American women’s gymnastics team led by Aly Raisman takes Olympic gold
Published August 10, 2016
Aly Raisman competing on the uneven bars on the second day of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Rio Olympic Arena, Aug. 7, 2016. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(JTA) — The American women’s gymnastics team led by Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman won Olympic gold in Rio.
The team won a total of 184.897 points, more than eight points higher than the closest competitor, Russia, which took the silver medal with 176.688 points. China earned 176.003 points to take the bronze medal.
It is the second Olympic team gold in a row for the U.S. team, which nicknamed themselves the “Final Five.” Rio is the last Olympics to have five-member gymnastics teams. Starting in 2020 in Tokyo, each team will have four members.
The team is made up of Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Raisman, 22, the team captain.
After the final score was announced on Tuesday, the women huddled together and cheered, led by Raisman, “We are the Final Five!”
Raisman and Biles will compete on Thursday in the women’s all-around competition. Biles will also compete in vault, beam and floor exercise, Raisman will compete on floor, Hernandez on beam, and Kocian and Douglas in uneven bars.
Raisman won a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics in the floor competition, performing a routine to “Hava Nagila.” She is nicknamed “Grandma” by her teammates.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky won Olympic gold in the 200-meter freestyle.
