored a 14.700. Raisman anchored beam with her solid routine that included a flip flop to layout, side aerial, front tuck, front pike and a double Arabian dismount. Raisman scored a 15.100.
On the final event of the day, floor exercise, Ross once again led off for the USA with her routine, which included a double Arabian mount and a double tuck dismount to score a 13.733. She had an out-of-bounds deduction on her first pass. Douglas' routine included a one-and-a-half to triple full mount. Unfortunately she also stumbled out-of-bounds on her double Arabian for a 13.766. Wieber did a difficulty packed routine, sticking her double-twisting double-back mount and a one-and-a-half to triple full to jump for her second pass. Wieber earned a 14.666. Raisman anchored the team with her powerful floor routine, showing a one-and-a-half to double Arabian, punch layout front for her first pass and a piked double Arabian to jump for her second pass, to claim a 15.325.
Quotes from the Team
Aly Raisman
Regarding watching the scores, Raisman said, "I wasn't watching any scores since I was last on beam and floor. I cheered for the team but I turned around so I wasn't watching their full routines."
About competing as a team, she said, "Before we marched out we talked about how we want to have fun here and really enjoy it. We talked about going out and hitting all of our routines just like at 2011 World Championships and that's what we did. I'm really proud of our team."
Gabby Douglas
Regarding the team and personal performance, she said, "It was an amazing feeling competing today for Team USA. I think I did very well. I definitely have room for improvement though – I made little mistakes on beam and floor, but that is what training is for and we'll go back and fix it up for team finals."
McKayla Maroney
Regarding the team performance, she said, "It went well today. Team USA did awesome. I was so proud. We came in 1, 2, 3 (in the all-around) - I was so proud."
Regarding her vault and what she plans to do for the next competition, she said, "The same thing, but better!"
Kyla Ross
Regarding team, she said, "It was definitely exciting competing here today. I was surprised I wasn't too nervous. I thought we did well and hopefully we can come back in team finals and fix our little mistakes and do even better."
Jordyn Wieber
On missing out of the all-around finals, she said, "It is a bit of a disappointment. It has always been a dream of mine to compete in the all-around final of the Olympics, but I'm proud of Aly and Gabby, and happy that they reached the all-around and that I was able to help the team get to the finals. I think from the beginning, we were all looking very strong. It was always going to be close between the three of us doing all-around and in the end, it is what it is."
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