The United States women’s gymnastics team won the gold medal for all-around team performance Tuesday in Paris. It was the team’s first gold medal in eight years after a disappointing showing in Tokyo saw it take silver.
Italy claimed silver Tuesday after a solid, clean evening of performances; it was Italy’s first team gymnastics medal in over 90 years. Brazil stormed back from an unfortunate injury in warm-ups to claim bronze. China, an expected medal contender, fell out of the running after disastrous performances on bars and beam.
Team USA began its day on vault, one of its strongest and highest-scoring events. It was Jordan Chiles who set the tone with her near-perfect Yurchenko double full, delivering a 14.400 in Team USA’s first vault of the rotation.
Jade Carey came next, battling through a severe stomach illness to make her appearance in the team final. She landed her Cheng — one of the hardest vaults in the world — with a small hop and earned a 14.800.
Simone Biles, batting cleanup, performed a Cheng vault of her own and bettered Carey’s score with a 14.900. Biles’s vault wasn’t as difficult as the Yurchenko double full she competed in qualifying, but there was a reason for the switch.
In qualifying, teams are allowed to drop their lowest event scores, and “going big” is encouraged because the risk is minimal. In final competition, however, every score counts, and Team USA was clearly more interested in having Biles stick an easier vault than overshoot a more difficult one.
