The youthful USA women's gymnastics team won the Olympic gold medal today in London with a score of 183.596 points. Russia earned silver with 178.530, while Romania received the bronze medal with 176.414. China was fourth with 174.430.
It was only the second team gold medal for the USA women in gymnastics, with the first coming in 1996.
Photo courtesy of USA GymnasticsGabby Douglas
The Americans had the highest team scores in vault (48.132), balance beam (45.299) and floor exercise (45.366). They ranked third on uneven bars (44.799).
McKayla Maroney, a home-schooled junior from Long Beach, Calif., paced the Americans on vault with a score of 16.233. Another home-schooled junior, Gabby Douglas, from Virginia Beach, Va., paced the Americans on the beam (15.233) and uneven bars (15.2).
Recent
Needham (Mass.) graduate Aly Raisman clinched the championship with a score of 15.3 in floor exercise.
Jordyn Wieber, a senior from
DeWitt (Mich.), and Kyla Ross, a sophomore from
Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), also contributed valuable points.
Raisman and Douglas will represent the USA in the all-around finals on Thursday.